TRR photo by David Hulse A member of the Navasing Rifles, a period re-enactors group, is pictured at July 22 Lackawaxen ceremonies for the Unknown Soldier of the Revolution. More than 100 persons attended afternoon ceremonies at the Scenic Drive gravesite. (Click for larger image)

Tracing the action of 222 years ago

By DAVID HULSE

MINISINK FORD — While a good deal has been written about the 1779 Battle of Minisink, no one has ever attempted to lay out how the fatal clash unfolded between colonial militia, mostly from Orange County, and a party of Mohawk and Tory raiders under Chief Joseph Brant.

Looking at period reports of the battle and combining them with an overview of the battlefield’s geological formations, historian Peter Osborne and Geologist Jon Inners last week revealed their version of the events of that July 22, some 222 years ago.

What is known is that a party of more than 100 militia from Goshen was raised following Brant’s raids on the Port Jervis area in July of 1779. They pursued the Mohawk chief accompanied by a party of raiders, now often thought to be smaller than the militia party, up into the wilds of the Upper Delaware. The militia caught up at present day Minisink Ford, where a botched ambush split the militia forces and Brant eventually trapped and slaughtered some 40 of the remaining militia after a daylong fight.

Just how and where all this happened has always been in doubt. Inners, who works for the Pennsylvania Geological Survey, became interested in the battle terrain and decided to work with Osborne, director of the Minisink Valley Historical Society, to try and piece out an explanation of the course of the battle.

They presented their findings, traced onto four geological survey maps, along with supporting research at the battlefield following the July 22 annual Sullivan County Historical Society services.

	TRR photo by David Hulse Historian Peter Osborne, left, and geologist Jon D. Inners are pictured at their presentation of newly mapped theories on the actual course of the Battle of Minisink, prior to their presentation at park following July 22 commemoration services. (Click for larger image)

The maps propose direction and placement of opposing troops, the riverside ambush attempt, how the militia was split, their retreat to higher ground, Brant’s encirclement of their positions and the “last stand.”

Osborne admitted that he was “more than a little nervous,” making his presentation before an audience including George J. Fluhr and Mary Curtis, historians who have also written and researched the battle extensively.

But Curtis praised the effort, saying Osborne and Inners had brought more history into the day’s commemoration than any prior year.

Osborne did not emerge completely unscathed. While Osborne made no specific reference, Pat Thomas of Middletown, an ancestor of the Tyler family took the opportunity to challenge oft-expressed views that Captain Bezaleel Tyler botched the ambush with an early discharge of his rifle… thus warning the raiders. “I don’t think he was that kind of a man,” she said.

The Upper Delaware Heritage Alliance sponsored the afternoon presentation and is making available copies of the 14-page Osborne-Inners report titled, “Influences of Terrain and Geology on Brant’s Minisink Campaign (1779) New York-Pennsylvania.” For more information, contact Curtis at 570/729-7842.