George Washington's Westchester Gamble: The Encampment on the Hudson and the Trapping of Cornwallis
During the summer of 1781, the armies of Generals Washington and Rochambeau were encamped in lower Westchester County at Dobbs Ferry, Ardsley, Hartsdale, Edgemont and White Plains. It was a time of military deadlock and grim prospects for the allied Americans and French. Washington recognized that a decisive victory was needed or America would never achieve independence. In August, he marched these soldiers to Virginia to face General Cornwallis and his redcoats. Washington risked all on this march. Its success required secrecy, and he prepared an elaborate deception to convince the British that Manhattan, not Virginia, was the target of the allied armies. Local historian Richard Borkow presents this exciting story of the Westchester encampment and Washington's great gamble that saved the United States.
1100347984
George Washington's Westchester Gamble: The Encampment on the Hudson and the Trapping of Cornwallis
During the summer of 1781, the armies of Generals Washington and Rochambeau were encamped in lower Westchester County at Dobbs Ferry, Ardsley, Hartsdale, Edgemont and White Plains. It was a time of military deadlock and grim prospects for the allied Americans and French. Washington recognized that a decisive victory was needed or America would never achieve independence. In August, he marched these soldiers to Virginia to face General Cornwallis and his redcoats. Washington risked all on this march. Its success required secrecy, and he prepared an elaborate deception to convince the British that Manhattan, not Virginia, was the target of the allied armies. Local historian Richard Borkow presents this exciting story of the Westchester encampment and Washington's great gamble that saved the United States.
21.99 In Stock
George Washington's Westchester Gamble: The Encampment on the Hudson and the Trapping of Cornwallis

George Washington's Westchester Gamble: The Encampment on the Hudson and the Trapping of Cornwallis

by Richard Borkow
George Washington's Westchester Gamble: The Encampment on the Hudson and the Trapping of Cornwallis

George Washington's Westchester Gamble: The Encampment on the Hudson and the Trapping of Cornwallis

by Richard Borkow

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Overview

During the summer of 1781, the armies of Generals Washington and Rochambeau were encamped in lower Westchester County at Dobbs Ferry, Ardsley, Hartsdale, Edgemont and White Plains. It was a time of military deadlock and grim prospects for the allied Americans and French. Washington recognized that a decisive victory was needed or America would never achieve independence. In August, he marched these soldiers to Virginia to face General Cornwallis and his redcoats. Washington risked all on this march. Its success required secrecy, and he prepared an elaborate deception to convince the British that Manhattan, not Virginia, was the target of the allied armies. Local historian Richard Borkow presents this exciting story of the Westchester encampment and Washington's great gamble that saved the United States.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781609490393
Publisher: History Press, The
Publication date: 05/31/2011
Pages: 192
Product dimensions: 5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Richard Borkow is the village historian of Dobbs Ferry, New York, a trustee of the Dobbs Ferry Historical Society and editor of the website www.VillageHistorian.org. In 2009 and 2010, he was project director for Noted Historians Reveal Dobbs Ferry's Historic River Connections, a series of video interviews on YouTube with distinguished historians, including Pulitzer Prize recipient, David Hackett Fischer. In the interview entitled, American Revolution: The Decision Which Won the War, Dr. Fischer speaks about the dramatic "moment of choice" in Westchester County which led, two months later, to the decisive Franco-American victory over Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown, Virginia: http: www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxX0Kzfyeyk. That same "moment of choice," and the great risks that were associated with it, are explored in detail in George Washington's Westchester Gamble.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements 11

Introduction: Changing Scenes of War 15

1 The American Revolution and Its Early French Connections 29

2 Turning Point on the Hudson: Victory at Saratoga Leads to the French Alliance 43

3 Rochambeau's Arrival and Arnold's Treason 59

4 Episodes from the War in Westchester 75

5 Now or Never Our Deliverance Must Come 89

6 To New York or to Virginia? 109

7 The Encampment by the Hudson 121

8 George Washington's Westchester Gamble 139

Epilogue 155

Notes 165

Bibliography 179

Index 185

About the Author 191

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