The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775-1777 (The Revolution Trilogy Book 1)

by Rick Atkinson

Faith in Washington plummeted. “Would to heaven General Lee were here, is the language of officers and men,” a Delaware colonel reported. Such doubts were justified. The commanding general had misread the battlefield and botched the battle. Though Congress wanted New York defended, Washington had failed to recognize that holding Long Island—the key to holding New York—would be impossible with a weak, divided, overmatched army that lacked naval power. Once the fight began, he did little more than stand on his fortified hill and wait for the bad news to drift in. Even as darkness descended on Tuesday night, he neglected to realize that the Heights of Guana had been completely lost. In the coming days he would tell Hancock that he could still defend New York “if the men would do their duty,” an unseemly affront toward the troops by their leader. In his first true test as a battle captain, Washington was found wanting. “In general,” John Adams tartly concluded, “our generals were outgeneraled.” Washington’s best, most redeeming qualities would have to emerge on another field, on another day.