panied Vice-Admiral Lord Shuldham and his military colleague, General Sir William Howe, on an expedition against New York. On the 3d July the fleet passed the bar at Sandy Hook, and anchored off Staten Island, which was taken possession of by the troops without resistance. On the 14th, Admiral Lord Howe arrived from England, and assumed the chief command of the naval forces on the coast of America[1].
In order to facilitate the reduction of New York, Commodore Hotham was detached with a squadron to Gravesend Bay, Long Island, to cover the landing of 15,000 troops, under the command of Generals Howe, Clinton, and Lord Cornwallis. On the 25th Aug. some ships of war, under the orders of Sir Peter Parker, were directed to approach nearer to the town; and another small squadron, of which the Roebuck formed a part, was sent to cover the general attack. At day-break on the 27th, the naval force made a diversion, which perfectly succeeded; and in the evening the army encamped in front of the enemy’s works. The siege continued until the 15th Sept.; on which day, the first division of troops, having embarked at Newton Creek, landed upon New York Island, under cover of the Phoenix and Roebuck, at a place called Keep’s Bay, about three miles distant from the town. As soon as the second division was landed, the Americans retired to Morris’s height; and New York was taken possession of by a brigade of royal troops the same evening. General Washington subsequently retreated into the Jerseys, pursued by the British, who before the end of November were in possession of almost the whole of those provinces.
On the 9th Oct. Captain Hamond accompanied Captains Hyde Parker and Cornthwaite Ommanney, of the Phoenix and Tartar, up the North River, for the purpose of intercepting any supplies which might be sent to the rebels by that channel. The ships sustained a heavy cannonade on passing the enemy’s batteries, by which the Roebuck had 10 men, including a Lieutenant, killed, and 18 wounded.
On the 23d July, 1777, Lord Howe sailed from Sandy
- ↑ The Thirteen United Provinces of America declared their independency July 4, 1776.
