Historic New Bridge Landing Park Commission, River Edge, NJ
Welcome to New Bridge Landing
New Bridge Landing was the site of a pivotal
bridge crossing the Hackensack River,
where General George Washington led his
troops in retreat from British forces. The
area is now a New Jersey historic site in
portions of New Milford, River Edge and
Teaneck in Bergen County, New Jersey.
After difficult losses in the Battle of Brooklyn,
General George Washington led his troops
towards Manhattan, with the British in
pursuit. On November 16, 1776, Fort
Washington fell to the British, and
Washington evacuated Fort Lee on the New
Jersey side of the Hudson River.
In the early morning hours of November 20,
1776, Lieutenant General Charles
Cornwallis led a British and Hessian army
of about 2,500 soldiers across the Hudson
River to New Dock for an attack against Fort
Lee, then defended by about 900 soldiers.
Washington led his 2,000 troops from Fort Lee in a ragged retreat through present-day Englewood, New Jersey and
Teaneck across the Hackensack River at New Bridge. The hasty withdrawal of the American garrison across the
Hackensack River at New Bridge preserved them from entrapment on the narrow peninsula between the Hudson and
Hackensack Rivers.
Washington continued his retreat through early December, passing through Princeton on the way towards and across the
Delaware River into Pennsylvania.
More history about HNBL from the Bergen County Historical Society.
Links