We decided to take a bike tour of the park since the weather has been quite beautiful and we were hoping the pedaling challenged folks would refrain from attending. However, this tour encapsulated again the downside of "group tours". The tour was scheduled to start at 10:30 in front of the visitor center. Easy enough...nope! One couple had their bikes out back and had to go get them and bring them to the front. While another couple dashed up at the last minute to inquired with the guide if they could make the tour on single speed bikes. "Yes", the guide assured them, "the hills are very rolling and this isn't a race and we will take our time".
Our tour guide, a jolly fellow on the "sturdy side" even joked before we started that if someone of his stature can make the tour, anyone can. We ride for maybe 5 minutes, then stop at our first "talking area" and wait for the last couple...and wait and wait and wait. As each biker crests the trail we think it will be our straggler couple until finally our tour guide decides to ride back to find missing people 7 and 8.
To pass the time we make small talk with the other two couples and about 15 minutes later our guide returns out of breath with sweat dripping down his brow to tell us the single speed couple quit the trip after the first hill and never bothered to tell anyone. Hill, there was a hill? It was more like an up swept portion of the land. Really, I mean there were children with training wheels whizzing by. How ironic is it that we are traversing the land where our forefathers lived in the most horrendous conditions, with little food and clothing, and hauled water from half a mile away (up hill, both ways in the rain) to fight this incredible world famous army for the purpose of not having to drink tea for the rest of their (and our) life and you can't even just walk your bike up this sinuous portion of the land? And here lies the problem with group tours...if you book a bike tour then expect to bike. Enough said.
So we start the first talk almost 40 minutes late but the frustrating start is placated by our brilliant guide who is very knowledgeable and makes history come to life with his stories. Our guide told us heart wrenching stories about the rugged conditions and hardships that were common place in Continental Army life.
The men and women (average ratio: 1 woman to 44 men that enlisted) that paved the way for America lived in these simple log cabins, 12 people to a cabin. There was a ditch dug out along the tree line called "the vault" to relieve yourself--this area was at least 400 yards away and while George Washington himself issued an order it must be used instead of in or around the cabins, many didn't abide by the rule causing some unpleasantries in the bunk houses to say the least.
Many of those people signed on for duty with very little clothing or food and no money. The government promised funds but rarely delivered. Congress could hardly pay for, feed, or equip the army (and supply chains were all messed up and blah, blah, blah...excuses) and to top it off, many civilians didn't even appreciate the purpose of the Continental Army. Many Americans feared the militia was a threat to the liberty of the new Republic. And sometimes the soldiers would seize food and personal property if camped near private citizens. To top it off, this was a rag tag bunch of people gathered, hardly a match against the British Army which was one of the most highly trained and best equipped armies in the world.
A rare treat, as our guide told us, was the appearance of a historical re-enactor who portrayed a field surgeon and expert in apothecary. We only knew him by "Mr." which our guide informed us was how the people in this period would refer to someone in the "trades" since dentistry and medicine was considered a trade and you didn't always get a degreed physician back then (the first medical college in America to open was in 1768 in Philadelphia).
The tool above with the mustache handle and socket attached below was the drill used to "free the brain". And then yes, this will be the next reality TV show, "Survivor: Rev War Style", where the participants use various medical tools from the 16th C. to practice medicine on other participants and the winner gets a trip to Mayo Clinic.
Infection, or puss production, was revered and promoted as a sign of healing. If someone had a wound and it wasn't infected linen would be tossed in the wound to cause infection because they felt the production of puss would, as I mentioned, promote healing. TMI, we all thought, but a good bit of knowledge for what these men had to deal with in the 1700s, so ride your damn bike up the hill next time you think somethings tough.
Now we all know what a exceptional guy George W was (and not the G. W. that didn't really win his own election) but poor George, back during the genesis of our country he didn't have much experience commanding a large army and he needed someone to bolster the army's ascension to victory. So with the aid of Ben Franklin's diplomatic prowess, Baron Von Steuben from Prussia (Germany was not a country at that time) was hired as Major General. Like a good CEO (Lauren, take note) he greatly improved the capability of the troops at Valley Forge by instilling discipline and instructing them in formation and tactics, thus transforming them into a professional army in 8-10 weeks. Go Baron, you da man! And here he is:
Probably as grumpy as he looks so no, "Is your refrigerator running..." on him and don't let your ball roll into his yard. I'm positive the neighbor kids would have TPed him...if they had TP.
For long hours on these grounds he drilled, marched, and swore to the armies in German, translated into French by one officer and then translated into English by another officer (and I'm thinking, isn't swearing a universal language?).
I recall seeing an interesting quote that made me wonder if the consciousness of the new "American" was taking shape. The quote said something to the effect that in Europe the Baron would bark out a command and the troops would execute it without question. But while training the Continental Army, Von Steuben would have to explain WHY he was doing a certain tactic before the troops would execute. I'm sure this had much to do with the disciplined and organized military in Europe Von Steuben was used to, but I also wonder if this was the beginning of a transformation of the independent "American" consciousness? The populace was a collection of independent thinkers with the desire to have the understanding of why they were doing things instead of blatantly following orders. As our guide kept telling us, those that signed up for the Continental Army (men and women) were "radicals" (and had their sites set on coffee for breakfast)!
Another stop along the way was a monument built in 1914, which was a simplified version of the Arch of Titus in Rome (a style of monument to honor Generals or Emperors). It is called the National Memorial Arch (not very creative, should be more like, "Thank God for George and the Baron"). Not a great photo but you get the idea:
Inscribed on the inside arch was an eloquent quote by Henry Armitt Brown, a military historian and famous orator. This sums up the sacrifice and determination (I have written it out below).
Shortly after our third stop our tour guide's bike began to falter. His rear wheel was wobbling and just about falling off from loose spokes and even master mechanic Doug and one other attendee couldn't save it without tools so our guide called for a back up...his car. I thought maybe we'd all get a free "tow behind" tour (great concept for a tour, kinda like water skiing...hey, wait a minute, a new show for Tommy Bartlett) but no such luck as we had to tour on our merry way. But as a consolation prize the tour guide walked us down the road a bit and explained all of the other stops we would review on our own. He was very knowledgeable and told some other great stories. They offered our money back but the tour guide was so excellent we all refused and continued on.
The most beautiful stop on the tour was the George Washington Memorial Church built around the turn of the century. This was the era of the gilded age and thus all of the "gild" was in place. Lots of fabulous details. All the states were represented inside the church.
George Washington is the bronze statue in the alcove above.
Love the beautiful doors, all different.
We biked back to the visitor center and examined more thoroughly the artifacts on display. And did the corny photo op...cuz we can.
We left Valley Forge around 2 and headed for Gettysburg. Travelled through Lancaster, Amish country, and just about the time I was thinking to myself, "I wonder if they would ride their buggies on this busy road", right around the corner cruises this little Amish man in his jet black buggy and the horse was faster than a whip. The cars and trucks were thick and fast and I can't imagine navigating that traffic with a horse and buggy, unless of course I was out of French Vanilla creamer and then I'd probably try anything. Lancaster was a bit too touristy for my taste so we didn't stop for the shoofly pie or Dutch this or that. As my mom and I discussed one time after being "swooned" by the "Amish brand" bakery and it was dry and crumbly, just cuz it's Amish doesn't mean it's good.
We left Valley Forge around 2 and headed for Gettysburg. Travelled through Lancaster, Amish country, and just about the time I was thinking to myself, "I wonder if they would ride their buggies on this busy road", right around the corner cruises this little Amish man in his jet black buggy and the horse was faster than a whip. The cars and trucks were thick and fast and I can't imagine navigating that traffic with a horse and buggy, unless of course I was out of French Vanilla creamer and then I'd probably try anything. Lancaster was a bit too touristy for my taste so we didn't stop for the shoofly pie or Dutch this or that. As my mom and I discussed one time after being "swooned" by the "Amish brand" bakery and it was dry and crumbly, just cuz it's Amish doesn't mean it's good.
Continued on through York and arrived at the Gettysburg Walmart only to be informed by the signage in the parking lot that RV's were only welcome to stay for 2 hours. Now I can get by on a handful of hours of sleep but that would be a really short night so we carried on to an enormous parking lot (OMG, it's happening to me...I am now admiring the size of parking lots) near a cinema complex and serendipitously next to the Appalacian Brewing Company. We stopped in at the extremely busy haunt to sample their brews which were some of the best on the trip so far, yes, FFB (remember...Fabulous Food and Brew). A lovely sample of the Broad Street Barley Wine and brie with yummy stuff:
Future soldiers, bits of history to take away, the Revolutionary War lasted 8 years...a looooong time: 1775-1783 (and probably much longer than that, as all wars do, cuz you will see that with the Civil War where we are headed next), and "sheiße" is shit in German and sohn von einem weibchen! means son of a bitch! (So how did the soldiers not figure that out???)
No comments:
Post a Comment