Altar to Liberty
1776 – 1919
On this Battle Hill, facing the Statue of Liberty, this altar is erected to commemorate the Battle of Long Island. The first engagement of which was fought on this site, August 27, 1776, between General Lord Stirling with 2,000 Americans and General Grant with 6,000 British. This was the first battle of the nation and the first stroke for our great American charter of rights and liberties, the Declaration of Independence. Erected 1919.
Left of Altar:
Stirling’s Vow
“Here and along the slopes of Greenwoods Hills, our patriots for the first time faced their foe in open field, and well we stood this test. ‘Men!’ cried Lord Stirling, as we formed our line, ‘this Grant who comes against us once declared in England’s House of Commons – I sat there and heard – that given him five thousand men he’d cross our continent from end to end! He has his number now! I doubt not; We a fourth as many, yet I promise you he’ll march no farther through our continent than Brower’s Mill ponds yonder.’ ”
Rear of Altar:
“The place whereon thou standest is holy ground”
Glory to the memory of out first national heroes who fought and fell
on this battle ground to win our liberty and independence!
Minerva, the goddess of wisdom, glory and patriotism, here salutes the goddess of liberty and enwreaths this altar in tribute to the heroes of American liberty and to the wisdom of American institutions.
Right of Altar:
Declaration of Independence
July 4, 1776
The wisest document ever written, of human rights and liberties, basic ethics, civic religion and democratic government. All these are expressed in this one essential paragraph “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. That they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”
Equality – Liberty – Human Rights
Marker can be reached from Battle Avenue, on the left when traveling north.
Courtesy hmdb.org
