The Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route traces the historic path that French troops, under the command of General Jean-Baptiste de Rochambeau, took in 1781 from Newport, Rhode Island, to White Plains, New York-where the French forces joined with those under General George Washington’s command-and then together marched to besiege and capture the British army at Yorktown, Virginia, thereby discouraging any further major military efforts by the British in the U.S. for the rest of the American Revolutionary War (the peace treaty was signed in 1783.

The route passes through Philadelphia, where, the Continental Congress reviewed the allied troops, and the grandeur of the French army helped restore the spirit of America. In Chester, Washington literally danced on the dock when he learned that the French fleet had arrived in the Chesapeake Bay, where it could prevent reinforcements from reaching the British army at Yorktown. From here they continued into Delaware — about half of the Continental troops went by row-barge.