Old Military Crossing

Old Military Crossing. . , Prior to the construction of the New York State Barge Canal and dam at Crescent, the Mohawk River was shallow and fordable most of the year. For centuries, Native Americans had crossed at this place. In 1755, during the French and Indian War, a crude road was constructed nearby between Albany and Lake George. It was built by the British under the direction of General John Campbell, the Fourth Earl of Loudoun, and became known as the Loudon Plank Road. Soldiers used this route north in 1758 to supply Fort William Henry and to support an ill-fated attempt to wrest control of Fort Carillon (Ticonderoga) from the French., The river crossing located here and others spanning the Mohawk River at nearby Waterford were a source of great concern for American forces during the American Revolutionary War. British army officers planned to capture Albany and isolate New England from the rest of the colonies. Using a three pronged plan of attack, British Colonel Barry St.Leger would approach from the west along the Mohawk River; General William Howe would drive north from New York City and General John Burgoyne would forge southward from Canada. The attacks from the west and south failed. Burgoyne's army coming from the north was finally stopped at the famous Battle of Saratoga in 1777. He never reached the fords of the Mohawk River., The Loudon Ford Crossing was protected during the events of 1777 by American Generals Enoch Poor and Benedict Arnold. Poor, a native of New Hampshire, became a hero at Saratoga, served under General Washington, but died in 1780 in New Jersey organizing an army to raid New York City. Despite a brilliant military record, in 1780 Benedict Arnold was charged with collaborating with the British on a was protected during plan to capture the American stronghold at West Point. Arnold was labeled a traitor. He escaped to Great Britain dying there in 1801.