The Palisades Interstate Park Commission tells the story of the British invasion of New Jersey on its own website. That account looks at whether one landing site has finally beaten the other. Then it closes the question with three words: "Or does it?"
That question shapes this year's anniversary. From Friday, November 20, through Sunday, November 22, Fort Lee Historic Park hosts its 2026 Retreat Day. It's the 250th anniversary of the British landing on the Palisades and the start of the Continental Army's retreat across New Jersey in 1776. The schedule sits on both disputed landing sites. The British reenactors camp at one, climb near both, and start their Sunday pursuit from the other. Because of that, the weekend isn't really one event in the park on Hudson Terrace. It's a route that starts on the cliffs north of town, runs through Fort Lee on Saturday, and ends in River Edge on Sunday morning.
Two landings, one cliff, and a fifty-year-old argument
For decades, Alpine Landing was the accepted site. That's where the Alpine Boat Basin and the house long called "Cornwallis Headquarters" stand. In the early 1960s, John Spring, the Borough of Cresskill's historian, began researching Huyler's Landing, a farm road up the cliffs about a mile and a half to the south. Spring found that it had once been called Lower Closter Landing. He came to believe that the "Closter Landing" named in the 1776 records was that southern spot, not Alpine. If he was right, Cornwallis came ashore more than a mile south of his supposed headquarters.
The question became urgent in time for the Bicentennial. Reenactors planned to retrace Cornwallis's route on the 200th anniversary of the invasion and had to decide where to start. Spring and Dr. Peter Henderson, who backed the traditional site, traded articles and op-eds. The compromise was to split the modern invaders, with half taking each route. The Bergen County Historical Society has since sided with Spring's account.
Fifty years later, the 250th schedule repeats the 1976 solution in its own way. Each day below takes up one part of that route.
Friday night puts the British at Kearney House
The weekend opens at the traditional site. From 7 to 9 p.m. on Friday, November 20, British reenactors hold a living-history encampment at the Kearney House in the Alpine Picnic Area. These are the same reenactors who will climb the Palisades the next morning. Kearney House is a 1760s homestead at the north end of the picnic area that later served as a dockside tavern. In a normal year, its free tours run on most weekend and holiday afternoons from May through October, so a November night there is outside its usual season.
At the same hour, the Fort Lee Historic Park auditorium hosts two talks. From 7 to 7:15 p.m., Tenafly High School students Ron and Niko present "History Happened Here: Tenafly and the American Revolution." Their talk covers the British and Hessian march through Tenafly in November 1776 and their proposal for anniversary signage with QR codes linking to historic maps, documents, and stories. At 7:15 p.m., Todd Braisted gives the illustrated lecture "The Mud Rounds: The British Invasion and the Great Retreat Across the Jerseys." It covers the four November days in which the British took both Fort Washington and Fort Lee, along with thousands of troops, dozens of cannon, and their stores. Braisted has served as president of the Bergen County Historical Society. He also wrote the 2017 National Park Service Battlefield Studies Preservation Report for Fort Lee, so the lecturer has studied this ground in detail.
Since the two programs overlap, Friday night means choosing between the British encampment in Alpine and the auditorium in Fort Lee.
Saturday climbs the cliff, then fills Fort Lee
Saturday, November 21, starts with the climb. At 8 a.m., the British marchers leave Kearney House and hike up the Huyler Trail to Alpine Lookout, scaling the cliffs. The public can join at the back of the march, and the hike returns with them to Kearney House. The Huyler Trail carries the name of the southern landing, Spring's candidate, and the hike begins at the traditional one. In one morning, the route covers both sides of the argument.
After that, the day moves to Fort Lee Historic Park:
| Time | Program | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 9 a.m. | "Fort Lee on the Palisades, 1776," British and Continental living history | Fort Lee Historic Park |
| 10 a.m. | First presentation, details to come | Fort Lee Historic Park |
| 12 p.m. | Parade to Monument Park | Fort Lee Historic Park to Monument Park |
| 2 p.m. | Revolutionary-period music on period instruments | Patio |
| 2:24 p.m. | Artillery demonstration | By the huts |
| 4–4:45 p.m. | Battle reenactment, watched from a distance | Fort Lee Historic Park |
| 5:30 p.m. | Mock court martial by the 5th Connecticut | By the Soldier's Hut |
| 6 p.m. | Public historian Francesca Costa on colonial magical beliefs | Auditorium |
| 6–8 p.m. | Military encampment tours | Fort Lee Historic Park |
The noon parade is the part of the weekend that leaves the park and goes into the borough. The park describes it as a celebration attended by representatives from the towns taking part in the retreat. It ends at Monument Park, at the southeast corner of Palisade Avenue and Angioletti Place, where a Soldiers of the American Revolution Monument stands with several historical markers. One of those markers, a Thomas Paine marker, records that the area was a Continental Army encampment in 1776. It also ties Paine's service at Fort Lee to his writing of The American Crisis, the pamphlet behind the phrase "the times that try men's souls." Another marker, at Main Street and Schlosser Street, identifies that stretch of Main Street as part of the 1776 retreat route. So the parade ends in an ordinary Fort Lee intersection that was once a camp.
Fort Lee helps pay for the weekend. The park lists the Town of Fort Lee as a partial funder, along with the Palisades Parks Conservancy.
Sunday, both armies leave for River Edge
On Sunday, November 22, the two sides of the 1776 argument march separately toward the same destination:
- 8 a.m. Continental reenactors leave Fort Lee Historic Park to recreate the retreat, bound for New Bridge Landing in River Edge.
- 8:30 a.m. Loyalist reenactors leave Huyler's Landing Road in Cresskill to recreate the pursuit. This is the southern landing that John Spring argued for.
- 11:15 a.m. Both groups arrive at New Bridge Landing and join the public there.
The Friday encampment was at the traditional landing. The Sunday pursuit starts from the revisionist one.
New Bridge Landing is where the Bergen County Historical Society takes over. Its Retreat to Victory, 250th, 1776–2026 runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Historic New Bridge Landing, 1201 Main Street, River Edge. The program includes a reading of Paine's The American Crisis at the bridge, with Washington and other mounted generals leading troops across. Some of the arriving troops will have walked the Retreat Route from Fort Lee, and others will come from the Liberty Pole in Englewood. Unlike the park's programs, this event is ticketed. Admission is $15.50 for adults and $10.50 for BCHS members and students, plus ticket-service fees. According to MyBergen's event listing, refreshments will be sold at Campbell's Tavern on the grounds.
The night before, BCHS hosts Dine with Washington from 6 to 10 p.m. on Saturday at Sanzari's New Bridge Inn in New Milford. The dinner has period music, traditional toasts, and Washington and other generals in attendance. Open seating is $177, a seat at Washington's table is $252, and both include admission to Sunday's reenactment. It runs at the same time as the evening encampment tours in Fort Lee, so Saturday night means choosing between the camp in Fort Lee and the dinner in New Milford.
Getting to each piece of the route
Each stop has its own logistics, and the Alpine end is the hardest to reach.
- Cost at the park. Palisades Interstate Park's public programs are free and need no advance registration unless a listing says otherwise.
- Parking at Fort Lee Historic Park. The lot is metered year-round, with collection from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on November weekends. Rates are $2.50 an hour for the first four hours, $1.50 an hour for hours four through eight, and $1 an hour after that, up to a $20 daily maximum. A full Saturday, from the 9 a.m. demonstration through the 4 p.m. battle, runs about $16 by those rates. Arriving after 5 p.m. for the court martial, the magic lecture, or the camp tours falls outside the collection window.
- Visitor center hours. From November 1 through March 31, the visitor center is open Wednesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. The grounds are open daily from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.
- Alpine. The Alpine Picnic Area is open year-round but has no public transit, so the Friday encampment and the 8 a.m. Saturday hike require a car or a ride.
For residents of Fort Lee, the borough's neighborhood page and our summer guide to the town's calendar cover the rest of the year around Main Street and the Barrymore. The Retreat Day weekend is the one time the calendar follows the 1776 route instead.
The parade on November 21 ends at Palisade Avenue and Angioletti Place. At Hudson Realty Group, we pay attention to how history like this shapes the blocks along the Palisades. If you'd like to talk about the streets around Monument Park or the Main Street retreat route, we'd be glad to hear from you. Contact Us.
