Battle of Long Island Anthony D. Torres COM/150 June 2d, 2012 Vince Colvin As the precursor to American Independence, the Battle of Long Island during the Revolutionary War was the first and largest battle fought by a newly declared nation. Although the battle was a defeat to the American forces, it further fuelled the Americans resolve to continue fighting against the British. Archived images from this era depict General George Washington, his troops and equipment all crossing the Delaware River on boats. Another crossing, just as memorable is often overlooked. Our discussion will cover the events that led to the East River crossing in New York as either a retreat or a pretext to an attack.
Gen. Benedict Arnold succeeded in stalling Carleton's invasion, but had to withdraw to Fort Ticonderoga. Meanwhile, the fervor of 1775 faded as General Washington tried to transform the Continentals into a regular army capable of holding New York against Howe. He had less than 20,000 troops on Long Island, Manhattan, and the lower Hudson on 25 June 1776 when Howe landed at Staten Island. Howe tried first to negotiate, but found that Congress's representatives,
"The rebels have done more in one night than my whole army could do in months." knowing that Washington's troops had placed their artillery on Dorchester Heights so they could command Boston, threaten the British Army, and make Boston Harbor unsafe for any British ship. First General Howe planned to attack back on Dorchester Heights. In the end, he decided just to leave Boston and move his troops to New York. And here it was the American first
They ran as fast as they could, hence the humorous reference to “The Races.” Most simply ran back toward Washington, including Lieutenant Key. In the Bladensburg Races, Francis Scott Key was a sprinter. Seeking to redeem his battlefield failure, Key negotiated with British forces that had arrested a family friend. In his effort to secure his friend’s release, he managed to join him aboard a British ship as the fleet bombarded Fort McHenry in Baltimore harbor. On September 14, 1814, the British proved their prowess in the spectacular and useless display of military power by pummeling the fort with
At the age of just nineteen Hamilton became captain of an artillery company that saw battles in New York, Long Island, Trenton, Princeton, and White Plains. After the success of these battles, Hamilton became Washington’s personal military aid. In 1781, Hamilton, who was tired of not seeing battle, resigned as aide to Washington. That same year Hamilton again led a battalion at the battle of Yorktown, and with help from other battalions took over British
George Washington enjoyed less than three years of retirement at Mount Vernon, for he died of a throat infection December 14, 1799. Now, in America, George Washington still have a big impact on America today, he became a president to a new country that was not very stabilized. His ideas on not being part of a political party helped our country avoid feud. His belief and devotion towards republicanism made him a great leader and made America into a strong independent nation. Washington also helped create the first bank, which he singed the bill for once it was passed through Congress.
And it was one small battle that may have turned around the whole war. One way that it tuned the war in favor of the patriots was the very thought of a huge victory to raise the hopes of the patriots and to increase their performance on battles. That was the whole point of the battle in George Washington's eyes anyway. After so many lost battles he knew that to raise the spirits of the troops enough to win the war, they would need one huge victory. And Saratoga was just that.
This was the first engagement of the French in this war. Later Washington was defeated by the French and Fort Duquesne was taken again by the French. In the 1755 war was escalating and Major General Edward Braddock was sent to America as Commander-in-Chief of the British Forces. Braddock had plans to capture Fort Duquesne and leading his troops to Virginia. Braddock made contact with the French just 10 miles of Fort Duquesne, where they were defeated by the French.
|started as an ad-hoc body, that the colonists had no history of working together toward a| | | |common goal, it was clumsy and inefficient. | | |While the battle was a victory for the British, since they were able to capture |The Battle of Bunker Hill is arguably the most important battle fought between the | |Bunker Hill |Breed’s Hill, the losses suffered dealt a devastating blow to the redcoats. Of |British and the newly formed American militia not because it was a victory in fact, but
(Fischer p.426) General Washington planned a brilliant attack and this huge victory was a large turning point in the war. More men re-enlisted into the army and the overall morale was increased significantly. The crossing is depicted with Washington standing on the boat and his man seated, Fischer argues that because the crossing took place in a storm, anyone who sat down in the boats would have been sitting in ice water and thus they would have stood (p. 216) With the army separated due to retreats from New York, General George Washington had to strategically plan his next attack. Knowing his men were only enlisted until the 31st of December he knew he had little time to attack. With the morale so low there were men leaving early and the troops numbers were dwindling.