The Battle of Fort's Montgomery and Clinton
October 6, 1777; New York

Wikipedia: Fort Montgomery

On October 6, 1777, 300 Continental soldiers of the 5th New York regiment, 100 artillerymen of Lamb's Artillery, and some 300 Levies and militiamen defended the unfinished Fort Montgomery and Fort Clinton against 2,100 British, Hessian and Loyalist (Loyal American Regiment)  troops attacking from the landward side of the works.

The Continental Army had emplaced an iron chain and a boom across the Hudson River, protected by four warships, to impede the British flotilla.

"Lieutenant Colonel Mungo Campbell and several British regulars approach the fort with a flag of truce indicating that they wish to avoid `further effusion of blood.' Clinton sends Lieutenant Colonel William S. Livingston to meet the enemy. The British officer requests that the patriots surrender.  They are promised that no harm would come to them.  Livingston, in turn, invites Campbell to surrender and promises him and his men good treatment.  Fuming at this audacity, the British resume the fight. British ships working against an ebb tide attack the forts and American vessels. A steady volley ensues with each side receiving a share of the bombardment. British officers Campbell and Vaughan close in on all sides of the twin forts. Leading his men into battle, Campbell is killed in a violent attack on the North Redoubt of Fort Montgomery. Vaughan's horse is shot from under him as he rides into battle at Fort Clinton. With the death of Campbell, Loyalist Colonel Beverly Robinson was the next senior officer in charge and carried the fight into the fort.

After a fierce battle lasting until dark, the British pushed the courageous Americans from the forts at the points of their bayonets. The defenders were overpowered by the sheer numbers of British troops attacking and gained possession of Forts Montgomery and Clinton (Sir Henry Clinton, commanding the British assault, renames the fort "Fort Vaughn). American casualties numbered about 350 killed, wounded and captured, while the British paid a price of at least 190 killed and wounded. Those who were not killed or did not escape are shipped to the infamous Sugar House Prisons in New York City and then onto British "hell ships" (prison ships) in the harbor. A "return," or report of prisoners, is sent to communities in the Highlands to inform families of their loved ones' capture. It is up to the families to send provisions lest the prisoners starve. Countless patriots perish on the prison ships. One of the prisoners taken, was a young Ensign named Abraham Leggett, who wasn't released until 1781.   

Forts Montgomery and Clinton, located just south of West Point, were built for the defense of the Hudson Highlands in 1776. It was here that British and loyalist troops overwhelmed Brigadier General George Clinton's outnumbered patriots in October 1777. Although the Americans lost the battle for the Highlands, a relative handful of Americans aided in delaying British reinforcements from joining General John Burgoyne in the upper Hudson Valley and allowed General Horatio Gates to gain much needed militia reinforcements in time to ultimately win Burgoyne's surrender at Saratoga.

Further interesting reading- the COURT MARTIAL OF CAPTAIN JOSHUA BARNES, * which further details the events of the attack.

* Courtesy of the Hudson River Valley Institute at Marist College, Poughkeepsie, NY

The Battle of Fort Montgomery. Painting by Dahl Taylor
Courtesy of New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation

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