The battle of Long Island began after the Siege of Boston. The British fled the Siege, General Washington thought that the British would try to take New York. The army and the General went to New York to prepare for a battle. The patriots thought wrong the British went south to Halifax, Nova Scotia. They reached the Hudson River on June 29,1776. British General William Howe arrived on Staton Island on July 3,1776. Then on July 4,1776 the Declaration of Independence was wrote.