This map from 1777 refers to an incident during the Battle of Long Island in the American Revolutionary War, where George Washington had a bridge blown up at the Proteus Gowanus site to prevent British troops from crossing, which resulted in stranded American soldiers having to fight to the death or drown.

1. Feet Proteus Gowanus
0 2,000
1777
This map of the “Provincial Conflicts” from the London Gentleman’s magazine refers to
“Prov’s drowned here”, an incident during the Battle of Long Island, where Washington had the
Mill bridge at the Proteus site blown up, forcing stranded American soldiers to fight to the death.