Rockland at the Birth of Our Nation

Many people living in Rockland may be aware of the history of how the Revolutionary War was waged in our county. John Andre’s capture and hanging in Tappan, or the Battle of Stony Point, are famous events in our county’s and our country’s history that many Rocklanders take great pride in. However, these events involved prominent men from both the American and British sides of the war who were not otherwise involved with Rockland County. One might get the impression that the Revolutionary War simply passed through Rockland, with the local residents being mere bystanders to the history happening in their time. This cannot be further from the truth. Not only was Rockland a setting for the Revolutionary War, but its residents were among its first participants. 

One of the first significant events in the history of America’s War for Independence occurred on July 4th, 1774, at what is now known as the ‘76 house in Tappan. At the time, Orangetown and the entirety of Rockland were a part of Orange County. Residents from Tappan and the surrounding area convened to ratify the Orangetown Resolutions. This document was in many ways a precursor to the Declaration of Independence, signed two years later. In the document, the citizens of Orangetown expressed their desire to be “true and loyal subjects of his Majesty George the Third, King of Great Britain.” After all, at the time, the idea of fighting for an independent nation in America seemed ludicrous, even to many of the men who would become our founding fathers. The resolutions go on to express ‘abhorrence’ at the acts of parliament that lead to the closure of Boston’s port and the duty of the town’s citizens to “…obtain a repeal of acts, not only destructive to us, but which, of course, must distress thousands in the mother country [Britain].”

The fifth declaration in the resolution reads as follows: “5th, That it is our unanimous opinion that the stopping all exportation and importation to and from Great Britain and the West Indies would be the most effectual method to obtain a speedy repeal.” This article formed what became part of the non-importation agreement. The agreement was adopted by the Continental Congress later that year, in October 1774, and was ratified by several colonies. 

The following year, in July 1775, a meeting took place, most likely at the ‘76 house, where the residents of the five towns of Rockland were told to declare their allegiance to Liberty or be branded as enemies of the country. By this time, revolutionary fervor was in the air. Several of Rockland’s earliest pioneers were signers of these associations that pushed Rockland ever closer to rebellion against the crown. There are names you may recognize on the list of signatories. Johannes Van Houten, Garret Blauvelt, and John Suffern all declared themselves sons of liberty in Tappan that summer.

Many Rockland militia men who had served in the militias established by Great Britain went on to volunteer to guard the Hudson River front and fight in the Continental Army. The Shore Guard, as it was called, consisted of regional militias, local volunteers, and detachments of the larger continental army. The Hudson River was expected to be a key theatre of war by both the British and Americans. With New York City captured by the British early in the war, the communities and access points up the river became vital points of connection between the New England colonies and the Mid-Atlantic/Southern colonies. 

In late July 1775, Colonel David Pye wrote to the Provincial Congress of New York from Clarkstown, ”The bearer hereof, Captain Robert Johnson, has his company now full, and as he is a sum of money out by this, I take the liberty to recommend him to you for direction when he may have the necessary supplies for his company.” The New York Provincial Congress was a revolutionary assembly of representatives from what was at that point still the New York colony. It was established in opposition to the New York General Assembly, which had loyalist sympathies.

From there, the major events of Rockland’s early history take place. Light skirmishes in Piermont and Haverstraw would culminate in the Battle of Stony Point in 1779. In 1780, John Andre was arrested in Tarrytown and tried in Tappan for his involvement with the treason of Benedict Arnold. 

In May 1783, on the precipice of formal independence from Great Britain, General Washington met with British Commander-in-Chief, Sir Guy Carleton, in Piermont before they took a carriage to the DeWint house. There, they negotiated terms for the British evacuation of New York City and the return of American property (including enslaved peoples) prior to the signing of the Treaty of Paris in September of that same year.  The next day, Sir Guy hosted Washington and his envoy in the Tappan Zee aboard the Perseverance, which then gave Washington a seventeen-gun salute, the first British military salute in recognition of the new American nation.

Rockland County was not just a place where the Revolutionary War happened to be. Rockland was not set dressing for the founding of our nation, but an active participant in that foundation. The Orangetown Resolutions, the Hudson River shore guard, and the hosting of General Washington at John Suffern’s Tavern required collaboration with the local population, who were all too eager to support the cause of revolution. In the end, through sheer grit and determination, they won the war and guaranteed the next 250 years of American freedom.