During the American Revolutionary War, the trees were cleared to make way for fortifications. At the time, Long Hill had been known as "Mount Washington", while an outcropping in the center of the site was called "Forest Hill". The latter was part of a series of fortifications that lined the steep cliff within the park site, which was known by the Americans as "Fort Washington". The actual site of Fort Washington is less than a mile south at Bennett Park. The park was an ancillary site of the Battle of Fort Washington, fought on November 16, 1776, between 2,900 American soldiers and 8,000 invading Hessian troops hired by Great Britain. Despite the American Continental Army's strategic position at the top of Long Hill, they were defeated after holding out for two hours. American soldier Margaret Corbin became the first woman to fight in the war and was injured during the battle; the southern entrance to the park bears her name. After the British victory, the outpost on Forest Hill was named after Sir William Tryon, the last British Governor of the Province of New York. The British made improvements to Fort Tryon, using it as Upper Manhattan's primary defensive post, before peacefully withdrawing from Manhattan in 1783. The Tryon name persisted even after the British withdrawal, even as many other colonial place names were being expunged of their British influence.