The Battle of Sodus Point

This scene depicts the Battle of Troupville, now called Sodus Point, that occurred on the crest of a hill (now the intersection of John and Bay Streets) on the evening of June 19^th,1813 during the War of 1812. A group of approximately 50 patriots (a combination of poorly trained militia and local volunteers with no military training) fired into the lines of advancing British marines as they ascended the hill from the western shoreline. Although greatly outnumbered and fighting some of the best trained and battle hardened soldiers in the world, these brave Americans had the courage of their convictions to defend our village from the British incursion. Unaware of either’s fighting strength and numbers, both British and American forces retreated; Britons to their ships and Americans to the heavy underbrush. The next day after a barrage from the cannons on their ships, the enemy landed once more. The British seized some stores in the warehouses (most provisions had been hidden in a nearby ravine the previous night) and burned most buildings in the village. Only one building, a tavern known as the “Mansion House”, survived the battle. This building was spared due the repeated efforts of commanding British naval officers who used the tavern to place fatally wounded American, Asher Warner. He died later that day. Another American  wounded during the battle was Charles Terry who died from complications of his  wounds a few weeks later. This mural is dedicated to the bravery of those early  patriots who defended this village and, it is hoped, whose courage may serve to  inspire future generations.

Blessing of the
Murals in Sodus Point

Click Here to see the Video of the Blessings of the Mural: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ng71VySyhrw

On September 18^th, 2010 the first Sodus Point
outside historic mural was dedicated at a ceremony at the Sodus Point Firehouse.
 It depicted Native Americans Fishing in
the 1450s near Chimney Bluffs outside Sodus Bay.
On June 18, 2011 the second outside historic mural was dedicated. This mural
depicts the Battle of Sodus Point that occurred on the evening of June 19, 1813
during the War of 1812. During that battle, a group of approximately 50 patriots
(a combination of poorly trained militia and local volunteers with no military
training) fired into the lines of advancing British marines as they ascended
the hill from the western shoreline. Although greatly outnumbered and fighting
some of the best trained and battle hardened soldiers in the world, these brave
Americans had the courage of their convictions to defend our village from the
British incursion.  Two members of the
American volunteers died of wounds they received during the battle. Asher
Warner died the next day and Charles Terry two weeks later. 

On May 5^th, in preparation for the June 18^th
mural dedication, workers from the Village of Sodus Point, put up the mounting
frame for the mural on the firehouse. On May 8^th around 7 PM, Bruce Farrington
(mural coordinator) was driving toward downtown Sodus Point and as he went by
looked at the first mural and new mounting frame. What he saw was very
startling. The shadow of the cross from the nearby Sodus Point Episcopal church
(see first picture) was just above and to the right of the Native American
Fishing mural. Watching it for several minutes, he observed that the shadow of
the cross moved at about a 45 degree angle from left to right. Based on this,
he realized that earlier in the day it would transition across our first mural.
The next day (May 9^th) Bruce and his wife Edith did indeed observe
this transition beginning at approximately 6 PM and lasting for about ˝ hour as
the shadow of the cross moved from the lower left hand side of the mural to the
upper right side of the mural. It was very cool! See the second and third
pictures. As they watched the transition occur, the question came up as to
whether or not the sun would move far enough to create a transition on the new
mural later on.

By measuring the distance the cross had moved from May 9^th
through June 1^st, Bruce was able to determine that it moves
approximately 6.3 inches to the left per day. The next day (June 2^nd)
when Bruce measured the distance the cross had moved to the right he was
surprised to find it had moved only about 3.5 inches. It was not moving the
same distance each day but was in fact slowing down as it got closer to Summer
Solstice. By going online and getting sunrise and sunset data in Rochester it also showed
solar attitude  in degrees at noon  (http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/astronomy.html).

Using this data, Bruce was able to recalculate how far the
position of the cross would move. What he discovered was both shocking and
wonderful! The shadow of the cross would move to a point not quite half the way
over the second mural and basically stop moving any farther to the right. The
date that it stops is around June 19^th which is the anniversary of
the Battle of Sodus Point! To add even another level of coincidence, Bruce
calculated that the time that the transition starts (the top of the cross first
touches the mural) on June 19^th is 6:19 PM. It  transitions that same spot (left to right at
about a 45 degree angle) for about 4-5 days (June 19 – 24) and then slowly
begin to move back to the left again having gone past the summer solstice! During
these 4-5 days, the center of the shadow of the cross transitions over the most
prominent American volunteer in the mural! As stated earlier, one of the
American patriots who lost his life after being wounded was Asher Warner who
was a volunteer. He died on June 20^th. This is yet another amazing
coincidence! One final irony should also be pointed out. Between June 1^st
and the summer solstice, the shadow of the cross make daily transitions across
the mural covering numerous locations on the second mural. At various times during
that period, every figure in the mural will be touched by some part of the
shadow of the cross.

Below are the times of the transitions. It should be noted
that it takes a number of days for the transitions to totally cross a mural as
they move only a few inches laterally per day. Collectively we have decided to
call these transitions of the shadow of the cross on our murals as “The Blessing
of the Murals”.

The Blessing of the
Murals Transition Schedule

Native American Fishing Mural – First transition: May 9^th,
6 PM – May 17th

                                                      
Second transition: July 26th - August 3^rd, 6 PM

                                                                                                                     6:19
PM each day

Touches both Murals at the Same Time May 28 – June 1

                                                                
July 11 – July 16