“A defensive line of felled trees in front of a wall or parapet. These were seldom the neatly trimmed and sharpened line of tree trunks of the movies, but trees laid with branches interwoven to tangle up any opposing infantry trying to cross them.” – The Battle of Brooklyn 1776, by John J. Gallagher

“The woods should be secured by abates, etc., where necessary, to make the enemy’s approach as difficult as possible.” Orders of General Washington.

Communications
At the Battle of Brooklyn, the American army listed “at least 32 generals whose names were recorded, and average of one for every 1,200 men. Communications on the field of battle were by word of mouth, orders being carried by courier – or signaled by flag and drumbeat and in the cavalry, by hunting horn. To be effective in action, generals had to be close to the scene.” (JJG)

“The command post that served as Washington’’s Brooklyn headquarters was set up in the Cornell House (at a spot where Today’s Montague Street nears the promenade in Brooklyn Heights) Overlooking the ferry landing. A telegraph* was mounted on its roof for rapid communication with New York… *An elevated platform for flag signals by day and lanterns by night. Perhaps this was a version of the semaphore invented by Englishman Richard Lowell Edgeworth in 1767 and named after the Greek for “I bear a sign.” In its full form it was a system of visual telegraphy, signaling from watchtower to watchtower stationed five to ten miles apart. “ (JJG)