King’s Ferry

Between Stony Point and Verplanck’s Point, where the Hudson River narrows to three-quarters of a mile, King’s Ferry was the essential crossing for travelers, Continental Army troops, supplies, and military and civil communications moving between New England and the southern states during the Revolutionary War while British forces occupied New York City. In early June 1779, at Verplanck’s Point, 70 North Carolina soldiers defended Fort Lafayette against a British attack, but after enemy artillery was hauled to the summit of Stony Point and opened fire by dawn, the fort surrendered after only a few hours’ resistance. Sir George Collier, Commodore of the Royal Navy in North America, declared that control of King’s Ferry forced the Americans to make a detour of ninety miles across the mountains. In September 1780, Major John Andre crossed at King’s Ferry in a futile attempt to return to British lines after conspiring with Benedict Arnold. The ferry also figured in the last major battle of the war, when American and French troops crossed the river on their way to Yorktown, Virginia; on August 20-21, 1781, 2500 American soldiers crossed, and 3500 French troops under Comte De Rochambeau completed their crossing on August 25.

Stony Point, New York · United States