There are easier ways to explore New York City’s Revolutionary War backstory. For starters, you could get a drink at Fraunces Tavern on Pearl Street, where George Washington celebrated the evacuation of the British Army in 1783.
You could visit the Old Stone House in Brooklyn, which commemorates the bitterly fought Battle of Brooklyn in 1776. Or head to the Dyckman Farmhouse Museum on Broadway and 207th Street to view a rebuilt wood hut where Hessian soldiers took shelter while on the side of the British.
But if you’re up for an adventure and don’t care if your shoes get muddy, make your way to Fort Washington Park just north of the George Washington Bridge.
Beyond an 1840s wood railroad trestle and up a trail in the woods above the Hudson River sits a curious monument made of stones and a little cement.
“American Redout 1776” the oblong boulder reads. On a smaller stone “Fort Washington Chapter, DAR 1910” is chiseled into the rock face.
What’s it all about? “The marker represents the western end of the fortification that included Fort Washington,” notes the Historical Marker Database. “The fort fell on November 16, 1776, and the British occupied Manhattan for the remainder of the Revolutionary War.”
This was a bruising defeat for the Continental forces, who were badly outnumbered by British and Hessian troops. Many of the survivors of the battle were captured and brought to the horrid prison ships docked at Brooklyn’s Wallabout Bay.
The marker uses an antiquated spelling of redoubt, which is a temporary or supplementary fortification outpost. The DAR are the Daughters of the American Revolution, who unveiled this unusual monument during a dedication ceremony in November 1910.
A New York Times article on the ceremony stated that the point of commemorating a terrible defeat was simply “to keep the battle in remembrance.”
It’s a small and almost impossible to find monument, but it says a lot about New York’s outsized role during the Revolution and the need for later generations of residents to honor its significance.
Tags: 250th Anniversary of USA Fort Washington Park, Fort Washington Park Redoubt Monument, Fort Washington Redoubt Memorial, Fort Washington Redout Marker, Hidden War Memorials NYC, New York Commemorates Revolutionary War, Revolutionary War Markers in New York City, Upper Manhattan Revolutionary War Sites
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