Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1881-09-21
GROTON HEIGHTS.

L uc patiioltC ptOpic vi NeW-LOluOn
and the neighborlng Connecticut coun-
try celebrated Tuesday the 9th, inst.
the centennial of the burning of New
London and the battle of Groton
Heights. The battle, or massacre,
gains additional interest at this time
by reason of its relation to the great
event at Yorktown which is to be fit
ingly commemorated next month. If
it had any place as part of military
plan, which is doubtful, it was an at
tempt on the part of Clinton to check
Washington in his strategic march to
the Delaware by raising his fears for
the safety of the territory be had left.
Otherwise it was mere wanton at
tack, without definite aim or purpose;
and the last, it was also one OF the
least justifable, of the British offen-
sive operations. 1t was the more
fitting, therefore, that it was led by
the traitor Arnold, whose zeal in the
cause of his new master was not less
than in that of the old, and who very
probably inspired the futile movement.
When the New-Londoners were hur-
ridly awakened on the morning of the
9th of September, 1881, it was to find
hostile feet at anchor in the harbor.
The town was wholly without ade-
quate means of defence The garrison
at Fort Trumbull consisted of but a
score or so of men, and that in Fort
Grisworld, on the heights across the
river, did not count above seven times
as many. So Arnold had it pretty
much all his own way on the New
London side, when he marched his
900 men against the few citizens who
were left to defend their homes, and
the village was soon in flames. On
the other side it was not so easy,
though it was pretty sure what would
be the result when Colonel Eyre and
his 500 regulars scaled the nights and
stormed the fort in which were Colonel
Ledyard and his little squad of per-
hapse l5O militiamen. There was
desperate but vain resistance, in which
two British officers bit the dust, and
then came surrender. But, as history
has it, when Commander Ledyard
handed over his sword to the officer of
the advancing detachment of the ene-
my, that miserable soldier ran him
through the body with it, and in like
violation of all rules of war fire was
opened on the surrendered garrison,
so that some 60 or more of them We're
massacred. The total loss of the
Americans was IS killed and 60 wound
ed. Then, as if satisfied with the
shameful record they had made to fill
page in history, the enemy went
back to their ships and sailed away,
making no effort to ravage the country
inland or establish themselves in the
harbor
Last weeks celebration was made
interesting and realistic by a sham
battle intended to be copy, as far as
possible, of the real event of hundred
years before There was a marked
difference, however, in the presence
of then thousand spectators. Had
nothing like the same number of men
been on hand in 1881, the battle
had not terminated as it did
The military manevering is.
reported to have been excellent
winning the appreciation of General
Sherman, who was among the guests.
There was o fleet in the harbor, sure
enough, and the fort was stormed and
taken with loud resounding volleys,
but no loss of life. The trooDs in part
were appropriately dressed in Revo-
lutionary uniform. If New London
was not burned, the sun made it hot
enough without that. Then in the af-
ternoon there were public exercises, in
Guiding an oration by Senator Hawley,
poem, prayer by Rev. Dr. Leonard
Bacon for the Presidents recovery, and
brief remarks by General Sherman.
Wednesday the celebration was con-
tinued in honor to the memory of Ma
than Hale, the martyr spy, who taught
school in New London before joining
the army and bravely doing the duty
that led to his early and lamented
death Edward Everett Hale, his
granddaughter, eulogized him eloquent
ly, pointing the moral of his life with
his last words, spoken on the scaffold,
L only regret that have but one life
to give to my country The spirit of
one such life counts for many, and its
influence perishes not with the century.
1t is good to recall such lives and
events, and too much attention cannot
be given to them and their meaning
by young America of to-day. The
circle of military centennial remember
ances will be completed with the cele-
bration at Yorktown, the preparations
for which are on scale beftting the
occasion.