[ back ]
Evacuation marked 225 years later
(by David Jimenez - December 03, 2008)
More than a dozen Denville residents gathered on a nearby hilltop, located off Route 53, and reflected for a moment on the historical significance that took place 225 years ago, called Evacuation Day.
Perhaps the most obscure episode in the American Revolution, it was the date when the British set sail for England, leaving the United States after their defeat in the Revolutionary War. An event celebrated last week at dusk, from a dozen hilltops stretching 108 miles, in a low-key, bi-state celebration from New Jersey to New York.
To mark the “grand exit,” spotlights were placed at locations that approximated the sites where Revolutionary War beacons were used. During the war, the Continental Army chose numerous hilltops across the Watchung Mountains, and other ranges, as locations for beacon fires, which served as the Army’s warning system.
In Denville, it was Beacon Hill, a site that was refurbished last year with a flag pole and pedestal by Denville’s Scout Troop 118. Nightly the monument is illuminated with a beam of light that also serves as a beacon, similar to what it did during the American Revolution.
“As Americans, we don’t often get the opportunity to participate in an historical event like this,” said Denville’s Mayor Ted Hussa.
To date, 23 hilltop signal locations used by the Continental Army have been identified from Princeton to Beacon, NY, according to the Crossroads of the American Revolution Association.
Perhaps one of the main reasons the general public can’t readily recall Evacuation Day is that on Oct. 17, 1781, British Gen. Charles Lord Cornwallis surrendered to American Gen. George Washington at Yorktown, VA, marking the end of the Revolutionary War. Evacuation Day was two years later.
Photo courtesy of Gene Garabrant
Celebrating Evacuation Day, more than a dozen Civil War buffs gathered on Denville’s Beacon Hill to mark the 225th anniversary when the British left the United States after their defeat in the Revolutionary War. Pictured from left are: (front row) Mayor Ted Hussa, Jack Kurtz, Mario Pizzi, Karen Fahrer, Anne Pizzi, Matthias Kuehling and Megan Ixim; (back row) Bill Pavlos, Henry Fahrer and JohnPaul Golinski.
[ back ]
