Brooklyn Public Library to interview librarians to find out about the Revolutionary War.
 Documents of letter and diaries during the Revolutionary War
 After Boston and the Battle of Bunker Hill, the British went to NYC to attack
Brooklyn
o British were let by General William Howe and the Americans were led by
General George Washington
Barnet Schecter
 July 2, 1776 when the Congress declared independence
 July 4 is when they declared the actual document
 Weeks after the declaration of independence the battle happened (largest battle of the
Revolutionary War)
 First battle in US History
 Prospect Park: In the 1700s Brooklyn was not a big borough, it was just a township
and small village near the Brooklyn Ferry (Fulton Ferry)
Town by the Fulton Ferry
 When you had townships there were boarders between them (pick a sturdy old tree
that would be there to mark the boarders)
 Americans figured they had to do whatever they had to do to stop the British advance
o Chopped down the tree so the British couldn’t bring out the artillery
Brooklyn Historical Society
 Even though we lost the battle we were still triumphant
Theater 1776 Battle Map and Map of Battle of Brooklyn
 Prospect Park and Green Wood Cemetery
 How do you want to capture NY activity (blockade near the water, we want them to
go South to prevent them from moving through into Brooklyn)
If you have a weak, small army you use the topography to your advantage
 Where would you put your guns if they were coming down from below?
 It sounds pretty good, but what’s the small problem?
o You’re standing here ready to shoot, but you hear the signal gun coming from
behind you
There are some American soldiers buried under the lawn.
 Using the same evacuation route, head down the slope towards the creek
 Americans moved downhill out of there through what’s now Park Slope
o Old Stone House: American soldiers from Maryland stood up to the British
Army
Old Stone House
 These guys from Maryland fought the British, so Washington and his army could
escape to Manhattan
George Washington got most of his soldiers safely out of Brooklyn, but 200 Americans
were killed and wounded and the British captured almost 1,000 of them
British were capturing colonials and putting them on prison ships – Prison ship Jersey
was a 16 gun battle ship before the Revolutionary War started
1779 began to be used as a prison ship, used ships as prisons because the holding
facilities had different levels (generals were placed higher, Spanish / French not fighting
on the side of the British were at the bottom where the situations were horrendous)
-2 hospital ships near the Old Jersey, so crowded with the sick they couldn’t receive
anymore
-Healthy and sick were in the same room
-11,000 people died on the prison ships
Graveyard
 The Prison Ship Martys Memorial
 Bones got moved to Fort Green Park in 1908
Battle of Brooklyn is where we retreated, so when most students learn about the Battle of
Brooklyn they don’t learn about New York
It was really the British who were losing their battle (Victory in disguise for Americans)
-When the British occupied the city, it became their worst enemy
-Instead of going out and chasing the Americans, they got too comfortable here
-They didn’t send enough men and ships to help win the battles