Fort Putnam

Fort Putnam was the key defensive work in West Point’s fortified zone during the American Revolution. It was constructed in 1778 by soldiers of the 5th Massachusetts Regiment and named for Colonel Rufus Putnam, the regimental commander. The fort was built to protect Fort Clinton, originally Fort Arnold, from inland attack. In 1780, Benedict Arnold described a stone fort needing major repairs, with the east wall broken down and being rebuilt from the foundation, chevaux-de-frise on the west and south sides with many breaks on the west, an open east side, two bomb proofs, a provision magazine, and a slight wooden barrack. The fort as it stands today is a composite of many eras: it was enlarged in 1794 with the addition of casemates, restored in 1909 to its present general condition as a war monument in an approximation of the 1794 fort, and partially restored and refurbished in 1975–1976 during the Bicentennial of the American Revolution to serve as a center for interpreting the military history of the Hudson Highlands and West Point during the Revolution. Reproduced artillery and mortars were emplaced to show the approximate complement in 1780, and the parapets identify the other forts, redoubts, and batteries that formed Fortress West Point from 1775 to 1783.

West Point, New York · United States