![]() ![]() On August 3, 1780, Arnold obtained command of West Point, which also gave him command of the American-controlled portion of the Hudson. Arnold wrote a series of letters to Clinton, one of which was written on July 12, making explicit the offer to surrender West Point to the British, later for a finalized offer of £20,000. Clinton had been pursuing a campaign to take control of the Hudson River, so he had been interested in the plans and information of the defenses of West Point and other defenses on the Hudson River. Afterwards Stansbury had gone to Sir Henry Clinton, to whom he offered Arnold's "services". Betrayal of Benedict Arnold Įarly on in May 1779, General Benedict Arnold had met with a Philadelphia merchant named Joseph Stansbury. To block the British advance, Washington moved his troops further up the Hudson. Clinton captured the forts on June 1, 1779. Clinton decided to capture the strategically important posts Stony Point and Verplanck's Point, which were twelve miles south of West Point. Parliament sent instructions to General Sir Henry Clinton to force George Washington out of West Point. Near losses Capture of Stony Point and Verplanck's Point Named after its builder, Revolutionary War General and engineer Rufus Putnam, the fort is still preserved in its original design. The site comprised multiple redoubts, as well as Fort Putnam, situated on a high hill overlooking the river. A great iron chain was laid across the Hudson at this point in 1778 in order to prevent British Navy vessels from sailing further up the Hudson River, which was never tested by the British. West Point was staffed by a small garrison of Continental Army Soldiers from early in 1776 through the end of the war. Three redoubts and batteries on the south were named Forts Meigs, Wyllys, and Webb. The southern and western walls were nine feet high and twenty feet thick. In 1778, Major General Israel Putnam wrote, "The place agreed upon to obstruct the navigation of Hudson river was at West Point." A fort there, Fort Clinton, named after the governor's brother, Colonel James Clinton (whose brigade built the main fort), was built as well. General George Washington watched the construction of the fort closely and considered the fort to be General Alexander McDougall's "first priority". Thus it was completed under Polish Colonel Tadeusz Kościuszko between 1778–1780 it was a key defensive fortification, overlooking the turn in the Hudson River and the Great Chain. Construction of the fort was begun under Captain Louis de la Radiere as chief engineer of the fort, however, New York Governor George Clinton thought that Radiere as "lacking" in the knowledge needed to hold his position. The site for West Point was originally picked because of the abnormal S-curve in the Hudson River at that point during the American Revolutionary War, and was the subject of a committee reporting on fortifications in the Hudson River in November 1775, which first recommended occupying the land. ![]() History American Revolutionary War Construction It is part of the New York–Newark–Jersey City, NY–NJ–PA Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the larger New York–Newark, NY–NJ–CT–PA Combined Statistical Area. The population was 7,341 at the 2020 census. West Point is a census-designated place (CDP) located in the town of Highlands in Orange County, located on the western bank of the Hudson River. It comprises approximately 16,000 acres (6,500 ha) including the campus of the United States Military Academy, which is commonly called "West Point" as well. From then to the present, West Point has been occupied by the United States Army. West Point was first occupied by the military on January 27, 1778, when Brigadier General Samuel Holden Parsons and his brigade (comprising elements of the Connecticut militia) crossed the ice on the Hudson River and climbed to the plain on West Point. It was the site of General Benedict Arnold's infamous treason. Located on the Hudson River in New York, General George Washington stationed his headquarters there in the summer and fall of 1779, and later identified it as the most important strategic position in America during the American Revolution, calling it "the most important Post in America" in 1781. West Point is the oldest continuously occupied military post in the United States. ![]()
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