239th anniversary of Battle of Brooklyn to be celebrated in borough this weekend
Old Stone House in Park Slope will celebrate America’s path to independence during the week-long commemoration of the 239th anniversary of the Battle of Brooklyn — the largest battle of the Revolutionary War — beginning Saturday, Aug. 22 and continuing through Sunday, Aug. 30.
Festivities kick off on Aug. 22 with an extensive exhibit of Colonial-era flags at Green-Wood Cemetery. While there will be events throughout the city during the course of the week, visitors to Old Stone House can memorialize William Smallwood’s Marylander Regiment and William Alexander (Lord Stirling), the heroes of the Battle of Brooklyn; experience an exhibit focused on contemporary issues around income inequality and take a neighborhood walking tour of the battle. The celebration culminates on Aug. 30 at Green-Wood Cemetery, where visitors can experience a musket and canon-firing skirmish reminiscent of the battle. Events at Old Stone House are free and take place at Washington Park/JJ Bryne Playground at Fourth Avenue in Park Slope. For more information, visit www.theoldstonehouse.org.
“It is the memory of the sacrifices of the Battle of Brooklyn that make the site of the Old Stone House and Washington Park hallowed ground,” said Kimberly Maier, Old Stone House executive director. “The events that culminated around the Old Stone House played an important role in the outcome of that battle and its legacy stands as a testament to the bravery of those who lost so much to grant us our freedom.”
On Aug. 27, 1776, William Alexander (Lord Stirling) led a regiment of 400 Maryland soldiers against the British at the Vechte-Cortelyou House — a stone farmhouse built by Dutch immigrant Claes Arentson Vechte — during the decisive engagement of the Battle of Brooklyn. The Marylanders lost more than two hundreds soldiers that day, but their bravery enabled Gen. George Washington to gather the bulk of his nascent army at Fulton Ferry, where during the night of Aug. 29, the Marblehead Regiment rowed 8,000 troops, horses and armament across the East River. The next morning, when the British commander Gen. William Howe, arrived to accept Washington’s surrender, he found the Americans gone — a classic example of losing the battle to win the war.
Today’s Old Stone House is a reconstruction of the Vechte-Cortelyou House. Though the house was reconstructed in 1934 following a fire, some unearthed original materials were used in the reconstruction, and the current structure sits adjacent to the site of the original house.
