A ceremony commemorating the American victories at the battles of Saratoga and Yorktown will be held on Sunday, October 12, 2014 in Manhattan’s historic Trinity Churchyard. The cemetery holds the bodies of General Horatio Gates, the commanding general at the Battle of Saratoga to whom a 10,000 man British force surrendered on October 17, 1777, and Alexander Hamilton, who led the charge against Redoubt 10 at the Battle of Yorktown on October 19, 1781. Both men are buried within a few yards of each other.
The ceremony will be preceded by a two hour walking tour beginning at 12:30 p.m. sponsored by Open House New York in which walking tour historian James S. Kaplan, will lead a group through sites of Revolutionary War importance in Lower Manhattan, ending at Trinity Churchyard.
“The purpose of this tour and ceremony is to help New Yorkers understand the importance of these very important but often forgotten Revolutionary War heroes, buried right here in Lower Manhattan,” Kaplan, who heads the Lower Manhattan Historical Society, said.
The commemoration event, which is open to the public, will take from 2:30 to 3:15 at Trinity Churchyard (79 Broadway). It is being presented by the Sons of the Revolution of the State of New York, the New York Continental Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, the Alexander Hamilton Awareness Society (AHA), and the Lower Manhattan Historical Society.
Photo of Trinity Churchyard, Broadway and Wall Street courtesy Wikimedia user .
Another major event in early October of 1777 was Sir Henry Clinton’s departure from NYC with 3000 soldiers to support Burgoyne’s failing efforts at Saratoga. Clinton hoped to draw off American troops from the battle by making a move on Albany to improve Burgoyne’s chances. In the end, Clinton was too late but he did wreak havoc in the mid-Hudson Valley by taking Stony Point, storming Forts Clinton and Montgomery and burning Kingston before Burgoyne’s surrender. Today, the interested visitor can visit the Stony Point Battlefield and Lighthouse Park, Fort Montgomery State Historic Site and Kingston.