page_title: Battle of Groton Heights
section_title: Prelude
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Groton Heights / Prelude
caption_attribution_description: English: A military sketch of the harbor of New London, Connecticut showing the military movements of the raid conducted by Benedict Arnold in September 1781 that included the Battle of Groton Heights.
context_page_description: The Battle of Groton Heights was a battle of the American Revolutionary War fought on September 6, 1781 between a small Connecticut militia force led by Lieutenant Colonel William Ledyard and the more numerous British forces led by Brigadier General Benedict Arnold and Lieutenant Colonel Edmund Eyre.
  Lieutenant General Sir Henry Clinton ordered Arnold to raid the port of New London, Connecticut in an unsuccessful attempt to divert General George Washington from marching against Lord Cornwallis's army in Virginia. The raid was a success, but the Connecticut militia stubbornly resisted British attempts to capture Fort Griswold across the Thames River in Groton, Connecticut. New London was burned along with several ships, but many more ships escaped upriver.
  Several leaders of the attacking British force were killed or seriously wounded, but the British eventually breached the fort and the Americans surrendered—whereupon the British entered the fort and massacred the defenders. However, the high number of British casualties in the overall expedition against Groton and New London led to criticism of Arnold by some of his superiors.
context_section_description: The forces assembled by the British were divided into two battalions, numbering about 1,700 men. The first was under Lieutenant Colonel Edmund Eyre, composed of the 40th and 54th Regiments of Foot and a Loyalist provincial regiment of Cortlandt Skinner's New Jersey Volunteers.  The second battalion was under Arnold's command and consisted of the 38th Foot and a variety of Loyalist units, including the Loyal American Regiment and Arnold's provincial regiment, known as the American Legion.  The expedition also included about 100 Hessian jägers, a small number of artillerymen, three six-pound guns, and a howitzer, all of which were divided among the battalions.  These troops were embarked on transports and sailed on September 4 in the company of a fleet of smaller armed ships, led by Commodore John Bazely in the fifth-rate HMS Amphion.
  The fleet anchored about 30 miles (48 km) west of New London to make final preparations, and then sailed for New London late on September 5, intending to make a nighttime landing.  However, contrary winds prevented the transports from reaching the port until it was already daylight on September 6.  In the early hours of that morning, Rufus Avery witnessed the fleet's arrival as a colonial officer stationed at Fort Griswold:
  ... about three o'clock in the morning, as soon as I had daylight so as to see the fleet, it appeared a short distance below the lighthouse.  The fleet consisted of thirty-two vessels.... I immediately sent word to Captain William Latham, who commanded [Fort Griswold], and who was not far distant.  He very soon came to the fort, and saw the enemy's fleet, and immediately sent a notice to Col. William Ledyard, who was commander of the harbor, Fort Griswold, and Fort Trumbull.
  Upon receiving the alert, Ledyard sent a messenger to notify Governor Jonathan Trumbull and local militia leaders of the British arrival, and went to Fort Griswold to arrange its defenses.  Fort Griswold's guns were fired twice, a signal of enemy approach.  However, one of the British ships fired a third round, changing the meaning of the signal to indicate the arrival of a victorious friend.  This signal confusion led to delays in mustering militia companies.
  At sunrise on September 6, the British landed on both sides of the mouth of the Thames River. The people of the town could do nothing but evacuate, and several ships in the harbor escaped upstream. The 800-man detachment that Arnold led in New London met with no resistance.  The defenders of Fort Trumbull, 23 men led by Captain Shapley, fired a single volley, spiked the guns, and boarded boats to cross the river to Fort Griswold, following orders left by Colonel Ledyard.  Seven of Shapley's men were wounded, and one of the boats was captured; the detachment that Arnold sent to take Fort Trumbull sustained four or five killed or wounded, according to Arnold's account.  Arnold's troops continued into the town where they set about destroying stockpiles of goods and naval stores.  Under the orders given, parts of the town were supposed to be spared, some of which was the property of those secretly loyal to the British, but at least one of the storehouses contained a large quantity of gunpowder, which Arnold evidently had not known. When it ignited, the resulting explosion set fire to the surrounding buildings. The fire was soon uncontrollable and 143 buildings were consumed by flames.  Several ships in the harbor were able to escape upriver when the wind changed.
  Meanwhile, Lieutenant Colonel Eyre's force of 800 men landed on the east side of the Thames River, but they were slowed by tangled woodlands and swamplands. The New Jersey Loyalists landed after the initial wave of regulars, also delayed by the difficulty in moving the artillery through rough conditions, and they did not participate in the assault.
  Twelve-year old George Middleton witnessed the quick rallying of Ledyard's militia and the landing of the British regiments, which he reported occurred between 10:30 and 11:00 am:
  The other division of troops landed on the east side of the river .
caption: A 1781 map depicting the British military movements
exif: {}