Staples® Print Solutions HUNRES_1518351_BRO01 QA6 1234 CYANMAGENTAYELLOWBLACK 06/6/2016 This material is based upon work assisted by a grant from the Department of Interior, National Park Service. Any opinions, fi ndings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily refl ect the views of the Department of the Interior. FFISHKILLISHKILL MMilitaryilitary SSupplyupply HHubub ooff tthehe AAmericanmerican RRevolutionevolution 11776-1783776-1783 “...the principal depot of Washington’s army, where there are magazines, hospitals, workshops, etc., which form a town of themselves...” -Thomas Anburey 1778 Friends of the Fishkill Supply Depot A Historical Overview www.fi shkillsupplydepot.org Cover Image: Spencer Collection, New York Public Library. Designed and Written by Hunter Research, Inc., 2016 “View from Fishkill looking to West Point.” Funded by the American Battlefi eld Protection Program Th e New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1820. Staples® Print Solutions HUNRES_1518351_BRO01 QA6 5678 CYANMAGENTAYELLOWBLACK 06/6/2016 Fishkill Military Supply Hub of the American Revolution In 1777, the British hatched a scheme to capture not only Fishkill but the vital Fishkill Hudson Valley, which, if successful, would sever New England from the Mid- Atlantic and paralyze the American cause. The main invasion force, under Gen- eral John Burgoyne, would push south down the Lake Champlain corridor from Distribution Hub on the Hudson Canada while General Howe’s troops in New York advanced up the Hudson. In a series of missteps, Burgoyne overestimated the progress his army could make On July 9, 1776, New York’s Provincial Congress met at White Plains creating through the forests of northern New York, and Howe deliberately embarked the State of New York and accepting the Declaration of Independence. Among with the main British army for an attack on Philadelphia, presuming there would the Provincial Congress’s fi rst offi cial acts as a new state was to support the es- be enough time to come back to New York and strike up the Hudson to meet up tablishment of a military depot at Fishkill under the direction of George Clin- ton, New York’s fi rst Governor and Brigadier General of militia. Over the next seven years, Fishkill supplied New York’s militia and the Continental Army with livestock and food, cared for wounded soldiers, housed British and Tory prison- New England and the Middle Atlantic Colonies George Washington, n New England ers, and crafted an amazing variety of materiel from tents to boats – all essential During the American Revolution i a l Commander in Chief of p to the American quest for independence. m a the Continental Army, h ia C e visited Fishkill k a r L e v The timing of Fishkill’s establishment as a military depot coincided with the on numerous occasions. i R 3 Lake Ontario t e movement of the main theater of war from New England to the Middle Atlantic g u Appalachian Range r c o i e t G c region. In March 1776, the British army evacuated Boston after nearly a year of e New e n k n a L o Hampshire stalemated confl ict with American patriots, most notably at the Battles of Con- C 10 cord and Bunker Hill. British General William Howe decamped with the goal of New York Albany Lake Erie capturing the more centrally located and Loyalist-leaning seaport of New York r e Massachusetts 1 v 4 Boston i Atlantic R 2 City. In June and July 1776, at the same time that the American colonists were Springfield n o s Ocean learning of their new Declaration of Independence, some 500 British ships and d u C H a p Connecticut e 35,000 men – the largest armed force to be seen in America until the Civil War FISHKILL C o d New Windsor Newport – appeared in New York harbor and on Staten Island. The British quickly tri- Danbury r West e v i Point General William Howe, R umphed over an ill-equipped and poorly trained American army at the Battle of r a e n v Commander in Chief of n i a h R Morristown 6 Rhode e Long Island on August 27. General George Washington was forced to evacuate q u the British Army in North Pennsylvania S u s e r Long Island Island a Jockey 5 America until April 1778. w Hollow New York City. Fortunately, his army successfully executed a strategic retreat, a l Middlebrook New York e D 8 the fi rst of many over the next few months. Valley 7 12 Major Battles of the Revolution: Forge Trenton 11 1 Battles of Lexington and Concord, Apr. 19, 1775 Philadelphia Wilmington 9 Some 50 miles upriver from New York City, the mountainous Hudson Highlands 2 Siege of Boston, Apr. 19, 1775 -Mar. 17, 1776 ng L New Maryland o 3 Battle of Fort Ticonderoga, May 10, 1775 provided a natural defense against a potential British advance up the Hudson Rang w Jersey Baltimore e r 4 Battle of Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775 D River toward Albany. A critical bend in the river at West Point was fortifi ed by e C l o a w 5 Battle of Brooklyn/Long Island, Aug. 27, 1776 u ± a r the Americans beginning in 1775. Nearby Fishkill, on the east side of the river C n e h t 6 Battle of White Plains, Oct. 28, 1776 i B a 0 25 50 100 e e y just north of a gap through the Highlands through which the main New York- s s a 7 Battles of Trenton, Dec. 26, 1776; Jan. 2, 1777 P p Appalachian Range o Miles t e o a Albany Post Road passed, had long been a prominent location at the southern m k 8 Battle of Princeton, Jan. 3, 1777 a c e R B Key: i v e a Virginia r 9 Battle of Brandywine, Sept. 11, 1777 end of the broad and fertile Mid-Hudson Valley. It also lay at a crossroads where y Colonial boundaries 10 Battles of Saratoga, Sept. 19 - Oct. 7, 1777 Governor George Clinton the Post Road intersected an important east-west route connecting a landing on Major towns 11 Battle of Germantown, Oct. 4, 1777 presided over New York’s Williamsburg Major encampments the Hudson River, known as Fishkill Landing, with Danbury, Connecticut and and fortifications Provincial Congress and 13 12 Battle of Monmouth Courthouse, June 28, 1778 the rest of New England. Fishkill was perfectly positioned for the gathering of Major battles state militia from Fishkill 13 Siege of Yorktown, Sept. 28 - Oct. 19, 1781 during the Revolution. men and supplies from both the Hudson Valley and New England. Fishkill in its regional Revolutionary War context. 1 2 Staples® Print Solutions HUNRES_1518351_BRO01 QA6 9101112 CYANMAGENTAYELLOWBLACK 06/6/2016 Fishkill Military Supply Hub of the American Revolution with Burgoyne. Howe successfully captured Philadelphia, but on Oc- Chronology of Events at Fishkill tober 17, 1777, an exhausted Burgoyne surrendered to General Hora- 1776 1779 tio Gates following the American victory at the Battles of Saratoga. July 4 - Declaration of Independence January - Fishkill artifi cers demand better pay Despite Howe’s failure to connect with Burgoyne, British detach- August-September - New York Provincial Congress May - British capture Stony Point; troops gather at ments advanced into the Mid-Hudson Valley in October 1777, burn- moves to Fishkill and establishes an “armed Fishkill; Fishkill stores dispersed encampment” ing Kingston and Clermont, and causing the temporary evacuation September-October - Americans prepare for assault on of Fishkill. The depot would never again be under serious threat, September - British take New York City New York City; boats built at Fishkill Landing; stores assembled at supply depot; assault aborted although at several points during the war intelligence suggested the November-December - supply depot set up at Fishkill; British might attack and preparations were made to defend the depot barracks constructed; Loyalist prisoners being held 1780 or disperse its supplies. Fishkill also fi gured strongly in several plans, December - surprise American victory at Trenton none of them ultimately implemented, for attacks on New York City, January - Fishkill stores robbed; lack of cash to pay artifi cers and suppliers and in the coordinated American and French advance from New 1777 England to Virginia, which culminated in British surrender at York- June-August - American plans for attacking New York February - New York Provincial Congress relocates City; troops and supplies assembled at Fishkill; plans town on October 19, 1781. A veritable who’s who of America’s mili- from Fishkill to Kingston abandoned tary and political leadership, including General Washington himself March - British attack Peekskill; Fishkill prepares July - French army arrives in Newport, Rhode Island Soldier of the 3rd New York Regiment, and future President John Adams, visited and spent time in Fishkill, defenses and removes stores; skirmish at Wiccopee Pass 1775 (New-York Historical Society). inspecting and commenting on the adequacy of its stores and de- 1781 fenses. It is no exaggeration to maintain that supplies from Fish- April - smallpox outbreak at Fishkill kill were used by soldiers fi ghting in almost every major engagement September - British occupy Philadelphia March-April - Congress plans to discontinue the post at of the war. It was truly the Military Supply Hub of the American Fishkill, but are dissuaded by Washington and Knox October - British advance up the Hudson, attack Fort Revolution. Montgomery; skirmishes on the Hudson near Fishkill August-October - French and American Armies march to Landing; American defenses at Wiccopee Pass Virginia November - British surrender at Saratoga October 19 - British surrender at Yorktown 1778 1782 February - United States and France sign the French April - American army headquarters