It’s been 244 years since a small skirmish just southeast of what is now Elmira ignited what historians view as a turning point in the American Revolution, and hundreds of reenactors and history buffs will soon gather to relive that event.
The Chemung County Living History Center will once again present its re-creation of the Battle of Newtown on Aug. 26 and 27 at Newtown Battlefield State Park, just off Interstate 86 in Lowman.
The park is on a hilltop that overlooks the fields where the actual battle took place, and the weekend will feature battle reenactments and other activities. It’s expected to draw reenactors and spectators from all across the Northeast.
A major change to this year’s event
There will be many returning features, but one aspect of the weekend will be different this year, according to event Chairman Paul Perine.
It will be free to get in.
“There’s no admission charge this year. We had issues with the past (park) administration. But there’s different park management,” Perine said. “They believe it’s important to have as much as possible about history and education.”
Park management will cover some of the expenses of putting on the reenactment, and the Chemung Valley Living Center is absorbing some of the costs, Perine said.
In addition, The British Brigade, an organization that portrays the British, American Indians, and other units that served with the Crown Forces during the American Revolutionary War, is partially sponsoring the event.
Chemung County and the Community Foundation of Elmira-Corning and the Finger Lakes also provided grants to support the event, Perine said.
A history-altering battle in Chemung County
It was August of 1779 — at the height of the American Revolution — when the Continental Army launched the Sullivan-Clinton campaign, an effort to punish several tribes of the Iroquois Confederacy that sided with the British during the war.
While marching up through the Chemung Valley from what is now Athens, Pennsylvania, the troops…
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