On Sunday, February 18th, Knox’s Headquarters has scheduled tours and cannon firings, celebrating Washington’s Birthday.
Over the winter of 1780-81 at Knox’s Headquarters, General Henry Knox organized the artillery for the projected attack on New York City. Soldiers, at the nearby encampment, repaired and trained on the guns, howitzers and mortars.
“Mount Ellison”, the genteel combination English and Dutch-style stone house was built for prominent local merchant Thomas Ellison by an unknown number of skilled artisans and laborers between April and September 1754 for 60 pounds, under the direction of stonemason William Bull.
During the American Revolution, Continental Army generals Nathanael Greene, Henry Knox and Horatio Gates used this house as a military headquarters. Inside these walls, General Knox planned and directed the gathering of the artillery that was used to win the Battle of Yorktown, Virginia, in 1781.
In 1783, Major John Armstrong, at the urging of Nationalists in the Continental Congress, wrote the letters sparking the Newburgh Conspiracy, calling for the army to menace the government with military force.
Tours of the house will be held at at 10 am, 11 am, 12 pm, 1 pm, 2 pm and 3 pm, and small cannon firings will be held at 11:45 am, 1:45 pm and 3:45 pm.
Knox’s Headquarters is located at 289 Forge Hill Road, Vails Gate. For more information, call (845) 561-1765 ext. 22.
Knox’s Headquarters is part of the Palisades Interstate Park Commission. The Palisades Interstate Park Commission administers 29 parks, parkways and historic sites for the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation in New York as well as the Palisades Interstate Park and parkway in New Jersey. For more information about New York State Parks and Historic Sites, click here.
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