The Battle of Brooklyn and Red Hook's Fort Defiance, 1776
At the farthest southwest point of Red Hook sits Valentino Park, a beautiful public space that looks out directly into the New York harbor, and is one of the best vantage points of the Statue of Liberty in Brooklyn. But before the Statue of Liberty, this vantage point was crucial for during the American Revolution.
"...I am now stationed at Red Hook, about four miles from New York. It is an island, situated in such a manner as to command the entrance of the harbor entirely, where we have a fort with four eighteen-pounders, to fire en barbette, that is, over the top of the works, which is vastly better than firing through embrasures, as we can bring all our guns to bear on the same object at once. The fort is named Defiance. Should the enemy's fleet make an attempt, they will, I think, be annoyed by it exceedingly. It is thought to be one of the most important posts we have." - Lieutenant Samual Shaw, American Officer, June 11, 1776.
Lieutenant Shaw describes here Fort Defiance, one of the most important positions for the Battle of Brooklyn, a battle crucial to the American Victory in the Revolutionary War, though we lost the battle. The Battle of Brooklyn, also known as the Battle of Long Island, was the largest battle in the Revolutionary War. It was also the first battle fought after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, starting on August 27, 1776.
Fort Defiance was an earthen fortification (also known as “earthworks”) that featured five cannons that fired over the defensive walls. Allegedly, it was built on the ruins of an older 17th century fort. The physical fort was perched on the southwestern-most tip of Red Hook, on the hook that gives our neighborhood its name, when that was an island, Cypress Tree Island. It was high with 50-60 foot bluffs facing the harbor and dotted with cypress trees. Behind this island, a narrow waterway, and then marshes and tide mill ponds formed much of what is now the peninsula of Red Hook.
Battle of Brooklyn Background
January, 1776. General George Washington sent General Charles Lee to New York City with the task of fortifying the city against the British. His conclusion was that it could not be held, but Washington and his generals believed it was worth trying. On the other side, the British hoped that a crushing defeat of the Americans in New York would quickly end the war.
Brooklyn, located on the western tip of Long Island, was strategically important because whoever controlled its shoreline, by ship and by cannon, could control both the New York Bay and access to the interior up the Hudson River.
New Yorkers, hearing of the British siege on Boston, take their city's arsenal on April 23, 1775 and, for a time, control of Manhattan and Brooklyn's ports as well as the countryside. For defense, George Washington's forces built forts – embattlements with cannon – on high ground along the coast including Fort Defiance in Red Hook, Brooklyn.
Brigadier General Greene of the American army assigned Col. Varnum of the 1st Rhode Island regiment to garrison Red Hook’s Fort Defiance on the 8th of July, 1776. Greene told George Washington that he regarded Fort Defiance as a "a post of vast importance."
Varnum's 1st Rhode Island regiment is generally considered as the America’s first Black military regiment. The official establishment of the Black regiment dates to February 1778. It was on that date that Rhode Island promised freedom to enslaved men who enlisted for the duration of the war. However, even prior to that date, there were Black men fighting in integrated Rhode Island companies; at least 60 in 1777, and possibly some may have been part of the Battle of Brooklyn.
In July, the soldiers at Fort Defiance were trading fire with British naval forces.
“Friday, July 12th About half after 3 in the Afternoon His Majesty's Ship Phenix, Commanded by Capt. Parker, and the Rose, by Capt. Wallace, with the Tryal Schooner and two Tenders, got under Sail to pass the Town of New York ; in about forty minutes they got a breast of Paulus's Hook*, before which time they did not fire a Shot, tho' they received the whole of the Rebels fire from Red Hook, Governors Island, the Battery, and from some Guns in the Town.” * Paulus Hook is now Jersey City.”
“Sunday, July 14th. This day a Flag of Truce sent by Lord Howe to New York was stopped by the Rebels off Red Hook; it carried a Letter for Mr. Washington, which was not received, as the Title was not thought honorable enough, being only directed to Geo : Washington, Esqr. Letters carried by another Flag to Amboy was received, but we know no further, or what was the intent of it. From appearances think the Rebels will not listen to any proffers for an Accomodation ; their declaration of Independancy is a convincing proof that they will oppose every mode for a Reconciliation unless on their own terms.”- Stephen Kemble, deputy-adjutant general of the British Forces in North America
The HMS Roebuck, the bigger of the ships depicted here, traded fire with Red Hook's Fort Defiance during the Battle of Brooklyn, 1776.
By late August, the British had amassed a large well-trained army in Staten Island. Then on August 26, they landed around Brooklyn's Gravesend, to the south of Sunset Park and Red Hook. The Battle of Brooklyn began on August 27, primarily starting along Gowanus Heights, a ridge that runs along modern day Park Slope and Prospect Park and extends several miles in both directions from there (several informative plaques exist today commemorating the event).
The British had the upperhand and out-flanked the Americans, attacking from three directions. An estimated 2,000 American troops were killed or captured in three hours. It was during this battle that George Washington is said to have exclaimed: “Good God! What brave fellows I must this day lose.”
As the British advanced, the American army retreated through the marsh land of the Gowanus, many of them drowning, to Brooklyn Heights, thanks in part to the Maryland 400, who, at the cost of most of their own lives, bogged the British down.
The British, secure in their victory, stopped before Brooklyn Heights.
On the water, a British frigate, the HMS Roebuck attempted to sail up what is now called the Buttermilk channel between Red Hook and Governors Island.
There was a storm, and the Roebuck faced headwinds, and it’s hard for ships with square sails to sail into the wind. That put the ship close to Fort Defiance and both sides shelled each other causing a lot of damage. The storm’s fog also prevented the Roebuck’s crew from seeing or hearing (fog muffles sound) what was happening just a short way upstream at what is now the northern part of Brooklyn Bridge Park.
Washington was retreating under the cover of darkness and heavy fog thanks to the the Marblehead Regiment of Massachusetts, George Washington’s unofficial navy.
The men of the Marblehead regiment, (sometimes called the “web-footed Marbleheaders), commanded by Colonel John Glover, were from the fishing towns of Marblehead, Beverly, Salem, Lynn and vicinity. As the American Revolution Institute notes, the regiment reflected the ethnic composition of New England maritime towns. Native Americans, Blacks, and mixed-race men sailed on Yankee ships, lived in seaport villages – and enlisted in Glover's regiment.
Captain Graydon Alexander, of the 3rd Pennsylvania Battalion, who was among those who retreated from the Battle of Brooklyn, wrote highly of the Marbleheadersin his 1846 memoir but recalled that “even in this regiment there were a number of negroes, which, to persons unaccustomed to such associations, had a disagreeable, degrading effect.” Glover saw fellow sailors.
It was Glover's Marblehead regiment who George Washington turned to run the overnight exodus from Brooklyn by boat. Washington also turned to them when he made his more famous crossing of the Delaware River on Christmas night, 1776.
Little is known of what happened to Fort Defiance immediately following the Battle of Brooklyn and the subsequent retreat of American Forces from British advancement. What is known is that the ability of the American forces to retreat, due in part to unsung forces like the Marblehead Regiment and Fort Defiance, ensured that George Washington and his troops lived to regroup and fight another day.
No remnants of the fort are known to have been preserved.*
The presumption is that the high bluffs of Cypress Tree Island were levelled around the 1840s for landfill as the development of Red Hook took off. It wouldn’t be until 2012 that the name “Fort Defiance” was brought back to its proper location when some signs were installed in the Valentino Park. For more information about the legacy of Fort Defiance and its position in Red Hook, click here
To see maps from this period, go to our map collection here.
When looking at maps, note that Governors Island has had several names over the centuries:
Paggank: The original name used by the Lenape people, meaning "Nut Island".
Noten Eylandt: The Dutch name given in the 1620s after its many nut trees.
Nutten Island: The English spelling used after the British took over the area in 1664.
*The massive digging for the construction of the Red Hook Coastal Resiliency (RHCR) project has been unearthing artifacts, and it may be that things associated with the fort will be found. Cannonballs from the period have been found prior to the RHCR project. More at Refinding Fort Defiance.
