DEFEAT OF THE AMERICANS ON LONG ISLAND.
Having at length been joined by Clinton and by nearly all the forces he expected, General Howe, on the morning of the 22nd of August, commenced operations. He first threw forward a division of 4000 men under Clinton, who landed in Gravesend Bay, Long Island, without opposition; their disembarkation being covered by three frigates and two bombs. This division was soon followed by the rest of the British army and the artillery; and upon their landing, Sullivan’s advanced guard set fire to all the houses and granaries and fled to the woody heights, through which the English must pass. Washington had previously reinforced the army of Sullivan, and calculating that Long Island must be held, he threw over more reinforcements from New York, until the mass of his army was concentrated on that spot. By his direction, the Americans to the number of 15,000 were posted on a peninsula towards that end of the island which faces the city of New York, and is not more than a mile from it. They were commanded by Generals Sullivan, Putnam, and Lord Stirling, and their object was to occupy these heights, and to defend the defiles which led through the hills against the English. A severe contest ensued; but the British right, under Sir Henry Clinton, having outflanked the left of the enemy, while the Hessians, under General De Heister, vigorously attacked the centre, the Americans were routed. Lord Stirling, who commanded the right wing, finding that the English had penetrated to the rear, gave orders for a retreat, and to secure it, boldly attacked the division under Lord Cornwallis; but being assailed in his course by General Grant, he was repulsed and taken prisoner. The dispersed troops fled to the fortified lines and camp at Brooklyn; but they left 2000 slain on the field, or drowned in a morass into which they were driven at Gowan’s Cove; and about half that number, with Generals Sullivan and Udell, with ten other field-officers were taken prisoners. The loss of the British was comparatively trifling: seventy were slain and about 200 wounded. The ardour of the British troops was such that they followed the fugitives almost to the foot of their works, and they were with difficulty prevented from making an assault on their lines. Had they been permitted it seems clear that they might have easily carried them; but General Howe, conceiving that the lines must become his by regular approaches without much sacrifice of life, he ordered them back to a hollow out of the reach of the fire of the enemy. By this order the troops which had fled were saved. Washington, who had passed over from New York during the battle, in the midst of his extreme anguish at the fate of so many of his troops and the critical situation of the remainder, suddenly saw a gleam of hope bursting through the surrounding gloom. On that night the British army encamped in front of the American lines, and on the following morning the British general commenced his regular approaches; breaking ground about six hundred yards from one of the redoubts. But while the troops were digging their trenches on one side, Washington was smuggling his forces out on the other, and ferrying them over East River to the city of New York. His masterly retreat was effected by night in such order, secrecy, and silence that the English were not aware of it till the rising sun showed them that the enemy was out of the reach of danger: But for this the half of Washington’s army which he had exposed on Long Island would have been lost, and the war might have been virtually ended. But even after his escape Washington found himself in no very enviable position. A superior and victorious force was in front of him, while all around him the country was hostile to his cause. The success of the British arms indeed, caused the anti-revolutionists to lift up their heads on every hand, and in great numbers.