The Flatbush Pass was a pleasant valley road
that marked the boundary between the townships of Brooklyn and Flatbush, the present-day
North Drive through Prospect Park. Thirteen hundred soldiers under General John Sullivan
defended the narrow pass with earthworks and cannon, also felling the famous Dongan oak
as a road block. At dawn on August 27, 1776 the Americans were attacked by 5,000 Hessian
and Scottish troops marching north from the village of Flatbush. The Americans fought
until 10:30 in the morning until attacked by 14,000 English troops who had marched from
Bedford to attack from the East, and those that could retreated down the Porte Road,
now 1st Street. The Prospect Park road and sites are marked on the North Drive between
Lefferts House and the zoo.
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