The Campaign of 1776 around New York and Brooklyn: Including a new and circumstantial account of the battle of Long island and the loss of New York, with a review of events to the close of the yearJohnston, Henry Phelps
History
The Campaign of 1776 around New York and Brooklyn: Including a new and circumstantial account of the battle of Long island and the loss of New York, with a review of events to the close of the year
Johnston, Henry Phelps
Long Island, Battle of, New York, N.Y., 1776; New York (N.Y.) -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783
number of the riflemen deserted and went over to the enemy
and some no doubt escaped towards the other end of the
Island. On the whole I do not think we had 50 men killed in
the action." (_MS. letter._) These are statements made by
officers who were present at the battle, and who wrote
within a few days of the event. They all, with many others,
reach the same conclusion that the enemy suffered in killed
and wounded as much if not more than the Americans. Their
testimony, moreover, is strengthened by what we know
directly and indirectly from the returns and other sources.
The loss in officers, of which we have exact figures, is one
basis of calculation. Ninety-one, as already stated, were
taken prisoners, of whom nine were reported wounded in
Howe's return. Among these were General Woodhull, Colonel
Johnston, and Captain Jewett, all three mortally wounded,
and Captain Bowie and Lieutenant Butler, of the Marylanders;
Captain Johnston, of the artillery; Captain Peebles, of
Miles', and Lieutenant Makepeace, of Huntington's. [Colonel
Johnston is usually mentioned as having been killed on the
field. But Howe's return gives one New Jersey colonel
prisoner, and Elking's Hessian account states that he was
wounded after being made prisoner.] Among officers known to
be wounded, not captured, were Major McDonough, Lieutenants
Course and Anderson, of the Delawares; Lieutenant Hughes, of
Hitchcock's; and Captain Farmer, of Miles'. Lieutenant
Patterson, of Hay's detachment, was either killed or
captured (Colonel Cunningham's return). The officers killed
were Lieutenant-Colonel Parry, Captain Carpenter, Captain
Veazey, and Lieutenants Sloan, Jacquet, and Taylor. Various
accounts state that Colonel Rutgers, Lieutenant-Colonel
Eppes, Major Abeel (of Lasher's), Captain Fellows, and
Lieutenant Moore (of Pennsylvania) were killed, but there is
an error in each case, all these officers being reported
alive at different dates after the battle. We have, then,
twenty-one killed or wounded (six only killed on the field)
among the American officers engaged in the action. If, as we
have a right to assume, the same proportion held among the
enlisted men, our total loss in killed and wounded could not
have exceeded two hundred or two hundred and fifty, or more
than one hundred less than the enemy's loss. Parsons and
Atlee write that they lost but two or three. Miles says that
in one of his skirmishes he lost a number of men, but nearly
all were made prisoners. Little's regiment lost one killed;
Hitchcock's the same. The five companies of Smallwood's
battalion that attacked Cornwallis lost but one officer
wounded, or at the most one killed and one wounded, and
there is no reason to suppose that the men suffered very
heavily.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account