Long Island's Fog: Eyewitness Account - Colonel Benjamin Tallmadge

At this time a very dense fog began to rise, and it seemed to settle in a peculiar manner over both encampments....

The night of August 29, was described by Colonel Benjamin Tallmadge. Tallmadge had been a friend of Nathan Hale, and became a trusted aide of Washington and the coordinator of his spy networks in New York and Connecticut. "Our intrenchment was so weak," wrote Tallmadge about Brooklyn Heights, "that it is most wonderful the British general did not attempt to storm it soon after the battle. Gen. Washington was so fully aware of the perilous situation of this division of his army that he immediately convened a council of war, at which the propriety of retiring to New York was decided on."

"After sustaining incessant fatigue and constant watchfulness for two days and nights," continued Tallmadge, "attended by heavy rain, exposed every moment to [the danger of] an attack from a vastly superior force in front, and [expecting] to be cut off from the possibility of a retreat to New York by the fleet, which might enter the East River—on the night of the 29th of August, Gen. Washington commenced recrossing his troops from Brooklyn to New York [in boats manned by a regiment of Massachusetts fisherman under Colonel John Glover].

"To move so large a body of troops, with all their necessary appendages, across a river full a mile wide, with a rapid current, in face of [the before-mentioned enemy threat] seemed to present most formidable obstacles. But ... the Commander-in-Chief so arranged his business that ... by 10 o'clock, the troops began to retire from the lines in such a manner that no chasm was made but as one regiment left their station, the remaining troops moved to the right and left and filled up the vacancies, while Gen. Washington took his station at the ferry and superintended the embarkation....

"As the dawn of the next day approached, those of us who remained in the trenches became very anxious for our own safety, and when the dawn appeared there were several regiments still on duty. At this time a very dense fog began to rise, and it seemed to settle in a peculiar manner over both encampments.... When the sun rose we had just received orders to leave the lines, but before we reached the ferry the Commander-in-Chief sent one of his aids to order the regiment to repair again to their former station, where we tarried until the sun had risen.... The fog remained as dense as ever.

"Finally, the second order arrived for the regiment to retire, and we very joyfully bid those trenches ... adieu. When we reached Brooklyn ferry, the boats had not returned from their last trip, but they very soon appeared.... I think I saw Gen. Washington on the ferry stairs when I stepped into one of the last boats that received the troops. I left my horse tied to a post at the ferry.

"The troops having now all safely reached New York, and the fog continuing as thick as ever, I began to think of my ... horse, and requested leave to return and bring him off. Having obtained permission, I called for a crew of volunteers to go with me, and, guiding the boat myself, I obtained my horse and got off some distance into the river before the enemy appeared in Brooklyn. As soon as they reached the ferry we were saluted merrily from their musketry, and finally by their field pieces; but we returned in safety.

"In the history of warfare I do not recollect a more fortunate retreat."

General Washington greatly valued the actions of the Massachusetts fishermen that night, and he called on them again on Christmas Day in 1776, when the Continental Army crossed the ice-choked Delaware River to victory at Trenton.

Source: The Schiller Institute https://archive.schillerinstitute.com/educ/hist/eiw_this_week/v5n35_aug28_1776.html