GREEN-WOOD CEMETERY — To most it may look like a rambling final resting place, extraordinary for its size, several impressive gothic entrances, and hilly green expanses dotted with headstones.
But to Revolutionary War history buffs, and many borough-obsessed Brooklynites, it's a treasure trove rich with history, and many came out to celebrate in Green-Wood Cemetery's greatest moment at its 236th anniversary on Sunday: the Battle of Brooklyn.
It was in August of 1776 that the first battle of the American Revolution took place, following the signing of the Declaration of Independence. American soldiers, of which there were only 2,000, held off British forces that outnumbered them three-to-one, until they were surrounded and killed where they fell, in the ridge that still exists at the cemetery, according to the account by the Green-Wood Historic Fund, which organizes the event.
A parade, featuring music by the Regimental Band of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, as well as a trolley tour showing strategic positions around the cemetery were held for families, and visitors participated in an 18th-century cooking demonstration.
Revolutionary War re-enactors rode around on horses, and shot off rifles and cannons in a memorial ceremony that honored the fallen soliders on the frontlines of the earliest fights towards America's freedom.
