The Red Lion Inn was a tavern in

Colonial New York The Province of New York was a British proprietary colony and later a royal colony on the northeast coast of North America from 1664 to 1783. It extended from Long Island on the Atlantic, up the Hudson River and Mohawk River valleys to the G ...

located on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

in what is today the

New York City borough The boroughs of New York City are the five major governmental districts that comprise New York City. They are the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island. Each borough is coextensive with a respective county of the State of New ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

History

The inn, named in honor of

Henry V of England Henry V (16 September 1386 – 31 August 1422), also called Henry of Monmouth, was King of England from 1413 until his death in 1422. Despite his relatively short reign, Henry's outstanding military successes in the Hundred Years' War against ...

for the tavern he rested in after the

Battle of Agincourt The Battle of Agincourt ( ; ) was an English victory in the Hundred Years' War. It took place on 25 October 1415 (Saint Crispin's Day) near Azincourt, in northern France. The unexpected victory of the vastly outnumbered English troops agains ...

, was at the junction of three country roads: the '' Narrows Road'' which led north from Denyse's Ferry; ''Martense Lane'' which passed through the

Heights of Guan The Heights of Guan is a historical name given to a series of hills extending in a ridge along western Long Island in New York State. The ridge extends in an east-northeast direction across the modern-day New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Que ...

Flatbush Flatbush is a neighborhood in the New York City Borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood consists of several subsections in central Brooklyn and is generally bounded by Prospect Park (Brooklyn), Prospect Park to the nort ...

, and the ''Gowanus Road'' which led to

Brooklyn Heights Brooklyn Heights is a residential neighborhood within the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Old Fulton Street near the Brooklyn Bridge on the north, Cadman Plaza West on the east, Atlantic Avenue on the south ...

: this colonial era juncture is the modern day location of Fourth Avenue and 35th Street. In the early morning hours of August 27, 1776, the first shots of the

Battle of Brooklyn 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 ...

were fired here when British troops under Major General James Grant encountered American pickets stationed at the Red Lion. According to some accounts the British troops were foraging in a

watermelon The watermelon (''Citrullus lanatus'') is a species of flowering plant in the family Cucurbitaceae, that has a large, edible fruit. It is a Glossary of botanical terms#scandent, scrambling and trailing vine-like plant, and is plant breeding ...

patch. After an initial exchange of

musket A musket is a muzzle-loaded long gun that appeared as a smoothbore weapon in the early 16th century, at first as a heavier variant of the arquebus, capable of penetrating plate armour. By the mid-16th century, this type of musket gradually dis ...

fire, the Americans retreated in a panic up the Gowanus Road toward the Vechte house. Major Edward Burd who had been in command was captured along with a lieutenant and 15 privates.

Samuel Holden Parsons Samuel Holden Parsons (May 14, 1737 – November 17, 1789) was an American lawyer, jurist, generalHeitman, ''Officers of the Continental Army'', 428. in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, and a pioneer to the Ohio Countr ...

a lawyer from Connecticut who had secured a commission in the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies representing the Thirteen Colonies and later the United States during the American Revolutionary War. It was formed on June 14, 1775, by a resolution passed by the Second Continental Co ...

and was recently promoted to Brigadier General was Field Officer of the Day. He and Colonel

Samuel John Atlee Samuel John Atlee (1739 – November 25, 1786) was an American soldier and statesman from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He was a delegate to the Continental Congress for the Province of Pennsylvania from 1778 to 1782. Early life Samuel was born in Tre ...

of Pennsylvania, a veteran of the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War, 1754 to 1763, was a colonial conflict in North America between Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of France, France, along with their respective Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...

were stationed further north on the Gowanus Road. The two colonels roused from their sleep by the sound of musket fire managed to intercept some of the troops fleeing from the British at the Red Lion and form them into a

skirmish line Skirmishers are light infantry or light cavalry soldiers deployed as a vanguard, flank guard or rearguard to screen a tactical position or a larger body of friendly troops from enemy advances. They may be deployed in a skirmish line, an irr ...

. They also sent word to Major General

Israel Putnam Israel Putnam (January 7, 1718 – May 29, 1790), popularly known as "Old Put", was an American military officer and landowner who fought with distinction at the Battle of Bunker Hill during the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783). He als ...

at Brooklyn that the enemy was advancing. At three o'clock General Putnam informed Brigadier General (William Alexander)

Lord Stirling William Alexander, also known as Lord Stirling (December 27, 1725 – January 15, 1783), was a Scottish-American major general during the American Revolutionary War. He held a claim to be the male heir to the Scottish title of Earl of Stirl ...

and directed him to meet the enemy. Stirling set out with the available companies of the Maryland and Delaware regiments. Stirling's force, totaling about 1,500 men, encountered the British within a half mile of the Red Lion and formed for battle. At daybreak Stirling and Parsons would be reinforced with 400 troops sent by General John Sullivan from those near the Flatbush Pass. The reinforcements brought the total American strength up to 2,100 troops under

's command. The British troops under General Grant, also being reinforced, would reach over 7,000 troops. Stirling's force stood firm under British cannon and musket fire for about four hours. At that point Grant advanced his forces and Stirling gradually fell back along the Gowanus Road toward Brooklyn. Other British forces under General Charles Earl

Cornwallis Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis (31 December 1738 – 5 October 1805) was a British Army officer, Whig politician and colonial administrator. In the United States and United Kingdom, he is best known as one of the leading Britis ...

and Hessians under General

Leopold Philip de Heister Leopold Philip de Heister (4 April 1716, Homberg - 19 November 1777, Kassel) was a Hessian general who notably fought for the British during the American Revolutionary War. Biography Heister originally chose his native Hessian service before jo ...

were already in Stirling's rear and his force began to come apart as they encountered other American units fleeing west over the fields and along the Port Road to cross the Gowanus marshes to the safety of the main American defensive line at Brooklyn. In the fighting near the Old Stone House and Brouwer's Mills, one battalion of 400 troops from Colonel

William Smallwood William Smallwood (1732February 14, 1792) was an American planter, soldier and politician from Charles County, Maryland. He served in the American Revolutionary War, rising to the rank of major general. He was serving as the fourth Governo ...

1st Maryland Regiment The 1st Maryland Regiment (Smallwood's Regiment) originated with the authorization of a Maryland Battalion of the Maryland State Troops on 14 January 1776. It was organized in the spring at Baltimore, Maryland (three companies) and Annapolis, M ...

led by Major

Mordecai Gist Mordecai Gist (1743–1792) was a member of a prominent Maryland family who became a brigadier general in command of the Maryland Line in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. Life Gist was born February 22, 1742/3 in Ba ...

and still under

's command, would engage these 2,000 British and Hessian troops to cover the thousands of Americans retreating across the marshes and Gowanus creek. During other nearby fighting, Colonel Atlee was captured by the British and General Parsons was eventually able to escape to the American lines. Henry Phelps Johnston, ''The Campaign of 1776 around New York and Brooklyn'', p. 176.

References

{{coord, 40.6547, -74.0037, type:landmark_globe:earth_region:US-NY, display=title 1776 in New York (state) History of Brooklyn Taverns in the American Revolution Buildings and structures in Brooklyn Sunset Park, Brooklyn