How Fog Literally Saved the United States

Had it not been for a heavy fog, the America's revolution would have ended 16 months after it began

 After defeating the British in the siege of  Boston  on March 17, 1776, General George Washington marched the Continental Army south to city at the southern end of Manhattan Island. Washington understood that the city's harbor would provide an excellent base for the British Navy during the campaign, so he established defenses there and waited for the British to attack.

In July, the British, under the command of General Willim Howe anded a few miles across the harbor from Manhattan on Staten Island. They were slowly reinforced by ships in Lower New York Bay during the next month and a half, bringing their total force to 32,000 troops. 

Washington knew the difficulty in holding the city with the British fleet in control of the entrance to the harbor at the Narrows. He moved the bulk of his forces to Manhattan, believing that it would be the first target.

During the Summer months, ashington divided his army roughly in half, deploying about 9,000 soldiers to heavily fortified positions in Brooklyn and leaving the rest in Manhattan to defend New York Harbor against an expected British invasion.

This split force resulted in a disastrous trap.  General Howe landed a massive force on Long Island, outmaneuvering and outnumbering the Americans at the Battle of Brooklyn  on August 27, 1776. Pinned against the East River with the British closing in, Washington pulled off one of history's most famous tactical retreats.

Battle of Long Island 1776

Five days later they attacked the American defenses on the Guan Heights. Unknown to the Patriots, however, Howe had brought his main army around their rear and attacked their flank soon after.  The Patriots panicked, resulting in 20% losses through casualties and captures.,  

 The Heroic Maryland 400

 To allow the rest of the retreating army to escape British and Hessian fire, 33-year-old Major Mordecai Gist and about 400 soldiers from the 1st Maryland Regiment made a heroic, repeated stand against a vastly superior British force at  " The Old Stone House". Of the 400 only a dozen men survived, 

Major Mordecai Gist

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With the British quickly advancing toward his front and his back to the East River  Washington and his 9000 troops were trapped.  He knew the only way to save his army and the revolution was to find a way back across the East River and back into Manhattan, and the only way to do that was by boat.

The Genius of Washington

Washington called on 34 yerColonel John Glover's 14th Continental Regiment regiment to help.. Glover's regiment was  composed almost entirely of experienced sailors, fishermen, and mariners, men who knew exactly where find dependable seafaring vessels along the river.  Plus they had the skills  required to navigate the treacherous, tidal East River in total darkness. 

Colonel John Glover

The men rounded up every commercial, private, and public watercraft they could find along the Manhattan and Brooklyn shores. This hastily assembled flotilla included local merchant vessels, cargo sloops, rowboats, and civilian flats

   

Washington's Little White Lie

To prevent the British from discovering the retreat, Washington utilized a clever cover story. His official orders stated that the gathered flat-bottomed boats were being assembled to transport reinforcements into Brooklyn to reinforce Washington's troops , rather than evacuating them out.

Getting word that Washington was ferrying in more American soldiers from Manhattan into Brooklyn to reinforce his army, Howe immediately halted and began building defernses to hold off the advancing American army.

On the night of the 29th, under the cover of darkness, large number of Washington's 9000 man army were safely evacuated back across the river to Manhattan.  However by daybreak on August 30th  still a large American soldiers were still waiting in the trenches to cross.

Devine Providence or Just Plain Luck?

The peculiar and highly cooperative weather played a massive, tactical role in saving the Continental Army from total destruction by the British. The exact sequence of events that night and the following morning included :

• The Nor'easter Rain: The evening of August 29th started with a severe coastal storm. The pouring rain and heavy winds made it nearly impossible for the British on land to hear or see the Americans.  
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• Winds and Naval Blockade: The violent northeasterly winds also trapped Admiral Richard Howe’s British warships, preventing them from navigating up the East River to cut off the Americans' escape route.  '
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• The Morning Fog:  Right as the sun began to rise, a dense summer fog rolled across the water and the Brooklyn shoreline, reducing visibility to just a few yards.  

 When the fog finally lifted, the British advanced only to find it completely abandoned.

The Revolution Saved

Over the course of 13 hours, under the cover of darkness and a dense  miraculous fog, the men had  made multiple, silent back-and-forth trips to successfully transport the remaining men including horses and artillery, across the roughly 3,600 feet wide East River without a single loss of life.  

Think About This

Veterans of the event say that the fog was so dense the morning of Aug. 30, 1776 they couldn't see more than 5 feet.  Without it, there would have nothing to slow the British from closing in on the Americans waiting for boats; including General Washington who had stayed behind with his men.  Vastly outnumbered, Washington could have been killed or captured or taken back to England to stand trial.  

Had it not been for the fog, it's very possible we wouldn't be celebrating July 4th in the United States because there would be no United States.