The Times That Try Men's Souls
Historical Background
The pages listed below contain information, much of it of a primary-source nature, about the historic events surrounding the retreat from Fort Lee in 1776. (Content courtesy of Todd Braisted.)
Revolutionary Fort Lee was constructed in 1776 to be used in conjunction with Fort Washington, diagonally to the north on the opposite side of the Hudson River, as a means of closing the vital Hudson waterway to British shipping, as shown in a letter from Fort Lee in October 1776. The fall of Fort Washington on 16 November 1776 rendered Fort Lee irrelevant. The Crown Forces struck quickly in following their victory at Fort Washington, capturing Fort Lee without a shot four days later, as described by a British officer on the scene.
While the fort was demolished by the British, its strategic location proved useful at other points in the war. During the British Grand Forage of 1778, the post anchored the British right flank and provided an easy means of landing provisions for the army, as indicated in correspondence from Gen. Lord Cornwallis; two years later the post was briefly occupied by Continental troops engaged in their own foraging expedition, as found in an extract from a letter from an officer in August 1780. The only true Battle of Fort Lee, however, would come in 1781, when Loyalist woodcutters commanded by Major Thomas Ward attempted to establish a blockhouse and post on the site. After a week of skirmishing with the Bergen County Militia, the plan was abandoned, as recounted in a contemporary Loyalist newspaper account.
Letter: Oct. 1776 Invasion Account Cornwallis Correspondence Letter: Aug. 1780 Fort Lee Blockhouse
11.13.10
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