Long grew to be an excellent marksman and horseman and developed skills that would later prove useful during his career as a frontier soldier.
Gabriel Long had the distinction of being the very first to sign the document, using a bold noticeable signature much as John Hancock would do two years later on the Declaration of Independence.
[citation needed] At the Battle of Princeton in January 1777, Long helped unite Sullivan's and Washington's columns by holding back the British and thus greatly contributed to the American victory.
[citation needed] Long was Captain of one of eight elite Companies of detached Provisional Riflemen commanded by Colonel Daniel Morgan[7] and sent by George Washington[8] in August of 1777 to defend Albany from British army under General John Burgoyne, who surrendered to the American forces at the end of the Battles of Saratoga in October 1777.
[citation needed] At Millstone, New Jersey, while leading a detachment, he came across a column of British soldiers under Lord Cornwallis whose intentions were to draw Washington's army out of its fortified position to an open area for a general engagement.
Long, realizing this, raised the alarm and stood his ground, holding back the enemy while awaiting reinforcements which eventually completely drove out the British.