Connecticut Historical Collections

Groton will ever be memorable as the theater of the most in)portant and interesting military transactions w hich liave taken place in the state. G n o T o N . 301) In the early settlement of the country, the fate of Connecticut was de- cided by the swoid on Peqiiot hill, within the limits of this town, and the Peqnots, the most haughty and warlike tribe of savages in New England, eiieciually cruslied by a single blow, and their existence as a nation :innihilal(.d. In the war of the Revolution, another of the '• high places" of Ciroton became an Aceldama, and the flower of her sons were saeriliced lo the vengeance of an infuriated enemy. On the (3th of Seinember, 1781, a body of British troops, about 800 in number, under the command of [iieut. Col. Kyre, landed on the Gro- ton side, opjx^siie the light-house, and having founti a lame boy collect- ing cattle, compelled him to show them the cart path to the furt. They landed about nine o'clock in the morning of a most delightful day, clear and still. Fort Griswold was under the connnand of Lieut. Col. "William Ledyard, brother of the celebrated traveler of the same name, lie re- sided oa Groton bank, opposite New London, and was nmch beloved and respected by bis neigi)bors. On the advance of the enemy. Col. Ledyard, having but about one hundred and fifty men with him in the fort, sent out an ofHcer to get assistance, as there were a number of hundreds of peoj-jle collected in the vicinity ; this oflicer, by drinking tooiiutch, became intoxicated, and no reinforcement was obtained. On the rejection of a summons to surrender, the British extended their lines, so that iln.^y were scattered over the fields, and rushed on to the attack with trailed arms, under the fire of the Americans, to the assault of the fort on three sides. Having etlected a lodgment in the ditch, they cut away the jiickets, and having scaling ladders, they entered the fort and knocked away the gate on the in-^ide. While the l-)iitish were in the ditch, they had cold shut lliiuun on them, and as the)' were entering the embra'/urcs, the garrison (dianged llicir weapons and fuught desper- ately with spi.'ars ur pikes (ifleen or sixteen feet in length, which did considerable execution, rnfortunately they had lent the greater part of the pikes belonging to the fort to a privateer a few da)S bel'ore. Major Montgomery was hoisted up on the walls of the fort by his sol- diers ; as he was llourishing his sword on his entrance, he was mortally wounded by Jordan Freeman,* a colored man, who jjierced him through with a spear. Another olTicer was killed by a musket ball, while in tlie fort. As he fell, he exclaimeil, " j;h< ciHry one to dtaih, doiCt spare one.^' Col. Ledyard, hnding further resistance useless, presented his sword to an ollicer, who asked him who commanded the fort. "1 did," said Col. Ledyard, "' but you do now;" the oflicer (Capt. Bloomfield) look his sword and plunged it into his bosom. Col. Ledyard fell on his face and instantly expired. An indiscriminate massacre now took • Most of llie t'aris inciiliuiiL-il in (his account were rcliued tu the compiler of lliis woik by ail eye wiiiiess, Air. Joshua Baker, of Groton, who was in ilie fort at iRe lime it was ilorineCt. He was woinuied, carried off prisoner lu Nevv York, and confined in tlie " Sugar Jl.iitse." He mentioned that when the enemy arrived at New York, they reported a loss of five hundred men in killed, wounded, and missing, in this ex- pedition. Mr. Baker was under the command o( Col. Ledyard upwards of two years, and was the fii.st man who .stood sentry at Fort Griswold. Some particulars were also obtained I'rom Caiit Elijah Bailey, the post master at Groton Bank, who was one of iho defenders of tlie 'oit at the time of the massacre. 310 G R O T O N , i ^' ^jsmsm:, -^4f >,,. Groton Monument and Fori (iriswold. place, till a British ofiicer exclaimed, "my soul cannot bear such de- struction," and ordered a parley to be beat. Such had been the butch- ery in the fort, that it was over shoes in blood in some parts of the parade ground. Soon after the surrender, a wagon was loaded with wounded Americans and set off down the Jilll ; it struck an apple tree with great force, and knocked several of these bleeding men out, and caused their instant death. One of these ilistressed men having been thrown out of the wagon, and while crawling towards (he fence on his hands and knees, was brutally knocked on the head by the butt end of a musket, by one of the refugees who were attached to the British army. The British embarked at the foot of the hill, near the ferry, and took olT a number of prisoners with them. As they left the fort, they set fire to a train, intending to blow up the magizine, in which were about one hundred barrels of powder. Fortunately it was extin- guished by our people, who entered the fort soon after the enemy left it. It is stated that the enemy lost in the attack on the fort 54 killed and 143 wounded, several of whom afterwards died of their wounds. The killed of the enemy were buried by their comrades at the gate of the fort, and were so slightly covered that many of their legs and arms re- mained above ground ; our people who weie killed at the fort, were stripped, and so disfigured, covered with blood and dust, that with the exception of two or three, they could not be recognized by their friends, except by some particular marks on their persons. The above is a west view, from New London, of Groton Monument and Fort Griswold, on ]\Iount Ledyard. This monument has its foun- /'' GROT ON. 311 datlon stone at an elevation of about 130 feet above tide water; the monument itself is one hundred and twenty seven feet in height. The pedestal rises about eighteen or twenty feet, and is twenty three feet square ; on the pedestal rises an obelisk square, ninety two feet in height, twenty two feet square at its base, and eleven feet at the top. It is ascended by one hundred and sixty five stone steps inserted into the outer wall, rising in a circular form, their inner ends supported by an iron rail and banister. The monument is constructed of granite, of which there is an abundance in the vicinity. The expense of its erec- tion was eleven thousand dollars; this amount was raised by a lottery, granted by the state for this purpose. The following is the inscription, on marble, placed over the entrance of the monument. This Monument •was erected under the patronaj;;e of the fcitale of Connecticut, A. D. 1830, and in the 55th year of the Independence of the U. S. A. In inL'inory of the brave Patriots, who fell in tlie massatre at Fori Griswold, near this spot, ■ on llie Gtli of September, A. D. 1781, when the Hritish, under the command of the traiior Benedict Arnold, burnt the town.s of New Lomiun and Groton, and spread desulaiion and woe ihrouj-lioiU this region. On the south side of the pedestal, opposite the fort, is the following inscription. "Zcbulon and Naplitali were a pcojile iliat jeoparded their lives unlo the death, in the hi^'h places uf ihc ficUl."— ./»</^'(.s-, 5 C/iap. 18 rcrsr. List of men who fell at t-'ort Griswold, Sept. C. 1781. Here follows a list of eighty five names, on a marble tablet. Groton was the seat of the Pcquot power. The royal residence or fort of Sassacus, the chief sacheui, was situated on a commanding emi- nence, a little southeast of Fort Friswold. Here was the principal fort. He had another to the northwest of this, near Mystic river. The Pe- quot country is described as extending from the Nehantic on the west, to Rhode Island line on the east, including the present towns of Water- ford, New London and Rlontville, west of the Thames ; and Groton, Stonington and North Stonington on the east. All the country north of this, including the county of Windham, and part of Tolland county, has been represented as the IMohegan county. Historians have treated the Pequots and JMoliegans as two distinct tribes. They appear how- ever to have been parts of the same nation, named from the place of their situation. Uncas was evidently of the royal line of the Pequots, both by his father and mother, and his wife was the daughter of Tato- bain, one of the Pequot sachems. Uncas appears to have been a petty sachem under Sassacus, the great prince of the Pequot nation. When the English came to Connecticut, he was in rebellion against Sassacus, and therefore readily joined with the English, to save himself, and be avenged on his adversary. V 312 G n 0 T 0 N . ^- ^^^.t-^?K#^^^^i<H3.. JSorth itcw of l't<iuul JlilL (Iroton. The above is a north view of Pequot Hill in (iioton, about 8 miles northeast from New T>.ondon. Tliis spot will ever be memorable, on account of its beinLj the place where the first regular conflict between the English and the natives of New England took place. Here the blow was struck by which the salvation of tlie infant colony of Con- necticut was effected, and the ruin of the haughty, warlike, and pow- erful Pequot tribe of Indians accomplished. The con(jilest of the Pe- quots struck such tenor to the Indian tribes in New England, that they had no open war with the colonists for nearly forty years afterwards. The hill represented above is commanding and beautiful, though not steep. The land on which the fort stood is now owned by Koswcli Fish, FiS(j. ; his house is seen in the engraving, standing on the sinnniit of the hill ; the fort is supjiosed to ha\e ^lood a fi;w rods south of his house. Arrows, beads, arrow heads, anti other Indian implements,, have been found on this spot. This place is about ]i20 or J 30 rods west of IMystic river, and about one mile north oi' the church in Por- tersville, which is seen on the left of the engraving.