Williamsburg Chapter Participates in Historic British Flag Raising over Redoubt at Yorktown

report by Harley Stewart, Williamsburg Chapter President

     A ceremonial reposting of the British flag over the Royal Welsh Fusiliers Redoubt was held on July 23, 2016 at the Yorktown Battlefield, Yorktown, Virginia.  A re-creation of an 18th century British flag was raised at the redoubt in an event jointly sponsored by the National Park Service and the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation. 
     The flag was presented by retired British Army Lt. Gen. Jonathon Riley, who served in the 1990’s as commanding officer of the 1st Royal Welsh Fusiliers and is a descendent of Gen. William Howe.  The regiment dates back to the 17th century and is also known as the 23rd Regiment of Foot.
     At the 1781 Siege of Yorktown, the Welsh Fusiliers held off two attempts by French forces to take their position prior to the British surrender.  The redoubt still stands and is directly across from the Yorktown Victory Center.
     The procession from the Victory Center to the redoubt was led by the Yorktown Fifes and Drums and a Continental  Army musket detail.  The procession was met at the redoubt by Royal Welsh Fusiliers re-enactors.  Remarks were made by Lt. Gen. Jonathon Riley, who is also chairman of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers Association and Trust, by Peter Armstrong, Sr. Director Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, and by Jim Brown, National Park Service. 
     The British flag was raised by the Royal Welsh Fusiliers re-enactors followed by a mortar salute on the redoubt.  The flag, a gift of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers Museum Trust, is a hand-stitched reproduction of a British flag that would have been flown in 1781.

L to R: Fusilier re-enactor; Harley Stewart, President, Williamsburg Chapter SAR; Peter Armstrong, Sr. Director, Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation; Jonathon Riley, Lt. Gen. British Army (ret.); Jim Brown, acting Asst. Dir., Yorktown National Park Service; Jeff Lambert, President SR chapter and Williamsburg Chapter member; Fusilier re-enactor.