The Hudson River Valley in the American Revolution, Fortress West Point, & the Great Chain

A. B. Shaw Firehouse

COL. Jim Johnson, in the uniform of the 5th NY Regiment, will be speaking about Washington’s “key of America”–Fortress West Point on the Hudson River. As the center of the colonies at the time of the American Revolution, the Hudson River Valley provided a nexus for the conflict and hosted many key figures, battles – Fort Montgomery and Fort Clinton, and political events throughout the eight years of war.  The American Revolution played out along the Hudson’s banks – from the first riots protesting the British Quartering Act on Golden Hill in Lower Manhattan, to the chaining of the Hudson and Benedict Arnold’s attempted betrayal of West Point in the Highlands in 1780, to the Battles of Saratoga along its northern shores where Arnold played the role not of traitor, but of hero. The Hudson River Valley was essential to the birth of our Nation.