Battle of Long Island facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Battle of Long Island |
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| Part of the American Revolutionary War | |||||||
 The Delaware Regiment at the Battle of Long Island. |
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 United States |
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
 George Washington Israel Putnam William Alexander Thomas Mifflin Henry Knox John Sullivan |
 William Howe, Charles Cornwallis, Henry Clinton William Erskine James Grant Charles Mawhood |
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| Strength | |||||||
| 10,000 | 32,000 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 300 killed ~700 wounded 1,000 captured |
64 killed 293 wounded 31 missing according to Lord Howe report 21 {1 officer and 20 Grenadiers of the Marines} were captured |
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The Battle of Long Island was a major battle in the American war of independence. The battle which was fought on August 27, 1776, was a major victory for the British and defeat for the Americans under General George Washington. It was the start of a successful British campaign that gave the British control of the strategically important city of New York. In the American Revolutionary War it was the first major battle to take place after the United States declared independence in July, 1776. In terms of soldiers, it was the largest battle of the entire conflict.
General George Washington, Commander-in-Chief had defeated the British in the Siege of Boston on March 17, 1776. Washington then used the Continental Army to defend the port city of New York. At that time, New York City was only at 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. For this reason, he established defenses there and waited for the British to attack.
The British were commanded by General William Howe. In July his force landed a few miles across the harbor on sparsely-populated Staten Island. Over the next few months, new ships slowly reinforced their position in Lower New York Harbor. In August there were 32,000 soldiers, and the British controlled the entrance of the harbor at The Narrows. Washington knew that it would be difficult to hold the city against such a force. He believed Manhattan would be the first target and he moved most of his forces there.
Contents
Before the Battle
On August 22, the British landed on the shores of Gravesend Bay in southwest Kings County, across The Narrows from Staten Island, more than 12 miles (20 km) south from the East River crossings to Manhattan. Washington brought some of his troops to northern Kings County, expecting to fight only part of the attacking army.
Battle
After five days of waiting, the British attacked American defenses. Unknown to the Americans, however, Howe had brought his main army around their rear and attacked their flank soon after. The Americans panicked, although a stand by 400 Maryland troops prevented most of the army from being captured. The remainder of the army fled to the main defenses on Brooklyn Heights.
Retreat to Manhattan
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 materiel or a single life. Washington and the Continental Army were driven out of New York entirely after the battle of Fort Washington and other defeats, and forced to retreat through New Jersey and into Pennsylvania. All 9,000 troops had been evacuated with no loss of life.
Aftermath
The British were stunned to find that Washington and the army had escaped. Later in the day, August 30, the British troops occupied the American fortifications. When news of the battle reached London, it caused many festivities to take place. Bells were rung across the city, candles were lit in windows and King George III gave Howe the Order of the Bath.
Washington's defeat revealed his deficiencies as a strategist who split his forces however, his daring nighttime retreat has been seen by some historians as one of his greatest military feats.
Casualties
If the Royal Navy is included, over 40,000 men took part in the battle. Howe reported his losses as 59 killed, 268 wounded and 31 missing. The Hessian casualties were 5 killed and 26 wounded. The Americans suffered much heavier losses. About 300 had been killed and over 1,000 captured. As few as half of the prisoners survived. Kept on prison ships in Wallabout Bay, then transferred to locations such as the Middle Dutch Church, they were starved and denied medical attention. In their weakened condition, many succumbed to smallpox.
Historians believe that as many as 256 soldiers of the First Maryland Regiment under Colonel William Smallwood fell in the battle, about two-thirds of the regiment. It is known that they were buried in a mass-grave, but the grave's exact location has been a mystery for 240 years.
Legacy
The most significant legacy of the Battle of Long Island was that it showed there would be no easy victory, and that the war would be long and bloody.
Commemorations of the battle include:
- The Altar to Liberty: Minerva monument: The battle is commemorated with a monument, which includes a bronze statue of Minerva near the top of Battle Hill, the highest point of Brooklyn, in Green-Wood Cemetery. The statue was sculpted by Frederick Ruckstull and unveiled in 1920. The statue stands in the northwest corner of the cemetery and gazes directly at the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor. In 2006, the Minerva statue was invoked in a successful defense to prevent a building from blocking the line of sight from the cemetery to the Statue of Liberty in the harbor. The annual Battle of Long Island commemoration begins inside the main Gothic arch entrance to Green-Wood Cemetery and marches up Battle Hill to ceremonies at the monument.
- The Prison Ship Martyrs' Monument: A freestanding Doric column in Fort Greene memorializing all those who died while kept prisoner on the British ships just off the shore of Brooklyn, in Wallabout Bay.
- Soldiers' Monument – Milford, Connecticut. Memorializes the 200 seriously ill prisoners of the Battle of Long Island who were dumped on the beach at Milford the night of January 3, 1777.
- The Old Stone House: A re-constructed farmhouse (c.1699) that was at the center of the Marylanders' delaying actions serves as a museum of the battle. It is located in J.J. Byrne Park, at Third Street and Fifth Avenue, Brooklyn, and features models and maps.
- Prospect Park, Brooklyn, Battle Pass: along the eastern side of Center Drive is a large granite boulder with a brass plaque affixed, and another marker lies near the road for the Dongan Oak, a very large and old tree felled to block the pass from the British advance. In addition, in the park resides the Line of Defense marker erected by the Sons of the American Revolution and, near the eastern edge of Long Meadow, the Maryland Monument & Maryland Memorial corinthian column.
There are only thirty currently existing units in the U.S. Army with lineages that go back to the colonial and revolutionary eras. Five Army National Guard units (101st Eng Bn, 125th MP Co, 175th Inf, 181st Inf and 198th Sig Bn) and one Regular Army Field Artillery battalion (1–5th FA) are derived from American units that participated in the Battle of Long Island.
Interesting facts about the Battle of Long Island
- The British were trying to seize control of New York so they had control of the Hudson River.
- At the time, it was by far the largest battle ever fought in North America.
- 8,000 Hessians (German soldiers) arrived to help the British.
- The battle is also known as the Battle of Brooklyn or the Battle of Brooklyn Heights
Images for kids
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American strategy called for the first line of defense to be based on the Heights of Guan, a collection of hills which stretched northeast across King's County. The main defensive works were a series of forts and entrenchments located in the northwest of the county, in and around the town of Brooklyn. The "Road to Narrows" is the Gowanus Road. No. 5 is the "Old Stone House". Map by Bernard Ratzer based on his 1766–1767 survey.
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British troops in the type of flat-bottomed boat used for the invasion of Long Island. Hessians in their blue uniforms are in the two boats that are only partly visible.
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Denyse's Ferry, the first place at which the Hessians and British landed on Long Island August 22, 1776 by A. Brown. This high point overlooking the Narrows was an American artillery position and was bombarded by the British before the invasion, but the actual landing took place farther east at Gravesend Bay (around to the left from the perspective of this illustration) where the conditions were more favorable for the small British boats carrying the troops.
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British military map from 1776 showing the marching routes and engagement sites during the Battle of Long Island
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Howard's Tavern as it appeared in 1776; it was demolished sometime after 1900. The tavern was located near the present-day intersection of Fulton Street and Jamaica Avenue.
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A view from Battle Hill – the highest point in King's County – looking west toward Upper New York Harbor and New Jersey beyond. Here on Lord Stirling's left flank about 300 Americans under Colonel Atlee and General Parsons repulsed successive attacks by the British after taking the hill, and inflicted the highest casualties against the British during the Battle of Long Island.
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Battle Pass – also known as "Flatbush Pass" – is located in modern-day Prospect Park. Here General Sullivan and his troops were outflanked by the British who attacked from the rear while the Hessians attacked up Battle Pass. (Lithograph c.1866)
