ROSLYN TO PHILADELPHIA TO BENSALEM TO LANGHORN TO WASHINGTON’S CROSSING

It was an EARLY, VERY COLD, BEAUTIFUL, TOUCHING AND UTTERLY AMAZING DECEMBER DAY !!!!!
 
The FIRST ANNUAL SEPA WARRIORS WATCH WREATH LAYING was nothing but memorable which is shown by the photos taken. 
 
We started out our day at the Hillside Cemetery in Roslyn, PA honoring 114 veterans of several conflicts beginning with World War I in the veterans area of the cemetery along with donating and hoisting a POW/MIA flag on their flagpole.  Here all of our riders which included 15 motorcycles and 4 cages attached Velvet Red Bows to 144 Pine Holiday Wreaths to lay at the headstones of these 114 veterans along with the gravesite of WWR Member Dennis Jolly’s brother an Army Veteran. 
 
From there we moved to the most emotional stop on our route of them all and presented a Wreath to Susan Young at her home in memory and honor of her son. 
 
The next stop was Resurrection Cemetery in Bensalem, PA where we layed 3 Wreaths to thank and honor Philadelphia Police Officers Lesvinsky, Simpson and McDonald.  We also honored 2 other gravesites of WWR Members, one being that of Jeff Huggins a Marine Veteran and father of Jeffery Huggins and the other for 1SG Thomas Clarke who served with Kim Huggins at Fort Dix, NJ. 
 
Next was a much needed PITSTOP in Langhorne Borough where American Legion Post #148 opened their doors for us to use their facility, then over to the a Burial Memorial Site in Langhorne, PA.  We presented a Wreath to Chris Blaydon the Mayor of Langhorne Burough to lay at:

Revolutionary War Burial Site
December 25, 1776 – January 3, 1777

Captain William Shippen, Sr., Surgeon General – American Army on written orders from General George Washington set up a hospital in Four Lands End (now Langhorne, Pa.), on January 4, 1777.  Isaac Hicks’ house and tannery were sequestered to treat American soldiers.  Men from the

First Battle of Trenton – December 25, 1776
Second Battle of Trenton – January 2, 1777
Battle of Princeton – January 3, 1777 died here.

Bodies were put four deep in wood boxes and hauled to this burial site at Bellevue and Flowers Avenues.  Archeological excavation performed in 1992 revealed that 166 American soldiers were interred on this swampy site.  The hospitals were closed on May 15, 1777.  Mayor Blaydon gave the WWR a heartfelt THANK YOU for acknowledging this spot that Langhorne Historical Association has worked so hard to preserve. 

Our LAST stop was that of the SOLDIERS GRAVES at Washington Crossing State Park.  We felt this stop very fitting for our 1ST ANNUAL Wreath Laying being the site that Washington’s defeated and demoralized army came into Bucks County bringing with them many soldiers who were ill from disease, exposure, poor nutrition, exhaustion and unhealed wounds. Temporary hospitals were set up in many homes of local residents. Not all of these men would regain their health and leave Bucks County’s soil. Certainly, the experience for the families who housed these unfortunate men would not be easily forgotten. The names of almost all of the soldiers who died at the Thompson-Neely House during the winter encampment of 1776 are unknown. The only soldier’s name that has been passed down through history is that of Captain-Lieutenant James Moore who died on December 25, 1776 of camp fever at the Thompson-Neely House. The number of soldiers who shared Moore’s fate at the Thompson-Neely House is unknown. When the Delaware Canal came through in the early 1800’s the ground disturbance surfaced many partial remains at that time. It is speculated that the remains of 40 to 60 unknowns are buried throughout the Soldier’s Graves area of the Park. The 23 modern tombstones which line the bank today are only a representation of the many souls interred there.  In May of 1954, the Soldier’s Graves area of the Park and the memorial flagstaff were officially dedicated with ceremonies and speeches. The flagstaff base contains native stone from each of the thirteen original colonies laid in homage to the native sons who fought and died during the American Revolution. Though their location and names are lost to the ages, their sacrifice was remembered by the WWR on this most fitting cold day in December which was not nearly as cold as the days were during these soldiers stay in this encampment. 

THANK YOU TO ALL OUR WWR MEMBERS THAT SHARED IN THIS AMAZING TRIBUTE TO OUR LOST HEROES !!!!!!

Kim SGMMOM Huggins