On the Friday night before Thanksgiving week, British reenactors will set up camp at the Kearney House in the Alpine Picnic Area, at the foot of the Palisades, and spend the evening there as an encampment open to the public. Early the next morning they will climb the Huyler Trail to Alpine Lookout. That is roughly the route Lord Cornwallis's troops took up the cliffs in November 1776, before they turned south toward a fort above the Hudson that the Continental Army was about to abandon.
That fort is now Fort Lee Historic Park, off Hudson Terrace just south of the George Washington Bridge. This year the park's annual Retreat Day falls on a round number. RevolutionNJ calls the weekend of November 21–22 the 250th anniversary reenactment of the invasion of Fort Lee and of Washington's "Retreat to Victory" through New Bridge, which led to the famous Crossing a month later.
Three Days, Three Towns, One Direction
The program runs as a sequence that follows the path of the 1776 retreat. Friday night belongs to the British side in Alpine. On Saturday, the action moves from the Alpine cliffs to Fort Lee Historic Park and then to Monument Park. Sunday morning, the Continental reenactors leave Fort Lee and march west to Historic New Bridge Landing in River Edge.
The Palisades Interstate Park schedule explains why the event is held where it is. In the space of four days in November 1776, the British captured both Fort Washington across the river and Fort Lee on this side, along with thousands of troops, dozens of cannon and large stores of supplies. Facing expiring enlistments and falling morale, Washington had to retreat across New Jersey with Cornwallis close behind. Thomas Paine called those weeks "the times that try men's souls."
The park event is partly funded by the Palisades Parks Conservancy and the Borough of Fort Lee.
Friday, November 20: Start With the Lectures
The first program starts at 7 p.m. in the park auditorium. Students from Tenafly High School will present "History Happened Here: Tenafly and the American Revolution," about the British and Hessian march through Tenafly in November 1776. They will also present their proposal for anniversary signs with QR codes that link to historic maps, documents and stories.
At 7:15 p.m., historian Todd Braisted gives an illustrated lecture called "The Mud Rounds: The British Invasion and the Great Retreat Across the Jerseys." Braisted has led the Bergen County Historical Society and the Brigade of the American Revolution. He also wrote the 2017 National Park Service Battlefield Studies Preservation Report for Fort Lee, so the person speaking has studied this exact ground.
The British encampment at the Kearney House runs from 7 to 9 p.m. the same evening. Both programs start at 7 in different places, so you will have to pick the lectures or the camp.
Saturday, November 21: The Park, Hour by Hour
Saturday is the busiest day. Apart from the early climb in Alpine, every program is in Fort Lee. The Brigade of the American Revolution plans a large-scale tactical demonstration and evening camp tours.
| Time | Program | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 8 a.m. | Scaling the Palisades with British Forces; the public may join at the rear | Starts at the Kearney House, Alpine Picnic Area |
| 9 a.m. | Fort Lee on the Palisades, 1776, with British and Continental reenactors | Fort Lee Historic Park |
| 12 p.m. | Parade to Monument Park | From the park to Monument Park |
| 2 p.m. | Music of the Revolutionary period on period instruments | The Patio |
| 2:24 p.m. | Artillery demonstration | By the huts |
| 4–4:45 p.m. | Battle reenactment, watched from a distance | Fort Lee Historic Park |
| 5:30 p.m. | Mock court martial by the 5th Connecticut | By the Soldier's Hut |
| 6 p.m. | Lecture on Colonial Magic with public historian Francesca Costa | Auditorium |
| 6–8 p.m. | Military encampment tours | Fort Lee Historic Park |
The 8 a.m. climb is the easiest program to miss and the most physical one. Marchers go up the Huyler Trail to Alpine Lookout, and the public can join at the back of the line. The hike then returns with the public to the Kearney House, so if you go, plan for a round trip that ends in Alpine.
Between programs, the park has more to see than the reenactors. It has a reconstructed Revolutionary War encampment with a reconstructed officers' hut, plus overlooks that face the Hudson, Upper Manhattan and the George Washington Bridge.
The Noon Parade Ends at the Fort's Other Half
The noon parade leaves the park and ties the event to the rest of town. The park describes it as a parade and celebration with representatives from the towns taking part in the retreat. The Brigade says representatives from each town along the historic Retreat Route will join the memorial march.
The parade ends at Monument Park, at Palisade Avenue and Monument Place. According to Bergen County's guide to Revolutionary War sites, that land was part of the original Fort Constitution, where the Continental Army was stationed in 1776. The Daughters of the American Revolution built and dedicated the park in 1908. Its centerpiece is the "Rebelmen" statue, and plaques honor Generals Horatio Gates, Henry Knox, Hugh Mercer and Nathaniel Greene, along with Thomas Paine.
That means the parade links two parts of the 1776 fort, the state park on the cliffs and the borough park inland. Greene, who has a plaque here, also appears on Sunday.
Sunday, November 22: The March Leaves Town
Sunday starts early. At 8 a.m., Continental reenactors leave Fort Lee Historic Park and march to New Bridge Landing in River Edge. At 8:30 a.m., the Loyalist reenactors leave from Huyler's Landing Road in Cresskill on their own route toward the same place. The park schedule has the two groups arriving at New Bridge at 11:15 a.m. for a celebration there with the public.
The Bergen County Historical Society is hosting "Retreat to Victory, 250th, 1776-2026" at Historic New Bridge Landing, 1201 Main St., River Edge, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The day opens with BCHS Past President Jim Smith reading The American Crisis at the New Bridge. Reenactors play George Washington, General Greene and other generals on horseback, leading American troops across the bridge. The society says some of the arriving troops will have walked the Retreat Route from Fort Lee and others will come from the Liberty Pole in Englewood.
The River Edge event is ticketed, from $10.50 to $15.50. The BCHS listing puts adult tickets at $15.50 and BCHS members and students at $10.50, before service fees. The site's centerpiece, the Steuben House, dates to 1752. It is a state historic site connected to Washington's army and to what the county calls "the Bridge that Saved the Nation." BCHS says its historic buildings open only during events staffed by its volunteers, which makes this Sunday one of the times you can go inside.
Before You Go to the Park
- Entrance: Hudson Terrace, opposite Bruce Reynolds Boulevard, just south of the George Washington Bridge. The park phone number is 201.461.1776.
- Hours: In November, the visitor center is open Wednesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4:45 p.m., so it is open all three days of the weekend. The grounds are open daily from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.
- Parking: The park has metered parking all year. Weekend rates are $2.50 an hour, payable by credit or debit card or through ParkMobile. The pay stations do not take cash.
- Admission: The park's program policy says public programs are free and open to all unless otherwise noted. The River Edge program on Sunday is the ticketed one.
- Alpine programs: The Friday encampment and the Saturday 8 a.m. climb are at the Kearney House in the Alpine Picnic Area, not at the Fort Lee site.
The Route Outlasts the Weekend
The reenactors leave on Sunday, but the route stays marked. Bergen County has posted retreat-route signs from Fort Lee Historic Park to the Acquackanonk Bridge in Wallington, tracing the Continental Army's path after the British invasion of November 20, 1776. Bergen250 traces the route through present-day Fort Lee, Leonia, Englewood, Teaneck, New Milford, River Edge and Hackensack.
The Tenafly students who open the weekend on Friday are proposing more anniversary signs with QR codes that link to historic maps and documents.
For three decades, The Selleck Group has worked with families in the towns along this route, and we like seeing those towns connected by a shared story for a weekend. If the anniversary has you thinking about your own plans in Fort Lee or nearby, whether staying, downsizing or starting a new chapter, we're glad to help you make a calm, clear plan. Schedule a Consultation when the time is right for you.
