New York’s Battle Lines

America’s important cities at the time of the American Revolution (there were not many) were each occupied at some point by the enemy. That is what happens when a nation clinging to a coastline fights a maritime power. Of them all, my city fared worst.

In 1776, New York covered only the southern end of Manhattan Island. The rest of what is now the five boroughs was woods, fields, farms, and villages whose names now stand for neighborhoods. The harbor and Staten Island lay to the south, the Hudson River to the west, the East River and Long Island to the east.

About the Author

Richard Brookhiser

Historian Richard Brookhiser is a senior editor of National Review and a senior fellow at the National Review Institute.

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America’s important cities at the time of the American Revolution (there were not many) were each occupied at some point by the enemy. That is what happens when a nation clinging to a coastline fights a maritime power. Of them all, my city fared worst.

In 1776, New York covered only the southern end of Manhattan Island. The rest of what is now the five boroughs was woods, fields, farms, and villages whose names now stand for neighborhoods. The harbor and Staten Island lay to the south, the Hudson River to the west, the East River and Long Island to the east.