These two forts were involved in the important maneuvers of 1777, when the British, under Sir Henry Clinton, executed a brilliant enterprise northward up the Hudson; they broke through the chains which the Americans had stretched across the river in the hope of checking the advance of British warships, captured Ft. Clinton and Ft. Montgomery and destroyed the fleets which the Americans had been forming on the river.
Three M. farther (on the right) is Sugar Loaf Mt. (765 ft.), noteworthy as the place from which Benedict Arnold, whose headquarters were in the Beverley Robinson House, near the south base of the mountain, made his escape to the British man-of-war "Vulture" (1780) after receiving news of André's capture. On the west shore near Highland Falls stands the residence of the late J. Pierpont Morgan, standing somewhat back from the river and partly hidden by trees.
John Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913) was born in Hartford, Conn., a son of Junius S. Morgan, who was a partner of George Peabody and the founder of the house of J. S. Morgan & Co. in London. After his university training at Göttingen, he began his career in the financial world, and by 1895, as the head of J. P. Morgan & Co., was the greatest American financier. His banking house became one of the most powerful in the world, carrying through the formation of the U.S. Steel Corporation, harmonizing the coal and railway interests of Pennsylvania, purchasing the Leyland line of Atlantic steamships and other British lines in 1902, effecting an Atlantic shipping combine, reorganizing many large railways, and in 1895 supplying the U.S. government with $62,000,000 in gold to float a bond issue and restore the treasury surplus of $100,000,000. Mr. Pierpont Morgan was a prominent member of the Episcopal church, a keen yachtsman, a generous patron of charitable and educational institutions, and a notable art and book collector. As president of the Metropolitan Museum he gave or loaned to it many rare and beautiful pictures, statues, and art objects of all kinds. A memorial tablet was recently unveiled in his honour at the museum.
Buttermilk Falls (100 ft.) are visible on the west bank after a heavy rain; the buildings on the bluff above belong to Lady Cliff, a school for girls.
49 M. WEST POINT (Garrison).
(Train 51 passes 9:46; No. 3, 10:04; No. 41, 2:19; No. 25, 4:00; No. 19, 6:55. Eastbound: No. 6 passes 8:01; No. 26, 8:20; No. 16, 2:34; No. 22, 4:00.)
Across the river from Garrison, the imposing buildings of West Point, the "Gibraltar of the Hudson," come into view. The name "West Point" properly belongs to the village located here, but in ordinary usage it refers to the U.S. Military Academy,* America's training school for officers, which at the present time has about 1,000 cadets.
Photo Brown Bros.
West Point from an Aeroplane