Hudson River Chain - Fort Montgomery Chain (1776-1777)

Fort Montgomery Chain (1776-1777)

A chain and boom were stretched across the river from Fort Montgomery on the West Bank, at the lower entrance to the Highlands just north of the modern-day Bear Mountain Bridge, to Anthony's Nose on the East Bank. Fort Clinton had been built just south of Popolopen's Kill (or Popolopen Creek) and also on the West Bank. Captain Machin headed this effort. In November 1776, a faulty link broke under stress induced by the river tides, highlighting some of the difficulties of trying to chain the Hudson. It was repaired and reset. After the British captured forts Montgomery and Clinton on October 6, 1777, they dismantled the chain and raided upriver as far as Kingston.

Governor Clinton, one of the committee assigned by the New York Convention to devise means of defending the Hudson, was heartened as the British never attempted to run ships through the chain. He concluded that the basic idea of obstructing the river seemed sound. After Captain Machin recovered from wounds from battle with the British, he began work on the stronger Great Chain at West Point, which was constructed and installed in 1778.