"The Battle of Brooklyn began just before midnight on August 26th, 1776. With a total of 50,000 soldiers, the Battle of Brooklyn (also known as the Battle of Long Island) was the first major battle during the Revolutionary War, and the largest until Yorktown in 1781, when the British surrendered. During this first battle of the war, the Americans, underprepared and outnumbered, suffered significant casualties, losing around 1,000 out of a total force of 18,000."
"Battle Hill in The Green-Wood Cemetery is one of the key sites where the Battle of Brooklyn took place. As Jeff Richman, historian for The Green-Wood Cemetery, writes, "For too long, the battle received short shrift from historians, who were uninterested in writing about what was an American defeat." But in 1920, one man sought to rectify that."
The Battle of Brooklyn began on August 26, 1776, and was the Revolutionary War's first major engagement and the largest until Yorktown in 1781. British forces totaled about 50,000 while American forces numbered roughly 18,000. American troops suffered approximately 1,000 casualties. The Maryland 400 made a crucial sacrificial stand near the Old Stone House to enable George Washington's retreat. A nor'easter delayed British ships and helped prevent a complete American rout. Several physical sites in Brooklyn remain, including Battle Hill at Green-Wood Cemetery, where a bronze statue of Minerva was later installed.
Read at Untapped New York
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