Snyder ' s Regiment of Militia Snyder ' s Regiment of Militia was known officially as The First Regiment of Ulster County Militia . It was the first regiment of four created in Ulster County , New York as ordered by the Provincial Congress of New York . It was also referred to as the Northern Regiment since it members were from the Northern section of Ulster County towns including Kingston , New York ( then also called Esopus ) and Saugerties , New York ( then called Kingston Commons ) Johannes Snyder was given his commission and officially took his post as Colonel on May 1 , 1776 . At that time the 1st Ulster County Militia was reported to have 472 officers and men . In April of that year , he was elected to the Provincial Congress as a Delegate , and thus did not start active duty until September 1 , 1776 when he was directed to proceed to Fort Montgomery in the Hudson Highlands and take command . He arrived on September 27 . The three months for which the Regiment had been called out expired on November 30 . In the following year , 1777 , he was with his regiment at Ft Montgomery as early as June 4 . On July 30 , he took his seat as a member of the Assembly in the first legislature chosen in New York State . His activity was said to be " untiring ! " He was at the head of his regiment in the Highlands , and was assigned to every court - martial convened by General George Clinton to try Tories who were active everywhere , and whom his Regiment seized on every hand . He was also a member of the Council of Safety in Ulster County . Colonel Snyder was thus in Kingston when Major General Vaughan landed to destroy Kingston , New York State ' s first Capital . He could only muster 5 small cannons and about 150 men . The rest of the 1st Ulster were either with General , now Governor , George Clinton on their way to Kingston from the defeat at Fort Montgomery or as part of Colonel Graham ' s Levies from Dutchess and Ulster counties which were facing John Burgoyne at Saratoga . Colonel Snyder along with Colonel Levi Pawling threw up a hasty earthwork at Ponckhonkie overlooking the Hudson River and the mouth of the Rondout Creek , and a second one at the hill near O ' Reilly ' s Woods — the present site of Kingston ' s City Hall , and placed his cannons . The British , numbering over 2 , 000 , drove the defenders out and commenced to torch the city on October 16 , 1777 . As General Vaughan wrote , " Esopus [ Kingston ] being a nursery for almost every Villain in the Country , I judged it necessary to proceed to that Town . . . they fired from their Houses , which induced me to reduce the Place to Ashes , which I accordingly did , not leaving a House . " After this , Governor Clinton assigned Colonel Snyder and a part of the regiment to assist and help rebuild the ruined city . He energetically took hold of the work with his men , and the town rapidly arose from the ashes . In 1778 , and through the remainder of the war , Colonel Snyder was credited that no enemy descent was made upon exposed settlements in the northwest Catskills frontier where Governor Clinton committed its defense to him and his regiment . Part of the regiment was usually stationed at Little Shandaken to watch the approach through the valley of the Esopus Creek . Scouts constantly covered the territory from Hurley woods to the Palentine Clove along the foot of the Catskills . On at least three documented occasions , marauding Indians and Tories were turned back by finding their movements watched . It is alleged the Regiment was founded as the Burgher Guard of Wildwijk in 1758 . Captain Hendrick ' s Schoonmaker ' s Company of the 1st Ulster Regiment lineage continues to the Headquarters and Service Battery , 1st Battalion of the 156th Field Artillery Regiment which in 2006 was reorganized to become both the 1156th Engineer Company and the 104th Military Police Battalion . Sources . The Early History of Saugerties by Benjamin Brink ( 1902 ) An Account of the British Expedition Above the Highlands of the Hudson River , and of the Events Connected with the Burning of Kingston in 1777 , by George W . Pratt ( 1860 ) The Collected Papers of George Clinton ( 1910 )