Happy 282nd Birthday General George Washington
It was a fun and interesting time for local history buffs at the Jacob Purdy House National Historic Site on Sunday as members of the White Plains Historical Society, government officials, citizens and members of the local militia that reenact historical battles raised the American flag, sang patriotic songs and celebrated George Washington’s 282nd birthday.
Guest speaker Barnet Schecter, author of “The Battle for New York” and “George Washington’s America: A Biography through His Maps” kept an audience that filled the Jacob Purdy House to capacity spellbound with his discussion about the role of New York and specifically Westchester County during the Revolutionary War.
“Westchester was like a demilitarized zone during the Revolutionary War,” Schecter said. Washington maintained much of his operations in New York and that provided a separation point between the British fronts in the north along the Hudson River up to the Canadian border and those in the south around Philadelphia, he explained.
Schecter noted that it actually took seven years for the war to end and that it was when the British finally closed down their operations and left Manhattan that the war was truly over.
Audience members speculated about the reasons for British Admiral Howe’s seeming lack of interest in forcing the revolutionaries to surrender after losing battles, especially the Battle of White Plains.
After losing ground at Chatterton Hill, Washington was able to escape with his troops to fight and win another day.
Schecter credited Howe’s attitude to a general misunderstanding on the part of the British at the time that the revolutionaries were fighting for their freedom and that an enemy fighting for an ideal will fight hard and do what is necessary to win and that often means not following conventional forms of warfare.
Hot cider and a birthday cake baked at Stop and Shop were served in celebration.
