Here Comes Battle Week

One of the more interesting Brooklyn traditions is the annual celebration of the Battle of Brooklyn, the Revolutionary War fight that took place in what is now Gowanus, Park Slope, Prospect Park and Greenwood Cemetery. So, for instance, if your shopping at the Staples on Fourth Avenue at Third Street around mid-August, keep in mind that British and American soldiers were probably killing each other somewhere in the vicinity of the office furniture section 231 years ago. There are, in fact, mass graves still rumored to be here and there around the neighborhood. In any case, the annual Battle Week is coming up from August 18-26. Here's a sample of the highlights:

“Battle Week” begins at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, August 18th when the Memorial Remembrance takes place outdoors on the street at Eighth Street and Third Avenue, a location that is believed to be a burial site for some of the fallen heroes of the First Maryland Regiment. The event is sponsored by the Michael A. Rawley Jr. American Legion Post No. 1636, located nearby on 9th Street, and the Brooklyn Irish American Parade Committee.

Following the Memorial Remembrance ceremony, participants and visitors will travel in a procession, led by bagpipers, to the Old Stone House, the 308-year-old building in nearby J.J. Byrne Park that is an interpretative center about Brooklyn’s role in the American Revolution. The Open House will begin at 11:30 a.m. The park is located on Third Street, between Fourth and Fifth Avenues.

The Open House program on August 18th at the Old Stone House will include presentations by the organizations and sites that are presenting “Battle Week” activities, as well as a living history program with uniformed re-enactors, and a reading of "By the Sword" a children's book by Selene Castrovilla.

There are always many events at the Old Stone House in J.J. Byrne Park in Park Slope.