REVISIT WETHERSFIELD

WITH WASHINGTON & ROCHAMBEAU

Saturday, May 20 and Sunday, May 21, 2006

In Old Wethersfield, Connecticut

The Webb Deane Stevens Museum, the First Church of Christ Congregational, the Wethersfield Historical Society and the Town of Wethersfield will celebrate the 225^th anniversary of the historic meeting between the American and French Commanders, General Washington and Comte de Rochambeau, at the Webb House in May of 1781. The event, entitled, “Revisit Wethersfield with Washington and Rochambeau” will take place between one and eight pm on Saturday May 20, and Sunday, May 21, 2006, at the Museum, at 211 Main Street, and at First Church of Christ Congregational, at 250 Main Street, in Old Wethersfield, Connecticut.

Costumed re-enactors playing the roles of the generals, officers and soldiers will help the audience imagine the excitement that Wethersfield’s 18^th century inhabitants must have experienced, when after six long years of revolution, General Washington met with the comte de Rochambeau to discuss the logistics and strategy of a joint military campaign against the British.

There will be an encampment on the Museum Grounds from 10:00 am Saturday until 4:00 pm Sunday. Tours of the Museum’s Deane and Webb Houses will begin on the half hour between 10:00 am and 4:00 pm on both days.

On Saturday, there will be period music, dancing and children’s games. A free showing of Felicity, a movie set in Revolutionary Williamsburg, will begin at 4:00 pm. The free showing of Johnny Tremain, a movie set in Revolutionary Boston, will begin at 6:30pm.

At 1:00 pm on Sunday, the re-enactors will enter the village and stop in front of the Village Tavern at 222 Main Street, where Washington and Rochambeau will unveil the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route interpretive marker. The re-enactors will then retire to the grounds of the Museum. At 1:45 pm, Washington, Rochambeau and their officers will be in the officers’ tent to discuss the significance of the Conference. At 4:00 pm, the First Church Colonial Chorus will recreate the concert that was given to honor the visiting dignitaries in 1781.

The members of National Society of the Colonial Dames

of America in the state of Connecticut and the

Friends of the Webb Deane Stevens Museum

invite you to

REVISIT WETHERSFIELD

with

General George Washington

& the Comte de Rochambeau

In Old Wethersfield, Connecticut

On Saturday, May 20 and Sunday, May 21, 2006

Program:

SATURDAY MAY 20:

10:00 – 4:00                             House tours on the half hour    $5.00

                                                 Encampment open to public

10:00                                        Re-enactor Line up and Inspection

10:30 – 11:30                            Soldiering Activities

·        Pitch a tent

·        Marching

·        Cooking demonstration

·        Soldier Dress explanation

12:00-4:00                               Food and beverage for sale to public in barn

1:30 – 3:30                              Children’s Activities

                                                Crafts & Colonial Games

2:30 – 3:30                              Barn dance with fiddle music

4:00 – 5:30                              Felicity: A movie about Revolutionary                                                 Williamsburg

Free Showing in the Webb Barn

5:30 – 6:30                              Family Picnic (bring your own food)

6:30 – 8:00                              Johnny Tremain : A movie about Revolutionary                                                    Boston

Free Showing in the Webb Barn

SUNDAY MAY 21

10:00 – 4:00                             House Tours on the half hour  $5.00

Encampment Opens

10:00                                        Line up and Inspection

10:30 – 11:30                            Soldiering Activities

·        Pitch a tent

·        Marching

·        Cooking demonstration

·        Soldier Dress explanation

12:00-4:00                               Food and beverage for sale to public in barn

12:30 pm                                 Soldiers form Line of March at Hartford Avenue

·        Col John Chester Fife and Drum Corps

·        Second Regiment Light Dragoons

·        General Washington on Horseback

·        5^th Connecticut Regiment

·        Rochambeau on foot

·        Regiment Bourbonnaise

·        Regiment de Saintonge

12:45                                        March east on Hartford Avenue, south on Main Street

1:00                                          Stop at 222 Main Street for dedication of

                                                Washington - Rochambeau’s Revolutionary

                                                Route interpretive sign 

Unveiling

Musket Salute

1:15                                          March to Deane driveway/enter Museum

                                                Grounds;

Regiments go to their tents; Washington &

officers go to Officers’ Tent to meet and greet the

public

1:45                                          Washington’s officers escort Rochambeau and

                                                his officers to the Officers’ Tent for the

                                                re-enactment of the 1781 Webb House

                                                Conference on military strategy; the participants

                                                discuss the significance of the Conference.

2:30                                         Webster Company Period music and dance

3:30                                         Fife and Drum Corps Music

Drum Roll/ Formation of troops

3:45                                         Troops move down Main Street to

                                                Meeting house for Choral Concert

4:00-5:00                                 Choral Concert in the Meeting House (1^st Church)

5:30-7:30                                 Colonial Dinner at Village Tavern*

*special ticketed event: Patron’s Ticket $125 Call for reservations:

860-529-0612