History of New London county, Connecticut : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 47

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 47

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"At the south end of the town the ravage was co- incident with the destruction at the north. All the boats and fishing craft around the coves were burnt. A house and shop belonging to a person who held a commission in the garrison of the fort were singled out and burnt, showing that the guides of the enemy were familiar with the locality. An old fisherman ventured from his hiding-place and pathetically en- treated them to leave him his boat, but he was told that their orders allowed of no exceptions and must be obeyed. A woman living near the water on the point (Shaw's Neck), seeing a company of the red- coats approaching, concealed her well-grown boys in the cellar, and gathering her little children around her went out to meet them. Dropping on her knees before the captain, she told him that her husband had been gone several long years and she knew not what had become of him ; she had nothing left but a group of helpless children and yonder house with its simple furniture, which she entreated him not to destroy. The officer raised her from the ground, and brushing a tear from his eye, said, 'Go in, good woman ; you and your property are safe ; none of my men shall disturb you.'2

" Very little havoc was made in this part of the town until the enemy came to Bank Street. Here the work of destruction was commenced at the stone dwelling-house of the Shaw family, in different parts of which ignited combustibles were placed and left to do their work ; but after the troops had passed on a near neighbor, who had remained concealed in the

2 " The story of this woman was literally true; we are tempted to con- tinue the tale. Her husband was a sea-captain and trader, who being in Europe when the war broke out, and meeting with reverses and difficul- ties, had continued there, trading and waiting for an opportunity to re- turn home. The very day Arnold was burning New London he arrived with his vessel in the Sound, and discovering the hostile fleet in season put back and lay close till the next day. When the enemy had departed he slipped into the harbor in the dusk of evening, and landing, made his way through the smouldering streets to his own threshold, where, lifting the latch, he paused, and before speaking to wife or children fixed his eyes on two ancient portraits of his ancestors hanging upon the wall, and with a humor peculiar to his character saluted them and expressed his satisfaction at finding them still on duty at their post.

1 " The old hull of the ' Hannah' was dragged out in 1815 by Amasa Miller, to whose ship-yard it was an obstruction.

190

HISTORY OF NEW LONDON COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.

vicinity, entered the house and extinguished the fires. An ancient dwelling-house of wood, adjoining the stone mansion, and used by Shaw as an office and store-house, was burnt to the ground, and in it a chest of valuable papers was consumed. The flame from this building caught the roof of the stone house, but was extinguished by the same adventurous neighbor that quenched the fires within the house. Finding a pipe of vinegar in the garret, he knocked in the head, and dipping from this fountain poured the convenient liquid from the scuttle down the roof till the fire was subdued. By this timely exertion not only this house but the houses below it, which would probably have been involved in its destruction, escaped.

" In this part of the harbor were the spar and ship- yards and a considerable number of unemployed ves- sels, which were all given to the flames. Old hulls half sunk in the water, or grounded on the flats here and there, are remembered by persons who were then children as having been left for years afterward lying about the shores. A privateer sloop, fitted for a cruise and in fine order, that lay swinging from a cable fas- tened to a ring in the projecting rock where is now Brown's wharf, was set on fire, and her cable burning off she drifted across the harbor a mass of flame. Through the whole of Bank Street, where were some of the best mercantile stands and the most valuable dwelling-houses in the town, the torch of vengeance made a clean sweep. No building of any importance was left on either side of the street; all combustible property of every description was consumed. This entire devastation was in part owing to circumstances not entering into the plans of the enemy, though it might have been anticipated as a natural consequence of their measures. Several of the stores in this and other parts of the town contained gunpowder in large quantities, which exploding, shook the whole coun- gry round and scattered the flames in every direct- ion.

"The general says in his report, 'The explosion of the powder and the change of wind soon after the stores were fired communicated the flames to part of the town, which was, notwithstanding every effort to prevent it, unfortunately destroyed.' Sir Henry Clin- ton, also, in his official letter to England, expresses his concern that the town was burnt, but says it was unavoidable, and occasioned by the explosion of gun- powder.

" It ought to be stated as a general fact that Ar- nold's orders appear to have been given with some reference to humanity and the laws of civilized war- fare. Private houses were to be spared, unless in some few instances where the owners were particularly obnoxious. It was afterwards well understood that most of the spoil and havoc in private houses was the work of a few worthless vagrants of the town who prowled in the wake of the invaders, hoping in the gen- eral confusion not to be detected. The English soldiers were expressly forbidden to plunder or to molest the

helpless.1 In several cases where females courage- ously remained to protect their dwellings they were treated with marked civility and respect. In one in- stance a soldier having entered a house and forcibly seized some clothing, the.woman went to the door and complained to an officer on guard in the street, who not only restored the articles, but chastised the culprit on the spot for disobeying his orders.

" Instances of tender commiseration for the suffer- ers were also exhibited in various parts of the town. In one house a female had remained with an aged, decrepit father, too infirm to be removed. Seeing so many buildings in flames, and expecting her own soon to be kindled, she dragged her parent in his arm-chair to the extremity of the garden, and there stood over him awaiting the result. The officer on guard ob- serving her situation, went up and conversed with her, bidding her banish fear, for her house should not be entered ; he would himself watch over its safety.

" Yet no one can be certain that an excited soldiery will not transcend their orders, and scenes of distress must be expected in the train of a reckless invasion. An aged and infirm man, living alone, with no one to care for him and convey him to a place of safety, had crept to the back part of his little inclosure, and when the soldiers were marching by he stood among the bushes, leaning upon his staff, a peaceable looker-on. One of the party, seeing perhaps only a hat and head, and supposing it might be an armed man lurking there to get a favorable aim, raised his musket and shot the old man dead in his garden.

"But the work of destruction in New London was a mere sportive sally in comparison with the tragic events that were passing on the opposite side of the river. The division of Lieut .- Col. Eyre, which landed on that side, consisted of two British regi- ments and a battalion of New Jersey volunteers, with a detachment of yagers and artillery. The British regiments, however, were the actors in the scenes that followed, for the Jersey troops and artillery, who were under the command of Lieut .- Col. Buskirk, being the second debarkation, and getting entangled among the ledges, copses, and ravines, did not reach the fort un- til after the conflict had ceased." 2

A brief account of the destruction of the town by the invaders appeared in the New London Gazette the next day, giving the following description of the attack :

" About daybreak on Thursday morning last, twenty-four sail of the enemy's shipping appeared to the westward of this harbor, which by many were supposed to be a plundering party after stock. Alarm-guns were immediately fired; but the dis- charge of cannon in the harbor has become so fre- quent of late that they answered little or no purpose.

1 " Arnold warmly commends the conduct of Capt. Stapleton, who acted as major of brigade, 'for his endeavors to prevent plundering and the destruction of private buildings.'

2 " Arnold's report."

HEADQUARTERS OF GEN. WASHINGTON.

Fired by the British at the Burning of New London, Sept. 6, 1781. Quenched with Vinegar

191

NEW LONDON.

The defenseless state of the fortifications and the town are obvious to our readers ; a few of the inhabi- tants who were equipped advanced towards the place where the enemy were thought likely to make their landing, and manœuvred on the heights adjacent un- til the enemy, about nine o'clock, landed in two di- visions, and about eight hundred men each, one of them at Brown's farm, near the light-house, the other at Groton Point. The division that landed near the light-house marched up the road, keeping up large flanking parties, who were attacked in different places on their march by the inhabitants, who had spirit and resolution to oppose their progress. The main body of the enemy proceeded to the town and set fire to the stores on the beach, and immediately after to the dwelling-houses lying on the Mill Cove. The scat- tered fire of our little parties, unsupported by our neighbors more distant, galled them so that they soon began to retire, setting fire promiscuously on their way. The fire from the stores communicated to the shipping that lay at the wharves, and a number were burnt; others swung to single fast and remained unhurt.

" At four o'clock they began to quit the town with great precipitation, and were pursued by our brave citizens with the spirit and ardor of veterans, and driven on board their boats. . Five of the enemy were killed and about twenty wounded. Among the lat- ter is a Hessian captain, who is a prisoner, as are seven others. We lost four killed and ten or twelve wounded, some mortally.

"The most valuable part of the town is reduced to ashes, and all the stores. Fort Trumbull, not being tenable on the land side, was evacuated as the enemy , advanced, and the few men in it crossed the river to Fort Griswold, on Groton Hill, which was soon after invested by the division that landed at the Point. The fort having in it only about one hundred and twenty men, chiefly militia hastily collected, they de- fended it with the greatest resolution and bravery, and once repulsed the enemy ; but the fort being out of repair could not be defended by such a handful of men, though brave and determined, against so superior a number, and after having a number of their party killed and wounded, they found that further resist- ance would be in vain, and resigned the fort. Imme- diately on the surrender the valiant Col. Ledyard, whose fate in a particular manner is much lamented, and seventy other officers and men were murdered, most of whom were heads of families. The enemy lost a Maj. Montgomery and forty officers and men in the attack, who were found buried near the fort. Their wounded were carried off.

"Soon after the enemy got possession of the fort they set fire to and burnt a considerable number of dwelling-houses and stores on Groton bank and em- barked about sunset, taking with them sundry inhab- itants of New London and Groton. A Col. Eyre, who commanded the division at Groton, was wounded,

and it is said died on board the fleet the night they embarked. About fifteen sail of vessels, with the effects of the inhabitants, retreated up the river on the appearance of the enemy and were saved, and four others remained in the harbor unhurt. The troops were commanded by that infamous traitor, Benedict Arnold, who headed the division which marched up to the town. By this calamity it is judged that more than one hundred families are de- prived of their habitations, and most of their all. This neighborhood feel sensibly the loss of so many deserving citizens, and though deceased, cannot but be highly indebted to them for their spirit and brav- ery in their exertions and manly opposition to the merciless enemies of our country in their last mo- ments.

"The following savage action, committed by the troops who subdued Fort Griswold, on Groton Hill, on Thursday last, ought to be recorded to their eternal infamy. Soon after the surrender of the fort they loaded a wagon with our wounded men, by order of their officers, and set the wagon off from the top of the hill, which is long and very steep. The wagon went a considerable distance with great force, till it was suddenly stopped by a tree; the shock was so great to these faint and bleeding men that some of them died instantly. The officers ordered their men to fire on the wagon while it was running."

The buildings burned at New London in this expe- dition by the British troops were sixty-five dwelling- houses, containing ninety-seven families, thirty-one stores, eighteen shops, twenty barns, and nine public and other buildings, among which were the court- house, jail, and church,-in all, one hundred and forty-three.

"In many instances where houses were situated a great distance from the stores, and contained nothing but household furniture, they were set on fire, not- withstanding the earnest cries and entreaties of the women and children in them, who were threatened with being burned in them if they did not instantly leave them. Indeed, two houses were bought off for £10 each of an officer who appeared to be a captain, upon condition, however, that he should not be made known; and where the houses were not burned they were chiefly plundered of all that could be carried off. At the harbor's mouth the houses of poor fisher- men were stripped of all their furniture of every kind, the poor people having nothing but the clothes that they had on." 1

The following extracts are from Arnold's official account of his expedition to New London :

"SOUND, off Plumb Island, 8th Sept., 1781.

"Sir,-I have the honor to inform your Excellency that the transports with the detachment of troops under my orders anchored on the Long Island shore on the 5th instant, at two o'clock P.M., about ten leagues from New London, and having made some necessary arrangements, weighed anchor at seven o'clock P.M. and stood for New London with a

1 The Connecticut Gazette of Sept .. 7, 1781.

192

HISTORY OF NEW LONDON COUNTY, CONNECTICUT.

fair wind. At one o'clock the next morning we arrived off the harbor, when the wind suddenly shifted to the northward, and it was nine o'clock before the transports could beat in. At ten o'clock the troops in two divisions, and in four debarkations, were landed, one on each side of the harbor, about three miles from New London, that on the Groton side, consisting of the Fortieth and Fifty-fourth Regiments and the Third Battery of New Jersey volunteers, with a detachment of yagers and artillery, were under the command of Lieut .- Col. Eyre. The di- vision on the New London side consisted of the Thirty-eighth Regiment, the Loyal Americans, the' AAmerican Legion, refugees, and a detach- ment of sixty yagers, who were immediately on their landing put in motion, and at eleven o'clock, being within half a mile of Fort Trum- bull, which commands New London Harbor, I detached Capt. Millett, with four companies of the Thirty-eighth Regiment, to attack the fort, who was joined on his march by Capt. Frink with one company of the American Legion. At the same time I advanced with the remainder of the division west of Fort Trumbull, on the road to the town, to attack a redoubt which had kept up a brisk fire upon us for some time, but which the enemy evacuated on our approach. In this work we found six pieces of cannon mounted and two dismounted. Soon after 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 I have the pleasure to inform your Excellency that by the sudden attack and determined bravery of the troops the fort was carried with the loss of only four or five men killed and wounded. Capt. Millett had orders to leave one company in Fort Trumbull, to detach one to the redoubt we had taken, and join me with the other companies. No time was lost on my part 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 left.

" As soon as the enemy were alarmed in the morning wo could per- ceive they were busily engaged in bending sails and endeavoring to get their privateers and other ships up Norwich River out of our reach, but the wind being small and the tide against them they were obliged to anchor again. From information I received before and after my land- ing, I had reason to believe that Fort Griswold, on Groton side, was very incomplete, and I was assured by friends to government, after my land- ing, that there were only twenty or thirty men in the fort, the inhabit- ants in general being on board their ships and busy in saving their property.

"On taking possession of Fort Trumbull, I found the enemy's ships would escape unless we could possess ourselves of Fort Griswold. I therefore dispatched an officer to Lieut .- Col. Eyre with the intelligence I had received, and requested him to make an attack upon the fort as soon as possible, at which time I expected the howitzer was up and would have been made use of. On my gaining a height of ground in the rear of New London, from which I had a good prospect of Fort Gris- wold, I found it much more formidable than I expected, or than I had formed an idea of, from the information I had before received. I ob- served at the same time that the men who had escaped from Fort Trum- bull had crossed in boats and thrown themselves into Fort Griswold, and a favorable wind springing up about this time, the enemy's ships were escaping up the river, notwithstanding the fire from Fort Trum- bull and a six-pounder which I had with me. I immediately dispatched a boat with an officer to Lient .- Col. Eyre to countermand my first order to attack the fort, but the officer arrived a few minutes too late. Lient -Col. Eyre had sent Capt. Beckwith with a flag to demand a sur- render of the fort, which was peremptorily refused, and the attack had commenced. After a most obstinate defense of near forty minutes, the fort was carried by the superior bravery and perseverance of the assail- ants. On this occasion I have to regret the loss of Maj. Montgomery, who was killed by a spear in entering the enemy's works; also of En- sign Whitlock, of the Fortieth Regiment, who was killed in the attack. Three other officers of the same regiment were wounded. Lieut .- Col. Eyre, and three other officers of the Fifty-fourth Regiment, were also wounded, but I have the satisfaction to inform your Excellency that they are all in a fair way to recover.

"Lient .- Col. Eyre, who behaved with great gallantry, having received his wound near the works, and Maj. Montgomery being killed immedi- ately after, the command devolved on Maj. Bromfield, whose behavior on this occasion does him great honor. Liout .- Col. Buskirk, with the New Jersey volunteers and artillery, being the second debarkation, came up soon after the work was carried, having been retarded by the rough- ness of the country. I am much obliged to this gentleman for his ex- ertions, although the artillery did not arrive in time.

"I have enclosed a return of the killed and wounded, by which your

Excellency will observe that our loss, though very considerable, is short of the enemy's, who lost most of their officers, among whom was their commander, Col. Ledyard. Eighty-fivo men were found dead in Fort Griswold and sixty wounded, most of them mortally ; their loss on the opposite side must have been considerable, but cannot be ascertained. I believe we have about seventy prisoners, besides the wounded who were left paroled.

" Ten or twelve ships were burned, among them three or four armed vessels, and one loaded with naval stores ; an immense quantity of Euro- pean and West India goods were found in the stores, among the former the cargo of the ' Hannah,' Capt. Watson, from London, lately captured by the enemy, the whole of which was burnt with the stores, which proved to contain a large quantity of powder unknown to us. The ex- plosion of the powder and change of wind, soon after the stores were fired, communicated the flames to part of the town, which was, notwith- standing every effort to prevent it, unfortunately destroyed."

The following is a list of the New London suf- ferers :

£ 8. d.

£ s. d.

Waiter Welch.

59 19 0

Joshua Hempstead.

62 15 3

Ebenezer Way.

15 16 1

Nathaniel Saltonstall.

146 9 6

John Ward.

17 5

4 John Thomson.

59 16 9

Lucretia Wolfe

4 16 0 Spere Douglass.

8 15 7

Anthony Wolfe.

14 0 Chapman Simmons.

22 18 0

Simeon Walcott.

1083 4

Elizabeth Beebe.

16 60

Elizabeth Westcott.

John Hallam.

0 00

James Young.

0 Benjamin Harris

300

Temperance Moore

0 Mary Ward.

Samuel Belden.

1771 15 6 Stephen Culver

3 16 0

Joanna Short

276 14 0 Mehitable Leet.

124 0 0

James Thomson.

350

0 Joseph Deshon.

100 1 634 14

John Way

590

3 11

Mary Gardiner.

123 16 0

Thomas Bowker.

49 17 I

Washington's Visit to New London .- Gen. Washington visited the town twice during March, 1756, halting a night both in going and returning from Boston.

"March 8th. Col. Washington is returned from Boston and gone to Long Island in Powers' sloop; he had also two boats to carry six horses and his retinue, all bound to Virginia. He hath been to advise with Governer Shirley, or to be directed by him, as he is chief general of the American forces." (Ilempstead.)

CHAPTER XIV.

NEW LONDON-(Continued).

ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY.

First Church of Christ-The Second Congregational Church-St. James' Church-Methodist Episcopal Church-Bethel Church-First Baptist Church-Second Baptist Church-Huntington Street Baptist Church- Universalist Church-St. Mary's Star of the Sea Roman Catholic Church.

First Church of Christ .- This church was organ- ized in 1650, and the first church edifice was a large barn which stood on what was then called Meeting- house Hill.

The following are extracts from the records con- cerning the first place of worship :

" Aug. 29, 1651.

"For Mr. Parke's barne the towne doe agree for the use of it until midsummer next, to give him a day's work a peece for a meeting-house, - to be redy by the Saboth come a moneth.

" Mem. Mr. Parke is willing to accept of 31. 1

"[Same date.] Goodman Elderkin doth undertake to build a meeting- house about the same demention of Mr. Parke's his barne, and clapboard it for the sum of eight pounds, provided the towne cary the tymber to the place and find nales. And for his pay he requires a cow and 50s. in peage."

Michael Melally

7 Roger Gibson.

884 18 615 /2

193

NEW LONDON.

"30 June, '52. Wee the townsmen of Pequot haue agreed with Good- man Rogers for the meeting-house for two years from the date hereof, for the summe of 37. per annum. If we build a leantoo he is to allow for it in the rent, and if it come to more he is to allow it, and for flooring and what charges the town is at he is willing to allow when the time is ex- pired."

In the mean time a rate of £14 was levied to build a new meeting-house, and the site fixed by a town vote, Dec. 16, 1652, which Mr. Bruen thus records :

"The place for the new meeting-house was concluded on by the meet- ing to be in the highwaie, taking a corner of my lot to supply the high- waie."

It was undoubtedly a building of the simplest and plainest style of construction, yet full three years were consumed in its erection. Capt. Denison and Lieut. Smith were the building committee, and col- lected the rate for it.

At this period the time for service was made known by beat of drum.

" March 22, 1651-2.

"The towne have agreed with Peter Blatchford to beat the drum all saboth dayes, training dayes, and town publique meetings for the sume of 3lb., to be paid him in a towne rate."

" As a finale to the history of the barn so long used for a church, we may here notice a fact gleaned from the County Court records of some fifteen or eighteen years' later date. William Rogers, the owner of the building, had returned to Boston, and on his death the heirs of his estate claimed that the rent had not been fully paid ; and Hugh Caulkins, who had been the town's surety, then a proprietor in Norwich, finds himself suddenly served with a writ from Mr. Leake, a Boston attorney, for £3 10s., the amount of the debt. He accordingly satisfied the demand, and then applied to the town for redress. The obligation was acknowledged, and a vote passed to indemnify the surety."

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History of New London county, Connecticut : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 47

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