OPINION — They’re common from The Battery in Charleston, S.C., to Seattle’s Hamlin Park: Military relics retired to public places such as county courthouses and public parks to commemorate America’s wartime history.
One such antique artillery piece stood silent guard in the Big Apple for almost 100 years. And the whole time, it held a hidden secret no one knew. How the cannon wound up there is as fascinating as the story’s surprise ending. And it all started with a bad decision.
After George Washington’s army was driven out of New York late in the summer of 1776, the British set about defending the place. One elevated spot in particular caught their eye: a commanding hill situated near today’s northeastern corner of Central Park, close to modern East 107th Street and Fifth Avenue. There they dug in. If Washington and his men ever returned, the Redcoats would be ready. However, the British never needed those hilltop defenses.
