The daily morning journal and courier., 1895-07-06
HAVEN OoURlEK SATURDAY JULY

erty, Liberty" thrice written, A Con- neeticut historian, writing of Joseph Warren who fell at Bunker Hill, says
 Liberty was a word that signifled when it fell from his lips all of domes- tic and social relations, all the revol- ving circles of life, all the silent mem ories that lie scattered along the road of the past, all hopes that invite men to the future. In him liberty was
 holy altar flame never to be eXtin-
 guished until it eXhaled to heaven"
 Liberty meant then as indeed it means
 now, all that men hope for either for themselves or for posterity and the self
 governed state meant an enjoyment of
 all the blessings of liberty. The desire for liberty was not a love merely; 1t was
 a passion which controlled the man and
 made hirp equal to suffering and sacri-
 flee and death.
 On the 4th day of July, 1776, just three
 years before the invasion, this intense
 passion had dictated the Declaration of
 Independence, and during the three
 years that followed that declaration
 Connecticut had been bending all its
 energies to it's maintainance. The Rev
 olutionary battle grounds of Connecti-
 cut were indeed few, but the battle
 spirit was intense. The state had fur
 nished its full quota of troops to the
 Continental army under Washington.
 It's citizens who had not been called
 upon for that purpose were organized,
 armed and equipped as militiamen,
 waiting for the summons, either to de-
 fend the state or to join the army.
 often try and suppose try in vain, to
 imagine the state of society at that pe-
 riod. There were no railroads, no tele-
 graph, the mails were slow, news either
 of actual or projected operations of the
 enemy came slowly to hand, and yet
 there was an organization which
 reached every town in the state, and
 concerted measures for informing the
 people of the occurrence of any event
 which demanded action. So that in an
 incredibly short space of time the whole country might be reused and the militia
 set on foot, In such rural communities
 from earliest times the beacon light has
 been one of the methods of commurica- ting intelligence. Two lanterns hung in
 the tower of the Old South church at
 Boston just as the swift rider Paul Re-
 NSAS SleII lCQ u IlllSlllGCIlCG OL kiiC
 intended march upon Concord by Gene ral Gage told the people of Boston of the movement which precipitated the
 war of the Revolution, The Connecti-
 cut coast was especially open to attack.
 Long Island was in possession of the
 British. Communication between Con- necticut and Long Island across the
 sound now so seldom was then a mat ter of frequent occurrence. From any one of it's numerous ports a force might be thrown into Connecticut in a few hours. For that reason a beacon was established upon this hill in the fall of 1775. It was one of three. Another was upon Tuthill Heights, Long Island, and one upon Talcott Mountain. near where the Wadsworth tower was built. Many were the lonely watches during cold and stormy nights upon this hill, the eyes of the watchers turned south ward fearing to catch sight of the beacon burning on Tuthill Heights. 4 flame seen there would have been
 known in every hamlet in Connecticut by the next noon. Sturdy riders ar&
 swift horses were ready to spread the news. But fortunately the months had passed and the beacon had not been | lighted, The community had relapsed into feeling of partial security. Whether it was lighted on the night of the 4tn of July, 1779, we do not know,
 but the signal gun at the Black Rock fort announced the coming of the ene- my. No troops were in arms to receive them, but as soon as their intention was known we'll mounted messengers were securing the country to spread the news. A handful of patriots only met 1 them at first on their landing. There was no regular battle, but the fighting which the British so much dreaded be- gan even before the landing on the beach, the fighting of the militia, the | method of resistance adopted first at
 Lexington and continued wherever Brit l ish forces made their raiding incur sions. It is interesting as we read the ! history of the Revolution to note how
 much of the real fighting between pa- 1 triots and royalists was in the resist ance of expeditions sent out to plunder and consume, to destroy property and stores. The ever memorable conflict at Lexington and Concord, when the al-
 most unorganized militia met the ad- ! vance and hung upon the retreat of dis l ciUlfued British trOOps was but a tyDe