Washington and his men were defending New York City. On Sept. 15, 1776, William Howe’s troops landed at Kip’s Bay, northeast of Manhattan along the East River. The American army was cut off and might not be able to retreat. General Howe had defeated Washington and his troops a couple of weeks earlier at Long Island; Howe now intended to cross the river and capture New York City. This area was a weak point in Washington’s Manhattan defenses.
The area was defended by Col. William Douglas’s 1,500-man brigade; about one third of them were sick, and only about half of the rest were fit enough to man the trenches and oppose the landing.
At 10 a.m., the first wave of 80 British flatboats moved into the river with 4,000 British and Hessian troops aboard. By 11 a.m., the British fleet opened a cannonade against Douglas’s position.
Approximately 80 guns fired on the militiamen for more than an hour. Their shallow ditches and weak defenses were no match for the British artillery. The troops were also “green,” with little training.
Being new troops, they were not able to hold the British; the overwhelming show of force by the British army and navy caused them to retreat without any order. General Clinton’s aide-de-camp, Francis Rawdon, from his boat saw Douglas’s men break and run. Clinton’s landing party thus, “pressed to shore . . . landed, and formed without losing a single man.”
As the first wave of British and Hessian troops landed and secured the beachhead, not all of the Patriot soldiers were able to escape. They retreated north toward King’s Bridge Road. Bartholomew James wrote in his journal that he “saw a Hessian sever a rebel’s head from his body and clap it on a pole in the entrenchments.” One historian asserted that, as other Americans surrendered, hands upward, the Hessians shot or bayoneted them.
While Douglas’s men fled, George Washington finally arrived near the Patriot position at Kip’s Bay. “As soon as I heard the firing, I rode with all possible dispatch,” Washington wrote to Congress the next day. Somewhere on Murray Hill, Washington came across General Putnam, who also rode towards the sound of the British salvos. “To my great surprise and mortification,” Washington recounted, “I found the troops that had been posted in the lines retreating with the utmost precipitation . . . flying in every direction. I used every means in my power to rally them into some order; but my attempts were fruitless and ineffectual.”
Washington “drew his sword and snapped his pistols, to check them; but they continued their flight,” noted James Thacher, an army doctor. As Washington’s ire at his fleeing men raged on, Col. William Smallwood reported that the Connecticut troops in flight “were caned and whipped by the Generals Washington, Putnam, and Mifflin, but even this indignity had no weight; they could not be brought to stand one shot.”
Approximately 2,000 Continental soldiers now appeared under the command of Brig. Gens. Samuel Parsons and John Fellows. Seeing the retreat of the Connecticut Militia and a pursuing enemy was enough to break these reinforcements. “The Panic that struck Gen. Fellows’s & communicated itself to Gen. Parsons’ Brigade disgraced the last Retreat,” General Greene recalled. “The 2 Brigades run away from about 40 or fifty men and left General Washington standing alone within a hundred yards of the enemy.”
Washington was enraged by the cowardice of his men, and General Heath saw the normally reserved general break. “General Washington threw his hat on the ground, and exclaimed, ‘Are these the men with which I am to defend America?’”
As the despondent commander tried in vain to rally and inspire his men, only the bravery and stubbornness of two of the general’s aides led them to grab the bridle of Washington’s horse and turn him around to leave the field of battle. The Americans lost about 380 men killed, wounded, or captured, while the British only lost about 12. It was a terrible day for the patriots.
Thank you for reading ‘Our History Matters.’ I always enjoy hearing from readers; contact me at [email protected] with your questions, comments, ideas, or suggestions.
