The American Revolution was largely fought in the backyards of civilians, especially in New York. After the British took control of New York City in the fall of 1776, with the Americans retreating north of the Croton River, the area in between became known as the Neutral Ground or Neutral Zone.
For eight long years, this area, which included all of Philipse Manor, saw unprecedented levels of military battles and skirmishes, vigilante violence, and “foraging” for military supplies from the very civilians the armies were purporting to liberate from the enemy. Women were often caught in the middle, as they struggled to maintain households with men joining armies, tried to protect themselves and their children from military and vigilante violence including sexual violence, and to protect their properties and foodstuffs from barn burnings, cattle rustlers, and marauding “foragers.” Some had strong political views on the conflict. Others simply tried to survive.
This talk will examine the lives of women in the Neutral Zone more broadly as well as specific stories of individual women including Mary Philipse Morris and Elizabeth Williams Rutgers Philipse, Ann Fisher Miller, Grace Isaacs Babcock, and Black Loyalists such as Eleanor Fleming and Lydia Tompkins.
