Palisades Interstate Park — New Jersey
Fort Lee: The Retreat That Saved an Army
Listen at the stop, then read the transcript and follow the sources behind the story.
Listen
Transcript
Start with the view. The George Washington Bridge dominates the Hudson now, but in 1776 the military problem was the river itself.
American forces built Fort Lee on this bluff and Fort Washington across the Hudson in Manhattan. The idea was to challenge British control of the river and protect the movement of supplies. It did not work as planned.
In November 1776, the British captured Fort Washington. That made Fort Lee dangerously exposed. British troops under Lord Cornwallis then crossed the Hudson north of here and moved toward the American position.
Washington did not stage a heroic last stand.
He got out.
The Americans abandoned Fort Lee so quickly that they left equipment and provisions behind. The retreat across New Jersey that followed was miserable, but strategically it mattered more than defending this hilltop to the last man. The army survived.
That is the first useful correction in this guide. Revolutionary sites are often presented as collections of victories. Fort Lee matters because withdrawal can be the intelligent choice.
The reconstructed encampment and interpretive buildings here help visitors imagine the military landscape, but remember that the modern park sits beside infrastructure the eighteenth century could not have imagined. The bridge opened in 1931. Interstate highways now pour traffic through a corridor once defended with earthworks and cannon.
The continuity is geography.
This bluff still controls a remarkable view over the Hudson. The river is still a transportation artery. The narrow crossing still concentrates movement.
For locals, Fort Lee can become “the park under the bridge.”
Historically, reverse that relationship.
The bridge is the newest layer.
The military importance of this ridge came first.