I have always had a particular interest in the New York City Campaign of 1776. Over the years I have been able to visit the battlefields and historic sites associated with these events. While it is easy to focus on the loss of so many sites with the city’s growth (definitely true), I enjoy the challenge of finding remnants of the past in the urban landscape.

Following the capture of New York City by the British on August 27, 1776, Washington pulled his battered forces north, into Westchester County. He chose the village of White Plains to make his next stand. Anchoring his army on the Bronx River, his troops prepared a line of defense astride the road coming up from New York. The army’s left rested on Hatfield Hill and Horton’s Mill Pond, and their center was on Purdy Hill. The entire line was three miles long. Washington made his headquarters at the Jacob Purdy house, which still stands. He then moved to command from the Anthony Miller house, a bit to the north.

On the extreme right of the American line was Chatterton Hill’s, which dominated the area and which two regiments of militia occupied (one from Massachusetts and one from Connecticut). Farmers had constructed stone walls atop the hill and the militia used these convenient barriers for their defensive position.

General Washington was late to recognize the importance of Chatterton’s Hill, but on the morning of October 28 he sent General Alexander McDougal’s brigade there, consisting of the 1st New York, 3rd New York, and 19th Continental Regiments. Haslett’s Delaware and Smallwood’s’ Maryland Regiment were also dispatched to the hill.

When McDougal arrived the Americans deployed with the 19th Continental on the far left, the two New York regiments next in line then the Maryland Regiment, and the militia on the far right. The Delaware Regiment was in reserve. The total American strength on the site was about 2,000 troops. About twelve artillery guns supported them.

In the meantime General William Howe deployed his army to attack. He focused on hitting the American right on Chatterton Hill. Other troops under Colonel Carl von Donop (consisting of five German units) moved against the American center, and General Alexander Leslie with four British regiments (the 5th, 28th, 25th, and 49th) attacked the American left. Another force of Germans under Colonel Johann Rall assisted on the left. Rall’s command included the regiments Rall, Knyphausen, and Lossberg.

Major Benjamin Tallmadge wrote of American preparations: “. . . breastworks were improvised… cornstalks pulled from the fields were stacked with the clods of earth on the bottoms facing the enemy, quickly creating defenses that looked much stronger than they were.” On the morning of October 28, Geneal William Heath wrote of the approaching British, “The sun shown bright, their arms glittered, and perhaps troops never were shown to more advantage than these now appeared.”

On Chatterton’s Hill, Captain William Hull of the 19th Continental Regiment wrote,
Having taken our position, we discovered, at a distance, the approach of the British army. Its appearance was truly magnificent. A bright autumnal sun shed its full lustre on the polished arms, and the rich array of dress and military equipage gave an imposing grandeur to the scene as they advanced in all the pomp and circumstances of war to give us battle. . .”

The first British troops to attack Chatterton’s Hill were the 28th and 35th Regiments. Crossing the Bronx River, which was about waist deep, they moved up the wooded slope. Colonel John Haslett recommended to McDougall that he sent troops forward to meet the attack. The Maryland Regiment and 3rd New York went forward and stopped the British cold.

In the meantime Colonel Rall brought up his German units to the left, beyond the American line, and hit them in the flank. His attack fell on the two militia regiments, who broke in confusion. The Germans then engaged the Maryland and New York regiments. McDougall’s entire command was soon forced back. Haslet’s Delaware Regiment provided covering fire while the remaining troops retreated to the north, and were the last to leave the hill. Haslet wrote of his Delaware troops, “the left of the regiment took post behind a fence on top of the hill with most of the officers, and twice repulsed the light troops and horse of the enemy, but finding themselves deserted on all hands, and the continued column of the enemy advancing we also retired.”

The next day the Americans improved their fortifications. British reinforcements arrived on October 30, and Howe prepared to attack again, but on the 31st Washington withdrew to the north. Although not particularly bloody or complex, I’ve always found the battle interesting. Losses were 217 American and 233 British/German.

Two of the principal commanders here were dead within two months. Rall was the commander of the Trenton garrison when Washington’s forces struck on December 26 and was mortally wounded. Haslet fell at Princeton on January 3. Another, von Donop, fell a year later at Red Bank.

I first visited the battlefield with my friends Mike and Jen in the late 1990s. Jen was stopping to see her grandparents in White Plains. While she visited her relatives, Mike and I went out to explore the area, and found a remnant of the American defense line, and a historic marker. It was so exciting, right in the middle of a busy of a city downtown we found a tangible remnant of the past!

On subsequent visits to the area I found Chatterton’s Hill, the main area of fighting. Today it has a small park with historic makers, one of the few tangible things to see from the battlefield. I’ve also found Washington’s two headquarters sites at the Purdy and Miller houses.

Today the Miller House is preserved and open for tours, as is the Purdy House. The Battle of White Plains Park on Chatterton’s Hill includes several historic markers and preserves a remnant of the original terrain. A monument with a replica cannon stands not far from the train station in White Plains.

Learn more about this historic event in Mark Maloy and Dan Welch’s new book on the 1776 New York campaign: Conquer or Die, out this November!

During the summer of 1776,  news of the Declaration of Independence took time to spread to each of the various states, with some regions getting word faster than others. Many communities held public gatherings to hear the documents read aloud.

The war had been going on for over a year, and now Americans knew what they were fighting for. The final step had been taken: declaring independence.

In Richmond, Virginia, which was not yet the capital of Virginia, the Declaration of Independence was first read on August 5, 1776. A large crowd gathered at the Henrico County courthouse on Main Street to hear the county sheriff read it. 

A newspaper reported on the event:

On Monday last, being court day, the Declaration of Independence was publicly proclaimed n the town of Richmond, before a large concourse of respectable freeholders of Henrico county, and upwards of 200 of the militia, who assembled on that grand occasion. It was received with universal shouts of joy, and re-echoed by three vollies of small arms, the same evening the town was illuminated, and the members of the committee held a club, where many patriotic toasts were drank. Although there were near 1000 people present, the whole was conducted with the utmost decorum, and the satisfaction visible in every countenance sufficiently evinces their determination to support it with their lives and fortunes.

At the time, Richmond was part of Henrico County (today they are separate entities) and the county courthouse and jail were located on Main Street in downtown Richmond. The jail, located behind the courthouse, held prisoners from the battle of Great Bridge in December, 1776, and Loyalists and dissenters were held there throughout the war.

The 1752 Henrico Courthouse, a colonial-style brick structure, stood in the middle of 22nd and East Main streets. The courthouse was rebuilt three more times, and today the 1896 building still stands. It ceased being used in 1975. Today thousands of motorists and walkers will pass by the spot, likely unaware of what happened there 250 years ago today.

I spent last weekend working at the Moores Creek National Battlefield 250th Event. The small National Park near Wilmington, NC had called on other rangers to assist, as parks often do for big events.

World War I ended in a Burger King parking lot in New Jersey. Really! Trust me. While visiting Revolutionary War sites in New Jersey, I had to chance to visit something I’d known about but not yet seen. I hope readers are ok this slight deviation from Revolutionary history.

World War I raged from 1914-1918, with the United States entering in 1917. The Allied nations consisted of the U.S., U.K., France, Italy, Russia, Serbia, and Japan. The Central Powers included Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire. By the fall of 1918 the other Central Powers had dropped out, leaving only Germany still fighting.

On November 11, 1918, Germany agreed to an armistice with the Allies, halting the fighting. Negotiations began on a final peace treaty, resulting in the Treaty of Versailles, signed in 1919. But the U.S. did not sign it. Wilson, a Democrat, faced Republican opposition in Congress. Large portions of the American population also opposed the settlement. There was also opposition to Wilson’s proposed League of Nations, an organization similar to today’s United Nations.

So while the rest of the Allies settled with Germany in 1919, for two more years the U.S. and Germany were still at war, with the Armistice in place. President Wilson’s successor, Warren G. Harding, also opposed the Treaty of Versailles, so suggested that Congress make a separate peace treaty that did not include American membership in the League of Nations. Senator Philander Knox introduced such a resolution and it passed the Senate in April, 1921.

Representative Stephen G. Porter proposed a similar measure in the House. Both houses of Congress modified the two proposals, creating the Knox–Porter joint resolution and passing it on July 1. At the time President Hardig was visiting New Jersey Senator Joseph S. Frelinghuysen and were playing golf at the Raritan Valley Country Club.

The golf course was across the street was the Frelinghuysen estate. Word arrived that a courier was on his way from the Raritan train station, having traveled from Washington with the signing copy of the resolution. Harding walked back to the estate, signed the document, and then returned to complete his round of golf. The Frelinghuysen estate was destroyed by fire in the 1950s, and the site is now occupied by a shopping center and parking lot, with a small plaque marking the place where the home once stood.

Senator Joseph S. Frelinghuysen was the descendant of Frederick Frelinghuysen, who served as a Major General of militia during the Revolution. He was also in the Continental Congress and the Senate.

So while we think of World War I as ending on November 11, 1918, the actual peace treaty with Germany didn’t occur until three years later. Article 1 of the treaty required Germany to grant to the U.S. government all rights and privileges that were enjoyed by the other Allies that had ratified the Versailles treaty two years earlier. And today there’s a Burger King on the site in Somerville, New Jersey.

The National Museum of the United States Army in northern Virginia is well worth a visit. Covering the history of the U.S. Army from colonial beginnings to current operations, it is one of the most impressive museums I’ve seen. Several large galleries focus on major periods of the army’s history, such as the Revolution, Civil War, World War I, World War II, Korea and Vietnam, the Cold War, and current conflicts.

Recently the museum opened a special exhibit on the establishment of the army and the Revolution: “Call To Arms: The Soldier and the Revolutionary War.” It is absolutely outstanding. The exhibit brings together rare items from the army’s collection as well as from museums across the country. The assembly of artifacts is amazing: a cannonball from Trenton, examples of every major type of rifle and musket, a Ferguson Rifle, the sword Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown, several rare original uniforms, and pistols owned by George Washington.

Flags from the era are extremely rare, and here one can see four original Revolutionary War flags. One of the highlights is that of the Rhode Island Regiment, which has not been out of the state since the Revolution ended.

I’m normally not big on technology but the exhibit featured two well done battle map videos, one on Bunker Hill, the other on Yorktown. A looping video in one corner covered soldier life in camp and on the march, dispelling myths and going into detail about medical care, rations, and more.

For more information about the exhibit, and the museum itself, visit their website:


https://www.thenmusa.org/

   During the recent ERW road trip to Massachusetts for the 250th events, I saw the newly marked Parker’s Revenge site at Minute Man National Historical Park. Some of our readers may know that recently the National Park Service conducted archaeology here and discovered the site of part of the April 19, 1775 battle. It was wonderful to see this site now marked and interpreted.

   Captain John Parker commanded the Lexington militia who confronted the British early that morning. Suffering eight killed and ten wounded, they fled in confusion from the Lexington green. Regrouping later that morning, they joined in the counterattack on the British column as it moved back towards Boston, the site being named Parker’s Revenge.

   Nathan Munroe, a veteran of the clash, remembered fifty years later, “About the middle of the forenoon Captain Parker having collected part of his company, I being with them, determined to meet the regulars on their retreat from Concord. We met the regulars in the bounds of Lincoln. We fired on them and continued so to do until they met their reinforcement in Lexington.”

   While park staff had a general idea of where this occurred, recent archaeology confirmed the location. Not far from a section of the road, behind the Minute Man Visitor Center, there is a large rocky outcrop that for decades had been thought to be the site of this phase of the battle. Yet there was little evidence to support this theory.

   A multi-year historical and archaeological investigation funded by the Friends of Minute Man National Park and the American Battlefield Trust, allowed archaeologists and volunteers to investigate the area. Finding musket balls and military artifacts, they could accurately determine troop positions.   

   The investigators searched the woods just north of the outcrop in the hopes of finding evidence of the British flankers, who moved ahead of and around the main body to protect it. Archaeologists found evidence of their position, as well as of the militia.   

   Today there is a maker identifying the site and discussing the recent archaeology. Another nearby provides an illustration to help envision the fighting here. These new markers are a good reminder that we are still learning and often do not have all the answers, even for a well preserved and well documented event like this.

   In the aftermath of the April 19, 1775 fighting at Lexington, Concord, Menotomy, and the road back to Boston, militia swarmed from across New England to surround the British forces in Boston. With fighting now underway, a wave of enthusiasm swept through the region, with a decade of tension now broken by actual combat.