Fishkill Historical Focus: Fishkill Supply Depot Fact Sheet

Advocating Initiatives Promoting Preservation, Stringent Archaeological Review,
and Proper Interpretation of the Fishkill Encampment and Supply Depot

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FACT SHEET

What is the Fishkill Encampment and Supply Depot?

On the National Register of Historic Places since 1974, the Fishkill Encampment and Supply Depot was the site of the principal and most extensive depository for military stores and provision in the North during the Revolutionary Was. It was occupied continuously by Continental troops and Militia units from October of 1776 through April of 1783. According to the late Dr. James Gifford of Temple University it is, “the last of the Important Revolutionary War sites yet to be properly explored, studied and preserved.”

Why is it important?

It is historically proven that the Fishkill Supply Depot played a central role in the successful outcome of the Revolutionary War. Attended to by no less than Generals Washington, Putnam and Layfayette its existence prevented the British from securing a line of communication from New York City to Canada. This could have spelled defeat for the patriot forces. As William Krattinger, preservation specialist for the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation has pointed out, “The Fishkill Supply Depot is a highly significant cultural site in the Hudson Valley, and one deserving of measures to protect its intact features.”

Read the Marquis de Chastellux's Account of a Visit to the Fishkill Depot, 1780

Impacts of Development on the Site

Preservation of this historic site as open space affords a precious window to our past and it then becomes a unique cultural asset for New York State and the United States. As a significant portion of the Depot site has fallen to commercial development, it is critical that remaining undeveloped acres are secured for the benefit of future generations. Once sites of this magnitude are gone, they are lost forever.

Preserving the past for the future

The Fishkill Encampment and Supply Depot represents a little known area of research – that of the logistical and supply site. These sites are the least understood and provide a category of information that has largely been ignored. The activities of Washington’s troops created a unique, varied and highly significant record, that if appropriately researched would enable insights into soldier’s lives that are unavailable at battlefield sites. This unique archaeological record needs to be safeguarded. And, archaeological methodology continues to evolve. What we might not be able to derive from this site now will be conceivable fifty years from now.