History of Fairfield County, Connecticut : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 158

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) comp. cn
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co.
Number of Pages: 1572

USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > History of Fairfield County, Connecticut : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 158

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" A large quantity of the public stores had been deposited in the Episcopal church, and the first work of the soldiers was to remove them into the street and burn them. Some of the provisions were also stored in a barn belonging to Dibble. This building was treated with the same respect, as its proprietor had the honor to entertain Gen. Tryon as a guest. Another barn, belonging to a friend of American lib- erty, which had been appropriated to the same use, was set on fire and consumed with its contents. In a few hours eighteen hundred barrels of pork and beef, seven hundred barrels of flour, two thousand bushels of wheat, rye, oats, and Indian corn, clothing for a regiment of troops, and seventeen hundred and ninety tents were burned. The smoke arising from the de- struction of this property was strangulating and filled the whole air, while the streets ran with the melted pork and beef.

"There was also a large quantity of liquors in some of the buildings. These the soldiers were most reluc- tant to destroy, and did not do so until after they had drank so freely of them that when the labors of the day were ended only a few hundred were fit for duty. While the imbruited soldiers piled the fuel around the flour and beef and stirred up the laggard flames to a fiercer glare, the women and little children could see by the fitful light the mark of the white cross that had been distinctly drawn upon the Tory dwellings to sig- nify that the destroying angel about to go through the town would stay his hand at their door-posts and pass them by unharmed. The same dingy light now disclosed a scene of loathsome drunkenness that sur- passes description. Hundreds lay scattered at random wherever the palsying demon had overtaken them,- some in the streets with their faces blackened with smoke and soiled with earth, others sprawling in the door-yards, and others still, wild with excitement, holding themselves up by fences and trees or grasping fast hold of each other, called loudly with oaths and curses to be led against the rebels.

"In this horrible condition the Revolutionary pa-

triots of Danbury saw the shades of night gather around their dwellings, and in sleepless apprehension did they count the hours as they dragged slowly on. Nor did the brigand who led this band of incendiaries pass the niglit in sleep. The faithful few who had resisted the temptations of the cup were on the alert, and brought him from time to time the unwelcome intelligence that groups of patriot farmers were fast dropping in from the neighboring villages and towns, and were beginning to form into organized companies. What if Wooster or Parsons or Huntington or Arnold should prove to be at the head of them, and should steal upon him while his troops were in that defense- less condition ? The thought was horrible !

"Thus heavily passed the watches of that gloomy Saturday night. At last the day began to approach, and reason, unsettled for a while in the dull brains of the British soldiers, returned to them again. The marks of the late dissipation still appeared in their swollen faces and bloodshot eyes, but they were now able to stand upright, to grasp a muskct and defend themselves against the farmers who were gathering, ill-weaponed and undisciplined as they were, to op- pose them. Then the British general began to breathe more easily and to exhibit in a more striking manner the remarkable traits of his genius. He drew up his forces in order of defense; he attended to all the ar- rangement, and presided over every detail of the prep- arations that he was making to usher in, with cere- monies worthy of the occasion, another Sabbath-day. On a sudden, as if by the pulling of a wire upon the stage, the curtains of darkness were withdrawn from the village, and like a will-o'-the-wisp, and wandering zigzag from street to street, from house to house, passed the flaming torch of the incendiary. The Congrega- tional meeting-house, the largest and most expensive building in the place, is soon discovered to be on fire, and one after another the dwellings, stores, and barns of that peaceful community add their tributary lamps to that great centre beacon of the town, until every house, save those that have the mystic sign upon them, is in a broad blaze. Meanwhile, by the light of their own homes, mothers, screening their babies from the bleak air with the scanty clothing that they had snatched up in haste and denied to themselves, crippled old men and palsied women, and little boys and girls clinging to their feeble protectors, made such haste as they could to save their lives from the fire, taking care to avoid the jeers of their comfortable Tory neighbors, who looked out from the doors and windows where the white cross glared in mockery alike of God and of humanity, and to shun at the same time the unhal- lowed contact of the soldiers, they ran, crawled, or were carried upon their beds into lonely lanes, damp pastures, and leafless woods. Having witnessed the destruction of the meeting-house, nineteen dwelling- houses, twenty-two stores and barns, and great quan- tities of hay and grain that belonged to the inhabi- tants of the place, and having feasted his eyes with

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RIDGEFIELD.

the fear and anguish of the women against whom he waged this glorious war, Maj .- Gen. Tryon, taking a last fond look of the scene of his exploits, and noting doubtless the artistic effect of the faint blue smoke- wreaths as they eurlcd upward to stain the blushing forehead of the morning, withdrew his troops and re- sumed his march towards the sea-shore. When the invader was fairly out of sight, the poor fugitives from" their several hiding-places returned, and, cowering over the charred timbers of the homes that they had fled from, warmed their shivering frames and trem- bling hands over the ruins of Danbury.

"In the mean time, the news of Tryon's arrival flew along the whole coast. Early on the morning of the 26th, Gen. Silliman with about five hundred militia-such as he had been able to gather upon a sudden eall-pursued the enemy, and not long after the venerable Wooster, who had started off at a moment's warning to defend the soil of his native State from insult, joined him with Arnold and an- other handful of militia. A heavy rain retarded their movements so much that they did not reach Bethel till late at night. It was therefore decided to attack the enemy on their return.

"On the morning of the 27th the American troops were astir at a very early hour. Gen. Wooster de- tached Gens. Silliman and Arnold, with about five hundred men, to advance and intercept the enemy in front, while he undertook with the remainder, amount- ing to only two hundred half-armed militia, to attack them in the rear. About nine o'eloek he overtook Tryon's army, some three miles above Ridgefield, on the Norwalk road, and, taking advantage of the un- even ground, fell upon a whole regiment with such impetuosity as to throw them into confusion and break their ranks. Before they could be restored to order he had succeeded in taking forty prisoners,-a number equal to one-fifth part of his whole foree. He continued to hang upon their skirts and harass them for some time, waiting for another favorable opportunity to make an attack. A few miles from Ridgefield, where the hills appeared to offer a chance of breaking their ranks a second time, he again charged furiously upon them. The rear-guard, cha- grined at the result of the former encounter, now faced about, and met him with a discharge of artil- lery and small-arms.

" His men returned their shot resolutely at first, but, as they were unused to battle, they soon began to fall back. Wooster, uniting all the fire of youth with the experience of an old soldier who had seen hard service in more than one field, sought to inspire them with his own courage. Turning his horse's head and waving his sword, he called out to them in a brisk tone, 'Come on, my boys ; never mind sueh random shots.' Before he had time to turn his face again towards the enemy, a musket-ball aimed by a Tory marksman penetrated his back, breaking the spi- nal column and lodging in the fleshy parts of his body.

He instantly fell from his horse. His faithful friends stripped his sash from his person and bore him upon it from the field.

" Arnold and Silliman made a forced march to Ridgefield, and arrived there about eleven o'clock. They threw up a temporary barricade across the road on the rising ground, and stationed their little party in such a manner as to cover their right flank by a house and barn, and their left by a ledge of rocks. Here they quietly awaited the enemy. As soon as Agnew and Erskine saw what position the Americans had taken they advanced and received their fire, and, though they sustained considerable loss, they returned it with spirit. The action lasted about ten minutes, when the British gained the ledge of rocks, and the Americans were obliged to retreat. The American officers behaved with great spirit. Arnold was shot at by a whole platoon of soldiers, standing not more than thirty yards from him. His horse was killed under him, but no other ball took effect. Snatching his pistols, he shot dead a soldier who was making up to him to run him through with his bayonet, and tlms made his eseape. The Americans kept up a scatter- ing fire till nearly night, when Gen. Tryon encamped at Ridgefield. In the morning he set fire to the church, but he probably did not superintend this piece of work himself, as it was so inartistically done that it proved to be a failure. He was more fortu- nate with four dwelling-houses, which he soon had the satisfaction to see wrapped in flames.

"He now resumed his march, but Arnold followed him up so elosely that he soon crossed the Saugatuck River and marehed on the east side of it, while the Americans kept pace with him on the left. Thus they advaneed, eannonading each other whenever they could find a convenient opportunity. About three o'clock in the afternoon the gallant Col. Deming, with a little party of Continental troops, forded the river where it was about four feet deep, and, nnper- eeived by the enemy, attacked them with desperate violence upon the rear and upon the left flank, pur- suing them and keeping up a galling fire that did them very serious harm. Arnold pushed forward towards the mouth of the river, and, drawing his men up in good order upon a hill, opened a heavy fire upon the right flank of the enemy's rear. The Americans could follow them no farther on account of the dangerous proximity of the ships. The British troops who were marching in the van immediately embarked, while the eentre and rear formed on a hill. While Arnold was discharging his cannon at the boats, and while Deming was plying the major- general in the rear, Col. Lamb, who was from New York, and, of course, one of His Excellency's own subjects, crept with about two hundred men behind a stone wall, and gave him a parting salute at the distance of about one hundred yards.

"Glad enough was Tryon to get aboard his good ship once more, and it is believed that he cherished

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644

HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.

to his dying day the reeollection of his first visit to Connecticut."

Rev. Mr. Tellers says,-

" It would be a matter of interest to many to know just what kind of a report was made of this raid by Gen. Tryon to his superior offieers, and through them to the British government.

"In the June number of the Gentleman's Magazine, printed in London in 1777, we have the following :

"'Gen. Howe has transmitted to Lord George Germaine the following particulars of a recent successful enterprise for the destruction of stores at the village of Danbury, in Connecticut.

"' The troops landed without opposition in the afternoon of the 25th of April, about four miles to the eastward of Norwalk, and twenty miles from Danbury.

"' In the afternoon of the 26th the detachment reached Danbury, meet- ing only small parties of the enemy on their march, but Gen. Tyron hav- ing intelligence that the whole force of the country was collecting to take every advantage of the strong grond he was to pass on his return to the shipping, and finding it impossible to procure carriages to bring off any part of the stores, they were effectually destroyed, in the execution of which the village was unavoidably burned.

' "'On the 27th, in the morning, the troops quitted Daubury, and met with little opposition until they came near to Ridgefield, which was oc- eupied by Gen. Arnold, who had thrown up intrenchments to dispute the passage, while Gen. Wooster hung upon the rear with a separate corps. The village was forced, and the enemy drove back on all sides.

"'Gen. Tryon lay that night at Ridgefield, and renewed his march on the morning of the 28th.

"' The enemy, having been reinforced with troops and cannon, disputed every advantageous situation, keeping at the same time smaller parties to harass the rear until the general had formed his detachment upon a height within cannon-shot of the shipping, when, the enemy advancing seemingly with an intention to attack him, he ordered the troops to charge their bayonets, which was executed with such impetuosity that the rebels were totally put to flight, and the detachment embarked with- out further molestation.

"'Return of the forces, ordnance, provisions, etc., as uearly as could be ascertained, found at the rebels' stores, and destroyed by the king's troops, at Danbury, etc., in Connecticut, April 27, 1777 :

''A quantity of ordnance stores, with iron, etc., four thousand barrels of beef and pork, one thousand barrels of flour, one hundred large tierces of biscuit, eighty-nine barrels of rice, one hundred and twenty pun- cheons of runi.

"' Several large stores of wheat, oats, and Indian corn, in bulk the quantity thereof could not possibly be ascertained, thirty pipes of wine, Que hundred hogsheads of sugar, fifty hogsheads of molasses, twenty casks of coffee, fifteen large casks filled with medicine of all kinds, ten barrels of saltpetre, one thousand and twenty tents and marquees, a large quantity of hospital bedding, etc .; engineers', pioneers,' and car- penters' tools; a printing-press couplete ; tar, tallow, etc .; five thousand pairs of shoes and stockings.

"' At a mill (Smith's mill) between Ridgebnry and Ridgefield, 100 bar- rels of flour and a quantity of Indian corn.

"' At the bridge at the west brace of Norwalk River, and in the woods contiguous : 100 hogsheads of rum; several chests of arms; paper car- tridges; field forges; 300 tents.

"' Return of the killed, wounded, and missing:

"'One drummer and fifer, 23 rank and file, killed; 3 field officers, 6 eaptains, 3 subalterns, 9 sergeants, 92 rank and file, wounded; one drummer and fifer, 27 rank and file missing. " ' (Signed) W. HOWE.

"' The following is an additional list of the wounded :

"' Capt. Thorne, Capt. Durmas, Lieut. Hastings, Major Conran, Capt. Rutherford, Ensign Menichin, Second Lieut. Price, Volunteer Vale, Major Hope, Capt. Calder, Ensign Mercer, Prince of Wales, American volun- teer, Col. Browne, Capt. Lyman, Capt. Secon, and Capt. Simon Frazer.

"' Return of the rebels killed: General Wooster, Geu. Gould, Col. Lamb, of the Artillery, Col. Herman, Dr. Atwater, a man of considerable influence, Capt. Cove, Lieut. Thompson, and 100 privates.

"' List of rebel wounded: Col. Whiting, Capt. Benjamin, Lieut. Cove, and 250 privates.

"'Taken prisoners, 50 privates, including several committee men.'"

REVOLUTIONARY INCIDENTS #

"There is a prevailing impression among thie in- habitants of the town that Gen. Wooster's forces first. attacked the rear of Gen. Tryon's army on the flat immediately north of Mr. Lewis C. Hunt's house. Faets will not justify this opinion. Gen. Wooster made his first attack on the enemy after they had ascended the hill commonly known as Scott's Ridge, and probably while a part were still engaged at their morning meal, for it was at this point that Tryon's army breakfasted.

" The battle was fought immediately north of Mr. Samuel Scott's house, and in front of the school-house. It was here that Gen. Wooster took forty prisoners, and it was doubtless here that the two Hessian soldiers were mortally wounded who died on their way to the village and were hastily buried in the sand-knoll north of Mr. Zalmon Main's.

" After securing and disposing of the prisoners taken, Gen. Wooster again overtook the British on the flat north of Mr. Lewis C. Hunt's, and about two miles north of the village of Ridgefield.

" It was here that the gallant general was wounded, at the very beginning of the engagement. Indeed, tradition says that Gen. Wooster was wounded by a Tory in ambush, and not by the enemy proper; how- ever this may be, it is certain that the attaek had but just commenced. We are not able to learn that a single life was lost.

" About this time in the morning, Gen. Arnold ar- rived at Ridgefield with five hundred men, and began at onee to throw up a barricade across the road at the north end of the village, between the northwest eorner of Miss Sarah Stebbins' door-yard and the ledge of rocks upon which the house of Mr. William Lee now stands. This was about eleven o'clock in the morn- ing. An hour later, or at twelve o'clock, Gen. Tryon had reached the place, and a general engagement took plaee.

" An eye-witness says that sixteen British and eiglit Americans were killed in this engagement, and that they were buried in two graves near the hickory-tree which now stands just inside the fenee, east of the road, in the open lot between Miss Sarah Stebbins' and Mr. Abner Gilbert's. The sixteen British were buried in one grave, and the eight Americans in another.

" The wounded were taken into the house now oc- eupied by Miss Sarah Stebbins and tenderly cared for. The blood-stains are said to be still seen on the oaken floors. The house itself is a standing monument to the battle. The path of one or more cannon-balls is plainly traced.

"The bravery of Gen. Arnold in this engagement amounted almost to recklessness. After the enemy had broken through the temporary barricade, and all

* The following incidents are taken from Rev. Mr. Teller's history of Ridgefield.

645

RIDGEFIELD.

his own soldiers exeept Capt. Bell had deserted him, he still stood his ground, receiving the undivided fire of a whole company of the enemy.

" His horse fell under him, pierced by nine bullets, and at the moment of its fall his foot became en- tangled in the stirrup. A soldier, taking advantage of this moment of the general's disability, rushed up to him, exelaiming, 'You are my prisoner !'-' Not yet,' quiekly replied Gen. Arnold, and, drawing a pistol from his holster, shot him dead; then, regain- ing his feet, he hastily retreated amid the repeated fire of the enemy. It is commonly reported that it was a Tory from Milford by the name of Coon who thus attempted to take Gen. Arnold prisoner, as also that Gen. Arnold said as the bullet sped on its fatal mission, 'One live inan is worth ten dead ones.'

" Immediately after this action the British marehed through the street, oceasionally discharging their ar- tillery, a terror to all but a few Tories, who felt that the long-delayed moment of their exaltation liad eome.

" Halting a little below the village, they proceeded to encamp for the night on the grounds of Mr. Samuel Olmsted, now owned and oeeupied by Mr. Hiram Sey- mour, a descendant of the family.

"The seleetmen of the town, in their petition to the General Assembly dated May 26, 1777, stated that the enemy, in passing through the town, burned the grist- mill and saw-mill of Isaae Keeler, six dwellings, and two barns, and killed and earried off a number of horses, sheep, and eattle.

"During their stay they also plundered the inhabi- tants of nearly all their provisions and a large share of their elothing, by which many were reduced to poverty. The town, unable to relieve all the suffer- ers, applied to General Assembly for help. Nehemiah Beardsley, Increase Mosely, and Lemuel Sanford were appointed a committee to estimate the respective losses of the inhabitants. After a close investigation, the total amount was fixed at £2625 1s. 8d.

"On the exaet spot where Gen. Arnold's horse was shot from under him a tamarack-tree now stands; it was placed there to commemorate the event. It is inside Mr. Lee's yard-fenee, a little southeast of his house.

" On their way down the street the British soldiers planted a gun in front of the Episcopal ehureh, and shot several balls into the house now owned and oe- eupied by Mr. Abijah Resseguie, one of which was lodged in a post on the northeast eorner, and is still to be seen imbedded deeply in the solid wood. An- other ball passed between the feet of a man who at the time was aseending the stairs. Frightened by the elose proximity of the unwelcome messenger, he ex- elaimed, 'I'm a dead man, I'm a dead man !' and tra- dition says that he actually rolled to the foot of the stairs. But upon examination it was found that he was not only not dead, but wholly unharmed. The reason for eannonading this partieular house was to

dislodge certain parties who were reported to be in the building making cartridges. The house was oc- cupied by Mr. Timothy Keeler, a sturdy Federalist.

"The house a few rods south, on the site of the one now owned by Mr. Thaddeus Keeler, was then occu- pied by a loyalist by the name of Hoyt. It was through his interposition with Gen. Tryon that Mr. Keeler's house was rescued from the torch of the in- cendiary, the reason for it being attributed to purely selfish motives. The wind was blowing strongly from the northwest, and his own house would be greatly endangered.

"The story is told that Mr: Keeler's house was ac- tually set on fire after he had retreated to the woods, and that Mr. Hoyt, fearing the effect of the fire on his own buildings, obtained permission from the British officers to extinguish the flames. After the enemy had left, Mr. Keeler, returning from the woods, was met by Mr. Hoyt, who greeted him with the exclama- tion, ' You may thank me that your house was not de- stroyed.'-'No, sir,' replied Keeler : ' I will not thank a Tory for anything. I would rather thank the Lord for the north wind.'

"Following close in the wake of the left wing of the enemy was a company of half-grown boys, Eben- ezer Jones, the son of Capt. Jones, of the number. Coming up to a large rock standing on an eminence in a field now owned by Mr. David Hoyt, a little southeast of Mr. Henry Benedict's, they found a British soldier who had been mortally wounded. Young Jones returned home and related the circum- stanee to his father, who, in humanity to a fallen foe, saddled his horse, rode down to the spot, and brought the wounded soldier to his own house, where he was earefully nursed until he died. Then Mr. Jones with his own hands made for him a pine coffin, and buried him in the old yard east of Mr. Joel Benjamin's barn.

" Four of the six houses at this time burned by the enemy were as follows,-viz., the house of Isaae Keeler, near Mamanasquag Pond; a honse on the High Ridge north of Mr. W. O. Seymour's; the house of Benjamin Northrop, a short distance south of Mr. George Haight's, on the opposite side of the road ; and a building used by the British for the care of their wounded over-night, previously oeeupied by Mr. Thomas Seymour. This house stood on the south side of the fair-ground, now owned by the Agricul- tural Society. The two buildings on High Ridge were probably burned in the evening, the one near Mamanasquag Lake in the early part of the day, and the fourth-that on the present fair-grouud-on the morning of their departure. The well standing near the house they filled with stones, which have never been removed. Their object in filling this well is not known. It may have been owing to the supposition that valuables were seereted there, or it may have been, as some suppose, that their own dead were thrown in it. This last supposition, however, is seareely probable, for they are known to have buried

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646

HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.

those who had died during the night in the upper part of Flat Rock woods.

" Among those who witnessed this engagement be- tween Gen. Tryon's forces and our own at the head of Ridgefield Street was a young man scarcely seven- teen years of age, by the name of Jeremiah Keeler. The scene aroused all the patriotie fire within his soul, and determined his eourse for the future. At the solieitation of Col. Bradley he eagerly enlisted in the regular army, and by his eourage and fidelity re- flected great eredit upon his native town. With the Connectieut line he shared the fatigues and dangers of the three memorable years that immediately fol- lowed ; shortly after which, being seleeted by Baron Steuben, he joined the light infantry commanded by Gen. De la Fayette, under whom he held the post of orderly sergeant. He was frequently appointed to execute difficult and responsible duties; and on an occasion of this kind the marquis presented him with a sword and his thanks as a testimonial of his regard for a faithful and courageous soldier. At the mem- orable siege of Yorktown, when La Fayette's brigade was employed to storm one of the British forts, Sergt. Keeler was one of the first who in the midst of a murderous fire sealed the breastworks and compelled the enemy to yield. He witnessed the surrender of Cornwallis, which virtually terminated the war, but he remained faithfully at his post until the disbanding of the forees, in 1783. He was mustered out of the service in Virginia, and soon after, with the sword which Gen. La Fayette gave him, for a cane, he walked baek to his native town. This sword is still to be seen at his late home in South Salem, N. Y., just over the State line. Mr. Keeler died February, 1853, aged nearly ninety-three years.

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History of Fairfield County, Connecticut : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 158

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) comp. cn Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co. Number of Pages: 1572

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) comp. cn
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. W. Lewis & co.
Number of Pages: 1572