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South Oithe Ityjountaind

South Oithe Ityjountaind

South oithe ItyJountaind

published by Tappan Zee Historical Society Rockland , Orangeburg, Vol. 8 No. 1 January-March 1964

First 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 under Madison. Fort Clinton, the ruins of which lie at Rockland’s northeast extremity, was named for George Clinton or his brother James. , 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 , 1776-1777 By Richard J. Koke, The New-York Historical Society Nestled in the woods of the Interstate Park on the high bluff overlooking the in the extreme northeast corner of Rock­ land County are the remains of Fort Clinton of the . 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 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 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 , 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 , 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

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DOODLETOWN

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I OlR-PLANCKJS POINT DriUsK troops /" ** land- jT A \ Oct. s. /vY

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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 . 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 " to the hamlet of Doodletown, and then proceed by a circuitous route around the rear of [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 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. For the two Clinton brothers in the forts—who, incidentally, were not related to the British gentleman moving upon their position—it was now

Richard Montgomery, American hero in whose honor Fort Montgomery was named. He was killed in the assault on Quebec in 1775. Born in , he served in the before the Revolution and settled in New York. He had married a daughter of Robert R. Livingston, a member of the drafting committee for the Dec­ laration of Independence. a matter of time. Hoping to the enemy from the forts as long as possible in order to gain time for Putnam’s reinforcements to arrive from across the river, Governor Clinton detached advanced parties from both forts to block the approach roads. A hundred soldiers from Fort Clinton took post behind a stone wall at the south end of what is now Lake; while two cannon with artillerists and covering troops stationed themselves about a mile west of Fort Montgomery on the rocky slope of Torne Hill [now Popolopen Torne], Both detachments fought obstinately and delayed the enemy, but the weight of British numbers forced them back into the forts. Vaughan halted at the stone wall to await the sounds of Campbell’s attack.

About 2 :00 in the afternoon Campbell finally began his assault and his troops worked their ways close to the walls of Fort Montgomery. Half of the defenders had neither spear nor bayonet to repel the enemy, and for three hours the slender garrison managed to resist repeated attacks. The reinforcements from Peekskill were expected with every passing hour, but none appeared. Putnam, despite his awareness of the British landing, still feared an attack from the British on Verplanck’s Point and the ships in Peekskill Bay. It was not until he heard the heavy detonations of artillery and musket fire at the forts that five hundred men were belatedly sent to relieve the forts. The lengthy detour through the Highland passes delayed the troops still further, and when they at last arrived on the east bank of the river they were too late to be of assistance to the sister forts.

The full weight of Sir Henry Clinton’s movement against the forts now took place. At 4:30 in the afternoon five British naval craft left the Peekskill Bay anchorage and stood upstream towards the forts to lend support to the Royal forces on land, and half an hour later began a heavy cannonade against the forts and American vessels north of the chain. At 5 :00 Campbell himself went forward with a flag of truce before Fort Montgomery to demand its surrender, but he was informed the fort would be defended to the last extremity. Ten minutes later he launch­ ed a final attack and drove the outnumbered defenders from the walls and into the fort.

At the same time Vaughan’s column moved forward from the area of the stone wall and advanced upon Fort Clinton through an interlacing of felled trees and a heavy cannonade from the walls with orders to rely only on the bayonet. In both forts there was a tumultuous melee of fighting men as the British entered the positions. For the defenders, it was now a struggle to escape as they contested the ground inch by inch.

To join the Society, send your name, address and annual dues of $1.00 to Peter Okkerse, Treasurer, c/o Marine Mid­ land Trust Co., Pearl River, N. Y. Maj. General Israel Putnam was an early supporter of the American cause, having abandoned his plough in the field on hearing of the fighting at Lexington and Concord. He was the commander of our forces at Peek- skill, whose aid to the Popolopen Forts came too late.

Favored by the growing dusk and their knowledge of the ground, many officers and men in the defending garrisons managed to fight their way out of the forts and lose themselves to pursuit in the gloom, among them both George and James Clinton, but 263 Americans were captured. By 5:45 the firing died down, and, as one British report had it, the two im­ portant forts “upon whose dependence the safety of the State so greatly depended fell by storm to His Majesty’s arms.” The American fleet in the river was destroyed by fire by their own crews that same night to pre­ vent their capture by the enemy. For twenty days the sister forts were held by the British, during which time Fort Clinton was renamed Fort Vaughan in honor of its captor. The British invaders cut the iron chain and continued up the river to destroy Kingston by fire on October 16. On October 26 both forts were completely- destroyed and abandoned by the British on their withdrawal to New York, and thereafter they no longer served as military posts, save for the erection of a small battery at Fort Montgomery in 1779 after the main Highland had been transferred to West Point. The forest has reclaimed the sites of the forts in the 186 years which have elapsed since their defense and abandonment. Much of Fort Clinton was obliterated in the 19th-century during the time its site was occupied by the estate of the Pell family, but the well-constructed Outer was spared and today can be seen on the grounds of the Bear Mountain Trailside Museum near the 9-W traffic circle at . Within the more-secluded remains of Fort Montgomery the foundations of many of the old military buildings are still visible as well as the heavy earthen ramparts which crown the bluffs above the river. The story of the sister forts is vividly presented in exhibits at the Bear Mountain Trailside Historical Museum on the site of the Star Redoubt of Fort Clinton, with displays of military relics which were unearthed within the forts by the museum staff since the 1930’s. The interested visitor, seeking the story of the desperate days of our Nation’s founding, will find himself well repaid by a visit to this museum and the historic site on which it is situated.

IN MEMORIAM Mrs. Hans Buck Albert B. Corey DATES TO REMEMBER March 16th Dr. Jules Pierre will speak on “The Participation of the Monday French in the War for American Independence.’’ At the 8:15 p.m. Washington Avenue School, Suffern. Dr. Pierre, an of­ ficer of the French Legion of Honor and now an American citizen, has made an exhaustive study of the assistance given by America’s oldest ally. The Society’s Homes Tour this year will be on Saturday, May 23rd.

* We thank Mrs. Welton Staples for designating the 7 appan Zee Hist­ orical Society to receive a memorial gift for the Museum Fund in remem­ brance of her father, Maurice E. Crawford. A gift such as this lives on, and it recognizes a person’s interest in the historical past of Rockland County. * * * A current project of the Society is to assemble information on early settlers in the County with the intention of later incorporating the data on a map which will become an exhibit in the Museum. Can you furnish information as to the place of origin and approximate dates of settlement of any of the early Rockland families? If so, please note the same on a post card and mail it to Mrs. Reeve J. Terwilliger, 4 Park Lane, West Nyack, N. Y.

If your 1964 dues have not yet been forwarded, please mail your dol­ lar [$2.50 for family memberships] to Peter Okkerse, Marine Midland Trust Company, Pearl River. Receipts will not be sent unless requested.

The October meeting in Nanuet on “The Delawares in Rockland County” proved to be of keen interest to a large audience, including a number of children. The speaker, Regis Yeadon of the Museum of the American Indian, has furnished a reading list for those desiring to make a further study of this subject, which may be had by writing the Society, Kings Highway, Orangeburg. * * * An American Vignette At a dinner at Versailles the British Minister toasted his King, George III, referring to him as “the sun.” He was followed by the French Minis­ ter who toasted Louis XVI as the lustrous moon. then rose and gave his toast: “: Commander of the American Armies, ■who, like Joshua of old, commanded the sun and the moon to stand still, and they obeyed him."

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