George Washington's Westchester Gamble

The Encampment on the Hudson & the Trapping of Cornwallis

Richard Borkow

• Publisher: The History Press
• Year: 2011
• Print ISBN:
  9781609490393
• eBook ISBN:
  9781625842138
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Early American History
• Index: History

A look at Westchester County's place in the American Revolution and Washington's plan to trick Cornwallis and march to Yorktown.
During the summer of 1781, the armies of Generals Washington and Rochambeau were encamped in lower Westchester County at Dobbs Ferry, Ardsley, Hartsdale, Edgemont, and White Plains. It was a time of military deadlock and grim prospects for the allied Americans and French. Washington recognized that a decisive victory was needed, or America would never achieve independence. In August, he marched these soldiers to Virginia to face General Cornwallis and his redcoats. Washington risked all on this march. Its success required secrecy, and he prepared an elaborate deception to convince the British that Manhattan, not Virginia, was the target of the allied armies. Local historian Richard Borkow presents this exciting story of the Westchester encampment and Washington's great gamble that saved the United States.
Praise for George Washington's Westchester Gamble
"Borkow has done a first-rate job of telling the story of the American Revolution in Westchester County and putting dramatic events there in the context of the larger war--especially the decision to march to Yorktown." —Thomas Fleming, author of  The Perils of Peace
"Just when it seemed that the subject of the American Revolution had been thoroughly explored, Richard Borkow has given us a fresh look at the war's culminating event—the 1781 march of French and American troops to Virginia." —Joseph Wheelan, author of  Jefferson's War and  Mr. Adams's Last Crusade

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction. Changing Scenes of War
• 1. The American Revolution and Its Early French Connections
• 2. Turning Point on the Hudson: Victory at Saratoga Leads to the French Alliance
• 3. Rochambeau’s Arrival and Arnold’s Treason
• 4. Episodes from the War in Westchester
• 5. Now or Never Our Deliverance Must Come
• 6. To New York or to Virginia?
• 7. The Encampment by the Hudson
• 8. George Washington’s Westchester Gamble
• Epilogue
• Notes
• Bibliography
• About the Author