July 1776. Revolution was in the air. British naval ships filled New York Harbor. The Redcoats and Hessian mercenaries occupied Staten Island. In Manhattan, George Washington, commander of the Continental Army, read the recently signed Declaration of Independence to his troops on July 9. Afterward, a raucous, inspired crowd pulled down a statue of King George III in Bowling Green. Part of it was later melted down into more than 42,000 musket balls.
In the months that followed, all military eyes were on our region. North Jersey and the Hudson Valley were crucial in the strategic chess match for control of the Hudson River. Control of the river meant control of the war.
At various times over the next several years, a number of battles and skirmishes were fought in the area as the Redcoats and Continentals jockeyed for position. Local loyalties were divided, and both armies plundered the region for supplies. By 1780, wrote one observer, Westchester was "a country in ruins."
Throughout the area, there are reminders that history happened here.
Bergen County has two historic sites that recall a time in November 1776 when the fate of the American Revolution hung in the balance:Fort Lee Historic Park and New Bridge Landing.
Below are details on those and a few more.
Morristown National Historic Park
There are numerous revolutionary war sites in Morristown, where Washington and his troops camped in the winters of the war. Armies generally did not fight in the winter.
There is a sign on Main Street marking the site of Arnold Tavern, where Washington had his first headquarters. There are many signs, plaques and statues, including one of the revolutionary pamphleteer Thomas Paine, and, on the green in the center of town, a cluster of statues of George Washington, Alexander Hamilton and Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette.
Here are four sites to visit within Morristown National Historic Park:
Ford Mansion: Washington stayed here during the second winter encampment, from December 1779 to June 1780. It was home to Jacob Ford Jr. — a colonel in the New Jersey militia whose family made their fortune in the iron business. Alexander Hamilton had a room upstairs, as did other members of Washington’s staff. Martha Washington also stayed with her husband at the mansion during the winter.
Go: The Ford Mansion is at 30 Washington Place, Morristown. Tour times are 10 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m., 2 p.m., 3 p.m. and 4 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday.Phone number:973-539-2016, ext. 210.
Washington Headquarters Museum: Here, you can see a short film on Morristown’s role in the Revolutionary War, as well as an original Gilbert Stuart painting of Washington.
Go: Washington Headquarters Museum is at 30 Washington Place, Morristown. Hours are 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday. Phone number:973-539-2016, ext. 210.
Jockey Hollow:A camp where 10,000 to 12,000 of Washington’s troops stayed during particularly harsh weather. It snowed 28 times during that second winter encampment. The site has a re-creation of the type of hut that soldiers had to build that winter in order to survive.
Go: The Jockey Hollow visitor center is at 580 Tempe Wick Road, Morristown. The hours are 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday. Phone number: 973-543-4030.
Fort Nonsense: Also known as the Upper Redoubt or Kinney’s Hill.Washington ordered his troops to fortify the site in May 1777 in the event that it was ever needed to serve as a retreat.
The “Nonsense” name is a bit of a misnomer that came about after the war, when the story circulated that Washington had his troops fortify the site simply to keep them busy. “That explanation is extremely unlikely,” states a National Park Service website.
Go:Fort Nonsense is at 16 Chestnut St., Morristown. Hours, from April 9 to Sept. 9, are 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. For more information,visithttps://www.nps.gov/morr/planyourvisit/hours.htm.
Schuyler-Hamilton, Morristown
This was the site of a budding romance, not a battle. Built on what was then the eastern edge of town around 1760, originally, it was the home of Dr. Jabez Campfield, who served as a surgeon with the American army during the war. Campfield invited Washington personal physician Dr. John Cochran to stay at the house in the winter of 1870. Cochran’s wife was the daughter of General Philip Schuyler. That winter she invited her niece Elizabeth to visit the house, where she met Washington’s aide-de-camp Hamilton as he was delivering papers to Dr. Cochran. Hamilton and Elizabeth Schuyler married one year later in Albany.
Go: The Schuyler-Hamilton house is at 5 Olyphant Place, Morristown. It's open every Sunday except the first Sunday of the month. The hours are 2 to 4 p.m., October through April. Tours may be arranged for groups of 10 or more. Visithttp://www.njdar.org/schuyler-hamilton.htmlfor more information.
Fort Lee Historic Park
In the contest for control of the Hudson River, the Continental Army established artillery batteries along its banks — Fort Washington on the New York side, and Fort Constitution, later renamed Fort Lee, atop the New Jersey Palisades. The twin forts, coupled with obstructions the Americans sank into the river, created a choke point against British ships attempting to sail up the Hudson. But not for long. In November 1776, an overwhelming British assault led to the fall of Fort Washington and the capture of 3,000 American soldiers. Washington ordered Fort Lee abandoned, leaving behind supplies and artillery during a retreat that prompted pamphleteer Paine, a future New Rochelle resident, to write, “These are the times that try men’s souls.”
Go: Just south of the George Washington Bridge, 33-acre Fort Lee Historic Park includes scenic overlooks, a reconstructed Revolutionary War encampment, a gun battery block house and officer huts along a winding path. There is also a visitors' center.
New Bridge Historic Landing, River Edge
New Bridge Historic Landing in Bergen County was a key crossroads in a dark moment of the Revolution. British and Hessian troops crossed the Hudson River and took Fort Lee on Nov. 20, 1776, as Washington and his troops, who had abandoned the fort, beat a hasty retreat. They were able to cross the Hackensack River at New Bridge. The bridge enabled the Americans to avoid being trapped between the Hudson and the Hackensack rivers, allowing them to live to fight another day.
Go: New Bridge Historic Landing park includes the Steuben House, a stone cottage that New Jersey donated to American Major General Baron Von Steuben in 1783. Like Fort Lee Historic Park, New Bridge Landing is the scene of re-enactments as well as vintage baseball games, an annual naturalization ceremony for new American citizens and other events. The landing is at 1205 Main St. in River Edge.
Bannerman Island, Hudson River
Located on the Hudson River in New York between Cold Spring and Beacon, also known as Pollepel, Bannerman Island was the site of an ill-fated attempt by patriots to protect the Hudson Highlands from British ships. In 1777, wooden cribs filled with metal-tipped, pointed logs were sunk into the river between the island and Plum Point in New Windsor. The "chevaux-de-rise" were set 15 feet apart, the idea being that they would pierce the bottoms of warships trying to sail up the Hudson. They proved ineffective. In 1777, a flotilla of British flatboats sailed over the obstructions and proceeded to Kingston, where the Redcoats burned what was then the capital of the New York colony.
Go: Bannerman Island is part of Hudson Highlands State Park Preserve.Accessible only by water, the island is home to Bannerman Castle, which was built by American entrepreneur Frank Bannerman VI between 1901 and 1918. The Bannerman Castle Trust, in cooperation with the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, provides guided walking tours of the island. Access is by passenger tour boat or with a guided kayak trip.
St. Paul's National Historic Site, Mount Vernon
A controversial election held on the green outside St. Paul's Church in what was then the town of Eastchester helped establish the concepts of press and religious freedom in America, decades before the Revolution. The church was established in 1665 and is best known for a 1733 provincial assembly election that was written about extensively by John Peter Zenger, a New York printer. His stories lambasted Royal Gov. William Crosby and led to Zenger's arrest on libel charges; his acquittal established press freedom in America. During the Revolution, St. Paul's was used as a hospital, and a display there features some of the saws and other primitive medical tools of the day. The cemetery, one of the nation's oldest, includes the graves of several Continental soldiers. The area was a frequent target of foraging soldiers from both the American and British armies. Parishioners buried the church bell, cast in the same London foundry as the Liberty Bell, to prevent it from being taken and melted down to make ammunition. The bell still chimes today, and children who visit on their birthdays are given a chance to ring it.
Go: St. Paul's Church National Historic Site includes the church, the cemetery and a small visitor center/museum. Admission is free. It isat 897 S. Columbus Ave.
Van Wyck Homestead Museum, Fishkill
Built in the mid-1700s, the Dutch Colonial home was requisitioned by the Continental Army in 1775 as headquarters of the Fishkill Supply Depot because of its strategic location near the Hudson River and several main thoroughfares. The depot stored and distributed artillery and food for almost 4,000 American troops stationed in the area to prevent the British from seizing control of the Hudson Valley. The Van Wyck family returned to the house after the war. It was almost torn down to accommodate a ramp for Interstate 84, but was saved in 1962 when it was obtained and restored by the newly formed Fishkill Historical Society.
Go: Located on Route 9, the Van Wyck Homestead Museum hosts special events and offers guided tours at 1 and 4 p.m. onSaturdays and Sundays from June through October.
Stony Point Battlefield, Stony Point
Colonial Gen. "Mad Anthony" Wayne earned his nickname on the night of July 16, 1779, at Stony Point, leading a select regiment in a bold surprise attack on a British fortification protected by cannons, mortars and howitzers. Wayne's men, who had been marching from Fort Montgomery in Orange County since July, formed into columns at a farm about a mile and a half away and launched the attack at midnight. The speed and surprise of the assault resulted in heavy British casualties, and the fortifications were captured before dawn. The victory gave the Americans a huge morale boost. Stony Point was a key Hudson River crossing that was used later in the war by Colonial troops heading to Virginia for what would turn out to be the final victory at Yorktown.
Go:The battlefield, at 44 Battlefield Road, is now a state historic site, with a museum and special programs throughout the year. Call845-786-2521 for hours of operation.
The DeWint House, Tappan
Considered the oldest structure in Rockland County, the DeWint House in Tappan served as Washington's headquarters three times during the Revolution and once after the war, at the invitation of Maj. Frederickus Blauvelt, son-in-law of the homeowners, Johannes and Antje DeWint. Washington first stayed there from July 8 to 24, 1780, while inspecting Hudson River fortifications. He was there again between Sept. 28 and Oct. 7, 1780, during the trial and subsequent hanging of Maj. John Andre, the British spy. After the British surrendered in 1783, Washington was at the house from May 4 to 8 to negotiate the final withdrawal of Redcoat troops from New York City. His final stay was from Nov. 11 to 14 of that year, when he sought shelter from a snowstorm while traveling between West Point and New York City.
Go: The DeWint House and grounds areat 20 Livingston St. Open to the public from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily, except Mondays, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Admission is free.
Sybil Ludington Monument, Carmel
On April 26, 1777, Sybil Ludington became the region's Paul Revere, riding 40 miles through Putnam and Dutchess counties to alert local militiamen that the British were attacking and burning nearby Danbury, Connecticut. Vincent Daquino, who has authored books on the ride, said Sybil was 16 at the time, the oldest of militia Col. Henry Ludington's 12 children. By the time she returned home, having avoided capture by Redcoats and highwaymen, the area's 400 militia were ready to move. "By daybreak, thanks to her daring, nearly the whole regiment was mustered …" her father wrote in his memoir, "and an hour or two later was on the march for vengeance on the raiders."
Go: A large bronze monument of Sybil on her horse, by noted sculptor Anna Vaughn Hyatt Huntington, is at 15 Gleneida Ave. on Lake Gleneida.
Patriot's Park, Tarrytown-Sleepy Hollow
On Sept. 24, 1780, British Maj. John Andre was captured at the Tarrytown-Sleepy Hollow border by three young Americans:John Paulding, Isaac Van Wart and David Williams. Andre, wearing civilian clothes, was returning to New York from a clandestine meeting at West Point with Colonial Gen. Benedict Arnold, who had agreed to betray the American cause and surrender the strategic Hudson River defensive position to the Redcoats. Andre was searched, and papers found in his boots included diagrams of the West Point defenses and correspondence that implicated Arnold as a traitor. Andre was arrested as a spy and later hanged. Sleepy Hollow Historian Henry John Steiner said the war could have ended very differently if West Point had been lost to the British. The Captor's Monument in Patriot's Park commemorates Andre's capture.
Go:The park, on Broadway, includes playground equipment and a basketball court and is home to a popular farmers' market on Saturdays between May and October.
John Barry of the Poughkeepsie Journal contributed to this story.