Historical inaccuracies
September 27, 2012 | 10:19 AM

In "1776" David McCullough postulated that the British fleet could not cut off Washington's troops fleeing Brooklyn Heights to Manhattan due to poor wind conditions. The fleet could not sail up the East River from Governor's Island for four days. This was during July, and I find it hard to believe that no on-shore breeze blew out of NY Harbor up the river for four days. Maybe through divine intervention or shear luck, a hurricane parked itself offshore with a strong northeast wind allowing Washington to evacuate his troops.

Jon