History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery, Vol. 1: Compiled from the Original RecordsDuncan, Francis
History
History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery, Vol. 1: Compiled from the Original Records
Duncan, Francis
Great Britain. Army. Royal Regiment of Artillery
Among the guns sent out for the campaign of 1776 were some light 24-
pounders with travelling carriages, some 12-pounders, an immense number
of light 3-pounders with Congreve's carriages, and some mortars for
pound-shot. It was intended by the English Government, that this
campaign should be decisive; and the fleet, army, and Artillery were
very powerful. Lord Howe commanded the fleet, and his brother commanded
the army; and they had full powers to treat with the rebels with a view
to a cessation of hostilities, provided they should submit. The army
left Halifax in June, 1776, and landed on Staten Island on the 3rd July;
the whole of the Artillery being disembarked by the 7th of the month.
Here they were joined by Sir Henry Clinton's forces from the South, and
by Lord Howe and his fleet from England. A large force of Hessians and
Waldeckers also joined them; and on the 22nd August, the army crossed to
Long Island without molestation. The Americans were encamped at the
north end of the island, where the city of Brooklyn now stands—protected
behind by batteries, on the left by East River, and on the right by a
marsh. A range of wooded hills separated the two armies, the passes
being in the possession of the rebels. On the 27th, the Battle of Long
Island—or Battle of Brooklyn, as it is indifferently called—was fought.
The share taken by the Artillery in this victory, was—owing to the
nature of the ground, and the hurried retreat of the Americans within
their lines—but small. There were forty guns present: six with Lord
Cornwallis's brigade; fourteen with General Clinton in the van; ten with
the main body under Lord Percy; and four 12-pounders with the 49th
Regiment in rear. The loss consisted of but three killed—Lieutenant
Lovell, a sergeant, and a bombardier. So difficult were the 3-pounder
guns on truck carriages found either to be moved or carried, that
Brigadier Cleaveland sent them on board ship, and replaced them with
those mounted on Congreve's carriages. From the loyalist farmers on Long
Island, an additional hundred horses were bought for the Artillery, and
eighty two-horse waggons, with drivers, hired for the conveyance of
ammunition and stores.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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