Forward March...Ouch! Ouch!

Fields look so deceptive. Those waving grasslands invite you to walk into no man's land to see the distances and poke around off the beaten path. Redoubts 9 and 10 were just over there. What a mistake.

Redoubt 9 is towards the treeline in the right center of the photo. According to the map, it's about 2/10ths of a mile, or about 350 yards. The terrain is mostly flat after all these years.

About half way across, we noticed an unusual flora--cactus! So, now you have to watch where you plant your foot else you step in a prickly patch. And not just one, but many.

Then we felt a considerably more annoying flora--nettles. First we knew of it, one of those suckers attached to a sock and with just the right ankle movement, a thorn punctured my skin. Worse, these suckers, er, stickers were no soft, wimpy NJ version, but a damned hard pointy variety. Not as bad as those in eastern Colorado, but close!

We headed for the nearest road, which has no sidewalks because, well, it has no sidewalks. I don't know why. I can guess. It's probably because no one else would be stupid enough to cross the field full of nettle plants and cacti. They'd drive instead.

Redoubt 9 from the road.

We eventually reached Redoubt 9 and stopped to pull all those bothersome nettles clinging to our shoes. Our fingertips learned by painful experience how to pry them out without getting stuck.

More Yorktown Battlefield

Introduction
Historical Preliminaries
Visitor's Center
The Quick Tour
Forward March...Ouch! Ouch!
Redoubts 9 and 10
Grand French Battery
Augustine Moore House
Surrender Field
Yorktown Victory Monument

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