navy, and with the soldiers and sailors of their commands, made up a
fine, well-drilled army of 35,000 men, who had come to fight a force of
20,000 recruits; men not at all well-versed in war, and nearly half of
whom were ill and not able to be on duty.

But Washington calmly watched the British on Staten Island, and the
British ships, more than 400 of them, in the bay, and was not at all
dismayed. Once General Howe wrote to Washington suggesting measures that
would lead to peace, but nothing came of it.

Late in the month of August the fighting commenced. General Howe led his
forces to Long Island--led 21,000 men, for he thought that the best way
to capture New York was to first vanquish the army on Long Island by an
overwhelming force. Then the subduing of the city across the river would
be easy.

Washington hurried what men he could across to Long Island to assist
those already there. But even then the Americans were outnumbered as two
to one. The patriots fought long and well, but they were defeated. Two
hundred or more were killed, and three times as many, including three
generals, were made prisoners. But more than 300 of the British were
also killed.

The day after the battle, the American army was in Brooklyn, penned in
on the land side by the British troops and on the other by the wide,
swift-running river. It was raining in torrents. Washington was there.
He planned a retreat that was to save his army. All the boats to be
found along the shores of the Island of Manhattan were taken to Brooklyn
in the dead of night. Silently the soldiers were put aboard, so silently
that, although the British were almost within speaking distance, no