American soldiers escaping heavy fire at the
Flatbush Pass passed down Porte Road (now 1st Street) which led to a bridge over Freekes´
Pond, now the Union Street Bridge over the Gowanus Canal, toward the American redoubts
and forts that defended the main army on Brooklyn Heights. At some point, fire engulfed
the wooden bridge, and troops were forced into the waters of the Gowanus marshes, where,
weighted down with rifles and equipment, many drowned.
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