Meeting Transcript

Welcome to this Liberty Minute, part of Huntington's celebration of 250 years of American independence. During their occupation of Long Island, the British built a series of forts along the North Shore. The largest and most important of these was Fort Franklin, built in May 1778, overlooking the entrance to Oyster Bay. Named for William Franklin, the son of Benjamin Franklin and last Royal Governor of New Jersey, the fort became a refuge for loyalists from Connecticut and New Jersey. As many as 800 Loyalist troops and refugees lived here during the war. The fort protected the approach to Manhattan and Oyster Bay and served as a base for raids on Connecticut. Patriot Major Benjamin Talmadge led a small force to attack the fort in 1779. Although he took some prisoners, the attack was unsuccessful. Two years later, in July 1781, a combined American and French force of 450 troops executed a coordinated attack on the fort. French troops and ships from Newport, Rhode Island joined American ships and troops from Fairfield, Connecticut. The troops were landed on the neck, while the French ships engaged British ships in Huntington Bay, and the American ships attacked British ships on the west side of the neck. The American attack was repulsed thanks to a 12-pound cannon guarding the eastern approach to the fort. The fort was abandoned by the Loyalists a year later in favor of a fort atop the old burying ground in Huntington Village. Thanks to the sacrifices of generations of Huntington Patriots, Liberty endures.