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George Washington

Did George Washington Burn New York City?

May 24, 2023 by Alan J. Singer 1 Comment

the great new york fireAugust 27, 1776, British troops under General William Howe attacked American forces commanded by George Washington in the Battle of Brooklyn. Assailed from three sides, Washington and the main body of the Americans escaped across the East River to Manhattan and then fled north, ultimately crossing the Hudson River, then known as the North River, to New Jersey.

If Washington and his troops had been captured either in Brooklyn or Manhattan, the American Revolution would likely have ended soon after it began. [Read more…] about Did George Washington Burn New York City?

Filed Under: History, New York City Tagged With: American Revolution, Battle of Brooklyn, Brooklyn, Fires, George Washington, Manhattan, Military History, New York City, William Howe

Who Started The Great New York Fire of 1776?

May 10, 2023 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The Great New York Fire of 1776The book The Great New York Fire of 1776: A Lost Story of the American Revolution (Yale University Press, 2023) by Benjamin Carp explores the Great Fire of 1776 and why its origins remained a mystery even after the British investigated it in 1776 and 1783. [Read more…] about Who Started The Great New York Fire of 1776?

Filed Under: Books, History, New York City Tagged With: American Revolution, Atlantic World, Fires, Fraunces Tavern Museum, George Washington, Manhattan, Military History, New York City

Major General William Alexander, Lord Stirling: A Short Biography

April 30, 2023 by Peter Hess 2 Comments

Detail of Lord Stirling's last stand around the Old Courtelyou House (now known as the Old Stone House in Park Slope) during the battle of BrooklynWilliam Alexander was born on December 25, 1726 in the city of New York to well-known lawyer James Alexander and his wife Mary. Mary and James had emigrated from Scotland in 1716. When they married, Mary was already a widow with six children and she and James had seven more. William was the second son of Mary and James, but when his older brother died in 1731, William became the male heir to the Alexander clan. [Read more…] about Major General William Alexander, Lord Stirling: A Short Biography

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History, Hudson Valley - Catskills, New York City Tagged With: Albany, Albany Plan of Union, American Revolution, Battle of Brandywine, Battle of Brooklyn, Battle of Germantown, Battle of Saratoga, Battle of White Plains, Brooklyn, Delaware River, George Washington, James Monroe, Lafayette, Livingston Manor, Manhattan, Massachusetts, Military History, New Jersey, New York City, Pennsylvania, Schenectady

Newburgh Conspiracy: Showdown at the New Windsor Cantonment

April 13, 2023 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

George Washington Versus the Continental ArmyIn 1783, in the stronghold of the Hudson Highlands during the latter years of the American Revolution, General George Washington kept a wary eye on the British force in the city of New York, 60 miles away. His army, owed months of back pay, and his officers frustrated by the negotiations over their promised pension, chafed under martial authority.

A nationalist faction in Congress seized upon this discontent to instigate the Newburgh Conspiracy, a plot by Continental Army officers to menace civil officials who opposed the Impost, a 5% tax on imports to be collected by the central government, to satisfy the nation’s debts. The army – by this time a formidable force of seasoned veterans – was provoked into threatening the very liberties it had fought to defend. [Read more…] about Newburgh Conspiracy: Showdown at the New Windsor Cantonment

Filed Under: Books, History, Hudson Valley - Catskills Tagged With: American Revolution, George Washington, Hudson Highlands, Knox's Headquarters, Military History, New Windsor Cantonment, Newburgh, Newburgh Conspiracy, Orange County, Political History

Liberty and Slavery in the Birth of a Nation, 1765-1795

March 20, 2023 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

american inheritanceLeaders of the founding of the United States who called for American liberty are scrutinized for enslaving Black people themselves: George Washington consistently refused to recognize the freedom of those who escaped his Mount Vernon plantation. And we have long needed a history of the founding that fully includes Black Americans in the Revolutionary protests, the war, and the debates over slavery and freedom that followed. [Read more…] about Liberty and Slavery in the Birth of a Nation, 1765-1795

Filed Under: Books, History, New York City Tagged With: Abolition, American Revolution, Atlantic World, Black History, George Washington, Political History, Slavery

Field of Corpses: Arthur St. Clair & the Death of an American Army

March 9, 2023 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

field of corpsesNovember 4th, 1791 was a black day in American history. General Arthur St. Clair’s army encountered an Indigenous military force in what is now western Ohio.

In just three hours at what is known as St. Clair’s defeat, the Battle of the Wabash, or the Battle of a Thousand Slain, St. Clair’s force sustained the greatest loss ever inflicted on the United States Army by Native Americans — a total nearly three times larger than that incurred in the more famous Custer fight of 1876. [Read more…] about Field of Corpses: Arthur St. Clair & the Death of an American Army

Filed Under: Books, History Tagged With: Books, George Washington, Indigenous History, Lenape, Military History, Ohio, Ohio River Valley

Washington Project 2023 Student Videos

February 26, 2023 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Washington 2023 ProjectThe Washington Project 2023, a special video presentation by students from the Hudson Valley, is airing on YouTube. The program, consisting of individually created theatrical and musical performance pieces, will feature interpretations of historic events that took place while General George Washington was headquartered in Newburgh. These pieces, written by the students themselves, allows them to interpret history in a contemporary and meaningful way. [Read more…] about Washington Project 2023 Student Videos

Filed Under: History, Hudson Valley - Catskills Tagged With: George Washington, Newburgh, State Parks, Washington's Headquarters State Historic Site

Surviving the Valley Forge Winter of 1778

January 11, 2023 by Liz Covart Leave a Comment

ben franklins world podcastIn this episode of Ben Franklin’s World, historian Ricardo Herrera explores the winter at Valley Forge with details form his book, Feeding Washington’s Army: Surviving the Valley Forge Winter of 1778 (Univ. of North Carolina Press, 2022). [Read more…] about Surviving the Valley Forge Winter of 1778

Filed Under: History Tagged With: American Revolution, George Washington, Military History, Pennsylvania, Podcasts

US, NYS Continues To Honor Slavers, Racists, Traitors and Scoundrels

January 10, 2023 by Alan J. Singer Leave a Comment

Robert E Lee Portrait at West PointIn 2023, the United States Military Academy will remove 13 Confederate symbols on its West Point campus. They include a portrait of Robert E. Lee dressed in a Confederate uniform, a stone bust of Lee, who was superintendent of West Point before the Civil War, and a bronze plaque with an image of a hooded figure and the words “Ku Klux Klan.”

Art displayed in the United States Capitol building in Washington, DC, still includes images of 141 enslavers and 13 Confederates who went to war against the country. A study by the Washington Post found that more than one-third of the statues and portraits in the Capitol building honor enslavers or Confederates and at least six more honor possible enslavers where evidence is disputed. [Read more…] about US, NYS Continues To Honor Slavers, Racists, Traitors and Scoundrels

Filed Under: Arts, Capital-Saratoga, History, New York City Tagged With: Abolition, Albany, Alexander Hamilton, Alexander Macomb, Andrew Jackson, Benjamin Franklin, Black History, Civil War, Daniel Webster, Edward Livingston, Fernando Wood, George Clinton, George Washington, Henry Clay, James Duane, James Madison, James Monroe, John Dickinson, John Tyler, Ku Klux Klan, Manhattan, Martin Van Buren, Morgan Lewis, New York City, Peter Stuyvesant, Political History, Richard Varick, Robert Livingston, Rufus King, Samuel Morse, Slavery, Thomas Jefferson, West Point, William Havemeyer

December 25th: The Continental Army Crosses The Delaware River

December 24, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Washington Crossing the Delaware by Emanuel Leutze, MMA-NYC, 1851On December 25th, 1776, General George Washington led the Continental Army across the Delaware River in a late-night surprise attack on Hessian forces at Trenton, New Jersey.

A bold strike on Christmas night, Washington’s Crossing was a source of desperately needed momentum and a major morale boost for a Continental Army that had endured a brutal year and was on the brink of defeat. [Read more…] about December 25th: The Continental Army Crosses The Delaware River

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: American Revolution, Delaware River, George Washington, Military History, New Jersey

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