Connecticut Historical Collections

As soon as the enemy were alarmed in the niuriiin^', we could perceive tliey were busily employed in beiuliiiu- sails, and eiidc.:\iii iii- tu get ibeir privateers and other ships' up Norwich river out of our rencli ; lui! il.cvviiid being small, ami the tide against ibem, they were ofligi'd tu aiieliiir .iL^aiii. I'loin iiilui niatioii 1 itceived be- foie and al'ter my landing, 1 had reason to IhIk. ve ihai I'm t t.i i^w()ld, uu (lioloii side, was very incomplete ; and 1 u as a-snud ii\' I'l i.-i,.!s w ( iii\ iMhiiicnt, alicr my landing, that there were only twrnity or ihiii)' men in the fell, ihe iiilu.biiants in general being on board their ships, and biisv in saving theii prciperty. On taking posse.ssion of f'\)it Tiumlnill, I I'uund liie (iiri:r, 's ships would escape unless we could possess (Uirselves ol' Fort CiisUnM; I i l,,iii,.i r dispatched an otiicer to Lieut Col. Eyre with the intelligence 1 bad u'.aiveil ai,d it(juestril him to make, an attack upon the fort as soon as possible; at whicli time 1 expected the howitzer \eas up, and would have been made use of. On my gainini,' a height ulgrmind in the rear of Nevv London, from whicli 1 had a good |)rospe(t of Fort Griswold, 1 found it much more lormidable than I e.xpected, or than I had foimed an idea ol, from the in- formation I had before received; I observed at the same time, that the men who had escaped from Fort Trumbull, had crossed in boats and thrown themselves into Fori Griswold, and a favorable wind springing' up about this time, the enemy's ships were escaping up the river notwithstanding the fire fmm Fort TriiinbuH, and a .six pounder xvhich I had with me. I immediately dispatched a boat with an olhcer to Lieut. Col. Eyre, to countermand my (iist order to attack the fort, but Ihe olHcer arrived at a few minutes too late. Lieul! Col. Fvre ha<l sciii Capt. Ibckwith with a Hag, to demand a .surrender of the fort, wbicli was pereinpioi ily reliised, and ilie attack had commen- ced. After a most obstinate defense of near fort \' minutes, thefoitwas carried by the superior braverv and p.'isrverance oT the assailants. The attack was judicious and spirited, and rellecis tl,,' luglicsi honor on ilic oliiccis of the troops engaged^vho seemed to vie with each other in beim,' first mdangei. The troops ap[uoaeh?ll on three sides of the work, which was a square with llanks, made a lodgment in the ditch, and under a heavy lire, which they kept upon the works, ellected a second lodgment upon the fraizing, which was attendeil with great dilhciilly, as only a few pickets could be forced out or broken in a place, and was so high that the soldiers could not ascend without assisting each other. Here the coidncss and bravery of the troops were very conspicuous, as the liist who ascended the fiaize were obliged to silence a nine pounder which enfiladed the place on which they .stood, until a suffi- cient body had collected to enter the works, wliich was done with fixed bayonets, through liie embrazures, where they were opposed willi great obstinacy by the garri- son with long spears. On tin's occasion 1 have to regret the loss of Major Montgom- ery, who was killed by a spear in entering tlie enemy's works; also of Ensign Whit- lock, of the 40th regiment, who was killed in the attack. 'I'hree other oflTicers of the same regiment were wounded ; Lieut. Ccd. Eyie, and lliree other olliceis (if the 5-lth regiment, were also wounded; but I have the satisfaction to inform your Excellency, that they are all in a fair wav to recover. Lieutenant Colonel Eyre, "who behaved with great gallantry, having received his wound near the works, and Major Montgomery being killed immediately after, the command devolved on Major Bromfield, whose behavior on this ocrason does him great honor. Lieut. Col. P.uskirk, with the New Jersey volunteers and artillery, being the second debarkation, came up soon after the work was carried, having been retard- ed by the roughness of the country; I am much obliged to this gentleman for his ex- ertions, although the artillery did not arrive in time. N E AV L O N D O N . X tl I have enclosed a return of the killed and wounded, b}' which your Excellency will observe that our loss, though very coil^5iderable, is short of" the enemy's, who lost most of their ollicers, among whom was their commander, Col. Ledyard. Eighty-live men were found dead in Foil Gnswold, 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 70 jiiisoners, besides the wounded who were leli paroled. Ten or twelve ships weie buiued, among them three or four armed vessels, and one loaded with naval stores; an immeiise quantity of European and West India goods were found in the stores — among the fornjer the cargo of the Hannah, Capt. Watson, from Loudon, lately captured by the enemy. The whole of which was burnt witli the stores, which pioved to contain a large (juantity of powder, imlcnown to us; the explosion of the powder, ami change of wind, soon alter the stores were tired, commu- nicated the Ilames to part (.>f the town, which was, notwitJisiaiiding eveiy elioit to pre- vent it, uiifiu-iunalely destroyed. U|)WanN of fifty pi.-ecs uf iron cnntiou vrere destroyed in the did'erent works, (ex- clusive of the guns of the ships.) a particular return of which 1 cannot do myself the honor to transmit to your E.xcelleiuy at this time. A very considerable magnzine ol powdci', and barracks to contain tijrce hundred men, were found in Fort Giiswold, whicii Capt. Lemoine ot tlie Royal Artillery had my positive directions to destroy; an aiienipi was made b\' him, hut unfortunaiely failed, lie had my orilers to make a second altemiU: the reasons why it was not done, Capt. Lcinoine will have the honor to explain to your Excellency. I should be wanting in justice to the gentlemen of the navy, did 1 omit to acknowl- edge that ujion this exjiedition I have received every possible aid from them. Cap- tain IJeasley has made eveiy exertion lo assist our operations, and not only gave up his cabin to the sick and wounded oHicers, but furnished them with every assistance and relreshment that his ship alforded. Lord Dalrymple will have the honor to deliver my dispatches'; 1 beg leave to refer your (Lxcellenev to his LonWiip lor the particulars of our operations on the New LiOndon side. 1 feed myself under gicnt obligations to him for his exertions upon the occasion. Captain lieckwiih, who was extremely serviceable to me, returns with his Lonisliip. His spirited conduct in the atlack of T'ort C<iis\rold does him great honor, being one of the first ollicers who entered the work's. 1 beg leave lo refer your Excel- lency to him for the particulars of oiir opeialions on that side, and to say I have tho highest opinion of his aliilities as an ollicer. 1 am greatly iiulebtetl to Capt. Siapleloii, (who acted as Major of Brigade,') for his spiiiiL-d conduct and assistance; in particular, on the attack upon Fort 'I'rumbull, and his endeaviu's to prevent plundering, (when the iiublic .stores weie biiint,) and the de- slrnclion of pi ivale buildings. 'I'he ollicers and troops in general behaved uilh the greatest intrepidity and fumne.^s. 1 have the honor to be, with the trreatest rc'~pcct. Your Excelleiicv's luo^t obi Jieiit and most humble servant, 15. ARNOLD. Return of the killed and wounded:—! Major, 1 Ensign, 2 Sergeants, 44 Rank and File, killed. I Lieut. Colonel, 3 Captains, 2 Lieutenants, 2 Ensigns, 8 Sergeants, 2 Drummers, 127 Rank and File, wounded. Of the wounded oiiieers, one Captain, one Lieutenant, and one Ensign, are since dead. Jou.n Stapleton. From the ConnccJicul Gazette, No. 93J, {.\cur London,) October 5, 178L Extract of a Letter from Lieut. Colonel Upham, to his Excellency Governor Franklin, dated Fort Franklin, Sept. 13, 1781 : " Immediately on the receipt of yours by Capt. Camp, I made every preparation con- .sistent with the necessary secrecy, to furnish as many Refugees for the projiosed ex- pedition as could be spared from the garrison. My first care was to put a supply of provisons on board the vessels. 1 talked of an expedition and proposed to go my- self, nor could I do more until the lleet appeared in sight. Major Ilubbel was too un- well to go with me; I therefore left him lo take charge of the Fort, and, with as much dispatch as possible, embarked one hunilred Loyalists, exclusive of a sufficient nuno- ber to man the two armed sloops. With these we joined the lleet in season to prevent the least delay. By the enclosed arrangement, you will see we had the honor lo be included in the lirst division, and I have the pleasure to add we were first on shore. We advanced on the right of the whole to a height at a small distance from the shore, 278 NEW LONDON. where we were ordered to cover the IJ'^lh Regiment from a wood on our rii^ht, until the second division Ciinie up. We weie then onlered to ehaii^'e our po.iiiion Jioni llie right to the left, at the distance of two hundred 3 ards iVoni ilie main bud3'. Tliis al- teration derived its piopiiely from the circum^tanee of the Rebels havini,' gone over to the le(t, (roin an aiiprehension of being too niiieh eroudeii between our troops and tiie liver on blieir riglii. 'I'lius arrangetl we pioeeeilcd to the town of New London, constanily skirmishing with rebels, who lied I'rom hill to hill, and stone fences which intersected the country ai small distances. Having reacheil the southerly part of the town, the General requested uie 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, ami soon gained the ground in contest. Here we had one man killed and one wounded. Tliis height being the outpost, was left to us and the Yagers. Here we remained exposed to a constant lire liom the rebels on the neigh- boring hills, and IVom tlieloitou the Grotuii side, until the last was carried by the Brit- ish iroops.