Maps of West Point and the Hudson Highlands

Captain Moses Greenleaf of the 11th Massachusetts Regiment drew this map of West Point in 1779. At the time, he commanded Fort Putnam which sat on the rocky heights overlooking the garrison at West Point. Notice the various buildings, lines of tents, and the defensive chain across the Hudson that are visible in this watercolor. 

Manuscript Plan of West Point
Drawn by Moses Greenleaf
1779
Paper, Ink, Watercolor
Collection of the Massachusetts Historical Society

During the Revolutionary War, Americans clustered their Hudson River fortifications around three narrows– West Point in the North, Fort Clinton and Fort Montgomery at the Popolopen Creek in the middle, and Stony Point and Verplanck’s Point at King’s Ferry to the South. These posts were between 45 and 60 miles from New York City. West Point was the Continental Army’s strongest fortification. Verplanck’s Point and Stony Point, on either side of King’s Ferry, were the front line against the British to the south.

Hudson Highlands, 1780
Courtesy of the United States Military Academy Department of History