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Accurate intelligence informed the British that the Americans had neglected to fortify Jamaica
Pass, approximate present-day intersection of Alabama and Atlantic Avenues and the Cemetery of
the Evergeens at the border of Brooklyn and Queens. General Sir William Howe devised a surprise
flanking maneuver that was to send an overwhelming force of 14,000 soldiers into the American
positions at Bedford Corners and Battle Pass (Flatbush Pass in Prospect Park), then on to the
Gowanus. In the early hours of August 27, Generals Howe, Cornwallis, Clinton and Percy broke
into the Tavern and took as a hostage William Howard, the patriot innkeeper, forcing him to lead
the British through the Bushwick hills to Bedford, where they waited until 9 am to sound the guns
signaling a general attack. Howard’s Inn (as it was also known) stood at this location
until the early Twentieth
Century. |