A British naval bombardment so terrifying that Washington's militia fled in panic — and an enraged George Washington nearly rode into enemy lines trying to stop them.
On September 15, 1776, five British warships lined up off the Manhattan shore and unleashed a broadside of nearly 80 cannons simultaneously on the American breastworks at Kip's Bay. The bombardment lasted a full hour, turning the earthworks to rubble.
The 500 Connecticut militia defending the position — many of them untrained teenagers — broke and ran when the British boats hit the shore. Washington galloped to the scene, expecting to rally them. Instead he watched his entire force dissolve in panic.
Washington was so furious he reportedly froze on horseback within 80 yards of the advancing British troops, refusing to move. Aides had to physically grab his horse's bridle and drag him from the field before he was captured or killed.
The landing split Manhattan in two. General Putnam's 3,500 troops in lower Manhattan suddenly had the British between them and the American lines to the north. A young aide named Aaron Burr guided Putnam's force up the west side of the island on a back road, slipping past British patrols in a narrow escape.
By nightfall, 9,000 British troops had come ashore. The Continental Army retreated north to Harlem Heights, abandoning New York City. Britain would hold the city for the rest of the war — seven years.
The very next day at Harlem Heights, Washington's army stood its ground and pushed back a British advance. The small tactical success mattered enormously for morale — proving that the men who had fled in panic could fight, and that their general hadn't given up on them.