Trapped at the Battle of Minisink, New York

From the field: “Being there” can bring the impact of historical events home to people as the printed word alone often cannot. Last month my wife and I visited Minisink Battleground Park in Sullivan County, New York, with our oldest grandson, Jace Leckie.

Monument at the Minisink Battleground County Park in Sullivan County, NY. The Battle of Minisink was fought in 1779 as part of the American Revolution. – Photo Charles Fulton

The Battle of Minisink

The battle of Minisink took place on 22 July 1779 when the Mohawk leader, Joseph Brant, and about a hundred Iroquois and loyalists trapped a party of New York militia on a hill overlooking the Delaware River.  The ineptly led patriots were no match for the skillful Brant, and over several hours of fighting the Indians and Tories wore down the patriot defenders. Grandson Jace is standing on top of Hospital Rock, under which militia Dr. Benjamin Tustin tended to militia wounded as the fighting raged.  When the patriot perimeter collapsed, Tustin and his patients were massacred.

What was the outcome of the battle of Minisink?

Of the original one hundred-seventy militia, only about thirty survived the carnage.  It wasn’t a big battle, but in proportion to the numbers engaged the Battle of Minisink was one of the worst patriot defeats of the War for Independence. The battlefield was so rugged and inaccessible that bodies were still being recovered as late as the 1820s.

The Historic Minisink Battleground Park Now

The location, except for interpretive markers, trail, and the battle monument, is virtually unchanged since the tragic events of 1779—and it is easy to sense the isolation of the desperate militiamen as Brant’s men closed in. The American Revolution was no easy time—not a bad lesson for a modern teenager like Jace, or an historian like me writing about the period.

My grandson, Jace Leckie, on top of Hospital Rock on the Minisink Battlefield.

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