American Revolutionary War Construction The site for West Point was originally picked because of the pronounced S-curve in the
Hudson River at that point during the
American Revolutionary War, and was the subject of a committee reporting on fortifications in the Hudson River in November 1775, which first recommended occupying the land. Construction of the fort was begun under Captain Louis de la Radiere as chief engineer of the fort, however, New York Governor
George Clinton thought that Radiere was "lacking" in the knowledge needed to hold his position. On January 27, 1778, Brigadier General
Samuel Holden Parsons and his brigade, including elements of
Connecticut Colony's
patriot militia, crossed an iced over Hudson River and climbed to the plain on West Point. General
George Washington watched the construction of the fort closely and considered the fort to be General
Alexander McDougall's "first priority".
After construction West Point was staffed by a small garrison of Continental Army Soldiers from early in 1776 through the end of the war. A great
iron chain was laid across the Hudson at this point in 1778 to prevent British Navy vessels from sailing further up the Hudson River, which was never tested by the British. The site comprised multiple
redoubts, as well as
Fort Putnam, situated on a high hill overlooking the river. Named after its builder, Revolutionary War General and engineer
Rufus Putnam, the fort is still preserved in its original design.
Parliament sent instructions to General
Sir Henry Clinton to force George Washington out of West Point. Clinton decided to capture the strategically important posts Stony Point and Verplanck's Point, which were twelve miles south of West Point. Clinton captured the forts on June 1, 1779. To block the British advance, Washington moved his troops further up the Hudson. Early on in May 1779, General
Benedict Arnold had met with a Philadelphia merchant named Joseph Stansbury. Afterwards, Stansbury had gone to Sir Henry Clinton, to whom he offered Arnold's "services". Clinton had been pursuing a campaign to take control of the Hudson River, so he had been interested in the plans and information of the defenses of West Point and other defenses on the Hudson River. Arnold wrote a series of letters to Clinton, one of which was written on July 12, making explicit the offer to surrender West Point to the
British, later for a finalized offer of
£20,000. On August 3, 1780, Arnold obtained command of West Point, which also gave him command of the American-controlled portion of the Hudson. Arnold then intentionally started weakening the fort's defenses, and through a letter sent to Clinton, proposed a meeting with British Major
John André to discuss information on West Point. A meeting was set for September 11; however, Arnold and André did not meet until September 21. Carrying the plans for West Point, André was captured on September 23 by three militiamen, and the information about West Point was found. After Arnold's betrayal, the fort, which was also known as Fort Arnold at the time, was renamed to Fort Clinton after General James Clinton.
Post-war After the conclusion of the American Revolution, West Point was used as a storage facility for cannon and other military property used by the
Continental Army and until November 28, 1779, was used as the temporary headquarters to George Washington, who called it "the most important Post in America" in 1781. Viewing a standing army as "dangerous", Congress demobilized American forces but left fewer than a hundred men at West Point.Favoring West Point due to its location and defenses,
Henry Knox and
Alexander Hamilton made the first official recommendation to establish a military academy at West Point in 1790. However,
Congress rejected the proposal, although earlier in 1790, New York merchant and American Revolution patriot Stephen Moore sold his estate (known as "Moore's Folly") to the United States, following an Act of Congress that solidified the sale on September 10, 1790, for $11,085, which meant Congress had gained full possession of the fort. It is the nation's oldest service academy, and is metonymically called "West Point" as well. West Point has the distinction of being the longest continuously occupied United States military installation. ==Geography and climate==