Gravel Hill (Greaton’s) Batteries:

Cannons at these fortification sites were able to engage ships at longer ranges as they attempted to negotiate the S-curve of the Hudson River. They were made up of parapets of logs or fascines filled with gravel and soil and probably covered with sod. The parapets averaged  a 10-foot width; and two embrasures are still visible today. Gravel Hill Battery was destroyed by the British in 1777 and was rebuilt in 1778 as Greaton’s Battery to protect the eastern end of the chain. The battery mounted five 6-pounders and one 9-pounder. The battery was constructed by Colonel John Greaton’s 3rd Massachusetts Regiment. The engagement area (or kill zone) was created by dead water. Becalmed ships had to turn here and this slow process maximized time under fire from shore.

HILL CLIFF BATTERY

This fortification was built in 1776 with scrap materials as part of an extension of fortifications to the east from Fort Constitution. It was designed to be completely enclosed but there are doubts that that occurred. The ramparts remnants are part of a parapet that measured twenty-six feet wide and seventy-seven feet long. It was designed to mount only a 4-pounder cannon. A small stone wall down hill forward of battery may have been erected to obstruct an assault from the river.

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MARINE BATTERY

The construction of these fortifications began in the autumn of 1778 in response to DuPortail’s Report to General Washington on the status of the fortifications. The rampart and parapet at their base were ten feet thick. The parapet was constructed of timber revetments filled with earth. The rear foundation had a forward pitch to offset cannon’s recoil and facilitate return to firing condition. Eight embrasures mounted seven 9-pounders and one 6-pounder. Marine Battery was destroyed in 1777, but was partially rebuilt in 1778 to protect the eastern end of the Great Chain on the Constitution Island side. The manpower requirement recommended by DuPortail in 1779 was forty men.

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