The Battle for New York Staff Ride

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Staff Ride After Action Review

Fordham University Pershing Rifle alumni hosted a Company D-8 staff ride on 29 August 2009.

This battle study was designed to educate the participants about American military history, grand strategy planning, the conduct of military campaigns, and the conduct of both large and small scale tactics. In the 12-hour event, participants gained an understanding of the American Army's first battle starting with the initial engagement on Long Island (Brooklyn) and ending with engagements in the Bronx. At the end of the staff ride, we conducted a 2-hour dinner symposium where students discussed:

a. American and British operational and tactical plans in New York;

b. American and British capabilities, vulnerabilities, and decisive points;

c. Whether the belligerents achieved their political or military objectives.

Learning Objectives.

· Belligerents’ tactical plans, strengths and weaknesses, and why plans were chosen;

· Centers of Gravity (COG) and whether each side targeted opponents’ COG;

· Lines of operations and their effects on the campaign;

· The effects of geography/terrain and weather on the battle;

· American and British points of culmination;

· How the use of resources effected the outcome of the operation;

· The limits of logistics through the campaign in New York.

The Narrows

(View from Fort Hamilton)In June 1776, British transports arrived in lower New York Harbor. General Howe camped on Staten Island. Within weeks, the British invasion force across the harbor grew to over 32,000 men including several thousand German mercenaries. On August 22, after the failure of peace overtures, General Howe landed 15,000 men unopposed on Gravesend Bay. Admiral Richard Howe commanding the British armada provided naval gun cover with frigates anchored in the Narrows. Throughout the morning, transports ferried redcoats, German jaegers and grenadiers from Staten Island to Gravesend Bay. By noon, almost 5,000 men and about 40 cannons were safely on Long Island.

The Old Stone House

The Vechte-Cortelyou House near the former Gowanus Creek was originally built by Nicholas Vechte in 1699. On August 27, 1776, British and Hessian soldiers used the fieldstone and brick house as an artillery position from where they attacked American soldiers who fled Battle Pass for the safety of American forts across the Gowanus Creek. Its sturdy, two-foot thick walls and its strategic position made it the focus of the most dramatic event of the day. 400 soldiers of the First Maryland Regiment under the command of Colonel William Smallwood attacked the farmhouse six times, gaining it twice from the British. They were ultimately repulsed by the sheer number of redcoats. Of the 400 Marylanders, only 10 successfully escaped to Brooklyn Heights.

Fulton Ferry

Following the calamitous battle, General Washington realized that his position was untenable. Admiral Richard Howe had the means to cut off the rebels’ escape by moving the fleet to the East River blocking the escape route to Manhattan. For various reasons, he did not use the Royal Navy to end the rebellion. On August 29, Washington took advantage of the darkness, a heavy night fog, and the lack of enemy ships to silently withdraw the Continental Army in small boats. The next morning, the British attacked empty American positions.