New Windsor Cantonment Site

By the end of 1782, the British army’s largest stronghold in North America was New York City. To keep them in check, the Continental Army set up its quarters for the winter in New Windsor, approximately 50 miles north of New York City on the Hudson River.  The soldiers constructed nearly 600 log huts aligned in rows, making it the second-largest city in New York State at the time. With some officers staying in nearby homes, the Cantonment (temporary quarters) encompassed 1,600 acres. Over 7,500 soldiers and some 500 of their wives and children remained here through June 1783. In March of that year, George Washington's emotional address to his troops thwarted a mutiny by Continental soldiers frustrated over years of unpaid wages and unfulfilled pension promises.