West Point was the most strategically important fortress in North America during the Revolution. Perched on a rocky plateau where the Hudson River makes a sharp S-bend, it commanded a stretch of water that no enemy fleet could pass without coming under sustained cannon fire. Whoever held West Point controlled the Hudson, and whoever controlled the Hudson controlled the line of communication between New England and the rest of the colonies.
PEOPLE
KEY EVENTS
STORIES
HISTORICAL VOICE
The Spy Who Charmed His Captors
Major John Andre was everything Benedict Arnold was not: refined, charming, artistically talented, and possessed of a personal grace that disarmed even his enemies. He was also a spy who had conspired...
MODERN VOICE
Holding the River With Iron and Stone
We have links from the Great Chain in our collection. When visitors see them — each one weighing over a hundred pounds, hand-forged at the Sterling Iron Works in 1778 — they begin to understand the sc...