“Boom!” roared the cannon salute by re-enactors from Doughty’s Artillery. American heroism was celebrated yesterday as hundreds came out to Battle Hill atop Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn to commemorate the 229th anniversary of the first battle of the Revolutionary War.

British soldiers, led by Sir William Howe, had crossed from Staten Island and faced Americans who were on high ground. On August 27, 1776, the British flanked and outnumbered American troops who suffered 2,000 casualties and 1,000 captured compared to 300 British losses. A British column circled east and attacked the Americans from the rear, but a valiant counterattack by the Maryland 300 enabled most of the American Army to escape to Brooklyn Heights.

The president of Green-Wood Cemetery, Richard Moylan, said, “We stand this day on hallowed ground and remember those who fought and died so that our nation could be born.” As the Green-Wood Cemetery historian, Jeffrey Richman, told the Knickerbocker, “This is weeks after the Declaration of Independence. This could well have been the end of the American Revolution. Never again would so many soldiers meet on the field of battle during the war.”

Some came from afar to commemorate. Wearing a three-cornered hat was Joe Dooley of Virginia, whose ancestor fought in the Revolutionary War. He was dressed as a private because his ancestor was a private. The vice president of the Society of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, Russell Wylie, traveled from Newtown, Pa.

The United States Merchant Marine Academy Band began and closed the program, which included a parade, wreath-laying, presentation of colors, and patriotic songs. The commander of the U.S. Army Garrison Fort Hamilton, Colonel Tracey Nicholson, addressed the crowd.

A graduate of Rutgers University with a degree in journalism and communications, Colonel Nicholson spoke about sacrifice in defense of liberty. “The uniforms today are not quite as colorful as the re-enactors’,” she said, “but the sacrifice is still the same.”

In giving the invocation, Monsignor Walter Murphy also connected the past to the events of the present, reminding the audience that today American men and women were again in harm’s way.

The First New York Continental Chapter president, Wesley Oler of the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, recognized the various groups who participated in the color guard. Seen were the chairman of the color guard of Sons of the Revolution of the State of New York, Jonathan Ridgeway, whose great grandfather’s great grandfather was in the Continental Army; Phil Kissel of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War; a member of the Kings County Color Guard, Rene Adams, who immigrated to America from Estonia in 1949; and two staff sergeants of the Army’s New York City recruiting battalion, Gabriel Shutts and Tyrone Almendarez.

Amid American Legion veterans and Jewish war veterans were Robert McKay and George Watson, both past presidents of Sons of the American Revolution; Thomas Bird of the SAR; and John Mauk Hilliard, wearing a St. Andrew’s Society cap in honor of American General William Alexander, who was called Lord Stirling.

Women participated as well. Amy Adamo of Fraunces Tavern dressed as Molly Pitcher. The Knickerbocker chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution had Anne Teasdale, Lauren Kinelski, and Karen Stewart on hand. The Brooklyn Chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution were represented by Regent Wendi Findorak, Vice Regent Laura Congleton, and Bridgett Taranto, who performed a great service by bringing a cooler filled with Poland Spring ice water bottles for attendees to consume on a hot afternoon.

The chairwoman of the Brooklyn Irish-American Parade, Kathleen McDonagh, joined the consul general of Ireland, Honorable Timothy O’Connor, and others in remembering Irish patriots and war heroes. A bagpiper from Clann Eireann Pipe Band played “Amazing Grace”; and there was a march to the grave of historian John J. Gallagher, the author of “The Battle of Brooklyn 1776” (Castle Books), who died in 2002. A wreath was laid in a ceremony that included Gallagher’s mother, Mary Katherine Gallagher, sister, Peggy Gallagher, who traveled from Phoenix, and widow, Wilda, of Brooklyn.

In his remarks that afternoon, Mr. Moylan drew attention to the statue of Minerva and the Altar to Liberty erected on the site in 1920 to commemorate the Battle of Brooklyn. Minerva’s left hand salutes the Statue of Liberty while her right hand lays a wreath on the Altar to Liberty. Referring to recent zoning battles, Mr. Moylan said buildings could still rise on Fourth Avenue to block the view and suggested that perhaps the sightline should be designated as a protected view like the Promenade in Brooklyn Heights. “Is this any less important?” he asked the crowd.

“We hope that a year from now, we’re standing here looking at Liberty as we see now,” he said. The Battle of Long Island Memorial Society chairman, Eric Kramer, who was master of ceremonies that day, said, “I hope we don’t move in the wrong direction here in Brooklyn.”

The Sons of the Revolution brought 100 flags, including ones that read “Come! If You Dare” and “Don’t Tread on Me.”

These flags could well describe the crowd’s feeling about blocking Minerva’s view from the Statue of Liberty.