On this day 250 years ago at about 8:00 pm in the village of Flatlands on Long Island in what is now Brooklyn, New York, 4000 British troops with 14 cannon commanded by Generals Sir Henry Clinton and Lord Charles Cornwallis began a flanking march around the 3000 Continental soldiers under Maj. Gen. John Sullivan, Brig. Gen. William Alexander (usually referred to by his claimed title of “Lord Stirling”), Brig. Gen. Samuel Parsons, and Col. Samuel Miles guarding the Martense Lane, Flatbush, and Bedford passes of the Gowanus Heights. Gen. Sir William Howe, the overall commander of the British Army, issued orders to 6000 troops (with another 14 cannon) under his direct command to begin their march at midnight following the advance troops commanded by Clinton and Cornwallis. The 10,000 soldiers of the British flanking march were headed to the Jamaica Pass on the far left of the American positions on Gowanus Heights, which the British would soon discover was guarded by only five officers acting as sentries.

At about 11:00 pm that day, the advance soldiers of a column of 5000 British soldiers moving forward on the Martense Lane from their camp at Flatbush under the command of Gen. James Grant reached the Red Lion Inn at the junction of the Gowanus Road and Martense Lane just in front of the far right of the American position. Next to the inn the British scouts found a watermelon patch and while they were gathering watermelons they were attacked by Pennsylvania riflemen commanded by Col. Edward Hand. The British were driven back in these opening shots of the Battle of Brooklyn. For the next nine hours, the Continentals guarding the passes on Gowanus Heights would exchange fire with 5000 British and Hessians under Gen. Grant and another 5000 Hessians commanded by Gen. Philip von Heister with the belief that they were blocking the British advance, not knowing that Grant’s and von Heister’s orders were to pin the Continentals to their positions so Howe’s 10,000 men could strike them in the rear.

You can visit the site of the Red Lion Inn at the current 5th Avenue and 37th Street in Brooklyn, although the site is unmarked. You can travel on the Kings Highway in the Flatlands neigborhood of Brooklyn and see a marker at 3931 Kings Highway indicating where Lord Cornwallis marched his men on this highway (which had the same name then) through the village of Flatlands as part of the British flanking movement. The passes guarded by the Americans on Gowanus Heights are marked in Green-Wood Cemetery and Prospect Park in Brooklyn and there is posted online an excellent Walking Guide to the Sites and Monuments of the Battle of Brooklyn that will lead you to these sites.

Sources: Schecter at 132-41; https://theoldstonehouse.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Battle-Brooklyn-walking-tour.pdf; https://www.brooklynpaper.com/step-into-brooklyn-walking-revolutionary-history/; https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=69530; https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=233872