Talk:Battle of Minisink

Reason for Non-burials
Too distant? Not for 43 years; superstition seems more plausible: one year for every year of Claudius Smith's life [including the conception itself], compounded with the warning that Claudius' son, Richard Smith, gave to the town of Goshen after they hanged him. I just think they were more afraid of Claudius' son and his gang rather than any elements that they were all already used to living in.

WB2 05:58, 13 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Those claims of superstition don't have any basis in the historical record. In fact, several families tried to make the trip out to the battlefied shortly afterwards, but had to turn back because the going was too tough. Besides that, Goshen itself was never attacked. Not by Richard Smith, not by Joseph Brant. There's no reason to suppose that this had anything to do with Claudius Smith, except for the timing, which can just as easily be chalked up to coincidence; there was a war on, after all. Kafziel 16:02, 13 August 2006 (UTC)


 * Kafziel is correct. In spite of the Delaware Company settlers, the Delaware River Valley of the Sullivan County, NY/Wayne County, PA was a wild and woolly frontier at the time. Many of the DVC settlers fled to Ulster and Dutchess County during the War and a batch of the loyalists moved permanently to Canada. I don't see what Claudius Smith had to do with the Battle of Minisink Ford at all. Was there a connection? As I understand it, Smith was a highway man and murderer who claimed to be a Loyalist, but would kill anyone who had property he wanted to steal. Wordreader (talk) 21:50, 23 September 2012 (UTC)

A fairly new major work on the battle
So Many Brave Men: A History of The Battle at Minisink Ford By: Mark Hendrickson, Jon Inners, and Peter Osborne ISBN-13: 9780615346588 Publisher: Pienpack Company Publication date: 10/1/2010 Pages: 828

The book covers the events leading up to, including, and in the aftermath of the Battle. Information is included from pension records of many of the combatants. I don't find the book mentioned in the article. I don't know specifically about the other co-authors, but Osborne is an historian and the past president of the Minisink Valley Historical Society. Wordreader (talk) 21:40, 23 September 2012 (UTC)


 * Will somehow who knows how to do such things please add this book to the article, at least as a bibliography entry? Thanks, Wordreader (talk) 02:32, 13 February 2013 (UTC)
 * Adding to the "further reading" section (which I will create). If I can find the book and actually use it as a source, I will cite it as a reference. Kafziel Complaint Department: Please take a number 03:22, 13 February 2013 (UTC)

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Minisink or Peenpack?
The article refers to Peenpack as the location of the raid, however, most sources do not use this name. Minisink referred to both the area north of the Delaware Water Gap, and to the settlement clustered at the confluence of the Delaware and Neversink Rivers, so I have changed Peenpack to Minisink. I've added more information and details about the raid. While the fortified house known as Fort Decker was destroyed, most of the settlers escaped to the main fort.

Vernon Leslie's The Battle of Minisink, published in 1975, is perhaps the most detailed source about the raid and battle. Leslie thoroughly examined both primary sources and secondary sources, and recognized the tendency of 19th century historical writers to embellish or invent details. Leslie isn't perfect. For example, he refers to Brant as a Lieutenant Colonel. Another excellent source is Barbara Graymont's The Iroquois is the American Revolution, published in 1972. Kelsey's 1984 biography of Joseph Brant, however, barely mentions Minisink. Griffin&#39;s Sword (talk) 14:47, 29 March 2023 (UTC)


 * The article wrongly referred to Joseph Brant as a Captain in the British Army. Brant's only formal commission during the Revolutionary War was as "Captain of the Northern Confederated Indians," granted by Governor Frederick Haldimand in May 1780. In 1779, Lord George Germain, Secretary of State for the American Colonies, had sent Haldimand a commission signed by George III for Joseph Brant as colonel of Indians, however, Haldimand suppressed the document as he felt that it would offend the Seneca war leaders Cornplanter and Sayenqueraghta. Griffin&#39;s Sword (talk) 17:32, 25 June 2024 (UTC)