On Hallowed Ground

In an earlier post, I discussed the genesis for setting The Patriot Spy at the Battle of Long Island.  Several times during the writing of the book, I returned to the neighborhoods that the battle encompassed.  Some of them were neighborhoods I had lived in long ago, Park Slope and Flatbush - both in the heart of Brooklyn.

On one of my return trips,  I went to where I had reckoned was the site of the pivotal point of the battle  – the forlorn hope attack by the gallant Marylanders and their brothers in arms from Delaware (who are actually depicted on the cover of The Patriot Spy). It was a gray autumn day. We drove to the intersection of 3rd Avenue and 8th Street in Park Slope – the spot where I had believed the fallen 300 from the engagement had been laid to rest.  

There, in front of an auto repair shop, I stood looking at an old building across the street. Surrounded by scaffolding, it was clearly in the process of demolition.  A large burly guy with a thick gold necklace saw me standing there and exited the repair shop.

“Can I help you?” He asked, more as a challenge than a question, thick Brooklyn accent.

“I’m looking for a marker,” I replied.  One of the sourcebooks I used indicated the existence of a small marker on the side of a building.

“A marker?  Marker for whad?”  He asked with a really puzzled look.

“Almost three hundred  Americans died here and are buried in a mass grave,” I answered.

“Died? When?  How? Who done it?” He looked stunned and puzzled, and this being Brooklyn, likely thought this had something to do with the mob. 

“There was a great battle here in 1776.  Almost three hundred patriots were killed fighting the British and are supposed to be buried near here.”

He nodded his head knowingly. “Oh yeah, well, I ain’t never seen no marker, but it wuz probably on dat building.”

I looked across the street at the building, now encased in scaffolding and plywood and surrounded by a chain-link fence. I decided my search was over.  

I relate this anecdote to call readers' attention to a recent article in the New York Times that highlights the efforts of a local Brooklyn historian named Bob Furman. Furman is leading an effort to identify, preserve, and appropriately commemorate some of the key points on the battlefield. The article is worth reading as it highlights the challenges of trying to preserve a sense of history in the midst of urbanization.

Gowanus Canal

More than one hundred years ago, a growing city’s appetite for residential and industrial land overran the area. Hard to believe that this highly built-up slice of New York was once the site of beautiful farms, fields, orchards, and woods. Hard to believe that gallant and brave men once fought desperately for their lives and their new nation on these bustling streets.   Let's hope Furman and his associates at the Brooklyn Preservation Council have some success in reclaiming some of this hallowed ground. But sadly, most vestiges of the Revolutionary War battle and the very terrain it was fought are gone.