The Battle of Long Island, also known as the Battle of Brooklyn and the Battle of Brooklyn Heights, was an action of the American Revolutionary War fought on August 27, 1776, at and near the western edge of Long Island in present-day Brooklyn. The British defeated the Continental Army and gained access to the strategically important Port of New York, which they held for the rest of the war. It was the first major battle to take place after the United States declared its independence on July 4, 1776, in Philadelphia. It was the largest battle of the Revolutionary War in terms of both troop deployment and combat.
The Battle of Long Island, a 21st-century portrait of the battle
General William Howe
General George Washington
The British fleet in the lower bay, published in Harper's Magazine in 1876, depicts a Royal Navy fleet amassing off Staten Island in the summer of 1776
Long Island is an island in southeastern New York state, constituting a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land area. The island extends from New York Harbor 118 miles (190 km) eastward into the North Atlantic Ocean with a maximum north–south width of 23 miles (37 km). With a land area of 1,401 square miles (3,630 km2), it is the largest island in the contiguous United States.
Image: Montauk 01
Image: Unisphere at night (cropped)
Image: Spiderweb BB jeh
Image: Coney Island beach and amusement parks (June 2016)
