History of New London county, Connecticut : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 104

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1317

USA > Connecticut > New London County > History of New London county, Connecticut : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 104

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" this town taking into serious consideration the dangerous situation of the British Colouies in North America, respecting sundry late acts of the British Parliament, particularly those of shutting up the Port of Boston, the Metropolis of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, and abridging their chartered rights, &c., which, if carried into execution, not only de- prives us all of our privileges, but renders life and property very preca- rious. And as we esteem the inhabitants of Boston, now suffering the tyranny of said acts of Parliament, and in the common cause of America ; Voted, 'That we will join with the other towns in this Colony in such reasonable measures as shall be judged best for the general good, and most likely to obtain redress of our grievances.

"Voted, That we esteem a General Congress of all the Colonies the only probable method to adopt a uniform plan for the preservation of the whole.

"Voted, That If It shall be judged best by said Congress to stop all exports to Great Britain and the West Indies, and all imports from them, we will most cheerfully acquiesce in their determinations, estceming the

benefits arising therefrom more trifles compared with the rights and privileges of America. Voted, That Capt. William Ledyard, Thomas Mumford, Ben Adam Gallup, Doct. Amos Prentice, Messrs. Charles El- dredge, Jr., Dea. John Hurlbut, and Amos Gere be a Committee to corre- spond with the Committees of the several towns of this and other British Colonies.

"Voted, That the above resolutions be published In the New London Gazette.

" WILLIAM AVERY, Town Clerk."

"GROTON, Dec. 12, 1774. " The inhabitants of this town, being sensible that a strict adherence to and observance of the Resolves of the Continental Congress, held in Philadelphia in September last, is of the utmost importance for the preservation of American rights and liberties, to effect which, agreeable to the Ilth article of said Congress, we do choose the following gentle- men a Committee of Inspection for the purpose therein contained, viz. : Ebenezer Ledyard, Thomas Mumford, William Williams, Benadam Gal- Iup, William Avery, Solomon Perkins, David Avery, William Morgan, John Elderkin, Joseph Packer, John Hurtbut, Ebenezer Avery (2), and Amos Gere, as a Committee of Inspection for the ensuing year.

"W'M. AVERY, Town Clerk."

Silas Deane, Esq., was among the foremost in all the plans of the Groton patriots until the Colonial Legislature sent him to the Continental Congress. [See biographical sketch of Mr. Deane.]

The Committee of Inspection for 1775 has Hon. William Williams for chairman, and the new names of Simeon Avery, Stephen Billings, Rev. Park Avery, and Nathan Gallup. The others are as before. In January, 1775, Thomas Mumford, Esq., and Lieut. Nathan Gallup were appointed agents of the town "to represent to the Honorable General Assembly the situation and circumstances of said town of Gro- ton, the need and necessity of a FORTIFICATION on Groton Heights near the ferry, and to obtain an order to draw money out of the colonial treasury for whatever cost they have been or may be at for the purposes aforesaid, with officers to take care of the same." As the result of this movement, Fort Gris- wold was built, mainly by the hands of the patriotic citizens of Groton.

Of Thomas Mumford, so often mentioned in town- meetings before, during, and after the war, a passing word may properly be said. He was first chosen to the office of selectman in 1759, and was termed En- sign Mumford as early as 1766. He was in the first, or Groton Bank company, there being five military companies in the town. He was one of the foremost and most efficient of the Sons of Liberty. The histo- rian of New London, already quoted, says, "Thomas Mumford, of Groton, belonged to that company of gentlemen, eleven in number, who in April, 1775, formed the project of taking Ticonderoga. This un- dertaking, so eminently successful, was wholly con- certed in Connecticut, without any authority from Congress. Mumford was first selectman through the earlier years of the war, and was the financial man- ager of the affairs of Groton; in constant communica- tion with fellow-patriots in other towns and in other States, a man in whom Governor Trumbull trusted, and the confidential adviser with Deane and others. In 1778 he was one of a committee appointed by Con- gress to receive and sign emissions of bills. He was

GROTON HEIGHTS

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also an agent of the Secret Committee of the Conti- nental Congress."

Ticonderoga was taken early in May, A.D. 1775. About this time Mr. Mumford, being one of a com- mittee of the General Assembly, was appointed to examine the points of defense, and report on the best means of securing the country from successful inva- sion. Groton Heights was one of the places selected for a fortification ; and having thus secured the recog- nition which the town-meeting of Groton in the pre- vious January had sought from the State, under the leadership of Mumford, Ledyard, and others, the Groton patriots went to work with a will, erecting defensive works on the heights overlooking the har- bor.

The historian further says, "With a spirit of enthu- siasm that did not wait for legislative aid, the inhabi- tants voluntarily threw up intrenchments, excavated ditches, and erected breastworks, and though they had · no ordnance, except a few pieces at the principal bat- tery at the Heights, obtained from the supply brought in by Commodore Hopkins, they resolved to defend the position to the last extremity." Prophetic words !

In the autumn of 1775 the formal report of the com- mittee on fortifications was made, urging immediate action in addition to what had been accomplished by private and patriotic enterprise. Six persons were designated to superintend the work, among whom were Ebenezer Ledyard and Capt. Peter Avery, two leading citizens. It was in December, 1776, that the name of the Governor was given to the fort on the New London side, and the name of the Lieutenant- Governor to the Groton Heights fort, names never thereafter to be forgotten. Col. Mott was the engineer of the latter fortification. Ledyard first took pos- session of it with his artillery company July 3, 1776, and subsequently, as we shall see, had charge of all the fortifications on both sides of the river and at Stonington.

"GROTON, Feb. 5, 1776.

" At a legal town-meeting held by adjournment this day, Wm. Wil- liams, Esq., was chosen moderator.

" Voted, That the Committee on Inspection and Correspondence be di- rected to inspect all persons that shall unnecessarily waste their powder, and count them inimical to the good of the country.

" Voted, To publish this vote in the New London Gazette.

"WM. AVERY, T. C.

" Apr. 8, A.D. 1776.

" At a town-meeting held this day, Col. Ebenezer Avery, moderator, Voted, That the town of Groton, having heretofore chosen a Com- mittee of Inspection, do refer all matters to them respectively, setting prices on things, agreeable to the direction of Congress."

At the call of the Continental Congress and Gov- ernor Jonathan Trumbull, a large number of volnn- teers enlisted from Groton in the patriot army. Many of them served under Putnam at the battle of Bunker Hill. Capt. Abel Spicer started with a full company when the news of the battle of Lexington came boom- ing over the hills, and was present at the battle of Bunker Hill. Others started off on foot, alone or in squads, to take a hand in the impending battle. They

found places waiting for them at the front, and ac- quitted themselves like men on the 17th of June. So many volunteers had left for the front and remained in the army of Washington that the people first petitioned the General Assembly to let her soldiers come home long enough to gather in the harvest and defend their homes from an immediate attack which threatened this coast, and besides these the town had been further stripped to furnish men for the navy. There was scarcely a week passed without an ominous movement of British men-of-war in sight of Fort Griswold, which was a favorite lookout for officers and citizens. But the soldiers were not recalled from the front. The exigencies of the times stimulated the people to make greater sacrifices for the common cause. The town records reveal a little of this, which we quote :

" GROTON, April 1, 1777.

" At a legal town-meeting held this day, William Williams, moderator, Voted, That this town will supply the families of those soldiers, on their reasonable requests, who shall engage and go into any of the Continental battalions for the term of three years, or during the war, with the neces- saries of life, as stated by law, so far as those soldiers that enlist into the Continental service shall lodge with or remit money through a commit- tee to be chosen for the purpose aforesaid. Voted, That Messrs. Thomas Mumford, David Avery, Joseph Starr, William Avery, Robert Gere, Thomas Fanning, Col. Ben Adam Galinp, John Hurlbut, Jonathan Fish, and Thomas Ap Niles be a committee, agreeable to the above vote, and execute the same as far as lies in their power. Voted, That this meeting be adjourned to the 7th day of April inst., to the South meeting-house, in said Groton, at 1 o'clock P.M.

" WM. AVERY, Town Clerk."

" GROTON, April 7, 1777.

" At an adjourned town-meeting held this day, William Williams, moderator, Voted, That this town will give, in addition to what has al- ready been offered by the Hon. Continental Congress and this State, Six Pounds to every individual soldier who shall enlist for three years, or during the war, and who shall pass muster (exclusive of Connecticut officers), that shall voluntarily enlist out of this town, and in this State. And if the number of soldiers should so enlist as to make the number 105, then all those soldiers that have enlisted and who count for this town and in this State are to be entitled to the same sum.

" WM. AVERY, Town Clerk."

" GROTON, April 28, 1777.

" At a town-meeting held this day, William Williams, Esq., moderator, Voted, That Capt. Joseph Starr, Ralph Stoddard, Hubbard Burrows, Jr., Jolın Morgan, Oliver Spicer, Elijah Avery, Stephen Billings, and Abel Spicer be a committee to inquire how many soldiers have enlisted into the Continental army since the 7th of April, and make return to the next town-meeting. Voted, That this meeting adjourn to the first Tues- day of May, at 11 o'clock A.M., at this place.

" Attest : WM. AVERY, T. C."

The committee reported that twenty-seven had en- listed in the twenty-one days'that had elapsed.

" May, 1777.

" At a town-meeting held this day, William Williams, Esq., moderator, Voted, That Col. Nathan Gallup and Deacon John Hurlbut be a commit- tee to purchase as many of those guns of Col. Mott's as can be obtained, for the use of this town and its inhabitants.

" Attest: WM. AVERY, T. C."

So it seems that the town of Groton not only built and manned the fort, but largely furnished it with ordnance.

" GROTON, Sept. 3, 1777.

" At a town-meeting held this day, Rev. Park Avery, moderator, Voted, That the town will comply with His Excellency the Governor's request to procure clothing for the army. Voted, That Messrs. David Avery,

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Stephen Billings, Samuel Allyn, Joseph Packer, and Thomas Fanning be a committee to go immediately and take in subscriptions, and receive those articles that are or shall be subscribed for, in order to furnish those non-commissioned officers and soldiers that are now in the Conti- mental army from this town with necessary articles of clothing, agree- ably to the request of His Excellency the Governor and Council of Safety. And if said committee should not be able to take in subscrip- tions for said purpose, then to procure said articles at the town's cost. " Attest : WM. AVERY, T. C."

At the annual meeting, December 12th following, there were added to the Committee of Inspection the names of Dr. Amos Prentice, Samuel Allyn, Daniel Avery, Thomas Ap Niles, Stephen Billings, and Col. Nathan Gallup.

At the same time the Committee of Correspondence was conducted by Capt. William Ledyard, Thomas Mumford, Charles Eldridge, Jr., and Col. Ben Adam Gallup. A tax of one shilling on the pound was levied.

" GROTON, Dec. 30, 1777.

"Voted, Upon the recommendation of His Excellency the Governor, to take into consideration the ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION AND PERPETUAL UNION recommended by the Congress of the THIRTEEN UNITED AMERI- CAN STATES. Voted, That we approve and accept the same."

Thus ends the year 1777, a year full of patriotic action from beginning to end, showing the intense interest the people felt in the success of the American cause. But so great and almost unparalleled an in- terest deserves to be reproduced in detail. The first meeting we note in the year following bears date and reads :

" GROTON, March 8, 1778.

" At a legal town-meeting held this day, William Williams, Esq., mod- erator, J'oted, That the committee of supplies be directed to hire so much money as to pay for all the clothing they have already supplied the Continental army. Voted, That David Avery, Esq., Capt. Joseph Morgan, Mr. Hubbard Burrows, Col. Ben Adam Gallup, and Lieut. Theophilus Avery be a committee to supply the non-commissioned officers and sol- diers that have enlisted in the Continental army out of said town, to act for the ensuing year.

" W'M. AVERY, T. C."

Capt. William Ledyard is at this time denominated major, which we note because everything about him is interesting, while Capt. William Latham, his suc- cessor, is the commander of the old artillery com- pany.

" GROTON, Sept. 8, 1778.

" A new committee to procure provisions and clothing for soldiers' families was appointed, containing the new names of James Avery, Daniel Packer, and George Gere.

" THOMAS MUMFORD, Clerk pro tem."

Feb. 2, 1779. At a town-meeting at which Col. Ebenezer Avery presided, and at which David Avery was clerk pro tem., it was voted that William Avery Morgan be added to the Committee of Supply for soldiers' families.

Feb. 17, 1779. The selectmen were directed to hire one thousand pounds and deliver the same to the Committee of Supplies for soldiers' families. One shilling in the pound was voted to cover expenses. At the same meeting Thomas Mumford and Col. Nathan Gallup were appointed agents for the town to prefer a memorial to the General Assembly, and see if said Assembly will relieve the town from the

cost that was made by sending and keeping prisoners here.

This town expresses itself in full accord with the vote of the town of Norwich in the method presented respecting taxation. On the 15th of June, 1779, Capt. Thomas Chester, Deacon Joseph Allen, Elisha Niles, Christopher Morgan, and Isaac Avery were ap- pointed a committee to forward supplies to the soldiers of the town in the Continental army. On the 25th of August following the town voted to allow all of Col. Ben Adam Gallup's account as a Committee of Supply for soldiers' families, though the General As- sembly had not allowed it. September 21st a new Committee of Supply for the soldiers at the front was chosen. At the same time Maj. William Ledyard was appointed at the head of the town's delegation to a. county convention to take concerted measures to sus- tain the war. Early in 1780 a tax of four shillings in the pound was laid on levy of 1779, and Col. Nathan Gallup was appointed auditor of accounts, an office that has fallen into disuse, until it was re- vived within a very few years. It is now a permanent office. At the January meeting this year a special committee was appointed to see that no provisions were carried out of the State except such as were sent to feed the army. Capt. John Williams was chairman of this commission. On the 22d of March the recruiting committee reported, advising the town to offer a bounty of five pounds sterling, solid silver, "in addition to all other bounties heretofore offered,"

and guaranteeing to volunteers all their wages in coin. This was still further increased to six pounds bounty and eight pounds annually, in solid coin, and finally to twenty shillings per month, or twelve pounds a year, in addition to their regular pay. In November following a committee was raised to receive the town's proportion of salt and other provisions, agreeable to a late act of the General Assembly, and the committee were authorized to hire as much money as sixpence in the pound will raise on the grand list for the use of the Continental army. There were at this time, as before intimated, five military companies within the bounds of the town of Groton, and the commanders. of each company were appointed to classify those liable to perform military service. This year of grace, 1780, it was voted that Jedediah Leeds, Jr., and Simcon Smith be appointed the committee to. supply soldiers' families, and a tax of one shilling on the pound was laid for that objeet.

The difficult task of assessing on the patriotie citi- zens one hundred and ninety-eight pounds, in addi- tion to the sum already raised, to pay soldiers' dues overdue, was imposed on, and the execution of the act was given to the five acting militia captains. They were directed to hire money, and with it put. men in the field to fill the town's quota to serve dur- ing the war.

We now come to the memorable year 1781. It opens by appointing a committee, January 16th, to-

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see that soldiers' families were supplied with neces- sary provisions, and it was voted that Capt. Elijah Avery and others named should attend to the supply of clothing for the soldiers in the field, and that what- ever money they have to hire the town pledges itself to pay. The five acting captains of the militia com- panies were appointed recruiting-officers to enlist men to serve one year. A committee was also appointed to take the town's part of grain and flour for the Continental troops, agreeable to a new State law.

Lieut. Park Avery was authorized to procure such supplies under this law. At the town-meeting held May 9, 1781, Capt. Stephen Billings was appointed to ascertain the number of soldiers from Groton then serving in the Connecticut line of the Continental army that had enlisted for the war. At the same meeting they passed a vote to appoint Lieut. Ebene- zer Avery and others to collect clothing for the boys of the Connecticut line during the year 1781. And now we come to the last recorded vote before the great massacre. It was dated June 26, 1781, and it was an act to provide for the welfare of the soldiers in the field, concluding by directing the collector of taxes to receive no more paper-money.

The air had for some time been full of rumors in expectation of a final attack of the British fleet. It had chased many a swift and richly-laden privateer into the safe harbor of New London, and the hour of vengeance could not be long delayed. Groton's young men, despite the quotas furnished for the army, still found their favorite pastime on the sea, and had es- caped many a danger. Sometimes it had all resulted disastrously, as was the case with Capt. Conckling and a crew from Mystic, of the fast-sailing sloop " Eagle," which, having taken six prizes in one day, held so many prisoners and had spared so many for prize-crews that her captives, seeing the weakness of the " Eagle's" crew, rose and killed all on board ex- cept, as some said, a negro concealed under the sail. Lieut. Daniel Eldredge, who was prize-master to one of the fine prizes, saw at a distance the recapture as it proceeded, but being becalmed he could render no assistance. This Lieut. Eldredge was afterwards wounded in Fort Griswold, but lived to be rewarded both by his town and by his country, he having re- ceived a command in the navy-yard established at Washington. A letter-of-marque had come in on the 5th of September, and as the officers were dexterous in the handling of guns, some of them went into the fort, among whom was Samuel Edgecomb, a stalwart of over six feet, of the age of twenty-one. He, too, escaped with only a wounded hand. We must ab- breviate the account of the battle, because its inci- dents have all been so fully and so repeatedly told dur- ing the late centennial. Suffice it to say the British fleet consisted of thirty-two sail of all classes, and the troops were landed early on the morning of Sept. 6, 1781, from twenty-four transports, eight hundred on the Groton side and one thousand on the New

London side, both at the mouth of the harbor. The troops, under Col. Eyre, came up stealthily under cover of the woods. Col. Ledyard, who was the com- mandant of all the fortifications on both sides of the river and of Stonington, decided to abandon Fort Trumbull and to concentrate all his forces in defense of Groton Heights, anticipating support from the rapidly assembling militia, who had received a doubtful alarm in consequence of the British firing an extra gun al- most simultaneously with our alarm, thus changing it to the accustomed signal of victory, as when a prize came in. No doubt an uncomfortable panic seized the alarmed and deceived community, which spread to the outside soldiers, while the brave hearts that were shut up with Col. Ledyard in Fort Gris- wold were animated with an indomitable courage, which was expressed in the language of their brave commander, who said,-

" If I am to lose to-day honor or life, you who know me can tell which it will be."

The garrison consisted of one hundred and fifty men, more or less, most of them improvised for the time from Groton. There were a few from Fort Trum- bull and adjoining towns.

Col. Eyre, from a distance, sent a flag of truce, de- manding the immediate and unconditional surrender of the fort. Col. Ledyard summoned a council of war, in which it was soon decided to reject the terms and defend the fort. A second time Col. Eyre de- manded the surrender, on penalty of incurring a sus- pension of the laws of honorable warfare. The de- fenders of the fort promptly refused to surrender on any terms. The assailing troops now advanced with a double-quick step in solid columns. Col. Ledyard ordered his garrison to reserve their fire until the enemy had reached a specified place, and then, when the word was given, discharged an eighteen-pounder, well loaded with grape-shot, in their faces. The cannon did its work, mowing a considerable space through the British lines, which were at once broken and the men scattered. They rallied, and being led by their officers, came running up, but were met by a steady, quick, and obstinate fire. Col. Eyre, mortally wounded, was borne from the field, and other British officers fell. Maj. Montgomery, seeing a less mur- derous fire on the east and north sides, stormed the fort, overpowering these points with numbers, but lie lost his life in the assault in the very moment of vic- tory. After an unsuccessful attempt to open the gate it was at length prostrated, and the exasperated enemy rushed in, breathing slaughter and revenge. Col. Ledyard, perceiving further resistance in vain, ordered his men to lay down their arms, at the same time offering his sword, in token of surrender, to the officer in command. This sword was accepted, and, horrible to relate, was immediately thrust through and through his breast, a deed unparalleled for its atrocity in the annals of warfare among civilized or half-civilized people, and was so infamous and das-

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HISTORY OF NEW LONDON COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.

tardly an act that the officer in command afterwards totally disclaimed it, and intimated the possibility of a bayonet-wound from an infuriated soldier. But the deed was done, and the officer in command cannot wash his hands of the dreadful crime. The struggle continued after resistance had ceased. Had Arnold himself been there it could not have been worse. The arch-traitor, who watched the fight from the New London side, in his report says,-

" After an obstinate defense of near forty minutes the fort was carried."

Of the garrison, eighty-five were killed outright and left in the fort stripped of all clothing .; thirty- five were regarded dangerously or mortally wounded,

ing the movements of the enemy, the moment they left rushed in, and at great peril of their lives threw water on the train. Others ventured in, and the fire in the barracks was extinguished and the fort saved.

That night of horror among the wounded was fol- lowed at early dawn by the presence of gentle forms inquiring for fathers, brothers, and sons. Dr. Joshua Downer, of Preston, surgeon of the Eighth Regiment, seems to have been the first to appear for the relief of the sufferers. Fourteen among the dead and three among the wounded bore the title of captain. Of the killed, sixty belonged to Groton, where forty-two widows were made on this tragic day,-a bereave- ment believed to have been unparalleled in the an-

HOUSE USED FOR HOSPITAL AT BATTLE OF GROTON HIEIGIITS, SEPT. 6, 1781.

and were paroled to remain; thirty others, mostly wounded, were carried away to New York. The paroled men, in their blood, some of them dying, were hastily tossed into an ammunition-wagon and suffered to run impetuously down the steep until it was arrested in its headlong course by the trunk of an apple-tree. The shock was so great that instant death followed in some cases and indescribable torture in the survivors, who were carried to Ensign Avery's house, at the foot of the hill (the house now owned and occupied by Mr. Simon Huntington, and show- ing blood-stains on the floor to this day). The enemy intended to blow up the magazine of the fort, and had laid a train of powder to effect that object, but Maj. Peters, of Norwich, who with others had been watch-

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History of New London county, Connecticut : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 104

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis & Co. Number of Pages: 1317

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1317