The American Revolution on Long Island

The American Revolution on Long Island
Author: Joanne S Grasso
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
Total Pages: 146
Release: 2017-09-18
Genre: History
ISBN: 1625857101

A history of the Revolutionary War and British occupation in this part of New York, from the Culper spy ring to the prison ships where thousands died. The American Revolution sharply divided families and towns on New York’s Long Island. Washington's defeat at the Battle of Long Island in August 1776 started seven years of British occupation—and Patriot sympathizers were subject to loyalty oaths, theft of property, and the quartering of soldiers in their homes. Those who crossed the British were jailed on prison ships in Wallabout Bay in Brooklyn, where an estimated eleven thousand people died of disease and starvation. Some fought back with acts of sabotage and espionage—and Washington’s famed Culper spy ring in Oyster Bay, Setauket, and other areas successfully tracked British movements. In this book, historian Joanne S. Grasso explores the story of an island at war.

The Refugees of 1776 from Long Island to Connecticut

The Refugees of 1776 from Long Island to Connecticut
Author: Frederic Gregory Mather
Publisher:
Total Pages: 1256
Release: 1913
Genre: Connecticut
ISBN:

A history, accompanied by documentary material and biographical sketches, of the American sympathizers who emigrated to Connecticut after the battle of Long island.

The Maryland 400 in the Battle of Long Island, 1776

The Maryland 400 in the Battle of Long Island, 1776
Author: Linda Davis Reno
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 209
Release: 2008-06-18
Genre: History
ISBN: 078645184X

This work chronicles the story of 400 young men who willingly and knowingly sacrificed themselves to save the Continental Army at the Battle of Long Island on August 27, 1776. Holding back 20,000 British and Hessian soldiers, they allowed their comrades to retreat and may have saved the Revolution from immediate defeat. This exhaustively researched account introduces the reader to the background of the battle and the stories of the individuals who fought that day, and includes biographies with extensive quoted material in addition to a general historic overview.

Lost British Forts of Long Island

Lost British Forts of Long Island
Author: David M. Griffin
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
Total Pages: 144
Release: 2017
Genre: History
ISBN: 1625858531

Author David M. Griffin uncovers the lost history and harrowing stories of Long Island's British forts. When the Revolutionary War broke out and New York City had fallen in 1776, the forces of the king of Great Britain developed a network of forts along the length of Long Island to defend the New York area and create a front to Patriot forces across the Sound in Connecticut. Fort Franklin on Lloyd's Neck became a refugee camp for Loyalists and saw frequent rebel attacks. In Huntington, a sacred burial ground was desecrated, and Fort Golgotha was erected in its place, using tombstones as baking hearths. In Setauket along the northern shore, the Presbyterian church was commandeered and made the central fortified structure of the town.

Sound Rising

Sound Rising
Author: Richard Radune
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2011
Genre: Connecticut
ISBN: 9780976434115

Sound Rising challenges our perception of Long Island Sound in many surprising ways. The Sound was at the forefront of American trade with the West Indies and its location placed it in a position to influence the course of history during the critical years between 1750 and 1820. Its multitude of small ports, coves, and navigable rivers provided a distinct advantage by thwarting British efforts to enforce trade restrictions and collect taxes. Merchants' desire for free trade and the avoidance of customs duties set the stage for war. Long Island Sound played a crucial role in America's Revolutionary War victory when its naval vessels, privateers, and whaleboat raiders swarmed out of these same ports to interdict British supplies and force major changes in the enemy's strategic war plans. This groundbreaking, true story relates the Sound's involvement in the capture of Fort Louisbourg, rampant smuggling, the Revolutionary War, the Undeclared War with France and the War of 1812.

Revolutionary Summer

Revolutionary Summer
Author: Joseph J. Ellis
Publisher: Knopf
Total Pages: 249
Release: 2013-06-04
Genre: History
ISBN: 0307701220

The Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winning author of First Family presents a revelatory account of America's declaration of independence and the political and military responses on both sides throughout the summer of 1776 that influenced key decisions and outcomes.

Forgotten Patriots

Forgotten Patriots
Author: Edwin G. Burrows
Publisher: Basic Books
Total Pages: 386
Release: 2008-11-11
Genre: History
ISBN: 0786727047

Between 1775 and 1783, some 200,000 Americans took up arms against the British Crown. Just over 6,800 of those men died in battle. About 25,000 became prisoners of war, most of them confined in New York City under conditions so atrocious that they perished by the thousands. Evidence suggests that at least 17,500 Americans may have died in these prisons -- more than twice the number to die on the battlefield. It was in New York, not Boston or Philadelphia, where most Americans gave their lives for the cause of independence. New York City became the jailhouse of the American Revolution because it was the principal base of the Crown's military operations. Beginning with the bumper crop of American captives taken during the 1776 invasion of New York, captured Americans were stuffed into a hastily assembled collection of public buildings, sugar houses, and prison ships. The prisoners were shockingly overcrowded and chronically underfed -- those who escaped alive told of comrades so hungry they ate their own clothes and shoes. Despite the extraordinary number of lives lost, Forgotten Patriots is the first-ever account of what took place in these hell-holes. The result is a unique perspective on the Revolutionary War as well as a sobering commentary on how Americans have remembered our struggle for independence -- and how much we have forgotten.

Washington's Spies

Washington's Spies
Author: Alexander Rose
Publisher: Bantam
Total Pages: 402
Release: 2014-03-25
Genre: History
ISBN: 055339259X

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Turn: Washington’s Spies, now an original series on AMC Based on remarkable new research, acclaimed historian Alexander Rose brings to life the true story of the spy ring that helped America win the Revolutionary War. For the first time, Rose takes us beyond the battlefront and deep into the shadowy underworld of double agents and triple crosses, covert operations and code breaking, and unmasks the courageous, flawed men who inhabited this wilderness of mirrors—including the spymaster at the heart of it all. In the summer of 1778, with the war poised to turn in his favor, General George Washington desperately needed to know where the British would strike next. To that end, he unleashed his secret weapon: an unlikely ring of spies in New York charged with discovering the enemy’s battle plans and military strategy. Washington’s small band included a young Quaker torn between political principle and family loyalty, a swashbuckling sailor addicted to the perils of espionage, a hard-drinking barkeep, a Yale-educated cavalryman and friend of the doomed Nathan Hale, and a peaceful, sickly farmer who begged Washington to let him retire but who always came through in the end. Personally guiding these imperfect everyday heroes was Washington himself. In an era when officers were gentlemen, and gentlemen didn’ t spy, he possessed an extraordinary talent for deception—and proved an adept spymaster. The men he mentored were dubbed the Culper Ring. The British secret service tried to hunt them down, but they escaped by the closest of shaves thanks to their ciphers, dead drops, and invisible ink. Rose’s thrilling narrative tells the unknown story of the Revolution–the murderous intelligence war, gunrunning and kidnapping, defectors and executioners—that has never appeared in the history books. But Washington’s Spies is also a spirited, touching account of friendship and trust, fear and betrayal, amid the dark and silent world of the spy.

Battle Of Brooklyn 1776

Battle Of Brooklyn 1776
Author: John J. Gallagher
Publisher: Da Capo Press
Total Pages: 220
Release: 2009-08-05
Genre: History
ISBN: 0786751320

In Brooklyn, New York, for a few tense hours in 1776, the fate of the entire United States hung by a thread. The Battle of Brooklyn (sometimes called "The Battle of Long Island") has since come to be recognized as one of history's great battles. It was the largest clash of the Revolution, in terms of both troops and casualties, and it brought the fledgling American republic to the brink of disaster. At the height of the fighting, only the valiant sacrifice of one regiment--the Marylanders--staved off catastrophe. The British army, meanwhile, executed a three-pronged surprise assault with admirable professionalism, turning the wilds of Brooklyn into a killing ground for the British and Hessian troops. One can sympathize with the plight of George Washington, who, charged with the task of defeating the finest army of the Old World, had to mold citizen-soldiers from throughout the thirteen colonies--"patriots"--into a viable military force. At Brooklyn, the young American army did not quite meet its commander's expectations. Still, it remained in the field. And the evacuation conducted after the battle was a masterpiece of efficiency, ensuring that the New World's armed forces would fight another day. Thought the Battle of Brooklyn would prove a victory for the British Empire, it demonstrated to all the American resolve and courage that would eventually result in independence for the United States. "In his shot-by-shot account of the largest and bloodiest battle of the American Revolution, Gallagher recreates the fierce encounter of 27 August 1776 in which twenty thousand British, Hessian and Loyalist troops defeated ten thousand patriot soldiers. . . . the book offers many perceptive observations and the author succinctly summarizes the lessons derived . . . this book is recommended reading for those who cherish the heritage of the gallant 'rabble in arms' that risked all for American independence."-Long Island Historical Journal "Long neglected . . . the Battle of Brooklyn is given comprehensive coverage . . . using a lively writing style Gallagher makes it easy to visualize the actual skirmishes by providing interesting details." -Flintlock and Powderhorn