Greenwood Cemetery’s Battle Hill
Battle Hill, located within Greenwood Cemetery, is the highest natural point in Brooklyn at 220 feet above sea level. Visitors entering Greenwood through the main entrance at 25th Street and 5th Avenue can follow markers to the hill. At the top, beside the Altar of Liberty, stands a statue of the goddess Minerva arm stretched in salute towards the Statue of Liberty standing in New York Harbor. A plaque memorializes the 300 American soldiers from Colonel Huntington's 17th Continental (Connecticut) Regiment who fought to keep the hill from falling to the British during the Battle of Brooklyn, the first and largest battle of the American Revolutionary War.
In early 1776, General George Washington moved his army from Boston to New York, correctly predicting that British forces would attempt to capture the city. Fortifications and redoubts, including Fort Putnam near present day Fort Greene Park, were built along key roads and hilltop passes to slow the British advance. Washington's headquarters was located at Brooklyn Heights.
The British landed in Staten Island in June. On August 22, only a few weeks after the Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4th, the British landed their forces in the Gravesend Bay area and camped at Flatbush.
American intelligence reports of the British numbers were inaccurate. The British were 27,000 strong - the largest force the empire ever assembled and the largest naval landing in history until D-Day during World War Two. The Continental Army numbered only 10,000.
The British launched a three pronged attack. General Grant headed west along the East River and launched a diversionary attack near Greenwood Cemetery. A second diversionary force of Hessian soldiers travelled to Flatbush Pass in Prospect Park. With the main force of the British army, Generals Clinton, Cornwallis, Howe, and Percy launched the primary attack. From their camp at Flatbush, this force marched east towards Jamaica Pass, near today's Broadway Junction, and then marched west and flanked the Americans.
On the morning of August 27, the battle began when patriot soldiers encountered the enemy in a watermelon patch at the Red Lion Inn, near today's Greenwood Cemetery. Continental Army under the command of General Stirling formed a line and met General Grant's forces.
Once fighting broke out, General Stirling spotted a tall hill to the east and sent a detachment of 300 men to capture it. The British had already taken the hill and attacked the Americans. The small American force captured the hilltop and repelled two British attacks before they were ultimately outnumbered. Many Americans were captured or killed but the small detachment inflicted heavy British casualties. Today, this hill is named Battle Hill, located within Greenwood Cemetery.
In the second diversionary attack, Hessian soldiers travelled northwest on today's East Drive in Prospect Park and captured Flatbush Pass, now known as Battle Pass. A monument marks the spot near the old Dongan Oak tree, which was felled to stop the British advance. Further up the hill, a plaque in a large boulder marks the site of the American defensive line.
Unknown to the Americans, the third and primary British force, some 16,000, performed a flanking maneuver and approached from the east. After marching from Flatbush to Jamaica Pass, the British then moved west towards the American defenses. This force marched around the second highest point in Brooklyn at today's Mount Prospect Park and took control of the Vecht house (or Old Stone House), near the Gowanus Creek. 400 Maryland soldiers tried to hold the house and launched an attack on the British which allowed time for American soldiers to fall back. Here, General Stirling surrendered. On 3rd Avenue between 7th and 9th Streets, is the burial site of the 250 Maryland troops who died trying to hold the house.
Fighting was over by mid-day on August 27th. The Continental Army, surrounded and outnumbered, fell back to Brooklyn Heights. 2,000 Americans were killed, wounded or captured, while the British had 388 casualties. General Howe chose to rest his army on August 28th rather than advance on Washington's Brooklyn Heights headquarters.
On the night of August 29th, General Washington quietly began the evacuation of his forces to Manhattan. Due to an unfavorable wind, British warships were unable to sail up the East River, allowing Washington to escape. When the British marched into Washington's camp on the morning of August 30th, they found it was abandoned. The battle for New York would continue over the next few months, with the British winning control of the city until the end of the war. The British evacuated the city on November 25, 1783.
Today, Brooklyners can visit remaining battle sites and imagine soldiers marching on the hills and meadows of colonial Brooklyn amid the sounds of musket and cannon fire. Battle Hill in Greenwood Cemetery, relatively unchanged, stands at the highest point in Brooklyn - a reminder of the strategic importance it played during the American Revolution and the valiant efforts of the patriots who fought for America's independence.
Until next time,
KW
Resources
https://theoldstonehouse.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/walking-guide.pdf
https://www.green-wood.com/2013/commemorating-the-battle-of-brooklyn/
https://www.green-wood.com/about-history/
https://www.battlefields.org/learn/revolutionary-war/battles/brooklyn
https://bklyner.com/explore-the-battle-of-brooklyn-with-the-old-stone-house-southslope/
https://www.nypl.org/blog/2009/05/22/battle-brooklyn-1776
https://www.britannica.com/event/American-Revolution/Washington-takes-command#ref330049
Maps
Map of Battle of Long Island, Library of Congress