The Virginia Beach Historic Preservation Commission will dedicate a state highway marker to commemorate the Meeting of Three Commanders on March 6.
The dedication will be at 3 p.m.
The marker will be placed near Lynnhaven Colony Park on Shore Drive near where the meeting is believed to have taken place, according to the city.
The marker dedication ceremony will be at the park shelter, 3125 Shore Drive.
In the event of inclement weather, the ceremony will be in BoBo’s Restaurant, 3139 Shore Drive.
Parking for the event is available at the restaurant and a reception will be at BoBo’s after the event.
Gen. André Lanata, Supreme Allied Commander Transformation of NATO Allied Command Transformation, will be speaking at the dedication ceremony.
He is a French Air Force officer.
Lanata will be joined by Virginia Beach Mayor Bobby Dyer on the program.
The public is invited to attend.
About the marker
This historical marker will commemorate the meeting between Gen. George Washington, commander-in-chief of the combined American and French armies, the Comte de Rochambeau, commander of the French expeditionary army, and Admiral François Joseph Paul de Grasse, commander of a large French fleet of warships, which on occurred Sept. 18, 1781.
The commanders met aboard de Grasse’s flagship on Lynnhaven Bay.
It was here that the final strategies were devised that led to the stunning Franco-American victory at Yorktown, according to Virginia Beach’s Historic Preservation Commission.
The text for the marker was researched and developed by local historian Jorja Jean, who received a grant from the Virginia Beach Historic Preservation Commission to fund the marker, according to the city.
The Virginia Board of Historic Resources approved the marker application at their June 2018 quarterly meeting.
Virginia’s historical marker program is the oldest such program in the nation.
Click here for additional information about the Historic Preservation Commission.
