Fighting at Hessian LakeYou are walking part of the 1777 historic trail that retraces as nearly as possible the routes taken by the British army during the Revolutionary War.
On October 6, 1777, Lieutenant General Sir Henry Clinton landed 2,100 British troops near Stony Point and marched north to attack the Continental garrisons at Forts Clinton and Montgomery. When it reached Doodletown, the advance guard of 900 men under Lieutenant Colonel Mungo Campbell proceeded around Bear Mountain to attack Fort Montgomery while the main force, under Major General John Vaughn, continued toward Fort Clinton.
When New York Governor George Clinton, who commanded the forts, received word of the enemy's approach, he sent 50 Continental troops under Lieutenant Colonel Jacobus Bruyn and 50 militiamen under Colonel James McClaughry to Doodletown. After running into the British column, the Americans retreated until they reached a stone wall here by Hessian Lake where they held the British at bay for a short time before retreating to the fort under the cover of its cannons. After a desperate defense, the American forts were captured.
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71st Regiment of Foot, Fraser's Highlanders, Major General Vaughn's force of nearly 1,200 men included one grenadier battalion, a battalion of light infantry, a company of the 71st Regiment of Foot (Fraser's Highlanders), a dismounted troop of Light Dragoons, the 26th and 63rd Regiments of Foot, and 200 Hessian Chasseurs. Image courtesy of the Company of Military Historians. Original plate by Gary Zaboly.
Map of the 1777 and 1779 historic trails. Based on careful research, the modern trails follow the armies' original routes as closely as possible. The trails were cleared and blazed in time for the Bicentennial celebrations in 1976. The 1777 trail represents the route taken by British General Sir Henry Clinton on October 6, 1777 when he captured Forts Clinton and Montgomery. The 1779 trail traces the route taken by Brigadier General Anthony Wayne's Continental Corps of Light Infantry which captured the British fortifications at Stony Point in a surprise attack just after midnight on July 16, 1779.
New York State Militia ? Sergeant, 5th New York Regiment.Soldier illustrations are based on original images taken from Uniforms of the American Revolution by John Mollo and Malcolm McGregor. Courtesy of the Sterling Publishing Company.
This is a conjectural drawing of Forts Clinton and Montgomery by Jack Mead.
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