War Room

Washington held councils of war throughout the Revolution, gathering his generals around a map and hearing them out before he made the call. This picture does not name the night. One of the most consequential was August 29, 1776, in Brooklyn.

The Continental Army had just lost the Battle of Long Island and sat with its back to the East River, a mile of fast water, facing a British force of at least 25,000. The council decided to withdraw to Manhattan. Starting around ten that night, regiments slipped out of the lines one at a time while the others spread out to hide the gaps. Colonel John Glover's regiment of Massachusetts mariners and others ferried roughly 9,000 men across, with guns, ammunition and horses, in about nine hours. At dawn a dense fog settled over Long Island and covered the last of the rear guard.

The picture shows three officers leaning over a table in lantern light: Washington in the center, white-haired, in a blue coat with buff facings and gold epaulettes, both hands flat on the map, with an officer on each side watching his face. Rolled charts and a bottle sit at the table's edge, and the tent canvas disappears into brown darkness behind them.