New Britain herald., 1928-09-15

mander was killed while another marks the spot where Major Mont. gomery fell. The outline of the oFis' inal powder Inagaxine may DO seeu and the caretaker also will take the visitors in the present powder mag axine which was built ten years af- ter the battle and of the original bricks. baked in Holland, used in the original magazine. This maga- zine Is especially interesting since its walls are literally covered with namea of visitors who have been there during the years. Among them are Julia Sanderson, actreas. Jack Dempsey and wife. Sarah Bernhardt and many others. If one can find an open space on brick the care- taker will permit an additional name.
 But it is the story told by the custodian as he points out the his torical sites that makes this trip Il interesting. He speaks in the pres ent tense and with an intensity that makes the visitor forget he is liv- ing in 1923 and transports him in his mind back to the revolutionary days. and as his guide points out tho different places and follows up hia description with the query, There is the British commander. standing right there. and here is the Ameri- can officer, do you see them," you you unconsciously nod your head in the affirmative, for in your mind's i eye you do. And as closing sight the custodian takes his guests to what he calls my cemVery." Just outside the old fort entrance is a triangular mound. perhaps five feet high. Beneath this mound are the bodies of 145 British and American soldiers who died in the battle, while the bones of Major Montgom- cry are buried on one corner un- der a stone which serves as his humble marker.
 The view from Fort Griswold makes the trip worth while, aside from it's other interests, for 1t not only looks over New London city, but it looks far down the sound. to Fishers island, Gull island Plum ialand and the forts protecting the eastern entrance to New York. while looking northward the guide will point out the location of Norwich and the valley where was born Ben- edict Arnold,
 In Civil War days Fort Griswold was an armed fort and the site of the old barracks, magazines. etc.. still are visible below the .revolu- tionary parapets, while three mon- ster cannons, each weighing some 43,000 pounds, are inbedded in the earth. These. the. guide explatns, were brought there at the time of the Civil War but never were used because no gun emplacements were available. Hence, they still lay where they were dropped more than sixty years ago.
 Now just word about the gen. ial custodian. He has been at Fort Griswold for IS years and knows his history like a book. He was with the Union Army at Harper's Ferry as a drummer boy and later served in the regular army in the Sioux, Nez Percez and other Indian cam. paigns, was with the attachments that followed Clusters ill-fated bri- gsde into the Little Big Horn and later on was himself detailed to take the notorious Indian chieftain, Jo- seph, back to the Indian reservation, Unlike so many old Indian fighters, the Fort Griswold veteran caretaker does not insist that the "only good Indian is dead Indian" for he stoutly maintains that Joseph was q gentleman. And one more little an- ccdote which he relates is of inter- est. Some years ago 0 couple of el- derly women visited the fort and one showed especial interest when shown the old we'll from which sol- dier Perkins secured the water to save the fort from destruction. In- quiry on the part of the guide elicited the information that she was Mrs. Harrison and further comment disclosed that she was the widow of former President Benjamin Harrison and the Perkins of revolutionary war fame had been her grandfather. This and many more interesting little tales will make the visit to,.-Fort Griswold a pleasant one and the end of per- feet day may be enhanced by mak. ing the visit late in the afternoon and watching the wonderful sunset from Old Fort Griswold,