Tour explores Revolutionary War prison ship deaths
BY KEVIN DUGGAN
Brooklyn battle buffs looking
to probe the borough’s
proud contributions to America’s
founding can embark on a
walking tour through Dumbo,
Vinegar Hill Fort Greene,
which takes today’s anti-redcoat
warriors through an exploration
of the prisoners who died
in captivity on British ships off
the coast of Kings County.
“When people learn about
the American Revolution they
obviously think of Boston,
Philadelphia, Lexington and
Concord — they really don’t
think of New York City,” said
urban archaeologist Alyssa
Loorya, who will be leading
the tour on May 8.
More than 11,500 Americans,
known as the prison ship
martyrs, died on the jail boats
after the disastrous defeat during
the 1776 Battle of Brooklyn,
and the tour guide hopes
to show New Yorkers the city’s
pivotal role during the 18thcentury
rebellion for independence.
Following Gen. George
Washington’s retreat to Manhattan
during the confl ict,
the British moved thousands
of prisoners to decommissioned
44 COURIER LIFE, MAY 7-13, 2021
ships dotting the New
York Harbor, where they languished
in squalid and overcrowded
conditions — including
on vessels docked in the
Wallabout Bay at today’s Navy
Yard, where mortality rates
ranged from 60-to-70 percent,
the history buff said.
“Other than the Civil War,
we’ve never had American
prisoners of war on American
soil,” said Loorya. “It’s really a
forgotten component of American
history.”
Adding to the patriotic lore,
the redcoats had offered the
continental rebels their freedom,
if they pledged loyalty to
the King — but most remained
true to their patriotic ideals,
according to Loorya.
“Overwhelmingly, the patriots
chose to stay in prison
and suffer, rather than give up
on this ideal that they so believed
in — and that ideal was
America and independence,”
she said.
After the Revolutionary
War, the thousands that died
on the ships were hastily buried
along Brooklyn’s shoreline,
but in 1808, the politically-infl
uential Tammany Society
convinced a local property
INSIDE A LANDMARK: Urban archaeologist Alyssa Loorya and the Prison
Ship Martyrs Monument in Fort Greene Park.
Photo by Alyssa Loorya/File photo
owner to gather the bodies in
a tomb at what is now Hudson
Avenue near York Street.
A fraction of these remains
were moved in 22 boxes to a
newly-created 25-by-11-foot
brick vault in Fort Greene
Park in 1873, where they remain
to this day.
Toward the end of the 19th
century, local activists, including
the National Society
Daughters of the American
Revolution and the Society of
Old Brooklynites, lobbied for a
grand monument in the name
of the prison ship martyrs.
Renowned Gilded Age architects
Charles Follen Mc-
Kim, William Rutherford
Mead, and Stanford White designed
a new entrance to the
crypt in 1905, along with a
wide granite stairway leading
to the plaza atop the park’s hill
with the famous 149-foot Doric
column rising from its center,
whose dedication was attended
by President-elect William
Howard Taft in 1908.
Loorya will start her tour at
Jane’s Carousel — near where
Washington escaped at the
Fulton Ferry Landing to Manhattan
— before continuing
through Vinegar Hill, along
the edge of the Navy Yard, and
ending at the Prison Ship Martyrs
Monument in Fort Greene
Park.
The guide, who is a member
of the Fort Greene chapter of
the NSDAR and also works to
preserve the historic Hendrick
I. Lott House in Marine Park,
will explore fi rst-hand accounts
from former prisoners,
showing how their bravery inspired
the newly-minted nation’s
fi ght for independence.
“I think people don’t want
to focus on the defeat. We were
occupied and it’s much more
exciting to talk about the battle
and bravery as opposed to the
loss,” so Loorya. “It plays an
important role in understanding
that fervor, that want for a
free and independent America.
The prisoners, their sacrifi ce is
a staunch statement for that.”
BY KEVIN DUGGAN
They’re making a return!
Brooklyn Public Library
will reopen 13 of its branches
for browsing and computer
use on May 10, the borough’s
book lender announced April
29..
“The expansion of library
services is a meaningful part
of our city’s reopening and
recovery,” said BPL president
and chief executive offi -
cer Linda Johnson on April
29. “We know just how many
Brooklynites desperately
need access to computers and
printers, and just how many
miss the ritual of picking out
a new book at their neighborhood
branch.”
Kings County bookworms
will be able to peruse the
stacks for the fi rst time since
the library system closed all
its 60 branches more than a
year ago due to the pandemic,
while adhering to COVID-19
guidelines, like wearing a
mask and social distancing.
Browsing will be limited to
a set timeframe and patrons
will have to book an appointment
to use computers at the
select locations.
The library system plans
to bring back browsing and
computer use in the coming
weeks at all of its locations
that currently offer grab-andgo
lobby service, which BPL
originally started rolling out
last July.
Library leaders want to
add more locations this summer
and hope for a full reopening
“as soon as possible”
this year.
They also want to launch
outdoor programming on top
of their current virtual events,
classes, and resources.
LIBRARIES
“In addition to these new
indoor services, we will offer
outdoor reading rooms, WiFi,
and programs for all ages.
This is an important step toward
fully and safely restoring
in-person library service,”
Johnson said.
Tales of the crypt
Brooklyn Public Library to reopen 13
branches for browsing next month
BROOKLYN
Stacks are back!
TOURS
The 13 branches that will
open Monday, May 10, are:
Brownsville
Canarsie
Central
Clinton Hill
Coney Island
Crown Heights
Flatbush
Ft. Hamilton
Greenpoint
Kings Highway
Midwood
Mill Basin
Red Hook
BOOKIN’ IT: Brooklyn Public Library’s Central branch will soon be open
for browsing and computer use. File photo
Brooklyn Prison Ship Martyrs
Walking Tour Starts at Jane’s
Carousel at New Dock Street
near Water Street in Dumbo,
www.ftgreenedar.org. May 8
at 11 am. $10. Buy tickets at bit.
ly/2RpBfSg.
/www.ftgreenedar.org
/www.ftgreenedar.org