The New Windsor Cantonment State Historic Site and National Temple Hill Association have announced a night of Revolutionary War military drills, musket firings and other period activities on Saturday April 20, 2019 from 7 to 9 pm. This event is free and open to the public.
The site’s reconstructed log huts were commissioned by the Town of New Windsor during the Bicentennial of the American Revolution to highlight their historic property, encompassing a large portion of the 1782-83 final winter encampment of the northern Continental Army. This property is currently managed by the National Temple Hill Association on behalf of the Town of New Windsor. Primarily responsible for the preservation of a large portion of this encampment site, the National Temple Hill Association also operates the mid-18th century stone house owned by James Edmonston that was used for a short time as a headquarters by Major General Horatio Gates.
The New Windsor Cantonment State Historic Site has a replica of the Temple of Virtue, a church and meeting hall and the site’s visitor center details the history of the final winter encampment of the Continental Army. During the mid-April through end of October operating season costumed interpreters demonstrate life from that era.
The National Temple Hill Association was founded at another local Revolutionary War property, artillery commander General Henry Knox’s Headquarters, on February 23, 1933, the 200th anniversary of the first scheduled service in the original Temple of Virtue. This organization was dedicated to recreating this building where General Washington in a moving speech on March 15, 1783 defused officer threats against the national governing body, re-affirming the supremacy of civilian authority over the military. They realized this goal three decades later and ran the site for a few years before turning it over to New York State Parks.
For more information call New Windsor Cantonment at (845) 561-1765 ext. 22. The historic huts are located on Causeway Road/Fisher Lane, off Temple Hill Road (Route 300) in the Town of New Windsor. The site is directly across the street from the New Windsor Cantonment and National Purple Heart Hall of Honor, and is three miles east of Stewart Airport and three miles south of the intersection of I-87 and I-84.
Photo of Continental Army Soldiers from the 7th Massachusetts Regiment Drill on the Grand Parade at the New Windsor Cantonment provided.
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