On 27 August 1776, American soldiers fought a battle in Gowanus for American Independence. 256 of the soldiers were buried in a mass grave near Third Avenue and 8th Street. On 7 July 2012, the OVER MY DEAD BODY BALLOON MAPPING EXPEDITION set out to find out this burial ground.

Delaware Regiment figh0ng in Ba2le of Brooklyn, pain0ng by Domenick D’Andrea, Corbis Archives 

The OVER MY DEAD BODY BALLOON MAPPING EXPEDITION comparing notes with local authorities on best technologies and surveillance techniques for finding buried Brooklyn bodies

Pic by Dan Phiffer, 7 July 2012 

Eymund, Gena and Ellie inflating big red balloon with helium gas sponsored by Liberty Industrial Gases and gear from Public Laboratory (www.grassrootsmapping.org)

Pic by Dan Phiffer, 7 July 2012 

The OVER MY DEAD BODY BALLOON MAPPING EXPEDITION used the Canon SD 880 Hello Kitty camera strapped into a recycled organic carrot juice bottle, and programmed to take pictures every 10 seconds.

Pic by Dan Phiffer, 7 July 2012 

1837 Renard USGS Survey showing generalized 20 foot contour line next to Old Gowanus Road where Marylander Battle took place

"On the shore of Gowanus Bay sleep the remains of this noble band. Out upon the broad surface of the level marsh rose a little island with trees and undergrowth. Around this mound, scarcely an acre in extent, clustered a few of the survivors of the fatal field and of the remorseless swamp, and here the heroic dead were brought, and laid beneath its sod, after the storm of battle had swept by. Tradition says that all the dead of the Maryland and Delaware battalions, who fell on and near the meadow, were buried in this Miniature island, which promised at that day the seclusion and sacred (quiet which befit the resting place of the heroic dead. Third avenue intersects the westerly end of the mound; and Seventh and Eighth streets indicate two of its sides".

Chronicles of Colonial Maryland James Walter Thomas, 1913

Bodies May have been relocated to Greenwood Cemetery - But no records found

Developer of Greenwood Cemetery Davids Bates Douglass’s son, Andrew was married to Gowanus Cortelyou family, at one point owners of Marylander site ? To research…

1846 Brooklyn Eagle Farm Lines Map

Battle of Brooklyn Superfund Remedial Investigation Hunter Research’s Archeological Summary

The vacant site at 170 8th Street next to the American Legion Hall was never excavated. Based on historical Research by Bob Furman, remains of soldiers bodies could have survived there. The Over My Dead Body Balloon Mapping Expedition photographed this site from the air to look for clues.

2011 Commemora0ve graffi0 at American Legion Hall, Gowanus, General Howe 

Based on historical research (the Wildhack sketch) from the 1956 Archeological Survey, the potential extent of space occupied by 256 bodies was estimated . The balloon photographs will now search for unusual cracks and patterns that may be caused by disturbed soils underneath the concrete slabs. This may help us in positioning the mass grave layout more precisely.

Thanks to helium gas donated by Liberty Industrial Gases, the Over My Dead Body Balloon Mapping Team was able to fly a balloon over the site, with a digital camera programmed to take pictures every 10 seconds.

Theory: The softer soil of the upturned soil and fragile corpses of the 1776 burial trenches may have caused cracks to appear on concrete slabs as trucks drove over them or just coincidence

Henry Wildhack, Jr. , son of the owner of a coal yard opened on the site in 1905, was quoted in the 1956 U.S. National Parks Service historical site survey, entitled Historical Orientation Report for Archaeological Investigation, Marylanders’ Burial Site, Brooklyn, New York , to the effect that his father had opened a coal yard on Third Avenue between Seventh and Eighth Streets in 1905 (Figure 13), and the Marylanders' burial trenches were then still visible. In fact, as a child he had played on them. He drew a site sketch (above) which shows them running diagonally toward the southeast. A letter he wrote in the files of the Brooklyn Historical Society to Jamie Kelly, the Brooklyn Borough Historian, on February 9, 1947, states that as a child, around 1905, he and his friends used to dig on exposed burial trenches from the Battle of Brooklyn where the Maryland Heroes were buried, and "it was nothing new for us to find bones and various shapes and pieces of metal."

He stated that his father had unsuccessfully lobbied to get the government of newly consolidated Greater New York to commemorate the site, which was confirmed by Kelly, who was told the same thing by Wildhack, Sr. Eventually he gave up and covered the trenches with landfill to bring his property up to street grade. In the 1930s the Wildhack coalyard was sold to the maker of Red Devil Paints, which installed underground paint storage vats, further obscuring the site. (source: Bob Furman research, 2012)

1781 Sproule Map showing that 2012 Balloon Aerial of 170 8th St Site is within possible burial trench area as described by 1956 Wildhack Sketch: the 24 ft elevation has remained +/- unchanged since 1776

1781 Sproule Map with extent of space 256 soldiers bodies would occupy on “Marylander Hill” Grey square shows 2012 balloon aerial photo area showing unusual cracks. Speculative alignment shown above of bodies relative to Sproule’s hill mapping hint that they may have been further south on 170 8th street site, or packed more closely together. Graves roughly located based on 1956 Wildhack sketch.

1850 Willard Day 8th Street and Third Ave Cut and Fill Survey for the regrading of 8th Street Source: Bob Furman 2012 Marylander Research Archives

“Marylander” Hill before it was lowered by 1 or 2 feet during 1850’s road construction

1886 Sanborn Map of Marylander Hill Area

1916 Becher Hyde Map of Wildhack coal yard

By this time, trenches have been entirely built over or landfilled

Did any area of the burial ground survive road and basement excavation destruction ?

YES The portion of the graves between 8th and 9th Street.

In 1956 pursuant to the enacted legislation, the U.S. National Parks Service did a historical site survey, entitled Historical Orientation Report for Archaeological Investigation, Marylanders’ Burial Site, Brooklyn, New York (Appendix) in preparation for a dig on the site. Dr. Nicholas Ryan, a Brooklyn Heights physician, is quoted there stating that in the 1890s his father, a building contractor, had found

"the bones of some thirty bodies in regular, or military order," in the course of digging cellars for apartment buildings on the site. Note: This was most likely on the block between 7th & 8th Street. (source: Bob Furman research, 2012)

"Mingled with the remains of the servile sons of Africa whose burial ground it also was, lies the dust of those brave boys.

Fields, 1869, as quoted in Hunter Research Draft Gowanus Canal Archeology Report

Original Stone House location

Denton’s Mill Battle Site

Brouwer’s Mill Bridge

Marylander’s Burial Ground

Veterans Monument

Presumed Grave Location: 170 8th Street Site

Potential Alternative Burial Ground ?

Battle Site /Potential Second Burial Ground

Old Stone House Battle Site

Battle Site & Historic Dam (Hall of the Gowanus)

Battle of Brooklyn Sites An Integrated Greenway Trail dlandstudio / Gowanus Canal Conservancy SPONGE PARK PLAN

HISTORIC 1776 WAR OF INDEPENDENCE SITES

1776 OLD STONE HOUSE BATTLE

Old Stone House Battle Site

Potential Alternative Burial Ground ?

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