Pine Plains Teacher To Lead His 16th Revolutionary War Reeenactment

A small band of Revolutionary War soldiers will march in Pine Plains on Sept. 29 and make a brief encampment at the Graham-Brush House. The soldiers are young. They are students of Neil Murray’s military history class at Stissing Mountain High School. Dressed in authentic reproduction militia uniforms, they will march from the school at 8:30 a.m. and return at 1 p.m. This is the 16th year that Murray has led his “troops” in this activity. 

While at the Graham-Brush House they will make camp and drill according to Baron Von Steuben’s regulations for the Continental Army. This exercise in living history will include a march to Evergreen Cemetery, where American flags will be placed on the graves of Revolutionary War veterans.  

Interested persons are welcome to come observe the activities. The Graham-Brush House, one of the last remaining log houses in the Hudson Valley that was standing during the Revolutionary War, is located at 2989 Church St., adjacent to Peck’s Market. There is parking available in the municipal lot on North Main Street. 

Living history is an important concept for history teacher Murray, a University of Buffalo graduate who has taught in Pine Plains since 1999. On Memorial Day this year, he gave a speech in which he touched upon service, sacrifice and what can be learned from history. The speech is reprinted here as part of the celebration of the Pine Plains Bicentennial. 

Neil Murray’s Speech on Memorial Day, 2023

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the Pine Plains American Legion as well as the VFW for asking me to share some historic reflections on this Memorial Day in conjunction with the bicentennial of the town. My thoughts today will focus on our citizens’ service spanning from the American Revolution to World War 1. I’m humbled and honored as an educator and historian to be able to for a second time share some thoughts on Memorial Day. Today I’d ask that you remember those citizens and soldiers who are mere footnotes in history but who were essential to our freedom, democracy and way of life. President Woodrow Wilson once said the United States must make the world safe for democracy. The citizen soldiers of Pine Plains have risen to this challenge for the last 250 years.   

In remembrance of sacrifice, service and honor, I’d ask that you bring history to life. Through living history, you will make tangible connections to the past. By stepping back in time, you can experience ideas, technology, clothing and food. By experiencing the past, you can make connections to better understand the cost of freedom. Living history does not glorify war, it serves as a reminder of the hardships of those who came before us and in that way local veterans’ experiences come to life. As we celebrate the bicentennial of the town, I hope you will enjoy military history as a human story of our nation’s past, and not just view history as unrelatable dates and names in a textbook. It’s important to remember that although they might not be known to you, these were real people with human emotions and a shared experience. They were not just paintings and living in a black and white picture world. They were vivid with color and life much like our own. Bringing the documentable past to life through the scholarly educational practice of living history helps us honor those who fought for our freedom.  

I stand before you today wearing a uniform based on the documentable past. This uniform represents that of a captain of the First New York Regiment in 1775. This uniform is based on the effects of Captain Jacob Cheeseman. While not directly portraying Captain Cheeseman, as that might be too much theatre, I chose to honor him by living the documentable past. Captain Cheeseman, originally from New York City, would be stationed at Fort Ticonderoga and would fall in the service of his country alongside General Richard Montgomery in our failed attack on Quebec in December of 1775. Taking place even before our Declaration of Independence, Captain Cheeseman would make the ultimate sacrifice. It is fitting that we honor him today. Upon his death, found among his effects, were a beaver hat with gold band and a green regimental coat. I am wearing a recreation of this uniform. 

As Pine Plains lies on the East Coast, located in the Hudson Valley, our participation in the wars of our early history is evident. During the 18^th Century the Pine Plains area was not yet a town and was a remote and secluded region. In the days before dog tags, serial numbers, social security numbers, or modern census reports, in some instances those who were from Pine Plains and those who settled here after their service is difficult to ascertain.   

As we turn to the American Revolution and our War of Independence, our first Pine Plains veterans come to life. Pine Plains soldiers served in Dutchess County militia regiments and the 4^th New York Regiment. These veterans would fight in such actions as the Battle for New York, the Battle of Saratoga, and would help Henry Knox bring cannon from Fort Ticonderoga to Boston.   

Named for one year, the War of 1812 would rage until 1815. The war that gave us the Star-Spangled Banner remains little known, little studied, and is considered a so-called forgotten war. The War of 1812 would test American independence and its place as a sovereign nation. Pine Plains service in this conflict would involve our school benefactor, Seymour Smith. Smith would raise a company of volunteers to protect American independence. 

With the firing on Fort Sumter in April of 1861, the American Civil War began. Citizen soldiers from Pine Plains would serve in such units as the 5^th, 128^th and the 150^th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiments. Veterans from Pine Plains would find themselves in such pivotal battles as Cedar Creek and Gettysburg. I ask that you remember these Civil War veterans and the many more from our town and community that fought to end chattel slavery and save the United States of America. 

As the 19^th century was coming to a close, tensions with Spain began to flare up. Considered our birth as a superpower, the United States would fight Spain during the Spanish American War. Fought in 1898, Pine Plains residents would help the United States become a world power. 

The Great War, the War to end all Wars, World War I would engulf Europe starting in 1914. The United States would enter the war in 1917 and our entry would require literally millions of soldiers. Over 70 men from Pine Plains were either drafted or enlisted to serve in World War I. During the war, Memorial Hall, now The Stissing Center, served as an armory for the New York National Guard. In September of 1919, the lawn of the Seymour Smith Academy would hold a victory celebration, welcoming home veterans of the Great War. They were honored by members of the Red Cross, the Boy Scouts, school children and fraternal organizations. These soldiers were awarded Dutchess County Service medals as they listened to the keynote address given by Judge Charles Wilber, a Civil War veteran of the 128th New York. Originally known as Armistice Day, Veteran’s Day would be born out of the First World War.  

On this Memorial Day I’d ask that you remember our community’s veterans who alongside our allies helped promote freedom and democracy around the world. Please remember their sacrifice. Please remember Pine Plains service is part of our nation’s military history, a history that helped forge our nation. Today and each day we should celebrate the privilege of freedom for which these veterans fought. Their legacy and our quality of life, in large measure, was made possible by those we honor today. In remembrance of Memorial Day, I’d ask that you live history. Go to historic sites, visit historical reenactments, go to museums, talk to historic interpreters, support the American Legion and the VFW, help promote and support the Dutchess County Historical Society, the Little Nine Partners Historical Society, and Dr. Will Tatum our Dutchess County historian. As we embark on the 250^th commemoration of the American Revolution I ask for your support as I work with the county on organizing events for this amazing milestone. Please give something back to your community, state and country. We owe all of this to our veterans of yesterday and today. I’d like to leave you this morning with this final thought. Please bring history to life as a way to honor veterans and those who in the words of Abraham Lincoln, “gave the last full measure of devotion, that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”