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Battle of Minisink to Be Commemorated With Encampment and Military Tributes
MINISINK FORD – The 229th anniversary of the Revolutionary War’s Battle of Minisink will be commemorated with a colonial encampment at Sullivan County’s Minisink Battleground Park, and public programs in New York and Pennsylvania on July 19 and July 22, respectively.
The commemoration of the Battle of Minisink is sponsored by four organizations: the Sullivan County Historical Society; the Minisink Valley Historical Society; local chapte
rs of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution; and the Navasing Long Rifles.
Members of the Navasing Long Rifles and Third Ulster Militia invite interested people to stop by the park Friday night through Sunday as they camp out and demonstrate the frontier lifestyle.
The formal observances begin on Saturday, July 19, at 3 p.m. at the Minisink Battleground Park’s pavilion.
Anthony Domingo and the Navasing Long Rifles will present a lecture program on the Colonial Militia’s origins, practices, effectiveness, and societal impacts. At 4 p.m., the traditional memorial service at the park’s hilltop monument will take place.
Keynote speaker Frank Salvati of the Minisink Valley Historical Society will provide an overview of the July 22, 1779 Battle of Minisink. Several direct descendants of the militiamen killed in battle will read the names of the fallen.
Also participating in the ceremony will be: the Rev. Robert McLeod; representatives from the Sullivan County Veterans’ Services Agency; several chapters of the National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution; Sylvan Liebla Post #1363, American Legion; Tusten-Highland Post #6427, Veterans of Foreign Wars; the Navasing Long Rifles; and the National Park Service Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River.
Following the service at approximately 4:45 p.m., guests are invited to join together for a picnic supper at the pavilion. Participants should bring their own food and beverages. Grills are available for cooking.
All are welcome. For more information on the July 19 Battle of Minisink commemoration, call Allan Dampman of the Sullivan County Historical Society at (845) 292-6609.
On the actual Battle anniversary date of July 22, Pike County Historian George J. Fluhr will host his 34th consecutive commemoration ceremony across the Upper Delaware River in Lackawaxen, PA. The Tuesday program begins at 2 p.m. at The Grave of the Unknown Soldier monument on River Road. The gravesite holds the remains of a militiaman killed in the 1779 Battle of Minisink but not discovered until 1847.
District Magistrate Jay Rose will deliver the keynote address. The service will also include military memorials, the reading of the Rowland Account of the Battle, prayers, and a rifle volley.
For more information on the Pike County ceremony, call (570) 559-7444.
