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.