After 225 years, the general finds Van Cortlandt Mansion unchanged

Members of the 2nd Continental Light Dragoons stand at attention at the front gate to Van Cortlandt House. Photo by Karsten Moran

Washington Slept Here

Michael Grillo played a convincing George Washington this weekend, when he mounted his whiteand- brown steed and, joined by his men, trotted up the rocky path of old Albany Post Road to the mansion of the Van Cortlandts.

There, a sea of soldiers and the gracious couple, Augustus and Katherine Van Cortlandt, joyously greeted the victorious general of the Continental Army.

This month marks the 225th anniversary of Washington’s triumphant return to the Van Cortlandt Park Parade Ground, where he celebrated briefly before moving on to accept to the formal surrender of the British Army. Evacuation Day, officially honored on Nov. 25, 1783, is when the last of the British troops — along with all of its authority — left New York.

Mr. Grillo, the Van Cortlandt House Museum’s education coordinator, Laura J. Carpenter, its director, the museum’s staff and others spent the last year planning the convincing re-enactment that unfolded on Saturday. The event included three-dozen re-enactors, a stable of horses and an impressive array of Colonial-era garb.

The rainy and foggy conditions cut down on the number of spectators, but Mr. Grillo called the day “perfect.”

This is part of the November 13, 2008 online edition of The Riverdale Press.

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