Hudson River Valley
National Heritage Area, New York
The American Revolution
in the Hudson River Valley
www.hudsonrivervalley.com
1774 New York “Tea Party”
1775 Americans capture Fort Ticonderoga
and Crown Point
1776 British invade New York City
1777 Saratoga Campaign—the turning point
1778 Fortress West Point begun
he Hudson River Valley played a pivotal role in determining the
outcome of the Revolutionary War. Here, Americans stymied British
attempts in 1776-1783 to control the riverway and sever New England from
the rest of the colonies. Here, Patriots boycotted British teas and other goods,
accepted the Declaration of Independence, created the State of New York,
and kept a sharp eye—or a heavy hand—on their Loyalist neighbors.
Here along the Hudson, Americans stood fast and, after the turning point battles
at Saratoga, set the stage for their ultimate victory at Yorktown and the British
evacuation of North America south of Canada.
T
Hudson River and Constitution Island,
looking east from West Point
1779 Battle of Stony Point
1780 Arnold-André treason
1781 Siege of New York City
and Battle of Yorktown
1782 New Windsor Cantonment
1783 British evacuate New York City
Portrait of General Washington at Yorktown
by Charles Wilson Peale, 1782. This painting
was purchased by General Rochambeau,
the commander of the French forces, after
the victory at Yorktown and was owned
by his descendants until 2002.
Collection of Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York City.
Photographs by Ted Spiegel, unless otherwise noted
The British Invasion
The British invaded the valley from
three directions.
Lake
Champlain
From the beginning of the war,
both the British high command
and General George Washington
realized the strategic importance of
controlling the Hudson River Valley.
Fort Ticonderoga
Lake George
●
GEN. BURGOYNE
Saratoga
Battlefield
K
✶
Albany
●
✶
O N
M O HAW
R I VE R
HUDS
LT. COL. ST. LEGER
Kingston ●
GEN. CLINTON
Fort Montgomery✪
●
● Constitution Is.
✪
●
✪
Fort Clinton
A ten-stop auto tour interprets the battles between the Americans and
British at Saratoga.
LO
NG
ISL
D
AN
SO
UN
D
His troops exhausted and outnumbered, John Burgoyne finally
surrendered at Saratoga.
AN
y
Fole
IC
on
NT
yD
b
A
t
L
r
pa
AT
Ma
E
OC
Portrait by Sir Joshua Reynolds
© The Frick Collection, New York
Reenactments are staged periodically at Rondout Creek and Kingston (above) and other
sites along the Hudson.
Comte de Rochambeau
and 5,500 French
troops passed
through the state
on their way to
help the Americans
at Yorktown.
Turning Point in the War
After winning at the battle of Oriskany
on August 6, the British under St.
Leger lost valuable time besieging Fort
Stanwix and retreated to Canada. The
supporting British contingent from
New York City, commanded by Lt.
Gen. Sir Henry Clinton, got a late start
but succeeded in capturing Forts
Montgomery and Clinton in a fierce
day of fighting on October 6 near
West Point. They cut through a massive
iron chain the Americans had installed
across the Hudson, moved upriver to
the capital at Kingston, and set fire to
the town. But they were too late to help
Burgoyne. On October 7, American
Maj. Gen. Horatio Gates—who had
George Washington made a series
of key military assignments and
strategic decisions to maintain
control of the Hudson River.
Bennington
Battlefield
R IVE R
In December 1775 and January 1776
Colonel Henry Knox first highlighted
the great resources of New York
when he dragged 59 cannons from
Crown Point and Fort Ticonderoga to
Dorchester Heights overlooking
Boston Harbor. That effort helped
force the British evacuation of Boston.
After driving the Continental Army
out of New York City into the Hudson
Crown Point
●
●
✪
Portrait of General
Rochambeau, artist unknown.
Musée de Vendôme, France.
Chief Joseph Brant and the Mohawk
Indians joined Loyalists in several raids
and battles against the patriots.
Portrait by Ezra Ames, 1806. Fenimore Art Museum,
Cooperstown, N.Y. Photo by Richard Walker
Continental soldiers attack British fieldworks during the 225th anniversary
reenactment of the battles of Saratoga. HRV Institute/Marist College
River Valley, the British tangled with
the Americans in October 1776 at Pell’s
Point and White Plains. Then, in 1777,
the British devised a three-pronged
invasion of the valley. The main force,
under Lt. Gen. John Burgoyne, would
head south from Canada via Lakes
Champlain and George. Lt. Col. Barry
St. Leger would push east along the
Mohawk Valley to Albany. Sir William
Howe would head north from
New York City to assist
Bourgoyne’s operation.
taken over Maj. Gen. Philip Schuyler’s
command—defeated Burgoyne in the
second battle of Saratoga near Bemis
Heights. The British capitulation
convinced the French to join the
American cause and proved to be the
turning point in the war.
In 1779 the British tried to lure General
Washington into a decisive battle in
Washington’s fortifications at Redoubt 7 on Constitution Island
helped him hold the Hudson Highlands.
The Americans effectively delayed
the three British advances. Engineer
Colonel Tadeusz Kosciuszko brought
Burgoyne’s forces to a crawl by dropping trees across his route south of
British ships make their way up the Hudson in
this painting by William Joy.
© Collection of The New-York Historical Society
Like many other Loyalists, the Philipse family of
Tarrytown lost their lands and Philipsburg Manor.
New York, but Brig. Gen. Anthony
Wayne, in a daring midnight bayonet
attack on July 15 and 16, captured
their fortification at Stony Point. The
British returned briefly but never again
threatened the Hudson Highlands.
In August 1781, Washington’s and the
French Comte de Rochambeau’s
armies linked up at Philipsburgh, New
York, before proceeding to Virginia
for the decisive battle of Yorktown.
After their victory there, Washington
returned to the Hudson River Valley,
and General Rochambeau marched
his army to Boston for service in
the Caribbean. Washington brought
over 7,000 soldiers, some with their
families, to New Windsor for their final
winter encampment and set up his
George Clinton served
as the first governor
of New York and was
reelected five times.
Portrait by John Trumbull,
Courtesy of the Art Commission
of the City of New York.
Lake Champlain. With
the help of the Green Mountain Boys,
General John Stark whipped Lt. Col.
Frederich Baum’s raiders in the battle
of Bennington on the Walloomsac
River in New York. Still, Burgoyne
pressed on toward Albany but was
stopped at the battle of Freeman’s Farm
on September 19. After the battle he
fortified and awaited reinforcements.
They never arrived.
At his mansion in Albany, Maj. Gen. Philip J. Schulyer entertained the
captured British general, “Gentleman Johnny” Burgoyne.
Washington’s pistols are on display at the
West Point Museum.
Washington’s troops built nearly 600 wooden
huts at their encampment in New Windsor.
headquarters in the
Hasbrouck farmhouse
in Newburgh, from which he
issued his order on April 19, 1783, for a
“cessation of hostilities.” The troops
stayed until June. Washington oversaw
the British evacuation of New York
City on November 25, 1783. The entire
Hudson River was now in U.S. hands,
and New York was on its way
to becoming the Empire
State in the new nation.
Clinton Adams
Revolutionary War equipment is displayed at Knox’s Headquarters,
Vails Gate. New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.
Period furnishings and exhibits interpret life at the Jonathan Hasbrouck House,
Washington’s Headquarters in Newburgh.
Hudson River Valley
National Heritage Area, New York
Hudson River Valley Revolutionary War Sites
Upper Hudson
4
32
9
87
Cambridge
Saratoga
National
Historical
Park
Ballston
Spa
Northway
7
90
9N
87
90
VT.
5
Ca
nno
n
20
Ne
w
88
Yo
rk
St
Colonie
at
eT
hru
Kn
ox
20
ay
w
Cobleskill
30
Crailo
443
22
Fort Edward
Rensselaerville
30
Fort Miller
East
Nassau
Schuylerville
20
85
29
87
29
32
4
32
9
9
Northumberland
Dormansville
87
22
32
Old
Chatham
Cambridge
E
W
Y
O
Durham
20
K
295
66
Kinderhook
90
203
k
145
R
32
Catski
ll C
re
e
23
PITTSFIELD
Luykas
Van Alen
House
I
N
21
COXSACKIE
Lenox
Chatham
N
Grand Gorge
Bronck
Museum
Prattsville
Windham
22
Ghent
7
9W
90
203
23
Cairo
Austerlitz
66
Stockbridge
C
9H
7
21
296
N
217
71
Claverack
T
nry
He
Hunter
A
Tannersville
23
23A
Hillsdale
Palenville
N
Great
Barrington
ox
Kn
T
42
Catskill
32
I
HUDSON
23
Can on T
n
U
O
28
30
82
9
214
M
Fleischmans
9W
32
Germantown
87
Copake Falls
SAUGERTIES
Phoenicia
Clermont
L
212
Tivoli
212
Woodstock
I
L
C a t s k i l l
K
S
28
Montgomery
Place
T
44
44
199
Pine
Plains
199
28A
22
82
Red
Hook
32
199
C
7
Canaan
Annandaleon-Hudson
9W
P a r k
A
Taco
n ic S
tate Pa
rkway
9G
Millerton
Reformed Protestant
Dutch Church
Senate House &
Historic Area
RHINEBECK
KINGSTON
Rondout Battlefield/
Rotary Park
9
209
9W
Amenia
9G
82
High
Falls
Cornwall
Bridge
44
22
HYDE PARK
Millbrook
Kerhonkson
32
Pleasant
Valley
115
44
202
209
87
17
Wurtsboro
Fishkill
Hudson River
Monroe
32
Fort Montgomery
Fort Independence
Fort Clinton Bear
94
87
Spring
Valley
10 Kilometers
5
10 Miles
287
Henry Knox Cannon Trail traces the route followed by Knox and his
59 cannon from Lake Champlain to Dorchester Heights, Massachusetts.
http://www.hudsonrivervalley.org/themes/Amrev/KnoxTrail/kttour.php
208
G ar
den S
ta
te Parkw
ay
Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route (W3R) commemorates
French-American marches through Westchester and Rockland
PATERSON
counties to Yorktown, Virginia, in 1781 and the return of the
80
French army to Boston, Massachusetts, in 1782. The route markings
south from Dobbs Ferry and Hartsdale show the initial failed attack
against Delancy's Loyalists and Washington's and Rochambeau's Grand
Reconnaissance to inspect British fortifications July 21-23, 1781.
http://www.hudsonrivervalley.net/images/largedetailed2.1.jpg
280
Ridgewood
DeWint
House
Oradell
Reservoir
PARAMUS
Philipse
Manor
Hall
208
20
9W
87
287
4
Englewood
HACKENSACK
80
22
NORWALK
Pleasantville
287
Dobbs
Ferry
Hartsdale
87
15
STAMFORD
Odell
House
WHITE
PLAINS
Greenburgh
(Philipsburg)
22
9
on
ns
hi
YONKERS
ve
Ri
GREENWICH
287
a
rP
RYE
Jacob Purdy House
Miller House
Battle/Whitney Park
95
MT. VERNON
St. Paul's Church
NEW ROCHELLE
95
95
9A
87
Morrisania
678
95
684
Van Cortlandt Mansion Museum
Valentine-Varian House/
Museum of Bronx History
21
95
Pound
Ridge
15
Chappaqua
Piermont
95
Fort
Lee
Passaic
Mount Kisco
(North Castle)
TARRYTOWN
Hastings-onHudson
Gard
Sybil Ludington's Ride recreates the ride of a 16-year-old
girl on April 26, 1777, to rally her father's militia regiment.
http://www.hudsonvalley.org/amerRevLesson/sybillessonplan.php
Pearl
River
Lake
Tappan
7
Bedford
95
Nanuet
Camp
Ramapough
Inte
rs ta
te Pa
rkway
5
ade
s
0 1
John Jay
Homestead
Philipsburg
Manor
NYACK
e Parkway
en Stat
01
87
287
Ridgefield
Katonah
c
Suffern
22
Hu t
North
way
Sybil Ludington's Ride
Washington-Rochambeau
Revolutionary Route
Troop Camp Sites
Ossining
New
City
Historic Chain, West Point
202
Pine's
Bridge
Van Cortlandt
Manor
rk
Pa
Hudson River Valley
National Heritage Area boundary
Henry Knox Cannon Trail
Knox Trail Monuments
Washington-Rochambeau
Revolutionary Route
35
Point
tate
ers
Int
202
Bethel
Ridgebury
684
35
Verplancks
Point
Kings
Ferry
Stony
Croton-onHaverstraw Hudson
22
202
Pal
is
Warwick
Crompond
Peekskill
25
DANBURY
Salem
9
Stony Point
Battlefield
Palisades
N.J.
Mountain
State
Park
17A
6
Continental Village
Old St. Peter's Church
Yorktown
Fort Hill
(Hunt's Tavern)
6
6
ay
17
Brookfield
22
Carmel
Mahopac
Pa
r kw
ay
6
George Washington’s army made its final
encampment at the New Windsor
Cantonment. Here, Washington made an
emotional speech in the Temple of Virtue
convincing army officers not to rebel over
pay. The meeting hall and a soldiers’ hut
have been reconstructed. Artifacts, dioramas, and artillery pieces are displayed.
The National Purple Heart Hall of Honor
is located here.
Temple Hill Road (N.Y. Route 300), Vails Gate
84
Riv
er
Chester
Mahopac
Falls
9W
Lake
Carmel
rk
w
(USMA)
WEST POINT
Maj. Gen. Henry Knox occupied the
Ellisons’ fieldstone house at Vails Gate four
different times during the war, and Maj.
Gen. Horatio Gates stayed here when he
was commandant of the New Windsor
Cantonment. With its 18th-century furnishings, Knox’s Headquarters retains much of
its wartime appearance.
Forge Hill Road, Vails Gate
7
202
Brewster
M
i ll
94
Boscobel Mahopac
Mines
Fort
Garrison Constitution
Sa
w
Port
Jervis
301
s
ton'
Fortress West Point
Washington's Headquarters, in the
Jonathan Hasbrouck House, the first publicly operated historic site in the nation,
is the house where George Washington
stayed for 16 months at the end of the
Revolutionary War and where he created
the Badge of Military Merit, predecessor
of the Purple Heart.
84 Liberty Street, Newburgh
84
ding
Lu
e
Rid
Cold Spring
Mountainville
Goshen
84
Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, the
Continental Army’s Prussian drillmaster
and inspector general, used Mount Gulian
as his headquarters in 1783. The Society of
Cincinnati, the first U.S. veterans’ organization, was founded here. Artifacts
pertaining to the Verplanck family and the
Society of the Cincinnati are on display.
145 Sterling Street, Beacon
Pecksville
Farmers
52
Mills
Redding
(Meads)
Corners
Sybil
209
301
Wolvert Ackert, owner of the Gomez
Mill House during the war, served as
commissioner of Newburgh's Committee
of Safety and Observation, a group that
identified suspected loyalists. The six-room
house, mill, icehouse, and other buildings
sit on 28 acres.
11 Mill House Road, Marlboro
Pawling
9
9D
The Senate House, one of 21 colonial
houses in Kingston’s Stockade Area, served
as the meeting place for the first Senate of
New York State in 1777. The stone building is furnished as an early Revolutionary
period home and contains several portraits
of local residents.
296 Fair Street, Kingston
John Kane
House
Madam Brett
Homestead
BEACON
New Milford
Stormville
84
Washington's
NEWBURGH
Headquarters
New Windsor
Cantonment
84
(Last Encampment)
New Windsor
Knox's
Headquarters
Hill-Hold
Edmonston
Washingtonville
Museum
House
Middletown
Fort
Decker
Mount
Gulian
Montgomery
Basher
Kill
97
Trinity and
First Dutch
Reformed Churches
Van Wyck 52
House
9D
17
C O N N.
Wappingers
Falls
Marlboro
32
55
376
Gomez
Mill House
Orange
Lake
55
9
9W
nic State Park
Taco
way
Monticello
Kent
POUGHKEEPSIE
Red Oaks
Mill
Gomez Mill House, Marlboro
7
82
Clinton House
The Glebe House
New York
299
Dover
Plains
44
Sta
te Thruwa
y
NEW PALTZ
Huguenot
Street
The Senate House, Kingston
Lower Hudson
57
il
S
Margaretville
M A S S.
22
23
ra
23A
A
30
Rondout Battlefield (Rotary Park)
encompasses the area on the Kingston
waterfront where the British landed in
October 1777 after the Provincial
Convention moved from Fishkill to
Kingston. Confronted by an armed galley
and militiamen, the British proceeded to
burn the town.
Lower Delaware Avenue, Kingston
66
Schodack
9W
85
145
90
C
9
East
Greenbush
Middleburgh
Hudson Falls
Glens Falls
Saratoga
Springs
Rensselaer
Schuyler
Mansion
Historic
Cherry Hill
85
443
4
Ten Broeck Mansion
O
Lake George
Lake George
Battlefield
Lake
Luzerne
9N
30
145
88
Schuyler
Flatts
TROY
9
90
22
Robert R. Livingston, Jr. of Belvedere
served on the committee to draft the
Declaration of Independence in 1776.
The British burned his and his father's
house, Clermont, next door in 1777, but
his mother, Margaret Beekman Livingston,
rebuilt Clermont during the war. The
485-acre estate is preserved as it appeared
in the early 20th century.
1 Clermont Avenue, Germantown
2
ALBANY
Schoharie
4
He
Bolton Landing
Latham
N
nr
y
9
Mid-Hudson
2
Courtesy of Senate House
Trail
20
Peebles Island
State Park
Cohoes
E
8
7
Waterford
7
New Yorkers signed the Coxsackie
Declaration of Independence in 1775 in
what is now called the Bronck Museum.
During the early years of the war, the
Coxsackie Committee of Correspondence
met here, one of the oldest standing
houses in upstate New York.
County Road 42, Coxsackie
Schuyler Mansion, home of Maj. Gen.
Philip Schuyler, served as a base of operations during the war. George Washington,
Alexander Hamilton, Benedict Arnold,
and Benjamin Franklin passed through
its halls. British Lt. Gen. John Burgoyne
G
30
22
890
Rotterdam
Bronck Museum, Coxsackie
A
SCHENECTADY
30
The fighting that took place at Saratoga
Battlefield in the fall of 1777 turned the
tide of the war for independence and
helped to secure international support for
the American cause. Highlights include
visitor center exhibits and an interpretive
nine-mile battlefield auto tour.
Route 32, Stillwater
R
Fort Ticonderoga
Ticonderoga
28
nnon Trail
x Ca
Henry Kno
Middlebury
Crown Point
9N
67
Mechanicville
87
87
Bennington
Battlefield
4
Stillwater
Round
Lake
125
Sabbath
Day Point
Ensign House
Bemis Heights
9
Schroon
Lake
Sharon Springs
22
The Schuyler
House
32
17
Port Henry
29
4
Henry Knox Cannon Trail—Northern Portion
9
Schuylerville
29
SARATOGA
SPRINGS
stopped here after his defeat at Saratoga.
32 Catherine Street, Albany
Bennington Battlefield commemorates
the battle on August 16, 1777, in which
General John Stark and Colonel Seth
Warner and their troops defeated
Lt. Col. Fredrich Baum’s Brunswickers
and allies preventing them from gaining
supplies and horses. Hessian Hill offers
picturesque views and exhibits about
the battle.
Route 67, Hoosick Falls
Geoffrey Gross
ajor Hudson River Valley sites associated with the American
Revolution are shown on this map of the National Heritage
Area. Brief descriptions of the sites are listed to the right from north to south.
For more information about these American Revolutionary sites, itineraries to
visit them, other heritage sites, and facilities in the valley, use this web site:
www.hudsonrivervalley.com
The heritage sites shown on this map are operated by federal, state,
local, and private not-for-profit organizations. The federal site,
Saratoga National Historical Park, is open daily except for Thanksgiving,
December 25, and January 1. Many of the others are closed Mondays or
Tuesdays and are likely to be closed January through March.
Henry Knox Cannon Trail begins to the north
at Crown Point and Fort Ticonderoga.
See inset map.
Courtesy of Gomez Mill House
M
Adirondack Pa rk
295
Fort Arnold/Clinton and Fort Putnam
helped secure the Hudson River and prevent the British from cutting New England
off from the rest of the states. The forts,
major elements in three rings of fortifications known as Fortress West Point, are
located on the U.S. Military Academy
grounds. Thirteen links of the Great Chain
are displayed at Trophy Point. A statue of
Tadeusz Kosciuszko, who directed the
construction of the fortifications, stands
on the remains of Fort Arnold/Clinton. Fort
Putnam is currently not open to the public.
Several Revolutionary War items are on
display in the visitor center and museum.
West Point
British Lt. Gen. Henry Clinton gained control of King’s Ferry on May 31, 1779, and
built fortifications at Stony Point to prepare for a possible battle in the Hudson
Highlands. But the Americans, led by Brig.
Gen. Anthony Wayne, retook the fort in a
surprise attack.
U.S. 9W, Stony Point
Fort Montgomery, Bear Mountain
Fort Montgomery and Fort Clinton
(Trailside Museum) fell to overwhelming
British forces on October 6, 1777.
Nonetheless, the battles disrupted Sir
Henry Clinton’s attempts to relieve
Burgoyne’s army that was trapped at
Saratoga. A self-guiding trail takes visitors
through the remains of Fort Montgomery
after a stop at the visitor center.
Bear Mountain State Park
John Jay retired to his Katonah Homestead
property in 1801 after a lifetime of public
service to the state and the nation. Jay
was president of the Continental Congress,
a principal negotiator of the Treaty of
Paris ending the Revolution, first chief
justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, and
second governor of New York.
Route 22, Katonah
During the Revolutionary War, both the
loyalists and patriots pillaged Van
Cortlandt Manor, which was located in the
middle of the Neutral Ground. After the
war, the Van Cortlandt family returned to
the property after service to the patriot
cause and reestablished it as a productive
estate. Today, the site includes an 18thcentury manor house and tavern and
reconstructed tenant farmhouse.
Interpreters demonstrate blacksmithing,
brickmaking, and hearth-cooking skills.
South Riverside Avenue, Croton-on-Hudson
A committed loyalist, Frederick Philipse III
lost Philipsburg Manor after signing
the Declaration of Dependence in 1776
and being arrested on orders from
General Washington. Today, Philipsburg
Manor represents a mid-18th century
milling, farming, and trading complex
populated by diverse Europeans and
enslaved Africans.
Route 9, Sleepy Hollow
The Philipse family fled to New York City
and then to England. New York State confiscated the 52,000-acre estate, including
their Yonkers residence, Philipse Manor
Hall. The mansion is now a museum of
history, architecture, and art, including
selections from Alexander Smith Cochran
Collection of American Portraiture.
29 Warburton Avenue, Yonkers
Saint Paul’s Church served as a hospital for
Hessians after the 1776 battle of Pell’s
Point, which helped prevent the British
from attacking George Washington’s army
as it moved north from New York City.
A number of the Hessians who died there
are buried in a mass grave. The restored
church and nearby museum interpret the
battle and other local events.
South Columbus Avenue, Mt. Vernon
Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area
The Hudson River Valley National Heritage
Area is a federally funded program created
by Congress in 1996. The mission of the
Heritage Area is to recognize, preserve,
protect and interpret the nationally
significant cultural and natural resources
of the Hudson River Valley for the benefit
of the nation.
The Heritage Area funded this mapbrochure, and the Hudson River Valley
Institute at Marist College in Poughkeepsie
selected the sites. Send your comments
by fax to 845-454-5437 or by e-mail
to hrvnha@hvc.rr.com.