Posted by Doc M on January 25, 2002 at 14:31:17:
In Reply to: Re: Battle sites posted by Rich on January 25, 2002 at 11:45:33:
:
: : As I am on the same island as my ancestors it makes it easier to find out about them. My uncle found out that one of our family was a young Captain Francis Marsden, 5th Regiment of Foot. He was stationed around Boston and took part in the battles, Lexington Green and Concord. A few months later he was seriously wounded at the Battle of Bunker Hill. He died 5 years from his wounds, aged 26. As a mark of respect, I wrote about the account of his life. : I was wondering are these battle sites still around and worth going to visit?
: Nice tribute to your kinsman, Ben!
: YES! Absolutely those sites mentioned above are WELL worth a visit. Boston has some of the best preserved historical sites of any old colonial city ... The Freedom Trail - a foot path, marked by a red line painted on the sidewalks - takes you to many of Boston's famous landmarks, including Bunker Hill. Now, Bunker Hill itself may prove a bit of a disappointment ... a monument on a mound surrounded by development, but, it IS hallowed ground. The walk over the bridge, from Boston to Charleston, is quite invigorating!
: Lexington & Concord are superb ... especially if you visit on Patriots' Day in April where an absolutely spell-binding re-enactment takes place on the site of Lexington Green, and elsewhere.
: GO!
Ricardo, you're neglecting the site of another great
monument -- Hog Island off the coast of Ipswich Mass.,
where the fabulous DD-L epic The Crucible was filmed.
Several years ago the "Procter House" (which my beloved
hunka-mungous built with his own two hands) was still
standing, and while I can't say it was the site of
a battle exactly, there was an ugly scene when Doc
M and her two cohorts were trying to rip the door off
the house as a souvenir. When that didn't work, we
were fighting each other for small pieces of wood that
DD-L might have whittled and gotten stray pieces of
DNA on. Doc M was lucky enough to find an ax head on
the grounds, but there was a slight misunderstanding
when she carelessly stuck it in her carry-on luggage and
almost gave the security people at Logan Airport a heart
attack. Thank God that was years ago, or she'd be writing
this post from Guantanamo!
But seriously *hrummph! hrummph!* there are many wonderful
books and travel guides out there that are filled with
historical sites to go visit in Boston and New England in
general. I know people living in Europe would get a chuckle
over this, but it gives me a thrill to walk in a house that's
over 300 years old, even if its next-door neighbor is a Dunkin'
Donuts. A few good ones are "Lost Boston" by Jane Holtz,
"Boston Then and Now" by Elizabeth McNulty, and "Freedom
By The Bay: The Boston Freedom Trail" by William Schofield,
but as I say, there are many others. So to paraphrase
Richie-poo, Go already!! Whatsamattawidchoo!!
Huggy! Huggy!
Doc M