Press Room

Contact:
Charles Lyle, Executive Director, Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum, (860) 529-0612; clyle@webb-deane-stevens.org
Sal Carmosino, Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum Tour Guide/Teacher/Asst. Curator/Member of the Fifth Regiment, (860) 872-4921; revere62@hotmail.com
Jenny Smith, Pita Group, (860) 293-0157 ext. 15; jenny@thepitagroup.com

Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum will host second annual Revolutionary War encampment and unveil renovation of George Washington’s bedroom on May 22

WETHERSFIELD, Conn. (March 31, 2010) - On May 22, 1781, General George Washington and French Lieutenant General Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur Comte de Rochambeau met at Joseph Webb’s House in Wethersfield, Conn. to plan the joint military campaign that led to the victory at Yorktown, Virginia and the end of the American Revolution.

Commemorating this historic meeting, the Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum will stage its second annual Revolutionary War encampment on Saturday, May 22 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Wethersfield, Conn., on the grounds next to the Silas Deane House on Main Street.

Members of today’s Fifth Connecticut Regiment, a dedicated group that teaches about our Revolutionary War through living history, will again participate in the encampment.

“The type of re-enactment that our regiment hosts has real value to the public, especially for children who are taking American history in school,” said Sal Carmosino, a tour guide and teacher at the museum and a member of the Fifth Connecticut Regiment. “The demonstrations at the Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum’s Revolutionary War encampment will allow people to see, first hand, what military drills were like; to hear how loud muskets are when fired, interact with our regiment and to ask questions on topics that are not covered in school.”

During this event, the recent state-of-the-art restoration of George Washington’s bedchamber on the second floor of the Webb House will be featured. The original c.1760 graining on the woodwork in the bedchamber has been recreated to showcase the decorating aesthetic the skill and artisanship that the tradesmen dedicated to their craft during the Colonial period.

During a historic paint analysis at the Webb House in 2006, Brian Powell of Building Conservation Associates found that the woodwork in the bedchamber had originally been finished with a faux cedar graining, artificial in appearance but very much the popular style during that time period in England and Europe. Also, the paint analysis revealed that those who could afford it chose to live within a much more colorful and even flamboyant environment in which Washington’s bedchamber will show in the renovation.

The museum will also unveil the second of two educational panels that depict Washington’s meeting with Rochambeau. It will carry the story from the Wethersfield Conference, the subject of the first panel unveiled last year, through to the American’s victory over the British at Yorktown, Va. The second educational panel is being sponsored by the Society of Cincinnati’s (direct descendents of George Washington and his officers) Connecticut chapter.

Tours within the museum’s three homes will focus on the American Revolution and Washington’s visit. The day’s events will also feature musicians, an exhibit of period clothing, demonstrations of marching and musket firing, and a demonstration of the types of medicines used to treat people in the late 1700s. A display case in the front hall of the Webb House will showcase historic documents from the Revolutionary War period.

Within the courtyard outside of the Webb House, specialty craft items from the museum’s gift shop will be available for purchase by visitors.

The re-enactment activities outside of the museum are free and all tours of the three homes will be offered at the discounted admission rate of $6 per person.

WHAT: A Revolutionary War encampment commemorating the meeting that took place between General Washington and Lieutenant General Rochambeau in Wethersfield in May 1781; the unveiling of the recent historic renovation of the George Washington bedroom located in the Webb House; and the unveiling of the museum’s second panel commemorating the Washington-Rochambeau meeting and Revolutionary Route.

WHERE: Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum, 211 Main St., Wethersfield, CT 06109

WHEN: Saturday, May 22 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

COST: Visits to the encampment are no charge. Tours at the Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum focusing on the American Revolution and Washington’s visit will be offered from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the discounted admission rate of $6 per person.

For more information, please contact Charles Lyle at (860) 529-0612