9. Washington took advantage of a real fog of war
During the New York campaign of 1776 Washington’s Continental Army prepared to engage the British under Sir William Howe on Long Island. Howe relied on local Loyalists to guide his army through unguarded passes and outflank the Americans. Washington was badly beaten in his first major encounter with the British in the open field. He was also in serious trouble. He needed to get the remainder of his defeated army off Long Island, where the British had it trapped. Washington prepared defenses on the western end of Long Island while his Marblehead Regiment gathered the boats needed to evacuate the Continentals. There was no way they could counter the Royal Navy.
Both sides prepared for a siege. On the night of August 29, a heavy fog rolled in along the Hudson River. Washington had the wheels of gun carriages and wagons muffled with rags, and one by one, the companies of his army went to the riverbank, where they were picked up by the Marblehead Regiment under Colonel John Glover. They were transported under cover of fog to Manhattan. The entire army, including all of its equipment and supplies, were evacuated under the very noses of the British. When the fog lifted on the morning of August 30, the Americans were in positions across the river on Manhattan Island, having used the fog to cover their movement.
