New Windsor Cantonment and National Purple Heart Hall of Honor, New Windsor, NY

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The Cantonment was a thriving community of 8,000 of General George Washington's soldiers, their wives and children, and hundreds of skilled artisans and medical personnel, who together spent the final winter of the Revolutionary War encamped in the Hudson Valley. The term “cantonment” referred a more permanent post than a tent camp, and at New Windsor it consisted of nearly 600 log huts built by the soldiers and private homes in the area that played host to Major Generals. After seven years of fighting, General Washington’s army arrived here in October 1782, resolved to continue training through the winter for a possible attack on British-controlled New York City. That winter, Washington defused a suspected insurrection amongst his officers with perhaps the most impassioned speech of his career, requesting their loyalty and support for the young republic. Instead of receiving orders to return to the battlefield, the orders announced here on April 19, 1783 proclaimed the cease-fire that ended the Revolutionary War.

Today, staff members dressed in the period's soldiers uniforms and civilian clothing provide an up-close and personal view of life in an 18th-Century military camp. Throughout the day, guests enjoy live demonstrations of musket drills, carpentry and blacksmithing, sometimes accompanied by demonstrations of open-hearth cooking and period medicine. A visitor center and exhibit galleries explain the historical significance of the camp and feature original military equipment and documents. One gallery showcases a variety of cannon and tells the story of an earlier encampment at New Windsor, the 1780-81 winter cantonment of the Continental Artillery troops, whose training nearby prepared them for the siege of Yorktown, Virginia, the last major battle of the war. Special events throughout the year feature period style entertainment and programs designed especially for children.

The New Windsor Cantonment State Historic Site has been named as a significant stop on the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area Revolutionary War trail.

OPEN: Mid-April through late October, Wednesday through Saturday, 10-5, and Sunday, 1-5; also open Memorial Day, Labor Day and Veterans Day. Please call for rates and advance reservations for guided tours for groups. Admission to New Windsor Cantonment is $4 adults, $3 senior citizens, $ 1 children.

Telephone: (845) 561-1765.

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Educational Programs

Knox’s Headquarters & New Windsor Cantonment State Historic Sites
PO Box 207, Vails Gate, NY 12584
Phone: 845-561-1765
Fax: 845-561-6577

Educational Programs

“Through the Ranks”

Step back in time to the 1782-83 encampment of General George Washington’s Continental Army as your guides in period-style dress bring you “through the ranks” of the Continental Army and through the lifestyles of Americans, from the gentry and officers, through the slaves and soldiers.

Your day begins at the country estate of John and Catharine Ellison as you tour an elegant home built in 1754, furnished as the headquarters that served three of Washington’s top generals during the Revolutionary War. See military offices, the Ellison family’s living areas and the cramped quarters where six enslaved Africans served the household. Visit the ruins of a 1741 grist mill in the scenic Silver Stream gorge where Hudson Valley wheat was turned into flour destined for markets in the West Indies and Europe. The lifestyle of the gentry who lived here and officers who served here is contrasted with that of the families who lived in the army camp nearby.

The tour continues two miles away at the Cantonment, the military enclave that once boasted nearly 600 log buildings housing 7,500 soldiers and 500 of their wives and children. The activities of this thriving community are represented through living history demonstrations including blacksmithing, medical treatment and musket drill. Here General Washington headed off a military challenge to the new nation and ordered the cease-fire that brought the Revolutionary War to a close.

This three hour program is adaptable for primary and secondary school students. Admission is currently $3 per person and subject to change. Please note, this popular tour is generally booked six months or more in advance. Please call Michael McGurty at 845-561-1765 to inquire about this and other educational programs.

The National Purple Heart Hall of Honor

The New Windsor Cantonment State Historic Site is now the setting for the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor, a 7,500 square foot facility that shares the stories of America's combat wounded veterans and those who never came back, all recipients of the Purple Heart. Since 1932, over 1.7 million military personnel from all walks of life have earned the medal in service to the nation. Their stories will be preserved and shared through exhibits, live and videotaped interviews with the veterans themselves, and the Roll of Honor, an interactive computer program preserving the stories of each individual. Visitors also have the opportunity to leave messages of thanks for veterans to read. A video recording studio allows Purple Heart veterans or surviving family members to add their stories to the historic record, while the Hall of Honor's theater presents a short film that traces the history of the Purple Heart medal and its precursor, the Badge of Military Merit.

The galleries present a timeline of America's wars and military conflicts in which Americans have been wounded and killed, while displays of objects, documents and photographs trace themes such as medical evacuation and treatment of the wounded on and off the battlefield.

Highlights of the collections include George Washington's Badge of Military Merit, weapons faced by America's military in various wars, as well as letters, photographs and other items that reflect the experience of being at war and being wounded.

Programs for the general public and for school groups explain the significance and history of the Purple Heart medal, help convey aspects of the wartime experience, and help visitors draw interesting historical information from objects, documents, and oral history recordings.

The National Purple Heart Hall of Honor overlooks the site of the camp
(cantonment) of the Continental Army for 1782 - 1783, the final winter of the Revolutionary War. In 1782, George Washington created the Badge of Military Merit, and the following year, officers met at the Cantonment to determine candidates for the award, the inspiration for today's Purple Heart. In 1932, some of the nation's very first Purple Hearts were presented to veterans of World War I on these same grounds.
In the years to come, the Hall of Honor will become the nation's sole repository dedicated to the preservation of these stories of sacrifice.

If you are a Purple Heart recipient or know someone who is, you can make sure the story will be preserved by contacting the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor at 845-561-1765. Staff members are collecting the name and story of each recipient, proof of receipt (a DD-214 discharge certificate or equivalent) as well as any photographs and personal mementos that will help tell each recipient's story. Your efforts will ensure that the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor will serve veterans, their families and scholars with stories preserved through the generations.

National Purple Heart Hall of Honor
New Windsor Cantonment State Historic Site
374 Temple Hill Road (Route 300)
P.O. Box 207
Vails Gate, NY 12584-0207

www.thepurpleheart.com
Phone: 845-561-1765.
Fax: 845-569-0382
.
.
Calls, Web hits flood Purple Heart Hall of Honor
Newsday
May 30, 2006

VAILS GATE, N.Y. -- A new museum devoted to veterans who earned the Purple Heart for being wounded in combat was besieged with some 6,000 inquiries after a weekend Associated Press story detailed the ongoing efforts to find recipients.

When the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor opens in November, visitors will be able to search out facts and stories about soldiers wounded or killed. New York officials heading the project think there are up to 1.7 million soldiers who belong on the list.

State parks officials quietly collected information for years and then, in March, put out a widespread plea for veterans and families to share their stories and materials. Organizers said about 5,000 responses had come in _ everything from e-mails from Iraq to packages with typed stories and sepia-tinged photos _ before the AP story ran in newspapers and on Web sites around the country.

Since Monday, the hall's Web site has logged 5,200 hits and there have been 800 calls or faxes from people offering stories, said state Parks Commissioner Bernadette Castro. Phone lines were busy much of Tuesday.

"People are beginning to realize that within minutes of West Point, New York will host what soon will be the official National Purple Heart Hall of Honor," Castro said.

The parks department soon will make it easier to submit information, adding an interactive link to the Web site. Recipients or their families should provide accurate documentation of the awarding and all the stories will be verified before they are included in the hall, Castro said.

"No one should worry that the lines are busy," Castro said. "We will be adding (recipients) daily. There's no deadline."

The hall is being built at a historic site north of New York City where George Washington's army camped toward the end of the Revolutionary War. It was here in 1782 that Washington created the Badge of Military Merit, which he decreed would be "the figure of a heart in purple cloth."

The badge fell into disuse after the war, but was reintroduced as the Purple Heart in 1932. Thousands of World War I veterans received Purple Hearts retroactively _ as did a few very old Civil War veterans. In 1942, Purple Hearts were restricted to those "wounded in action against any enemy."

Museum officials are also coaxing wounded veterans to tell their story in front of cameras for the museum's exhibits and archives. There's a sense of urgency because the number of surviving World War II veterans is shrinking quickly.

Here's how to contact the hall:

On the Internet:

Purple Heart Hall of Honor: http://nysparks.state.ny.us/heritage/purple_hrt.asp (Note the underscore between the words "purple" and "hrt.")

By phone: 845-561-1765.
By fax: 845-561-6577.

By mail:

National Purple Heart Hall of Honor
New Windsor Cantonment State Historic Site
P.O. Box 207
Vails Gate, NY 12584-0207

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