Battle of Long Island

From Freepedia

Battle of Long Island
Image:Battle-of-Long-Island-Map-sml.jpg
Conflict: American Revolutionary War
Date: August 27, 1776
Place: Long Island, Brooklyn, New York
Outcome: British victory
Combatants
United States	Britain
Commanders
Lieutenant General George Washington, Major General Israel Putnam	Lieutenant General Sir William Howe, Major Generals Charles Cornwallis, Henry Clinton
Strength
11,000-13,000 (about 10,000 of which were militia )	22,000 (including 9,000 Hessian mercenaries)
Casualties
312 dead, 1407 wounded, captured or missing	377 total (63 dead, 314 wounded or missing)

Image:Battle-Pass-1792.jpg

The Battle of Long Island, also known as the Battle of Brooklyn, took place on August 27, 1776. On August 22, 1776, Admiral The Earl Howe, in supreme command of British forces in New York, ordered his troops to move against the Continental Army at dawn. The American outpost under 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 Generals The Viscount Cornwallis and Sir Henry Clinton, the British mustered a force of 4,000 men. The British commenced their landing in Gravesend Bay, where, after strengthening his forces for over seven weeks on Staten Island, Admiral Lord 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. Howe boldly turned Putnam's left flank, forcing the Americans to withdraw to Brooklyn Heights with heavy losses.

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, mostly New York militia reinforced from surrounding Connecticut, Delaware and Maryland. 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.

Out of 22,000 British and Germans (including 9,000 conscripted Hessians) on Long Island, they sustained 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, out of the Hessian forces under the Count von Dolop.

During the night of August 30, 1776, the Americans evacuated Long Island and crossed to Manhattan. Washington ordered 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, Hale was caught and hanged.

On September 15, 1776, the British crossed to Manhattan, landing at Kip's Bay and routed American forces there as well, with a skirmish the following day, that American historians call the "Battle of Harlem Heights". With Washington retreating to New Jersey, henceforth the British would occupy New York and the surrounding area until 1784, when they left as per the provisions of the Treaty of Paris (1783).