List of historic sites preserved along Rochambeau's route

National Park Service map of the Washington–Rochambeau Revolutionary Route

Joseph Webb House in Wethersfield, Connecticut, in 2009

Asa Barnes Tavern/Levi B. Frost House in Southington, Connecticut, in 2011

A series of sites along the Washington–Rochambeau Revolutionary Route have been listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places or otherwise recognized and preserved. Buildings or roadway or other artifacts at these sites have been preserved and still evoke the army's passage in 1781 and its return in 1782. A multiple-property documentation study completed in 2001 addressed many of the Connecticut sites, and outlined criteria for NRHP-eligibility of others.^[1] Recognized historic sites include:^[2]

List of sites

Buildings

• John Fell House, Allendale, New Jersey
• University Hall, Providence, Rhode Island
• Waterman's Tavern, Coventry, Rhode Island
• John Trumbull Birthplace, Lebanon, Connecticut
• Governor Jonathan Trumbull's War Office in Lebanon, Connecticut, also known as the Joseph Trumble Office and Store, which was the most important Revolutionary War-associated building in Connecticut
• William Williams House, in Lebanon, Connecticut, a U.S. National Historic Landmark
• Dorrance Inn, Sterling, Connecticut
• Daniel White Tavern, Andover, Connecticut
• Joseph Webb House, Wethersfield, Connecticut
• Marion Historic District, Southington, Connecticut
• Levi B. Frost House also known as Asa Barnes Tavern in the 1780s, in Southington, Connecticut
• Josiah Bronson House, Middlebury, Connecticut
• Caleb Baldwin Tavern, Newtown, Connecticut
• Newtown Borough Historic District, Newtown, Connecticut
• Monroe Center Historic District, whose Monroe Center Green was site of a dance for 600 of Rochambeau's troops on June 30, 1781
• Daniel Basset House, Monroe, Connecticut, built in 1775, site of a ball was held for the French officers of Lauzun's mounted section of Rochambeau's army on June 30, 1781, which camped nearby.^[3]

Camp sites

• Fourth Camp of Rochambeau's Army, Windham, Connecticut
• Fifth Camp of Rochambeau's Infantry, also known as Site 12-25, is an archeological site in Bolton, Connecticut, that is related to the 1781 camp site of Rochambeau's army. It is a 13-acre (5.3 ha) site that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.^[2] The site is listed for its information potential. According to a study completed in 2001, the site "is an open field that retains its visual qualities, with stone walls marking the same field lines as shown on the map prepared by the French engineers. The camp was occupied for four nights in a row, one night by each regiment, in June, 1781. A large number of artifacts have been recovered to date, including numbered regimental buttons, .66 caliber musket balls, period coins, and a lead bar."^[1]
• Camps Nos. 10 and 41 of Rochambeau's Army, also known as Site No. 97-87D, is an archeological site that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.^[2] The listed site is 5-acre (2.0 ha) in area.^[2]
• Forty-Seventh Camp of Rochambeau's Army, Windham, Connecticut

Road segments

Several segments of the march route taken by French commander Rochambeau's troops in 1781, on their way to Yorktown, Virginia, and also on the route of their return journey in 1782, are preserved and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

• March Route of Rochambeau's Army: Scotland Road (41°42′3″N 72°8′43″W / 41.70083°N 72.14528°W) is along Scotland Road, from intersection with Back Road to 80 Scotland Road in Windham, Connecticut. Approximately 1700 feet long, the segment is a portion of Connecticut Route 14.^[4] It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.^[2] The roadway is modern, but the stone walls and views of countryside are much as it would have been in 1781-82.^[4]
• March Route of Rochambeau's Army: Palmer Road (41°41′57″N 72°3′47″W / 41.69917°N 72.06306°W) is the section of Palmer Road from the intersection with Miller Road east to a point 800 feet from the junction with Pudding Hill Road in Scotland, Connecticut. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.^[2] It was a narrow, steep, stony road then. Now, it has expansive views of farmland. The French troops, with artillery and wagons, reportedly found the marching difficult in this segment, though easier after the included hill. It was reportedly viewed by the French as "a narrow, steep, and stony road" in this segment (per Rice and Brown, 1972, p. 23, cited in NRHP document).^[5] The modern road is paved, but the hilly, winding nature of the road, and remnants of stone walls, and other elements evoke the experience of the French troops in this section.^[5]

Manship and Barstow Roads junction

Barstow Road to Westminster Road

March Route, Barstow Road, Canterbury, Connecticut

• March Route of Rochambeau's Army: Manship Road-Barstow Road (41°42′7″N 72°0′13″W / 41.70194°N 72.00361°W) is part of the march route in Canterbury, Connecticut, that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003. It is significant as a preserved section of the march route which, in this area, is followed by what is now Connecticut Route 14. This section, however, is a bypassed loop of road, cut off by a road realignment in the 1930s, and therefore without traffic and not modernized. The section is approximately 1,400 feet of bypassed loop of road, on the north side of the main road, along Manship Road and Barstow Road, starting from a junction of the loop with Manship Road and running to Westminster Road. It is paved road about 20 feet wide, plus a margin to stone walls lining the road. The designated area is about 50 to 55 feet wide, extending to the walls. The National Register nomination of 2001 includes six photos of narrow roadway, stone walls, and the one house along this section. The house is itself historical, dating from about the 1840s, and adds rather than detracting from the historical feel.^[6] Rochambeau's troops marched through here in June 1781, and found the road along this general area to be the most difficult along their whole journey. Although the road has been paved, the visual appearance is still evocative of passage of troops.^[6]
• March Route of Rochambeau's Army: Old Canterbury Road (41°41′22″N 71°57′4″W / 41.68944°N 71.95111°W) is a historic site in Plainfield, Connecticut, along the march route of Rochambeau's army. It includes a stretch of what is now Old Canterbury Road and a stretch of Canterbury Road (Connecticut Route 14A). It is a 2-acre (0.81 ha) site that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.^[2][7] This particular segment of the route was deemed historically significant in 2002 "because it allows one to imagine the appearance of the Connecticut countryside--the cultivated fields, woods, stone walls, and narrow, windy roads--that the French army encountered as it made its way to and from the Battle of Yorktown, the engagement that decided the outcome of the American Revolution". It was traversed by Rochambeau's troops in June 1781 on their way to Virginia, and again in November 1782, on their return to Rhode Island.^[7] Part of the site is a "narrow, curving paved road", with a border of shrubs and vines and stone walls along much of its length. A stand of mature sugar maple trees gives shade to a portion of the site. Houses along the section are more modern than the 1781-1782 era, but are set back far enough so as not to interfere with the evocation of Rochambeau's marching troops.^[7] At the east end of the segment, stone walls are preserved on both sides of the road, and, as of 2002, "there are expansive views of plowed fields and pasture both to the north and to the south".^[7] The passage of the French army along this route is documented by period route map drawn by French military engineer Louis-Alexandre Berthier, republished by Rice and Brown in 1972 and reproduced in the 2002 NRHP nomination document.^[7]
• March Route of Rochambeau's Army: Plainfield Pike (41°40′54″N 71°51′50″W / 41.68167°N 71.86389°W) is a 3.6-mile-long road segment in Plainfield, Connecticut, and Sterling, Connecticut, that is a portion of the historic march route. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.^[2] It is a portion of Connecticut Route 14A, locally known as Plainfield Pike, which is level in the eastern part but generally hilly with curves. Along the route is open land including pasture and cornfields, wooded areas, streams including Ekonk Brook. It is bordered by stone walls about 50 feet apart, on both sides, for most of the way. The only concentration of houses, as of 2002, was of period (18th century) and historic 19th-century houses in the Sterling Hill Historic District section.^[8] The roadway, then, was poor, and caused difficulty for the artillery and baggage trains. The segment includes views of countryside evocative of how the land would have been in 1781 for the troops marching through.^[8]
• March Route of Rochambeau's Army: Hutchinson Road (41°41′57″N 72°3′47″W / 41.69917°N 72.06306°W) is a 2-acre (0.81 ha) historic site in Andover, Connecticut, along the 1781/1782 march route of Rochambeau's army. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.^[2] It is primarily a section of roadway, and includes just one building, the NRHP-listed White's Tavern.^[3]

Bailey Road marker

• March Route of Rochambeau's Army: Bailey Road (40°51′14″N 72°26′0″W / 40.85389°N 72.43333°W) is a section of abandoned, old roadway that is a historic site in Bolton, Connecticut. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.^[2] It is "the most intact and evocative section of Rochambeau's route."^[3] Bailey Road originally connected Route 6 with Brandy Street in Bolton but the portion west of the Andover-Bolton town line has since been overgrown and is no longer passable by motor vehicles. A remnant of Bailey Road in Bolton still exists as an unpaved foot path and still retains the characteristic stone walls as well as two original stone culverts.
• March Route of Rochambeau's Army: Reservoir Road (41°24′48″N 73°19′23″W / 41.41333°N 73.32306°W) is a historic site in Newtown, Connecticut. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.^[2] The listed site is less than 1 acre (0.40 ha) in area, and comprises a section of Reservoir Road running between stone walls, which is believed to be the roadway taken by Rochambeau's army. It is an undeveloped property.^[3]
• March Route of Rochambeau's Army: Ridgebury Road (41°20′36″N 73°31′47″W / 41.34333°N 73.52972°W) is a historic site in Ridgefield, Connecticut. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.^[2] It is a 1,600-foot section of the Ridgebury Road, and the defined property is about 50 feet wide, running from stone walls on either side. It is known with certainty to have been traversed by Rochambeau's army in 1781, and the current appearance in this section is much the same now as it was then.^[3]

References

1. Clouette, Bruce; Harper, Mary (October 22, 2001). "National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property Documentation: Rochambeau's Army in Connecticut, 1780-1782 MPS" (PDF). National Park Service.
2. Staff (2009-03-13). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
3. Clouette, Bruce (February 1, 2001). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Daniel Basset House" (PDF). National Park Service. and Accompanying four photos, exterior, from 2001 (see captions p. 9 of text document)
4. Harper, Mary; Clouette, Bruce (December 2002). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: March Route of Rochambeau's Army: Scotland Road" (PDF). National Park Service. and Accompanying six photos, from 2001 (see photo captions page 6 of text document)
5. Harper, Mary; Clouette, Bruce (April 30, 2001). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: March Route of Rochambeau's Army: Palmer Road" (PDF). National Park Service. and Accompanying six photos
6. Harper, Mary; Clouette, Bruce (April 30, 2001). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: March Route of Rochambeau's Army: Manship Road-Barstow Road" (PDF). National Park Service. and Accompanying six photos
7. Harper, Mary; Clouette, Bruce (December 5, 2002). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: March Route of Rochambeau's Army: Old Canterbury Road" (PDF). National Park Service. and Accompanying eight photos, from 2001 (see photo captions page 12 of text document)
8. Harper, Mary; Clouette, Bruce (December 2002). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: March Route of Rochambeau's Army: Plainfield Pike" (PDF). National Park Service. and Accompanying 14 photos, from 2001