The British Occupation
Revolutionary War Heritage Trail
In 1775, the populace of Oyster Bay was divided, with only 20 percent supporting American independence. Among this small group of rebels was local merchant and politician Samuel Townsend, the owner of what is today Raynham Hall Museum.
In 1776, British troops had successfully expelled the rebel army from Long Island. For the next seven years, the British Army would control the island from Brooklyn to Orient Point.
In the fall of 1778, Lieutenant-Colonel John Graves Simcoe and more than 400 members of the Queen’s Rangers regiment arrived in Oyster Bay to establish winter quarters, and to man an existing hilltop fort. Simcoe established the Townsends’ home as his headquarters for the winter, while junior officers and enlisted men were quartered other homes around the village, including the Earl Wightman House. The Queen’s Rangers left Oyster Bay exactly six months after their arrival.
Marker is on Summit Street, on the right when traveling east.
Courtesy hmdb.org
