REVOLUTIONARY WAR HISTORY
Naval Battle during attacks on Forts Clinton and Montgomery. Painting by Dahl Taylor, courtesy of New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.
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battle of forts clinton and montgomeryGarrison and the land that is now the Garrison School Forest played a strategic role in the American Revolution. In 1777, Major General Sir Henry Clinton, Commander of British troops in New York led a force of troops on land and in ships that successfully destroyed fortresses in the Hudson Highlands in the Battle of Forts Clinton and Montgomery. Gregory Smith and James M. Johnson note that Clinton designed his plan of attack with the assistance of Loyalist Colonel Beverley Robinson — who had lived in Garrison prior to the war. "It involved a two-prong advance over some twelve miles on Fort Montgomery from the west and Fort Clinton from the south." Major Andrew Mansinne, Jr. of the U.S. Military Academy also describes that campaign in detail.
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creation of fortress west pointAfter that loss, Gen. George Washington ordered construction of what became known as Fortress West Point. The South Redoubt, located in the Garrison School Forest, and neighboring North Redoubt were part of a series of fortifications on the west and east banks of the Hudson River designed by military engineer Tadeusz Kościuszko. A redoubt is an earthwork built of earth, sod and timber. In Historic Structures Report on the Redoubts of West Point, Douglas R. Cubbison describes how the North and South Redoubt were designed and built. Charles E. Miller, Jr., Donald V. Lockey, and Joseph Viscounti, Jr. also explain how the redoubts were constructed in this excerpt from Highland Fortress: The Fortification of West Point During the American Revolution, 1775-1783.
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Plan de West-Point du nord, levé a vue. French map of West Point fortifications showing the South Redoubt and North Redoubt at the left. Map courtesy of the Library of Congress.
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Map showing location of the Great Chain and boom.
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the great chainFortress West Point also included a great iron chain that extended from Constitution Island to a small cove between Horn Point and Love Rock on the West Point shore. Major Andrew Mansinne describes in great detail how the massive chain was constructed from bar iron. Each link was about two feet long. The chain was made up of 10-link sections that each weighed more than half a ton. The chain and log floats were first installed in April 1778. For the next four years, the chain, floats, and a separate boom were taken out of the river during the winter. The barricade was re-installed with new log floats in the spring. Ice in the river each winter prevented the British forces from venturing into the Hudson Highlands by ship. You can learn more about the Great Chain and Fortress West Point at the U.S. Military Academy Museum in West Point, NY.
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hut camps in the hudson highlandsThe North and South Redoubt were guarded by small detachments of soldiers from the Continental Army. The soldiers did not live in the two fortifications. Rather, they returned to five nearby hut camps inhabited by about 1,000 soldiers. A 1919 New York Times article identifies the camps as Connecticut Village, New Boston, Hempstead Huts, Soldier's Fortune, and Camp Robinson's Farm, which was located on what had been Beverley Robinson's farm on Route 9D near Cat Rock Road. Camp Hampstead Huts was located in the Canopus Hollow area, off of Albany Post Road. William S. Thomas, M.D. describes the lives of soldiers in the camps with huts built from logs during the Revolutionary War, incorporating a letter home from Lieut. Col. Ebenezer Huntington. Thomas also wrote Revolutionary Camps of the Hudson Highlands. The redoubts in Garrison and the other fortifications of Fortress West Point served their purpose. They did not withstand hostile attack during the remainder of the war.
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Replica cabin at the Valley Forge National Historical Park in Pennsylvania. It may be similar to log hut structures built in the hut camps in the Hudson Highlands during the Revolutionary War.
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Pass signed by Gen. Benedict Arnold granting safe passage to White Plains for Mr. John Anderson, the alias used by British Major John André. This document was found when John André was apprehended by Continental Army soldiers. Document courtesy of the New York State Archives.
Double-sided document written by Gen. Benedict Arnold that describes the design and construction of the North and South Redoubts. Arnold gave the document to British Major John André. This document was found when John André was apprehended by Continental Army soldiers. Document courtesy of the New York State Archives.
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benedict arnold's treason and his escape from garrisonGeneral Benedict Arnold assumed command of Fortress West Point in July 1780. Arnold had distinguished himself in critical Revolutionary War battles at Fort Ticonderoga, Lake Champlain, and Bemis Heights. But, as Ron Soodalter explains, General Horatio Gates failed to recognize Arnold for his decisive role during the Battle of Saratoga. Gates "omitted Arnold's action, thus planting in the egotistical Benedict the seed of treason," explains storyteller Jonathan Kruk in Legends and Lore of Sleepy Hollow and the Hudson Valley.
Arnold lived in the Robinson house in Garrison, seized from Beverley Robinson, who had sworn his loyalty to the British. The house, lost to a fire in 1892, was located at 832 Route 9D. A year before his appointment to oversee Fort West Point, Arnold contacted British Major John André and offered to sell military intelligence to the British. He contacted André again in 1780 and requested £20,000 sterling and a commission in the British military in exchange for handing over Fortress West Point to the British. General Henry Clinton, commander of the British forces, agreed to pay Arnold's price for Fortress West Point. André and Arnold met on September 21, 1780, using the names "John Anderson" and "Gustavus." Arnold gave André documents, preserved by the New York State Archives, that explained the number of troops and fortifications that comprised Fortress West Point. He also gave André a pass, shown at the left, to permit John Anderson safe passage to White Plains. The second document at the left describes the construction of the North Redoubt and South Redoubt in Garrison. André was apprehended and searched near Sleepy Hollow. His captors found the documents describing Fortress West Point in André's sock. 
Major Benjamin Tallmadge, George Washington's spymaster, sent a messenger to Robinson House with a letter reporting André's capture. Arnold read the letter on the morning of September 25, bade his wife farewell, and took off on horseback down the lane to Beverley Dock, where he took a military boat to travel downriver to meet the British ship The Vulture, anchored off Dobbs Ferry. "Upon boarding he received about £20,000 sterling and a brigadier general's star and became a traitor to the cause he once loved," explains Kruk. George Washington, who had come that morning to inspect the redoubts, was surprised to learn that Arnold was not at the Robinson House to meet with him. Then, Washington received the shocking evidence of Arnold's treasonous plot from a messenger.
André was convicted of spying, and was hanged. Arnold went on to fight for the British. After the war, Arnold and his family moved to London. They also lived in Saint John, New Brunswick for six years. Then, they returned to London. "He tried to succeed in the military, in trade and land speculation," Kruk notes. "Arnold's efforts ended with lawsuits, duels and financial losses." Arnold died in London in 1801. |