August to December 1776
New York falls, and the retreat across New Jersey
In July the Howe brothers assemble 32,000 troops on Staten Island, among them thousands of Hessians, carried by a fleet of more than 400 ships. On 27 August they outflank Washington on Long Island and drive him into the Brooklyn lines. Two nights later he ferries nine thousand men across the East River in fog without losing one. New York City is occupied on 15 September, and on the night of 20 to 21 September a fire destroys part of it.
The Battle of Long Island, 27 August 1776, painting by Alonzo Chappel, 1858Wikimedia Commons, Alonzo Chappel, Public domain (Battle of Long Island, 1858.jpg)
The British attack on Long Island, detail of a map published by John Bowles, 1776Wikimedia Commons, Bowles, John, Public domain (Battle of Long Island (crop).jpg)
The great fire of New York, September 1776, engraving by Franz Xaver HabermannWikimedia Commons, Franz Xaver Habermann, Public domain (NYC fire 1776.jpg)
Washington is pushed north to White Plains, then across the Hudson. Fort Washington falls on 16 November with its garrison of 2,800, and Fort Lee four days later. What is left of the army, fewer than five thousand men fit for duty, retreats across New Jersey and crosses the Delaware into Pennsylvania in early December, taking the boats along the river with it. Enlistments run out at the end of the year. New York and Long Island stay British until the end of the war.
The British attack on Fort Washington, 16 November 1776, watercolour by Thomas Davies, a Royal Artillery officerWikimedia Commons, Thomas Davies, Public domain (View of the Attack Against Fort Washington.jpeg)
Sources
- Robert Middlekauff, The Glorious Cause (2005).
- David McCullough, 1776 (2005).
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