Excerpt from Obstructions of the Hudson River During the Revolution In spite of the countless histories of the American Revolution, there still remain errors and omissions in the many phases of the war. For instance, most writers note but one obstruction of the Hudson River during the War of Independence. Yet from the pro ceedings of the Secret Committee, ap pointed July 16, 1776, by the Provin cial Convention, we know there were four distinct impediments, including two chains, which were conceived with the idea of preventing the British from ascending the river. However, there was but one great West Point chain, the other obstructions were situated at other points, and were all broken by the enemy. The importance of the Hudson River during the Revolution cannot be over estimated, for both the British and American leaders were aware that West Point was the Gibraltar of America. If the British could gain possession of the Hudson they would thus divide the Colonies, and would facilitate communication between Can ada and lower New York. Hence in a letter dated, London, July 31, 1775, the British Government, conveying to their subjects in America, the plan of operations decided upon, ordered them, to get possession of New York and Albany - to command the Hud son and East Rivers with a number 0small men-of-war, and cutters, sta tioned indifferent parts of it, so as to cut off all communication by water be tween New York and the Provinces to the northward of it, and between New York and Albany, except for the King's service. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.