Page:Historic towns of the middle states (IA historictownsofm02powe).pdf/284

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  • ests of Brooklyn were destroyed. One may

search in vain for any oaks or elms about the City that are really ancient.

The mention of the Wallabout and the present site of the Navy Yard recall some of the most painful memories of our history—the horrors of the prison-ships. Few indeed are the Revolutionary families that have not had deep sorrows connected with the ships Whitby, Good Hope, Old Jersey, John, Falmouth, and other hulks, where the martyrs ended their severe captivity. The bodies of the victims—having been removed from time to time—are now, it is hoped, in their final resting-place on the westerly front of Fort Greene Park opposite the Plaza. As yet no monument, not even an inscription, marks the spot where were reverently laid the bones of 11,500 martyrs to American liberty.

The Navy Yard, starting in 1824, has become the foremost in the country. Here are gathered trophies of the Nation's battles on many seas. In a little enclosure near the Commandant's office, are grouped captured ordnance, with a howitzer that did service under Hull on the Constitution. Trophies from the Spanish war have lately been added to this collection. Here