Attack on Fort Constitution, October 7, 1777

The offensive shown here records an attack by British General Henry Clinton on American fortifications along the Hudson River. Aiming to protect the British hold on New York City, the British overran Fort Montgomery on October 4, then Fort Constitution near West Point. Since British armies were simultaneously engaged around Saratoga to the north, and attempting to suppress American actions further south, Clinton soon had to abandon the two forts to reinforce Pennsylvania campaigns.
Published in Augsburg by Johann Martin Will, this print belongs to a group that describe General John Burgoyne's Hudson River campaign and General William Howe's Philadelphia campaign, both of which took place in the Fall of 1777. Since many German soldiers fought for the British, there would have been much interest in Europe to learn details of the war. A set at the Library of Congress is titled "Zehn Karten und Ansichten den Schlachtfelden des amerikanischen Unabhängigkeitskreiges in den Staaten Pennsylvanien und New York" (Ten maps and views of battlefields in the American Revolutionary War in the states of Pennsylvania and New York). While the prints likely relied on written accounts sent back to Germany they cannot be considered accurate visual records. The Museum also has a view of "The Battle of Saratoga" (33.104.2421).