Grab your muskets and bayonets and take a trip 236 years into the past for a re-enactment of the Battle of Stony Point.
About 60 actors are needed to portray British and American soldiers on Memorial Day, May 25, on the grounds of Sands Ring Homestead.
Re-enactors are to meet at the Girl Scout Cabin, adjacent to the homestead, to receive uniforms, equipment and training.
Two re-enactments are scheduled for the afternoon. An induction of recruits will take place at 1:30 and 3:30 p.m. with the re-enactment to follow at 2:15 and 4:15 p.m.
The event is open to all participants, but children in fourth and fifth grades are especially being targeted.
“It’s designed to get the kids familiar with what the battle is, get them excited about the Revolutionary War, show them we were a part of it, and the Cornwall area was right in the thick of things,” said re-enactment coordinator Peter Erwin.
Erwin chose the Battle of Stony Point for a number of reasons.
As a member of the July Fourth Committee, Erwin helps with the annual pageant which includes a short battle scene.
“It represented a perfect Continental victory,” he said. “I thought it would be great to highlight this moment in Revolutionary War history as an educational tool and highlight everybody’s awareness of what’s going on at Sands Ring.
A fund raising effort has been ongoing to help repair the deteriorating homestead. Part of the $10 donation to participate in the re-enactment will go toward refurbishing Sands Ring.
Prior to the re-enactment, Erwin will provide details, but he plans on narrating the battle and hopes participants will take their cues from his directions.
The actual battle only took about 25 minutes, so Erwin expects the re-enactment to last between 15 and 20 minutes.
If the event is a success, Erwin hopes it will become an annual event.
To sign up or for more information, visit cornwalljuly4thpageant.org/SandsRing or contact Erwin at 845-661-0851.
The Battle of Stony Point
The Battle of Stony Point took place on July 15, 1779.
The British Army, under the direction of Lt. General Sir Henry Clinton, took control of Stony Point, a small outpost about 10 miles below West Point.
The promontory sticks out like a thorn over the Hudson River and was used to spy on ships making their way up the river. In May, the outpost was fortified, against attacks, with cannons.
General George Washington realized the British were preventing Americans from using King’s Ferry, a key river crossing over the Hudson.
Washington decided to move forward with an attack using the Continental Army’s Corps of Light Infantry led by Brigadier General Anthony Wayne.
Under the cover of darkness, they approached the fort and broke into three different regiments. The middle one being the only group that had any gun powder, created a diversion while the other two attacked from either side using bayonets.
Both sides suffered around 15 casualties, but the Americans came out victorious.
