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1

May

1777

Danbury Begins Rebuilding

Danbury, CT· month date

The Story

After the British withdrawal, Danbury's residents returned to find much of their town destroyed. The rebuilding process was slow, complicated by the ongoing war and the loss of supplies that had been intended for the Continental Army. Connecticut's legislature provided some relief, and neighboring communities contributed assistance.

The town eventually recovered, but the raid fundamentally changed Danbury's relationship to the war. What had been an interior supply depot, seemingly safe from British attack, had been shown to be vulnerable. The lesson was clear: nowhere in Connecticut was truly beyond the reach of British expeditionary forces.

Sources for Danbury

Library of Congress, Journals of the Continental Congress
Governor Jonathan Trumbull to Congress, April 27, 1777
Connecticut State Library, Jonathan Trumbull Papers
History of Danbury, Conn., 1684-1896
Burr Printing House (James Montgomery Bailey)
Benedict Arnold, Revolutionary Hero: An American Warrior Reconsidered
New York University Press (James Kirby Martin)
Logistics of the American Revolution: Supply Depots and Their Vulnerability
Journal of Military History
The Toll of Independence: Engagements and Battle Casualties of the American Revolution
University of Chicago Press (Howard H. Peckham, ed.)
Wikimedia Foundation
Danbury Chamber of Commerce