Larry Mendte Curtis Sliwa America 250th June 19

Curtis and Larry talk about the Revolutionary War. They mention soldiers who moved through the Gun Hill Road area and that a few small fights happened there. Even though it wasn't a major battle site, it was still part of the fighting after the British took control of New York in 1776.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Curtis and Larry celebrate two fifty Stories that made America
on sevent ten wor.

Speaker 2 (00:10):
Yes, Larry, we've talked about New York City as being
the epicenter for the loyalists to the Crown and not
a place that was patriot friendly towards George Washington. Tell
you about Staten Island. Oh yeah, they welcomed the Brits.
And then in Brooklyn. If not for four hundred Maryland
Patriots getting slaughtered by the Brits to slow them down,

(00:31):
George Washington would have been surrounded and that would have
been the end of the revolution likewise in Queens, likewise
in Manhattan. But thank god for the Bronx because it
was neutral ground. General how and General Conwallas say we
can come in through the Bronx and stop Washington on

(00:51):
his way to White Plains in Westchester. And they had
a brilliant plant. But all along the way the American
Patriots were booby trapping them. Where Pelham Bay is right now.
They set up all kinds of barriers, stone walls, you know,
everything imaginable. But it was Colonel John Glover's group from Massachusetts.

(01:13):
There was nobody from the Bronx. They were all from
Massachusetts and they slowed them down. It was a successful stall,
but many of them died and perished as a result.
Then there was the Battle of Gunhill Road where Gunhill
Road is today. The British are chasing the Americans along
Gunhill Road. The American artillery unit led by Captain Bryan
drags their cannons up the hill, fires on the bridge.

(01:37):
Where are they from Massachusetts? This is right where Woodlawn
Cemetery is today. And then finally the Battle of Throgs
Neck as we call it now the Neck. General Howe
is pushing through Throg's Neck to encircle George Washington and
his men who are on their way up to White
Plains in Westchester. And you know who stopped them. The

(01:57):
Pennsylvania riflemen stave them off, even though they lost many
many of their patriots as a result of slowing them down.
George Washington was actually in Vancoortland Park at that time.
There is a house museum there used by George Washington
and his troops in seventeen seventy six before he fled

(02:18):
up to White Plains. And then the term Featherbed Lane,
which is an area in the Bronx, local supporters of
George Washington from the Bronx. Yes, there were supporters in
the Bronx of our patriots covered the road in featherbeds
to muffle the sound of the retreating American horses the

(02:39):
cavalry of George Washington during their retreat to White Plains.
So New York City was a complete washout. If not
for the brave patriots who flooded in from Massachusetts, from Pennsylvania,
from Maryland to fight the Brits and their mercenaries, the Haitians,

(03:00):
our revolution would have been over right there. We had
to depend on people from New York City. Forget about it.
They were like, hey, the Union Jack forever we loved
the king. They would have kissed as ours there and see,
people don't like hearing that part of the history of
New York City. But other than the Bronx, it was
very little support for the American Revolution. And again, just

(03:20):
as you had pointed out, George Washington always seemed to
avoid a catastrophe when he was being chased, likewise in
New Jersey, likewise in New York.

Speaker 1 (03:30):
Yeah, that is fascinating, It is amazing. You know, we
don't really talk too much about what we're gonna do next.
I mean in detail, like we'll just give a headline.
But it's amazing how they they're weaving together without even
talking about it. These are weaving together because I just
talked yesterday about how the General Howe needed to get

(03:52):
back to New York because that's where he wanted to
retreat to. Of course, that's where he wanted to retreat
to because that was the new that was the Britti
stronghold at the time. You know, so many of the
things we're talking about. One of the next things I'm
going to talk about is the White Plains and the
fact that Washington was cut off and going to White Plains.
So it is amazing that we are, without even talking

(04:15):
to each other, telling the history of the Revolutionary War chronologically.

Speaker 2 (04:21):
The stronghold for Barack Obama obviously south side of Chicago,
and man, they turned it out for Barack and Michelle
Obama yesterday with the opening of the Presidential Library of Who.
Sue in attendance will give you all the late breaking details,
but first, the news at eight o'clock