On the 22nd of August a landing was effected on _Long Island_, and on the evening of the 26th the army was put in motion to pass a range of woody heights which intersect the island, and attack the American army in position beyond the hills. The SEVENTEENTH regiment formed part of the column under Major-General Grant, which was directed to advance along the coast, with ten pieces of cannon, to draw the enemy's attention to that quarter. Moving forward at the appointed hour, this column fell in with the advanced parties of the Americans about midnight, and, at daybreak on the following morning, encountered a large force, formed in an advantageous position defended by artillery. Skirmishing and cannonading ensued, and was continued, until the Americans discovered, by the firing at Brooklyn, that the left of their army had been turned and forced, when they retreated in great confusion through a morass. They were met and attacked by the second battalion of grenadiers, which was soon reinforced by the seventy-first regiment (Highlanders); and were also assailed on the left by Major-General Grant's corps, and sustained severe loss; many of the Americans being killed, and others drowned or suffocated in the morass. The American army was driven from its positions with severe loss, and made a precipitate retreat to the fortified lines at _Brooklyn_. The regiment had Captain Sir Alexander Murray and two rank and file killed; Lieutenant Marcus A. Morgan, one serjeant, and nineteen rank and file wounded. The Americans having quitted their fortified lines at Brooklyn and passed the river to New York, the conquest of Long Island by the British troops was completed; and the SEVENTEENTH regiment shared in the operations by which the capture of New York was accomplished; also in the movements by which the Americans were driven from White Plains; and in the reduction of Fort Washington. Afterwards proceeding to the Jerseys, the regiment was stationed at Brunswick, and subsequently at Princetown. During the winter, General Washington suddenly passed the Delaware river, and surprised and made prisoners a corps of Hessians at Trenton, and afterwards made a precipitate retreat. Being reinforced, he again passed the river, and took up a position at Trenton. Major-General the Earl Cornwallis advanced with a division of British troops, and, after reconnoitring the American position, sent orders for the SEVENTEENTH, fortieth, and fifty-fifth regiments to join him from Princetown. [Sidenote: 1777]