Fort Defiance (Brooklyn)

[3] Prior to the battle a thousand men worked under General Israel Putnam's direction to prepare for the invasion of New York, building the fort during one night in April.

[1][6][7] On 12 July 1776 the first test of the redoubts came when Admiral Howe sent two ships, Phoenix and HMS Rose, to run the American gauntlet by heading up to New York City.

[8] The fort was abandoned after the war, the embankments leveled, the dredges filled in the ponds and the Atlantic Basin was hollowed out to be made into a protected wharf.

Valentino Park has a plaque commemorating Fort Defiance (a stop on the Revolutionary War Heritage Trail) about 2 blocks from its actual location at Conover and Van Dyke Streets.

[1] In 1952, a local Brooklyn historian re-located the site of the fort to Dwight and Beard streets, then home of Erie Basin dry dock owned by Todd Shipyards Corporation.

1867 Stiles Map of Brooklyn, New York City, New York - Geographicus - BrooklynBattle-stiles-1867
Outline map of New York Island, Statten Island, Long Island and a portion of the Hudson River, showing British and American positions during the Battle of Long Island
Map marking British and American positions at the Battle of Long Island. Roebuck is shown bombarding an American battery at Red Hook