Marchers to Remember Washington-Rochambeau Meeting in Mount Kisco

The area now bounded by Leonard Park and Northern Westchester Hospital may look like a typical, albeit heavily utilized section of Mount Kisco. But nearly 230 years ago it served as important camping grounds for roughly 5,000 French soldiers who came to the assistance of American forces in the Revolutionary War. It was also there that George Washington met with Gen. Comte de Rochambeau.

This Fourth of July, a group of marchers dressed in historical attire will do a reenactment of the march at 5 p.m. in front of Northern Westchester Hospital. They began retracing steps earlier this month in Ridgebury, CT, mimicking a route that started when Rochambeau’s forces landed in Rhode Island and marched through the state before heading to Westchester County, according to André Ferrara, a Mount Kisco resident who is originally from France. He will be hosting guests at his home Monday, including veterans of recent French wars, to celebrate the march’s 230^th anniversary.

The day before, they'll be camping at Rochambeau Farm, which is on Guard Hill Road in Bedford. The farm, owned by Mary Ann Hawley, was so named because of the marcher's route, according to Hawley. After departing from Mount Kisco, the marchers will head to Bob Columbe’s property, which is on Old Farm Road, near Chappaqua.

Columbe is hosting the marchers for the second time in a row—last time, during the 225th anniversary of Rochambeau's march in 2006, was by chance.

"When the original encampment site was no longer viable, my wife happened to see the group in uniform standing by the road," he said. "We invited them to back to our place. My father-in-law, who was Revolutionary War history buff, sat outside with them until midnight. We had a great time, and now they're coming back."

Columbe's historical property (it used to be the home of a former president of the New York Central Railroad) can accommodate the marchers’ canvas tents, authentic in size and style to what the French army would have slept in. He plans to prepare a meal that soldiers may have had during the time period, including chicken, sweet corn, zucchini, mashed potatoes and strawberry shortcake.

To understand the significance of the event, after Rochambeau and Washington met up in the area on July 5, 1781 – the land was then part of North Castle, later changing to New Castle, before eventually becoming southern Mount Kisco - they headed to an American solders’ camp near Hartsdale, headed north across the Hudson River then marched to Yorktown, VA, according to the book New Castle: Chappaqua and Millwood. Once in Yorktown, they met with the Marquis de Lafayette and defeated British General Cornwallis, which was the last major battle of the war.

The 7-member group, known as The Marchers, marching on the 700-mile trip – according to Ferrara, it will stop in Yorktown, VA are members of the AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps - the purpose is to celebrate the creation of the national historic trail, under national park service protection since 2009, and to raise awareness of the historic trail that cuts through our backyards.

The marchers welcome and encourage community support, said David Pergamit, a 23-year-old AmeriCorps service member from Eugene, OR.

"In West Hartford, we had a drummer join us for a half mile, with his drum. That beat really lifted our spirits in a long day of marching," he said.

Days range from 12-17 miles. Eventually, the march will go to White Plains, where a new AmeriCorps group will take over for the march south.

To learn more about The Marchers, click here for the group's Facebook page. To get an idea of what The Marchers do when they stop, on our sister site, Farmington Patch.