Message from the Mayor: 240th Battle of Edgar’s Lane Anniversary
Posted on: September 28, 2018 - 2:48pm
Fellow Residents;
History always sets the context for the present, and can serve to ground us in our community, allowing us to view our surroundings with more understanding. Hastings is rich in history, and this weekend marks an important anniversary for our Village’s role in the American Revolutionary War. On September 30th 1778, 240 years ago this Sunday, Continental light cavalry and infantry routed a British-allied Hessian patrol in an ambush that occurred near what is now the intersection of Broadway and Edgars Lane (and what then was known as the Albany Post Road). Hastings, then, was a lawless no-man’s land between the British forces to the south, based in New York City, with forward units in Yonkers, and Washington’s forces based in the area of White Plains.
As many as 500 soldiers fought that day. Hessian losses were put at 23; all Continentals survived - remarkable given the training and ferocity of their opponents. The bloody battle raged across the road and down a ravine toward the river. This significant military engagement, now known as The Battle of Edgars Lane, grew out of George Washington’s effort to resist British plundering of local farms and food stores in what scholars have called the “Grand Forage of 1778.” (Who were these Hessians? The British army had been reduced by budget cuts after a series of conflicts, and so when the Revolution began, Britain had to hire trained foreign troops, who constituted about 30% of their army here. About half these troops, largely German, came from the principalities of Hesse – hence their name. Close to 5,000 of the 30,000 Hessians who served under the British flag settled in America after the war.)
In an effort to properly commemorate this event, a newly-formed group of residents, called “Revolutionary Hastings”, is working to design, fabricate and install a monument in Wagner Park, which is at the intersection of Warburton and Broadway. It will feature a series of richly-illustrated interpretive panels installed within a landscaped ellipse, incorporating the existing plaque placed by the Daughters of the American Revolution in the 1930s. These panels will provide details on the battle and its context in local history. Revolutionary Hastings also plans to work with our school district to develop an educational module introducing our students to vital Revolutionary War history that unfolded right here in their Village. The Village has committed monies ($10,000) to support about half the funding of this effort, and we will report out as it progresses.
Sincerely,
Peter Swiderski