The Aftermath
Imagine the scene in the early morning daylight of the morning of September 28, 1778 at Overkill:
. American soldiers were dead, wounded and missing. Some escaped, others were British captives.
. Major Charles Clough lay dying.
. Col. Baylor, seriously injured, was a prisoner of his attackers. Although, as an officer, he was to receive the treatment due a gentleman, including a doctor to see to his wounds.
.Members of the local militia unit were burying the dead.
As today when something goes terribly wrong, an official investigation was initiated. Baylor's Dragoons were reorganized - although without Baylor - and served with distinction to the end of the war.
Baylor never fully recovered from his injuries. He died in 1784 on the island of Barbados, where he had gone to try and recover his health.
The Discovery
In 1967, a local resident summoned archaeologists to this site, over concern of a proposed housing development. They discovered the remains of six men who, it was discovered, died in the attack on Baylor's Dragoons.
Apparently the men had been hastily buried, near the stream, in three abandoned wooden tanning vats from the old 18th century tannery. From the silver stock buckle discovered during the excavation, one of the fallen men was identified as Sgt. Isaac Davenport, a member of the First Troop of the Regiment. At this time, the identity of the others is unknown.
The Memorial
In October 1970, the remains of the six patriots were re-interred next to the river. The Bergen County Board of Chosen Freeholders and the Bergen County Park Commission dedicated this site as a memorial park in 1972.
For over 60 years, the millstone marking the gravesite was in front of River Vale's Holdrun School. Believed original to the site's 18th century tannery, it was donated by the town as a fitting grave marker for the six patriot's grave.
The final resting place of the others who fell in the "Baylor's Massacre" has never been discovered.
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