[ProtectOurFreedom]

My folks lived west of Philly and I used to visit the old iron works around there. Those mines you describe were instrumental in winning the Revolutionary War. A huge chain was strung across the Hudson to prevent the British from sailing up river to cut New England off from the southern colonies. The logistics of mining the ore, smelting the iron, fabricating the chain, transporting it and installing it are fascinating. Great book with more about the chain and iron works in:

Chaining the Hudson: The Fight for the River in the American Revolution by Lincoln Diamant.

[kearnyirish2]

I am familiar with the chains; IIRC they were draped across a string of rafts (so they wouldn’t sink). Fortunately the northernmost one (at West Point) was never breached. There seems to be a pissing match between ironworks up here as to where the chains were forged.

The success of those Hudson River defenses made the victory at Saratoga possible, and that battle signaled to France that we were worthy of support (in other words, that we could win).