By the afternoon of August 27, 1776, the Battle of Brooklyn had rapidly become a life or death struggle for the American army. After distracting the American forces with an auxiliary diversion that morning, the British sprung their trap. The night before the battle, Generals Howe and Clinton had led 10,000 troops to the rear of the Americans in a flanking maneuver. After the Americans had fought off the British diversion to their front, the 10,000 British descended upon the Continental troops from the north. According to one American soldier, the Americans were entirely unaware of the presence of the large force to their rear, until “the main body of their army, by a route we never dreamed of, had entirely surrounded us, and drove within the lines, or scattered in the woods, all our men, except the Delaware and Maryland battalions, who were standing at bay with double their number.

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