| February 4, 2000 The National Trust For Historic
Preservation Supports Virginia Legislature's Efforts to Preserve George Washington's Tents
"From
within these venerable canvas walls, emanated the
momentous despatches that guided the destinies of our Country,
in the most awful periods of the Struggle for Independence."
— G.W.P. Custis, George Washington's grandson
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In George Washington's military tents, American history was made.
Now they need help. In 1999, the Colonial National Historical Park in Yorktown, VA, was
awarded a $162,000 Save America's Treasures federal challenge matching grant to restore,
preserve, and prepare for public exhibition the only surviving Revolutionary War tents
used by George Washington. Virginia Senator Thomas K. Norment, Jr., and Virginia Delegate
Marian van Landingham, have introduced budget amendments in both houses of the Virginia
legislature to secure the needed matching funds.
Richard Moe, president of the National Trust for Historic
Preservation, called on the Virginia legislature to support the amendments to protect the
tents. "These tents provided refuge to our heroic patriots at some of the most
important battles of the American Revolution," said Moe. "The preservation of
these relics is a matter of profound national interest. I urge the Virginia House and
Senate to approve the funding needed to save George Washington's tents as lasting symbols
of America's struggle for freedom."
George Washington, Commander-in-Chief of the Continental
Army, with Alexander Hamilton, Comte de Rochambeau and the Marquis de Lafayette,
successfully planned the decisive battles of the American Revolution in these tents at
Yorktown, VA. The only known tents to have survived from any 18th-century American
military campaign, they have been described as the most important textile artifacts of the
18th century. Passed from the first president to his grandson, George
Washington Parke Custis, and then on to his great granddaughter, Mary Custis Lee, the
tents were left in Arlington when her husband, Robert E. Lee, accepted command of the
Confederate Army. The tents were confiscated by the U.S. Government and placed with the
Secretary of the Interior until 1883, when the National Museum (now known as the
Smithsonian Institution) acquired them. President McKinley ordered the return of the tents
to the Lee family in 1901, and in 1955, the National Park Service purchased them. Until
1997, both the office and dining tents were on public display at the Colonial National
Historical Park, when water damage from faulty exhibition cases created the urgent need
for their conservation.
###
Related Resources:
National
Park Service News Release
Home | About Us | Projects | Funding | Events
Newsroom | Get Involved | Resources | Contact Us |
