Under the direction of local stonemason William Bull, “Mount Ellison,” the genteel combination English and Dutch-style Knox’s Headquarters was built for prominent local merchant Thomas Ellison by an unknown number of skilled artisans and laborers between April and September 1754.
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 Henry 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.
Knox’s Headquarters in Vails Gate, Orange County, NY will host a celebration of George Washington’s birthday on Sunday, February 20th and Monday February 21st.
Tours of the headquarters will be held at 10 am, 11 am, 12 pm, 1 pm, 2 pm and 3 pm, with a small cannon firing at 11:45 am, 1:45 pm, and 3:45 pm.
Knox’s Headquarters is located at 289 Forge Hill Road, Vails Gate, just three miles south of the intersection of I-87 and I-84 and is 1 mile south, of the co-located National Purple Heart Hall of Honor and the New Windsor Cantonment, in New Windsor, Orange County, NY.
For more information call (845) 561-1765 ext. 22.
Photo of Knox’s Headquarters provided.
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