Memorial for 300 Unveiled in Buffalo

From the May 6th Buffalo News "Monument will honor 300 soldiers who gave their lives in the War of 1812" by Phil Fairbanks.

Steve Cichon always felt the small plaque on the fourth hole of the golf course, the only evidence of a mass War of 1812 burial site, was an insufficient honor to the fallen, so, he did something about it.

This past Memorial Day, a new monument to "The Tomb of the Unknowns" was dedicated by the Buffalo, New York, Zoo near Ring Road.

After the failure of an attempt to cross the Niagara River and attack Fort Erie on the Canadian side, the Americans fell back to the Flint Hills Encampment which covered an area from what is now Forest Lawn to Jewett Parkway and Main Street, much of it now in Delaware Park.

It was winter and the men had warm weather uniforms, inadequate tents and a lack of food and many died and were buried in shallow graves in the frozen ground.  When spring came, Dr. Daniel Chapin, who owned the land,  had them dug up and reburied in a mass grave.  He marked it with willows which later died.

In 1896, a boulder with a plaque was installed at the site.  Parks Commissioner David F. Day remarked at the dedication, "May their noble example and this tribute to their honor and memory prove an incentive to future generations to emulate their unselfish loyalty and patriotism."

The new memorial is much more visible and fitting.


Always Glad to Have heroes Commemorated.  --Brock-Perry