250 and Counting

Category: General Howe

  • Battle of Throgs Neck–October 12, 1776

    Cover art for October 12, 1776: Historical marker in Pelham Bay Park, photographer unknown (to me, anyway).

    The Battle of Throgs Neck, or Throg’s Point, or a number of other names, was part of a move intended to trap Washington’s forces through flanking them from the north while Washington concentrated on the troops already in front of him on Manhattan Island.

    Washington did anticipate that this might happen, and sent American troops that way, but part of the problem that he had was that there were so many possibilities, and he just couldn’t cover them all. So he took a little gamble in sending his numbers to different places and hoping it would be enough.

    In the case of Throgs Neck, it was 4000 British troops against 750 Americans, but they handled it in a clever way. They managed to contain the British advance by taking advantage of the local geography, forcing the British to retreat. But this only meant that they’d regroup and try again somewhere else. This led to the Battle of Pell’s Point, of which this battle is usually considered a part, or just a prelude.

    As Mike will explain to you in a few days, the Battle of Pell’s Point is technically a British victory, but it also had a separate function that breaks well for the American side.

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  • How Best To Invade New York?–October 8, 1776

    Cover art for October 8, 1776: detail of a period map of the Manor of Pelham and the surrounding area. Throg's Point/Pells Point is at the bottom center of the map.

    There are several names for the battle about to happen here, depending on how you view the geography; Battle of Throgs Neck, Battle of Throgs Point, Battle of Pells Point and believe it or not that isn’t even half of the total names given to this one conflict.

    After George Washington’s successful defense of Harlem Heights, which was a good place to be from a defensive standpoint, the Continental and British armies were basically in a stalemate for a few weeks.

    The Americans were under the impression that the British would either attack Fort Washington, or make a flanking move through the Long Island Sound. Washington’s Council of War finally tried to guard against both possibilities (because this worked out so well when the British invaded Long Island…ugh). Ten thousand men remained to defend Harlem Heights and Fort Washington, while General William Heath took five thousand troops to the far side of the Hudson, near Fort Constitution and modern-day West Point.

    Ultimately General Howe chose a flanking maneuver but came in at a point much further south than Fort Constitution. In just a few days we’ll see how the confrontation works out.

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  • Battle of Harlem Heights–September 16, 1776

    Cover art for September 16, 1776: "Battle of Harlem," steel engraving by James Charles Armytage ca. 1859, Based on an original illustration from the same period by Alonzo Chappel. via George Washington Presidential Library.

    While it didn’t change the result in New York, the Battle of Harlem Heights was a tactical win for the Continental Army, and a boost to morale as well.

    It was the Continental Army’s first true victory since Lexington and Concord, and after the demoralizing loss at Kip’s Bay only a day earlier, demonstrating that these soldiers (who were still little more than ordinary citizens) could, in fact, stand up successfully to the mightiest fighting force in the world.

    Harlem Heights is a neighborhood to the west of Harlem, and nowadays is called Morningside Heights. A cynic would suggest that the neighborhood changed names in the 1890s so that Columbia University wouldn’t have to be associated with a predominantly black neighborhood, but to be fair the neighborhood was also known as Cathedral Heights because of the presence of St. John the Divine Cathedral.

    At any rate, the neighborhood is definitely worth a visit. There are a few historical plaques around Columbia University, and if you like visiting cathedrals, St. John is definitely worth your while. Grant’s Tomb can also be found in that area, and if you’re a fan of the TV show Seinfeld, you will be thrilled by what you find at 112th St and Broadway. That’s all I’m sayin’.

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  • Suspicious Movements–September 13, 1776

    Cover art for September 13, 1776: The British Landing at Kip's Bay, Watercolor drawing by Robert Clevely, 1777.

    When Patriot forces saw four ships moving into Bushwick Creek, it was ominous but probably not a huge surprise, given that the British already held Brooklyn. They put up largely token fire from their own strongholds and that was pretty much that.

    Washington knew that Manhattan was next, but it wasn’t clear how the attack would come, or from where specifically, but he’d already begun the work of getting people and materials out of town, so it probably wasn’t much more than a distraction for him.

    In fact, it was a distraction and a diversion, as we’ll learn in a couple of days. Whether it was strictly necessary is another question.

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    A quick note on today’s artwork: Robert Clevely was a marine artist who was an eyewitness to the landing on Kip’s Bay. I figured it was worth mentioning because so many of the art pieces I wind up presenting here aren’t necessarily contemporary to their subjects. But this one is someone who was actually there.

  • A British Offer–September 2, 1776

    Cover art for September 2, 1776: portrait of John Sullivan at age 34 in 1774. Painted by Richard Morell Staig circa 1876, based on a mezzotint print from 1776.

    General John Sullivan had been captured only a few days before by the British, during the Battle of Long Island.

    Now, Mike tells us in this episode that the Howes talked him into approaching the Continental Congress with their peace offering, but equally likely is that Sullivan simply agreed to deliver the message because it would get him out of captivity, at least for a while. (He was paroled specifically to deliver the message. Once he had his answer, it was “Back to jail with you, Johnny.”)

    Part of the problem Sullivan had was that Congress didn’t think the offer was sincere; another part is that some members didn’t think Sullivan was sincere. Sullivan returned to the British, delivered the reply from Congress, and was re-imprisoned for another few months, until he was returned in a prisoner exchange.

    So we haven’t heard the last of John Sullivan!

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  • The Battle of Long Island–August 27, 1776

    Cover art for August 27, 1776: British flat-bottomed boats making their way to Brooklyn shortly before the battle. The soldiers in blue are Hessians. Painting by Robert Cleverly in 1777, via National Maritime Museum.

    The Battle of Long Island was one of our largest engagements with the British, and it was also the first one after the Declaration of Independence.

    And it was a rout; the Americans got their heads handed to them. The British took New York and they occupied it for the rest of the war. After so many smaller victories, we finally got the lessons that A) this was going to be a long and bloody war, and B) there really isn’t any such thing as an easy victory.

    As a result, New York City became a focal point for espionage and intelligence-gathering. If you’ve ever seen the AMC series Turn: Washington’s Spies, you’ll get an idea of some of the things that went on. (The series as a whole isn’t bad, but there are definitely instances of dramatic license that went on. For instance, you can’t row across the Long Island Sound and back overnight. In fact, I’m not sure you can row across the Sound safely at all.)

    In tomorrow’s episode, Mike will tell you why it didn’t turn out worse for the American side and then we close out the week with the last chapter of the Battle of Long Island.

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  • Eve of Battle–August 26, 1776

    Cover art for August 26, 1776: A map of Brooklyn by Bernard Ratzer, ca. 1766-67. The Guan Heights are marked as ovals at center right.

    At this point, both George Washington and General William Howe know that they’re literally on the eve of battle, and they’re making their final preparations.

    The British, along with the Hessians, were making plans to move along the Jamaica Pass (it’s the road just above the Acroasis logo in today’s art), which, while they didn’t know it, was relatively lightly guarded by the Continental Army.

    Washington’s tactic was to hold on to the Heights of Guan (the ovals to the right of the episode title, representing hills) and fortify Brooklyn Heights (far left center, about where the Brooklyn Bridge is today). It wasn’t a bad idea, but it didn’t match the British plans. And that’s largely where things went wrong. We’ll be talking about that in greater detail tomorrow.

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  • The Battle Begins–August 20, 1776

    Cover art for August 20, 1776: Artillery Retreat from Long Island, chromolithograph by The Werner Company, 1899. via Library of Congress.

    It’s been coming for at least two months, and the Battle of Long Island has finally begun.

    As we’ve noted a few times the past couple of days, George Washington had to make a few educated guesses about what the British were planning to do, but this left his troops thinly spread throughout Brooklyn and Manhattan, which left the Continental Army at a big disadvantage.

    While numerous skirmishes have broken out up and down the coast between the British and American militia forces from time to time, this was Washington’s first major tangle with the British Army. That it didn’t go so great wasn’t his fault; that it didn’t go as badly as it could have is entirely his doing, as we’ll learn in a few days.

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  • The Big News–August 10, 1776

    Cover art for August 10, 1776: reproduction of the first page of the London Gazette for this date. via the LA Times website

    Once again, we have a situation where the technology of the eighteenth century has to be seen to be believed.

    Only a few days ago, we mentioned an event that took place in France without knowledge that the United States had declared independence, and now we have today’s entry, suggesting that it’s only in the last day or two that England is getting the news. You know, England? The ones we declared our independence from?

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  • No Way, No Howe–July 17, 1776

    Cover art for July 17, 1776: Portrait of George Washington, ca. 1776 by Chales Willson Peale.

    That George Washington agreed to meet with Colonel James Patterson was a bit of a surprise.

    He’d turned down the opportunity to meet with his British counterparts on multiple occasions, but when asked if he’d meet with one of those men’s officers, Washington accepted the offer.

    Once the meeting was set, Washington was more gracious than most people would expect. Colonel James Patterson was rowed to the Battery dock in lower Manhattan from the British barge. At this point it was expected that he would be blindfolded to prevent him from gathering intelligence on Washington’s headquarters. Instead, he was brought to a different location without being blindfolded.

    Patterson met with Washington, Henry Knox, Joseph Reed and a few others, and it was clear that these officers were very deferential to the General, typically referring to him as “Your Excellency.” Again, protocols were important to Washington.

    After rejecting the Howes’ letter yet again, Patterson mentioned the benevolence of His Majesty, King George III (which was probably not the right thing to say to George Washington, but still), and explained that the Howes were there “to accommodate this unhappy dispute”.

    According to Knox’s letter to his wife, Patterson then explained that Lord Howe had broad powers of pardon, but Washington wasn’t interested. As far as the General was concerned, “the Americans had not offended, therefore they needed no pardon. This confused [Patterson].”

    Shortly thereafter, Patterson was escorted back to his barge, disappointed but sociable.

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