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The Revolutionary War and the Hudson ValleyAs the American colonies' first great river and commercial highway, the Hudson River played a crucial role during the Revolutionary War and the early days of the new nation. Thus, it is replete with historic sites and battlefields from that era.Here, from Yonkers to Albany, are just a few: Philipse Manor Hall, Dock Street and Warburton Avenue, Yonkers. Phone: (914) 965-4027. Owned by the loyalist Philipse family, Philipse Manor Hall was seized by the patriot government of New York during the war. At various times it was occupied by both sides and served as the sometimes headquarters of the British General Sir Henry Clinton from 1778 to 1781. DeWint House, Livingston Avenue and Oak Tree Road, Tappan. Phone: (845) 359-1359. Occupied several times during the war by George Washington, a table in the kitchen of the house is reputed to be the one on which Washington signed the death warrant for Maj. John Andre, Benedict Arnold's co-conspirator in the plot against West Point. Washington's Headquarters, 140 Virginia Road, North White Plains. Phone: (914) 949-1236. Open by appointment only. This small frame house was Washington's headquarters during the battle of White Plains in October 1776 and again briefly in mid-1778 and summer 1781. More information: www.westchestergov.com/history/wash.htm John Jay Homestead, Route 22, Katonah. Phone: (914) 232-5651. Regular season, April 15 through Labor Day, Wed.-Sat., 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sun., noon-5 p.m. Last tour 4 p.m., including July 4. September-October 31, Wed.-Sun., noon-5 p.m. Last tour at 4 p.m. Retirement home of John Jay, patriot, founding father and first Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court Van Cortlandt Manor, South Riverside Avenue, Croton-on-Hudson. Phone: (914) 631-8200. Open daily except Tuesday, April-October, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Weekends only in November-December, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. (last tour at 3 p.m.). Home of patriot leader Pierre Van Cortlandt, who later went on to become New York';s first lieutenant governor. His son, Philip, commanded American troops during the war. Benjamin Franklin, John Jay and the Marquis de Lafayette were among the many luminaries who stayed there during the war. Stony Point Battlefield, Routes 9W and 202, Stony Point. Phone: (845) 786-2521. Lighthouse open from April 15-Oct. 31. Site of one of the most daring American exploits of the war. On July 16, 1779, General "Mad Anthony" Wayne's forces made a midnight attack to take the fortifications commanding Kings Ferry (a vital communications link) from their British defenders. Forts Clinton and Montgomery, Bear Mountain State Park, Route 9W, Bear Mountain. Phone: (845) 786-2701 x226. Open daily, from dawn to dusk, year-round. In October 1777, these forts were taken by British Gen. Sir Henry Clinton as part of diversion to take pressure off the British forces being besieged at Saratoga. More information: www.nysparks.com/hist U.S. Military Academy, West Point. Visitors Center: Open
9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. daily. Call (845) 938-2638 or (845) 446-3085
for the gift shop. Tours: Guided tours run April-October. Benedict
Arnold's plan to betray the West Point fortifications to the British
in 1780 made his name synonymous with "traitor.'' The West
Point Museum is one of the finest military museums in the world.
Open 10:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. daily.Call (845) 938-2203 or (845)
938-3590 or go to www.usma.edu/museum.
It’s free and open to the public. Washington's Headquarters (Hasbrouck House), Liberty Street,
Newburgh. Phone: (845) 562-1195. Regular Season Hours: April 18-Oct.
28. Open Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sunday 1-5
p.m.From April 1782 through August 1783, Washington made this his
headquarters, making it his official wartime residence for a longer
duration than any other place. Martha Washington was with him most
of the time. It was acquired by New York State in 1850, the first
act of historic site preservation by any state or federal agency. New Windsor Cantonment, Temple Hill Road, New Windsor. Phone:
(845) 561-1765. Open mid-April to October, Sun., 1-5 p.m; Wed.-Sat.,
10 a.m.-5 p.m. In the fall of 1782, Washington chose this site for
the final winter encampment of the Continental Army. It was here
that Washington put down a proposed "mutiny'' by some of his
officers and also here that he created the "Purple Heart''
medal for soldiers wounded in action. Knox Headquarters (Edmonston House), Forge Hill Road and
Route 94, Vails Gate. Phone: (845) 561-5073. Open Sundays, 2-5 p.m.,
July-Sept. Used as a headquarters by Washington's chief of artillery,
Gen. Henry Knox, at various
times between June 1779 and September 1782. Also used by Generals
Nathaniel Greene, Horatio Gates and Frederick von Steuben. Van Wyck Homestead, Routes 9 and 84, Fishkill. Phone: (845) 896-9560. Open from Memorial Day to Labor Day, on Saturday and Sunday, from 1-5 p.m., or by appointment. Dutch colonial homestead (original structure built in 1732). Surrounding area was site of a massive supply depot for the entire northern department of the Continental Army. Mount Gulian Historic Site, Sterling Street, Fishkill. Phone: (845) 831-8172. Hours: Open mid-April through December, Wednesdays and Sundays, 1-5 p.m., and by appointment. Includes Verplanck Homestead, headquarters of General Baron Frederick Von Steuben, inspector general of the Continental Army in 1783. Mount Gulian is also site of formation of the Society of the Cincinnati, the nation's first veterans' group, in 1783. First Dutch Reformed Church of Fishkill, Route 52, Fishkill. Phone: (845) 896-9836. Served as the seat of state government when the New York Provincial Convention met there from September 1776 to February 1777. Later served as a prison for American counterspy Enoch Crosby. The graveyard is the resting place of many American Revolution soldiers. Gomez Mill House, Route 9W, Marlboro. Phone: (845) 236-3126. Open Wed.-Sun., 10 a.m.-4 p.m. The oldest existing Jewish house in North America, it was founded a Sephardic Jew, Lewis Moses Gomez, as a trading post in 1714. John Kane House, 126 E. Main St. Pawling. Phone: (845) 855-9316. Open mid-May through mid-October, Sat.-Sun., 2-4 p.m. and by appointment. House of Tory John Kane, used as headquarters by Gen. Washington for two months in 1778. The nearby 1764 Oblong Meeting House served as a hospital for Continental Army troops. Quaker Hill, Pawling. Site of "Prendergast's Rebellion'' in 1766, an anti-land rent action which led to a fight between "embattled farmers'' and British troops a full nine years before colonials and Redcoats exchanged shots at Concord, Mass., starting the Revolutionary War. Clinton House (Clear-Everitt House), 549 Main St., Poughkeepsie. Phone: (845) 471-1630. Open by appointment. Circa-1770 house often used by New York Gov. George Clinton both during and after the Revolutionary War during visits to Poughkeepsie. Glebe House, 635 Main St., Poughkeepsie. Phone: (845) 471-1630. Open by appointment. Built in 1767 by the Anglican Church as a parsonage. Abandoned by loyalist clergy during the Revolution; housed Continental Army officers during that time. Dutchess County Courthouse, Main and Market streets, Poughkeepsie. An earlier building on this site housed New York's constitutional convention in 1787, where the state eventually ratified the proposed U.S. Constitution by a narrow three-vote margin. Montgomery Place, Annandale-on-Hudson. Phone: Call (845) 758-5461.
Open daily, except Tuesdays, April through October, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.,
with the last tour at 4 a.m. Open weekends in November, 10 a.m.-5
p.m., and the first two weekends in December, noon to 5 p.m. One
of the ancestral homes of the Hudson Valley's prominent Livingston
family. Built in 1804-05 by Janet Livingston Montgomery, widow of
Revolutionary War hero Maj. Gen. Richard Montgomery (killed at Battle
of Quebec, Dec. 31, 1775). An outstanding example of Federal and
Classic Revival architecture. Senate House, 296 Fair St., Kingston. Phone: (845) 338-2786. Open April 15 through Oct. 31, Wed.-Sat., 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sun., 11 a.m.-5 p.m.; Mondays, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.In September 1777, the first Senate of the State of New York met in the house of Abraham van Gaasbeek on this site. However, the state government was soon forced to flee Kingston as on Oct. 16, British troops burned the village, including the van Gaasbeek house. It was rebuilt soon afterwards and again used as a private residence. Clermont, off Route 9G, Germantown. Phone: (518) 537-4240. Grounds
open all year 8:30 a.m. to sunset. Mansion is open 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
House is open Tue.-Sun., April 1-Oct. 31; Sat.-Sun., Nov. 1-Dec.
15. Home to seven generations of the Livingston family from 1730
until 1962, including Chancellor Robert R. Livingston (1746-1813),
a signer of the Declaration of Independence, negotiator of the Louisiana
Purchase, and financial backer of Robert Fulton's steamboat. Bronck House, Route 9W, Coxsackie. Phone: (518) 731-6490. The museum is open Memorial Day weekend to Oct. 15; Tue.-Sat. and Monday holidays, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; Sundays, 1-5 p.m. According to tradition, this was the site of the signing of the Coxsackie Declaration of Independence, more than a year before the Continental Congress took the same step. Home to the Bronck family, for years the leaders of southern Albany (now Greene) County, it was the meeting place for the pre-Revolutionary Coxsackie Committee of Correspondence. Historic Cherry Hill, 523 1/2 South Pearl Street and McCarty Avenue, Albany. Phone: (518) 434-4791. Open April-December. Call for hours. Col. Philip Van Rensselaer was commissioner of military stores for New York during the Revolution. Cherry Hill, which he built in 1768, was where he conducted most of his business. More information: www.historiccherryhill.org The Pastures (Schuyler Mansion), 32 Catherine St., Albany. Phone: (518) 434-0834. Open April-October, Wed.-Sun., 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tours begin on the hour. Last tour begins at 4 p.m. Also open on Tuesdays in July and August. November to March, by appointment only. Home and headquarters of Maj. Gen. Philip Schuyler, commander of the northern department of the Continental Army. Many important visitors passed through its portals, including Washington and Franklin. After the battle of Saratoga, the defeated British Gen. John Burgoyne was a prisoner/guest at the mansion. In 1780, the drawing room of the house was the scene of Alexander Hamilton's wedding to Elizabeth Schuyler. More information: www.nysparks.com/hist Saratoga National Historic Park/Saratoga Battle Monument and Field of Grounded Arms. Phone: (518) 695-3322. Although north of Albany, and technically outside the Hudson Valley, the battle of Saratoga (or Bemis Heights) is of such importance that we can't leave it out. The "Turning Point of the Revolution'' ... when British troops under Gen. John Burgoyne were defeated by American forces under the command of Gen. Horatio Gates in a series of engagements between Sept. 19 and Oct. 7, 1777 ... is marked by several separate sites: the National Historic Park, which consists of Saratoga Battlefield, between Routes 4 and 32, about 30 miles north of Albany, and the Schuyler House in the Village of Schuylerville; the Saratoga Battle Monument, on N.Y. Route 338 just southwest of Schuylerville, and the Field of Grounded Arms, on NY Route 29 in Schuylerville, where Burgoyne formally surrendered on Oct. 17, 1777 (although much of the land is privately owned, historical markers are located on the road). The Battlefield Visitors Center is open daily from 9 a..m.-5 p.m. (closed Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Day). The Schuyler House is open for guided tours Wed.-Sun., 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., May 25 through Labor Day. The Saratoga Battle Monument is open Wed.-Sun., 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., May 25 through Labor Day. After Labor Day, it is open weekends (same hours) until mid-October. More information: www.nps.gov./sara Sources: Landmarks of the Revolution in New York State, by David C. Thurheimer (1972, published by the New York State American Revolution Bicentennial Commission); Historic Houses of the Hudson Valley, by Harold D. Eberlein and Cortlandt Van Dyke Hubbard Dover Publications 1990 reprint of 1942 original), and Journal staff research. |
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