Howard’s Inn – Evergreen Cemetery
Revolutionary War Heritage Trail
The Cemetery of the Evergreens is situated at a site critical to the Battle of Brooklyn. Near the Cemetery, by the intersection of today’s Broadway and Jamaica Avenue, stood Howard’s Tavern, the most easterly pass of only four passes through the wooded heights running down the spine of Brooklyn.
On the night of August 26, 1776 a British force of about 14,000 moved in silence along The Kings Highway in a move to encircle the American defenders. The British forced Howard and his son to lead their troops through an obscure trail, still visible in the Cemetery, around the pass to the road leading to Bedford Village. At daybreak on the 27th, the British swept down the road from Bedford to attack the American positions from behind. At the same time, a second force of redcoats and Hessians charged the front of the American line. The Americans were routed and fled back to the safety of Brooklyn Heights.
Marker is on Bushwick Avenue, on the right when traveling west.
Courtesy hmdb.org
