DEFENDING THE HUDSON RIVER, 1776-1777
nine men. Co lonel Lewis Dubois estimated that a garriso n of2,000 men was needed to defend both forts properly; unfortunately, on the day the British attacked fewer than 700 were present. A chain, designed to stop or to dam age an y English wars hips that attemp ted to barrel through it, had been put in place across the Hudson River at this poim in March 1777. Stretching 1,700 feet from a cove just north of Popolopen Creek to the base of a rocky promontory called Anthony's Nose o n the eastern shore of the Hudson, it was guarded by the sprawlin g Fort Momgomery. As early as 12 May 1777, Washington had personal ly taken steps to in crease the odds against the British when he sent M ajor General Natha nael Greene to the Highlands to inspect the defenses and correct an y errors he might find. H e charged Greene with insuring that the defenses were ready to defeat an attack from either land or water and to guard against a "coup de main" from the wes t. Greene and his committee-Brigadier Generals Alexander McDougall , H enry Knox, Geo rge Climon , a nd An thony Wayne-reported that additional water obs tacles were all that was needed to complete rh e defenses. In their collective judgment, the addition of a boo m and cables to bolster the chai n and the presence of two armed galleys and rhe two New York frigates wo uld combine with the batteries of the forts to " render it impossible for the Sh ippin g ro operate there." If rhe rive r remained blocked and if " rhe Passes into the Highlands be properl y guarded , which can be don e with about four o r five thousa nd troops, the rest of th e Army will be at liberry to operate elsewhere." The Co ntinental Marine Committee acted alm ost imm ediately on G reene's recommendations by ordering Montgomery and Congress so uthward from Poughkeepsie in Jun e. And, in July, absem a boom to protect the chain , General (and New York Gove rnor) Geo rge Clinton , in co mm and of th e fort, pl aced a large cabl e south of the chain sp li ced from three small er cables from the frigate Mon tgomery in July. By the end of July, the frigates, the New York sloo p Camden, and the Co ntinental row gall eys Shark and Lady Washington were anchored near Po polo pen Creek. By scouring the regio n for ar mament, each of the ships had acquired so me ca nn o n: Mont12
gomery, with a crew of 36, had eight 12po unders; Congress had at least nine 9pounders from Fort Co nstituti o n, fa rther no rth across from West Poim; Camden, with a crew of 18, had six 6-pounders, four 4- pound ers, and twelve swivel guns; Shark, with a crew of 18, had four 9- pounders; and Lady Washington, with a crew of 20, had one 32- pound er and eight 3-pounders. Captain John Hodge of Montgomery and Cap tain Thomas G renn ell of Congress had scraped together crews from experienced sail o rs, so ldi ers, and even "Deserters, Boys, &ca." Put to the Test Undermanned a nd und ergunn ed, the Hudson 's navy suffered from its organization and the mission that sen ior leaders had ass igned it. T he Co minenral Marine Co mmittee had established a worka ble co mmand re lati o nship that linked its ships with the gro und force: Grennell and H odge were "to fo llow and obey such o rders as they may receive from General Wash ington or the Commanding officer who may direct th e o peratio ns in that quarter. " Because the mission of the ships was to protect rhe chain , they had "become a part of the wo rk itself. " T hi s meant that Geo rge C linton , rather than Israel Putn am, exercised authority over the ships. One other twist complicated the issue: Congress had been ordered by C lin to n to sa il no rth on 5 October to Fort Co nstitutio n "lest she sho uld meet with a Disaster. " Although H odge rated th e gall eys "manned and in a proper state o f defence" and his own ship "in great forwardness, " he wo uld find th at his inflexible miss ion and the acrual state of his small force limited the contribution he wo uld be able to make to the outcom e of the upco min g battl e. No netheless he predi cted that "we shall be able to give rhe enemy (when they approach) a warm reception. " Sir Henry Clinton set rhe Hudso n River Campaign of 1777 in morion on 2 October when he and Commodo re Wi lli am Horham transported 3,000 men aboard some 56 warships, transports, and fl atboats, landing first at Tarrytown on 4 October, at Verp lanck' s Point rhe next day, and fin all y at Stony Point o n th e 6th. So me 70 0 Co n t in enta l infantrymen, artillerymen and militi amen o pposed the two-pronged arrack from the south and west. By nightfall , however, fo llowin g vio-
lent assa ults on Forts Montgo mery and C lin to n afrer a twelve-hour march overland , Sir H enry occupied borh fortificatio ns. The march through the moumainous terrain had preve nted the use of artillery, so rhis Briti sh arrack was mad e by the infantry and what cannon foe Captain Sir Jam es Wallace (formerly of HMS Rose) co uld bring to bea r from his row galleys. In the face of a fi erce cannonade from the American row galleys, frigates, and sloop no rth of the chain , HMS Dependence fired ninety-five 24-pound shorand six 4-pounders agai nst the vessels and the forts. D es pite in adequate crews and too few guns, Montgomery and her co nso rts made a gallant if futi le fi ght of it. By 8PM H en ry C linton knew that he owned the two forts. Ar the cost of som e 70 killed , 40 wo unded , and 240 taken priso ner, the Americans had exacted a substantial pri ce, killing 40 and wounding 150 of rhe attacke rs. Whi le British forces won the battle, these fortifications and th eir ships disrupted C lin ton 's timetabl e, co mpli cating any attempts to relieve Burgoyne's trapped army. At lOPM , C linton and H orham non etheless had the pl eas ure of observing rhe blazing Montgomery. Geo rge C lin ton reported to Geo rge Washington on 9 October that: by so me Fatali ty the two Continental Frigates we re lost. ... be in g badly mann ed th ey co uld nor be got off in T ime, thou gh I o rdered the Ship Congress to proceed to Fort Co nstitution the D ay before the Attack, lest she should meetwith a Disas ter; and the Sh ip Montgomery, wh ich lay near rh e C hain , having neither A nchors no r Cable to secure her, it bein g the Tide of ebb, and the Wind fai ling, she fell down so near the C hain , that Caprn Hodge was constrain ed to set her o n Fire to prevent her fa lling into the H ands of the E nemy, and rhe Congress unforrunarely getting agro und o n a Flat near Fort Co nstitutio n shared the same Fare. Congress's ac ting co mmander, First Lieurenam Daniel Shaw, with the ass istance of so me sixtee n artillerymen from Fort Co nsrirurion , burned her o n 7 October. Camden ran agro und and became a British prize. The American crews set fire to Shark and Lady Washington as well. (Lady Washington later sailed up to Kingston, where she helped in rhe defense of the city but was scurri ed durin g the attack.) With the forrs reduced, SEA HISTORY 98 , AUTUMN 200 I