Battle of Brooklyn 250 at Green-Wood

When and Where

When: August 23, 2026
Timeline: 9:00 am — 2:00 pm

Location: Main Entrance meadow — 5th Avenue & 25th Street

Two hundred and fifty years ago, the first major battle fought after the Declaration of Independence was signed rolled across the hills of Brooklyn — including the ground that is now Green-Wood Cemetery. On the Sunday of the anniversary weekend, Green-Wood marks it with its largest Battle of Brooklyn commemoration ever, and Scouts from across the borough have been asked to help run it.

Troop 23 is going. This is not a spectator trip: the council has called it a service event, and Scouts will work it as ushers, marchers, and activity volunteers alongside units from all over Brooklyn. Between assignments there is plenty to see — costumed interpreters, living-history demonstrations, hands-on learning stations, family-friendly games, a parade, and a commemoration ceremony atop Battle Hill, the high ground where the fighting on this land was fiercest.

The Troop travels together. Meet at Our Lady of Angels at 9:00 am; the program at Green-Wood runs from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm, and we are back at OLA in the early afternoon.

There is nothing to pay and no form to sign. Scouts do not register themselves — RSVP to the Troop and leadership registers everyone as a unit.

Details

Date: Sunday, August 23, 2026
Meet at OLA: 9:00 am — Our Lady of Angels, 337 74th Street
Program at Green-Wood: 10:00 am – 1:00 pm
Back at OLA: around 1:45 pm
Where: Green-Wood Cemetery — the meadow just inside the Main Entrance at 5th Avenue & 25th Street (500 25th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11232)
Uniform: Class A — shirt, pants, neckerchief, and merit badge sash if earned
Cost: None
RSVP: To the Troop by Wednesday, August 19 — we register as a unit, so nobody signs up individually
Open to: Scouts, siblings, and parents — this is a family event and the more of the Troop that turns out, the better we look on the field

What Scouts Will Do

The council registered this as a service event, and that is the part we own. Assignments come from the organizers on the day and fall into three kinds of work:

• Ushers — greeting the public, pointing visitors to activity stations, keeping the flow moving between the meadow and Battle Hill
• Marchers — walking in the parade in uniform, as the Troop does at the Kings County Memorial Day Parade
• Activity volunteers — helping run the hands-on learning stations and the family games

Service hours are recorded for everyone who works the event. Sign in with your Patrol Leader when you arrive and sign out before we leave.

The rest of the program is yours to enjoy: living-history demonstrations, costumed interpreters telling soldier and civilian stories from August 1776, and the closing ceremony on Battle Hill.

Green-Wood Cemetery — Main Entrance

Where the Battle Was Fought

The Declaration of Independence was adopted in July 1776. The first military engagement that followed came six weeks later, here — the Battle of Brooklyn, fought on August 27, 1776, and the largest battle of the entire Revolutionary War. The fighting ran across ground Brooklynites cross every day: Gravesend Bay, Prospect Park, Fort Greene Park, Fulton Ferry Landing, and the hills that are now Green-Wood Cemetery.

At the Old Stone House in what is now Park Slope, General William Alexander — Lord Stirling — led roughly 400 Maryland soldiers against some 2,000 British troops under General Charles Cornwallis. The Marylanders charged, fell back, regrouped, and charged again, buying the time George Washington needed to pull the American army across the East River. Their losses were severe: a Maryland officer counted 259 killed, wounded, and missing three days later, and where those men are buried is still unknown. Cornwallis said afterward that Stirling "fought like a wolf."

The British won the day, took or killed about a thousand Americans, and held Brooklyn and Manhattan for the next seven years. What they did not do was capture Washington's army — which survived to fight, and eventually to win.

On Green-Wood's own ground the fiercest fighting was on Battle Hill. On August 27, 1920 — the 144th anniversary of the battle — a bronze Minerva was unveiled there, arm raised toward the harbor. Nearby stands a modern tomb effigy of Margaret Corbin, believed to be the first woman to fight in battle for the United States; she took her husband's place at the cannon at Fort Washington in November 1776, months after the fight in Brooklyn. That hilltop is where Sunday's ceremony ends.

If Revolutionary history is your thing, the Troop also walks it at Valley Forge and along the Old New York Historical Trail.

About Brooklyn 250

This event is part of Brooklyn 250, a borough-wide commemoration of America's 250th anniversary led by The Green-Wood Cemetery, the Old Stone House, Brooklyn Public Library's Center for Brooklyn History, the Prospect Park Alliance, the Fort Greene Park Conservancy, and Friends of Fort Defiance.

Green-Wood's program is titled "Battle of Brooklyn 250: The Meaning of Freedom". The Scouting side is organized by the Greater New York Councils, which is also running a session at the Old Stone House on the Saturday of the same weekend.

Green-Wood additionally offers a free self-guided Revolutionary War tour of the cemetery on the Bloomberg Connects app — worth doing on your own time if the anniversary catches your interest.

Good to Know

• Sun and heat. The event is outdoors on open ground with little to no shade, in late August. Bring a full water bottle, wear a hat, and put on sunscreen before you leave home.
• Cooling station. Green-Wood opens the Modern Chapel as a place to get out of the sun.
• Weather. Green-Wood monitors conditions and makes the final call by 8:00 am on the day of the event. If the program is cancelled, Troop leadership will pass the word on immediately.
• Tickets. There are none, and there is no check-in line — the Troop is registered as a unit through the council.
• Families attending on their own. Green-Wood asks the general public to register on its event page; admission is free, with a suggested $5 donation that supports its free and low-cost programs.
• Accessibility. The Modern Chapel is not fully ADA-compliant but accommodations are available — Green-Wood's events team can be reached at (718) 210-3080, ext. 1, or [email protected].
• Respect the grounds. Green-Wood is an active cemetery. Stay on paths and lawns the event uses, and treat every monument as someone's family.