"As a matter of fact, there was a famous switch among a patriot militia group in Staten Island that turned Loyalist when the Brit fleet landed!"
And it was on Staten Island, Tory stronghold, that Admiral Lord Howe asked for a meeting with rebel emissaries in a last-minute effort to bring the colonies back into the fold and avoid war. This meeting was to be held at the manor house of Colonel Christopher Billopp, on the South Shore of Staten Island in an area now known as Tottenville.
Fearing a trick, but nonetheless intrigued, the invitation was accepted, and the rebel delegation consisted of 70-year-old Benjamin Franklin, New Englander John Adams and southerner Edmund Rutledge. Understand that all three men were considered to be traitors to the British Crown and could have been hanged on the spot.
In fact, during the course of the meeting, Howe guaranteed to Franklin that pardons could be arranged as part of any deal. Interestingly, he made the guarantee only to Franklin - the other two would have most assuredly been put to death.
Needless to say, the meeting ended with no compromise and no resolution, and the rest is, as we say, history. The Billopp manor is now known as the Conference House, on the grounds of Conference House Park.
By the way. The date of that famous meeting?
September 11th, 1776.
Indeed--thanks for adding this part of the Staten Island/RevWar story. I will someday visit that house--it's been on my list for a while.