Preserving the Siege Story

People come to Longfellow House expecting to hear about the poet. They're surprised to learn Washington lived here first. But the siege of Boston happened here—in these rooms, around this table. Washington sat where you're standing, trying to figure out how to beat the most powerful military in the world with an army that might dissolve on New Year's Eve. We have letters he wrote here, agonizing over supplies, discipline, strategy. The house makes the history tangible. You can't walk through these rooms and not feel the weight of those decisions.