FORT LEE, NJ — A weekend marking the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Brooklyn continued across the Hudson on Sunday, with Revolutionary War reenactors bringing a piece of 1776 history to Fort Lee.
The August 22–23 commemorative weekend was organized around the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Brooklyn, the first major battle of the Revolutionary War after the Declaration of Independence. More than 200 living historians took part in Saturday’s large-scale reenactment in Brooklyn, portraying American, British and Hessian forces.
On Sunday, August 23, programming moved to Fort Lee Historic Park, where reenactors continued the living-history program on the New Jersey side of the Hudson. Bergen250 also listed a “Revolutionary War 250th Living History Program” at Fort Lee Historic Park for Sunday.
The weather, however, appears to have complicated the plans. In a social media post from Fort Lee, Joe Favorito wrote that flooding the previous night prevented many reenactors from reaching the event. He said the German-speaking Hessian reenactors made it to Fort Lee to face the Americans, while joking that traffic on the George Washington Bridge had delayed the British.
Hessians were German troops hired by Britain who fought alongside British forces during the American Revolution.
The unusual scene of soldiers in 18th-century uniforms walking through the wooded grounds of modern-day Fort Lee was part of a much broader year of events commemorating America’s 250th anniversary.
Fort Lee has particularly deep ties to the Revolutionary War. The area was the site of Fort Lee, which Continental forces abandoned in November 1776 as British and Hessian troops advanced into New Jersey. A much larger 250th-anniversary commemoration of that retreat is planned for November at Fort Lee Historic Park and along the historic retreat route.
By NJ RADAR Team