STAINED GLASS: The Battle for Manhattan

The first post in a series highlighting specific stained-glass windows in Tudor City.

September 15, 1776: The Revolutionary War is in full throttle. 5,000 British troops -- including some Hessian mercenary soldiers -- are poised to invade Manhattan from warships massed along the East River opposite Kip's Bay. The British invasion begins. Far outnumbered, George Washington and his Continental Army are no match for this show of force, and flee north to Turtle Bay and west to what would later be 42nd Street. The American forces are eventually driven off the island in November, fleeing to New Jersey. The British win the battle, but ultimately lose the war.

Two stained-glass panels near the entrance of Tudor Tower commemorate this battle, stating

Tudor City Partly Covers The Site of a Revolutionary Fortification

While Excavating for This Building, a Hessian Sword Was Discovered

Prospect Hill's elevated setting makes it a natural as a Revolutionary fortification. Fred French donated the Hessian sword to the New-York Historical Society.

Only in Tudor City can you find mock 16th-century stained glass made in the 1920s commemorating an event in 1776.