Fortifying The High Ground

Fortifying The High Ground. . , These bluffs command the Hudson River and valley below- General Burgoyne's only route to Albany., The valley here is wide, but in 1777 a huge swamp called the Great Vly clogged the approaches from the north. The British Army would have to stick to the river and the road., Gates ordered the construction of the defenses here upon the recommendation of Colonel Tadeusz Kosciuszko, a young engineer from Poland. Sent by Gates to find suitable ground for a defensive line on September 11, Kosciuszko quickly saw the defensive possibilities here on Bemus Heights., Military engineers under Kosciuszko's orders planned defenses which would use every advantage of the terrain. The construction of those defenses began the next day. It would turn out to be just one week before the first battle!, (illustration captions:) , Map by William Wilkinson, courtesy of the Library of Congress, Tadeusz Kosciuszko by Carl Gottlieb Schat, ca 1802 , GL Archive/Alamy Stock Photo