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| British military map from 1776 showing the marching routes and battle sites during the Battle of Long Island. Public domain, courtesy of www.wikipedia.com. |
When we left off, the sudden appearances of 10,000 British troops behind their lines had thrown the Continentals into a panic. Many ran for their lives. They and those who stood were shepherded into a defensive line on Brooklyn Heights. There they shivered in flooded emplacements as the British dug their way ever closer and Washington tried to figure out how to save what was left of the army.
Fortunately, one of the men Washington had at hand was a stocky, hard-bitten member of the “codfish aristocracy,” Colonel John Glover. A militia officer since 1759, Glover was colonel of the 14th Continental Regiment, the “Marbleheaders.” He had raised ten companies of some 500 fishermen and sailors; Spanish, Native American, Jewish, and African-American, as well as local Massachusetts men. Those men -- many of whom Glover knew personally – were to remain together throughout the year, an example of discipline and courage for the rest.
At 5 o’clock on the morning of August 28th, the regiment crossed to Brooklyn from Manhattan. Glover directed the manning of the vessels and rafts that had been brought down through the Harlem River from the North River, as the Hudson was then known.
During the first part of the night, the men worked with great difficulty because of the ebb tide and a strong northeast wind. Later, when the wind changed and a heavy fog covered the Long Island side, Glover and his soldiers were able to complete the evacuation of the last 700 of Washington’s 9,000 men, plus field pieces, heavy ordinance, and all ammunition, as well as horses, cattle, and provisions. All this was accomplished in nine hours across the mile-wide East River, oars muffled against the splashing of the water. By the official record, only three men did not make it back, and they were stragglers who failed to board with their comrade.
By 7 a.m. it was done. Washington crossed in the last boat. While pleased with their success, the British were nevertheless nonplussed at the miraculous escape of their foe. This was not going to be as easy as they had assumed.
Postscript: Washington’s most iconic moment again found him on the water, crossing the Delaware on a brutal December night. And who was there, ten miles below Trenton, on the night of December 25th?
Of course! Glover and his extraordinary “Marbleheaders” ferried 2,400 troops -- again with horses, artillery and wagons -- across the Delaware River under extreme weather conditions. After marching several miles, they fought in the Battle of Trenton, and then transported the army and about 1,000 Hessian prisoners back across the river, all on the same day.
Sources:
www.nps.gov/sapa
Ellis, Joseph J. Revolutionary Summer: The Birth of American Independence. Knopf, 2013
Kelly, Jack. Band of Giants: The Amateur Soldiers who won America’s Independence. Palgrave-Macmillan, 2014.
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