Washington Heights & Inwood Online

In the six-year period known to us as the American Revolution, northern Manhattan was the scene of military life for both American and Royalist armies. In the early party of the war the Americans controlled the area until the defeat of Fort Washington in November 1776. From then until the end of the war, the Royalist forces occupied Washington Heights and Inwood.

The American army was an assemblage of state militias that had an enlistment period for 90 days. Each state had sent militias to fight in other states. Many of the foot soldiers had little, if any, training in the art of war. The officers had some experience from the French and Indian Wars a decade earlier.

On the other hand the Royalist army (British, Scots, Irish, Welsh, Hessians and Loyalists) had been trained over a period of years and were a force to be reckoned with. Loyalists assisted in occupational duties. Such groups as Robinson’s Provincials and the Associated Refugees were active in the New York and New Jersey area.

After the Declaration of Independence was ratified and accepted on July 4, 1776, and after Washington had succeeded in forcing the British to withdraw from Boston, the next military campaign was New York. The Declaration was read in New York on July 9th and was widely accepted by the American army.

In September 1776, 10,000 Continental soldiers were garrisoned in northern Manhattan. Most of them were redeployed to Westchester for the Battle of White Plains on October 28th.

Fort Washington in Manhattan and Fort Lee in New Jersey were constructed by General Nathaniel Greene in July 1776 to create a cross-fire effect over the Hudson River. This was created to prevent British Warships from sailing up the river, thus dividing New England from the rest of the colonies. In November, Fort Washington was forced to surrender because of overwhelming odds. The Rebel forces were outnumbered 3 to 1. Heavy tolls were taken on both sides. The American prisoners were marched to lower Manhattan to be transferred to Prison Ships, most of which were located at Wallabout Bay.

A few days after the fall of Fort Washington, Fort Lee was captured by the British. Equipment and food were left but the Continental army had managed to escape. One of the Loyalist units under the command of Colonel Edward Fanning was used as a diversion in the attack on Fort Lee. Fanning was the son-in-law to William Tryon, the last British governor of the province of New York, who ruled New York from the HMS Asia, which was one of the warships stationed in New York harbor.

The Hessians, under the command of Lieutenant General Philip von Heister and Lieutenant General Wilhelm von Knyphausen, occupied northern Manhattan after the fall of Fort Washington. Of the two Hessian divisions, each had two brigades. Von Knyphausen had additional cavalry and artillery units. Von Knyphausen and his troops were to become famous for the occupation of Fort Washington and the rest of northern Manhattan.

During the war, the Morris-Jumel Mansion and the Dyckman Farmhouse were used as command centers by both Rebel and Royalist armies. Court-martials were common occurrences during this period. Most of the charges were for treason, desertion, insubordination and espionage.

Neighborhood taverns were constant meeting spots for officers and enlisted men. Such taverns as the Blue Bell at what is now Broadway and 181st Street and the White House at 159th Street and Saint Nicholas Avenue were used as drinking establishments and in certain instances for courts-martial.

After the Battle of Harlem Heights on September 16, 1776, a badly wounded Colonel Knowlton of the Patriots was carried to the White House Tavern to be treated. Unfortunately, he did not live long after. During the occupation of the Royalist Forces, the White House was either dismantled or burned. This was confirmed by a captured American officer, Captain Alexander Graydon, who was a prisoner of war at the Morris-Jumel Mansion. According to the British maps of 1782, there was no mention of the White House Tavern.

Hessian officers occupied the homes of landowners after the battle of Fort Washington. The British officers, such as General Howe, lived in comfort in lower Manhattan. The Scots, Irish and Welsh joined the Hessians and were stationed in Northern Manhattan too.

The non-commissioned soldiers lived in poorly constructed cabins. These were log cabins that were approximately 12 by 15 feet with eight men per cabin. The men consisted of one sergeant, a corporal and six private soldiers. The duty roster was 12-hour shifts for four of the men who were on duty, while the other four were off duty.

Several hundred of these cabins were constructed to house the occupying soldiers in New York and in Fort Lee, New Jersey. These were used for the duration of the war and were razed in 1783. Replicas of these cabins are at the Dyckman Farmhouse Museum, located on 204th Street and Broadway, and at the Fort Lee Historic Park in New Jersey.

When the Royalist forces occupied New York City, they took over and improved the fortifications that the Rebel army had constructed in the summer of 1776 and then abandoned. Many were earthworks, enclosed canon and rifle batteries, and redoubts.

In Inwood Hill Park there are faint remains of oven pits and foundations of the huts. The most noticeable is at Payson Street near Beak Street. Reginald Pelham Bolton, the noted historian and archaeologist of Washington Heights and Inwood, along with Bashford Dean, the curator of Arms and Armament at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, excavated the remains of these sites in the early part of the 20th century.

Johann Karl Philip von Krafft, a 2nd Lieutenant under Knyphausen, was stationed for three years in northern Manhattan. Von Krafft was to become famous for the diary he wrote on the military camp life of the area. During the winters of 1778-79 and 1779-80, according to von Krafft, both the Harlem and Hudson Rivers were frozen over. The snows were deep, and frostbite was a common occurrence. He reported that the temperature had reached an exaggerated 35 degrees below zero. Von Krafft also reported shortages of munitions for the Royalist occupational forces in northern Manhattan.

During the summer of 1779, a fever epidemic struck, and few were spared its vengeance. More men died from diseases such as cholera, dysentery and smallpox than from wounds received in battle. Men who were wounded in battle did not have the medical care that is provided for today.

There was little food available for the soldiers. Many suffered from malnutrition due to the poor quality and the lack of food. Household items such as cutlery, plates, clothing and furniture were usually taken by the occupying soldiers from abandoned houses of neighborhood residents. These were for personal use whenever there was available food to be had.

Life was harsh during this time. Consumption of alcohol created problems for the soldiers stationed here in northern Manhattan. Drinking eased the stress of the war and made the cold winters more tolerable. Drinking alcoholic beverages became one of the favorite passtimes in the encampments, with gambling as a close second.

Between 1776 and 1783, prison ships were anchored in New York harbor. Most of them were located near Wallabout Bay in Brooklyn. Of the 25 ships used as prisons, the most notorious was the HMS Jersey, which sat on the mudflats of the East River.

The largest amount of American captives were the prisoners taken after the Battle of Long Island in September 1776 and the Battle of Fort Washington two months later. The men on these ships were fed the refuse from other British ships stationed in New York Harbor.

At least 11,500 patriots lost their lives on the prison ships due to hunger and disease. This toll superseded the total amount of deaths (about 6,824) during all of the battles of the American Revolution.

The American Revolution ended and the treaty between England and the United States was signed. This treaty would force England to honor the United States as an entity and the Royalist forces were expected to leave New York on November 25, 1783. It became known as Evacuation Day.

Washington and his troops marched in from the north about an hour after the British had evacuated an area. As the British retreated, several houses were burned, one of which was the Dyckman Farmhouse. The military huts that housed the occupying forces were later dismantled to be used for rebuilding the burned homes.

At 1 p.m. on Evacuation Day, General Guy Carleton of the British Army made sure that all of his troops had left Manhattan Island and the rest of the city. Within the hour Washington, along with General Clinton, marched from McGown’s Pass to the Battery.

Fort Washington and other fortifications occupied by the Royalist forces for the duration of the war had been retaken, and the American flag was raised again after seven years of occupation. The last British warship left New York Harbor on December 5, 1783.

For more than a century, Evacuation Day was celebrated in New York City. It was marked with military parades and banquets. On the eve of the First World War, the celebration was abandoned because of the decline of anti-British sentiment and the future alliance of the two nations. The only exception to this was on November 25, 1983, the Bicentennial of Evacuation Day.

The Dyckman Farmhouse Museum on 204th Street and Broadway has a relic room that contains artifacts and belongings of soldiers from the American Revolution. These artifacts are the result of the archaeological excavations of Reginald Pelham Bolton and Bashford Dean. These excavations took place between 1905 and 1915. Objects that were found included buttons, bullets, bayonets, cannon balls, shoe buckles, dice and other tools. These artifacts were installed in the back room on the main floor of the Dyckman Farmhouse in 1916.

In 1991 the Dyckman Farmhouse was renovated and the Relic Room was refurbished. This was done in conjunction with the 75th anniversary of the opening of the building as a museum. The Relic Room was named in honor of Reginald Pelham Bolton who was responsible for the excavation of these historic relics and was instrumental in gathering much of the neighborhood’s historical information.