New Bridge Landing
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
| History of New Jersey |
|---|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
New Bridge Landing was the site of a pivotal bridge crossing the Hackensack River, where General George Washington led his troops in retreat from British forces. The area is now a New Jersey historic site in portions of New Milford, River Edge and Teaneck in Bergen County, New Jersey.
[edit] The Great Retreat
After difficult losses in the Battle of Brooklyn, General George Washington led his troops towards Manhattan, with the British in pursuit. On November 16, 1776, Fort Washington fell to the British, and Washington evacuated Fort Lee on the New Jersey side of the Hudson River.
In the early morning hours of November 20, 1776, Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis led a British and Hessian army of about 2,500 soldiers across the Hudson River to New Dock for an attack against Fort Lee, then defended by about 900 soldiers. Washington led his 2,000 troops from Fort Lee in a ragged retreat through present-day Englewood, New Jersey and Teaneck across the Hackensack River at New Bridge. The hasty withdrawal of the American garrison across the Hackensack River at New Bridge preserved them from entrapment on the narrow peninsula between the Hudson and Hackensack Rivers.
Washington continued his retreat through early December, passing through Princeton on the way towards and across the Delaware River into Pennsylvania.
[edit] Steuben House
On December 23, 1783, in gratitude for his service to the Continental Army, the State of New Jersey presented use of a house, mill and the surrounding areas to Major-General Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben. The house had been confiscated from Jan Zabriskie, a Loyalist, in 1781. This gift was one of many grants of land von Steuben received from several states in thanks for his efforts in training the Continental Army. This house is now known as the Steuben House.
The Steuben House Commission was created in 1926 to purchase Baron Steuben's home at New Bridge. The State of New Jersey took possession of the historic mansion and one acre of ground for $9,000 on June 27, 1928. The Steuben House was renovated and opened as a public museum in September 1939. The house is used as a museum displaying period artifacts belonging to the Bergen County Historical Society. The Steuben House, listed on the New Jersey and National Register of Historic Places, is owned and staffed by the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry through Ringwood State Park.
The house is now the cornerstone of a historic site. Other threatened historic homes, including the Campbell-Christie House moved from New Milford, have been relocated to the area for preservation.
