The Road to Yorktown

The Road to Yorktown. "Cutting a road" Across the Occoquan. , In 1781 the Prince William County militia was called out again, but this time to take picks and shovels instead of muskets., Unlike earlier call-ups when they marched to join the Continental army in Pennsylvania or North Carolina, this time the militiamen remained here to build a road across the Occoquan River., After learning that British Gen. Charles Cornwallis had taken his army to Yorktown, leaving his force vulnerable to entrapment, Gen. George Washington hurried his combined Franco-American army south from New York to close the trap. Most soldiers traveled by boat, but the bulk of wagons and artillery moved overland. Unfortunately, the poor state of the roads here in Prince William County threatened to derail Washington's plans., In the moment of crisis, the county militia was called out to improve the roads in the area. John Burch's militia company was in Federicksburg when they were ordered to return home. Other companies spent most of their 60-day militia service "cutting a road." Another was diverted from Alexandria for just three days of critical work., The labor paid off. By September 27, 1781, most of the army's wagons had passed through on the improved road to the east and west of Occoquan., Soon after being discharged, some militia companies were immediately reenlisted and ordered to march to Yorktown, replacing shovels with muskets to take part in the decisive moment of the War for Independence., [Sidebar:] , During the revolution Occoquan was home to an iron works established in the 1750s by John Ballendine, who constructed what is now the oldest structure in town, Rockledgge, located behind you., [Captions:] , Detail of a French officer's map illustrating the journey from New York to Yorktown. , Courtesy Library of Congress, A ferry crossed the Occoquan River a few miles east of here, but traffic jams forced the wagon train to ford the river upstream. , Courtesy Library of Congress