News

Dec

The Battle of Brooklyn: The Historical Battlefield Just Under Our Feet

written by Warren Lewis Team

Walk up the East Drive and across the Long Meadow in Prospect Park, down First Street, stand at Third Street and Fifth Avenue in Park Slope, then cross the Union Street Bridge over the Gowanus Canal and stand at the Fulton Ferry Landing. You’ve just walked in the footsteps of George Washington’s Continental Army.

The Battle of Brooklyn (sometimes called the Battle of Long Island) occurred on August 27, 1776, less than two months after the Declaration of Independence. The Battle’s two major confrontations between the Continental Army and the British took place at Flatbush Pass (now called Battle Pass) and at the Vechte-Cortelyou House, now known as the Old Stone House, at Fifth Avenue and Third Street in Park Slope.

At Battle Pass in Prospect Park, the Continental Army of around 1,300 men blocked 5,000 Scottish and Hessian attackers by chopping down a large oak tree – The Dongen Oak—, temporarily holding their line at the Pass.

Since the Continental Army was greatly outnumbered and had never fought a battle against organized and seasoned troops, they retreated at mid-day over what is now the Long Meadow and down First Street. They eventually got to the Old Stone House, but the British had sent about 10,000 troops in a flanking maneuver from the Jamaica Pass/Atlantic Avenue area, and hoped to trap the American troops at the Old Stone House.

Three British pincer movements began to close in on the Old Stone House – one from Battle Pass, one from Atlantic Avenue, and one from Gravesend Bay, via what is now the Gowanus Expressway, paralleling the Brooklyn docks. With the Continental Army greatly outnumbered, the sacrificial bravery of 400 Maryland soldiers against 2,000 British troops led by Major-General Cornwallis enabled the Continental Army to regroup and retreat over the Gowanus marshes where the Union Street Bridge now stands.

Now in full retreat, the Continental Army made it to Brooklyn Heights, and under the cover of fog and darkness were ferried across the harbor from Fulton Ferry Landing into lower Manhattan. George Washington’s Continental Army was saved.

The British won the Battle of Brooklyn, but because of this successful retreat, the Continental Army was able to rally and eventually accept Cornwallis’ surrender at Yorktown in October 1781.

If we just look around us and use a bit of imagination when we walk, we can see the British troop ships landing unopposed from Staten Island, their forces attacking up Flatbush Avenue into Prospect Park, their flanking maneuvers from Gravesend Bay and Atlantic Avenue, the Continental Army’s retreat across the Long Meadow and down First Street, the bravery of the Marylanders at the Old Stone House, the retreat over the Gowanus marshes, the regrouping on Brooklyn Heights, and the evacuation to Manhattan under the cover of darkness.

Think of a movie montage, with the British troops and Continental Army blending in with cars, bikes and joggers on the East Drive; with picnickers and Frisbee-tossers on the Long Meadow; with Brownstone Brooklyn residents on First Street; and with shoppers and children holding ice cream cones on Fifth Avenue. Picture the boats filled with Continental Army soldiers rowing toward Manhattan in the shadow of the Brooklyn Bridge as traffic buzzes by overhead.

Go to Battle Pass and read the plaques and monuments on both sides of the East Drive. Visit the memorial to the Marylanders north of the Lake and south of the Nethermead in Prospect Park. Acknowledge the memorial to the Marquis de Lafayette at the Ninth Street entrance to the Park, and visit the Old Stone House.

Imagine what it was like, because this—this is living in Brooklyn.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pK0xj2cvi50&feature=related