This engraving was printed from a painting by Alonzo Chappel, it appears to be a variation or color print of an engraving printed in the 1858 book Battles of the United States. It depicts the retreat of men under American General William Alexander, also called Lord Stirling, across Brouwer's Mill Pond on Gowanus Creek during the Battle of Long Island. Stirling led a smaller group of his troops from Maryland in a rear guard action that allowed the bulk of Washington's Army to retreat to Manhattan from Brooklyn. These troops were sometimes referred to as the "Maryland 400." After two charges, most of Stirling's remaining men retreated across Gowanus Creek. During that retreat, many were captured or killed. The image is dated based on a description from a 1910 auction catalog of the Edward Babcock Holden Collection of Rare Americana and Fine Engravings, listing two engravings with the same title from 1860 by James Smillie. The original engraving by Smillie of the Chappel painting was most likely printed in the 1858 publication Battles of the United States by Sea and Land by Henry B. Dawson. The copy scanned here is a colored version of the print that appears in the Dawson book.