NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
IRM (Brooklyn) 74-1312
University of the State of New Yorl(. Div
Bedford Corners, Brooklyn
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NEW YORK STATE LOCAL HISTORY
LEAFLETS
PREPARED BY THE DIVISION OF
ARCHIVES AND HISTORY
BEDFORD CORNERS, BROOKLYN
Reprinted from the annual report of the State Historian
ALBANY
THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
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NOTE
These leaflets are intended for the boys and
girls in our New York schools so that they may
come to know something of the sources of the
history which they study. It is hoped that the
teachers, their pupils and others into whose
hands they come will feel encouraged to make
suggestions for similar selections, or even them-
selves prepare material and present it to the
Division of Archives and History for editing
and publication.
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BEDFORD CORNERS
When we cross the busy thoroughfares at the intersection of
Bedford avenue and Fulton street, Brooklyn, today, with the honk-
ing of automobiles on the streets and the thundering of the elevated
trains overhead, there is nothing to remind us of the historic interest
of the spot. Yet, here during the Revolution stood the hamlet of
Bedford and in this vicinity took place some of the important inci-
dents in the Battle of Long Island in 1776.
Along what is about the line of Fulton street today once lay the
Jamaica road, or, as it was sometimes called, " the king's highway."
From the ferry over the East river, at the foot of the present Fulton
street, the road ran to the village of Brooklyn (in the vicinity of the
present Fulton and Hoyt streets), thence to the hamlet of Bedford
and so on to Jamaica. At Bedford Corners, the Jamaica road was
intersected by a crossroad. One branch of this latter road, the
Clove road, stretched in a southerly direction to Flatbush, while
the other branch, called the Cripplebush road, went in a northerly
direction to Newtown (maps i and 2).
The settlement of Bedford seems to have begun in the last years
of Governor Stuyvesant's administration (1647-64). As early as
1668 Bedford had an inn. By 1775 Brooklyn "was a pleasant but
quiet agricultural town, numbering between three and four thou-
sand inhabitants, who were mostly grouped within three or four
hamlets or neighborhoods." One of these hamlets was Bedford,
consisting of some scattered farmhouses with their surrounding
fields. Not far from Bedford Corners, which was the center of the
hamlet, some of the incidents which go to make up the Battle of
Long Island took place.
Before we can understand these occurrences, we must get an idea
of the events leading to the battle and of the field on which it was
fought. Some time after the British were defeated in the vicinity
of Boston and at Charleston, South Carolina, large numbers of
their troops were landed on Staten Island with the view of attack-
ing New York City. Washington, after his success at Boston, had
come down to New York City, and though his army was far inferior
in size, discipline and equipment to that of the British, he could not
give up New York without making great efforts to retain it. The
heights on the Brooklyn side of the East river were the key to the
possession of New York; for if the enemy obtained these heights,
it could easily capture New York. Fortifications stretching from
Wallabout bay to Gowanus creek were accordingly erected by the
Americans. The chief work was Fort Putnam, on the site of the
present Fort Greene Park where today the monument in honor of
the prison ship martyrs stands.
The Battle of Long Island, however, did not take place along
this line of fortifications but farther south along a range of low
hills where the Americans had established some outposts. On
August 22, 1776, the British, under General Howe, landed at
Gravesend bay without meeting any opposition. They thus took
possession of the level plain where today is situated south Brooklyn.
To get at the American fortifications, Howe's army had to penetrate
the long ridge of hills mentioned above, which extended north-
easterly from New York bay. These hills were covered with thick
woods, making a strong defensive position. Three roads ran
through passes in the hills and thence into the Jamaica road : the
Gowanus road near the shore, the road from Flatbush, the Clove
road which branched off from the Flatbush road and, as we have
noted above, met the Jamaica road at Bedford. Along the wooded
range of hills, the Americans had about eight hundred men at each
of the three passes. This was all that could be spared. Far to
the east lay a fourth pass through the hills, the Jamaica pass, near
the site of the present Evergreen Cemetery. This pass, because of
the lack of troops and particularly of cavalry, was almost
unguarded. General Putnam commanded the main forces of the
Americans behind the fortifications near the East river, while his
subordinate, General Sullivan, had chief command of the outposts
stationed at the three passes. The total of the American army on
Long Island was about 7000, while the British numbered about
21,000. Having fixed in your mind the relative position of the
Jamaica road, the hills south of it, and the roads leading through
the hills (map 2), you are prepared to understand what occurred
on August 27, 1776, at the Battle of Long Island.
The British found out through Tory sympathizers that the
Jamaica pass, far to the east of the American posts, was not
guarded. About 9 p. m. of the 26th, about 10,000 men» com-
manded by Howe, Clinton and Cornwallis, started from Flatlan.ds
SIR WILLIAM HOWE
(1729-1814)
_ From an engraving by Corbutt, published in 1778. After the mezzo-
tint in the Emmet Collection, New York City Public Library.
He was forty-seven years of age at the time of the episode at
Bedford Corners and was commander in chief.
to the ^outh of Flatbush, and making- a wide detour, reached the
Jamaica pass at 3 a. ni. of the 27th. The only American soldiers
in the vicinity were several nujunted oOicers sent out to patrol
by General Sullivan. These were easily captured. The British
then gained the Jamaica road, and, after a brief rest for refresh-
ment, continued on their march to Bedford. The van reached
Bedford about 8.30 a. m. of the 27th. Thus "this flanking corps
had succeeded in making a slow, difficult and circuitous march of
some nine miles from Flatlands during the night and had placed
itself directly in the rear of the left of the American outposts,
before its approach was known in the Brooklyn camp."
Meantime, the American force at Bedford pass, about halfway
between Bedford and Flatbush, were without suspicion that they
were trapped. The British now attacked in a southwesterly direc-
tion from Bedford (map 2). The Americans turned about to meet
the danger, but they were driven back and forced to flee as best
they could. Along the Flatbush road, in wdiat is now one corner
of Prospect Park, General Sullivan's men w-ere caught between two
fires. The Hessians advanced from Flatbush, while the British
flanking column threatened the rear. As the " imperilled troops
hurried down the rough and densely wooded slope of Mount
Prospect, they were met on the open plain of Bedford by the British
light infantry and dragoons and hurled back again upon the
Hessian bayonets. . . ." Sullivan's men were compelled to give
way, many being killed or captured. This exposed the outposts
along the Gow^anus road to danger. A force of British advancing
along this road were attacking the Americans there, while their
rear was threatened by the British coming along the Jamaica road.
However, through the bravery of Stirling and some of his men,
most of the American detachment in this part of the battlefield were
enabled to reach the American fortifications in safety.
Thus we see that when the British flanking expedition had
reached Bedford, the Americans were as good as defeated, and that
of the three scenes of combat which together made up the Battle
of Long Island, one was located just to the south and west of
Bedford.
The story of how Washington skilfully rescued the American
army after the Battle of Long Island does not belong here. It
remains, however, to note that during the ensuing years of the war,
a number of British soldiers were encamped at Bedford. The
entrance to their camp was situated on what today is Bergen street,
near Frankhn avenue. In excavating the land in this vicinity in
later times, many reHcs have been found. . The headquarters were
at the Lefferts House, which stood for many years after at the
corner of Fulton avenue and Clove road.^
1 For books see list in : Channing, Hart and Turner, Guide to the Study
of American History, p. 305, and more particularly Johnston, H. P., Cam-
paign of 1776 around Nezo York (Long Island Historical Society, Memoirs^
HI; pt 2, documents. Pages 139-206 "The Battle of Long Island"). Stiles,
H. R., The History of the City of Brooklyn. Field, T. W., Battle of Long
Island (Long Island Historical Society, Memoirs, II).
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MAP OF BEDFORD CORNERS IN 1 776-77 AND I916W— 4— .fe
(Based on Stiles, History of Brooklyn, i :266) 5
The heavy black lines represent the old roads, the dotted lines the
present streets, and the black figures the houses in the hamlet.
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