I usually illustrate this posts with pictures I’ve taken. However, you can’t really take a picture of an event that took place 240 years ago, so I’m forced to take a picture of the information board that explains what happened. I’ve quoted liberally from these boards in other posts, so it is perhaps appropriate that I show what one of them looks like.

When Sir Henry Clinton’s British troops reached Forts Clinton and Montgomery on October 6, 1777, some of his ships began moving upriver to support them. First came two galleys, the Dependence and the Crane, which were rowed into position. Four American ships, the frigate Montgomery, the sloop Camden, and the galleys Shark and Lady Washington defended the giant iron chain the Americans had stretched across the river below Fort Montgomery. As the British galleys approached, a fierce cannon battle ensued. The Dependence fired 95 shots from its 24-pounders and many more from its smaller 6-pounders, striking Fort Clinton and the American ships. The American commander held his fire until his ship, the Montgomery, was struck. He then returned the fire and ordered the massive 32-pounder cannon on board the Lady Washington to do the same. The guns from both forts fired on the British galleys too.

Just before the battle reached its climax, two larger British ships, the brig Diligent and the sloop tender Hotham, and another galley, the Spitfire, came into view. Sir Henry Clinton later wrote that the sight of these ships “crowding all sail to support” the attack convinced him to begin his final assault. At dusk, the British drove the Americans from the forts, and the American vessels turned to support their fleeing soldiers. The Montgomery saved many Americans from capture by using its cannons to keep the British from encircling the fort. The Shark, the Camden, and the Lady Washington were ordered to rescue as many Americans as possible. As night fell, the ships tried to escape upriver, but the winds were not strong enough to overcome the ebb tide carrying them downriver. The Camden was run aground by its crew and was captured by the British. The Montgomery and the Shark were burned by their crews before they could fall into enemy hands. Only the Lady Washington escaped upriver.

I looked for something to show what the actual battle was like, but I was unable to find anything suitable. The painting below shows another battle on the River Hudson during the Revolutionary war, but farther south and from a slightly earlier time period. It’s by Dominic Serres, R.A. (Auch 1722 – 1793 London) and depicts: “His Majesty’s ships Phoenix, Roebuck and Tartar (which also took part in the engagement at Fort Montgomery), accompanied by three smaller vessels, forcing their way through the Cheval-de-Frise on the Hudson River between Forts Washington and lee, New York, 9 October 1776. I imagine that the naval battle at Fort Montgomery was somewhat similar.