| New Yorkers Took British Weapons
In Raid
As war broke out at Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts, the
situation also heated up in New York City. At 60 Broad Street, a
plaque created for the Sons of the Revolution marks the location
where the local militia seized a cache of arms from British forces
on June 6, 1775. Marinus Willett led the Americans. In addition
to serving as militia captain, he was elected mayor of New York
after the war.
In August of 1775, Americans took possession of cannons from the
Battery at the tip of Manhattan and exchanged fire with a boatload
of British soldiers. They retaliated by firing a 32-gun broadside
on the city, sending a cannon ball through the roof of Fraunces
Tavern.
After the British were driven from Boston, Washington moved the
major portion of his army to New York, expecting a British attack.
The British Arrive
After the disgrace of losing Boston, the British did not intend
to lose the battle for New York. General Howe arrived off New York
from Halifax with 130 ships on June 25, 1776. His brother, Admiral
Howe, showed up on July 12 with 150 more. With the greatest armada
the world had ever seen off Sandy Hook, the Americans were ill-prepared
to cope with the imperial might.
A single battery of nine-pounders fired on the British as they
passed the Narrows, killing a sailor and wounding nine more. The
British first landed on the Staten Island side in the vicinity of
what is now Fort Wadsworth. Once ashore, they planned their attack
on New York.
|
A Sons of the Revolution plaque at
50 Broad Streets marks the site where the New York militia took
a cache of arms from the British
as the war heated up in New England.
Colonists pulled down the lead statue
of King George on the Bowling Green and made bullets after the
Declaration of Independence.
|
