Education

200 years later, students recreate a battle scene

This mural at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy is an artist's interpretation of the October 1814 engagement. It was painted in 1933 by Aldis B. Browne II. (Credit: U.S. Coast Guard Collection)
This mural at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy is an artist’s interpretation of the October 1814 engagement. It was painted in 1933 by Aldis B. Browne II. (Credit: U.S. Coast Guard Collection)

The battle took place over three days in October 1814 after an American cutter — the Eagle — found itself face-to-face with the HMS Dispatch, a British vessel preying on East Coast merchant ships. The Americans intentionally ran the Eagle aground and fought off the British from the shore, using the ship’s guns to fire at the British.

Eventually, the British returned with an even larger frigate, bombarding the coast with cannon fire and taking the Eagle as their prize.

The battle has been obscured in the past by inaccurate local retellings but is now being re-examined and commemorated as the 200th anniversary draws near.

The students’ diorama is part of an exhibit about the battle at Hallockville Museum Farm in Riverhead this summer.

This was the first time any of the students — or their teacher — had attempted to make a diorama to scale.

“We didn’t know what we were getting ourselves into,” history teacher Justin Cobis said. “We’re learning on the fl y, but it’s been great.”

The students were assisted by Mr. Smith, who recently helped restore a Lionel model train set at the Railroad Museum of Long Island, and Richard Wines, a local historian who had studied the forgotten battle.

Students were given a variety of jobs to complete the diorama, with some carving pieces of insulation to use as a base for the hill and others adding sand and foliage. Some students painted tiny cannons to place on the bluffs.

“It’s bringing to life an unknown part of history,” Mr. Smith said.

[email protected]