Behind Every Great Man:

The Continental Army in Winter, 1782-83Just as General George Washington praised the service of the officers and soldiers under his command, the New Windsor Cantonment today remembers those men whose names and stories might otherwise be forgotten. Life size conjectural portraits recall an officer who died under tragic circumstances, a private held back only by his race, a soldier called upon to use his skills as a blacksmith, and even the wife and child of a soldier who abandoned his family in camp. Some 8,000 souls lived at the cantonment, and their stories and the artifacts they left behind come together to tell what life was like at the dawn of a new nation. Follow the story to the present as the New Windsor Cantonment is preserved and opened as a historic site.History is hands-on in this exhibit. While touring take a look inside a soldier's knapsack, a washerwoman's tub, and an officer's trunk filled with reproductions of the tools, clothing and other items that were used each day by the residents of the Cantonment. Peer through "peepholes" to see how soldiers' children living at the army camp might have dressed. Read the stories of the men and women in their own words in a special section of eyewitness accounts.

"The Last Argument of Kings:"

Revolutionary War Artillery Artillery in the 18th century made a bold statement of national prestige and power. Decorated with the coat of arms or cipher of the monarch, the cannons spoke when diplomacy failed. Learn the history of muzzle-loading artillery, with 14 original artillery pieces, ranging in date from the early 18th to the mid-19th century, two of which are rare trophy guns captured from the British in 1777, following the Battle of Saratoga, New York.Another part of the exhibit features the New Windsor artillery encampment of 1780-81. From nearby Knox's Headquarters, General Henry Knox supervised the assemblage of the heavy siege artillery needed to attack the British in New York City, sixty miles to the south. In the spring of 1781, the hills around New Windsor echoed to the sound of cannon fire as the artillery gunners practiced. During their training, they created detailed artillery tables, recording the distance varying charges of powder gave to their shots. Taking advantage of French naval strength in the south, Washington ordered General Knox to follow him not to New York City, but Yorktown, Virginia, in the summer and fall of 1781. Trapping the British inside defensive works, with their backs to the York River, the siege of Yorktown was an artillery battle, where the importance of the training at New Windsor became apparent. The Continental artillery could now drop exploding shells "just over the enemy's parapets destroying them where they thought themselves most secure."

Temple Hill:

Beyond the two exhibits in the site's Visitor Center, New Windsor Cantonment's grounds house additional exhibit and landmark features. The Cantonment ceased to exist when a 1783 auction raised much needed funds for the army by selling off army surplus equipment including the nearly 600 timber buildings that made up the Cantonment. The auction took place in the former army chapel known as the "Temple of Virtue", also the scene of a dramatic speech by George Washington to his officers in March, 1783, as well as the declaration of cease-fire one month later. The area where the building once stood became known as "Temple Hill" and served as a working dairy farm and creamery into the 20th century. A massive stone Centennial Monument marking the Cantonment site was completed in 1891. In 1933 the National Temple Hill Association was founded to preserve the site and the Mountainville Hut, a log building believed to be built from an original Cantonment hut, was moved to the grounds. By 1964 a conjectural reconstruction of the Temple of Virtue was built on the site along with a Blacksmith Shop and other structures to house living history programming.