The Battle of Staten Island was a failed raid by Continental Army troops under Major General John Sullivan against British forces on Staten Island on August 22, 1777, during the American Revolutionary War. After British Lieutenant General William Howe sailed with most of his army from New York City in July, Sullivan recognized that the British position on Staten Island was vulnerable, and planned an attack. He carried it out in spite of commanding general George Washington's request that Sullivan reinforce the main army with his troops as soon as possible to support Washington's planned Colonial assault on British-held Philadelphia.
Among its flaws the raid suffered from a shortage of boats to effect its retreat, costing it two companies, and one of its detachments was misled by its guide to the front of the enemy position rather than its rear. As a result, Continental losses of dead, wounded, and captured were each double or more those of the British, depriving Washington of some 180-300 men needed for his campaign. Although Sullivan was accused of mismanaging the raid, a generous court martial held later in 1777 exonerated him of all charges.
Background
In March 1776 the British forces of General William Howe withdrew from Boston after Major General George Washington fortified high ground threatening the city and its harbor. With this army augmented by reinforcements from Europe, General Howe captured New York City, forcing Washington to retreat all the way across New Jersey. At the end of 1776, Washington crossed the Delaware River and surprised German troops at Trenton, New Jersey, and eventually regained control of most of the state. The two armies then settled into winter quarters, although there was much skirmishing before the 1777 campaign got underway.
On July 23, 1777, following months of preparation and some preliminary maneuvers in New Jersey, General Howe and his brother, Admiral Richard Howe, launched a fleet carrying most of the New York-based army south in an effort to capture the American capital, Philadelphia. The army was to land at the upper end of Chesapeake Bay and march north.
General Washington, although he was notified promptly of the fleet's departure, was unaware of its destination. He heard on August 10 that the fleet appeared to be moving south of Philadelphia, possibly heading for Charleston, South Carolina. As a result, he prepared to move north to assist General Horatio Gates defend the Hudson River against Lieutenant General John Burgoyne's march south from Quebec. On August 21 he was alerted that the fleet had been spotted one week earlier at the mouth of Chesapeake Bay. Realizing the danger to Philadelphia, he immediately issued orders to move the entire army south with all speed. His orders to Major General John Sullivan, who commanded the front line defenses in eastern New Jersey, were to rejoin the main army "with all convenient speed".
Prelude
Sullivan, in the meantime, had learned that the departure of Howe's army had left Staten Island vulnerable, and planned and put into execution a raid against British targets there. He had learned that although the bulk of British regulars were near the northern end of the island, about 700 New Jersey Loyalist militia were scattered along the western shore, facing the New Jersey mainland. His plan was to cross two groups onto the island from points in Elizabethtown (present-day Elizabeth, New Jersey), capture prisoners from the isolated militia outposts, and destroy supplies. They would then go to the Old Blazing Star Ferry (between present-day Carteret, New Jersey and Rossville, Staten Island) to return to the mainland.
British defenses on the island, under the overall command of Brigadier General John Campbell, consisted of the regular army elements from the 52nd Foot, regiments of so-called "Hessians" from the German states of Waldeck and Ansbach, and the Loyalist New Jersey militia known as Skinner's Brigade under the command of Cortlandt Skinner. Campbell's men (including the German troops) numbered about 900, and were stationed near the northeastern tip of the island. Skinner's men, numbering about 400 according to Campbell's report, were stationed at outposts along the western shore between Dexter's Ferry and Ward's Point.