High on a hill in Fort Greene Park in Brooklyn, New York, stands a monument in memory to the 11,500 soldiers, sailors, and patriotic New York men, women, and children who were taken prisoner during the 1776 Revolutionary War. The monument, which is sometimes referred to as the Soldiers and Sailors Monument, stands in the center of what was once called Fort Putnam, an actual Revolutionary War fort, named after the Continental Army's General Putnam. As both the formal burial site of nearly 12,000 American Martyrs and bustling greenspace serving nearly 200,000 residents of the surrounding neighborhoods, Fort Greene Park may be the closest thing to "sacred space" one can find in New York City.
At first, Continental Army prisoners were incarcerated in jails, churches, and homes. When the British ran out of space, they began using decommissioned or damaged ships that were anchored in Wallabout Bay in Brooklyn (the area now abuts the Brooklyn Navy Yard) as floating prisons.
The conditions on board the ships were horrid. Many diseases were rampant, food and water were scarce or nonexistent, and the ships were overcrowded and wretched.
Many of the captives died from disease and malnutrition. Their emaciated bodies were either thrown overboard or buried in shallow graves in the sandy marshes of Wallabout Bay.
Even though the British surrendered at Yorktown, Virginia, in 1782, the surviving prisoners were not freed until 1783 when the British abandoned New York City.
A view of Manhattan across the East River from the Prison Ship Martyrs Monument
Please click on to enlarge.e
In the years following the war, the bones of the patriots would regularly wash up along the shores of Brooklyn. These remains were collected by Brooklyn residents who had hopes of creating a permanent resting place for the remains. Three monuments have been erected since the early 1880s, with the present 148 ft. The Doric column monument was dedicated in 1908. The bones of the patriots are interred in the base of the crypt.
The Fort Greene Park Conservancy has done much in recent years to restore and maintain the monument after many past years of neglect. There is an informational Visitors Center near the monument that has pictorial exhibits plus displays of Revolutionary War weapons and uniform buttons that have been uncovered in the park over the years.
The Fort Greene Park Conservancy has done much in recent years to restore and maintain the monument after many past years of neglect. There is an informational Visitors Center near the monument that has pictorial exhibits plus displays of Revolutionary War weapons and uniform buttons that have been uncovered in the park over the years.
Today, Fort Greene Park is a beautiful place to relax and enjoy nature. It is also a fitting resting place for the early martyrs of our country and a reminder that liberty does not come without a price.
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