Join Julie Diddell, Executive Director of the Washington–Rochambeau Revolutionary Route–New Jersey (W3R-NJ), for an illustrated talk on the 1781 march of American and French forces to Yorktown, VA and how the nationally designated ‘sWashington–Rochambeau Revolutionary Route National HistoricTrail passes through Westfield. The presentation will highlight how W3R-NJ commemorates the march through annual public events, including Revolutionary War encampments, conducts historical research to document the Trail’s path, and works to preserve and interpret local sites connected to this pivotal moment in American history.

Julie Diddell is the Executive Director of the Washington–Rochambeau Revolutionary Route–New Jersey (W3R-NJ), a New Jersey–based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. W3R-NJ partners with the Washington–Rochambeau Revolutionary Route National Historic Trail—a unit of the National Park Service—along with municipalities, historical societies, and other organizations to research, preserve, and commemorate the Trail, with special emphasis on the upcoming Semiquincentennial. Julie has lived in Westfield, New Jersey, with her husband since 1988 and serves as the Organizing Regent for the Washington–Rochambeau Trail Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, based in Scotch Plains, New Jersey. Since 2020, when then-Mayor Shelley Brindle proclaimed an annual March to Yorktown Day in Westfield, Julie has led W3R-NJ’s organization of a yearly Revolutionary War Encampment and Festival in Mindowaskin Park that commemorates the historic 1781 march to Yorktown, Virginia. Julie has led W3R-NJ’s collaborated work with the Westfield Historical Society and Rutgers University Landscape Architecture Department and she gives talks about the Trail on Zoom and in-person.

Designated by Congress in 2009 as a National Historic Trail, the Washington–Rochambeau Revolutionary Route National Historic Trail traces the nearly 700-mile journey taken in 1781 by American and French armies traveling from Newport, Rhode Island, to Yorktown, Virginia. Their successful siege at Yorktown led to the surrender of British General Cornwallis and
ultimately secured American independence. The Trail spans nine states and Washington, D.C., incorporating land, river, and ocean routes, including the march through Westfield, New Jersey, in August 1781.