A history of the United States for schools . water. It would, nevertheless, bemost unwise to surrender it without a struggle. If youcannot beat the enemy, it is always worth while in warto use up his time and fritter away his energies. Nogeneral ever understood this better than order to hold the city of New York, it was necessaryto hold Brooklyn Heights ; there Putnam had 5,000men behind intrenchments, while 4,000 more, underSullivan, guarded the roads approaching the Heightsfrom the south. General Howe had 25,000 men en-camped on Staten Is-land, and his Howe, with a
A history of the United States for schools . water. It would, nevertheless, bemost unwise to surrender it without a struggle. If youcannot beat the enemy, it is always worth while in warto use up his time and fritter away his energies. Nogeneral ever understood this better than order to hold the city of New York, it was necessaryto hold Brooklyn Heights ; there Putnam had 5,000men behind intrenchments, while 4,000 more, underSullivan, guarded the roads approaching the Heightsfrom the south. General Howe had 25,000 men en-camped on Staten Is-land, and his Howe, with aresistless fleet, com-manded all the waterswithin reach. On the 27th ofAugust, Howe at-tacked Sullivan with20,000 men. Withhis great superiorityof force he was ableto surround the Amer-icans and take morethan 1,000 prisoners,including General Sullivan. If Howehad at once attackedthe works on Brooklyn Heights, he would probablyhave met with a bloody defeat; but Bunker Hill had ^ From Murrays History of the Present War, London, 1780, i. SIR W ILLI\M }10\VE §§ 87, 88. THE WINNING OF INDEPENDENCE. 219 taught him a lesson, and he determined to besiege theplace instead of assaulting it. When Washing- a skillfulton perceived this intention, he withdrew the ^?®^*-army, taking it across the East River one dark, foggynight, in such boats andscows as he could col-lect. This skillful re-treat, under the verynose of the enemy, wasa wonderful achieve-ment. Howe crossedthe river a few dayslater, occupied the cityof New York, and at-tacked Washingtonscentre at HarlemHeights, but was de-feated. Howe spentthe next two monthsin vainly trying to getWashington to fight in an unfavorable position. In one battle, at White Plains,October 29, the British gained a slight advantage atgreat cost of life. A little later, November 16, portwash-they attacked Fort Washington, on the Hud- River, and took it by storm. The American garri-son of 3,000 men were taken prisoners. This disasterwas
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