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Event · Significance tier 3

September 15, 1776

British landing at Kip's Bay

British naval fire and an amphibious landing broke American defenses on Manhattan's east side, prompting a disorderly retreat and Washington's famous display of anger.

Category
armed conflict
Episode relations
1

Episode coverage

Episode 3

substantial · spoken: caption verified

Visual check: sequence context

Why this coverage: The episode narrates the bombardment, landing, collapse, retreat, and command crisis as the decisive loss of lower Manhattan.

Caption entry: 00:51:05.262 · 00:51:43.333

Reviewed sequence context: ep3-cue-08-kips-bay-and-harlem

Why it matters

Kip's Bay demonstrated the operational advantage of naval mobility and the fragility of an unevenly trained army under concentrated attack.

Why this tier

The landing forced evacuation of lower Manhattan but did not destroy the field army.

The dramatic Washington anecdote should remain evidence of a command crisis, not a substitute for explaining terrain, naval fire, training, and the soldiers’ situation.

Evidence trail

  • episode-3-srt-local
  • nps-revolutionary-war-timeline

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