page_title: Rufus Putnam
section_title: Revolutionary War
hierarchical_section_title: Rufus Putnam / Revolutionary War
caption_attribution_description: English: Digital ID: G91F051_014F. E. &amp; H.T. Anthony (Firm) -- Photographer. [1860?-1875?] Source: Robert N. Dennis collection of stereoscopic views. / United States. / States / New York / Beauties of the Hudson. (http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/explore/?col_id=361) Repository: The New York Public Library. Photography Collection, Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs. See more information about http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/id?G91F051_014F and others at http://digitalgallery.nypl.org. Persistent URL: http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/id?G91F051_014F Rights Info: No known copyright restrictions; may be subject to third party rights (for more information, http://www.nypl.org/legal/flickr.cfm)
context_page_description: Rufus Putnam was a colonial military officer during the French and Indian War, and a general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. As an organizer of the Ohio Company, he was instrumental in the initial settling of the Northwest Territory in present-day Ohio following the war.
  He was known as "Father of the Northwest Territory"
context_section_description: After the Battle of Lexington and Concord, Putnam enlisted the same day, on April 19, 1775, in one of Massachusett's first revolutionary regiments. Putnam later was commissioned in the Continental Army as a Lieutenant Colonel, under the command of David Brewer. Brewer's regiment first engaged with the British Army in Roxbury, Massachusetts. After the Battle of Lexington and Concord and the Battle of Bunker Hill, the Americans laid siege against the British in Boston.  The long siege lasted for many months with neither side able to make any progress. At the urging of William Heath, Putnam used his experience working with British military engineers during the French and Indian war to build fortifications in Roxbury and other locations that were critical to the siege. After his initial success, he borrowed from Heath the book Attack and Defense of Fortified Places, by John Müller that showed him additional techniques for building defensive fortifications. Using the Muller's ideas, Putnam devised a system for fortifying Dorchester Heights, overlooking Boston Harbor. Despite the frozen ground in early March, 1776, Putnam's plan of using timbers and fascines allowed the colonial troops to put up the defenses overnight allowing for the subsequent emplacement of artillery, brought from Fort Ticonderoga by Henry Knox weeks earlier, the next day. Putnam's success in establishing a fort in a matter of just hours took the British by surprise and left them in an untenable position, resulting in their evacuation of Boston by sea in the following weeks.
  General Washington appointed Putnam to be the Chief of Engineers of the Works of New York. He was soon promoted to engineer with the rank of colonel where he directed the building of fortifications which secured victories at Sewall's Point, Providence, Newport, Long Island, and West Point. In December, 1776, when the Continental Congress rejected his proposition to establish a national corps of engineers, Putnam resigned his commission. His resignation was short-lived and he eventually joined the Continental Army and served under Major General Horatio Gates. Putnam commanded two regiments in the battle of Saratoga. He continued to work on critical fortifications, including Fort Putnam at West Point in 1778. In 1779 Putnam served under Major General Anthony Wayne in the Corps of Light Infantry following the capture of Stony Point, commanding the 4th Regiment. Putnam's remaining military career was less eventful. In January 1783 he was commissioned as brigadier general.
caption: View of the West Point area from Fort Putnam.
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