Top 10 Things You Can Only Do In Brooklyn
Learn Something that Might Come In Handy During Bar Trivia One Day
As you have probably been able to tell by now, one of the things that I think makes Brooklyn so special is the nods to history that are so specific to having been one of the oldest settled parts in all America. One of the richest areas of Brooklyn history is that which relates to the Revolutionary War. In fact, if you want to do a whole tour of Revolutionary War landmarks, you easily could. But if I had to pick one thing to single out, it would be the Prison Ship Martyrs’ Monument in Fort Greene Park. The memorial commemorates the more than 11,000 Americans who died onboard British prison ships during the Revolution. These prisoners mostly died from disease or malnutrition and were unceremoniously thrown overboard to a watery grave. And to put the number of prison martyrs in perspective, the number of American combat casualties during the war was approximately 8,000 men. So more Americans died aboard those ships than in combat during the entire war. And that right there, besides being incredibly disturbing, is also pretty solid trivia.
Prison Ship Martyrs’ Monument, Fort Greene Park, Fort Greene