South oithe ItyJountaind published by Tappan Zee Historical Society Rockland County, Orangeburg, New York Vol. 8 No. 1 January-March 1964 First Governor of New York George Clinton was New York’s first governor and served in that office for 21 years. At his death in 1812 he was Vice President of the United States under Madison. Fort Clinton, the ruins of which lie at Rockland’s northeast extremity, was named for George Clinton or his brother James. James Clinton, one of Washington’s generals, was the father of De Witt Clinton, a dominant figure in New York and national politics and the prime mover of the Erie Canal. FORTS CLINTON AND MONTGOMERY SISTER FORTS OF THE POPOLOPEN, 1776-1777 By Richard J. Koke, The New-York Historical Society Nestled in the woods of the Palisades Interstate Park on the high bluff overlooking the Hudson River in the extreme northeast corner of Rock­ land County are the remains of Fort Clinton of the American Revolution. The dividing line between the Counties of Rockland and Orange passes directly through the center of the fort, leaving the remains partly in one County and partly in the other. Its history is so closely tied to that of Fort Montgomery on the north bank of nearby Popolopen Creek in Orange County that the story of one cannot be related without mention of the other. The history of these forts covers a period of two brief years, from 1776 to 1777, and recounts the early efforts of the American colonists to fortify the Hudson Highlands and bar the river to the ascent of British ships. Today their remains lie undisturbed on the heights overlooking the river they were intended to protect. In the end, they fell prey to the British. Their inception began in the autumn of 1775 when construction was advocated of a fortification on the north bank of Popolopen Kill [now Popolopen Creek], but it was not until March 14, 1776 that work was begun and the fort named in honor of Brig. General Richard Montgomery, who had been killed in the attack on Quebec in December 1775. In July 1776 an outwork battery was begun on higher ground on the south side of the creek, which was named Fort Clinton in honor of either George or James Clinton of Ulster County, who were intimately connected with its construction and ultimate defense. Work on the Popolopen posts went on throughout 1776 and into 1777, but only once during the period before their eventual fall did they actual­ ly contest the enemy—this on July 17, 1776, when a British tender un­ warily approached from the south. One single well-aimed 32-pound can­ non shot from the Grand Battery at P'ort Montgomery, fired with unerring accuracy from a distance of more than two miles, struck the vessel’s stern and forced her to turn and sail downstream. Alarms and threats of attack were frequent, and the Orange and Ulster militia flocked to the forts when there was need to supplement the Continentals in garrison. In November 1776, as a further defensive measure, a heavy iron chain wras drawn across the river between Fort Montgomery and Anthony’s Nose on the east shore. The test of their strength came in October 1777 from the British gar­ rison at New York commanded by Lt. General Sir Henry Clinton, w'ho, in September, with the arrival of reinforcements from Europe, contem­ plated an attack on the Highland forts to favor the movements of Bur- goyne’s army in northern New' York. 1 he overall American command in the Plighlancls at this time was in the hands of Maj. General Israel Putnam, with headquarters at Peekskill, while the Popolopen forts were under command of Brig. General James Clinton. In September Putnam received word of a possible British thrust up the Hudson, and he communicated this intelligence to George Clinton at Kingston, who, in July, had been elected first Governor of the State of New York. To the ^Forest of Dea.n THE ATTACK. TOft-NE. ON FORTS HILL American gans CLINTON AND MONTC.ONER.Y }M<- //•liken F OCTOBER 6,1777 ANTHONY'S NOSE 'AMERICAN 'O ARMY / "under. / PUTNAM ^^TConUnentalTo %(f\CnT M VilU^e l' INDEPENDENCE DOODLETOWN > Britiih. leive ' ^vxird Here, I OlR-PLANCKJS POINT DriUsK troops /" ** land- jT A \ Oct. s. /vY 1 PAR-SONS \l\\ POINT I BR.IT15H FLEET Map drawn by the author showing the British thrust against Forts Clinton and Montgomery resulting in their capture. Issuing orders for the Hudson Valley militia to reinforce both Putnam and the Popolopen positions, George Clinton left Kingston and arrived at Fort Montgomery on October 5 and assumed command. Important as they were, the forts were still incomplete and undermanned. The Highland command had been heavily drained of troops to reinforce the American armies in Pennsylvania and northern New York, and the gar­ risons now numbered only between five hundred and six hundred men. The forts having been designed primarily to defend the passage of the river, the main efforts had been concentrated on the erection of strong batteries along the river bluffs, but the defenses in the rear, facing the mountains where no attack was ever anticipated, were woefully incomplete. Fort Clinton was the stronger of the two. The scattered land batteries at Fort Montgomery were weak. As an added defense, a small American fleet of five vessels lay anchored in the river above the chain to assist in defense. Sir Henry Clinton, the British commander who directed the successful attack against the Popo­ lopen Forts. He was a member of parliament concurrently with his military service in America. He was later governor of Gibraltar. Sir Henry Clinton moved by water and land from the New York posi­ tions on the night of October 3-4, sending his regiments by water up the Hudson and by land through Westchester to Tarry town, where the entire force embarked on board a fieet commanded by Commodore William Hotham. The flotilla then proceeded to the northern end of Haverstraw Bay, and on October 5 Clinton landed a large number of troops on Ver- planck’s Point on the east shore and sent the advanced squadron of the fleet into Peekskill Bay to cut the water communication between the Popolopen forts and Putnam’s Peekskill base. Clinton’s tactics followed a classic pattern of deployment which had brought about British victory on Long Island in 1776, and only recently had been again successfully employed at the Battle of Brandywine. The pattern was simple: frontal attack was to be avoided in favor of a stealthy encircling movement to fall upon the enemy in his flank or rear. Clinton considered Putnam's force his main opposition, but his objectives were the Popolopen forts. The British movement to Tarrytown and the landing on Verplanck’s Point lulled Putnam into the belief that the British thrust was directed against his Peekskill position. The small force on Verplanck’s, in Sir Henry’s reasoning, would serve to hold Putnam’s attention, while the main British force would be landed on the west shore of the Hudson and would swing through the mountains in an enveloping movement which would take it around the American flank to fall upon the river forts from the rear. The eerie light of an early morning fog greeted the opposing forces on the morning of October 6 when Clinton landed his attacking force at Stony Point. His advance guard, 900 strong, was under command of Lt. Colonel Mungo Campbell; his second division, 1,200 strong, was under Maj. General John Vaughan; and his rear guard of two regiments was under Maj. General William Tryon. The real test of the day’s operations fell upon Campbell’s troops, who were to mave over the crest of the Dander- berg through what the British called “the pass of Thunder Hill" to the hamlet of Doodletown, and then proceed by a circuitous route around the rear of Bear Hill [now Bear Mountain] to fall upon Fort Montgomery from the rear. Vaughan was to turn right at Doodletown and move against Fort Clinton, but he was to withhold his attack until Campbell had time to complete the Bear Hill circuit. The rear guard was to maintain com­ munication with the fleet. Daylight was breaking as Campbell began his march along a rough mountain road which was little better than a trail. The British column moved northward through what is now Tomkins Cove and along the Buckberg Mountain Road. At 8:00 in the morning Campbell reached the undefended Dunderberg pass and descended into the gorge leading to Doodletown and started his western circuit, while Vaughan, wha fol­ lowed, rested in the deep mountain valley below Bear Hill. The British landing had not gone unperceived by the Americans. Just after sunrise American scouts brought word to the Popolopen forts that more than 2,000 enemy soldiers had landed on the west shore. Putnam also heard of the landing, and surmised the British might possibly attack Forts Clinton and Montgomery. He sent word to Governor Clinton that reinforcements would be sent to the Popolopen as soon as the British deployments were certain, but for the time being he delayed the dispatch of troops until events developed. It was not long after 9:00 when Governor Clinton ordered out another scouting party of thirty men, which proceeded as far as Doodletown, where they unexpectedly encountered the British and exchanged a rapid fire before falling back to Fort Clinton. Shortly thereafter the Americans received intelligence that the enemy was advancing around the rear of Bear Hill.