The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1879-01-30
AN UNRRCoRDRD BIT OF HrsFoRy.
Bensdict Arnold's Narrow Escape from
USaAsA az ssso G1ar.us ex q W esnnn.
Nr,n Yarl TO-.

! Rew York Times.
| The recent death of Mrs. Ann Hinnoa,
Kellogg, of Fairfield, Connecticut, in tb,
ninety-third year Of her age, recalls az
unrecorded incident of the, wae of ths
revolution. Mrp. Kellogg was The dauRh
ter of Captain Elisha Hinman, of ti1t
| United States navy, and her mother wa:
the only American who remained IL
New London when the town was de.
stroyed by the traitor Benedict Arnold
in 1871. at that time Captain Hinman't
ship was hourly expected to arrive al
New London, and Il vaa hoped that be
might come in time to save the town
| Mrs. Human was veil acquainted with
Arnold, az he had often dined at he,
house, and had been friend of her hus.
band: Induced by anxiety for her hus.
bands satety, she remained after all
Others had iied, and watched the entry
OF the British from tho doorway of heI
house. AS Arnold rode UP he saw aud
saluted her, and said that If she would
point out her own property it should be
| spared. She pointed out the houses ol
! several of her neighbors az her own, and
thus saved them from destruction. AR.
mold remained on horseback near heI
house nearly all day, noting the battle
that was raging at Fort Griswold, on the
GrOton side of the river, where the tall
monument commemorating the event
now stands.
Three times were the British driven
down the hill by the deadly fire from the
fort. Then the ammunition of its de.
fenders became exhausted, and they were
obliged to surrender, The British officer
in command of the storming party was
so enraged ut the desperate defense of the
fort that, as he entered 1t, he asked
"Who commands here7" Col. Ledyartl
replied: 81 did, but you do now,n OF the
same time surrendering his sword. The
officer received the sword and instantly
plunged it into the heart of the gallant
colonel. An American officer. standing
beside his colonel, snatched his own sword
from its scabbard, and, in q moment, the
cowardly Briton lay dead beside his vic.
tim. An indiscriminate massacre of all
within the fort followed, aud thirty of the
wounded Americans were piled into o
wagon, that was rolled down steep hill.
side to the bottom, where it was dashed
In pieces against q tree. Then hurried
preparations were made to evacuate their
position by the British. Arnold having
learned OF tine expected arrival of Capt.
Hinman.
Mrs. Hinman, having witnessed these
outrages from her housetop, became 80
incensed against the traitor that she hur.
r:cd!y descended f:cs. the -cofs, saek :
musket from the closet, where it had been
left the day before by an American col.
dier. and leveled it at Arnold as he ant
on his horse in front of the house. TAX.
ing long, steady aim, she pulled the
trigger, but the piece missed fire. Hear
ing the snap of the lock, Arnold turned
and asked her what that noise was. W;th
great presence of mind, she had dropped
the gun so that he did not see il, and she
answered that it was the breaking of q
chair.
This incident formed the subject of O
painting by Huntington, the artist, whose
wife is grand niece Of Mrs. Hinman.
This painting is now in the possession of
Mr: Thomas Day, of Bergen Point, n. J.
In it Mrs. Hinman is represented as lev
cling musket ut Arnold from window
in her house, and the burning town is
seer in the background. The remains of
both Captain and Mrs. Hinman now lie
in the Cedar Grove cenetry at New Lon.
don, where their monument is one Of the
finest to be seen.