Phase 2: The British Juggernaut
The Revolutionary War in New York in 1776
The Battle is Joined
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"In the year seventy-six came the two noble brothers,
With an army and fleet fit to conquer a world;
And Cornwallis, and Rawdon, and Tarleton, and others –
And murder and rapine on our country were hurl’d."
...Yankee Chronology.
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Phase 2 covers the British assembly on Staten Island of their main assault forces in preparation to attack Long Island (Brooklyn now) and take all of New York and the surrounding areas to break the back of the rebels and destroy the revolution.
British General William Howe arrived at Sandy Hook on the twenty-ninth of June with ships and transports bearing his recruited army. On the eighth of July he landed nine thousand men upon Staten Island and there awaited the arrival of his brother, Admiral Richard Howe, with English regulars and Hessian hirelings. These arrived in the course of a few days, and in August, Clinton and Parker, with their broken forces from previous battles, joined them. Another disembarkation took place on the twelfth, and there, upon the wooded heights of Staten Island, above Stapleton and Clifton, and upon the English transports, almost thirty thousand men stood ready to fall upon the Continentals. It was the largest expeditionary force in British history prior to the great embarkations and landings of World Wars I and II.
Already the Declaration of Independence had gone abroad; the statue of the king in New York had been pulled down, and General George Washington and his brave men, pledged to the support of the Continental Congress and its measures, were piling fortifications upon every eligible point around the devoted city.
About the 1776 cache series:This series of caches take you through the political intrigues and armed battles in the city of New York during the Revolutionary War in 1776. Each cache Phase consists of a tour of the local area’s Revolutionary sites. You will gather clues that will provide the coordinates for the cache container for that Phase. Containers will vary from ammo cans, plastic containers and magnetic micros limited by the locale – woods, parks and urban street. The larger containers will have memorabilia such as replicas of revolutionary coins, paper money, musket balls, Declaration of Independence on parchment, etc. as well as more traditional cache treasure. Please take one memento only and leave the rest for other cachers. Leave something if you take something but don't stuff the smaller containers.
Click on the bookmark on the upper right side for a list of all 1776 cache phases. Each stands on it’s own. You do not have to follow any particular order although doing so gives a better prospective of the action. Cachers logging finds in all 8 phases will have their names added to the Cacher's Honor Roll in the Phase 8 cache web page. Campaign maps in the photo section provide orientation for each Phase and for the whole City. However, these are not needed to do the cache.
The caches follow much of this companion tour guide and book. For those traveling on foot, it provides public transportation methods for getting around. However, they are not required to find the cache.THE BATTLE FOR NEW YORK: The City at the Heart of the American Revolution by Barnet Schecter.
Start your Phase 2 tour at The Conference House at the southern tip of Staten Island. Phase 2 campaign route runs about 8 1/2 miles by car and a short walking hike in pretty High Rock Park to the cache.
A. Conference House trailhead N40 30.167 W74 15.107
These coordinates get you to the estate. Proceed to the back of the house at N40 30.185 W74 15.202 where the quiz answer is located. The Conference House on the southern tip of the island is where British Admiral Howe met with Benjamin Franklin, Edward Rutledge and John Adams on September 11, 1776 to urge them to return to the British fold. The event was barren of expected fruit, yet it convinced the Americans that Britain had determined upon the absolute submission of the colonies. This conviction increased the zeal of the patriots, and planted the standard of resistance firmer than before. (This is out of sequence in the military campaign, but it makes sense to do it while you are on Staten Island. This meeting actually occurred after the Americans retreated to New York covered in Phase 5). You can stroll on the beach where the American delegation landed and walk up the lawn past imaginary Hessian guards to visit the fieldstone manor house (circa 1680) where the conference took place. (The house has been partially reconstructed). The property is adjacent to parkland (with a trail where you can go for a hike and pick up a couple of caches placed by others) and very little development is visible from the house, which looks south towards the Atlantic Highlands and Sandy Hook.
Conference House quiz- What is the last word on the plaque on the wall to the left of the entrance door?
1. Revolution.
2. House.
3. Freedom.
ENTER A answer (1, 2 or 3) = ________
B. Historic Richmond Town N40 34.219 W74 08.706
New York City’s answer to colonial Williamsburg, Virginia. The 25-acre historic village and museum complex consists of about forty buildings--most of them from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries-- call (718) 351-1611 for visiting hours although the clue is accessible at all times. Follow signs to the museum, for admission tickets and a guided tour. The museum exhibits, including wonderful relics of the oyster industry and a short film about the history of the island are worth a visit. Displays on the second floor include objects collected from the British fort on Richmond Hill. (Nearby Richmond Hill was the site of a British fort which you can visit on foot, however the last traces of the fort itself are gone). At the top of the stairs hangs a 20th century map of British forts on Staten Island during the Revolution. The gift shop at the Visitors’ Center sells a blurred reproduction of it. More useful is the “Research Packet: Staten Island During the Revolutionary War,” which contains articles and a copy of an 18th century map. For the colonial and Revolutionary periods, the main points of interest in the village itself are the oldest buildings: the Britton Cottage (circa 1670); the Richmond Town House (circa 1695); the Treasure House (circa 1700) where British officers are said to have stashed gold coins in the walls which were discovered just before the Civil War; the Christopher House (circa 1720), which is said have been a clandestine meeting place for local patriots, including members of the Mersereau family, who spied for Washington during the Revolution; the Guyon-Lake-Tysen House (circa 1740); and the Boehm House (circa 1750).
Historic Richmond Town quiz- What is the top most word on the red parking direction sign?
1. Historic
2. Museum
3. Hours
ENTER B answer (1, 2 or 3) = ________
Cache Container Coordinates:
Enter the number for each of your two answers and add them up:
A______ + B _______ = Total ________
The coordinates for the cache are determined by your total. There is only one correct coordinate.
If your total is 2, the cache coordinates are: N40 35.165 W74 07.472
If your total is 3, the cache coordinates are: N40 35.141 W74 07.505
If your total is 4, the cache coordinates are: N40 35.180 W74 07.424
If your total is 5, the cache coordinates are: N40 35.111 W74 07.420
If your total is 6, the cache coordinates are: N40 35.057 W74 07.380
Drive 2 miles to the parking spot in High Rock Park N40 35.061 W74 07.495. It's a short hike to the container, an ammo box. Replace the bark to cover the ammo box when you find it. See hint for more info.
Congratulations on finding the cache for Phase 2.
Although no clues are required, you may wish to stop by Ft Wadsworth N40 36.534 W74 03.757 if you're heading to the Verrazano Bridge. Altough the Fort was not there at the time, the shoreline was the location for the embarkation point for the British forces attacking Brooklyn - the start of Phase 3 Invasion of Long Island, our next cache.