On Saturday, February 17, 2018, from 10 am to 4 pm, and Monday, February 19, from 10 am to 4 pm on Presidents’ weekend, re-enactors will bring to life the Continental Army’s final winter encampment at the New Windsor Cantonment, with musket and cannon firings, medical demonstrations and other aspects of daily life.
Discontent filled the encampment at New Windsor during the winter of 1782-83 as the men bitterly reflected upon their ill-treatment by an ungrateful nation. Heavily armed and angry, the disgruntled officers and soldiers of the Continental Army were the biggest threat to the future of the country.
On Saturday and Monday at 11 am, 1:30 pm and 3:30 pm, see muskets and a cannon fired. Following these firings, children can enlist in the Continental Army, drill with wooden muskets and get paid in Continental currency for their service. New Windsor Cantonment State Historic Site is co-located with the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor on Route 300, 374 Temple Hill Road, in New Windsor.
Following the capture of British forces by the allied armies of France and America, at Yorktown, Virginia, in the fall of 1781, the northern Continental Army returned to the Hudson Highlands. The destruction of the principal British field army in the south broke England’s will to continue the struggle. In the fall of 1782, near New Windsor, 7,500 Continental Army soldiers built a city of 600 log huts. Along with some of their family members, they braved the winter and kept a wary eye on the 12,000 British troops in New York City, just 60 miles away.
For more information call (845) 561-1765 ext. 22.
New Windsor Cantonment State Historic Site 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.
Photo: Continental Army Soldier Matt Thorenz, from Wallkill, provided.
Leave a Reply