Revolutionary Reflections

Hard to believe that our country is at the ripe age of 250 years old. Sure, compared to countries in Europe and Asia that go back hundreds or even thousands of years, America remains a toddler, but it's seen a thing or two in its history. Perhaps some of us have taken a moment to reflect on our nation, where it's been and where it's going. Speaking for myself, I've been reminiscing about the area where I was born and raised--New York's Hudson Valley--and its connections to the American Revolution.

As a kid growing up without the internet in the 1980s, a lot of local information about the Revolution came from family and teachers. Kings Ferry Road in Montrose, less than a mile from where I lived, dates back to the early 1700s and actually did lead to the King's Ferry, a strategic Hudson River crossing that went between Stony Point and Verplanck's Point (present-day Verplanck, known as "The Point" to locals and its residents as "Pointers"). Speaking of Verplanck's Point, George Washington was there on more than one occasion, including when he presented medals to the captors of British spy Major André (who was in cahoots with a traitor named Benedict Arnold).

For one 5th grade school trip I walked up Anthony's Nose (a mountain on the eastern side of the Hudson where the Bear Mountain Bridge is located), named after American Revolutionary General "Mad Anthony" Wayne. Another school trip took me to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, where I heard stories about the Great Chain of 1778 that stretched across the Hudson and prevented British ships from going up the river and further into the continent (I even saw links of the actual chain on display). 

Naturally, one of my favorite local stories was about a Hessian mercenary (the British hired about 30,000 Hessian soldiers to fight the Americans) who got his head blown off by a cannon during the Battle of White Plains in 1776. His body was buried in an unmarked grave in the cemetery of the Old Dutch Church in Sleepy Hollow and (you probably guessed it) became the inspiration for the Headless Horseman in Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

There are many more things to say about the American Revolution in the Hudson Valley; I just addressed those things that are near and dear to me. Of course, anyone interested can look even further.

Wishing America a Happy 250th and many more from the perch.

Image Source: hmdb.org

Photo: Bill Coughlin