The day history was changed by heavy fog Bill Federer remembers dramatic evacuation during Revolutionary War 08.30.2106 King George III’s British army was forced to evacuate Boston. They headed to New York. General George Washington responded by moving American troops to New York and fortifying Brooklyn Heights. Enthusiasm was high as Washington’s ranks swelled to nearly 20,000.
Before long, hundreds of British ships filled New York’s harbor, carrying 32,000 troops. It was one of the largest invasion forces in history to that date. The thousands of wooden masts of the British ships were described as looking like a forest of trees.
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Major Ben Tallmadge, Washington’s Chief of Intelligence, wrote: “As the dawn of the next day approached, those of us who remained in the trenches became very anxious for our own safety, and when the dawn appeared there were several regiments still on duty. At this time a very dense fog began to rise off the river, and it seemed to settle in a peculiar manner over both encampments. I recollect this peculiar providential occurrence perfectly well, and so very dense was the atmosphere that I could scarcely discern a man at six yards distance. … We tarried until the sun had risen, but the fog remained as dense as ever.”
General Washington was on the last boat that left Brooklyn Heights.
Had the Americans not been able to evacuate, they would have been captured and Washington would have been hung. America would have continued as just another colony in Britain’s expanding global empire, along with India, Kenya, Egypt, South Africa and Australia.
As it happened, though, after the evacuation from Brooklyn Heights, the British never again had an opportunity to capture the entire American army at one time.
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Mon Aug 29, 2016 1:46 pm
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