The British Occupation of Long Island

Long Island was occupied under the brutal yoke of occupation by the British army and navy from 1776-1783. The scars, trials and experiences of the occupation would not soon be forgotten.

Long Island was the longest continuously-occupied area of any on the continent in the Revolutionary War. It affected thousands of citizens residing behind the British lines, both loyalists and patriots. Long Island became a place of refuge for hundreds of loyalists from neighboring colonies and thousands of British soldiers and German mercenaries miles from their homeland were housed and fed on the island.

The Nassau County Historical Society is having a free hybrid program, “The British Occupation of Long Island, 1776-1783,” on Sunday, September 8 at 2 pm. David Griffin, author of Chronicles of the British Occupation of Long Island (2023) and Lost British Forts of Long Island (2017), will speak at the Jericho Public Library and online via Zoom.

Griffin will discuss the many sides engaged in this period and shed some light on the experience of life during those occupation years.

You can register for the Zoom webinar with the Jericho Public Library here.

Visit NassauCountyHistoricalSociety.org (Events) for additional information, including driving directions. Refreshments and a book signing will follow the program at the library for those attending in-person.

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Illustration above: The British invasion of Long Island in 1776.