Washington's Escape from Brooklyn

[N2NH]

A great piece of history told by John McCollough. This is an excerpt from his book 1776.

LINK HERE - Washington's Daring Escape from Brooklyn. (http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504803_162-57548126-10391709/washingtons-daring-escape-from-brooklyn/)

http://www.nycgovparks.org/common_images/monuments/514.jpg

Prison Ship Martyrs Monument, Fort Greene Park, Brooklyn, NY (http://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/FortGreenePark/monuments/1222)
Inscription: IN THE NAME OF THE SPIRITS OF THE DEPARTED FREE / SACRED TO THE
MEMORY OF THAT PORTION OF AMERICAN SEAMEN, SOLDIERS / ON BOARD THE
PRISON SHIPS OF THE BRITISH DURING THE REVOLUTIONARY / WAR AT THE
WALL ABOUT. THIS IS THE CORNERSTONE OF THE VAULT / WHICH CONTAINS
THEIR RELICS. ERECTED BY THE TAMMANY SOCIETY/OF THE COLUMBIAN
ORDER OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK. THE GROUND FOR / WHICH WAS BESTOWED
BY JOHN JACKSON, NASSAU ISLAND, SEASON OF/BLOSSOMS, YEAR OF
DISCOVERY, THE 316TH. OF THE INSTITUTION THE 19TH AND OF AMERICAN
INDEPENDENCE THE 32ND, APRIL THE 6TH, 1808./

JACOB VANDERVOORT / JOHN JACKSON / BURDET STRYKER / ISAACHER
COZZENS / ROBERT TOWNSEND / BENJAMIN WATSON / SAMUEL COWDRY / WILLIAM
AND DAVID CAMPBELL - BUILDER WALL ABOUT COMMITTEE/

TABLET OVER ENTRANCE TO TOMB. ORIGINALLY CORNERSTONE OF A VAULT
IN NAVY YARD, CONTAINING BONES OF 11,000 PATRIOTS. ERECTED IN
NAVY YARD BY TAMMANY SOCIETY.

FORT GREENE PARK OPENED 1849 THROUGH EFFORTS OF WALT WHITMAN,
EDITOR OF BROOKLYN EAGLE.

[NQ6U]

7991

[KA9MOT]

WOW! Good story. Thanks, I enjoyed it.

[N2NH]

WOW! Good story. Thanks, I enjoyed it.

My pleasure. Most people don't realize that what is now NYC was mostly dirt roads, farms and forests until about 1880. We had two revolutionary battles fought in the city, the Battle of Long Island (Brooklyn), the Battle of Harlem Heights and the Battle of Fort Washington. The Battle of Long Island (Brooklyn) was the largest conflict of the war and took place after the Declaration of Independence.

The Revolutionary War In NY and NJ. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolutionary_war#New_York_and_New_Jersey)

The monument in the picture is on a hilltop overlooking the harbor and East River. On Wallabout Bay, a british brig served as a jail for captured patriots. This monument was built as a memorial to them. It is also mentioned in the linked to article.