| Battle Of Long Island |
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| 1776 in the united states | |
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| battles of the new york campaign | |
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The Battle of Long Island, also known as the '''Battle of Brooklyn''', took place on August 27 , 1776 , and was a British victory in the American Revolutionary War . On August 22 , 1776 , Colonel Edward Hand sent word to Lieutenant General George Washington that the British were preparing to cross to Long Island from Staten Island . Under the overall command of Lieutenant General Sir William Howe , and the operational command of Major General s Charles Cornwallis and Sir Henry Clinton , the British force numbered 4,000. The British commenced their landing in Gravesend Bay , where, after strengthening his forces for over seven weeks on Staten Island, Admiral Richard Howe , moved 88 Frigates . The British landed a total of 15,000 men in Brooklyn , out of a total of 32,000 men in the area. About half of Washington's army, under Major General Israel Putnam , was deployed to defend the Flatbush area of Long Island, the rest held Manhattan. In a night march suggested and led by Clinton, the British forces used the lightly defended Jamaica pass to turn Putnam's left flank. The following morning Howe and Clinton forced the Americans to withdraw, with heavy losses, to fortifications on Brooklyn Heights. No one knows the exact number of American soldiers who fought in the Battle of Long Island, but estimates are that there were at least 10,000, mostly New York Militia reinforced from Connecticut , Delaware and Maryland . Perhaps 1,407 Americans were wounded, captured, or missing, and 312 were killed. A British report claimed the capture of 89 American officers and 1,097 others. Among the captured was Col. Samuel Miles . Miles joined Captain Isaac Wayne's company during the French and Indian War with his compatriot and Wayne's son Anthony Wayne . Both Samuel and Anthony would serve George Washington faithfully for the remainder of the War as Brigadier General and General, respectively. Samuel Miles, however would remain in a British prison until 1778. He would later become the 81st Mayor Of Philadelphia in 1790. Out of 22,000 British and German s (including 9,000 Hessian s) on Long Island, they sustained a total loss of 377. Five British officers and 56 men were killed, 13 officers and 275 men wounded or missing. Of the Hessian forces under Carl Von Donop , two were killed, and three officers and 23 men wounded. During the night of August 30 , 1776 , the Americans evacuated Long Island for Manhattan . This evacuation of more than 9,000 troops in the dead of night required both stealth and luck. It was not completed by sunrise as scheduled, and had a heavy fog not beset Long Island in the morning, the army may have been trapped between the British and the East River. As it happened, though, it took the British by complete surprise for the second time (the first being Washington's daring nighttime move onto Dorchester Heights in Boston on March 4 , 1776 ). Even having lost the battle, Washington's skillful retreat earned him praise from both the Americans and the British. In the days after the battle, Nathan Hale , a captain in the Connecticut Rangers, volunteered to enter New York in civilian clothes. Posing as a Dutch schoolteacher, Hale successfully gathered intelligence but was captured before he could return to the rebel lines. Refusing all appeals, William Howe ordered Hale hanged. On September 15 , 1776 , after heavily bombarding green militia, the British crossed to Manhattan, Landing At Kip's Bay , and routed the Americans there as well. The following day the two armies fought the Battle Of Harlem Heights . After a further battle at White Plains, Washington retreated to New Jersey. The British occupied New York until 1784 , when they Evacuated the city as agreed in the Treaty Of Paris (1783) . ORDER OF BATTLE British Army
Continental Army
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