"On September 15, 1776, the British army under General William Howe invaded Manhattan Island, landing at an open field on the banks of the East River, just south of where the United Nations sits today. George Washington's Continental Army, still in disarray after its miraculous escape following the disastrous Battle of Brooklyn some two weeks earlier, retreated north to Harlem Heights, leaving New York in British hands. Control of the city was Howe's primary objective; located at the mouth of the strategically vital Hudson River, it had become the centerpiece of England's plan for suppressing the American rebellion. However, as Barnet Schecter reveals in his stirring narrative, far from furnishing a key to the colonies, New York proved to be an albatross that helped strangle the British war effort." "The Battle for New York tells the story of how the city became the pivot on which the American Revolution turned: from the political and religious struggles of the 1760s and early 1770s that polarized its citizens and increasingly made New York a hotbed of radical thought and action; to the campaign of 1776 that turned today's five boroughs and Westchester County into a series of battlefields; to the seven years of British occupation and martial law, during which time George Washington and Congress were as intent on getting the city back as the British were on holding it."--Jacket.

Maps on lining papers.

Prologue: Rethinking New York City's Place in the American Revolution1 -- 1 Bastions of Authority 11 -- 2 Monster Tyranny Begins to Pant 25 -- 3 A General Insurrection of the Populace 46 -- 4 From Bouweries to Barricades 69 -- 5 We Expect a Bloody Summer at New York 82 -- 6 A Mighty Fleet of Ships Our Enemies Have Got 95 -- 7 British Juggernaut Reaches Full Strength 112 -- 8 Invasion of Long Island 126 -- 9 Battle of Brooklyn 141 -- 10 A Wise and Most Fortunate Retreat 155 -- 11 First Submarine, a Peace Conference, and a Second Retreat 168 -- 12 Invasion of Manhattan 179 -- 13 Battle of Harlem Heights 194 -- 14 Great Fire and the Execution of Nathan Hale 204 -- 15 Throg's Neck and the Battle of Pelham Bay 219 -- 16 Battle of White Plains 231 -- 17 Fall of Fort Washington 243 -- 18 Trenton and Princeton, the End of the Campaign 258 -- 19 Occupied New York 272 -- 20 Philadelphia, Saratoga, and the Collapse of Britain's Grand Strategy 286 -- 21 Return to New York City, the Fulcrum of the War 306 -- 22 New York's Impact on the War in the South 327 -- 23 New York's Role at Yorktown 346 -- 24 Colonies Lost, New York Regained 360 -- Epilogue: Reconciliation, Rebirth, and Remembrance 381 -- Appendix A Walking Tour of the Battle for New York 391.