A new book about the Battle of White Plains has come out: The Battle of White Plains: Washington and Howe in Westchester by Stephen Paul DeVillo. He is a local historian who has written books on the Bowery and the Bronx River.
“I thought the Battle of White Plains deserves a much closer look,” he said in a telephone interview. “So often it’s given short shrift. It was not just a pit stop between the Fall of New York City and the Battle of Trenton.”
The conventional view is that the British won the battle since they drove General George Washington’s forces off of Chatterton Hill. But according to DeVillo, “It was far from a defeat for Washington’s army.”
DeVillo said Washington had two goals in White Plains. First, he needed to secure the supplies that had been left for him in White Plains and get them to the depot in Fishkill. Second, he needed to hold the road and keep it from the British.
“When you look at who accomplished what they needed to accomplish,” DeVillo said, “Washington accomplished what he came to do. The British general (Howe) did not. His army left the field first. It hardly looks like a British victory when you look at it more closely.”
The Library has two copies of The Battle of White Plains: Washington and Howe in Westchester. One copy circulates and the other is in the Local History Room.
FROM: Richard Jackson
TO: Austin Duffy
Thanks!
My 4x great grandfather, Sgt. Israel Harriot fought in the Battles of White Plains, Long Island and at the defeat of Cornwallis at Yorktown, VA. He fought against Cornwallis from (Redoubt 10) Cannon emplacement # 10.
Israel Harriot’s farm was near North Street and stretched along the current West Road from White Plains into Scarsdale’s Saxon Woods.
I am seeking maps, census records, etc. about Israel and his family.
Abraham Leonard, Israel’s son-in-law, is my 3x great grandfather. He and his wife, Catherine Harriot Leonard, lived on a small farm in Yonkers during the War of 1812 while Abraham was stationed at Brooklyn Heights.
Hi Richard,
Thank you for your post. I checked and we don’t have any census records for Israel Harriot, nor any maps that show his farm. Have you checked with the Westchester County Historical Society? A co-worker of mine found this document which lists Harriot in the Battle of White Plains: https://whiteplainshistory.github.io/exhibits/hoch/Battle-of-White-Plains-Roster.pdf
Sincerely, Austin Duffy, Local History Librarian