Kidnapping the Enemy & George Washington’s Nemesis

Kidnapping the Enemy: The Special Operations to Capture Generals Charles Lee & Richard Prescott and George Washington’s Nemesis: The Outrageous Treason and Unfair Court-Martial of Major General Lee During the Revolutionary War

Presented by: Christian McBurney, author

Part of the Series – “The Capture of General Charles Lee at Widow White’s Tavern and its Local Impact”

Brick Academy, 15 W. Oak St., Basking Ridge, NJ
Admission: $15 members, $20 guest – Seating is Limited

In celebration of our nation’s 250th anniversary, step back in time to one of the Revolutionary War’s most stunning turning points. Join us at Widow White’s Tavern – the historic Brick Academy transformed – to mark the 250th anniversary of the capture of General Charles Lee in Basking Ridge. Acclaimed historian Christian McBurney will bring the infamous General to life, drawing from his two definitive books on the subject. McBurney will delve into the dramatic details of Lee’s high-stakes capture, his controversial role at the Battle of Monmouth, and the scandalous court-martial that followed.

On December 13, 1776, 250 years ago during the Revolutionary War, a troop of British cavalry led by a British aristocrat, and one of the most feared British cavalry officers of the war, captured Major General Charles Lee at Widow White’s Tavern in Basking Ridge. Lee was then the second-in-command of the Continental army, subordinate to only General George Washington. Lee was the most complicated, controversial, and eccentric officer on either side of the Revolutionary War.

Find out why Lee ended up at Basking Ridge and how locals assisted the British in discovering his presence. What myths arose around this event that made it to newspapers here in the US, and in England and throughout Europe. Following a long imprisonment in New York, Lee was eventually freed via a high-profile prisoner exchange in 1778 and returned to the Continental Army where he went on to command the army at the Battle of Monmouth in southern New Jersey. Thought to be unjustly charged with not attacking the enemy despite orders to do so, Lee was convicted, and suspended from the army. The president of the court martial board at the time who presided over Lee’s trial was William Alexander, who called himself Lord Stirling, the owner of a large estate in Basking Ridge famously known as Stirling Manor.

$15 Members / $20 Non-members