NEW WINDSOR — On Saturday, February 15, between 10:00 AM and 4:00 PM, and Monday, February 17 between 10:00 AM and 4:00 PM on Presidents’ weekend, soldiers will bring to life the Continental Army’s final winter encampment with musket and cannon firings, medical demonstrations and other aspects of daily life. On Saturday and Monday at 11:00 AM, 1:30 PM, and 3:30 PM, visitors can see muskets and a cannon fired. Following these firings, children 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, NY, just three miles south of the intersection of I-87 and I-84. For more information please call (845) 561-1765 ext. 22. Please use our alternate entrance at 382 Temple Hill Road due to the construction of the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor addition.
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. 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.
Nearby, Washington’s Headquarters State Historic Site, at 84 Liberty Street, in Newburgh, has a full schedule of activities for the Presidents’ weekend. For more information please call (845) 562-1195. Knox’s Headquarters, at 289 Forge Hill Road, in Vails Gate, is open Sunday, February 16 from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM.
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, please visit our website at www.nysparks.com.
