Yorktown and Jamestown

We woke up to a pouring rain and there are flash flooding warnings for the day. So we decided to head to Yorktown Victory Center since it was a combination of indoor and outdoor exhibits. There were two outdoor exhibits, first was a 18^th century farm. We toured the vegetable garden filled with vegetables from that era as well as the many herbs used for flavoring or to cure everything from depression to mosquito bites. In the kitchen they were storing food using four methods: salting vegetables and meats, drying vegetables, smoking meats, and pickling fruits and vegetables with vinegar made from apples. The museum presented the story of the revolutionary war, ending here in Yorktown. The British were trapped by Washington’s army on land and the French warship blockade from the sea. After continual pounding from artillery, Cornwallis surrendered – the last battle of the war. Washington actually lost more battles than he won, but the war was won, thanks to the help of the French.

Outside the museum was depicted a army encampment. They fired the artillery for us – at the time, muskets could fire only 100 yards, but a cannonball could be fired one mile. The object wasn’t necessarily to kill a lot of men, but to frighten the army into retreating. As they got closer you could use shrapnel, small balls packed into a small canister which could be fired about 300 yards, filling the area with shot. The doctor explained medicine of the time: they cured fever by bleeding you (obviously you had too much warm blood), if you had diarrhea, they used Castor oil to remove all the bad stuff in your intestines (causing you to become dehydrated). They had some success with removing bullets and shot with their fingers or a forceps (only 70% died), and their most successful operation was for concussions (they would open up a hole in your skull to remove the pressure (80% survived).

Powhatan Indian Village

Then we went on to the Jamestown Settlement, again a combination of indoor museum and outdoor exhibits. Outdoors was a typical Powhatan Indian village for the region with numerous oblong lodges. A replica of the Fort built in 1607 when Jamestown was settled. It was a triangular shape and the first building built were the armory, the storehouse, and the church. After that were houses and finally the Governor’s residence. It was fairly plain, but large, with a meeting room, parlor, and the Governor’s bedroom as well as smaller bedrooms upstairs. Finally they had replicas of the three ships that made the 144 day trip to Jamestown from England: the Susan Constant, the Godspeed, and the Discovery. The colony really struggled – starvation, disease, and fighting with the Indians. For over fifty years, the death rate was higher than the birth rate (of course, there weren’t many women), so the town was dependent upon ships from England for both new settlers and supplies. The exhibits described the history from pre-European times until the capital was moved from Jamestown to Williamsburg.

The Susan Constant