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The Landing at Kip's Bay was a British maneuver during the New York Campaign in the American Revolutionary War on September 15, 1776.

After the loss of Long Island, General George Washington and his army had escaped to Manhattan. Washington and his general subjugates made a decision to abandon New York City and by September 14 the Americans were urgently moving stores of ammunition and other materiel, along with American sick, to Orangetown, New York. Scouts reported movement in the British army camps, led by General William Howe, but Washington was unable to determine where the British would strike.

Admiral Richard Howe of the British forces sent a noisy demonstration of Royal Navy ships up the Hudson River early on the morning of September 15, but Washington and his aides determined that it was a diversion. The American forces prepared to fight near the then-small village of Harlem at the northern end of Manhattan. However, the Americans awoke to five British warships in the East River near Kip's Bay, at the present line of 33rd Street.

Using flat-bottomed boats for an amphibious landing, the British, under the command of General Henry Clinton began their invasion. Just prior to the troops' landing, the warships began a salvo of broadside fire that panicked the American sentinels. Although Washington and his aides arrived from Harlem soon after the landing began, he was unable to rally the retreating militia. As more and more British soldiers came ashore, including light infantry, grenadiers, and Hessian Jagers. The advanced stopped at Icklenberg (now Murray Hill), just west of the present Lexington Avenue, due to conflicting reports of either orders from General Howe or the hospitality of Mrs. Robert Murray (Mary Lindley Murray), a Quaker mistress. Although the day was thought to be a disaster for the Americans, most of them had managed to escape to the north.

References

Fischer, David Hackett (2004). Washington's Crossing. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 101–106. ISBN 0-19-517034-2. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

Griffith II, Samuel B. (2002). The War for American Independence. University of Illinois Press. pp. 312–313. ISBN 0-252-07060-7. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)

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