Battle of Long Island
The Battle of Long Island, also known as the Battle of Brooklyn and the Battle of Brooklyn Heights, was an action of the American Revolutionary War fought on August 27, 1776, at and near the western edge of Long Island in present-day Brooklyn. The British defeated the Continental Army and gained access to the strategically important Port of New York, which they held for the rest of the war. It was the first major battle to take place after the United States declared its independence on July 4, 1776, in Philadelphia. It was the largest battle of the Revolutionary War in terms of both troop deployment and combat.
After defeating the British in the siege of Boston on March 17, Continental Army commander-in-chief George Washington relocated his army to defend the port city of New York, located at the southern end of Manhattan Island. Washington understood the city's harbor would provide an excellent base for the Royal Navy, so he established defenses there and waited for the British to attack. In July, the British, under the command of General William Howe, landed a few miles across the harbor on the sparsely populated Staten Island, where they were reinforced by a fleet of ships in Lower New York Bay over the next month and a half, bringing their total force to 32,000 troops. Washington knew the difficulty in holding the city with the British fleet in control of the entrance to the harbor at the Narrows, and accordingly moved the bulk of his forces to Manhattan, believing it would be the first target.
On August 21, the British landed on the shores of Gravesend Bay in southwest Kings County, across the Narrows from Staten Island and more than a dozen miles south of the established East River crossings to Manhattan. After five days of waiting, the British attacked the American defenses on Guan Heights. Unbeknownst to the Americans, however, Howe had brought his main army around their rear and attacked their flank soon after. The Americans panicked, resulting in twenty percent losses through casualties and capture, although a stand by 400 Maryland and Delaware troops prevented greater losses. The remainder of the army retreated to the main defenses on Brooklyn Heights. The British dug in for a siege, but on the night of August 29–30, Washington evacuated the entire army to Manhattan without the loss of supplies or a single life. The Continental Army was driven out of Manhattan entirely after several more defeats and was forced to retreat through New Jersey to Pennsylvania.
Prelude
In the first stage of the war, the British Army was trapped in the peninsular city of Boston and were forced to abandon it on March 17, sailing to Halifax, Nova Scotia, to await reinforcements. Washington then began to transfer regiments to New York City, which he believed the British would attack next because of the port's strategic importance. He had sent his second-in-command Charles Lee to New York the previous February to establish the city's defenses. Lee remained in New York City until March 7 when the Continental Congress sent him to the Carolinas.. Before he departed for the South, Lee had also seen to it that the immediate area was cleared of Loyalists. After Lee's departure, construction of the city's defenses was left to American General William Alexander, Lord Stirling.Washington left Boston on April 4, arrived in New York on April 13, and established headquarters at the former home of Archibald Kennedy on Broadway facing Bowling Green. Troops were in limited supply, so Washington found the defenses incomplete, but Lee had concluded in any case it would be impossible to hold the city with the British commanding the sea. He reasoned the defenses should be located with the ability to inflict heavy casualties upon the British if any move was made to take and hold ground. Barricades and redoubts were established in and around the city, and the bastion of Fort Stirling was built across the East River in Brooklyn Heights, facing the city.
Strategy
began moving troops to Brooklyn in early May, and there were several thousand of them there in a short time. Three more forts were under construction on the eastern side of the East River to support Fort Stirling, which stood to the west of the hamlet of Brooklyn Heights. These new fortifications were Fort Putnam, Fort Greene, and Fort Box. They lay from north to south, with Fort Putnam farthest to the north, Greene slightly to the southwest, and Box slightly farther southwest. Each of these defensive structures was surrounded by a large ditch, all connected by a line of entrenchments and a total of 36 cannons.Fort Defiance was also being constructed at this time, located farther southwest past Fort Box, near present-day Red Hook. In addition to these new forts, a mounted battery was established on Governors Island, cannons were placed at Fort George facing Bowling Green on Manhattan, and more cannons were placed at the Whitehall Dock, which sat on the East River. Hulks were sunk at strategic locations to deter the British from entering the East River and other waterways.
Washington had been authorized by Congress to recruit an army of up to 28,501 troops, but he had only 19,000 when he reached New York. Military discipline was inadequate; routine orders were not carried out, muskets were fired in camp, flints were ruined, bayonets were used as knives to cut food, and firearm readiness was lax. Petty internal conflict was common under the strain of a large number of people from different regional cultures and temperaments living in relatively close proximity.
Commander of the artillery Henry Knox persuaded Washington to transfer 400 to 500 soldiers, who lacked muskets or guns, to crew the artillery. In early June, Knox and General Nathanael Greene inspected the land at the north end of Manhattan and decided to establish Fort Washington. Fort Constitution, later renamed Fort Lee, was planned opposite Fort Washington on the Hudson River. The forts were intended to discourage the British ships from sailing up the Hudson River.
British arrival
On June 28, General Washington learned the British fleet had set sail from Halifax on June 9 and was heading toward New York. On June 29, signals were sent from soldiers stationed on Staten Island indicating the British fleet had appeared. Within a few hours, 45 British ships dropped anchor in Lower New York Bay. The population of New York went into a panic at the sight of the British ships; alarms went off and troops immediately rushed to their posts. On July 2, British troops began to land on Staten Island. The Continental regulars on the island took a few shots at them before fleeing, and the citizens' militia switched over to the British side. Less than a week later, there were 130 ships off Staten Island under the command of Richard Howe, the brother of General Howe.On July 6, news reached New York that Congress had voted for independence four days earlier. On Tuesday, July 9, at 18:00, Washington had several brigades march onto the commons of the city to hear the Declaration of Independence read. After the end of the reading, a mob ran down to Bowling Green with ropes and bars, where they tore down the gilded lead equestrian statue of George III of Great Britain. In their fury, the crowd cut off the statue's head, severed the nose, mounted what remained of the head on a spike outside a tavern, and the rest of the statue was dragged to Connecticut and melted down into musket balls.
On July 12, the British ships Phoenix and Rose sailed up the harbor toward the mouth of the Hudson. The American batteries opened fire from the harbor defenses of Fort George, Fort Defiance, and Governors Island, but the British returned fire into the city. The ships sailed along the New Jersey shore and continued up the Hudson, sailing past Fort Washington and arriving by nightfall at Tarrytown, the widest part of the Hudson. The goals of the British ships were to cut off American supplies from New England and the north and to encourage Loyalist support. The only casualties of the day were six Americans who were killed when their own cannon blew up.
The next day, July 13, Howe attempted to open negotiations with the Americans. He sent a letter to Washington delivered by Lieutenant Philip Brown, who arrived under a flag of truce. The letter was addressed to "George Washington, Esq." Brown was met by Joseph Reed, who had hurried to the waterfront on Washington's orders, accompanied by Henry Knox and Samuel Webb. Washington asked his officers whether it should be received or not, as it did not recognize his rank as general, and they unanimously said no. Reed told Brown there was no one in the army with that address. On July 16, Howe tried again, this time with the address "George Washington, Esq., etc., etc.", but it was again declined. The next day, Howe sent Captain Nisbet Balfour to ask if Washington would meet with Howe's adjutant face to face, and a meeting was scheduled for July 20. Howe's adjutant was Colonel James Patterson. Patterson told Washington Howe had come with powers to grant pardons, but Washington said, "Those who have committed no fault want no pardon." Patterson departed soon after. Washington's performance during the meeting was praised in many parts of the country.
Meanwhile, British ships continued to arrive. On August 1, 45 ships arrived with generals Henry Clinton and Charles Cornwallis, along with 3,000 troops. By August 12, 3,000 British troops and another 8,000 Hessians had arrived. At this point, the British fleet numbered over 400 ships, including 73 warships, and 32,000 troops were camped on Staten Island. Faced with this large force, Washington was unsure as to where the British would attack. Both Greene and Reed thought the British would attack Long Island, but Washington felt a British attack on Long Island might be a diversion for the main attack on Manhattan. He broke his army in half, stationing half of it on Manhattan and the other half on Long Island; the army on Long Island was commanded by Greene. On August 20, Greene became ill and was forced to move to a house in Manhattan, where he rested to recover. John Sullivan was placed in command until Greene was well enough to resume command.