History of Fairfield County, Connecticut

Until this time our ancestors had generally enjoyed peace. But they were now called upon to tiicc King Philip, a personal foe of the English, who had excited his own tribe an<l his neighbors to a general rising against the whites. Tlie town now contaiiu'd less tlian fifty white men, live of whom volunteered t<iwards filling the (piota jdedged by the Connecticut colony to chastise the Narragansetts, who, in violation of their treaty obligaticms, were secretly assisting Philip to lay waste with fire and tomahawk all the settle- ments of the colonists. Ordy the su<ldenness of the blow saved the settlements from extermination. In 1774 the Indians had nearly disappeared from tlie town; only nine remained. In 17'.)(l there were none. Prol)ably a few of them removed to other localities, but that nearly all the tribe died here is evident from the mimerous shell-graves found in the Old Field. Fifty years ago a descendant of the tribe came to view the graves of his anccsters. As he stood on Fla.\ Hill his great height, broad shoulders, and Indian (•ostume, in the absence of the nu'n, frightened the women and chihlren of the neighborhood. It was just l)efore the close (d'day. He turned to th(^ n<irth, to the cast, to the s'>uth, then towards the setting sun, as if to converse with the (ireat Spirit. Tlicn he de- l>arted. Whence he came and wiiither he went no one could tell. The charge, oft repeated, tluit our fatlurs were cruel and exacting in their dealings with the Indians of Norwalk is without fiiundation. All the huts in their 49G HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY, CONNECTICUT. history show that they were governed hy Christian iind patriotic principles in their intercourse with tliein. To be sure, tliey resented every encroach- ment upon their civil rights with patriotic fervor. Anil their mantles have fallen iijion tlieir descend- ants, as more than a hundred battle-fields in tlie his- tory of the town during; the past two hundred years bear witness. In the French war there was no lack of patriotism on the part of the people of the town. Upon receiv- ing- information that a battalion of regulars was to be quartered here, the people in town-meeting voted to tax themselves for their .support. Many of them joined tlie army and were at the reduction of Louis- burg, July 2"), 17o8. In the Revolutionary war the inhabitants also met in town-meeting and called upon all the able-bodied men to exert themselves to fill up the battalions or- dered by the Continental Congress; they provided for the support of the families of those who should enlist. They closed their appeal in the following quaint lan- guage : "That the virtuous sons of liberty cheerfully and readily engage in said service, so that peace and rest may once more be restored to the United States of America, by means whereof this meeting have reason, by the blessing of God, to exi)ect the same may be effected." The aged people are familiar with the name of Capt. Ketcham, who in the hvst war with England, at the battle of Niagara, captured Gens. Drummondand Rial, officers of the British troops, and their suites, and con- ducted tiiem to the rear of the American lines, which event, more than any other, contributed to the suc- ce.s.s of our arms on that day. Who is not also familiar with the name of Frank Gregory, who Headley erro- neously says wivs a native of New Haven, but who was born in Norwalk, where he resided until he entered the naval service in ISOO? Here are the tombs of his ancestors. In the last war with the English he wa.s taken prisoner and impressed into their service, but soon escaped. In the great Rebellion Com. Gregory hastened to Washington at seventy years of age and otJ'ered his .services to his government ; which fact alone is sufficient to immortalize his name. When Tryon crossed from Long Island to destroy the town the patriotic, old and young, shouldered their muskets and met his forces with a determination un- surpa-ssed in the annals of the Revolutionary war. From the moment the enemy landed they were a-s- saulted with so much spirit at every step of their progress, by the town militia and the Continentals then quartered here, that he left, according to his offi- cial report, one hundred and ten killed, wounded, and niis.sing behind him in his retreat. The engagement at Norwalk may be said to have been a series of battles. The British were repulsed on Flax Mill, at Pudding Lane, and at France .'Street ; they were beaten at every point of attack. The burn- ing of tlie town was a great disaster to the people. Historians have made this fact prominent, and have lost sight of the patriotism, zeal, and courage dis- played by the few regulars and the town militia, and the successes gained by them on that memorable day over Gen. Tryon's soldiers and the Tories who led them through the town. We call it the battle of Norwalk, for such it really was. Ere this the event shoubl have been commemorated by the erection of a monument to perpetuate the names of those who fell on that day in defense of the town and the cause of liberty. Who found fault in the Revolutionary war with the patriotism and the institutions founded by the first white ancestors of Norwalk ? They were the " nullifiers," who opposed all taxation and i)aying any interest on obligations for raising funds to arm and equip Continental soldiers and for the support of their families. The Revolutionary fathers said they \verc "inimical persons, and riotous, and dangerous to the liberties and independence of the L'nited States of America." Norwalk in IG"" sent five men to the front; in the Rebellion six companies, being about a twenty-fourth part of its entire population. ONE HUNDRED YEAUS AGO. July 10, 1779, Gen. Tryon's fleet, which had been moored in Huntington Bay, L. I., was discovered by the coa.st-guard stationed at the cove headed, with all sail set, for the we^t shore. The guard sounded the alarm by firing three muskets, the signal being re- peated from hill-top to hill-top until the inhabitants of the town were thoroughly aroused, .\fter the women, children, and household goods had been placed in carts and started for the forast miles away, the men shouldered their muskets and proceeded to the parade-ground, where they were detailed by com- panies to various localities to watch the movements of the British. On this date, at nine o'clock in the evening, Gen. Tryon landed at Cow Pasture with two thousand five hundred British troops. July 11, 1779, one hundred years ago, the battle or series of battles of Norwalk were fought and the town devastated by the British. There were in the town less than four huiidred patriot troops to op|>ose the ailvance of the enemy, one hun- dred and fifty of whom were Continentals, commanded by Gen. Parsons, and the town militia and volunteers commanded by Capts. Betts and Richards. All the particulars of Gen. Tryon's advance from Cow Pasture to trrammon's Hill and of his retreat have been fully given by the historian, but the inci- dents along the line of the advance of Garth's regi- ment of Tories, after landing at Old Well, have never become published fact.s in the history of the town. Historians disagree as to the date of the battle of Norwalk. Barber erroneously a.«serts that it occurred on July 17, 1779, and he makes Capt. Bitt", in his deposition before Justice Betts, say that it was on July 12th. Gen. Tryon'3 official report gives the cor- I 4 NORWALK. 497 rect diite: lie says July 10th. Thoy crnsscd the , diet, situated near the iiiterseetioti of the turn]>!ko 8iiund with a fleet of twenty-^ix sail and aneli()re<l road with West Street, the British paid no atteiilioii near the mouth of Norwalk Harhiir. The troops to the assaults of the patriots upon their rear and left hinde<l ahoiit niiu' o'elork in the <'Vi'niiifr, sle]>t upon flank, so intent were they U]ion erossini; the ford their arms at ( 'ow Pasture that ni.!;lit, and early next ' north of the hridge in advanee of the volunteers. lint morniny, Svmday, the 11th, moved aeross to Fitehe's , at the residenee of Deaeon Benedict a larjj:e niunher Point, on the east side of Norwalk Harhor. where of ( iarth's men partook freely of the wine and eider they were joined by the Kinu;"s Ameriean I!eu;inu'nt, ' phieed on th(> front ]ioreh of his house for the patriots Tories, who were ordered to eross over in flat-boats to who had been on siuard all ni,u;ht, as the story u'oes. <.)ld ^\'ell. They landed soutli of Washinj^ton Street, The deaeon never relatcil the incident withnut smiling and Tryon onh'reil a house near the slmrc l)nr:ied as a and remarkinjr that a drnnkcn person, berelt of the .signal that he had disemliarked and was ready to use of his limbs, was as liarmhss as a corpse. While carry out the orders of his superior. i the Tories were regaling themselves the volunteers, (ien. (xarth. upon landing and seeing the i>eoideon who hail all the morning clung to the rear and flanks the height< al>ove the ])lain, seems to have entertained of (iarth's troops, at double quick crossed the ford the iilea that the patriots were intrenched upon Flax north of the present bridge and joined their eo]nrades. Hill, and that it would be necessary to dislodge theni wlio had held their own against Tryon"s for<-e for five before attempting to join Men. Tryon at the bridge, hours, at tlu' liusiness centre of tlie town. So he divided his regiment, and its left wing, as a ' <ien. Tryon moved from t'ow I'asture to Fitehe's feint, charged through the fields, and the right filed Point at tliree o'clock in the morning. Following the into the shore road to Marshall and .\nu Streets, shore, about four o'ldock he readied tlie down town tlience to West Street, forming a junction witli the ' road, where he met the Continental troops and militia, lett at the interieetion of Spring with West Street, who slowly and in g 1 order retreated to (irunimon's