Washington Tour - Day 5

The first thing we went to on day 5 was the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C. Here is a link to the last time we went to Washington Monument. Almost everyone that wanted to was able to go up to the top of the monument. Next we went to Mt. Vernon, where George Washington lived. Mr. Brown did a talk about Washington's Manhood, and Daddy did a talk on biographies of Washington. After we left Mt. Vernon, we went to St. John's Church for a reenactment of the meeting of the Virginia Convention where Patrick Henry gave his famous speech for Liberty.

The Washington Monument

The Mount Vernon Mansion and Surrounding Buildings

The Mt. Vernon Mansion

Mr. Brown Speaking Behind Mt. Vernon

Daddy Speaking

The Inside of St. John's Church

Washington Tour - Day 4

The first thing we went to on Day 4 was Chadd's Ford at the Brandywine Battlefield. This is where part of the British army held the American army while the rest went around to attack them in the rear. After going through the visitor center we moved on to the Birmingham Quaker Meeting House & Cemetery. There is a monument to Lafayette, Pulaski and a few other soldiers who fought at Brandywine. Joshua talked about the rest of the battle there.

Daddy speaking at the Lafayette Monument

Lafayette Monument

Joshua talking about the battle

Then we drove to Cliveden, a house that was central in the battle of Germantown. A group of British soldiers barricaded themselves in it and the Americans sent several regiments against it, but were unable to capture it. While we were eating lunch were, some boys decided to try to climb a tree. (see a video here) After lunch and tree climbing Joshua spoke about the battle.

Tree climbing

The front of the Cliveden house the Americans charged

Our last stop was Valley Forge. We walked 4-5 miles there because the buses had to leave and the shuttles were not running. Valley Forge was where the army spent the winter and were retrained under Von Steuben. Daddy and Joshua did various talks on the way about important generals and events.

The "Grand Parade" where the men trained

Leaving one of the encampments

Some huts like they lived in

Washington Tour - Day 3

Our first stop on day 3 was Washington's Crossing. This was where Washington crossed the Delaware before attacking Trenton. I spoke about the crossing there, and my father talked about Charles Lee, one of the American Generals who was not useful because he was too prideful.

Where Washington crossed the Delaware

A monument to Washington

Next we went to Trenton where the actual battle took place. There is a monument where the artillery was placed that destroyed the Hessian formation. We had never been there before, and the monument was very impressive. Unfortunately we were not able to go up it because the elevator is broken.

Trenton Monument

After Trenton we went to Princeton Battlefield, where George Washington next attacked the British. I talked about the battle, and how this was Washington's greatest strategic victory. Also we saw the tree that General Mercer was killed under. It fell down a few years ago, but they planted a sapling from it on the same spot.

Joshua speaking at Princeton

After the battlefield we went to Princeton University. My father talked about its history and problems. It was founded before the Revolution by great men like John Witherspoon and Jonathan Edwards but later became very unbiblical. We walked around there for a while, and went in the chapel. It was very much like a Roman Catholic church, with the idols etc. I am fairly sure that the founders would not have approved of the chapel today. Then we went to Princeton Cemetary where many of the preachers of the great awakening are buried, including Samuel Davies, Jonathan Edwards, Arron Burr Sr., John Witherspoon and many more. Mr. Brown spoke about the family life of Jonathan Edwards and some of the other great pastors buried there.

Daddy Speaking

The Chapel at Princeton

Mr Brown at the Cemetary

For dinner Charlie Zahm, a folk musician, joined us at the Spaghetti Warehouse. After dinner he sang some songs, and then my father spoke on the Declaration of Independence, followed by some more songs. It was very good, and we will probably post some video clips in the future.

Charlie Zahm singing

Daddy speaking about the Declaration of Independence

Washington Tour - Day 2

On the second day we visited a bunch of places in Philadelphia. We started off at Christ Church. Christ Church was attended by many of the founding fathers. George Washington visited there, Benjamin Franklin, and many others. Charles Lee and John Forbes, Generals in the Revolution and French and Indian War, respectively, were also buried there, along with Robert Morris the financier of the Revolution.

Walking to Christ Church

The Steeple at Christ Church

Listening to the tour at Christ Church

After Christ Church we went to Carpenter's Hall.Carpenter's Hall was the sight of the First Continental Congress. Washington was a delegate to that Congress. My father talked about Washington as a politician in front of the building.

Speaking in front of Carpenter's Hall

After Carpenter's Hall, one group went to Christ Church Burying Ground. Benjamin Franklin and Benjamin Rush are buried there. My father spoke on both of those men there. After that and lunch we went to Independence Hall. Independence Hall during the Revolution was called the Pennsylvania State House. It was used as the sight of the Continental Congresses. It was there they signed the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. After Independence Hall we visited the Liberty Bell.

A grave of an forgotten soldier.
This grave of a Revolutionary War soldier had either sunken into the ground or been broken off

Liberty Bell

Independence Hall

Then I gave a speech on the battles of the Revolution up to Trenton where we went the next day. My father talked about why the Constitution is distinct from other Constitutions. Then we walked to the Tomb of the Unknown Revolutionary War soldier. There we talked about how the soldiers went for days without food, marching many miles and all of the sufferings that they went through to give us freedom.

Speaking on the battles

Washington at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Washington Tour - Day 1 Early Life

Washington Tour - Day 1

We left Wake Forest last Monday at 4:30 AM. After trying to sleep on the bus for a few hours, we stopped for an opening breakfast. My father and I gave some introductory speeches there.

Opening Breakfast

After breakfast our next stop was Washington's Office in Winchester, VA. There we split into two groups and one heard my father talk about Washington's early life while the other went through the office. Washington used this building as a office while he was the commander of the Virginian troops during the French and Indian War. He also surveyed this area when he was sixteen, and my father was encouraging young men to be about serious business at a young age to redeem the time for the days are full of evil.

Half of us in front of a statue of Washington as a surveyor

My father speaking about Washington

Next we drove to Jumonville Glen in southwestern Pennsylvania. This is where Washington started the French and Indian War by attacking a party of "ambassadors." I talked about the battle, and we walked around the area.

Driving through Pennsylvania

Climbing on the rocks 

Then we drove a few minutes to Fort Necessity, where Washington fought the French who were sent out to avenge Jumonville's death. Because of the poor choice of location for the fort, after just a few hours Washington was forced to surrender. 

Me speaking at Fort Necessity

A reconstruction of the small fort he built

After leaving Fort Necessity we drove to the hotel in Pottstown, PA. We arrived there after midnight, so it was a very long day!

Washington Day 1 - Washington's Office

Our first historical stop of the day was Washington's Office in Winchester Virginia. He used it as his headquarters during the French and Indian War. My father addressed Washington's early life and some of the lessons we can learn from it.

Washington Day 1 - Fort Necessity

Our next stop was Fort Necessity. After Washington's victory at Jumonville Glen, the French came and surrounded Washington in a small fort that he built, Fort Necessity. After a short battle, Washington surrendered for the only time in his career.

Washington Tour Preorder

Preorder is now avaliable for the Life of Washington Tour! We will be doing DVDs, CDs and MP3s and audio and DVD sets. Click here to order them. If you are in the Wake Forest area, use the code PICKUP to deduct shipping. You can also pay with cash or check, just . Here is a first cut of a short scene from the DVDs:



View the video on Vimeo.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial

View in HD on Vimeo.

Here is a video clip from the Franklin Roosevelt Memorial that we took last week. Thanks to Stephen Breagy for editing this.

Family Reunion - Day 3

On Wednesday we went to Washington DC again. We started out touring the Supreme Court which was pretty interesting, and then we walked around for a while trying to find our car. After moving the car we went to the Postal Museum, which showed a lot about the history of the US Postal Service. After that and lunch we walked over to the Library of Congress. There they had Thomas Jefferson's complete surviving library set up in a display. They also had two very old Bibles. After walking around the capital and seeing some of the monuments we drove over to the Alexandria train station to pick up Nic Ruiz who came up to video with us later in the week. His train was over an hour and a half late, but that was good because we got there an hour late. Right across the street from the train station was the George Washington Masonic Memorial, so we walked over there and took some pictures of it.

Supreme Court

Library of Congress

Capital Building

After picking Nic up we drove over to Arlington National Cemetary. We went through there really quick but we saw President Kennedy's grave, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and Robert E. Lee's house. For diner that night we went to Gadby's Tavern in Arlington for my Grandmother's 80th birthday and my grandparent's 54th anniversary. Washington celebrated some of his birthdays at Gadsby's Tavern. After dinner we decided that we would go back to the monuments at night when they were less crowded. We went to Jefferson, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, George Mason and Lincoln Memorials. Later we will put up a video from some of those.

Masonic Memorial

 

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Dinner

Jefferson Memorial

Washington Monument

Battle of Cannae - 2226 Years Ago Today

Hannibal

2226 years ago today Hannibal defeated the Roman army almost twice his size at the Battle of Cannae. Hannibal commanded his men in the center of the line to fall back as the Romans attacked, which meant that eventually his army formed a semi-circle around the Roman forces. The Romans were defeated, and almost annihilated. The Romans are estimated to have lost 48,000 men, almost twice the number of Americans who were killed during the War for Independance.

Because of the incredible victory, Cannae has become synonymous with a complete and total victory. General Dwight D. Eisenhower, supreme commander of the Allied forces in WW2 said, "Every ground commander seeks the battle of annihilation; so far as conditions permit, he tries to duplicate in modern war the classic example of Cannae."

Learn more about the battle here.