![Joshua Hett Smith House from The Picturesque Hudson 1915](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cd/Joshua_Hett_Smith_House_from_The_Picturesque_Hudson_1915.jpg)
Joshua Hett Smith House (demolished), also known as Treason House, was a historic house in
West Haverstraw, New York
West Haverstraw is a village incorporated in 1883 in the town of Haverstraw, Rockland County, New York, United States. It is located northwest of Haverstraw village, east of Thiells, south of the hamlet of Stony Point, and west of the Hudson Riv ...
. It stood on a hill overlooking the King's Ferry at
Stony Point, an important crossing of the
Hudson River
The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...
. During the
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
, General
Benedict Arnold
Benedict Arnold ( Brandt (1994), p. 4June 14, 1801) was an American military officer who served during the Revolutionary War. He fought with distinction for the American Continental Army and rose to the rank of major general before defect ...
met at the house with British Major
John André
John André (2 May 1750/1751[''Gravesite–Memorial''](_blank)
Westmi ...
, while plotting to surrender the fort at
West Point
The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...
. Later, the house had a brief tenure as headquarters for General
George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...
.
Early history
The house was built about 1770 on the property of Thomas Smith, a lawyer in New York City, who inherited the land following the 1769 death of his father, Judge
William Smith. Judge Smith had been a major property owner in the area, and his holdings were divided among his six sons and several daughters. Another son was Joshua Hett Smith, who was living in this house he called "Belmont" in 1780.
Arnold
Arnold became a celebrated hero early in the Revolutionary War. Severely wounded in the 1777
Battles of Saratoga
The Battles of Saratoga (September 19 and October 7, 1777) marked the climax of the Saratoga campaign, giving a decisive victory to the Americans over the British in the American Revolutionary War. British General John Burgoyne led an invasion ...
, his shattered left leg left him unable to ride a horse or walk without pain. In June 1778, he was made military governor of southeast Pennsylvania, stationed in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
. His taste for high living and use of soldiers for personal tasks made him unpopular. In April 1779, he married
Peggy Shippen
Margaret "Peggy" Shippen (July 11, 1760 – August 24, 1804) was the highest-paid spy in the American Revolution, and was the second wife of General Benedict Arnold.
Shippen was born into a prominent Philadelphia family with Loyalist tendencies. ...
, the daughter of a prominent Tory. That same month, he began a treasonous correspondence with British General
Henry Clinton. By the summer, he was informing Clinton of American troop locations and strengths, and negotiating a fee to switch sides.
Arnold angrily resigned his military command of Philadelphia in March 1780, in response to a Congressional inquiry into expenses he incurred during the failed 1775–76
invasion of Quebec and an upcoming court-martial (in April, at which he was cleared of all but minor charges). In mid-July 1780, he wrote to Clinton offering to surrender the fort at West Point for £20,000.
[ Randall (1990), pp. 508-509.] It was not until July 31 that he met with Washington to request command of the fort, and August 3 when he was installed as its commander.
The fort at West Point, located on a hill above a narrow bend in the Hudson River, was the key military site for defending the river. The British believed that control of the river would isolate New England from the rest of the Colonies, and cause the rebellion to fail.
[ Randall (1990), pp. 505–508.]
While en route to West Point, Arnold renewed his acquaintance with Joshua Hett Smith, who had spied for both sides.
[ Randall (1990), p. 517–518.] They were co-conspirators by September 10, when the general stayed overnight at Smith's house, located about 15 miles south of the fort. A meeting with Major André was to take place in the early morning hours of September 11, but the rendezvous had to be abandoned when Smith's rowboat was fired upon.
[ Randall (1990), p. 533.] Arnold and André finally met before dawn on September 22: André sailed up the Hudson River aboard ; a rowboat containing Arnold and Smith (and two of Smith's allies rowing) met the British warship mid-river and carried André to the western shore. Arnold and André talked through the night at Smith's house, but the ''Vulture'' was fired upon and moved downriver, stranding the British major behind American lines.
André, despite being given a pass signed by Arnold, was captured, tried as a spy, and hanged. Arnold made it safely to New York City, where he was given a commission in the British Army.
Joshua Hett Smith
Joshua Hett Smith (May 27, 1749 – 1818) was the son of Judge
William Smith and brother of Chief Justice of the
Province of New York
The Province of New York (1664–1776) was a British proprietary colony and later royal colony on the northeast coast of North America. As one of the Middle Colonies, New York achieved independence and worked with the others to found the Uni ...
William Smith.
Joshua Hett Smith, at whose house, near Stony Point, Arnold and André held their interview (September 22), was tried by a military court and acquitted. He was soon afterwards arrested by the civil authorities and committed to jail at Goshen, Orange County, whence he escaped and made his way through the country, in the disguise of a woman, to New York. Smith went to England with the British army at the close of the war, and in 1808 published a book in London entitled ''An Authentic Narrative of the Causes which led to the Death of Major André '', a work of very little reliable authority. He died at New York in 1818.
Washington
The house served as Washington's headquarters from August 20 to 25, 1781. The American and French armies were then on the march to
Yorktown, Virginia
Yorktown is a census-designated place (CDP) in York County, Virginia. It is the county seat of York County, one of the eight original shires formed in colonial Virginia in 1682. Yorktown's population was 195 as of the 2010 census, while York Cou ...
, and it took four days to ferry the troops, horses, wagons and cannons across the Hudson River.
The house came to be known as "Treason House," and the hill overlooking the Hudson River was named "Treason Hill."
20th century
The house was in a state of disrepair in the mid-1910s, when a campaign was launched to buy and restore it. The New York State Hospital for Crippled Children stood on an adjacent property, and wished to expand. The house was demolished in 1929 for that expansion. The hospital was renamed in 1974 to honor actress
Helen Hayes
Helen Hayes MacArthur ( Brown; October 10, 1900 – March 17, 1993) was an American actress whose career spanned 80 years. She eventually received the nickname "First Lady of American Theatre" and was the second person and first woman to have w ...
.
Helen Hayes Hospital
See also
*
References
Sources
*
{{Coord, 41, 12, 48, N, 73, 59, 18.51, W, type:landmark_region:US, display=title
Smith
Smith may refer to:
People
* Metalsmith, or simply smith, a craftsman fashioning tools or works of art out of various metals
* Smith (given name)
* Smith (surname), a family name originating in England, Scotland and Ireland
** List of people wi ...
Smith
Smith may refer to:
People
* Metalsmith, or simply smith, a craftsman fashioning tools or works of art out of various metals
* Smith (given name)
* Smith (surname), a family name originating in England, Scotland and Ireland
** List of people wi ...
Smith
Smith may refer to:
People
* Metalsmith, or simply smith, a craftsman fashioning tools or works of art out of various metals
* Smith (given name)
* Smith (surname), a family name originating in England, Scotland and Ireland
** List of people wi ...
Smith
Smith may refer to:
People
* Metalsmith, or simply smith, a craftsman fashioning tools or works of art out of various metals
* Smith (given name)
* Smith (surname), a family name originating in England, Scotland and Ireland
** List of people wi ...
Smith
Smith may refer to:
People
* Metalsmith, or simply smith, a craftsman fashioning tools or works of art out of various metals
* Smith (given name)
* Smith (surname), a family name originating in England, Scotland and Ireland
** List of people wi ...
1770 establishments in the Province of New York