This town had a full share of the military operations during the
Revolutionary war; and was for a long time in the possession of the
British army. It is covered with the remains of fortifications which
were thrown up by the Americans[14] and English for their defence
against each other. In this town was fought the most sanguinary part of
the battle of Long-Island, August 27, 1776; which took place on the
retreat of the American army within their lines, and the attempt of a
portion of them to ford the mill ponds at Gawanos; in which attempt
nearly the whole of a Regiment of young men from Maryland were cut off.
Many of the minor events connected with this battle, and the
Revolutionary contest, are fast sinking into the shades of oblivion:
the compiler has therefore thought proper to give place to the following
piece of history, not with an idea, that he can immortalize any event
which he relates; but with a hope, that his efforts will call forth some
nobler pen to do justice to the memories of many of the almost forgotten
heroes of those hard fought battles, and arduous contests. In the battle
above-mentioned, part of the British army marched down a lane or road
leading from the Brush tavern to Gowanos, pursuing the Americans.
Several of the American riflemen, in order to be more secure, and at the
same time, more effectually to succeed in their designs, had posted
themselves in the high trees near the road. One of them, whose name is
now partially forgotten, shot the English Major Grant; in this he passed
unobserved. Again he loaded his deadly rifle, and fired--another English
officer fell. He was then marked, and a platoon ordered to advance, and
fire into the tree; which order was immediately carried into execution,
and the rifleman fell to the ground, dead. After the battle was over,
the two British officers were buried in a field, near where they fell,
and their graves fenced in with some posts and rails, where their
remains still rest. But for “an example to the rebels,” they refused to
the American rifleman the rites of sepulture; and his remains were
exposed on the ground, till the flesh was rotted, and torn off his bones
by the fowls of the air. After a considerable length of time, in a heavy
gale of wind, a large tree was uprooted; in the cavity formed by which,
some friends to the Americans, notwithstanding the prohibition of the
English, placed the brave soldier’s bones to mingle in peace with their
kindred earth.
August 28, 1776. Before day break, in a very thick fog, General
Washington retreated with his army from near the old ferry, Brooklyn, to
New-York. As the last boat of the Americans left the shore, the fog
dissipated, and the British made their appearance on the hills above the
place of embarkation, when a shot or two from an American Battery on the
hill near the house of Col. Henry Rutgers, in New-York, compelled the
British to desist in their march to the ferry.
A short time after the retreat of the Americans, Captain Hale, of the
American army, was dispatched by General Washington, to see if the
English had taken possession of his camp at Brooklyn, and what their
situation was. This unfortunate young officer was taken by the English
and hung as a spy, without even a form of trial; and not allowed a
clergyman at his execution. It is believed he was executed somewhere
along the Brooklyn shore, to the south-west of the old ferry. In our
pity for Major Andre, we have almost entirely lost sight of this
meritorious officer, whose claims on our gratitude ought ever to be
remembered, in proportion as his sufferings were greater than those of
the former.
During the stay of the American army on Long-Island, the head quarters
of General Washington were at the house on Brooklyn heights, now owned
and occupied by Henry Waring, Esq. The house now owned and occupied by
Teunis Joralemon, Esq. was used by the English as a Hospital during the
Revolution, and in its vicinity, hundreds of British soldiers and
sailors are buried.
Most of the records of this town were destroyed by the English when they
came in possession of it after the battle of Long-Island.
In the month of November, 1776, one of the British prison ships, called
the Whitby, was moored in the Wallaboght, near Remsen’s mills. On board
this vessel great mortality prevailed among the prisoners, and many of
them died. Those of the prisoners who died from this ship, and from the
others, which were afterwards brought to this place, were interred in
the hill at the present Navy-Yard; where their remains were found, and
in the year 1808, deposited in a vault erected for that purpose. March
1777, two other prison ships anchored in the Wallaboght, one of which
bore the name of Good Hope; which vessel in the month of October, in the
same year, took fire and was burnt. The prisoners were saved and
transferred to the other vessels.--The hull of this ship lies under a
dock at the Navy Yard, in this town. In the month of February, 1778, on
a Sunday afternoon, another British prison ship was burnt in the
Wallaboght. The hull of this vessel lies in the mud in that Bay. 1778,
the Jersey ship of the line, having arrived at New-York, was condemned
as unfit for the service, and converted into a prison ship. As such she
anchored in the Wallaboght during the month of April, in the same year,
together with the Falmouth and Hope, for Hospital ships; where they
remained till the close of the Revolutionary war.
October 22, 1779, An act of attainder was passed by the Legislature of
this State, against John Rapalje, Esq. of this town, by which his
property was confiscated to the use of the State. That part of his
property lying within the bounds of the present village of Brooklyn, was
on the 13th of July, 1784, sold by the Commissioners of Forfeitures, to
Comfort, and Joshua Sands, Esqrs. for £12,430.
In the year 1780, the British being apprehensive of an attack from the
American army under General Washington, commenced fortifying the high
grounds about Brooklyn; which works they continued until the peace in
1783. In this town the British had their army yard, where their forage
department, and blacksmith’s shops, &c. were kept. The entrance to this
yard was near the junction of Main-street with Fulton-street, in the
present village of Brooklyn.
During the Revolution, this place was much resorted to by the officers
of the English army, and the fashionables of the day, as a scene of
amusement. In the Royal Gazette of August 8th, 1781, published at
New-York, Charles Loosley advertises a Lottery of $12,500, to be drawn
at “Brooklyn Hall.” The same paper contains the following advertisement:
“Pro bono publico. Gentlemen that are fond of fox hunting, are requested
to meet at Loosley’s Tavern, on Ascot Heath, on Friday morning next,
between the hours of five and six, as a pack of hounds will be there
purposely for a trial of their abilities: Breakfasting and Relishes
until the Races commence.--At eleven o’clock will be run for, an elegant
saddle, &c. value at least twenty pounds, for which upwards of twelve
gentlemen will ride their own horses.--At twelve, a match will be rode
by two gentlemen, Horse for Horse.--At one, a match for thirty guineas,
by two gentlemen, who will also ride their own horses.--Dinner will be
ready at two o’clock, after which, and suitable regalements, racing and
other diversions, will be calculated to conclude the day with pleasure
and harmony. Brooklyn Hall, 6th August, 1781.”
Lieutenant Anberry, in a letter from New-York, to a friend in England,
dated October 30th, 1781, says, “on crossing the East River from
New-York, you land at Brooklyn, which is a scattered village, consisting
of a few houses. At this place is an excellent Tavern, where parties
are made to go and eat fish; the landlord of which has saved an immense
fortune this war.” The public house referred to in the above
advertisements, and letter, was the same house, which after the
Revolution, and in the Compiler’s recollection, was called the
“Corporation House.” It was a large, gloomy, old fashioned, stone
edifice; and was destroyed by fire, September 23d, 1812.
This town was left by the British troops, the same day that they
evacuated New-York.