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

A look at Westchester County's place in the American Revolution and Washington's plan to trick Cornwallis and march to Yorktown.

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 inde...