This Day In History: Aug 22, 1776 - British Invasion Of New York

Episode 3 of the PBS video series, "The Times That Try Men's Souls", covers this chapter of the war (invasion of New York)...

LIBERTY! The American Revolution is a dramatic documentary about the birth of the American Republic and the struggle of a loosely connected group of states to become a nation. The George Foster Peabody award-winning series brings the people, events and ideas of the revolution to life through military reenactments and dramatic recreations performed by a distinguished cast.
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EPISODE 1: "The Reluctant Revolutionaries" 1763-1774
In 1763, the capitol city of America is London, George Washington is lobbying for a post in the British army, and no one thinks of Boston harbor when they hear talk of tea parties. In a dozen years, the colonies are on the brink of rebellion. What happens to bring this country so quickly near war with England?

EPISODE 2: "Blows Must Decide" 1774-1776
A total break from Great Britain remains hard for Americans to imagine, even after shots are fired at Lexington and Concord. Words push matters "Over the Edge" in 1776. Common Sense argues that it is the natural right of men to govern themselves. The Declaration of Independence declares this same idea a "self-evident" truth. For Americans, there is no looking back. There will be war with England.

EPISODE 3: "The Times That Try Men's Souls" 1776-1777
Days after the Declaration of Independence is signed, a British force arrives in New York harbor. Washington and his troops are driven to New Jersey. With only a few days of enlistment left for many of his volunteers, a desperate Washington leads his army quietly across the Delaware River on the day after Christmas, 1776, to mount a surprise attack on a sleeping garrison in Trenton.

EPISODE 4: "Oh Fatal Ambition" 1777-1778
The "united" states remain in dire need of funds and military support. Congress dispatches Benjamin Franklin to France in hopes of creating an alliance which will provide both. Meanwhile, a British army marches down the Hudson River trying to cut off New England from the other colonies. The British are crushed by Americans at Saratoga. The French enter the conflict on the American side.

EPISODE 5: "The World Turned Upside Down" 1778-1783
The British hope to exploit the issue of slavery and to enlist the support of loyalists in the south. They fail. After a series of brutal engagements, the British army heads for Virginia, only to be trapped by the miraculous convergence of Washington's army and the French fleet at Yorktown. The end of the war is at hand.

EPISODE 6: "Are We to Be a Nation? 1783-1788
Peace comes to the United States, but governing the world's newest republic is no simple task. Congress is ineffectual and individual states act like sovereign nations. By the time the Constitutional Convention convenes in 1787, many wonder if the country can survive. The long ratification process helps define what sort of nation the United States is to be a process that continues to this day.

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EPISODE 1: "The Reluctant Revolutionaries" 1763-1774
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jR_lTDD6jpw

EPISODE 2: "Blows Must Decide" 1774-1776
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIT_GL-Y5hQ

EPISODE 3: "The Times That Try Men's Souls" 1776-1777
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSAtHAb1xC4

EPISODE 4: "Oh Fatal Ambition" 1777-1778
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ae6XknOqceI

EPISODE 5: "The World Turned Upside Down" 1778-1783
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suiPcydMBd8

EPISODE 6: "Are We to Be a Nation?" 1783-1788
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-PShTiGk9g

Note: should any of these episodes be removed or otherwise inaccessible, try this link to the Y.T. search results for the series:
https://www.youtube.com/results?lclk=long&filters=long&search_query=liberty!+the+american+revolution

Battle of Brooklyn, aka, Battle of Long Island

My first cousin Arron Mershon died in the battle of Brooklyn Heights August 27, 1776. He was one of few that made it to a known Grave. Most are still MIA as the place the British burred them has not been located.

The Battle of Long Island, also known as the Battle of Brooklyn and the Battle of Brooklyn Heights, fought on August 27, 1776, was the first major battle of the American Revolutionary War to take place after the United States declared its independence on July 4, 1776. It was a victory for the British Army and the beginning of a successful campaign that gave them control of the strategically important city of New York. In terms of troop deployment and fighting, it was the largest battle of the entire war.

After defeating the British in the Siege of Boston on March 17, 1776, General George Washington, commander-in-chief, brought the Continental Army to defend the port city of New York, then limited to the southern end of Manhattan Island. Washington understood that the city’s harbor would provide an excellent base for the British Navy during the campaign. There he established defenses 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 from Manhattan on the sparsely-populated Staten Island, where, during the next month and a half, they were slowly reinforced by ships in Lower New York Bay, bringing their total force to 32,000 troops. With the British fleet in control of the entrance to the harbor at the Narrows, Washington knew the difficulty in holding the city. Believing Manhattan would be the first target, he moved there the bulk of his forces.

On August 22 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 from the established East River crossings to Manhattan. After five days of waiting, the British attacked American defenses on the Guan Heights. Unknown 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 captures, although a stand by 400 Maryland troops prevented a larger portion of the army from being lost. 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. Washington and the Continental Army were driven out of New York entirely after several more defeats, and forced to retreat through New Jersey and into Pennsylvania.

Contents

1 Background
1.1 Boston to New York
1.2 Strategy
1.3 Opposing forces
1.4 British arrival
1.5 Invasion of Long Island

2 Battle
2.1 Night march
2.2 Grant’s diversionary attack
2.3 Battle Pass
2.4 Vechte-Cortelyou House
2.4.1 Maryland 400
2.5 Disengagement

3 Aftermath
3.1 Retreat to Manhattan
3.2 Conclusion of the campaign
3.3 Casualties

4 Legacy
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Long_Island

Perhaps an American army’s worst day ever. Korea comes to mind also. Not counting the Union Army ops in Virginia.

I think I read somewhere a few years ago that some of the Patriots lie buried beneath an automobile repair shop in Brooklyn.

It was actually an almost suicide attack that saved the American Army.

although a stand by 400 Maryland troops prevented a larger portion of the army from being lost

Yet, Washington allowed himself to get outflanked again at Brandywine.

The Old Stone House was the culminating site of what was the largest battle of the Revolutionary War.

On the morning of August 27th, 1776, the British were advancing toward the main American camp on Brooklyn Heights. Realizing the dire American position, the American General, William Alexander, Lord Stirling, led a regiment of 400 Maryland soldiers against 2,000 British forces commanded by General Charles Cornwallis at the Old Stone House. The Marylanders fell, regrouped, and attacked again, but eventually their losses became too great to continue and Stirling finally surrendered. Cornwallis later said that General Lord Stirling “fought like a wolf.”

On August 30, 1776, Maryland Major Mordecai Gist wrote, “The principal loss sustained in our battalion fell on Captains Veazey, Adams, Lucas, Ford, and Bowie’s companies. The killed, wounded, and missing amount to two hundred and fifty-nine.” Where those killed are buried is uncertain to this day.

The outcome of the Battle of Brooklyn was a victory for the British, who killed or captured 1,000 Americans and proceeded to occupy Brooklyn and Manhattan for seven years.

However, the British failed to capture Washington and his army, which withdrew across the East River to fight again and, eventually, win the war.

In 1783, the British finally surrendered, sailing from New York in defeat, and America embarked on its destiny as an independent nation.

http://theoldstonehouse.org/history/battle-of-brooklyn/

Vechte-Cortelyou House

At 09:00, Washington arrived from Manhattan.[67] Washington realized that he had been wrong about a feint on Long Island and he ordered more troops to Brooklyn from Manhattan.[67] Washington’s location on the battlefield is not known, because accounts differ, but most likely he was at Brooklyn Heights, where he could view the battle.[68]

On the American right, to the west, Stirling still held the line against Grant.[68] Stirling held on for four hours, still unaware of the British flanking maneuver, and some of his own troops thought they were winning the day because the British had been unable to take their position. However, by 11:00, Grant, reinforced by 2,000 marines, hit Stirling’s center and Stirling was attacked on his left by the Hessians.[65][68] Stirling pulled back but British troops were, at this point, coming at him in his rear south down the Gowanus Road. The only escape route left was across a Brouwer’s millpond on the Gowanus Creek which was 80 yards wide, on the other side of Brooklyn Heights.[69]

Maryland 400

Stirling ordered all of his troops, except a contingent of Maryland troops under the command of Gist, to cross the creek. This group of Maryland troops became known to history as the “Maryland 400”, although they numbered about 260–270 men. Stirling and Gist led the troops in a rear-guard action against the overwhelming numbers of British troops which surpassed 2,000 supported by two cannons.[69]

Stirling and Gist led the Marylanders in two attacks against the British who were in fixed positions in and in front of the Vechte-Cortelyou House (known today as the Old Stone House). After the last assault, the remaining troops retreated across the Gowanus Creek. Some of the men who tried to cross the marsh were bogged down in the mud and under musket fire and others who could not swim were captured.

Stirling was surrounded and, unwilling to surrender, broke through the British lines to von Heister’s Hessians and surrendered to them. Two hundred fifty six Maryland troops were killed in the assaults in front of the Old Stone House, and fewer than a dozen made it back to the American lines.[70] Washington, watching from a redoubt on nearby Cobble Hill (intersection of today’s Court Street and Atlantic Avenue), reportedly said, “Good God, what brave fellows I must this day lose.”[69][note 1]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Long_Island#Vechte-Cortelyou_House

Howe landed an enormous army--between 25,000 and 30,000 men--on Long Island at Gravesend just south of today's Verrazano Bridge. The plan was to quash the rebellion by taking New York and control of the Hudson River. The subsequent battle was an American defeat but Washington pulled off a miraculous retreat that kept the Continental Army together.

Washington's "Retreat Across the Jerseys" led to subsequent American victories at Trenton and Princeton.

I think I read somewhere a few years ago that some of the Patriots lie buried beneath an automobile repair shop in Brooklyn.

I saw a 60 minutes report or something about a tennis court or something. It seems if they knew where they were that they would be exhumed and moved to Arlington or some special place.