City of Log Buildings

City of Log Buildings. . Although not on campaign and looking forward to the war's end, soldiers at New Windsor Cantonment were still held to strict Army standards. Huts of carefully-shaped, hewn logs were arranged by regiment and state, and “formed in order of battle.” General orders emphasized discipline, which was intended to limit the spread of disease and minimize disruptions to the local townspeople. Troops drilled to maintain their readiness, and every two weeks a new regiment manned forward outposts to the south to prevent potential British attacks. Nevertheless, the soldiers knew that the war was largely won and their enlistments would soon be over. By the spring, they chafed at military authority and agitated for discharges and their unpaid wages. , [Box] Arriving in New Windsor in October 1782, the Continental Army greatly increased the existing population of little more than 1,000. Around 7,000 soldiers and 500 family members camped in tents until they could complete the construction of their 600 log buildings. The job was finished by the middle of December. , [Captions] , . Top center: Drawn by Quartermaster General Timothy Pickering, the huts shown here housed Massachusetts or New York regiments. At 35 feet by 18 feet, the rooms in these cabins were thirty percent larger than those built for other states, but would still have been close quarters for the standard thirty-two men per hut. , . Top right: Once believed to have been a surviving building from the cantonment, this structure was actually first built on a farm near Cornwall, New York around 1770. After the cantonment was dissolved in 1783, many of the huts were auctioned off and moved, a fact which led to the mislabeling of this building. , . Bottom right: Nearby Huts at New Windsor These recreated huts are located across the street on property owned by the Town of New Windsor, New York. They are open periodically during the year in conjunction with New Windsor Cantonment State Historic Site events.