Submitted by George Myers, Sep 7, 2007 12:02

Here in New York we were to be "divided and conquered" using the Hudson River to separate the colonies into north and south and thereby the American Revolution was to be put down. George Washington as America's general lost the "Battle of Long Island" the first major battle and barely escaped to what today is Westchester county, his and the troops narrowly escaped, their retreat defended by John Glover during the Battle of Pell's Point in the American Revolutionary War in the Bronx in NYC. The Glover was the only turbine driven ship in the US Navy, commemorating John Glover's Marblehead, Massachusett heritage.

A series of "Great Chains" were stretched across the Hudson River to stop the advance of the British Navy. Those were defeated by Admiral Cornwallis and many battles ensued in the south Hudson Valley. Admiral Cornwallis had also been ordered to sail up the Bronx River by King George (who may have been poisoned from the wig of the Admiral's brother, General Cornwallis according to some recent forensic analysis) to defeat the rebels at White Plains, an impossible task except by perhaps in a canoe.

General Washington and his troops on the east shore of the Hudson River were joined by 6000+ French troops who disembarked at Providence, Rhode Island and marched across New England. The various state historic preservation offices involved have been searching for some of the encampments that had to have been created en route. There its thought, they may have convinced General Washington to not invade New York City, where many were in and had died in dis-masted prison ships in the harbors, and join the combined French fleet to arrive off of Virginia. According to Barbara Tuchman ("The First Salute") General Washington observed the combined troops crossing from a tall wooden tower above the bank of the Hudson River, so any advancing troops or boats from the British held New York City could be seen. I have seen other "evidence" of Washington's use of towers elswhere in the New York region, perhaps, where a great deal of information could be gathered such as the former Valentine House under the grounds of St. Joseph's Seminary in Yonkers, NY where one could see the Hudson River and the Long Island Sound.

The US National Trust Headquarters at Lyndhurst in Tarrytown, NY has two white busts on exhibit, one of George Washington and the other of Gilbert de Mortier, formerly the Marquis de Lafayette (until 1790 when he renounced any royal title). He revisited the United States in 1834, receiving honoray citzenship, commemorated in some of the ceramic dinnerware of the time I've cataloged from the archaeology of the South Street Seaport in New York City.

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