Location, Location, Location

Going into 1775 there was little mystery what the British strategy was going to be to subdue the rebellion of the American colonies—- divide and conquer—seize the Hudson River and cut off the New England colonies from those in the Mid-Atlantic region. The only obstacle to that plan was the geography of the Hudson Highlands, a section of the river that passed through steep mountains fashioned long ago by passing glaciers, where invading ships could be easily attacked from above. Fortunately for the British the area was populated with wealthy landowners who could be counted on to stay true to the royal government and act clandestinely on behalf of the kingdom in an organized manner. This group was already organized to promote the Church of England over other sects for more than three decades in something of an extension of European religious conflict. I would argue what played out here during the Revolution was a lot more complicated and perilous than previous histories of the period have ever documented. Part of "Secrets of Joseph Shea's Farm" will be devoted to illustrating this neglected facet of our nation's history, which will require detailing in painstaking manner Orange County's major role in the 1776 Plot to Assist the British Invasion of New York and the ensuing conspiracies and guerilla campaigns in the area that imperiled the cause of American Independence throughout the duration of the war in the fashion of civil war---James Robert Flannery