Washington's Headquarters

Washington's Headquarters. . During the Revolutionary War, General George Washington commanded America's Continental Army for several day from a brownstone located at this intersection of Swamp Road and Sycamore Street. The home was built by Benjamin Twining in 1757, who later sold the property to John Harris. In 1776 General Washington was the guest of John Harris' widow, Mrs Hannah Harris.

Due to it's central location and accessibility as a transportation center on the route from the Delaware River to Philadelphia, Newtown was selected as a supply depot for the Continental Army during the various Revolutionary War campaigns in New Jersey. General Washington made his headquarters in Newtown from December 24th-30th, 1776. From this location, Washington marched his army on Christmas Eve, 1776 and crossed the Delaware to defeat the Hessians at the Battle of Trenton. Here in his headquarters house, Washington wrote his two famous letters to Congress on December 27th and 29th giving the official report to Congress on his victory at the Battle of Trenton. After the battle, over 1,000 Hessian soldiers were taken prisoner and marched to Newtown.

Although this historic home was one of the most famous structures in Newtown, it was torn down in 1863. The house was rebuilt on the old foundation, of similar lines, out of the stone from the original Headquarters House. When the brownstone house shown in the photograph at left was demolished in 1962 (the second and final time the house on this site was razed), it inspired a chain of events that resulted in formation of the Newtown Historic Association.

Sponsor: LukOil

Design and layout donated by Mike DiFiori, www.BuzzGraphicDesign.com, Newtown, PA

[Captions]:
View of Washington's Headquarters, circa 1890.

Washington Crossing the Delaware, painting by Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze, 1851. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of John Stewart Kennedy, 1897 (97.34) Image copyright The Metropolitan Museum of Art.