The noted filmmaker Ken Burns' created another amazing documentary "The American Revolution"  which started airing November 16, 2025.  It has six episodes, each 2 hours long.  Episode 3 covers the The Battle of Long Island (known around here as the Battle of Brooklyn).  A short clip of the documentary that tells about the battle can be found on the PBS website" UNUM Ken Burns/New York City and The American Revolution : The Battle of Long Island.

This batle was fought near here from near the current Green-Wood Cemetary, then into what's now Prospect Park.  One reason for putting the park there was to preserve the battle field. You can see bronze plaques on either side of "Battle Pass" on the east side of the park ring road and a plaque on a stand slightly down the hill from Battle Pass to the south.

The battle then moved downhill towards what was then Gowanus Creek (the canal had not yet been dug) surrounded by marshes.  A major battle was fought around the Old Stone House in Gowanus (which existed during the Revolutionary War in a slightly different location. The current building is reconstructed from the same stones).  This is where the Maryland 400 made their valiant stand, most of them dying, but holding off the British so many Americans coud flee. 

In Red Hook, Fort Defiance (roughly where Valentino Park is today) had the job of preventing the British Navy from advancing up the East River to separate Brooklyn from Manhattan (then called New York City). The British had hundreds of vessels stationed off Staten Island, and one frigate, the HMS Roebuck attempted to pass Red Hook. The winds pushed her close to shore, so the shelling between the ship and Fort Defiance occured at close range. The weather got worse, and due to artillery damage and inclement weather, the ship fled.

This allowed George Washington and his badly battered troops to escape by water from Brooklyn Heights thanks to the intrepid "Marbleheaders" from Marblehead, Massachusetts. They were fishermen and whalers, many of them Black, Native American, and mixed race who used their maritime experience in this evacuation and later in getting Washington across the Delaware.

The Ken Burns' film includes many maritime situations and shows how the waterways were significant: the ocean, the coast, rivers, lakes, and swamps.

The film is available for a modest fee via the PBS Passport program. 

We highly recommend this deeply researched and compelling documentary!  It surely will tell you many things you never heard before.