Battle of Brooklyn Coverage Around the US

I’ve been tracking the anniversary of the Battle of Brooklyn and pulled together recent news coverage and commentary about how this pivotal moment in the Revolutionary War is being remembered today.

“Today, August 27, 2026, is exactly the 250th anniversary and the Battle of Brooklyn/Long Island got some noteworthy coverage.

The biggest piece I found is in The Washington Post today: historian Andrew O’Shaughnessy wrote an essay titled “The moment the revolution was nearly lost.” He emphasizes just how close the August 27–29, 1776 disaster came to destroying Washington’s army—and potentially the Revolution itself. He walks through Washington’s mistakes, the virtually unguarded Jamaica Pass, Clinton and Cornwallis’s nighttime flanking march, and the British attack into the American rear. (washingtonpost.com)
Read the Washington Post article

National Review also published an anniversary essay today, “When the Revolution Almost Died in Brooklyn.” Dan McLaughlin describes it as the largest battle of the Revolutionary War and stresses the extraordinary turn of events that allowed Washington to preserve his army after the crushing defeat. (nationalreview.com)
Read the National Review article

There were some interesting regional pieces as well. Preservation Maryland published “The Battle of Brooklyn: A Maryland Story, 250 Years Later,” concentrating on the Maryland 400 and their desperate stand near the Vechte-Cortelyou House—today’s Old Stone House. (preservationmaryland.org) And Huntington’s town historian published a detailed Long Island-focused account today, including the role of the Suffolk County militia. (huntingtonhistory.com)

There has also been substantial coverage surrounding the anniversary rather than strictly today. More than 200 living historians participated in the big Brooklyn reenactment last weekend, with coverage from NY1, News 12 and Reuters. (reutersconnect.com, ny1.com) The American Battlefield Trust also used the anniversary to launch The Liberty Trail New York, connecting Brooklyn with other Revolutionary War sites around the state. (battlefields.org)

My read: this wasn’t just a perfunctory “this day in history” anniversary. The 250th produced some genuinely substantive coverage, and the Washington Post essay in particular looks worth reading. The common theme is exactly the one we’ve been talking about lately: August 27, 1776 wasn’t merely an American defeat—it was one of those moments when the entire Revolution came frighteningly close to ending. (washingtonpost.com)”

No mention by our president — he’s too busy renaming a Great Lake apparently. My assistant dug deeper…

“I checked both today’s White House material and broader news coverage, and I cannot find evidence that President Trump personally mentioned the Battle of Brooklyn/Battle of Long Island today, August 27, on its 250th anniversary.

That actually surprised me because the Trump White House has made Revolutionary War history a prominent part of its Freedom 250 program. Trump issued a formal presidential proclamation for the 250th anniversary of Bunker Hill in 2025, for example.

But here’s an interesting wrinkle: the White House itself has already commemorated the Battle of Brooklyn. Its Story of America series released an official “The Battle of Brooklyn” video on June 22, 2026.

White House — The Story of America: The Battle of Brooklyn

So far, though, I’m seeing no Battle of Brooklyn proclamation, presidential remarks, Truth Social statement picked up by the press, or other personal statement from Trump today. That’s a noticeable contrast with Bunker Hill.”