2. What happened to some of the Americans taken prisoner by the British after the Battle of Brooklyn?
Many taken prisoner after the Battle of Brooklyn, as well as those captured by the British in other battles, were held aboard decaying warships that were anchored or had run aground in New York Harbor. With their dominant naval power, the British had seized New York’s strategic port and used it as a depot for troops and supplies as well as a floating jail. In the course of the Revolutionary War, more than 8,000 Americans died in combat but far more—over 11,000—died as prisoners, either in hulking wooden vessels (“hulks”), abandoned churches, "sugar houses" (or refineries), or in squalid buildings scattered around the colonies.
The hulks in New York’s waterways, were considered floating coffins. Prisoners were forced to eat moldy bread, rancid meat, and "soup" made with toxic water from the East River. Disease was rampant, and corpses were routinely tossed overboard. Thousands of remains eventually washed up along the Brooklyn shore. In a July 1778 edition of theConnecticut Gazette, Robert Sheffield, a survivor of a hulk in Wallabout Bay (now the Brooklyn Navy Yard) recounted his experience:
The heat was so intense that [the 300-plus prisoners] were all naked, which also served the well to get rid of vermin, but the sick were eaten up alive. Their sickly countenances, and ghastly looks were truly horrible; some swearing and blaspheming; others crying, praying, and wringing their hands; and stalking about like ghosts; others delirious, raving and storming, all panting for breath; some dead, and corrupting. The air was so foul that at times a lamp could not be kept burning, by reason of which the bodies were not missed until they had been dead ten days. One person alone was admitted on deck at a time, after sunset, which occasioned much filth to run into the hold, and mingle with the bilge water …
Thomas Andros, a prisoner held with about 1,000 other men on the Jersey, nicknamed “Hell” by the captives, wrote of his experiences after the war:
While so many men were sick with raging fever, there was a loud cry for water, but none could be had except on the upper deck, and but one allowed to ascend at a time. The suffering then from the rage of thirst was very great. Nor was it at all times safe to attempt to go up. Provoked by the continued cry for leave to ascend when there was already one on deck the sentry would push them back with his bayonet. By one of these thrusts, more spiteful and violent than common, I had a narrow escape of my life. In the morning the hatchways were thrown open, and we were allowed to ascend all at once, and remain on the upper deck during the day. But the first object that met our view in the morning was a most appalling spectacle—a boat loaded with dead bodies, conveying them to the Long Island shore, where they were very slightly covered sand. I sometimes used to stand to count the number of times the shovel was filled with sand to cover a dead body. And certain I am that a few high tides or torrents of rain must have disinterred them.
Even after the British surrender at Yorktown in late 1781, prisoners were kept aboard the Jersey and other ships until the war formally ended in 1783. When the new U.S. Navy occupied Wallabout Bay and began expanding the Brooklyn Navy Yard on the mud flats near the shore, they found the bones of thousands who had perished aboard the British prison ships. These were collected and buried on the grounds of a nearby estate. They were moved to a more permanent site in 1808 and reinterred at Fort Greene Park in Brooklyn in 1873. In 1908, President William Taft dedicated the grand Prison Ship Martyrs Monument there. Beneath the 150-foot-high obelisk lies a crypt with 20 coffins containing many of those bone remains.
FAQs
Credit Cards, Air Conditioners, Teddy Bears, and Roller Coasters are just a few of the notable inventions to come out of the borough and spread worldwide.
Why is Brooklyn known for? ›
Credit Cards, Air Conditioners, Teddy Bears, and Roller Coasters are just a few of the notable inventions to come out of the borough and spread worldwide.
Is Brooklyn, NY a good area? ›
Brooklyn is a city in New York with a population of 2,679,620. Brooklyn is in Kings County and is one of the best places to live in New York. Living in Brooklyn offers residents a dense urban feel and most residents rent their homes. In Brooklyn there are a lot of bars, restaurants, coffee shops, and parks.
Is Brooklyn the fourth largest city in America? ›
Were Brooklyn still an independent city, it would be the fourth most populous in the U.S. after the rest of New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Named after the Dutch town of Breukelen in the Netherlands, Brooklyn shares a border with the borough of Queens.
Is it better to live in Manhattan or Brooklyn? ›
Space: Homes in Brooklyn often provide more space, both indoors and outdoors, than Manhattan apartments. Community Feel: Many people appreciate the strong sense of community and neighborliness found in Brooklyn's diverse neighborhoods.
Why do people love Brooklyn? ›
These are just a few reasons why people love living in Brooklyn; its neighborhood feel, sense of community, and access to great outdoor spaces are hard to resist. However, Brooklyn has an estimated population of 2.6 million people, making it the most populous borough of New York.
Where not to stay in Brooklyn? ›
What areas in Brooklyn are considered the most dangerous? The areas considered more challenging in terms of safety typically include parts of East Brooklyn, such as certain areas in Brownsville and East New York, due to higher crime rates compared to other neighborhoods.
Where is the richest part of NYC? ›
The most expensive areas of New York are NoHo, Hudson Yards, Tribeca, Central Park South, and Nolita. The average sales price in these areas exceeds $3 million. As you might expect, most wealthy New Yorkers live in Manhattan.
What is the safest borough in NYC? ›
Q: Which borough in NYC is the safest? A: Of the five boroughs in New York City, Staten Island is considered the safest, with a crime index of 31 (meaning it's safer than 31 percent of other cities in the U.S.), followed by Queens (19) and Brooklyn (14).
What problems does Brooklyn face? ›
Brooklyn's diverse population, including its large population of residents born abroad, makes culture a vital factor in engaging the community, in addition to its challenges with poverty, housing and gentrification, and access to health care.
Despite significant investment compared to the post war period, many exacerbated social problems remain including high rates of violent crime, substance abuse, overcrowding, and substandard housing conditions. The Bronx has the highest rate of poverty in New York City, and the greater South Bronx is the poorest area.
What is the ethnicity of Brooklyn? ›
According to the 2010 Census, 35.7% of the population was non-Hispanic White, 31.9% non-Hispanic Black or African American, 10.4% non-Hispanic Asian, 0.4% from some other race (non-Hispanic) and 1.6% of two or more races (non-Hispanic).
Is it expensive to live in Brooklyn? ›
This metro area ranks 54th out of 273 U.S. cities in cost of living. According to C2ER (Council for Community and Economic Research), the cost of living in Brooklyn is approximately 107.6% of the national average cost of living, classifying it as an average city in the United States.
Is Brooklyn calmer than Manhattan? ›
Brooklyn offers a more relaxed vibe while retaining NYC vibrancy across historic districts filled with tree-lined streets of brownstones to newly built rental towers near the East River waterfront. Space feels less congested, especially further out from central downtown districts.
Is it better to live in Brooklyn or Bronx? ›
Within every borough there are countless additional neighborhoods, and Brooklyn is famous for the diversity within its neighborhoods. While the Bronx is more downtown and city-like, Brooklyn is known for its enriched cultural influences, art scene, and independent, entrepreneurial spirit.
How would you describe Brooklyn? ›
It is the most populous of the five "boroughs" of New York City, in the macropolitan New York City region (that includes contiguous cities in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut) of 30,671 km2. To live in Brooklyn is be deeply embedded in the heart of a vast metropolis.
Why is Brooklyn important to New York? ›
The village of Brooklyn, directly across the East River from Manhattan, was the funnel through which the food grown on Long Island's rich farmlands passed to New York City. As New York City flourished, so did its nearest neighbor.
Why is Brooklyn called Brooklyn and not Kings? ›
Kings is the name of the county in the State of New York, whereas Brooklyn is the name of the Borough in New York City. Initially, however, Brooklyn was just a village, then a city, within the larger county of Kings. Kings county was created in 1683.
Why is Brooklyn called Dumbo? ›
An industrial history helps define the Brooklyn area known as DUMBO—short for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass—on the East River between the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges.
