Tryon ' s raid In July 1779 , British Major General William Tryon and 2 , 600 men embarked onto a Royal Navy fleet led by Admiral George Collier , and raided the Connecticut ports of New Haven , Fairfield , and Norwalk . Military and public stores , supply houses , and ships were destroyed , as were private homes , churches , and other public buildings . The raids were ineffectually resisted by militia forces . The raid was part of a larger strategy designed by the British commander in chief , Lieutenant General Sir Henry Clinton , to draw Major General George Washington ' s Continental Army onto terrain where it might be more effectively engaged . The strategy failed in this goal , and General Tryon was criticized for the severity of the action by both sides . Although the raid had economic impact and affected military supplies , Clinton ' s efforts had no long - term strategic impact . Background . Following the entry of France into the American Revolutionary War in 1778 , British forces in New York City were primarily concerned with defending the city and its important harbor . The military activity in the northern states was reduced significantly , and the armies of George Washington and Sir Henry Clinton warily watched each other in the New York area . Washington based his defense in New Jersey and at West Point , where he guarded critical communications and supply links . In 1779 Lieutenant General Clinton hatched a plan that he hoped would convince General Washington to move his army so that he might be engaged in a " general and decisive action " . He first launched an expedition in late May that seized Stony Point and Verplanck ' s Point , opposite sides of a key crossing point on the Hudson River . Although Washington did move additional troops into the New York highlands , Clinton felt the position too strong to attack . He then decided to dispatch Major General William Tryon who organized an expedition to raid the coastal communities of Connecticut , while Clinton staged a body of troops at Mamaroneck , New York that would go after Washington when he moved troops to oppose the raids , and also attack Continental Army positions in New Jersey . Tryon assembled a force of 2 , 600 men , and embarked them on a fleet commanded by Sir George Collier . One division , led by Brigadier General George Garth , consisted of the 54th Regiment along with several companies of Royal Fusiliers , Foot Guards , and Hessian jäger s . The second division , led by Tryon , consisted of the Hessian Landgrave Regiment , the Royal Welch Fusiliers , and the King ' s American Regiment , the latter being a provincial regiment of Loyalist s raised by Yale College graduate Edmund Fanning . New Haven . The fleet sailed from New York on July 3 , and reached New Haven ( ) two days later . Immediately disembarking , Garth ' s division rapidly gained control of New Haven , and went to work . Although Tryon had given orders that included burning the town , Garth did not do this ; he limited his activities to destroying public stores , and seizing or destroying the town ' s armaments and ships in the harbor . Tryon ' s division landed in East Haven , where it met spirited resistance from a band of local militia , but managed to take Black Rock Fort . In addition to destroying barns filled with grain , Tryon had local manor houses put to the torch . By the time the British withdrew , over 1 , 000 militia had mustered from the surrounding towns . Fairfield . The expedition reembarked on the fleet on the afternoon of July 6 , after having spent the night in armed camps . They sailed for Fairfield ( ) , arriving two days later . There the inhabitants fled upon the fleet ' s arrival , and Tryon ' s force , with little or no opposition , went on a destructive rampage . In addition to destroying 54 barns and 47 storehouses , they burned 83 homes , two churches , and municipal buildings including a schoolhouse , the courthouse and the local jail . After another night ashore , the expedition sailed across Long Island Sound , where it spent two days resting and resupplying in Huntington , New York . Norwalk . The fleet arrived at Norwalk ( ) , late on July 11 . The troops did not finish landing until 3 am on the 12th , so they rested until daybreak . The two divisions , which had landed on opposite sides of the harbor , were weakly opposed by about 50 local militia , which were easily dispersed . The destruction then began , with most of the village and its commercial infrastructure destroyed . The fleet returned to Huntington , where on July 14 Tryon received orders to return to New York . Aftermath . Tryon reported losses of 26 killed , 90 wounded , and 32 missing . Historian Charles Hervey Townshend compiled a list of 23 Americans killed , 15 wounded , and 12 captured in the New Haven raid ; a contemporary news account reported 27 killed and 19 wounded . General Clinton ' s plan was an utter failure . General Washington , in spite of pressure from Connecticut Governor Jonathan Trumbull , refused to send troops to the state ' s assistance . He also may have benefited from Clinton ' s weakening of the garrison at Stony Point in order to provide men for Tryon ' s expedition ; on the night of July 15 – 16 a picked force under the command of General Anthony Wayne successfully captured the outpost . Although Clinton reoccupied Stony Point , the failure of the 1779 raids to accomplish anything of substance led him to abandon it later in the year . Tryon was pilloried by both Patriots and Loyalists for the raid . Washington accused him of making war against women and children , and Silas Deane called the raids acts of " barbarity " and " almost beyond description " . John Pownall , a colonial administrator in London , wondered " what could have induced our friend Tryon to countenance [ . . . ] the wanton severities " . General Clinton insisted on a written report justifying the burnings , and complained of the raiding he had been reduced to ordering , " I have been a " buccaneer " already too long ; I detest that sort of war . " The last raid by the British against the Connecticut coast was conducted by its native son , Benedict Arnold , in 1781 , when he attacked the port of New London .