Putnam & Putnam: Visitors to Governors Island
Feb 27, 2015 9:09 pm
Our visiting snowy owl has a name, thanks to Governors Island fan, Brooklyn based author and “sass machine” Kristen Bonardi Rapp! His name is Putnam, after General Israel Putnam who helped fortify Governors Island in advance of the Battle of Brooklyn during the Revolutionary War. Learn more about General Putnam and the Battle of Brooklyn below: [caption id=“attachment_10” align=“aligncenter” width=“300”]
Putnam the snowy owl “chillin” in the new park on Governors Island.[/caption] After the Siege of Boston, the British set their sites on NYC, with plans to station their navel force on Staten Island. A few days after the British began landing on Staten Island, word reached New York that the U.S. Congress had voted for independence. A mob of excited patriot New Yorkers quickly tore down the statue of King George III in Bowling Green. They mounted the head of the statue a spike outside a tavern, and turned the rest into musket balls to fight the British. General Putman, know as “Old Put”, was George Washington’s right hand man in New York. He had already begun work to fortify the Harbor prior to the arrival of the British, but stepped up his efforts in 1776. Fortifying Governors Island, was a major focus for Old Put because control of the island dictated control of the mouth of the East River and access to the east side of Manhattan and Brooklyn Heights. Putnam, along with 1,000 men constructed an earthen works fort roughly where Fort Jay is located today. By the start of the battle, the Continental Army had major fortifications on Governors Island, in Red Hook, in Brooklyn Heights, and in the Battery of Manhattan. [caption id=“attachment_11” align=“aligncenter” width=“249”]
General Israel “Old Put” Putnam[/caption] Despite the fortification, Generals Washington and Putnam were badly outnumbered and the British gained control of New York City. When the United States regained control of the city at the end of the Revolutionary War, one of the very first things the new United States government did was fortify New York Harbor, formally beginning the long military history of Governors Island. [caption id=“attachment_12” align=“aligncenter” width=“432”]
A view of modern Fort Jay from above[/caption] A big thanks to Kristen (who, fun fact, is distantly related to General Putnam!), and to all the the @Gov_Island twitter followers who suggested names for Putnam! Happy Friday!