The Battle for New York: The City at the Heart of the American Revolution
On 15 September, 1776, the British army under General William Howe invaded Manhattan Island, with the largest expeditionary force in their history. George Washington's Continental Army, still in disarray after the disastrous Battle of Brooklyn some two weeks earlier, retreated north to Harlem Heights, leaving New York in British hands. Control of the city was Howe's primary objective. Located at the mouth of the strategically vital Hudson river, it had become the centrepiece of England's strategy for putting down the American rebellion. However, as Barnet Schecter reveals in this narrative, far from furnishing a key to the colonies, New York proved to be the fatal chalice that poisoned the British war effort. "The Battle for New York" tells the story of how the city became the pivot on which the American Revolution turned - from the political and religious struggles of the 1760s and early 1770s that polarised its citizens and increasingly made New York a hotbed of radical thought and action; to the campaign of 1776 that turned New York into a series of battlefields; to the seven years of British occupation, during which time Washington and Congress were as determined to regain the city as the British were to hold it. The extraordinary campaign in the autumn of 1776, which forms the heart of the book, was by far the largest military venture of the Revolutionary War; it involved almost every significant participant in the war on both sides; and there can be little doubt that during it the fate of America hung in the balance. Moreover, the outcome had a direct impact on the major turning points of the rest of the war.
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Contents
Rethinking New York Citys Place in the American Revolution
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The Bastions of Authority
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7 |
The Monster Tyranny Begins to Pant
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21 |
Copyright
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Other editions - View all
The Battle for New York: The City at the Heart of the American Revolution Barnet Schecter No preview available - 2003 |
The Battle for New York: The City at the Heart of the American Revolution Barnet Schecter No preview available - 2002 |
Common terms and phrases
Admiral Howe's American arrived artillery attack August battle Battle of Brooklyn Boston British Brooklyn Heights Burgoyne Burrows and Wallace Campaign cannon captured city's Clinton Colden Colonel colonies Commager and Morris commander in chief Connecticut Continental Army Continental Congress Cornwallis defend East River enemy England fire fleet forces Fort Washington French Germain governor Gowanus guns Hale Harlem Heights Hessians Hill Hudson Jersey John King's Kingsbridge Kips Bay land Lee's letter Liberty lines Long Island Lord loyalists Manders Manhattan marched Martin McDougall miles military militia officers peace Philadelphia prisoners Provincial Congress Putnam Quoted in Commager Quoted in ibid Quoted in Stokes rebels regiment reinforcements retreat returned Revolution Road sailed Sandy Hook Sears sent soldiers soon Stamp Act Staten Island Stirling Street Sullivan Symonds Tallmadge took Tories troops Tryon Ward Washington West White Plains William Smith wrote York City York's Yorkers