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Honor our nation's soldiers at the New Windsor Cantonment

| 19 May 2014 | 10:51
    With muffled drum draped in black silk for mourning, Musician Matt Thorenz from Washingtonville leads the procession of soldiers Kieran O’Keefe from Montgomery, Andrew Gillespie from Middletown and Chad Johnson from New Windsor to the New Windsor Cantonment cemetery to perform a solemn graveside ceremony to honor fallen comrades.
    With muffled drum draped in black silk for mourning, Musician Matt Thorenz from Washingtonville leads the procession of soldiers Kieran O’Keefe from Montgomery, Andrew Gillespie from Middletown and Chad Johnson from New Windsor to the New Windsor Cantonment cemetery to perform a solemn graveside ceremony to honor fallen comrades.

NEW WINDSOR — In honor of America's soldiers and their families on Memorial Day, Monday, May 26, at 2 p.m., site staff, in 18th century dress, will perform a ceremony to honor our nation’s veterans at the New Windsor Cantonment site cemetery.

At 2:15 p.m. historic balladeer Linda Russell performs traditional American patriotic music in the Temple Building. The concert, in the site's Temple Building, has become a favorite annual tradition among Hudson Valley residents. A former National Park Service historian and a performing artist with many popular recordings, Russell specializes in music that tells the stories of the common people of American history. Using a variety of period-style instruments, she performs songs of love and loss, of brave deeds done on the battlefield and home front. Playing songs from the Revolutionary War era as a starting point, she follows American music and history right up through the present day. Her performances at the Cantonment and concerts throughout the United States have made her a favorite with audiences all over. The concert is indoors.

From 1 to 4:30 p.m., visitors will see soldiers performing musket drills, blacksmithing and other activities performed at the original encampment. Following the concert, soldiers will fire their muskets and a cannon on the "Grand Parade," the very field where George Washington's announcement of impending peace was first read to the Army over 200 years ago.

New Windsor Cantonment was an encampment of more than 7,000 Continental Army soldiers and some of their families over the winter of 1782-83. One of the first public ceremonies to award the Purple Heart military decoration was held 82 years ago on Memorial Day, in 1932, at the old campground at New Windsor. Over 100 veterans of World War I received the medal.

Admission is free. For more information, call the site at 845-561-1765 ext. 22.

Tour Knox's Headquarters
Just one mile from the Cantonment, Knox's Headquarters State Historic Site opens for the 2014 season on Saturday, May 24. Here, the Ellison family, one of the most prosperous in the mid-Hudson Valley during the 18th century, built a country estate called "Mount Ellison." Elegantly furnished by John and Catherine Ellison, the 1754 mansion served as headquarters for Revolutionary War Generals Nathanael Greene, Henry Knox, and Horatio Gates. Beginning on Saturday May 24, the home will be open for tours Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, 1 to 5 p.m. through the Sunday of Labor Day weekend.

For more information on Knox's Headquarters, call 845-561-1765 ext. 22.

New Windsor Cantonment is located at 374 Temple Hill Road (Route 300) in the Town of New Windsor, two miles east of Stewart Airport. It is three miles from the intersection of I-87 and I-84 in Newburgh.