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Photographer: R. C.
Caption:
Plaque Describing the H.M.S. Assistance Tragedy | Additional Description:
A Last Tragic Episode of the American Revolution
On New Year's Eve 1783, British forces were evacuating New York City as part of their final withdrawal from the new American Nation.
The British warship H.M.S. Assistance was anchored in Sandy Hook Bay when 11 seamen deserted the ship. 1st Lieutenant Hamilton Douglas-Halyburton led a party of 13 seamen to apprehend them.
While searching Sandy Hook, a blizzard overcame the Halyburton detachment. They were discovered frozen to death in a salt marsh meadow along the bay, and buried in a common grave.
By 1808, the monument that commemorated the incident and the gravesite were lost. A century later, workmen grading an army railroad bed discovered the crypt. The remains were re-interred at Cypress Hills National Cemetery in Brooklyn.
The present stone monument and memorial grounds were erected by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in 1937.
Submitted: February 23, 2008, by Ronald Claiborne of College Station, Texas.
Database Locator Identification Number: p16729
File Size: 0.705 Megabytes
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