The Battle of New York Explained
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How did the raging summer storm set the stage for the Battle of New York?
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Louder, one witness wrote. Than a thousand guns fired in unison. Lightning forked and flashed. Its white heat reflected off the dark waters of the Hudson estuary. Rain fudded into the river's surface like volleys of musket balls. American sentries wrapped cloaks around them tight and took shelter in the lee of their cannon. Clustered thickly along the shoreline of New York City. The momentary flashes of lightning illuminated the harbour suddenly and each time showed the silhouettes of a forest of masts, spars, and rigging. Gathered around Staten Island. It was as if the heavens were locked in battle. previewing that which was about to shatter the peace on earth below. Friends, this was pathetic fallacy on a a very grand scale.
But no, in fact, it was more it's much more tangible than just a literary trick. This storm could be as lethal as battle. Men were killed, surely if they were struck down by enemy fire. Americans, we know, were hit by bolts of lightning. Their mates, frisking down their corpses, found the coins melted in their pockets. Watchmen on exposed defensive works were struck down in this celestial onslaught. The pious thought that God was talking. Or shouting more likely. Others insisted it was just coincidental. But in hindsight it's very clear. That it was a dramatic heavenly harbinger. Of the very earthly onslaught. That would follow on the morrow. The Americans knew that onslaught was coming. We expect a very bloody summer of it at New York, their commander, George Washington, wrote to his brother in early June.
I'm sorry to say that we are not, either in men or arms. Prepared for it. For days now, the Americans had watched nervously as the largest amphibious assault fleet in North American history to that point. were shuffled around the harbour. Ships were loaded with infantrymen. They'd packed up their tents on Staten Island, which had briefly been a tented city, and they'd trudged aboard transport vessels. Naval ships, bristling with cannon on their broadsides, slid menacingly around the harbour. Sometimes pushing up the Hudson River to the west of Manhattan, sometimes probing up the East River between Manhattan and Long Island. At dusk on the night of the storm, it was clear that the job of loading those assault troops was complete.
Topmasts were raised, yards were crossed, the frenetic crisscross of beetling open boats had stilled. The British Blow. So long anticipated. was about to land. One American witness said it was as if all London was afloat, so great was the force arrayed. And it was indeed astonishing. This was, and I'm gonna deliberately pull these superluses up at the top here because it is remarkable. This was the biggest British force ever sent overseas to that point in history. In fact, friends, no army of that size had ever been deployed by any nation or empire across such a distance of ocean ever before in recorded history. It was an awesome statement. Of Britain's might? But also its determination to regain control of her rebellious colonies in North America.
It was a terrifying indicator of just what those rebellious colonies were up against. A global superpower in the throes of an engineering, a scientific, an industrial revolution that allowed it to project such force at such distances. Hundreds of vessels, thousands of men, tens of thousands of muskets, hundreds of thousands of bullets, gallons of rum and barrels of beef.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
How did the raging summer storm set the stage for the Battle of New York?
0:00–15:08
2
Why was the British invasion fleet of 1776 the largest ever assembled for North America?
15:08–29:04
3
What strategic importance did New York City hold for both the British and the Americans?
29:04–43:23
4
How did George Washington plan to force a decisive battle at New York?
43:23–57:05
5
What went wrong with the amphibious landing on Long Island and Staten Island?
57:05–1:08:49
6
How did Washington’s massive evacuation of his army succeed?
1:08:49–1:21:34
7
Why did the British capture Fort Washington and what were the consequences?
1:21:34–1:33:55
8
What were the long‑term results of the New York campaign for the Revolutionary War?
1:33:55–1:44:29