It was Friday, July 12, 1776.
Washington had warned that the British could strike at any moment.
Now they had.
At about 3:30 p.m., two British warships and three tenders moved from the bay opposite Staten Island toward New York.
One ship carried 40 guns. The other carried 20.
They caught what George Washington called a “brisk & favourable breeze with a flowing Tide,” then ran past American batteries and up the North River, now known as the Hudson.
American guns opened fire.
The British fired back.
Then the ships kept going.
By 8:15 p.m., Washington was writing Congress in haste.
The Royal Navy had just shown the new United States how hard independence would be to defend.
The DX Brief
- Washington wrote to John Hancock from New York at 8:15 p.m. on July 12, 1776.
- He reported that two British warships and three tenders had run past American batteries and up the North River.
- Washington said the ships used a “brisk & favourable breeze with a flowing Tide.”
- American batteries kept up a “heavy and Incessant Canonade,” but Washington could not see that the ships had suffered any certain damage.
- The British fired back as they passed New York.
- Washington said the report of Admiral Howe’s arrival “seems to be confirmed.”
- A council of war that day rejected a full attack on Staten Island, but considered a smaller strike to “alarm the Enemy” and encourage American troops.
The attack Washington expected
The day before, Washington had warned Congress that British forces “hourly expect Admiral Howe and his Fleet.”
A prisoner from the British 10th Regiment had told the Americans that the “prevailing Opinion” was that “an Attack will be made immediately on their arrival.”
On July 12, that warning became real.
In a letter to John Hancock, Washington said two enemy warships and three tenders weighed anchor “at about half after three oClock this Evening.”
They moved from the bay opposite Staten Island toward New York.
The ships used the wind and tide.
Then they ran past the American batteries.
The Declaration had reached Washington’s army three days earlier.
Now the Royal Navy had reached Washington’s front door.
The guns could not stop them
Washington’s forces did not sit silent.
He told Hancock that American batteries kept up a “heavy and Incessant Canonade” as the ships passed.
The British ships returned fire as they moved.
Washington could not claim victory.
The ships passed the batteries “without receiving any certain damage that I could perceive,” he wrote.
Then came the late update.
An express from Gen. Thomas Mifflin arrived while Washington was finishing the letter.
The ships had also passed Mifflin’s works.
Washington added the news in a final line.
“I am in haste,” he wrote.
That line says plenty.
The commander in chief was not writing a reflective report after the danger had passed.
He was writing while the crisis was still moving upriver.
New York felt the fear
The movement up the river did not just test American defenses.
It terrified civilians.
The New-York Historical Society’s Women & the American Story project identifies July 12 as the day British ships Phoenix and Rose sailed up the Hudson River to test Washington’s defenses and fired on New York.
A later letter from New York resident A. Hampton described the fear of that day.
“Cannons roaring, drums beating to arms all things in confusion,” she wrote.
She said she and another woman had no refuge but to run.
“Bullets flew thick over our heads,” Hampton wrote.
The Revolution was no longer a vote in Philadelphia or a reading in front of soldiers.
In New York, it was cannon fire over civilians’ heads.
Howe’s arrival seemed confirmed
Washington’s July 12 letter also brought another warning.
Admiral Howe’s arrival appeared real.
“The Account transmitted by this mornings post respecting the Arrival of one of the Fleet seems to be confirmed,” Washington wrote.
Several ships had arrived that day.
One came in that evening with what Washington called a “St Georges Flag” at her fore topmast head.
Washington concluded that ship likely carried Admiral Howe.
The salutes helped confirm it.
“It is probable they will all arrive in a day or two and immediately begin their operations,” Washington told Congress.
That meant the British buildup around New York was entering its next stage.
The ships that ran up the river showed what British naval power could do.
Howe’s arrival meant more was coming.
Washington wanted to strike back
Washington was not only defending.
He was also looking for a way to hit the British first.
At a council of war held at headquarters on July 12, Washington proposed a descent on Staten Island in several places to form “a general Attack upon the Enemy’s Quarters.”
The generals rejected the full attack unanimously.
That did not end the discussion.
Washington then proposed a smaller partisan strike to “alarm the Enemy” and encourage American troops who wanted something done.
The council agreed that Maj. Thomas Knowlton and Gen. Hugh Mercer should consider whether such a surprise could work and whether the men could retreat safely.
That detail matters.
Washington did not want to sit helplessly while British ships tested his lines.
He wanted action.
But he also needed judgment.
The full Staten Island attack was too risky.
A smaller strike might still be possible.
Powder and lead
The July 12 letter ended with a practical request.
Washington asked Congress to make sure the Flying Camp had powder and ball.
The Flying Camp was a mobile force meant to reinforce the army where needed.
Washington warned that New York might not be able to send supplies because of “hurry and engagements,” and because communication could become uncertain.
He asked Congress to forward “with all possible expedition” enough musket powder and lead for the militia.
The request was simple.
Men could rally.
Cannons could fire.
But without powder and lead, the new nation could not defend the independence it had just declared.
Orders for the next morning
Washington’s general orders on July 12 also kept the army moving.
Lord Stirling’s Brigade was ordered to parade at 4 a.m. the next morning with arms and equipment, ready to march.
Washington also approved punishment for a soldier convicted of desertion.
That combination fit the moment.
The army had to move early.
It also had to hold discipline.
British ships were moving through American waters.
Washington could not afford men who ran from the cause.
Why it mattered
July 12, 1776, gave Washington’s army a preview of the fight ahead.
Three days earlier, the soldiers had heard the Declaration.
Two days earlier, Washington warned them that independence required order.
One day earlier, he warned Congress that the British could attack as soon as Howe’s fleet arrived.
Then British warships forced their way past American guns and up the Hudson.
The message was clear.
The Americans could declare independence.
They could cheer it.
They could pull down a king’s statue.
But the Royal Navy still controlled the water.
Washington understood what the moment meant.
New York would not be defended by passion alone.
It would take powder, lead, discipline, intelligence, timing, and men who could stand while British guns fired back.
On July 12, the war for independence moved from words to cannon fire.
Tomorrow on Road to Independence
July 13, 1776: Washington feared the British ships that sailed up the Hudson might try to seize the Highlands and cut off America’s line of communication.
Follow the full Road To Independence series.
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