In October 1777, as part of a British effort to crush the Revolution by isolating New England from the rest of the colonies, British forces attacked Hudson Valley patriots and burned Kingston, several private homes, and Clermont, destroying some 24 structures there, including the Livingstons' original estate and Chancellor Robert Livingston's house. Warned only days before the troops arrived, Margaret Beekman Livingston fled Clermont with her children and several wagon loads of household goods and furnishings, while British forces remained there for five days. Clermont was targeted because of the Livingston family's prominent role in the struggle for independence; six of the ten Livingston children were directly involved in the fighting effort, and Chancellor Robert R. Livingston had already helped rally support for independence, later becoming a delegate to the Second Continental Congress, one of five men who drafted the Declaration of Independence, and a member of New York's Council of Safety with John Jay and Gouverneur Morris. Even before the destruction, Margaret Beekman Livingston had suffered severe personal losses in 1775 with the deaths of her husband, father, father-in-law, and son-in-law within five months. By March 1778 she had returned to the charred remains of her home, and within a year she petitioned the governor to release some of her tenants from militia service to help rebuild her house. In June 1782, George and Martha Washington visited the newly rebuilt Clermont. The wider British plan failed when forces expected to converge at Albany did not unite: the western advance stalled at Fort Stanwix, troops from the south never arrived, and General John Burgoyne's army surrendered at Saratoga on October 17, 1777. A 1974 archeological dig later uncovered household items left behind in the destruction, including a brass escutcheon from a piece of furniture.

Photo: Christies

Photo: Steve Stoessel

Photo: Steve Stoessel

Malden-on-Hudson, New York · USA