The American Nation A History of the United States, Combined Volume (14th Edition)

The British Take New York City 121

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NEW YORK

WESTCHESTER

Trenton

Princeton

Flatbush

New Brunswick

Newark

Hackensack

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Harlem

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New

York

Brooklyn Heights

Morristown

(Winter Quarters)

Allentown

Bordentown

Newtown

FORT LEE FORT WASHINGTON

Dec. 26,1776

Jan. 3, 1777

Aug. 22, 1776

Oct. 28,

1776

Sept.16, 1776

Long Island

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PENNSYLVANIA

N E W J E R S E Y

British advance

American advance

American withdrawal

Battle (British victory)

Battle (American victory)

Still, Washington refused to see the peril in remain-
ing on an island while the enemy commanded the sur-
rounding waters. Only when Howe shifted a powerful
force to Westchester, directly threatening his rear, did
Washington move north to the mainland. Finally, after
several narrow escapes, he crossed the Hudson River
and marched south to New Jersey, where the British
could not use their naval superiority against him.
The battles in and around New York City seemed
to presage an easy British triumph. Yet somehow

Washington salvaged a moral victory from these igno-

minious defeats. He learned rapidly; seldom there-

after did he place his troops in such vulnerable

positions. And his men, in spite of repeated failure,

had become an army. In November and December

1776 they retreated across New Jersey and into

Pennsylvania. General Howe then abandoned the

campaign, going into winter quarters in New York

but posting garrisons at Trenton, Princeton, and

other strategic points.

New York and New Jersey Campaigns, 1776–1777In the summer of 1776, after abandoning Boston, several

British fleets converged on New York City. After taking Staten Island, the British crossed to Brooklyn, and won a

string of decisive battles in the New York region. Washington’s troops retreated through New Jersey nearly to

Newtown, Pennsylvania. But in the final week of 1776, Washington recrossed the Delaware River and won morale-

boosting battles at Trenton and Princeton.