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Who Do These People Think They Are?
July 24, 2011
“Who Do These People Think They Are?” A program at the Knox Headquarters Historic site from 7 to 9 pm.
Sunday July 24, 2011: 7:00 to 9:00 PM
In the summer of 1781, General George Washington knew exactly what he was doing by trying to convince the British and his own soldiers that he would soon attack New York City. Unbeknownst to all but trusted officials, Washington had agreed to move with the French Army south to Virginia where a French naval force from the Caribbean would join the Continental Army to complete the encirclement of the British Army at Yorktown.
The soldiers of the 2nd and 3rd Continental Artillery Regiments encamped at New Windsor since the previous November had spent their time assembling and training on heavy siege artillery. Without these heavy guns to batter down the fortifications of British General Cornwallis’ Army at Yorktown, the decisive victory achieved there would not have been possible.
At Knox’s Headquarters in Vail's Gate/New Windsor, on July 24 from 7:00 to 9:00 PM costumed historians will think and act like they were the actual participants in July 1781 making final arrangements for the movement of the artillery. The “residents” have no knowledge of the fact that Washington wants to take them south instead of to New York. The "residents" will beguile visitors with tales of past glories and suffering and share their hopes and aspirations for an uncertain future.
As the evening progresses, the masking darkness gives the grounds a surreal atmosphere, adding significantly to the authenticity of the experience. Tour the grounds and mansion by the glow of tin lanterns and experience the tense days before Yorktown with the soldiers and civilians who once made their homes in the area. Visitors will meet few, if any, names that they recognize from history, but instead will interact with humble souls whose efforts combined with thousands of others, helped forge a nation.
This type of presentation, called “first-person living history,” has developed into a very exciting way to make history more meaningful to visitors. This technique is used at places such as Plimoth Plantation in Massachusetts and Colonial Williamsburg, in Virginia.
This program is FREE and open to all with no advanced registration required. For more information please call (845) 561-1765 ext. 22.
Knox’s Headquarters is located at 289 Forge Hill Road, in Vails Gate, New Windsor, New York at the intersection of Route 94 and Forge Hill Road, four miles east of Stewart Airport and three miles from the intersection of I-87 and I-84.
Knox's Headquarters State Historic Site is part of the Palisades Interstate Park Commission, which administers 28 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 www.nysparks.com and for more information about the Palisades Interstate Park parks and historic sites, please visit www.palisadesparksconservancy.org
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