Verplanck's Point lies at the southernmost end of the hamlet of Verplanck in the town of

Cortlandt, New York Cortlandt is a town in Westchester County, New York, United States, located at the northwestern edge of the county, at the eastern terminus of the Bear Mountain Bridge. The town includes the villages of Buchanan and Croton-on-Hudson. History T ...

in the upper northwest corner of

Westchester County Westchester County is located in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seventh most populous county in the State of New York and the most populous north of New York City. According to the 2020 United States Census, the county had a population ...

. Both derive their name from the activities of the Verplanck family, established in New Amsterdam by Abraham Isaacsen Verplanck in the 1630s.

History

Verplanck's Point is best known for its role in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

, several times serving as an encampment for George Washington's Continental Army during its crossings of the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...

. Its flat alluvial plane served as a natural staging area for ferrying men and materiel from Kings Ferry, lying between the Point and the neighboring hamlet of Montrose and Stony Point on the west bank of the river. Pursued by the army of British General William Howe, Washington was en route to

Fort Lee, New Jersey Fort Lee is a borough at the eastern border of Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, situated along the Hudson River atop the Palisades. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the borough's population was 40,191. As of the 2010 U.S. census, t ...

. Chernow, 2010, p. 257 From there it continued south to

Yorktown, Virginia Yorktown is a census-designated place (CDP) in York County, Virginia. It is the county seat of York County, one of the eight original shires formed in colonial Virginia in 1682. Yorktown's population was 195 as of the 2010 census, while York Co ...

, where Washington received the surrender of General Cornwallis on October 19, 1781.

Troop Review

A year later, in September 1782, Verplanck's Point, an alluvial plain and natural place for an encampment during the inherent bottleneck of an arduous and slow ferrying of men and materiel across the river, again became the site of the Continental Army's bivouac upon crossing the Hudson. On the 14th Washington staged a review of Continental Army there as an honor for the departing French commander in chief

Comte de Rochambeau Marshal Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau, 1 July 1725 – 10 May 1807, was a French nobleman and general whose army played the decisive role in helping the United States defeat the British army at Yorktown in 1781 during the ...

and his army. Washington wrote of the display:

"As the intention of drawing out the troops tomorrow is to compliment his Excellency the Count de Rochambeau; The troops as he passes them shall pay him the honors due the commander in chief," adding with typical attention to detail, "On this occasion the tallest men are to be in the front rank."''The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources'', John C. Fitzpatrick, p. 157
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Trumbull painting

John Trumbull painted a full-length oil portrait of '' Washington at Verplanck's Point'', and gifted it to Martha Washington. Based on its success he produced a much larger work scaled up to nearly four times its size for the City of New York, ''

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...

'', substituting Evacuation Day of New York City in 1783 as its backdrop for departing French commander-in-chief General Rochambeau's review of Washington's Continental Army troops on September 14, 1782.

Notes

References

{{authority control New York (state) populated places on the Hudson River George Washington American Revolution