Untitled (10)Ceremony to honor last
Wappingers tribal chief s'°
Capt. Daniel Nimham, last will be on sale at the
sachem of the Wappingers ceremony, with net proceeds
Indian tribe, died on August of the sale going to the Boy
31, 1778, fighting for the Scouts as a donation. Covers
American cause in the may be obtained by mail
Revolution, and to mark the from Arthur H. Carver, 1
bicentennial of his death a Nassau Rd., Poughkeepsie,
number of local civic and N.Y. 12601, for 50 cents each
historical organizations will or $1 for the set oftwo, plus a
hold a memorial ceremony legal - size self - addressed
at 6 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 31, stamped envelope for
at the Nimham Monument at mailing.
the intersection of Routes 52
and 82 at Brinkerhoff.
The ceremony will be
conducted by the
Mawenawasigh Tribe,
Improved Order of Red Men,
of Glenham, representatives
from the Nimham District of
the Dutchess County Boy
Scout Council, the Fishkill,
East Fishkill and Beacon
Historical Societies, and the
Dutchess Philatelic Society.
Speakers for the occasion
will be Hamilton Fish Sr.,
former congressman, a long-
time member of the Red
Men, and county legislator
Joseph PoiIucci,
representing the Nimham
Scout District.
To mark the occasion, the
Dutchess Philatelic Society
has prepared two memorial
covers, one picturing
Nimham as drawn by Jack
Alexander, well-known
Hudson Valley artist, and the
other showing a Boy Scout
giving the Scout Oath, based
on a drawing by Norman
Rockwell. Covers will be
franked with the small In-
dian Head stamp plus the
two -cent value of the new
Americana series.
A special pictorial can-
cellation has been furnished
by the U.S. Postal Service
through the Fishkill Post
Office, the cancel carrying
Nimham's name and an iron
tomahawk of the type used in
the Revolution by both In-
dians and the Continental
Army.
Chief Nimham was a
veteran of the French and
Indian War, and although he
was an old man at the time
the Revolution began, he
rallied the remants of his
tribe to the American cause,
unlike most Indians who
generally sided with the
British. Nimham and his
warriors participated in
General Montgomery's
invasion of Canada and
fought in battles in New
Jersey and Pennsylvania.
On August 31, 1778, at
Kingsbridge, N.Y., just
north of New York City,
Nimham with a group of
Patriot militia, was attacked
by an overwhelmingly
superior cavalry force under
the command of the
notorious Col. Banistra
Tarleton. Nimham, realizing
that his force was
inadequate to combat the
British, told his braves to
make their escape, but
added for himself, "I am an
ancient tree — let me die
here."
The British cavalry at-
tacked the Patriot forces,
who were behind stone walls,
and the Wappingers braves
refused to desert their leader
and took a heavy toll of the
Redcoats. The cavalry
finally overran their position
and the 63 -year old Nimham,
having wounded I.t. Col.
Simcoe, was in the act of
pulling him from his saddle
to dispatch him when he was
shot and killed by Simcoe's
aide.
The memorial covers
prepared for the event by the
Dutchess Philatelic Society