WHAT IS REVOLUTIONARY WESTCHESTER 250?

In July 2016 the Congress of the United States passed (and

President Obama signed) Public Law 114-196, the “United States

Semiquincentennial Commission Act of 2016.” The law’s purpose

was to establish a Commission to provide for the observance and

commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the

United States and related events through local, State, national, and

international activities planned, encouraged, developed, and coor-

dinated by a national commission representative of appropriate

public and private authorities and organization.

Revolutionary Westchester 250 (RW250) is a charitable not-for-

profit corporation organized to further the purpose of the

Semiquincentennial Commission by providing for the observance

and commemoration of the pivotal role of Westchester County in

the American Revolution, the founding of the United States and

related events.

What is the Mission of RW250?

• We strive to build awareness and excitement for the events,

places, ideas and people — both the unsung and the famous —

of the Revolutionary War period in Westchester County.

• We collaborate with local and regional groups — heritage and

historic, art and cultural, and educational — as well as libraries,

veterans’ organizations, municipalities, private businesses and

others — to promote heritage tourism and to enhance the

general pleasure and well being of Westchester residents.

• We liaise with county, regional, State and national groups to plan

and implement 250th Anniversary events and programs.

• We publicize events in the areas that relate to the story of the

Revolutionary War period and the founding of the United States.

• We strive to build thoughtful reflection during this commemo-

ration about enduring contemporary themes such as: freedom,

tyranny and democracy, patriotism and American identity,

leadership, citizenship, equality, inequality, opportunity and

oppression, class, race and gender, media and public opinion,

history, folklore and myth and public memory.

Since the summer of 2018, RW250 has organized a series of popular and well-attended programs and appeared at numerous smaller meetings. We are thrilled with the enthu-siasm expressed by both families and history buffs who have joined us. We are fully committed to a grass roots local effort and an engagement with the many diverse voices in Westchester County. We appreciate the cooperation and relationship with the Westchester County Historical Society and the County of Westchester, the Honorable George Latimer, County Executive, in this effort.

Please visit RW250.org for further details on our mission or upcoming events and our list of strategic partners. Please sign up for our newsletters and updates. We welcome volunteers in many capacities.

Constance Messerly Kehoe President and Director RW250, Inc.

Please email me at 1776RW250@gmail.com and share your thoughts. You may send inquires about how your organization might nominate a liaison to our Revolutionary Westchester 250 Roundtable Group or how to plan a program or meeting with RW250. Thank you so much for your interest. Join Us!

Erik Weiselberg, Ph.D. and Constance Messerly Kehoe following a lively local Revolutionary Westchester 250 program at the Hastings-on-Hudson Library

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Discover Revolutionary Westchester

Discover Revolutionary Westchester

RW250.org 1776RW250@gmail.com

RW250 is registered with the Charities Bureau of the New York State Office of the Attorney General under Article 7-A of the New York Executive Law. RW250 will provide support for and directly apply funds to coordinate and execute local programming focused on raising awareness about the role of Westchester County in the Revolutionary War. The registration and supporting documents are open to public inspection. RW250 has applied to the Internal Revenue Service for tax-exempt status as a public charity described in Sections 501(c)(3) and 509(a)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), and, as the date of this printing, is awaiting approval. Donations to RW250 are not currently tax-deductible under the Code until the orga-nization obtains tax-exempt status as a charity. If RW250’s application to the Internal Revenue Service is approved, all donations received by RW250 since its incorporation on March 2, 2017 will be tax-deductible by the donor. The registration and supporting documents are open to public inspection, and RW250’s latest annual report may be obtained, upon request, from RW250 (2199 Saw Mill River Road, Elmsford, New York 10523) or from the New York State Attorney General’s Charities Bureau (28 Liberty Street, 15th Floor, New York, New York 10005).

A Message from our President

© 2019 Frederick Charles

THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR IN WESTCHESTER COUNTY Dramatic, Sustained and Crucial

Erik Weiselberg, Ph.D.,Village Historian, Irvington, NY Principal Historian, Revolutionary Westchester 250

The Capture of André (Currier & Ives, 1876)

The Battle of White Plains mural, White Plains Public Library

In July of 1781 the French Expeditionary Force, consisting of 4,600 soldiers under the command of General Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau, joined 6,500 soldiers of the Continental Army in Westchester. The combined armies spent over six weeks at the Philipsburgh Encampment, stretching across the entirety of lower Westchester. From camp, they jour-neyed throughout the county on military, foraging and reconnais-sance missions. At the camp Generals Washington and Rochambeau devised the plan that led to victory over the British at Yorktown in Virginia in October 1781, effectively ending the war in the US.

The Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route National Historic Trail now preserves and interprets the 680 miles of routes taken by American and French troops from 1781-1782 and com- memorates the role of the critical French-American alliance in the victory over British forces at the siege of Yorktown, Virginia.

Map (right) shows the 1781-1782 routes of both the French and American armies and the Odell House, Rochambeau’s headquarters.

As the region between the lines, Westchester became a deadly cauldron beset by military patrols and roving bands of marauders who foraged for food and supplies, fought in vicious skirmishes and carried out cold-blooded raids. Conflicting loyalties divided families and set neighbor against neighbor. Women became sole providers and de facto combatants by defending homes, and engaging in espionage and intelligence operations. All residents of Westchester, whether free or enslaved, were forced to make tough compromises. By the end of 1779 the British shifted their attention to the southern theater; nonetheless, British and Hessian troops continued to occupy New York City, and Westchester remained a highly contested battleground until November of 1783 when General Washington proceeded through the county to oversee the evacuation of the British from New York City.

Watercolor by French officer Jean Baptiste Antoine de Verger (1762-1851) depicting troops at Yorktown, VA in 1781. The Rhode Island Regiment (far left) served in Westchester in 1781. (Anne S.K. Brown Military Collection, Brown University Library).

Source: Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area.

Discover Westchester’s Revolutionary history and ponder the enduring issues of today. Explore our many heritage sites. Uncover our dramatic and under told story.

From 1776 to 1783 British and Continental forces

maneuvered to take advantage of Westchester

County’s strategic position at the center of the

newly-formed United States of America. Situated

between the Hudson River and the Long Island

Sound, Westchester served as the northern approach

to New York City. Both armies craved the resources

of Westchester’s bountiful farmlands: grain, cattle

and other livestock, and material goods.

The capture of Major John André by three militiamen in Tarrytown on September 23, 1780, stopped traitor Benedict Arnold’s plot to deliver the plans of the stronghold at West Point to the British.

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ashington-RochambeauWRevolutionary RoutesTroop Camp Sites

Thanks to W3R for their support

1780 The Traitor, the Spy and the Captors

1776-1783 Occupation and Civil War

For more information go to www.nps.gov/waro

The Battle of White Plains (October 28, 1776) was a dramatic, full-scale conventional encounter. General George Washington preserved the Continental Army and won a victory at Trenton in December.

Legacies Revolution Then and Now

1781-1782 The French Alliance

1776 Conventional War