The Forcing of the Hudson River Passage was a famous episode in the American War of Independence. In July 1776, General Howe decided to take New York and its surrounds from George Washington's American forces. With the help of his brother, Admiral Howe (who had a large naval squadron), he landed his troops on Staaten Island, with the intention of taking Manhattan Island, having first succeeded in consolidating Long Island. After landing in the South of Manhattan Island and gaining a strong foothold, General Howe found himself at an impasse with the Americans who controlled the North of the island. A naval squadron was therefore sent by Admiral Howe into the Hudson River to cut the communication and supply lines of George Washington's army in the north, and therefore to perform a flanking manoeuvre. The squadron was led by Captain Hyde Parker in his ship HMS Phoenix, with support from the Roebuck (Captain Hammond) and the Tartar (Captain Ommaney) amongst other smaller ships. On October 9th 1776, the squadron moved towards the narrows between the Forts of Washington and Lee at the Northern end of Manhattan (near the location of the present George Washington Bridge). In the months before, the American defenders had thrown a boom across the waterway at this point, making it very difficult for heavy ships to get through, especially as the area was dominated by powerful guns in the two forts on the high grounds either side of the narrows. Parker led the approach to the obstruction in Phoenix, with a light wind following and the ships of his squadron in close support, making maximum impact on the boom at its weakest point (the mooring beneath Fort Washington at Jeffereys Hook). The ships successfully broke through and were once more able to control the movement on this stretch of the river. This control was exploited by the army and subsequently led to the Battle of White Plains which resulted in a British victory, and overall control of New York and the surrounds.

In this work, Mitchell depicts the moment that the boom is broken by Phoenix, with the heavy gunfire from both American forts generating huge smoke and hails of shot landing in the water. Mitchell has generally based his composition on works that were completed by Dominic Serres (1722-1793) of this famous episode in the American War of Independence. Serres was commissioned by the three captains of the Phoenix, Roebuck and Tartar, to finalise paintings of slightly different stages of this action, all of which are now in American and British institutions. Mitchell would have been commissioned by lower serving officers, and it may be that a commander of one of the smaller vessels, or a Lieutenant on-board the larger ships, will have commissioned this particular work.

Thomas Mitchell had first-hand experience of naval ships and sailing, due to working as a shipwright to the Admiralty. In 1774 he exhibited his first oil painting at the Royal Academy entitled `His Majesty's Yacht Augusta'. For a time he was the builder's assistant at the Royal dockyard of Chatham and Deptford, before becoming Assistant Surveyor to the Navy and an artist. He was a perfectionist, as seen by his barring from the Society of Arts due to disreputable conduct in removing an oil painting that he had submitted for one of the marine painting competitions without prior permission.