Pennsylvania

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Lower Delaware National Wild and Scenic River

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Christmas night 1776 was a bad one. The Revolution was going poorly for the Americans. The British Navy had taken New York City and controlled the whole area. Some American militiamen were heading home, and the British had reason to believe they would win the war soon. Their regular army left Hessian mercenaries in charge of camps along the Delaware, but as the river was filled with dangerous ice flows, patrols were limited. Not that the German soldiers were drunk, mind you. They were professionals, and they were keeping careful watch, despite the storm.

George Washington wasn’t going to let the weather or river stop him. He wrote ‘Victory or Death’, and loaded his 2,400 troops and 18 cannon into sturdy river cargo boats which made repeated trips across the Delaware River (see photo) from Pennsylvania on the right to New Jersey on the left. Two other crossings had been aborted, and the storm was getting worse. It took longer than expected, but by around 4 am, his troops (and horses) climbed the hill and began marching south towards Trenton. The Hessians fought back, and the British reinforced. But Washington won three battles, two in Trenton and one in Princeton, before making camp in the mountains. The war would not be over as soon as everyone thought.

The New Jersey side of the crossing has a large wooded park on a hill, with trails and a small museum with some interesting artifacts. The Pennsylvania side has a museum, replica boats and some historic buildings along the river. I took the photo above from the narrow bridge as I walked between them. The lower section of the Delaware is either a full park unit or an affiliated multi-partner site, depending on who you ask or which website you check. There are roads and a fair amount of development on both sides, so it’s not particularly wild or even scenic in stretches. The designation seems aspirational to me. But our rivers do need more protection, and there are many interesting historic places on both sides of the river. Congress did authorize parts of the lower Delaware as ‘wild & scenic’ in 2000, but if you paddled it, you’d go in and out of those every few miles. There are no federal facilities, so although the park website calls it a ‘unit’, I don’t think it counts towards 424. Still, just in case I’m wrong, and out of respect for our first Commander in Chief, I humbly post.

Eisenhower National Historic Site

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Ike didn’t really like his “stuffy” living room above, but it contains some wonderful gifts from around the world, including Prague above the mantle, Korea, Iran and Grant’s fireplace from the White House. Ike preferred to chat with de Gaulle and Khrushchev in his enclosed porch. My favorite room is the den, which is more of a library, but it’s harder to photograph.

The house is well-preserved in 1950’s style, with almost all original artifacts, since the Eisenhowers lived here until it was given to the park service. Mamie’s home furnishings and decor recall her devotion to Ike, their family and all their guests. Much of the site is devoted to the farm & ranch—blue ribbon Angus cattle—, with various barns and related buildings, but there are a few less common features, such as a putting green, skeet range, helipad and Secret Service office.

The ranger didn’t know that Ike was a cheerleader, but she did explain what this place meant to Ike and why they chose it as their only real home as opposed to the dozens of places they lived temporarily. Ike trained the army’s WWI tank corps here in Gettysburg, and he loved to study the battlefield. That explains a lot.

Gettysburg National Military Park

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This grand Pennsylvania monument is appropriate for this critical turning point in the Civil War in July of 1863. Lee’s northernmost advance on Washington ended, his retreat to Virginia began, and with Vicksburg ending a day later, Lincoln finally had the victory he needed to prove the Union capable of winning the war. The battlefield runs right through town, with bullet-hole houses, up onto Cemetery Hill, where the Union lines held off Lee’s massive frontal assault—a reversal of the usual Union v Confederate roles. The land has been carefully preserved to evoke the day, and the park app’s auto tour tells the many stories of bravery, such as Hancock’s numerous maneuvers in the nick of time. Visiting the cemetery brings Lincoln’s address to life. This is another powerful park to remember this Memorial Day weekend.

Gettysburg has the finest museum (a favorite) at any of the military and battlefield parks. Particularly the park film, short films, quotations, exhibits, bookstore, and, well, everything. It’s worth paying the extra fee to the park partner that runs it. Through first rate research, they get the balance correct between views at the time and the facts. It takes longer to see than most park museums, but for once I felt I understood not just the battle, but the context and meaning behind the struggle. There’s also a phenomenal period panoramic painting of the battle, which is a historic work of art itself. And if you are able to hire a park guide to take you around the battlefield in your own car, that’s the best way to get your questions answered and make sense of the three day battle over much of the same ground. My brother and I were extremely fortunate to secure the expert assistance of our former teacher, who has many years of experience working here and to whom we are very grateful.

Many Civil War sites bend over backwards to present ethically indefensible archaic views as valid, as if they are obliged to reprint Confederate propaganda without context. But that would be like presenting ‘witchcraft’ as valid, because it was believed in colonial Salem. Not only does Gettysburg get it right, but they also clearly blame the north for their role in whitewashing history. Segregationist President Woodrow Wilson supported Jim Crow restrictions to get African Americans back to work for low wages and to win white votes. Most of the Confederate monuments I find objectionable are only 100 years old and come from this era of white northern and southern ‘reconciliation’. We still need to fix this historic problem of treating both sides as having fought for valid causes.

Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial

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This is a difficult site to visit, since it’s only open seasonally, on weekends, in the afternoon, in an area with very little parking. The site is tiny, consisting of a few displays, a short film, and this recreation of his room in a boarding house here in Philadelphia. So, why do we have a site for a Polish citizen?

Thaddeus left Poland and arrived almost simultaneously with the British fleet at the outbreak of the Revolutionary War. He had military education and soon found himself employed as an engineer. Long story short, Kosciuszko was the one who chose the site and designed the fortification at Saratoga, which became the turning point of the war. He also designed and oversaw construction of the fort at West Point, which was deemed impenetrable by the British. He also joined the southern campaign and even fought in the last skirmish at the end of the war.

He returned to Poland, declared independence from Russia, and was wounded and exiled when his insurrection failed. The site here is also considered a Polish historic site. He lived in the room above for many years and was close friends with many American Revolutionary War leaders, including Thomas Jefferson. He asked Jefferson to use his American pension to free slaves through his will, but somehow the case eventually lost in court. Jefferson may have been the wrong person to entrust for that.

Friendship Hill National Historic Site

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The National Road, now US 40, was our first federal highway. Washington started it when he cut a road up to Fort Necessity, and he later bought property there for a tavern. But the surveyor above, Albert Gallatin, is known as the road’s father. He met Washington and suggested a straighter route, and Washington agreed, encouraging the young man to work on it.

Swiss born Gallatin bought 400 acres here on the hill near the Monongahela River and soon became Senator. Gallatin tried to moderate the local Whiskey Rebellion, but Washington still sent in troops. After criticizing Hamilton’s financial plans, Jefferson made him Secretary of the Treasury, where he reduced the national debt and finance the Louisiana Purchase, Lewis & Clark and the National Road. Gallatin and Lafayette were friends and helped bring French pressure to help settle the multi-year War of 1812 at Ghent.

Gallatin’s bucolic country estate, 10 miles of forested trails and well maintained mansion behind the statue is well worth a stop along the historic highway.

Fort Necessity National Battlefield

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“In 1753 a young George Washington crossed the Allegheny Mountains on missions he hoped would lead to a career as a British Officer and land holdings that would make him wealthy. He was unsuccessful in both goals and his actions sparked a war that spread across the globe.”

— National Park Service

We really need a better name than the “French & Indian War”. It sounds like some colonial conflict in South Asia. Indians Native Americans were only reluctantly drawn into fighting on both sides. I suggest the “Colonial Rivers War”, because that explains who, why and where. British and French colonial forces fought over control of rivers, portages and passes linking the St. Lawrence Seaway, the Gulf of Mexico and the Mid-Atlantic Eastern Seaboard.

At the beginning, the French & British were building roads, riverside forts and sending small armed groups into the passes to scout. Washington was in charge of a British force, found a French force, and someone fired a shot precipitating a slaughter that killed the French leader named Jumonville. Jumonville’s brother, Captain Villiers, then led a much larger force seeking revenge.

So Washington’s necessity was to defend his camp, which had been chosen in a pleasant, open meadow, good for grazing animals. As you can see in the photo, the fort was built under a hill, so Washington lost quickly and badly. (Fortunately, he improved tactics later). The French accepted his surrender, but the war over the colonial rivers continued for years, as part of a broader Seven Years’ War between the French and British globally.

Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site

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What anxiety or misgivings troubled me so incessantly today, I know not. Perhaps the unseasonable heatwaves dragging on interminably through the nights have robbed me of my wits by denying me the respite of unconsciousness, no matter how much gin I consumed. Even staying in the drafty old seaside cottage that I once played in as an eccentric child, only served to remind me of my age, my lack of gainful employment, my failed marriage, and the solitary road ahead of me. The storms of late have struck frequently with bizarre intensity, with lightning barrages casting ghoulish flashes on the faces of my now elderly acquaintances, as if to taunt me with signs of my own mortality.

The inexorable tides reach higher on the barnacled rocks with each passing year, and the great lawn, strained with drought, is over-crowded with groundhogs, rabbits and even passing deer seeking refuge, so desperate for food that they eat any flowering bud of beauty, no matter how small or hidden. I have long been tormented by the certainty of impending doom that renders me humorless and unappreciative of the banal social events that my family includes me in vain to soothe my awkward, sulking gloom. But now, some fiery rage is stoked in my soul, as avarice and willful neglect threaten all species with mass extinction while casual citizens busily immerse themselves in the capricious and mundane.

Certainly, knowing the tragic and unexplained death that befell the strange man whose steps I follow from Boston to Philadelphia weighs heavily on my brooding mood. A poet, critic and editor whose genius never quite paid the bills nor protected him from loss. His wife died of consumption at 24, perhaps pre-cognizant of her fate, visualizing her flower surroundings she would not smell. All of their furnishings of course are long gone, so there’s nothing left to do but study the cracks in the walls, read his disturbing writings and let your imagination call you into the basement, where his fevered dreams dwelled too long. The crazed rantings of his characters echo in the cobwebbed corners, some quietly creaking like the stairs too treacherous to climb and some screaming in my head like the gasoline fueled monstrosities on the roads outside. How was one genius able to create the Detective, Horror and Science Fiction genres, I wonder, before once again losing myself in the melancholic realization that our future may yet become a deviously difficult to solve dystopian hell-scape of our own pollution. This is one of my favorite sites, if only in my imagination.

Independence National Historical Park

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‘Molly Pitcher’ was the moniker for Mary Hays and women like her who helped win our independence. Mrs Hays is portrayed helping her husband’s cannon crew at Monmouth, and after years of service she earned a soldier’s pension. I chose her image over the Liberty Bell or Independence Hall (a World Heritage Site), because I know how easy it is to restrict a visit to those two popular and important sites. She’s on display now along with other illustrations at the Museum of the American Revolution.

In addition to the timed tours of those two famous sites, there’s so much more to do in the park. For all things Constitutional, there’s a museum (see Washington’s war tent). There’s a Philosophical Museum, the First Bank, the Second Bank, the Merchant’s Exchange, and on and on. There are historic squares, parks, and buildings, including the one where Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence. There’s a tomb of the unknown Revolutionary War soldiers in Washington Square. Every corner has a sign celebrating some historic event, I half expected to see that a woman from Philly invented Mother’s Day. (Oh, one did).

It’s difficult to pick a favorite, and I might have decided differently had the portrait gallery been open (next year). But I was fascinated by the Franklin Museum, including the first post office, a print shop and more. Ben was genuinely, enthusiastically curious about everything. I loved seeing his glass armonica, learning about his kite swimming, his travels and the clever writing he did under pseudonyms. In one he wrote to a paper in London as ‘The King of Prussia’ arguing that if Americans had to pay taxes to the British, then the British should pay taxes to him (since the British royalty was German).

So by all means, see the bell and where our forefathers founded our nation. But do more. Learn about the role of African Americans, immigrants, women and even children in our fight for independence. And try to be like Franklin. Be wildly curious, explore the City of Brotherly Love, listen to that Philly Sound playlist, drink their Love City Lager, go to Talula’s Daily & have a picnic, spend the night at a wonderful Inn like Alexander’s, walk the old streets and try to imagine ways to improve our world. This is my favorite city park.

Valley Forge National Historical Park

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“In Europe, when the officer commands ‘do this’, the soldier does it.

Here, with Americans, I am obliged to explain,

‘this is why you need to do it that way’, and then they do it.”

Baron von Steuben, Inspector General of Washington’s Continental Army

Valley Forge was chosen for the high ground, not the valley, and the forge had been destroyed by the British before Washington’s troops arrived. No big battles were fought here, and the most lethal forces encountered were diseases. It was a temporary winter camp, and when Washington returned later, he was happy to see that the farmers had reclaimed the land for crops.

But for Americans, this is where Washington’s leadership created e pluribus unum, ‘out of many one’, by forging 13 different sets of colonial militiamen, African Americans free and slave, Native Americans, immigrants, volunteers, and women into a professional army that could combat the British armed forces. Washington was a practical man, who ordered his troops vaccinated against smallpox, had them build thousands of sturdy log cabins, worked hard to see them well clothed & fed, and who brought a congressional delegation here to see conditions for themselves.

When Ambassador Franklin recommended the German Baron von Steuben (depicted in the bronze relief above), Washington trusted him to train his troops, unconcerned with rumors that he was homosexual or that he didn’t speak English. So, they got by in translated French, and the newly trained soldiers emerged as a credible fighting force to retake Philadelphia in the spring. Washington would not recognize the current generation of anti-vax, immigrant-hating, gay-bashing, misogynistic racists, no matter which flag they wave.

In later years, Americans realized the importance of this proving ground, and preserved it as a beautiful park, with forests, meadows and streams of trout. There’s even a covered bridge, not far from the stone farmhouse Washington rented for his quarters. The driving tour is quite pleasant, but I imaging bicycling to be best. E-bikes and regular bikes can be rented next to the parking lot.

Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site

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Among the sheep in this bucolic valley is the most complete early ironworks industrial site in America (unrelated to Hopewell Culture). Over 130 years after English settlers built the Saugus Iron Works, a more elaborate and higher volume factory was built here in 1771. Cannon and shot used at Yorktown and in our early Navy were forged here. Inside the red roofed cast house is a giant stone furnace, fed down the chimney by a constant stream of charcoal, limestone and iron ore through the grey wood building above. For over 100 years, the giant water wheel (which still turns today) blasted air into the crucible to pour iron ingots into the floor inside.

Upon arrival, I recalled visiting here at age 12, a number of years ago, on a school trip to Philadelphia and DC. One of my teachers still volunteers at a military park nearby. Each step in the process can be seen here, basically unchanged, from wood pile, to charcoal, worker housing and eventually to pig iron, ready for sale. Many great forests were felled for America to rise to the top of the iron and steel industry, but I notice that the owners kept many of their own fine old trees for shade and beauty. Now that we can harness nearly infinite clean, non-destructive power from the sun, I hope we make progress restoring nature.