Battle of Long Island

The Battle of Long Island also known as the Battle of Brooklyn took place on August 27, 1776. The American outpost of Colonel Edward Hand sent word that the British were preparing to cross to Long Island from Staten Island on August 22, at dawn when General William Howe had ordered his troops to move against the Continental Army. Under General Charles Cornwallis and Sir Henry Clinton, the British had a force of 4,000 men. The British boats started landing in Gravesend Bay with more than 5,000 men. After strengthening his forces for over seven weeks on Staten Island, General Howe moved 88 frigates under a bridge to Gravesend Bay. General Clinton, Major General Cornwallis, and Count von Donop landed a total of 15,000 men in Brooklyn. There were a total of approximately 32,000 troops serving under the British flag in the area.

No one knows the exact number of Americans soldiers who fought in the Battle of Long Island, but estimates are that there were at least 10,000. It is also estimated that 1,407 Americans were wounded, captured, or missing, and 312 were killed. A British report says that there were 89 American officers imprisoned, and 1,097 other Americans were kept as prisoners.

There were 22,000 British and Germans (including 9,000 Hessian mercenaries) on Long Island, and they had a total loss of 377. Five British officers, and 56 men were killed, while 13 officers, and 275 men were wounded or missing. Two Germans were killed, and three officers and 23 men were wounded.

On August 30, 1776, the Americans evacuated Long Island and crossed to Manhattan. General George Washington was the general in charge. Washington told a young patriot named Nathan Hale to go undercover as a Dutch schoolteacher to gather intelligence about the British, a mission that Hale was able to complete successfully. After doing so, however, Nathan was caught and hanged. The British, under Sir William Howe, laid siege and Washington, seeing the position was hopeless, evacuated his army to Manhattan.

According to both possession of the disputed territory and casualties, the British won this battle. The British occupied Long Island until 1784.

References

• John Gallagher; "The Battle of Brooklyn 1776"; 1995; 2002 Castle Press edition, ISBN 0785816631.