CHAP. 1776. Battle of Brooklyn. 22nd of Aug. “instrumental in a reconciliation; and I believe, when you find that impossible on any terms given you to propose, you will relinquish so odious a command, "and return to a more honourable private station." 66 This artful compound of presumption, insolence, and hypocrisy, joined with other proceedings, demonstrated the impossibility of amicable arrangement, and should have indicated the necessity of strenuous, and speedy, and effective exertion. Delay had been carried to its utmost limits, the season for action was already advanced to a late period, and General Washington had received large augmentations of force. The troops under General Clinton having joined the main army, a disembarkation was effected between Utrecht and Gravesend, on Long Island, which was selected as the first object of attack, preparatory to the reduction of New York. The advanced party of the enemy fled with precipitation on the approach of the royal troops, and hastened to gain the woody heights which commanded the line of progress, burning in their retreat the houses and granaries. Fifteen thousand provincials were encamped near Mill Creek, enclosed by a line of intrenchment, strongly secured by abbatis, flanked by redoubts, and lined with pikes. Another party lay at Brooklyn, on the east river opposite New York, where they had constructed strong works. General Putnam was detached from Mill Creek with ten thousand men, to occupy the heights which obliquely intersected the island and defend the defiles which led through the hills. In a plain, opposite the centre of Putnam's line, stood the village of Flat Bush, to which the Hessians under General De Heister were advanced, occupying the attention of the enemy, and frequently skirmishing with the patroles. General Clinton and Sir William Erskine having 26th of Aug. reconnoitered, General Howe, in pursuance of their advice, formed dispositions for turning the left flank of the enemy. The right wing of the English army, commanded by General Clinton, supported by brigades under Lord Percy, and by the reserve under Lord Corn CHAP. XXIX. 1776. wallis, quitted the camp in the night, crossing the country by Flat-lands, to secure a pass over the heights 1 of Guiana on the road to Bedford. General Howe : accompanied this expedition, and had the pleasure of witnessing its complete success. The pass in question, :though of the utmost importance, was distant, and the : enemy had neglected to secure it, relying for intelligence of an attack on patroles of cavalry; one of these was fortunately intercepted; an alarm being thus prevented, the British passed the heights unimpeded, and reached Bedford at nine o'clock in the morning. With- 27th of Aug. out loss of time, they assailed the left of the Americans, who were thrown back on their right, and, after a feeble resistance, retired over Mill Creek, but in such irreparable confusion that few only got into the line. The firing on the left of the enemy served as a signal to De Heister, who with a column of Hessians attacked their centre near Flat Bush, and after a warm engagement drove them into the woods. The left column, under the command of General Grant, proceeded at midnight from the Narrows, by the edge of the bay; and in order to divert the attention of the enemy from the other principal points of attack, engaged their advanced guard. The Americans fought with firmness, and did not make a retrograde movement until they received intelligence of the entire route of the other divisions of their army. They then attempted to secure a retreat, which some of them effected, with difficulty and in disorder, over a milldam and through a morass. The victory was complete, though not decisive: two thousand of the enemy were killed in the field or drowned, and near eleven hundred taken prisoners, among whom were Generals Sullivan, Udell, and Lord Stirling. The Maryland regiment suffered most severely, as upward of two hundred and sixty men of the best families in the province were cut to pieces. Our loss was between sixty and seventy killed, and to hundred and thirty wounded. The ardour and conduct of the troops were highly extolled; both English and foreigners displaying a zeal evidently stimulated by emulation. CHAP. 1776. 28th of Aug. Retreat of the Ameri cans to New York. 29th. In the impetuosity of their courage they were with difficulty restrained from attacking the American lines; and, considering the difference between perfect discipline and total inexperience, the flush of success and the langour of defeat, would in all probability have succeeded; they were, however, restrained by General Howe, who, considering it certain that he should obtain easy possession by regular approaches, would not risque the loss of blood in an assault, but ordered his forces to retire out of the reach of musketry. In the evening of the same day the British army encamped in front of the American lines, and, on the ensuing morning, broke ground about six hundred yards from one of the redoubts on the left. General Washington exerted himself with incredible assiduity in repairing or palliating the effects of the late disas ter; he afforded every facility in his power for those who had been missing at the close of the engagement to return, and many found their way from the woods to head-quarters. During forty-eight hours, in sultry wea ther, he was almost constantly on horseback, and never slept*. His situation was, however, in every respect, untenable; his army was the last resource of America, and the event of a second engagement, or of success in an attempt to force the lines, must have occasioned its total annihilation. He could not venture to weaken the garrison of New York by sending supplies, and feared, if the wind should change, that ships of war would sail up the East river, and preclude every hope of a retreat, which was now his only refuge. Even this was an enterprize of the utmost hazard and difficulty: it was to be performed close to an enemy, provided with every means of annoyance, and elated with victory, while his own troops were dispirited, and almost despondent. He conducted this retreat with great judgment and skill, and was favoured by the Washington's Letters, v. i. p. 242. See also General Howe's account, in the papers presented to Parliament; Parliamentary Register, vol. xi. p. 340. The events are detailed in Sparks's Life of Washington, vol. i. p. 189. Memoirs of General Greene, vol. i. p. 55. extreme darkness of the night. In thirteen hours CHAP. XXIX. 1776. One of the first measures taken by Lord Howe after Renewed the victory of Brooklyn, was to dispatch his prisoner, negotiation. General Sullivan, to Congress, for the purpose of inviting some members of that body to meet him, not as deputies from an independent state, but as private gentlemen, to facilitate pacification; and he stated, as an inducement, that so favourable an opportunity • In these transactions the conduct of both parties has been blamed with considerable severity, and perhaps not without justice. The American commanders are censured for having suffered themselves to be completely surrounded by the British force at the battle of Brooklyn, a misconduct which exposed them to certain loss and imminent hazard. It is alleged, on their behalf, that they were not apprized of the number of troops landed on Long Island; and an insinuation of treachery is advanced against those whose duty it was to secure the passes. After the battle, their conduct was a masterly specimen of prudence and presence of mind. The British commanders are charged with many glaring instances of misconduct. The attack was planned with consummate judgment, and executed with equal promptitude and valour; but in no respect were the means of success pushed to their utmost possible results. After the right had defeated the left of the Americans, and they were retreating in confusion, General Howe might have followed his advantage, forced the enemy's works, and secured a decisive victory. He is severely blamed for checking the ardour of his troops when eager for pursuit, and for not taking possession of Brooklyn ferry, which would have rendered the escape of the Americans almost impossible. He had, it is alleged, early intelligence of the retreat of the enemy, but neglected to direct a pursuit till too late to be effectual. Thus the results of a victory which redounded to the honour of the British arms, were reduced to the unimportant possession of Long Island. Yet, for all these apparent errors of conduct, it is said General Howe had good reasons, both military and political. He gave his own military reason for forbidding the forcing of the lines, and his political conduct was guided by the consideration of his duty as a commissioner sent to treat for peace, and whose overtures would be most favourably viewed in the moment of success, especially if no prejudice was excited by the exertion of extreme violence or unnecessary rigour. CHAP. 1776. would not again occur, as neither party was reduced to a state of abject humiliation, nor to a situation that presented assent or ruin as the sole alternative. If Congress were disposed to treat, he observed, many things which had not yet been asked might and ought to be granted; and if a conference afforded a probable ground of accommodation, their authority must afterward be acknowledged, to complete the compact. 66 66 The uncertainty and numerous disadvantages attending the actual situation of affairs, were strongly felt by Congress. The people were clamorous for a knowledge of the terms on which, without too great sacrifices, they might obtain present ease, and avert the dismal scenes of which they had a disheartening prospect; and the army, reduced by defeat and desertion to less than twenty thousand, was in a state of want and insubordination. General Washington, in one of his letters, dated Long Island, 2nd September, 1776, gives a striking and interesting picture of the consequences of the battle of Brooklyn. "Our si"tuation," he says, "is truly distressing. The check our detachment sustained, on the 27th ultimo, has dispirited too great a proportion of our troops, and "filled their minds with apprehension and despair. "The militia, instead of calling forth their utmost "efforts to a brave and manly opposition, in order to "repair our losses, are dismayed, intractable, and impatient to return. Great numbers of them have gone "off, in some instances almost by whole regiments, by "half ones, and by companies, at a time. This circum"stance of itself, independent of others, when fronted "by a well-appointed enemy, superior in number to our "whole collected force, would be sufficiently disagree"able but when their example has infected another "part of the army, when their want of discipline, and "refusal of almost every kind of restraint and govern"ment, have produced a like conduct but too common "to the whole, and an entire disregard of that order "and subordination necessary to the well-doing of an 66 * Examination of Joseph Galloway, p. 9, note. |