British+Capture+Fort+Washington

British Capture Fort Washington

The Battle of Fort Washington began on a freezing Saturday, [|November 16, 1776]. This battle took place at [|Washington Heights], New York. Fort Washington, which was built next the the Hudson river, was up on a hill [|230 feet tall]. The Fort was also one mile long. On this freezing saturday, the British planned to attack the Fort that had [|3,000 men] in it. British Commander Sir William Howe came along with his [|8,000 men]from [|Germany and Britain]fighting for the British. The fort was a very hard fort to try and capture. It has its own natural defenses. It blockaded the Hudson river from the British ships to go up the [|Hudson river]. The [|natural defenses]made this Fort become superior. But the structure of the Fort made it weak. It had a [|pentagonal structure]and ditches in it. The Fort also lacked barracks and an interior source of water. The British captured 2,858 American men. They also killed 54 men and wounded 96 men. The Americans did fight back for alittle, they killed 84 men and wounded 374 men. The British took huge advantage of the Americans because they captured a large amount of soldiers and captured one of the most important forts of the war. They captured around 146 cannons and 2,800 muskets. Another big advantage is that they are approaching winter. And that is how so many men died in the war. They either froze or starved to death because it was so cold and they were low on supplies. And not having Fort Washingotn did not help the Americans take on the winter.

The First Historical Figure of the Battle of Fort Washington was [|Sir William Howe]. Sir William Howe was [|commander-in-chief]of the British Army due to his successes in his previous years in the. His role in the [|Battle of Fort Washington]was huge for the British. He commanded and controlled the British troops that [|captured the Fort]. If Sir William was never there the British might not have ever captured Fort Washington.
 * __Sir William Howe:__**

Another historical figure of the Battle of Fort Washington was Colonel [|Robert Magaw]of the [|continental army]. He was [|born in Ireland]and was brought to Maryland by his father. He was raised in [|Carlisle Pennsylvania]and then became a lawyer when he was older. He joined the [|Continental army]to fight for his freedom and country. And he was in the Fort was it was under attack. He fought for his country but the people of the Fort were just caught too off guard. his troops and him surrendered to the British troops.
 * __ Colonel Robert Magaw: __**