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[Transcriber's Note: In quoted passages and in the documents in Part II of this e-book, spelling, punctuation, capitalization, hyphenation, and abbreviations have been retained as they appear in the original. In the remainder of the text, obvious printer errors have been corrected, but archaic spellings (e.g., "reconnoissance" for "reconnaissance," "aid" for "aide") have been retained.
This book contains a few instances of the letters m and n with macrons, indicating that the letter is to be doubled. The letter with the macron is represented here in brackets with an equal sign. For example, "co[=m]ittee" stands for "committee"; "ca[=n]on" stands for "cannon."]
INCLUDING A NEW AND CIRCUMSTANTIAL ACCOUNT OF
THE BATTLE OF LONG ISLAND AND THE LOSS OF NEW YORK,
_REVIEW OF EVENTS TO THE CLOSE OF THE YEAR_,
CONTAINING MAPS, PORTRAITS, AND ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS.
BROOKLYN, N.Y.: PUBLISHED BY THE LONG ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 1878.
COPYRIGHT, 1878, BY HENRY P. JOHNSTON, FOR THE SOCIETY.
S.W. GREEN, PRINTER AND ELECTROTYPER, 16 and 18 Jacob Street, NEW YORK.
[Illustration: NEW YORK and BROOKLYN WITH THEIR ENVIRONS IN 1776.
The site now occupied by the two cities of New York and Brooklyn, and over which they continue to spread, is pre-eminently "Revolutionary soil." Very few of our historic places are more closely associated with the actual scenes of that struggle. As at Boston in 1775, so here in 1776, we had the war at our doors and all about us. In what is now the heart of Brooklyn Revolutionary soldiers lay encamped for months, and in the heat of a trying summer surrounded themselves with lines of works. What have since been converted into spots of rare beauty--Greenwood Cemetery and Prospect Park--became, with the ground in their vicinity, a battle-field. New York, which was then taking its place as the most flourishing city on the continent, was transformed by the emergency into a fortified military base. Troops quartered in Broad Street and along the North and East rivers, and on the line of Grand Street permanent camps were established. Forts, redoubts, batteries, and intrenchments encircled the town. The streets were barricaded, the roads blocked, and efforts made to obstruct the navigation of both rivers. Where we have stores and warehouses, Washington fixed alarm and picket posts; and at points where costly residences stand, men fought, died, and were buried. In 1776 the cause had become general; soldiers gathered here from ten of the original thirteen States, and the contest assumed serious proportions. It was here around New York and Brooklyn that the War of the Revolution began in earnest.