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Greenbush Cantonment
Description: Greenbush Cantonment was built in Rensselaer County, in East Greenbush, and was active from 1663 to 1690, and was used once again between 1812 and 1831. In 1863, a small, stockaded fort was built three miles east of the village of Greenbush. In 1812, the US government purchased 400 acres of land nearby to provide a space for the construction of a headquarters for the Northern Division of the United States Army. Construction began in May of that year. The cantonment could accommodate over 4,000 troops and boasted a 100-bed hospital. It came equipped with eight barracks, three ninety-foot-long buildings for its officers, two large commissary buildings, an arsenal, an armory, guard houses, stables, a farrier, a magazine, general and field grade quarters, and laboratories. It was declared surplus in May 1819 and in May of 1831, was sold by the government to Hawthorn McCulloch, who established his house in the Northeast Officer's Quarters. The, the only remaining building is an officer barracks, as the Red Mill School occupies the former parade grounds. Today the former Cantonment is known as the McCulloch Mansion.
County: Rensselaer
City, State: East Greenbush, New York
Conflict/Time Period: 1663-1690, 1812-1831