In 1778, Gen. Alexander McDougall wrote, Genl. Parson, Clinton and Col. Delaradiere went with me to View the Rock & Crown Hills in the rear of our works...(Fort Clinton). Tadeusz Kościuszko convinced them of the necessity of defending Crown Hill, and drafted blueprints accordingly. Gen. Israel Putnam's younger cousin, Col. Rufus Putnam, and three hundred men arrived on four sloops with lumber to build Fort Putnam. McDougall wrote, The hill which Col. Putnam is fortifying is the most commanding and important of any that we can now attend to...the eastern-most face of this work must be so constructed as to command the plain.: