W3R®-PA 

Activities: 2003 through 2007 | 2008
For later years see the Events link on the W3R®-US site.

Pennsylvania Affiliates 

Major Historical W3R® Events in Pennsylvania

Historic Routes: full line = French forces, dotted line = U.S. forces
[source = Research Report for PA] Note: routes from different sources
may vary due to varying interpretations and purpose (tourism or history)

Timeline:
  • 1781 Sept 2 -- The U.S regiments paraded through Philadelphia and continued south in row galleys.
  • 1781 Sept 3 and 4 -- The two divisions of the French Expeditionary Force paraded through Philadelphia.
  • 1781 Sept 5 -- At Chester PA Washington and Rochambeau got the good news that the British fleet had sailed north without extracting the British forces under Cornwallis from Yorktown. Victory was now very likely.
  • The French Expeditionary Force used the same two camps in PA overnight on the great march going south in 1781 and going north in 1782.




The first print copy of Dr. Robert Selig's report on The WRRR in Pennsylvania
was presented by WRRR-PA chair Win Carrol lo Kim Sajet,
tPresident and CEO of the Historical Society of Pennsylvan


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W3R®-PA Activities in 2008 

2008 Feb 04: Philadelphia

The French Ambassador and Consul General visited Independence National Historical Park. While there they visited the newly refurbish W3R® exhibit on the first floor of the Independence Visitor Center. This exhibit was installed in June, 2006 and will be moved to Valley Forge National Historical Park this summer.


Above (left to right) Michael Scullin, Esq - Honorary French Consul in Philadelphia
and HonoraryCo-Chair of the W3R®-PA, Consul General Michel Schaffhauser,
Bill Moore - President and CEO of the Independence Visitor Center,
Cynthia MacLeod - Superintendent of Independence National Historical Park,
and the Hon. Pierre Vimont - The French Ambassador to the USA
[photo by Win Carroll]

2008 Feb 16: Philadelphia: Washington's Birthday 



Philadelphia PA -- The Philadelphia Continental Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution celebrated Washington's Birthday several days early on a crisp Saturday morning, just above freezing. First a drummer and color guards led a parade to the monument and eternal flame in Washington Square (above), where flags of the thirteen original states fly daily over several thousand partiots interred in this mass gravesite.

After a short ceremony and placing a wreath the parade continued to the courtyard of Independence Hall, where a wreath was placed at the statue of George Washington. The group then adjourned to the Omni Hotel for lunch and a talk by Ralph Nelson, corresponding secretary of the W3R®-US, on Washington and Rochambeau -- parallel lives whose three-year cooperation secured American Independence

(at right) Ralph Nelson [photos by Win Carroll]

 

 

 

2008 Mar 31: Philadelphia: Old Glory's Journey  

Old Glory's Journey of Remembrance for those who have died for freedom
was an hour-long event attended by over 400 people. The W3R®-US was represented
by Win Carroll on the arrangements committee, by Bob Selig as consultant, and
by Jim Willis, Jim Sanborn, and Ralph Nelson in the color guard of the Philadelphia
Continental Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution,
which paraded and presented the colors at the start of the event.


Philadelphia Continental Chapter Color Guard on March 31, 2008
[photo by Win Carroll]

2008 April 17: Philadelphia: The Rochambeaus Visit the U.S.

Bertrand de Rocahambeau and his family -- descendants of General Rochambeau -- visited Philadelphia PA from France. The W3R®-PA arranged guided tours for them at Independence Hall, the Constitution Center, and several other historic sites.

2008 July 02 -- Pennsylvania House and Senate
Adopt Resolutions on the Treaty of Paris  

Both the Pennsylvania House and Senate adopted resolutions -- sponsored by State Rep. Lawrence Curry and Sen. Constance H. Williams-- to celebrate September 3, 2008, as the 225th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Paris, which officially ended the Revolutionary War. The resolutions also recognized the civic endeavors of the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

"On July 4, 1776, our forefathers declared our freedom and independence from Great Britain," Curry said. "But as history tells us, it took more than just a declaration to achieve that independence. The signing of the Treaty of Paris ended the Revolutionary War and reaffirmed our friendship with France, Spain and Great Britain."

Scan of official document

This historic treaty will be commemorated through a variety of events planned by the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route Association of Pennsylvania in early September.

2008 Sept 03 -- Two Events Celebrating the 1783 Treaty of Paris  

Item #1 = 11:00 AM: Dedication of a Plaque in the Philadelphia City Hall Plaza In 1908 the Founders and Patriots of America placed a plaque placed on City Hall to commemorate the campsite of the French Army on this site in 1781. in 2008 the refurbished placque was rededicated by the same organization and by the W3R®-PA. Participants included Benjamin Franklin [portrayed by Ralph Archbold], Michael Scullin, Honorary Consul of France in Philadelphia, Dr. Robert A. Selig, historian for the National Park Service project on the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route, Mike Fitzgerald & David Holloway -- who marched that entire 680-mile route in 2006, and a color guard furnished by the Pennsylvania Continental Chapter SAR.


Event organizer Win Carroll, the Philadelphia Continental Chapter SAR Color Guard
with the Commemorative Plaque in the Philadelphia City Hall Plaza.
[photo courtesy of Lily WiIliams, The Bulletin]


[photo by Peter M. Adams, The Pennsylvania Society
of The Order of The Founders and Patriots of America]

Item #2 = 2:00 PM: The Treaty of Paris and Its Impact on Pennsylvania The Historical Society of Pennsylvania and the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route Association of Pennsylvania co-sponsored a free, public education symposium at 1300 Locust Street, Philadelphia, commemorating the 225th anniversary of the signing of the Peace Treaties of Paris, which brought the United States their independence. Panelists discussed a wide range of topics relating to this document and its influences both on Pennsylvania and abroad.

2:00 - 2:15 PM: Kim Sajet, President and CEO, The Historical Society of Pennsylvania
      Welcome and Opening Remarks:

Presentations:

  • Fred Beuttler, PhD, Deputy Historian, U.S. House of Representatives:
          The Continental Congress and the Ratification of the Peace of Paris,
          14 January 1784

  • Todd Braisted, Loyalist Institute:
          Pennsylvania Loyalists and the Peace of Paris

  • Dan Richter, PhD, Professor of History and the Richard S. Dunn Director of the McNeil Center for Early American Studies:
          Native Americans and the Peace of Paris

  • Robert A. Selig, PhD, Project Historian, WRRR: Global Aspects of the Peace of Paris
4:45 PM: Keynote Address
Richard Brookhiser, Senior Editor of National Review, biographer, and historian:
      George Washington: First in Peace Brookhiser's books include "George Washington on Leadership" and "What Would the Founders Do? Our Questions, Their Answers"


Kim Sajet (HSP) and Richard Brookhiser (speaker).
[photo by Win Carroll]

2008 Sept 13: Parade and Ceremony Honoring Allied Sacrifice  

Philadelphia residents and visitors to Independence National Park joined delegations from
  • Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR)
  • Sons of the American Revolution (SAR)
  • Sons of the Revolution (SR)
  • Society of the Cincinnatti
  • Order of Founders and Patriots of America
  • Boy Scouts of America
  • National Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route Association
came to see and hear period portrayers of
  • General Washington, Comte de Rochambeau, and Benjamin Franklin
  • America's (Allied) March to Yorktown
  • Old Barracks Fife and Drum Corps
  • Philadelphia Fife and Drum Corps 2nd Pennsylvania Regiment of 1777
  • Washington's Army at Valley Forge
  • Continental Army (Philadelphia Continental Chapter SAR Color Guard)
as they rode in a horse-drawn carriage and marched past Independence Hall to Washington Square, where some 3,500 Revolutionary War soldiers lie buried in several mass graves. Here Benjamin Franklin spoke of his negotiations with representatives of France -- from 1775, when the U.S. sought armaments and funding, to 1783, when the peace treaty with Great Britain was negotiated in Paris. The ceremonies honored the sacrifices of both U.S. and French military forces during the American Revolution. (Over 2,000 French soldiers and sailors died in the U.S. during 1778-1783.)


Gen. Rochambeau (John Welsh), Benjamin Franklin (Ralph Archbold), Gen Washington (John Lopes),
and Win Carroll (event organizer) with their carriage at Washington Square in Philadelphia
photo courtesy of Win Carroll

In the afternoon many of the participants assembled at the Memorial Arch in Valley Forge National Historic Park to lay a wreath honoring the sacrifices of the Continental Army during the winter of 1777-78, after the army had suffered many losses, but kept the flame of liberty alive until French aid was granted in early 1778 and the tide of battle turned in our favor.

These events were organized by the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (Governor Edward G. Rendell - Honorary Chair; Michael Scullin, Honorary French Consul - Co-chair)



The Philadelphia Continental Chapter SAR Color Guard at Valley Forge

2008 Sept 16: Exhibit at the Valley Forge National Historical Park (VFNHP)

An exhibit on the WRRR opened at Valley Forge (near Philadelphia). It will be here for at least six months. Press Release (overview)


NPS Superintendant Mike Caldwelli between a map of the W3RRR and a Revolutionary uniform..

2008 October: W3R®-PA Leader Honored for Service 

Win Carroll, chair of the W3R®-PA, spoke to the Penn's Grant Chapter of the Colonial Dames of the Seventeenth Century about the significance of the French Alliance, the W3R®-US, and the proposed National Trail designation. The Dames presented him with a Distinguished Service Award, and a citation noting "his unselfish service and leadership in keeping before the public the memory of our Revolutionary ancestors."

For later years see the Events link on the W3R®-US site

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