The Campaign of 1776 Around New York and Brooklyn: Including a New and Circumstantial Account of the Battle of Long Island and the Loss of New York, with a Review of Events to the Close of the Year

The summer of 1776 changed everything. After declaring independence, the infant republic faced its first great test: holding New York City against the might of the British Empire. Henry Phelps Johnston's meticulous 19th-century account reconstructs the campaign that nearly ended the revolution before it truly began. We follow Washington's Continental Army as they fortify Brooklyn and Manhattan, watched by a city divided between patriots and loyalists, and then witness the catastrophe of August 27th when British forces crush the Americans at the Battle of Long Island in the first major engagement after independence. What makes Johnston's account essential is his careful reconstruction of the panic, the tactical errors, and the brilliant strategic retreat that saved the army from destruction. The night evacuation from Brooklyn, when Washington's forces slipped past the British blockade in fog and darkness, remains one of the war's most dramatic moments. This is military history at its most granular: troop movements, command decisions, the geography of defeat and survival. For anyone who wants to understand how America survived its darkest hour, this is where the story begins.