This is the eighth in a series.

By September 1776, George Washington had suffered a crushing defeat on Long Island and only had been able to save his army only by crossing the East River to Manhattan. He had lost confidence, and on the second he wrote Congress requesting the unthinkable.

“If we should be obliged to abandon this town, ought it stand as winter quarters for the enemy? They would derive great conveniences from it on one hand, and much property would be destroyed on the other.