USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > Ridgefield > The history of Ridgefield, Conn. : from its first settlement to the present time > Part 6
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" On the 27th, in the morning, the troops quitted Danbury, and met with little opposition until they came near to Ridgefield, which was occupied by General Ar-
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HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD.
nold, who had thrown up intrenchments to dispute the passage, while General Wooster hung upon the rear with a separate corps. The village was forced, and the enemy drove back on all sides.
"General Tryon lay that night at Ridgefield, and re- newed his march on the morning of the 28th.
"The enemy, having been reinforced with troops and cannon, disputed every advantageous situation, keep- ing 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 inten- tion 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 de- tachment embarked without further molestation.
" Return of the forces, ordnance, provisions, etc., as nearly as could be ascertained, found at the rebels stores, and destroyed by the King's troops, at Dan- bury, etc., in Connecticut, April 27th, 1777.
"A quantity of ordnance stores, with iron, etc., 4000 barrels of beef and pork, 1000 barrels of flour, 100 large tierces of biscuit, 89 barrels of rice, 120 puncheons of rum.
" Several large stores of wheat, oats, and Indian corn, in bulk the quantity thereof could not possibly be ascer- tained, 30 pipes of wine, 100 hogsheads of sugar, 50 hogs- heads of molasses, 20 casks of coffee, 15 large casks filled with medicine of all kinds, 10 barrels of saltpetre, 1020 tents and marquees, a number of iron boilers, a large quantity of hospital bedding, etc .; engineers', pioneers', and carpenters' tools ; a printing-press complete ; tar, tallow, etc .; 5000 pairs of shoes and stockings.
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"At "a mill (Smith's mill) between Ridgebury and Ridgefield, 100 barrels 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 cartridges ; field forges ; 300 tents.
" Return of the killed, wounded, and missing :
" One drummer and fifer, 23 rank and file, killed ; 3 field officers, 6 captains, 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 vol- unteer, Col. Browne, Capt. Lyman, Capt. Secon, and Capt. Simon Frazer.
" Return of the rebels killed : General Wooster, Gen. 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. Benja- min, Lieut. Cove, and 250 privates.
" Taken prisoners, 50 privates, including several com- mittee men."
J. Howard King, Esq., has in his possession the chair used by Major Andre, while a prisoner in the hands of his grandfather General Joshua King.
CHAPTER VI.
INCIDENTS OF REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY.
THERE is a prevailing impression among the in- habitants of the town that General Wooster's forces first attacked the rear of General Tryon's army, on the flat immediately north of Mr. Lewis C. Hunt's house. Facts will not justify this opinion. General 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 General 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, General 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, tra- dition says that General Wooster was wounded by a Tory in ambush, and not by the enemy proper ; how- ever this may be, it is certain that the attack had but
-
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just commenced. We are not able to learn that a single life was lost.
About this time in the morning, General Arnold ar- rived at Ridgefield with five hundred men, and began at once to throw up a barricade across the road at the north end of the village, between the north-west corner of Miss Sarah Stebbins's 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, General Try- on had reached the place, and a general engagement took place.
An eye-witness says that sixteen British and eight Americans were killed in this engagement, and that they were buried in two graves, near the hickory tree which now stands just inside the fence, east of the road, in the open lot, between Miss Sarah Stebbins's and Mr. Abner Gilbert's. The point is easily found in the right-hand side of the picture, where the two children are seen standing.
The sixteen British were buried in one grave and the eight Americans in another.
The wounded were taken into the house now occu- pied 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 General Arnold in this engagement amounted almost to recklessness. After the enemy had broken through the temporary barricade, and all his own soldiers except Captain Bell had deserted him,
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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 entangled in the stirrup. A soldier, taking advantage of this moment of the General's disability, rushed up to him, exclaiming, "You are my prisoner !" "Not yet," quickly replied General Arnold, and drawing a pistol from his holster shot him dead, then regaining 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 General Arnold prisoner, as also that General Ar- nold said as the bullet sped on its fatal mission, " One live man is worth ten dead ones."
Immediately after this action the British marched through the street, occasionally discharging their ar- tillery, a terror to all but a few Tories, who felt that the long-delayed moment of their exaltation had come.
Halting a little below the village, they proceeded to encamp for the night on the grounds of Mr. Samuel Olmsted-now owned and occupied by Mr. Hiram Seymour, a descendant of the family.
The selectmen of the town, in their petition to the General Assembly, dated May 26th, 1777, stated that the enemy, in passing through the town, burned the grist-mill and saw-mill of Isaac Keeler, six dwellings and two barns, and killed and carried off a number of horses, sheep, and cattle.
During their stay they also plundered the inhabi- tants of nearly all their provisions and a large share of their clothing, by which many were reduced to pov-
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INCIDENTS OF REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY.
erty. The town, unable to relieve all the sufferers, ap- plied 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 inves- tigation, the total amount was fixed at £2625 Is. 8d.
On the exact spot where General 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-fence, a little south-east of his house.
On their way down the street the British soldiers planted a gun in front of the Episcopal church, and shot several balls into the house now owned and oc- cupied by Mr. Abijah Resseguie, one of which was lodged in a post on the north-east corner, and is still to be seen imbedded deeply in the solid wood.
Another ball passed between the feet of a man who at the time was ascending the stairs. Frightened by the close proximity of the unwelcome messenger, he exclaimed, "I'm a dead man, I'm a dead man !" and tradition 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 cannonading this particular house was to dislodge certain parties who were reported to be in the building, making cartridges. The house was occupied 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 General Tryon that Mr. Keeler's house was rescued from the torch of the
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HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD.
incendiary, the reason for it being attributed to purely selfish motives. The wind was blowing strongly from the north-west, 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 exclamation, " You may thank me that your house was not de- stroyed." "No, sir," replied Keeler, "I will not thank a Tory for any thing. 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-Ebenezer Jones, the son of Captain 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 south-east of Mr. Henry Benedict's, they found a British soldier who had been mortally wounded.
Young Jones returned home, and related the circum- stance 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 . carefully 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 Isaac Keeler, near Mamanasquag Pond, a house on the High Ridge north of Mr. W. O. Seymour's, the house of Benjamin
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INCIDENTS OF REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY.
Northrop, a short distance south of Mr. George Haight's, on the opposite side of the road, and a build- ing used by the British for the care of their wounded over-night, previously occupied by Mr. Thomas Sey- mour. This house stood on the south side of the Fair Ground, now owned by the Agricultural 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 Ground, 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 secreted there, or it may have been, as some suppose, that their own dead were thrown in it. This last supposi- tion, however, is scarcely probable, for they are known to have buried those who had died during the night in the upper part of Flat Rock woods.
Among those who witnessed this engagement be- tween General 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 patriotic fire within his soul, and determined his course for the future. At the solicitation of Colonel Bradley, he eagerly enlisted in the regular army, and by his courage and fidelity re- flected great credit upon his native town.
With the Connecticut line he shared the fatigues and dangers of the three memorable years that immedi- ately followed. Shortly after which, being selected by Baron Steuben, he joined the Light Infantry com-
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HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD.
manded by General 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 memorable siege of Yorktown, when La Fayette's Brigade was employed to storm one of the British forts, Sergeant Keeler was one of the first who, in the midst of a murderous fire, scaled the breastworks and compelled the enemy to yield. He witnessed the sur- render of Cornwallis, which virtually terminated the war, but he remained faithfully at his post until the disbanding of the forces in 1783. He was mustered out of the service in Virginia, and soon after, with the sword which General La Fayette gave him, for a cane, he walked back 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.
The year following this incursion of the enemy, Gen- eral Putnam was ordered into this part of the State, just across the Redding line, for the winter, and fears of further invasions all subsided.
An incident of his stay we allude to, for the purpose of presenting a picture of army life in that early day, as well as of correcting what seems to be a wrong state- ment.
It was late in the autumn of 1778 when General Put- nam removed his army from White Plains and Peek- skill to Redding, at which place he was to establish his head-quarters for the winter. The position thus
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INCIDENTS OF REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY.
selected was in many respects an advantageous one. He was enabled to cover the country adjoining the Sound, and the south-western frontier, and at the same time to support the garrison at West Point, if neces- sary.
The house which he occupied as his head-quarters is still standing, although in a dilapidated condition, and is situated on the old Danbury and Norwalk road, about three miles west of the Congregational church, and is now owned by Mr. Meeker. The north-east room of the same house was also at one time occupied by Joel Barlow, LL.D., who was a native of this town. It was in this room that most of his poetry was written.
General Putnam had, at this time, under his orders, General Poor's New Hampshire brigade, two brigades of Connecticut troops, the corps of infantry com- manded by Colonel Hazen, and the corps of cavalry under Colonel Sheldon.
It was while at Redding that the soldiers suffering from the want of proper food and clothing were so strongly tempted to rebel against the authority of their commanding officers, and, if necessary, at the point of the bayonet demand of General Assembly what they esteemed their rights.
We must remember that they were not soldiers by profession, they were simply citizens armed for the de- fence of their country. They had known and appre- ciated the endearments of home, and all the domestic enjoyments of life. They were men who had been always accustomed to think independently and speak out their thoughts, without fear or favor. There- fore they were restless under the iron discipline of the
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HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD.
camp and the privations which seemed to them need - lessly severe. They were ready to suffer and die, if need be, for their country ; there was no lack of cour- age or patriotism. No thought of insubordination probably ever entered their minds when actually en- gaged in battle or in the active duties of military life, but now their time was passing in comparative idle- ness, and they had abundant leisure to brood over their privations and their gloomy prospects. And as if to fill to overflowing their cup of bitterness, they had thus far been paid off in the depreciated currency of the times, which had proven almost worthless not alone to them, but to their families left in straitened circumstances behind them.
It was under such circumstances that the Connec- ticut brigades formed the design of marching to Hart- ford, where the Legislature was then sitting, and de- mand redress. One of the brigades was actually under arms for this purpose when the news for the first reached the ears of General Putnam. Springing into his saddle, he rode to the cantonment, and thus ad- dressed them:
" My brave lads, whither are you going ? Do you intend to desert your officers, and to invite the enemy to follow you into the country ? Whose cause have you been fighting and suffering so long in ? Is it not your own ? Have you no property, no parents, wives, or chil- dren ? You have behaved like men so far ; all the world is full of your praises ; and posterity will stand astonished at your deeds-but not if you spoil all at last. Don't you consider how much the country is dis- tressed by the war, and that your officers have not been any better paid than yourselves ? But we all expect better times, and that the country will do us ample justice. Let us stand by one another, then, and fight it out like brave soldiers. Think what a shame it would be for Connecticut men to run away from their officers."
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INCIDENTS OF REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY.
Each regiment received the General with the usual salutations as he rode along the lines. When he had concluded his address, he directed the acting major of brigade to give the word for them to shoulder arms, to march to their regimental parades, and there to lodge their guns. They obeyed with promptness and ap- parent good-humor. A single soldier only who had been most active in the affair was confined in the quar- ter-guard, and was shot dead by the sentinel while at- tempting to escape during the succeeding night.
During Putnam's stay at Redding, two persons were executed-one a soldier, by the name of Smith, who was shot for desertion; the other, a Mr. Jones, of Ridgefield, a royalist, who was hung as a spy ; both suffered on the same day. These executions took place on Gallows Hill, a mile or more from General Put- nam's head-quarters.
The scene as described by Mr. Barber in his " His- torical Collections" is revolting to every feeling of hu- manity, and degrading to the character of the general in command.
He says, page 399: "The man on whom the duty of hangman devolved, left the camp, and on the day of execution could not be found. A couple of boys, about the age of twelve years, were ordered by Gen- eral Putnam to perform the duties of the absconding hangman. The gallows was about twenty feet from the ground. Jones was compelled to ascend the lad- der, and the rope around his neck was attached to the cross-beam. General Putnam then ordered Jones to jump from the ladder. "No, General Putnam," said Jones, " I am innocent of the crime laid to my charge ; I shall not do it." Putnam then ordered the boys
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HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD.
before mentioned to turn the ladder over. The boys were deeply affected by the trying scene; they cried and sobbed loudly, and earnestly entreated to be ex- cused from doing any thing on this distressing occasion. Putnam, drawing his sword, ordered them forward, and compelled them at the sword's point to obey his or- ders. The soldier that was shot for desertion was but a youth of sixteen or seventeen years of age. Three balls were shot through his breast; he fell on his face, but immediately turned over on his back; a soldier then advanced, and, putting the muzzle of his gun near the convulsive body of the youth, discharged its con- tents into his forehead. The body was then taken up and put into a coffin. The soldiers had fired their pieces so near that they set the boy's clothing on fire, which continued burning. An officer with a drawn sword stood by, while every soldier of the three bri- gades which were out on the occasion was ordered to march by and look at the mangled remains."
Mr. Barber says, in a foot-note, that the particulars of the execution of these two persons were derived from an aged inhabitant of Redding, who was present on the occasion, and stood but a few feet from Jones when he was executed.
Mr. Hollister, however, in his " History of Connec- ticut," does not credit the account given by Mr. Bar- ber. The following note taken from Vol. 2, page 375, will explain itself:
" The Rev. Nathaniel Bartlett, who was Pastor of the Cong1 church in Redding for a period of fifty years, officiated as chaplain to the encampment during the winter, and was present at the execution. He interceded with Gen. Putnam to defer the execution of Smith until Washington could be consulted-the offender being a youth of seven-
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INCIDENTS OF REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY.
teen years ; but the commander assured him that a reprieve could not be granted.
" Mr. Bartlett was an earnest and fearless Whig, and openly talked and preached 'rebellion ;' so much so that the Tories, who were numerous in the eastern part of the town, threatened to hang him if they could catch him. In consequence of these threats, he often carried a loaded musket with him when on his parochial visits. His son, and successor in the ministry, at Redding-the Rev. Jonathan Bartlett, now (1855) in his 9Ist year-well remembers the Revolutionary encampment at Redding, and frequently visited it. He is sure that the story in Barber's 'Historical Collections ' about Putnam's inhumanity at the execution of Smith and Jones is incorrect. Though not pres- ent himself, he has often heard his father relate the incidents of the occasion ; and, furthermore, he once called the attention of Col. Ashbel Salmon (who died in 1848, aged 91), who was a sergeant in attendance upon the execution, to the statement, and he declared that nothing of the kind took place."
As further evidence of the incorrectness of Mr. Bar- ber's statement, we would offer the following extract from the notes of a sermon preached in the Congrega- tional church in Green's Farms, by Rev. Thomas F. Davies (father of the present Dr. Davies, of Philadel- phia), on March 29th, 1839.
Referring to this matter as related by Mr. Barber, he says :
" Mr. Barber must have been misinformed. Reading is my native town, and from my boyhood I have heard the history of the proceed- ings on the occasion referred to, and was much surprised at the state- ments in the 'Historical Collections.' The Rev. Mr. Bartlett, whose father was chaplain on that occasion, informs me that Gen. Putnam could not have been guilty of the acts there charged.
" That Mr Barber may have something to substitute for the narra- tive to which I object, I give the following: When Gen. Putnam occu- pied the house of which Mr. Barber has given an engraving, a scene occurred which presents the general in a very amiable light : A poor man with a family needing support, and who lived in the neighboring town of Ridgefield, was told by one acquainted with his wants that if
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HISTORY OF RIDGEFIELD.
he would visit Gen. Putnam and hold a conversation with him, he would, on his return, and on proof of the fact, give him a bushel of wheat. The temptation in that time of scarcity and taxes was great, and so also was the fear of intruding upon so distinguished an indi- vidual ; but the stern necessities of his condition at length induced the poor man to venture. He accordingly presented himself at head- quarters, and requested the servant to solicit for him an interview with the general. Putnam promptly summoned the man to his presence, directed him to be seated, and listened with interest while the man with great trepidation gave the statement which accounted for the liberty he had taken. The general directed the servant to bring some wine, conversed for a time very pleasantly with his needy visitor, and then calling for pen and ink wrote a certificate, in which he gives the name of the individual, and stated that he had visited and conversed with Gen. Putnam, who signed it in his official character. Thus furnished with the means of giving bread to his family, the distressed individual returned to his humble roof, and this anecdote, which I have on the very best authority, is proof that Putnam was not destitute of those kind and gentle affections which are so desirable an ornament of the most heroic character."
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