Barryville, NY - Sullivan County Historian John Conway announces that New York State Historian Devin Lander will be the keynote speaker at the annual commemoration of the Revolutionary War Battle of Minisink at the Minisink Battleground Park on Saturday, July 22.
Mr. Lander will speak about “Telling the Big Story with Local History.”
“We are honored to have Mr. Lander join us this year,” Conway says. “It is the first visit to Sullivan County by a State Historian in many years.”
The annual commemoration is a tribute to the American Patriots who lost their lives at the hands of a contingent of Mohawks, Senecas, and Tories on July 22, 1779. The Patriots, most of whom were farmers and merchants from Goshen, Warwick, and Sussex, New Jersey, had pursued the enemy, under the command of the enigmatic Mohawk Joseph Brant, following their raid on the settlement at Peenpack, near present day Port Jervis, on July 20.
Forty-six of the Patriots fell that day, and their remains were left on the Battleground for 43 years before an attempt was made to recover them. The scattered bones that were found at that time were taken to Goshen for burial there.
Among the fallen was Lt. Colonel Benjamin Tusten, a Goshen physician, who was killed while attending to the wounded at a location on the Battleground now known as Hospital Rock. The Sullivan County town of Tusten is named in his memory.
This year’s commemoration will also include the unveiling of a new monument listing the names of the men killed in the battle. The bluestone monument and bronze plaque, along with landscaping and stone benches were procured with funds raised from the community and with a matching Plans & Progress grant from the Sullivan County Legislature. The year-long Minisink Project was conceived of and spearheaded by Debra Conway, Executive Director of The Delaware Company, a non-profit group whose mission is to promote and support the history and historic landmarks of the Upper Delaware region.
This year’s ceremony begins at 4 p.m. It takes place rain or shine, and in the event of inclement weather, it will be moved to the Tusten Pavilion at the Park.
For more information, contact Debra Conway at 845-557-0851.
