{"id":329894,"date":"2026-08-26T04:31:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T04:31:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/329894\/"},"modified":"2026-08-26T04:31:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T04:31:09","slug":"before-brooklyn-became-brooklyn-red-hook-helped-save-the-revolution-brooklyn-paper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/329894\/","title":{"rendered":"Before Brooklyn became Brooklyn, Red Hook helped save the Revolution \u2022 Brooklyn Paper"},"content":{"rendered":"

History books routinely talk about how George Washington and the Continental army escaped from Brooklyn after losing a major battle, turning a short-term defeat into a major victory.<\/p>\n

They, however, rarely explain who helped evacuate the 9,000-strong army after the Battle of Brooklyn<\/a> in what proved to be possibly the first turning point in the war. Some Brooklynites, though, have been shining a spotlight on heroics in Red Hook that may have saved the Revolution.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor years I heard Washington escaped,\u201d said Carolina Salguero, founder and executive director of PortSide New York. \u201cThere was no description of who helped and what happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

PortSide New York, Friends of Fort Defiance<\/a> and the Red Hook Business Alliance on Saturday, Aug. 22, held events in Valentino Park, the former site of Fort Defiance, highlighting Red Hook\u2019s pivotal role in history.<\/p>\n

\"\"Revolutionary War demonstrations, reenactors and historical displays filled Valentino Park on Aug. 22 as local groups highlighted Red Hook\u2019s overlooked place in the Battle of Brooklyn.Carolina Salguero\/PortSide NewYork<\/p>\n

They focused on how soldiers at Fort Defiance fought off the British Navy after Washington\u2019s defeat in the Battle of Brooklyn, and how a mixed-race regiment ferried the defeated soldiers across the East River to safety, averting what easily could have been an early end to the Revolution.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been hard for Red Hook to get respect for its history. Our historic buildings are regularly torn down. The big Battle of Brooklyn retrospectives and reenactments have generally not included Red Hook,\u201d Salguero said. \u201cThis is the first time that Red Hook has raised its hand. Red Hook played an important role in the Battle of Brooklyn, but Red Hook is forgotten.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the Battle of Brooklyn was recently reenacted in Prospect Park, the Red Hook events focused more on remembering than recreating.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was two separate events running at different times on the same day and place, in Valentino Park,\u201d said Mat\u00edas Kalwill, project director, Friends of Fort Defiance. \u201cWe shared resources and coordinated on a number of things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Friends of Fort Defiance and the Red Hook Business Alliance presented a panel on \u201cRed Hook\u2019s Proclamation of Historical Significance\u201d as part of the Brooklyn 250 boroughwide program commemorating 250 years of the Battle of Brooklyn, funded by New York state.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe call it a community celebration,\u201d Salguero said. \u201cOur idea is educating our community about the role of Red Hook in the American revolution.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Members of the PortSide New York team gather during an Aug. 22 event in Valentino Park highlighting Red Hook\u2019s overlooked role in the American Revolution.Carolina Salguero\/PortSide NewYork<\/p>\n

Council Member Alexa Avil\u00e9s, who, along with Con Edison, also provided funding, said it\u2019s important to remember \u201cRed Hook\u2019s remarkable role in maritime and revolutionary history.\u201d<\/p>\n

PortSide presented Living History reenactors, a model of the HMS Roebuck and screened a portion of Ken Burns\u2019 documentary series \u201cThe American Revolution.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe team from Living History were offering interactive experiences,\u201d Salguero added, saying they discussed objects, answered questions and described \u201cBlack life then more broadly.\u201d<\/p>\n

They had tables loaded with soldiers\u2019 gear, such as muskets and canteens, among objects evoking the Revolution.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe PortSide activities delivered historical content in both serious and fun ways,\u201d Salguero said. \u201cThe most overheard comment was, \u2018I never knew that.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

PortSide celebrated the role of the 14th Continental Regiment, including African American, Hispanic, Native American and Caucasian soldiers, in evacuating Washington\u2019s army and evading capture.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe role Red Hook played in warding off the British HMS Roebuck at the start of the Battle of Brooklyn, thus allowing George Washington\u2019s army to live to fight another day, is one such important story,\u201d said PortSide Historian and Curator Peter Rothenberg.<\/p>\n

The Marblehead Regiment, or Marbleheaders, was a multiracial regiment led by Col. John Glover from Marblehead, Massachusetts, who worked on fishing and merchant ships and became the core of the new nation\u2019s Navy.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of those are men of color who rescued them,\u201d Salguero said. \u201cYou hear Washington evacuated and not who did it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 14th Continental Regiment rescued the army without alerting the British, who could have ended the war that day.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was conducted with the utmost secrecy,\u201d Salguero said. \u201cThey were told not to talk, even cough. There were lots of loyalists in Brooklyn Heights.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"A display honoring the Marblehead Regiment highlights the multiracial unit\u2019s role in helping Washington\u2019s army escape Brooklyn during the American Revolution.Carolina Salguero\/PortSide NewYork<\/p>\n

One person got wind of something afoot and sent an enslaved servant to report it. The servant\u2019s family spoke Dutch and broken English. By the time they were able to translate it, Salguero said, the evacuation had occurred.<\/p>\n

The regiment carried the entire army, including soldiers, horses, artillery and supplies, across the East River to Manhattan.<\/p>\n

Kevin Chapman, who helps lead Living History Co., a Black-owned and operated historic event staffing and casting company, helped bring the Marbleheaders back to life.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe focus on portraying the military history of people of African descent in the Americas,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Fort Defiance shelled the HMS Roebuck, preventing it from sailing up the East River. \u201cIf it was able to do that, it would have discovered the evacuation,\u201d Salguero said.<\/p>\n

They showed an episode of Burns\u2019 documentary about the American Revolution, which noted that 20,000 of 25,000 New Yorkers left New York City.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s an enormous evacuation,\u201d Salguero said of loyalists who left. \u201cThat\u2019s people fleeing. That\u2019s disruptive.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Living History Co. reenactors portray members of the Marblehead Regiment during an Aug. 22 event in Valentino Park highlighting Red Hook\u2019s role in the American Revolution.Carolina Salguero\/PortSide NewYork \"\"Families take part in Revolutionary War-themed activities during an Aug. 22 event in Valentino Park highlighting Red Hook\u2019s role in the Battle of Brooklyn.Carolina Salguero\/PortSide NewYork<\/p>\n

Leslie Bramlett explained \u201ccamp followers,\u201d or women who, Salguero said, traveled with the Continental army, cooking, doing laundry, serving as field nurses, repairing things and shooting cannons when their husbands were injured.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot all camp followers were wives of the men,\u201d Salguero said. \u201cChildren also travelled with the Continental army.\u201d<\/p>\n

PortSide staged a water pistol fight and built a model of the HMS Roebuck, the British frigate that Fort Defiance repelled by shelling.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a mock battle with water guns that forced the ship away down the pier with kids and adults participating,\u201d Salguero said, noting they sought to entertain as well as educate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"History books routinely talk about how George Washington and the Continental army escaped from Brooklyn after losing a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":329895,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[124160,23877,57451,35603,98,119869,10454,100,6766,99,123844,6638,59548,124161,9,24,36067,12,370,63,124162,18392,44875],"class_list":["post-329894","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-14th-continental-regiment","tag-american-revolution","tag-battle-of-brooklyn","tag-black-history","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-250","tag-brooklyn-events","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-history","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-fort-defiance","tag-george-washington","tag-local-history","tag-marblehead-regiment","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-history","tag-news","tag-newsletter","tag-nyc","tag-portside-new-york","tag-red-hook","tag-revolutionary-war"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329894","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=329894"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329894\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/329895"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=329894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=329894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=329894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}