History of New London county, Connecticut : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 46

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 46

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marque ' Watt,' thirty-four guns and two hundred and fifty men, which is judged, all things considered, to have been the best contested, the most equally matched, equally well-fought, and equally destructive battle during the war. In this engagement several from New London and its vicinity were among the killed and wounded. Daniel Starr, second lieutenant, Jabez Smith (of Groton), lieutenant of marines, died of their wounds. Gideon Chapman went overboard on the maintop and was drowned. Gilbert Salton- stall, captain of marines, Pygian Adams, purser, David Pool and Samuel Hearn, boatswains, were wounded. Three of the midshipmen were of New London. One of these, Capt. Richard Law, who died Dec. 19, 1845, was the last survivor of the crew.

" In concluding this account of naval affairs, it may be observed in general terms that during the whole war New London was as a den of serpents to the Brit- ish, constantly sending out its sloops and schooners, well manned by skillful and daring seamen, to harass . the boats and tenders along the shore, or to cut off merchant vessels on the high seas. Rich prizes, in spite of their vigilance, would run into this open port, and if pursuit was apprehended they might be hur- ried up to Norwich, entirely out of reach.

The year 1777 forms, indeed, an exception to the universality of this assertion. So great was the vigi- lance of the British squadron on the coast, that be- tween the summer of 1776 and that of 1778 not a single prize was brought into the harbor of New London.

" Although New London has been repeatedly threatened, no direct attack was made upon the town till near the close of the war in 1781. Gen. Arnold, on his return from a predatory descent upon the coasts of Virginia, was ordered to conduct a similar expedi- tion against his native State. A large quantity of West India goods and European merchandise brought in by various privateers was at this time collected in New London ; the quantity of shipping in port was also very considerable, and among the prizes recently taken was the 'Hannah' (Capt. Watson), a rich mer- chant ship from London bound to New York, which had been captured a little south of Long Island by Capt. Dudley Saltonstall, of the ' Minerva' privateer. The loss of this ship, whose cargo was said to be the most valuable brought into America during the war, had exasperated the British, and more than any other single circumstance is thought to have led to the ex- pedition. At no other period of the war could they have done so much mischief, at no other had the in- habitants so much to lose.

" The expedition was fitted out from New York, the headquarters of Sir Henry Clinton and the British army. The plan was well conceived. Arnold de- signed to enter the harbor secretly in the night, and to destroy the shipping, public offices, stores, mer- chandise, and the fortifications on both sides of the river with such expedition as to be able to depart be-

] " She was called the ' Deane,' but must not be confounded with the Continental frigate 'Denne,' which had previously taken the name of the ' Hague.'- Cooper's Nural Ilist., vol. ii. p. 190.

2 " Thomas Mumford, of Groton, was then recently married, and the night before the thaw gave an entertainment which many guests fron New London attended, crossing the river in sleighs. The banquet and dance continuing late, and the storm coming on suddenly and furiously, the party were not able to return as they went, and the next morning the swollen river, full of floating ice, rendered crossing in any way a hazardous attempt. Some of the guests were detained two or three days on that side of the river.

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fore any considerable force could be collected against him. Candor in judging forbids the supposition that the burning of the town and the massacre at Groton fort entered into his original design, though at the time such cruelty of purpose was charged upon him and currently believed. As flowing from his mneas- ures and taking place under his command, they stand to his account, and this responsibility is heavy enough without adding to it the criminal forethought.

" Late in the evening of the 5th of September in- formation was received in town that a British fleet was lurking under the shore of Long Island, nearly opposite the mouth of the river. So many false de- monstrations of attack had been made during the war that this intelligence caused but little alarm. No public notice was given of it, and no unusual precau- tions were taken against surprise ; soldiers and citi- zens alike retired to rest. As soon as it was dark the hostile fleet got under way, and arriving on the coast at one o'clock, would undoubtedly have accomplished their design and made themselves masters of the town and forts without opposition had they not been coun- teracted by Providence. The wind suddenly shifted to the northward, blowing directly out of the mouth of the river, so that the larger vessels were obliged to stand off and the transports to beat in.

" According to the uniform testimony of eye-wit- nesses, the British fleet consisted of thirty-two sail of all classes of vessels ; and the troops were landed from twenty-four transports, eight hundred on the Groton side, and nine hundred or- a thousand on the New London side. Arnold, in his report of the expedition, says,-

"' At ten o'clock the troops, in two divisions and in four debarkations, were landed, one on each side the harbor, about three miles from New London, that on the Groton side, consisting of the 40th and 54th Regi- ments and the Third Battalion of New Jersey volunteers, with a detach- ment of yagers and artillery, were under the command of Lient,-Col. Eyre. The division on the New Loudon side consisted of the 38th regiment, the Loyal Americans, the American Legion, refugees, and n detachment of sixty yngers, who were linmediately on their landing put lu motlon."

" In the mean time confused and hasty preparations had been made to receive them. At early dawn the fleet had been discovered lying off becalmed, but the transports making preparations to beat in to the mouth of the river. Col. Wm. Ledyard was the mili- tary commander of the district which comprised the two forts, the harbor, and the towns of New London and Groton. Capt. Adam Shapley commanded at Fort Trumbull and the Town Hill battery ; Capt. William Latham at Fort Griswold. An alarm was immediately fired from Fort Griswold; it consisted of two regular guns at fixed intervals ; this was the sig- nal to call in assistance from the neighboring coun- try, while three guns was the signal of rejoicing, to give notice of a victory or a prize. It was evident that these signals had been communicated to the enemy, for when the two distress guns were fired, one of the large ships in the fleet added a third, so as to

alter the import. This stratagem had some influence in retarding the arrival of militia.

"In the town consternation and fright were sud- denly let loose. No sooner were the terrible alarm- guns heard than the startled citizens, leaping from their beds, made haste to send away their families and their portable and most valuable goods. Throngs of women and children were dismissed into the fields and woods, some without food, and others with a piece of bread or a biscuit in their hands. Women laden with bags and pillow-cases, or driving a cow before them, with an infant in their arms, or perhaps on horseback, with a bed under them, and various uten- sils dangling at the side; boys with stockings slung like wallets over their shoulders, containing the money, the papers, and other small valuables of the family ; carts laden with furniture; dogs and other household animals, looking strange and panic-struck ; pallid faces and trembling limbs,-such were the scenes presented on all the roads leading into the country. Many of these groups wandered all day in the woods, and at night found shelter in the scattered farm-houses and barns.

"Amid the bustle of these scenes, when each one was laden with what was nearest at hand or dearest to his heart, one man was seen hastening alone to the burial-ground, with a small coffin under his arm. His child had died the day before, and he could not leave it unburied. In haste and trepidation he threw up the mould and deposited his precious burden, then covering it quickly, and setting up a stone to mark the place, he hurried away to secure other beloved ones from a more cruel spoiler.

"Such was the confusion of the scene that families in many cases were scattered upon different roads, and children eight or ten years of age were sent off alone into the country, their parents lingering per- haps to bury or conceal some of their effects. Yet no one was lost, no one was hurt. The farm-houses were full, and unbounded hospitality was shown by their occupants. At Gen. Miller's, a little off from the Norwich road, orders were given to open the dairy and the larder, to prepare food constantly, and to feed everybody that came. When the house was overflow- ing, the servants carried out milk, cheese, and bread, or porringers of corn-beans to the children, who sat under the trees and ate. This will serve as an exam- ple of the general hospitality. A number of families found shelter among friends and relatives in the North Parish. Groups of fugitives gathered on the high hills afar off, watching with intense interest the movements of the enemy, whose course might be traced by their gleaming arms and scarlet coats until clouds of smoke hid them from their view.

"Some sick persons were removed from town with great difficulty and at the hazard of their lives, others who could not be removed were guarded with solici- tous care by wife, daughter, or mother, who resolved to remain with them and depend on Providence to

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soften the heart of the foe and protect them from danger.

"Col. Ledyard having visited the town and Fort Trumbull and made the best disposition of what force he could find, and having dispatched expresses to Governor Trumbull at Lebanon, and to commanders of militia in the neighborhood, returned to Fort Gris- wold.

" As he stepped into the boat to cross the ferry he said to some friends whose hands he pressed at part- ing, in a firm tone, 'If I must lose to-day honor or life, you who know me can tell which it will be.'

"The garrisons under Col. Ledyard were small, barely sufficient to keep the posts in order, and in cases of emergency they depended on volunteers from the neighborhood or details of militia. These were now coming in, and the commander confidently an- ticipated the arrival of sufficient aid to warrant a de- fense.

"In the mean time great efforts were made to se- cure the shipping in the harbor by getting it up the river, but at first neither wind nor tide favored the attempt. Towards noon, however, before the enemy had got possession of the town, a favorable breeze came in from the water, and a considerable number of vessels escaped. The warehouses were full of mer- chandise, only a small proportion of which could be sent off. Shaw's warehouse on Water Street in par- ticular was packed with goods, and among them was the rich cargo of the 'Hannah.' A sloop-load of these were saved.1

"Such confusion reigned in the town, every house- holder being engaged in the care of his family and effects, that it was difficult to form any concerted plan of action. But when the women and children had departed the men began to gather in groups and consult respecting the course to be pursued. They could muster but few effective men, and flight and concealment seemed the only prudent course for them to adopt; but about one hundred, hastily armed, and indignant at the thought of abandoning their homesteads without a blow, collected on Town Hill, with a view of obstructing the course of the enemy. They were without a commander, and as the ad- vancing files of regular soldiers, in firm array, with glistening steel, appeared in sight they saw the rash- ness of their design, and scattering into the fields, concealed themselves behind rocks and fences, and annoyed the troops whenever they could find a chance.

"Arnold had debarked his forces a little west of the light-house, and came up in a straight course, through what is called Brown's Gate, into the Town

Hill road. The division under his command, as al- ready stated, consisted of the Thirty-eighth British Regiment2 and the regiment of loyal Americans (Col. Beverly Robinson's), with several companies from other refugee regiments, among whom were one hundred and twenty New Jersey loyalists, under the command of Lieut .- Col. Upham, and a band of sixty yagers (Hessian light infantry ).3

"The armed vessels ' Association' and 'Col. Martin' went close into the shore, and covered the landing on the New London side." (Uphum's Report.)

"When the troops arrived at the cross-road leading down to the shore, which Arnold says was at eleven o'clock, Capt. Millett, of the Thirty-eighth, with four companies, was detached to march that way and attack the fort, and at the foot of this cross-road he was joined by Capt. Frink with a company of refugees, who had marched up by a different route nearer the shore.

"Fort Trumbull was a work of very little strength, a mere block of batteries facing the water on three sides, open behind, and only designed to act against a naval force. Capt. Shapley had with him twenty- three men, and his orders were, in case of a direct at- tack, to retreat to Fort Griswold. He saluted the in- vaders with one volley well discharged, and then, having spiked the guns, retreated to the shore, where he embarked his men in three boats to cross the river. The enemy's fleet was so near that they reached and over-shot them with their muskets; seven men were wounded and one of the boats captured.

" In the mean time Gen. Arnold, pressing forward with the main body of troops, arrived at the breast- work of earth and sods whose insignificance had ob- tained for it the name of Fort Nonsense, but of which in his dispatch he speaks with great exaggeration as a redoubt that kept up a brisk fire upon them for some time, but was evacuated at their approach. ‘In it,' he says, 'we found six pieces of cannon mounted and two dismounted.'4 On this commanding height Arnold paused to survey the scene on which he was about to operate, a scene familiar to his eyes in early life, with houses and shops compact and sails spread in the offing, all indicative of thrift, enterprise, and comfort, but which he was now, with sword and fire- brand, about to scathe and blacken. His thoughts, however, were intent on the present object, and not discoursing with the past or future. He observes in his report,-

"' I had the pleasure to see Capt. Millett march into Fort Trumbull, under a shower of grape-shot from a number of cannon which the enemy had turned upon him, and by the sudden attack and determined bravery of the troops the fort was carried with only the loss of four or five men killed and wounded.'

"So well it sounds in official language for five companies of fresh, well-armed British soldiers to

1 " Mr. Shaw was himself absent from town at the time of the inva- sion. This was very much deplored at the time. He had gone ont on a fishing-excursion towards Montauk Point, and after discovering the fleet and its destination, could not get in before them, but was obliged to run into Pequonnuck Creek to escape capture. Dr. Simon Wolcott was with him.

2 " This was Sir Robert Pigot's regiment, but it is not known whether he was with the expedition. The uniform was red, faced with yellow. 3 " These wore a dark uniform, with bright red trimmings.

4 " Iron pieces, four and six-pounders.

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drive twenty-three Americans from an open, defense- less fortress.

" It was from this point that Arnold dispatched an order to Lieut .- Col. Eyre, who had landed on the Groton side, to attack the fort as soon as possible, in order to prevent the escape of the shipping up the river. The general continues,-

". No time on my part was lost in gaining the town of New London. We were opposed by a small body of the enemy with one field-piece, who were so hard pressed that they were obliged to leave the piece, which, being iron, was spiked and lett.'

" This field-piece was a four or six-pounder which stood upon Manwaring's Hill, where it had been used for rejoicings, trainings, and alarms. It was not at this time manned, but some three or four resolute persons discharged it several times upon the advanc- ing foe as they came down Town Hill, and then fled. A detachment of the British was sent up Blackhall Street to silence this solitary gun, which in truth they effected, but were much annoyed by random shot from behind the rocks and fences. Manwaring's house was then the only dwelling in that quarter. This they ransacked, and having wantonly destroyed some of the furniture, set fire to it by leaving heaps of burn- ing brands and combustibles upon the floor. One of the townspeople entering the house soon after they left it extinguished the flames with a barrel of soap. When the owner returned to his house that night he found lying on one of the beds a dying British soldier piteously calling for water. He had been left for dead by his comrades on the roadside, and being found by some of the returning citizens weltering in his blood, they had carried him into the house. He lived several hours and was able to give his name, and to request that intelligence might be sent to his parents of his death. He was about eighteen years of age, a refugee, and the son of refugees then in Nova Scotia. He was interred in a corner of the lot on the opposite side of the street. Two or three other soldiers found dead on the hill were buried on the side of the road in William Street.

" Lient .- Col. Upham, who commanded the New Jersey loyalists, says in his report to Governor Franklin,-

"" We procreded to the town of New London, constantly skirmishing with rebels, who fled from hill to hill and stone fences which intersected the country at small distances. Having reached the southerly part of the town, the general requested me to take possession of the hill north of the meeting-house, where the rebels had collected, and which they seemed resolved to hold. We made a circle to the left, and soon gained the ground in contest. Here we had one man killed and one wounded. This bright being the outpost, was left to us and the yagers. Here we remained exposed to a constant fire from the rebels on the neighboring bills and from the fort on the Groton side until the last was carried by the British troops.'

"Col. Upham's party defiled through Cape Ann Street and Lewis Lane, and a flanking guard set fire to the house of Pickett Latimer,' on the old Colehes- ter road, now Vauxhall Street. This house was full

of goods, hastily deposited there by the inhabitants for safe-keeping, the distance from the town leading them to suppose that it would not be visited. It was, how- ever, the first building consumed. The main body came on through Vauxhall Street, and at their ap- proach the group of half-armed citizens that had col- lected on the beautiful height above the old burial- ground, after a few discharges, retired, scattering to other hills and woodlands, where, unseen, they could watch the motions of the enemy. It was about noon when Col. Upham, with the refugees and Hessians, took possession of the hill and planted the field piece which they had brought from Fort Nonsense, direct- ing its fire against the shipping which had been obliged to anchor above the town. But a change of wind and tide operating in favor of the vessels, they spread their sails and escaped up the river. One of the cannon-balls sent after them went through the front door of the house on Norwich road just above the mill, since known as Capt. Robert Hallam's.

" Arnold made his arrangements to enter at both ends of the town, to follow the line of the water-side, and complete the work of destruction at the centre. He appears himself to have accompanied the party that gained the north end of the town (probably through Hempstead Street) under cover of Col. Up- ham's advance post. He mentions in his report that he ascended a height of ground in the rear of the town, from whence he had a good prospect of Fort Griswold, and of the shipping that was endeavoring to escape up the river. Two or three persons, inhabit- ants of the town, were secreted in the vicinity, and who were well acquainted with the person of Arnold, saw him as he sat on horseback, above the meeting- house, with a small spy-glass in his hand, surveying the scene, and pointing out objects to an officer by his side, probably Lord Dalrymple, who acted as his aide in this expedition. They turned their horses down Richards Street, through which a part of their force had preceded them.

" At the north end of the town the torch of destruc- tion was first lighted at the printing-office and the town mill. From thence a detachment of the enemy went on to Winthrop's Neck and set fire to the Plumb house, scouring the whole Point, destroying the bat- tery, shipping, warehouses, and every species of com- bustible property on that side, except the Merrill house, which escaped. On Main Street south of the printing-office a considerable number of old family homesteads were consumed. The most valuable was that of Gen. Gurdon Saltonstall. The house of Capt. Guy Richards, at the foot of Richards Street, was marked out for destruction, but a daughter of Capt. Richards lying ill at the time, the English officer lis- tened to the supplications of those who attended upon her and spared the house. It was an act too barbar- ous even for incursive hostility, the most barbarous kind of war, to set fire to a house over the heads of sick and helpless females.

" Nearly opposite the residence of Thomas Fitch.

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"On the east side of the street several private houses, with the custom-house and collector's dwell- ing near it, various shops of merchandise, mechanic shops, and warehouses, with all the wharfing, boating, and lumber, were involved in a long line of destruc- tion. Below Hallam's corner in this street no build- ings were burnt. At this point the main body of the enemy turned towards Beach or Water Street, where several noted warehouses and shops were situated and a part of the shipping lay. It is said that Arnold himself, with extended sword, pointed out the way to the troops, with this emphatic command, 'Soldiers, do your duty !'

"Of course vengeance and destruction had no check ; shops, stores, dwellings, piles of lumber, wharves, boats, rigging, and vessels were soon en- veloped in smoke and flame. Hogsheads were knocked in ; sugar and coffee lay in heaps; and rum and Irish butter, melted in the fire, trickled along the street and filled the gutters. The prize ship 'Hannah,' partly unladen, lay at Shaw's wharf. When burnt nearly to the water's edge she drifted away and sunk near the end of Winthrop's Neck.1

"Bradley Street, containing eight or ten houses, was left unharmed. When the regulars came to this street, their guide, one of those 'friends to govern- ment in the town' whom Arnold mentions as aiding and furnishing information, said to the leader of the party, 'In this street there are no shops, no stores ; it is the Widows' Row.' The words were literally true, and the humane officer commanded his men not to enter the street.

"On the Parade all was destroyed. The market- wharf, the old magazine and battery, the court-house, jail and jail-house, the Episcopal church, and sev- eral contiguous shops and dwelling-houses were soon a heap of ashes. The western part of this street was left unhurt. The ancient, dilapidated building still extant near the corner of Green Street was then, as it since has been, a well-known tavern stand. The land- lady, like many other American women in those dis- astrous times, had her nearest friends arrayed on op- posite sides. Her husband, as sergeant in the militia, was at his post in the field annoying the invaders, and her brother was one of those invaders, an officer under Arnold's command. Before mounting her horse to escape she had her table spread and furnished boun- tifully with provisions. Though fleeing with her patri- otic husband, she could not refrain from leaving a dinner for her Tory brother. That officer eagerly sought the threshold of his relative, and, though he found her not, refreshed himself and his brother- officers with the collation. After the close of the war this refugee captain, being in declining health, obtained leave to return home, and died in the same house.

"The enemy, however, did not in, general, spare the dwellings of their reputed friends. This, instead of being a favor, would have marked them out for patriot vengeance. Arnold himself took some refreshment that day at the house of an old acquaintance in Bank ·Street, but even before they rose from the table the building was in flames over them. It has been often stated that some whose property was destroyed re- ceived in the end double compensation,-that is, from the British on account of their loyalty, and from Con- gress in the grant of fire lands by which reparation was made to the sufferers. Arnold was born within fourteen miles of New London, and had lived so long in the vicinity that he had many old acquaintances in town ; some of these, it was well known, had held secret intercourse with him and officiated as counsel- ors and guides in this expedition.

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History of New London county, Connecticut : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 46

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