Henry Wisner was a miller from Goshen, New York. He was a Patriot leader during the American Revolution who, as a member of the Second Continental Congress, voted for Independence on July 4, 1776, at the creation of the Declaration of Independence. As a member of the First Continental Congress, Wisner signed the 1774 Continental Association.

The Hudson River Chains were a series of chain booms constructed across the Hudson River at West Point by Continental Army forces from 1776 to 1778 during the American Revolutionary War. These served as defenses preventing British naval vessels from sailing upriver and were overseen by the Highlands Department of the Continental Army.