General Washington passed by
 

In front of the Watertown Free Public Library is a stone marker with this inscription: "Washington passed this place on his way to Cambridge to take command of the Patriot Army June 1775." In my imagination I see the newly appointed General erect on his steed going along the dirt road now Main St. and on up Mt. Auburn St. eventually to his lodging at what is now called the Longfellow House on Brattle Street.

This house now operated by the National Park Service is very much worth a visit. Also called the Craigie House it was built 1759 and occupied by Major Vassal who hurriedly left for safety in Boston as a Loyalist. Here Washington as commander of the Continental Army was to remain July 1775 until April 1776 during the siege of Boston. One room you can see was a dining room and another his office. From here he sent forth Benedict Arnold to invade Quebec. Here he entertained many including John and Abigail Adams.

The house is better know for being Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's house. He lived here at first and then inherited it. Many friends visited the famous author over time.
You too should pay a visit!

www.nps.gov/long/index.htm www.longfellowfriends.org/index.php

http://dlstewart.com/longfellow/CraigieHome.htm
(click on Washington and Siege of Boston)

Correction: the Washington and the Siege of Boston story is in the Longfellow Friends site (not dlstewart.com)

Second correction (sorry):
http://dlstewart.com/longfellow/CraigieHouse.htm

Bill, Thanks for the report on an often overlooked (I think) historical site in the Boston/Cambridge area. It's especially nice to visit in the Spring/Summer.

Interesting - I had never realized that Washington got that far north. I know here on LI we have several places where he slept - that are now inns or restaurants - but didn't realize that he actually went to MA to take charge of the Minuteman forces.

Fascinating when you think about how many different separate groups fought in the revolution - from Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys to Francis Marion the Swamp Fox in the Carolinas, to Gloucester fisherman to Pennsylvania "Dutch" forces that didn;t even speak English.

I've visited the Longfellow House a few times, and the gardens are particularly charming in the Spring. General Washington stayed there for many months during the seige of Boston. That's part of the reason why Longfellow chose to lodge there in the first place (he was professor @ Harvard) when the house was owned by Mrs. Cragie. Longfellow's father-in-law (the super-duper rich Appleton) bought the house for his daughter and Longfellow as their wedding present. It is sad that Fanny died in the house after her dress caught fire and she was seriously burned; she died a few days later in their bed.

Glad yk mentioned the gardens which I was about to add...and they can be seen anytime of the year whereas entrance to the house is seasonal. Of course flowers have been blooming profusely everywhere this Spring. Today I will be again passing by en route by bus #71 into Harvard Square. But too far away so need a later close up visit to the gardens.

Yes, the Longfellow connection is what is mostly mentioned in conducted tours of the house. And indeed a tragedy that Fanny was mortally burned. I think she was just trimming a lamp but somehow her gauze clothing caught on fire. And horrified husband Henry who was in the room tried to smother out the blaze. Due to facial scars he grew a beard.

Bill in nearby Watertown

We are planning to hear historian Paul Lockhart on Thur. talking about "The Whites of Their Eyes: Bunker Hill, the First American Army, and the Emergence of George Washington." This is at the Mass. Historical Society co-sponsored by Longfellow House (Washington's headquarters in Cambridge).

cw, will you by chance be there or your mate? Seems there is refreshments at 5:30 but do people usually arrive for that?

BTW, one of my ancestors is George Bunker, the man who purchased the Hill.

Bill, I have a prior commitment on Thursday so I will miss you. People do arrive at 5:30, and you can always take a look around--I think the photo exhibit is still on display and it's very interesting.

cw...very disappointed...couldn't get to program due to T-breakdown. More via email.

"On Sunday, July 2, Washington arrived at Cambridge, Massachusetts, to assume control of the Continental Army." He moved into the Harvard Square home of college president Samuel Langdon but soon found grander quarters at the three-story mansion on Brattle Street owned by John Vassall, a rich Tory who had fled. (This is from a new book I am now beginning to read by Ron Chernow..."Washington: a life."

I have found that en route passing through Watertown he stayed overnight at a meeting house location preserved with markers in a cemetery, corner of Mt. Auburn and Common. And it seems likely that he did not ride upon a steed as I surmised but traveled by horsedrawn coach.

The marker of the Colonial meeting house in Watertown where Washington stopped says it was the location for the provisional Massachusetts congress April 22-July 15, 1775.

This week saw in Boston Museum of Fine Arts the 1795 Gilbert Stuart portraits of Martha and George Washington, also the huge portrayal by Thomas Sully of Washington crossing the Delaware leading to that surprise pivotal attack on the Hessian troops.