Men Who are Determined to be Free: The American Assault on Stony Point, 15 July 1779

During 1779, armies under the command of American General George Washington and British General Sir William Clinton were locked in a strategic stalemate. Washington’s Continental forces were deployed around Middlebrook, in northern New Jersey, while Clinton’s forces defended New York. The entry of the French into the war as American allies had shifted the strategic initiative and caused the British government to order Clinton to dispatch significant forces to the West Indies and southern colonies. The reduction in his available forces hampered Clinton’s efforts to bring Washington to a decisive engagement. Hoping to lure Washington out of the protection of his strong defensive positions at Middlebrook, Clinton decided to launch an attack north from New York to threaten the important American supply routes that crossed the Hudson River at Kings Ferry. Clinton’s attack was also intended to establish a base of operations that would allow an attack on the American fortress at West Point. In late June 1779 Clinton moved men and material into position for his thrust up the Hudson while Washington cautiously responded by moving his army north to positions intended to respond to the British advance. Clinton struck on 3 July 1779, capturing the strategic Kings Ferry crossing of the Hudson River along with American forts at Stony Point and Verplank’s Point.