Fort Washington is a fort located at the northernmost tip and highest elevation of what is now the borough of Manhattan in New York City, overlooking the Hudson River, which was held by American forces. Along with Fort Lee located just across the river in New Jersey the Palisades, the twin forts were intended to protect the lower Hudson from British warships during the campaign around New York in the summer and autumn of 1776. The fort was defended by around 2,900 Continental Army troops and militia under the command of Colonel Robert Magaw. During the fighting on and around Manhattan, the American Army commanded by General George Washington—for whom the fort was named—was forced to withdraw northward, leaving both Forts Washington and …show more content…
With a position on high land overlooking the Hudson River, the fort, in conjunction with Fort Lee across the river, was intended to protect the river from opposing warships upon completion. Construction of the fort required significant effort to bring enough soil to the location to construct the fort. Upon completion, the fort consisted of five earthen walls, each with a bulwark. The walls included openings for gun emplacements covering every angle and overlooked approximately four open acres surrounding the structure. In addition to the primary fort, numerous defenses surrounded the fort. Multiple gun batteries were placed in proximity at key strategic locations and lines of trenches and foxholes were dug into the surrounding hills. Upon completion, Fort Washington controlled the high ground overlooking the Hudson River, thus protecting the American positions from warships. Between the elevation and defenses of Fort Washington and Fort Lee, British ships could not mount an adequate attack against the forts. As a result, the forts were considered critical to the American positions along the Hudson River even though all exterior defenses were not fully …show more content…
However, after the Hessian troops entered the fort, the evacuating Americans had most of their belongings taken from them. In addition, many of the surrendering troops were beaten, although the Hessian officers stopped the beatings quickly. Over 2,800 American troops were taken prisoner as a result of the surrender of Fort Washington. Of those troops, only 800 survived until a prisoner exchange approximately 18 months later. Three days after the surrender of Fort Washington, American forces abandoned Fort Lee. The remaining American forces under Washington’s command fled across New Jersey and into Pennsylvania. The loss of Fort Washington damaged the morale of the American forces and colonies with the retreat of the main American army. While the Battle of Fort Washington was a clear and decisive British victory, the movements of Washington and his army following the fort’s surrender created the circumstances for later battles. Despite losing the fort, troops and material captured by the British, Washington’s retreat into Pennsylvania set the stage for the future battles of Trenton and Princeton, both of which significantly accelerated the loss of morale caused by the defeat at Fort
Washington was upset to hear that the French had captured Fort Prince George, but he soon began planning to reclaim the Forks. The retreating soldiers, who had seen the strength of the French forces with their own eyes, refused to join Washington and instead returned to Virginia. Washington continued on to an Ohio Company warehouse on the Monongahela River, about forty miles from the spot where the French were building Fort Duquesne. His men started building defenses in the area, which they called Red Stone Fort.”(the
During this conflict, the British had 7,213 regular soldiers the Americans had 3,000 soldiers. Fort Ticonderoga which is located between Lake George and Lake Champlain in upstate New York was seen important by the Continental Army and the British. Whoever controlled the fort controlled the waterways which could be used
The French Army first established Fort Ticonderoga during the French and Indian War in northern New York between 1755 and 1757 as a preventative measure in anticipation of attacks on French settlements in the Champlain Valley (http://www.fortticonderoga.org/history-and-collections/timeline#). They built it on the western coast, along the southern straits of Lake Champlain, overlooking the lake and a waterway that was at that time a gateway between two great empires of France and Great Britain (Randall, 1990). The French first successfully defended the fort from the British in 1758 in the Battle of Carillon, (Carillon is the former name of Ticonderoga) but the British captured it the following year. The British moved their main center operations to Fort Crown Point soon after the fortification’s completion, but the British still maintained a small garrison at Fort Ticonderoga with elements of the 26th Regiment of Foot along with artillery pieces. However, by the time 1775 rolled around, the fort had fallen into disrepair.
Washington's administration contributed to the victory of the American Revolution since his victories at Trenton and Princeton made further men join the fight for independence. Georgia Washington was defeated in New York because Britain had more manpower with 45,000 soldiers and the America's 28,000. The morale of the Patriots was small because of the defeat. George Washington's victory at Trenton and Princeton gave much more power of New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the Western, which helped boost the morale of the army. Washington was pulling two victories after those failures, it gave them faith again, maintaining to bring in new soldiers.
A small boy that was running (from either the British or something else) happened to see the colonists marching somewhere along with their sick and injured. While the colonists were marching, one of their cannons got stuck, and they left the cannon where it was, leaving a clue for the British to find them. On December 7, 1776, A general reports that 1/4 (1000) of their men are sick. Even after that report, George Washington was still determined to cross the Delaware River, to escape the British.
Spirits were high until the British kept arriving in large numbers. Washington had to split up his army numerous times to keep the New York defended. Spirits began to fall and disease set in once again. Washington had to plan to retreat, which is no easy task with an army of any size. However, the retreat was perfectly executed with a thick fog settling in as dawn came to conceal the soldiers.
The Battle of Trenton was a significant battle in the American Revolution. The reason for this is General George Washington decided that on December 25, 1776 he and his men would cross the Delaware River and attack the Hessians. Washington tricked and trapped the Hessians by attacking them from behind. Since the battle lasted less than an hour, Washington and his army defeated the Hessians. These are some key points on why the Battle of Trenton was so significant.
The Americans were able to inflict heavy casualties, but eventually were forced to surrender and Ledyard was promptly killed, as were many of the defenders. The Battle of Groton Heights cost the Americans 85 killed and 60 wounded. Arnold reported his losses as 51 killed and 142 wounded.
The Capture of Fort Ticonderoga: British Failures in Intelligence The paper is a battle analysis of the American colonists’ capture of Fort Ticonderoga in the northern New York colony on 10 May, 1775. Colonels Benedict Arnold and Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys captured the fort from Captain William De Laplace and Lieutenant Jocelyn Feltham of the 26th Regiment of Foot (Ward, 1952). It also discuss where the British forces failed to use their contemporary intelligence capabilities to thwart the attack.
This battle took place after a demoralizing defeat at Long island. George Washington was forced to retreat all the way across New Jersey back in Pennsylvania. Due to the cold and harsh winter and the defeats in the previous wars, the Continental Army was one the verge of abandoning the rebellion act. Therefore George Washington needed to find something to build up the spirit in his troops. As such he then decides to cross back over the Delaware River and attack the Hessians (German hired troops) at Trenton, New Jersey.
Battle of Stony Point Stony Point is a rocky promontory that juts about a half mile into the Hudson River about seven miles south of West Point. It, and another small fortress across the river at Verplanck’s Point, effectively controlled the King’s Ferry crossing site. Only lightly fortified by the patriots, both sites were attacked and captured by the British in late May of 1779 and heavily fortified. Due to having three sides protected by water and steep cliffs, Stony Point was believed impregnable when properly fortified and manned with an adequate force.
The Battle of Trenton was one of the battles that was a major turning point in the result of the war. The American colonists were forced to move out of New York City and off to somewhere else. The British had reclaimed the city. On December 26, 1776, Washington had made a plan to attack, knowing it was Christmas. He knew the British would be celebrating by drinking loads of alcohol, which triggered them to get drunk.
George Washington’s military career started in 1752, as he was appointed by the Governor of Virginia as Major to the militia. Afterwards, he and his army struggled to conquer the upper Ohio Valley, fighting the French for it. He then led 300 men to Fort Duquesne to fight the French, and won the land. In 1758 Washington resigned his part in the militia. While he was away, he studied the tactics of the British military, so one day, if he so chose to return, that he would know a bit on how to defeat the soldiers.
General George Washington had a major impact in the American Revolution. Washington was one of the main generals in the war. He knew that the only way to get rid of the British was to fight them. He made the colonists fight, by giving them reasons like freedom, no taxes, and no more control, etc. Sadly Washington 's troops were poorly trained, and lacked food and supplies, but his motivation kept them going.
The Battle of Valley Forge was the turning point of the Revolutionary War. Although no actual military battle was waged here, George Washington’s Continental Army faced some physical and mental battles of their own in this Pennsylvania town. It was here at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania where the Continental Army Soldiers of the Revolutionary War chose to go after being defeated in the Battle of Germantown in October 1777. During this winter, Washington’s troops came to this encampment to recuperate and train for future battles with the British.