Patriot soldiers died and were buried here in 1776
(Otis Pratt Pearsall and Joseph M. McCarthy co-submitted this nomination.)
This is the burial site of the 254 soldiers from Maryland and Delaware who gave their lives to stop the British advance on the American forces on Brooklyn Heights, August 27, 1776. The burial site is thought to be in the area to the east of 3rd Avenue at 8th Street. It is a relatively non-descript residential and semi-industrial area. There is at this time a small plaque that was attached to the side of a building on 3rd Avenue by the VFW to commemorate the men and the battle. Other than that, there is nothing there.
This battle was the first time soldiers had come from other colonies to fight the British, and the battle they fought was the largest the Americans would fight until Yorktown five years later. The action of these men saved the American army, and may well have saved the Revolution.
After the battle, someone wrote, "The Declaration of Independence was signed in ink in Philadelphia, but it was signed in blood in Brooklyn." We are told that the original deed of sale of the Van Brunt farm stipulated that the burial site was to be forever sacred and should never be built upon. It has been.
The museum at the Old Stone House is another source of information about the battle and burial site. http://theoldstonehouse.org/history.php, http://www.brooklynonline.com/history/battle.xhtml