On the night of 6–7 September 1776, a huge Royal Navy fleet lay at anchor in the waters between Staten Island and Manhattan, making a grand display of British sea power. One observer, looking out over the water at the many masts arrayed before him, noted that it seemed as though a forest had suddenly grown there. For the American Continental Army—waiting for the impending British attack on Manhattan Island—the situation seemed dire and wanting of desperate measures.
In fact, a desperate measure was under way. At a little past midnight, two American whaleboats had departed the southern tip of Manhattan with a secret weapon in tow. Considering the technological limitations of the time, this weapon was—as George Washington later described it—“an effort of genius.”