Verplanck’s Point

These are the tents of the 5th and 3rd Connecticut Regiments. In 1781, Connecticut reorganized its understrength regiments and consolidated eight regiments into five. The bulk of these regiments stayed north to defend the Hudson Highlands and West Point during the Yorktown campaign. Samuel Blachley Webb, the colonel of the 3rd Connecticut Regiment, commanded the Continental Army’s light infantry at Verplanck’s Point.

A road that connected Peekskill, New York, to the King’s Ferry landing cut right through the encampment. The soldiers’ tents formed a one-and-a-half-mile long line parallel to this road. Following its review of the Continental troops, the French Army camped at Peekskill.

Pierre Charles L’Enfant depicted the encampment as viewed from east to west. He stood atop a hill near Adjutant General Edward Hand’s marquee tent. L’Enfant may have used a series of stakes to mark out different sections of the panorama that correspond with the five sheets of paper on which he sketched and painted. He probably used a similar technique to paint the West Point panorama.