Groton

The Blood of Groton Heights: How a Small Connecticut Town Became the Site of the Revolution's Most Brutal Massacre

On the morning of September 6, 1781, the residents of Groton, Connecticut, could see the British fleet approaching from across the Thames River. Within hours, their town would become the site of one of the most savage episodes of the entire American Revolution — a massacre that killed scores of defenders who had already surrendered, claimed the life of their commanding officer with his own sword, and left a community so devastated that nearly every household lost a father, brother, or son. Later, Groton townspeople came looking for their fallen; forty women were made widows that day, with two hundred children left fatherless. The Battle of Fort Griswold and its aftermath represent not merely a military engagement but a profound story of courage, betrayal of the rules of war, and a community's agonizing recovery. That the attack was led by Benedict Arnold — Connecticut's own native son turned traitor, born and raised in Norwich barely a dozen miles upriver — only deepened the wound. Groton's Revolutionary War history is among the most dramatic and underappreciated in the entire founding story of the United States. The burning of New London and the Battle of Groton Heights was the last significant land battle in the northeast during the Revolutionary War — and just six weeks later, at Yorktown, the Marquis de Lafayette reportedly rallied his men with the cry "Remember Fort Griswold!" as American and French forces stormed the British redoubts.

To understand what happened at Groton, one must first understand the strategic importance of the Thames River and the twin towns that flanked it. New London was an important commercial and privateering center for Connecticut as well as the Colonies, and because of its deep natural harbor, it became the state port for wartime naval activities. It was also a haven for American privateers who had been wreaking havoc on British shipping throughout the war. American privateers brought an unusual number of captured British merchant vessels into New London during the summer of 1781, including the brig Hannah, seized by the Minerva under Captain Dudley Saltonstall and bound for New York with a cargo worth eighty thousand British pounds — the largest prize taken during the entire war. The loss spurred the British to retaliate. Groton, on the eastern bank, was a modest community of farmers, fishermen, and tradesmen — the town had officially separated from New London and incorporated in 1705 — but it occupied high ground known as Groton Heights that commanded the river's approach. Fort Griswold was named after then Deputy Governor Matthew Griswold.

Construction of the fort was begun on December 5, 1775, in response to the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, and it was completed in 1778. The fort was a rough but serviceable stone-and-earth work, roughly square in plan, with bastions at opposite corners, walls of stone ten or twelve feet high on the lower side, and surrounded by a ditch, defended by pickets and abatis. A sally port led through a covered ditch to a lower battery of additional guns southwest of the main work, capable of bombarding ships attempting to enter the Thames. It played a key role in correspondence with Fort Trumbull on the opposite side of the Thames River, defending the port of New London, a supply center for the Continental Army and friendly port for Connecticut-based privateers who targeted British shipping. It was never a grand fortification — and the forts suffered from continuous shortages of provisions and equipment; Fort Griswold lacked sufficient gunpowder, cannonballs, food, and troops — but it was designed to make any attacker pay dearly for an assault, and in this grim purpose it would succeed beyond anyone's expectation.

By the late summer of 1781, the war had reached a critical turning point. In August, General George Washington realized there was an opportunity to strike at the British army of Lord Cornwallis in Virginia and began moving his forces south, using stratagems to deceive Lieutenant General Sir Henry Clinton, the British Commander-in-Chief in New York. Clinton realized by September 2 that he had been deceived. Unwilling to let the preparations for an attack go entirely to waste, he agreed to a diversionary raid on New London and turned to Brigadier General Benedict Arnold — who had received his British commission as part of his defection the year before and was eager for an independent command to prove his worth to his new masters. Who better to lead the attack than a man who knew the area intimately from childhood?

Arnold's force of more than 1,700 men — comprising British regulars of the 38th, 40th, and 54th Regiments of Foot, the Loyal American Regiment, the New Jersey Volunteers, Arnold's own American Legion, and approximately sixty Hessian Jägers — sailed from New York on September 4 aboard a fleet of thirty-two vessels. The fleet anchored some thirty miles west of New London to make final preparations, then sailed for its target late on September 5, intending a nighttime landing. However, contrary winds prevented the transports from reaching the port until daylight on September 6.

In the early hours of that morning, Rufus Avery, a Continental officer stationed at Fort Griswold, spotted the fleet from his vantage point and immediately sent word to Captain William Latham, who commanded the fort's day-to-day garrison. Latham rushed to the fort and dispatched notice to forty-three-year-old Lieutenant Colonel William Ledyard, who held overall command of both forts and the harbor defenses. Ledyard quickly sent a messenger to notify Governor Jonathan Trumbull and local militia leaders, then crossed to Fort Griswold to assume personal command. The fort's guns were fired twice — the established signal for enemy approach — but a British ship answered with a third shot, changing the signal's meaning to indicate the arrival of a victorious friendly vessel. The British evidently knew the local signal system. This ruse caused critical confusion among outlying militia commanders and delayed the mustering and deployment of reinforcements.

At sunrise, Arnold landed his force on both sides of the mouth of the Thames River — approximately 800 men on the Groton side under Lieutenant Colonel Edmund Eyre and another 800 under his own command on the New London side. The defenders of Fort Trumbull — a mere 23 men under Captain Adam Shapley — following orders left by Ledyard, fired a single volley, spiked their guns, and boarded boats to cross the river to Fort Griswold. Seven of Shapley's men were wounded in the exchange. Arnold's column occupied New London with virtually no resistance and set about destroying stockpiles of goods and naval stores. When a storehouse containing a large, unknown quantity of gunpowder ignited, the resulting explosion triggered an uncontrollable fire that consumed 143 buildings in New London, along with ships trapped in the harbor.

On the Groton side, Eyre's 800 men were slowed by tangled woods and swamps, and the British artillery could not keep pace with the foot troops. They came within striking distance of Fort Griswold at approximately 10:00 a.m. The fort had been garrisoned with about 165 militia and local volunteers under Ledyard's direct command. Expecting reinforcements at any moment, Ledyard elected to defend the post against the superior force. The British commander sent forward a flag demanding surrender; Ledyard refused. Colonel Eyre demanded surrender again, warning that if he were forced to storm the fort, no quarter would be given. Ledyard refused once more.

Among the defenders stood men from nearly every walk of life in the small community — farmers, fishermen, tradesmen — including many who were related to one another as fathers, sons, brothers, and cousins. At least a dozen bore the locally prominent Avery surname. Among those who took their places on the ramparts were two African American men — Jordan Freeman, a formerly enslaved man who served as Colonel Ledyard's personal aide, and Lambert (Lambo) Latham, a bondsman — as well as Tom Wansuc, a Pequot Indian. Their presence speaks to the diverse composition of Groton's defenders and the breadth of sacrifice the community endured.

The entire battle lasted