The Revolutionary Spirit

Prosperous through British trade yet sympathetic to the revolutionary spirit, the people of the land that would become Queens fought their personal battles and their revolutionary ones . . . some imprisoned for their loyalties and others fighting in the face of danger and death.

British headquarters was in Hell Gate, which is now Astoria, and for a while it seemed that the land of Queens — along with the rest of New York City – would remain under the strict control of the British Army.

By the mid-eighteenth century New York was prospering, wealthier and more inhabited than any other city in the young country excluding Philadelphia, which was the largest city in the country at the time. But prosperity and optimism lead to a bloody war with the British.

Reinactments and school demonstrations sounded in the year 1976 in Queens.

At the time of the struggle for independence, New York had about 25,000 inhabitants. The majority of residents lived in what is now Manhattan, surrounding the area that is now home to City Hall.

Queens was a place for farmland and trade, where some became rich on wartime supply contracts and the gambles of transatlantic commerce. While morale and the economy in America — particularly in the New York — was unquestionably high, the British were experiencing an economic depression, after the Seven Years’ War. As poverty grew, spending on relief and the poor tripled.

Due in part to these financial difficulties, the Sugar Act of 1774 imposed British control on the sugar market.

The Sugar Act was followed by the Stamp Act, which mandated the use of stamps on all documents.

And the Stamp Act lead to a colonial uprising against such acts, spearheaded by a group called the Sons of Liberty.

Tensions between the colonies and the motherland of Britan continued to increase as the British took tighter control over commerce as well as military supplies.

New York City eventually joined Boston and Philadelphia in a boycott of British commerce and a protest of taxes. But by 1976, the sparsely populated Queens had distanced itself from political turmoil and the growing talk of revolution.

The settlements that we now call Queens were showing no desire to be mixed up with the Revolution, but their local leaders’ stance was rendered irrelevant once the area was seized by
General Charles Lee, one of George Washington’s most zealous officers
in 1776.

Local firearms were seized and the local leaders who were loyal to the British were imprisioned. Washington was tightening his ranks in preparation for an attack by the British.

And Queens was to play a major part in the fight that followed, which was called the "Battle of Long Island."

British commander Sir William Howe and his brother, the admiral Lord Richard Howe met with no resistance while their fleet slowly approached Staten Island, preparing for a British takeover of New York.

On August 22, 1776, the Howes crossed the Narrows and moved their army of British and Hessian soldiers into Flatbush and the Flatlands. Washington had defended the road to Jamaica only minimally. The British used the defensive lapse to their advantage as American forces were routed and 1,300 Americans were captured.

The day following the American loss of the Battle of Long Island, the Queens County Militia’s General Woodhull was driving Queens cattle away from advancing British troops and seeking shelter from a thunderstorm. The British cornered Woodhull at Carpenter’s Tavern in Jamaica, the area now known as Hollis. Woodhull was attacked by enemy forces and died from wounds three weeks later. Remaining Queens militia and inhabitants continued to flee Queens to avoid British capture.

The rest of the American Army further retreated from Brooklyn. Meanwhile Commander Howe had been advancing his plan to take over New York City. He started to move his troops into Queens County and would later attempt a British landing at Harlem as well as a show of force in the vicinity of Hell Gate, in what is now Astoria.

A faction of the British army led by second-in-command General Clinton was the first to advance to Queens. The first target was Newton (Elmhurst), where Clinton and his men arrived complete with two battalions of light infantry and a battalion of Grenadiers.

The British assumed positions at Hell Gate, Flushing, and Bushwick. The British Army was encamped at the house of Nathaniel Moore. The Moore family cemetery is located on 54th Street in Woodside, where a number of their headstones still stand to this day.

Howe soon arrived with the rest of the British Army, establishing a post at 57th Avenue and Hoffman Drive in Elmhurst.

Howe and Clinton rode to Hell Gate to examine the shoreline, but were spotted and drew the fire of American troops. The British started building artillery batteries at Hell Gate at what is now the Astoria Houses. The area was then known as Haalet’s Cove.

The British then fired on the American fort Horn’s Hook, located across the East River at what is now Carl Schurz Park, and the Americans returned fire in an exchange that lasted a full week.

In the days following the war at Horn’s Hook and Haalet’s Cove, Washington received permission to evacuate New York City. A peace conference followed and failed. American soldiers were moved to Kingsbridge, hoping the steep creeks would limit visibility and give the troops an advantage.

But with peace talks falling off and any chance of resolution rendered nil, British warships moved into position at Kip’s Bay (34th Street). Several thousand British troops returned from Montresor’s Island to the Astoria shore. The troops were soon ordered to march to Bushwick and the head of Newtown Creek. British warships eventually opened fire on Kip’s Bay the Americans panicked and fled.

The firing and commotion at Hell Gate had turned out to be only a diversion. The flanking movement in Queens was a ruse. The British used Queens to divert attention away from Kip’s Bay, the real target.

This peaceful parkland under Hell Gate Bridge was the sight of heavy fighting during the American Revolution.   Tribune Photo By Liz Goff

Despite the British’s victory in Kip’s Bay, the fighting ended in 1783 with New York free from British control and Queens, along with the rest of New York, rebuilt once again, paving the way for a new period of prosperity and a new city government.