Philipse Manor Hall State Historic Site

08/31/2026

Coming up! Join us in downtown Yonkers for the 2026 Revolutionary Harvest Festival!

📅 Saturday, September 19, 2026
🍂 Revolutionary Harvest Festival
🕑 12:00 PM - 5:00 PM
📍 29 Warburton Ave. Yonkers, NY

Step back in time to the American Revolution! This free family-friendly outdoor festival will feature costumed reenactors, living history demonstrations, and hands-on activities.

Meet military and civilian reenactors including General George Washington (on his horse Nelson), his enslaved servant William Lee, Revolutionary War soldiers from both sides of the conflict, 18th century crafts demonstrators, and more.

Enjoy live music and try your hand at 18th century country dancing, operating a cider press, an art printing workshop, Revolutionary wargaming, and playing 18th century-style children’s games.

Explore the history of Philipse Manor Hall and colonial New York in the museum, and history buffs of all ages can also enjoy our special espionage activity, as you explore the grounds and meet historical people and booths of local history organizations to decipher your mission, using our special code book!

This festival coincides with Yonkers RiverFest, which features live music, vendors, and food throughout the downtown Yonkers area. Bring the whole family and spend the day in downtown Yonkers!

See the full schedule and meet our reenactors at: https://www.philipsemanorhall.com/programs-and-events/revolutionary-harvest-festival-2026

08/31/2026

Join us at Philipse Manor Hall State Historic Site in downtown Yonkers, NY on Saturday, September 19, 2026 for Revolutionary Harvest Festival!

08/30/2026

250 Years Ago Today: Henry Beekman Livingston sends a message to George Washington saying that the water route between them is now completely cut off by British ships. He also offers to attack Jamaica or Hemstead Plains if the General thinks it would help.

08/30/2026

08/30/2026

, August 30, 1776, George Washington devised one of the greatest moves in military history: a retreat of 9,000 men and munitions from Brooklyn Heights under cover of night and fog - and lived to fight another day.

Washington and many of Sullivan’s and Stirling’s troops had escaped to the banks of the East River after the battle. He sent for additional troops which boosted the army’s morale, and PA officer Alexander Graydon noted that “These were the lads that might do something,” but 1,200 more men would not be enough.

British warships had anchored outside New York Harbor and were poised to sail up the East River blocking the Continental Army’s final escape route. Washington had to act before that. A raging thunderstorm made conditions worse, but its north winds also kept the British warships at bay.

Seeing an opening, Washington rounded up every available boat “from Hellgate on the Sound to Spuyten Duyvil Creek that could be kept afloat and that had either sails or oars.”

Next, he alerted General John Glover’s “Marbleheaders,” an ethnically diverse militia made up of fishermen, ferrymen, and some smugglers, to be ready to ferry boats loaded with soldiers and equipment across the mile-long stretch of tidal currents through the rocks and shoals of Hellgate amid the storm.

The maneuver began under utmost secrecy. At 7 pm troops were ordered to bring their packs and ammunition under the guise of making one last surprise attack. They were ordered not to speak as they were rushed to the East River shore.

Confusion and panic took over, but they reluctantly followed orders.

The loading began at 8pm. The “Marbleheaders” expertly navigated the treacherous waters numerous times, but by daybreak Continental soldiers still waited on the Brooklyn shore. Luckily, as morning approached, a dense fog covered the area allowing them to complete the retreat, each boat making at least 10 trips.

Washington seized the moment and managed what British Lieutenant General Hugh Percy, who was present at the battle, called a “particularly glorious” retreat.

Image: "U.S. Army-Artillery retreat from Long Island-1776" chromolithograph by The Werner Company, 1899. Library of Congress.

08/29/2026

📣 Our banners are now up and the countdown to the 2026 Revolutionary Harvest Festival begins!

📅 Saturday, September 19, 2026
🍂 Revolutionary Harvest Festival
🕑 12:00 PM - 5:00 PM
📍 29 Warburton Ave. Yonkers, NY

Step back in time to the American Revolution! This free family-friendly outdoor festival will feature costumed reenactors, living history demonstrations, and hands-on activities.

Meet military and civilian reenactors including General George Washington (on his horse Nelson), his enslaved servant William Lee, Revolutionary War soldiers from both sides of the conflict, 18th century crafts demonstrators, and more. Enjoy live music and try your hand at 18th century country dancing, operating a cider press, an art printing workshop, Revolutionary wargaming, and playing 18th century-style children’s games. Explore the history of Philipse Manor Hall and colonial New York in the museum, and history buffs of all ages can also enjoy our special espionage activity, as you explore the grounds and meet historical people and booths of local history organizations to decipher your mission, using our special code book!

This festival coincides with Yonkers RiverFest, which features live music, vendors, and food throughout the downtown Yonkers area. Bring the whole family and spend the day in downtown Yonkers!

08/29/2026

EXHIBIT OPENS TODAY!
Neither Bought Nor Conquered The Revolutionary War and the Tenant Farmers of Philipsburg Manor

Saturday, August 29, from 1 to 4 p.m. at McVickar House, 131 Main Street, Irvington
**Free Admission**

During the American Revolutionary War, the close-knit farming community of Philipsburg Manor was ripped apart by conflicting loyalties. Hosted by the Irvington Historical Sciety and curated by historian Char Weigel, this exhibit uncovers the experiences of the ordinary people--men, women, rebel, loyalist, enslaved, free, and Native American--who lived in the portion of Westchester's "Neutral Ground" that includes modern-day Irvington and the surrounding Westchester County area. Drawing on historic maps, artifacts, documents, and new research, the exhibit paints a picture of how families and neighbors navigated the growing political and military divides of America's first civil war.

Regular Hours:
Thursdays and Saturdays
1 to 4 p.m.

08/29/2026

08/28/2026

08/28/2026

, August 28, 1776, Frederick Philipse III was paroled in Connecticut. Imprisoned by the Patriots for loyalism, Philipse was held by Connecticut Governor Jonathan Trumbull, who allowed him to move about Middletown, CT, and later expanded his parole to Wethersfield and Durham.

Here is the full text of his parole:

"I, the subscriber, being apprehended and sent by General Washington to the care of his Honour Governour Trumbull, in order to be kept safe, and being ordered by his Honour the Governour to reside within the limits of the town of Middletown in Connecticut, upon my giving my parole. I therefore do hereby engage and promise to the Governour and Company of the State of Connecticut, upon the honor, faith, and credit of a gentleman, faithfully to abide within the limits of said town of Middletown until further orders shall be had from his Honour Governour Trumbull thereon; and in the meantime I engage and promise not to correspond, either directly or indirectly, in any shape whatever, with any person or persons unfriendly to these American States, and will abide such orders and directions as shall be given from time to time by the Committee of Inspection for said town, where I shall reside as aforesaid, as witness my hand. Dated at Hartford, August 28th, 1776.

“N.B. Said party is granted to go to Wethersfield and Durham, as occasion may be.

“Frederick Philips.”

Wealthy people like Frederick Philipse were far more likely to be given paroles than lower class folks. His parole was given on the strength of his honor as a gentleman that he would not try to escape and would submit to re-imprisonment or other orders as needed.

Philipse would later be paroled all the way back to Philipse Manor Hall in Yonkers, where he was supposed to be under a sort of house arrest. He violated his parole in the spring of 1777, when he, his family, and his sisters and their families escaped to British-held New York City.

Images:
1. Portrait of Frederick Philipse III by John Wollaston, c. 1750. New-York Historical.
2. "A map of Connecticut and Rhode Island with Long Island Sound, &c" 1776. Library of Congress. Middletown circled in red.