Minisink, desolation of
On the night of July 19, 1779,
Joseph Brant, the
Mohawk chief, at the head of sixty Indians and twenty-seven Tories disguised as savages, stole upon the little town of Minisink,
Orange co., N. Y., which was wholly unprotected, and, before the people were aroused from their slumbers, set on fire several houses.
The inhabitants fled to the mountains.
Their small stockade fort, mill, and twelve houses and barns were burned; their orchards and plantations were laid waste; their cattle were driven away, and booty of every kind was borne to the banks of the
Delaware, where the
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chief had left the main body of his warriors.
Several of the inhabitants were killed, and some were made prisoners.
When news of this invasion reached
Goshen,
Dr. Tusten, colonel of the local militia, ordered the officers of his regiment to meet him at Minisink the next day, with as many volunteers as they could muster.
They promptly responded, and 140 hardy men were gathered around
Tusten the next morning, many of them the most respected citizens.
They pursued the invaders, under
Colonel Hathorn, who joined
Tusten with a small reinforcement, and, being senior officer, took chief command.
The more prudent officers counselled against pursuit when the great number of Indians at
Brant's command became known.
But hot-heads ruled, and the expedition soon became involved in a desperate fight with the Indians on July 22.
The
Indians pressed upon the white people on every side, until they were hemmed within the circumference of one acre, on a rocky hill that sloped on all sides.
The conflict began at 11 A. M., and lasted till sunset.
Into that hollow square the Indians broke.
The survivors of the conflict attempted to escape.
Behind a ledge of rocks
Dr. Tusten had been dressing the wounds of his companions all day. When the retreat began he had seventeen under his care.
The
Indians fell upon these with fury, and all, with the doctor, were slain.
The flower of the youth and mature manhood of that region had perished.
The event made thirty-three widows in the congregation of the Presbyterian church at
Goshen.
It gave firmness to
Sullivan's men, who, a few weeks afterwards, desolated the beautiful land of the Cayugas and Senecas.
In 1822 the citizens of
Orange county collected the bones of the slain, and caused them to be buried near the centre of the green at the foot of the main street of the village of
Goshen.
There was a great multitude of citizens present.
Over their remains a new marble monument was erected the same year, the corner-stone of which was laid by
General Hathorn, then over eighty years of age, and one of the survivors of the massacre.
The monument bears the names of the slain.
