ONE SHOT FIRED:
The Battle of Sag Harbor
Our Mission
One Shot Fired…The Battle of Sag Harbor brings to life a pivotal, but largely overlooked chapter of the American Revolution, deepening our understanding of the sacrifices, courage, resilience and Patriotism that built our town and our nation.
With distribution planned for public television, school districts, cultural organizations and cinemas across Long Island, One Shot Fired... reveals the history beneath our feet, restoring the importance of The Battle of Sag Harbor to the Revolution’s narrative. By connecting the past to the present, our film invites viewers to consider how local history continues to shape our understanding of our country’s history too.
Our Story
Our country is celebrating the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. On this 4th of July - like so many others - we marched in parades, ate hotdogs, watched fireworks and felt lucky to live in the “land of the free and the home of the brave.”
We've lived and celebrated the 4th on the East End of Long Island for decades, but had no idea that British forces occupied and tyrannized Long Island for 8 long years after the Declaration of Independence was signed!
We were clueless about the British Fort that dominated the landscape in Sag Harbor, NY, or that citizens on Long Island who refused to sign loyalty oaths to the Crown were forced to make the heartbreaking decision to leave the lives that they built - friends, families, homes and businesses - and escape to refuge in Connecticut.
And "Meigs Raid" - a Revolutionary War event that took place in Sag Harbor, Long Island, New York 250 years before it became "The Hamptons” - has always felt like a sidebar story in the history of this area, a blip of little, if any, importance in the Revolution narrative.
But after learning about the true story of Sag Harbor in the Revolution from a passionate group of professionals gathered at the Sag Harbor Historical Museum one cold December afternoon, our perspective completely changed!
Why is that we know so little about the pitched battle that took place here 250 years ago? Why was its success so important at the time to George Washington and Co., and how was its influence lost to history? Who were these Patriots who braved the domination of the British Navy to surprise and overcome a force much greater in strength than their own? How was this all possible?
These questions were begging for answers, for someone to pick up where these dedicated museum folks left off, and to tell this story to a wider audience.
So.... we set to work!
Our Documentary
One Shot Fired, The Battle of Sag Harbor is a half-hour documentary that will reveal in vivid detail the untold story of the Battle of Sag Harbor and its profound and unsung contribution to the success of the American Revolution.
No longer relegated to the history books as an event of little consequence, One Shot Fired...attempts to correct the mainstream narrative of the eight-year occupation and oppression of Sag Harbor, N.Y., by Great Britain during the American Revolution. Through a combination of dynamic stories and visual elements - re-enactments, dramatic correspondence, new scientific discoveries, and expert testimony from our historians, archaeologists, and journalist contributors - One Shot Fired... will weave an emotionally resonant narrative as to the outsized and long-forgotten impact of the Battle on American prospects in 1777, after the crushing defeats of Long Island and New York the preceding year.
More than simply buoying the spirits of General Washington, the Patriots, and the American Army at a particularly low point in the war, our film reveals how the tactical maneuvers employed at Sag Harbor were crucial to the development of a military strategy that was successfully deployed in subsequent must-win battles against the British invaders. Remarkably, this little-known battle provided a template for numerous attacks, encouraged the French to become our allies, and paved the way for our freedom from the British Crown.
