Battle of Ridgefield

Battle of Ridgefield
	Part of the American Revolutionary War
Date	April 27, 1777
Location	Danbury and Ridgefield, Connecticut Colony, British America
Result	British victory
Belligerents
United States	Kingdom of Great Britain
Commanders and leaders
Generals Benedict Arnold, David Wooster, and Arthur Silliman	Generals Carl Tyron, Robert Agnew, John Erskine
Strength
700	2,000
Casualties and losses
20 killed; 80 wounded	154 killed and wounded; 40 captured

Last updated February 29, 2024

The Battle of Ridgefield was a series of American Revolutionary War skirmishes in Danbury, Connecticut and Ridgefield, Connecticut.

History

On April 25, a British force under the command of the Royal Governor of the Province of New York, Major General William Tryon, landed at Compo, Connecticut between Fairfield and Norwalk in what is present-day Westport, and marched from there to Danbury. There, they destroyed Continental Army supplies after chasing off a small garrison of troops. Connecticut militia leaders Major General David Wooster, Brigadier General Gold S. Silliman, and Brigadier General Benedict Arnold raised a combined force of roughly 700 Continental Army regular and irregular local militia forces to oppose the British, but could not reach Danbury in time to prevent the destruction of the supplies. Instead, they set out to harass the British on their return to the coast.

On April 27, the company led by Wooster twice attacked Tryon's rear guard during their march south. In the second encounter, Wooster was mortally wounded and died five days later. The main encounter then took place at Ridgefield, where several hundred militia under Arnold's command confronted the British and were driven away in a running battle down the town's main street, but not before inflicting casualties on the British.

The expedition was a tactical success for the British forces, but their actions in pursuing the raid galvanized Patriot support in Connecticut. While the British again made raids on Connecticut's coastal communities, they made no more raids that penetrated far into the countryside.

Background

A 1780 map showing movements prior to the battle:
A: British movements to Danbury
B: American movements toward Danbury
C:British movements toward Ridgefield
D: American movements toward Ridgefield (upper arrow: Wooster, lower arrow: Arnold) BattleOfRidgefield1.png — A 1780 map showing movements prior to the battle:
A: British movements to Danbury
B: American movements toward Danbury
C:British movements toward Ridgefield
D: American movements toward Ridgefield (upper arrow: Wooster, lower arrow: Arnold)

The state of Connecticut was not a scene of conflict during the first two years of the American Revolutionary War, even though the war had begun in neighboring Massachusetts in April 1775, and New York City had been taken by the British in the New York and New Jersey campaign in the fall of 1776.^[1]^[2] Major General William Howe commanded the British forces in New York, and he drafted a plan for 1777 in which the primary goal was to take the American capital at Philadelphia.

Troops left to defend New York were to include a brigade of 3,000 provincial troops under the command of New York's former royal governor William Tryon, who was given a temporary promotion to "major general of the provincials" in spring 1777.^[3] Howe's plan included authorizing Tryon to operate on the Hudson River or to "enter Connecticut as circumstances may point out."^[3] Tryon was given one of the early operations of the season, a raid against a Continental Army depot at Danbury, Connecticut.^[4] Howe had learned of the depot's existence through a spy working for British Indian agent Guy Johnson,^[5] and he had also met with some success in an earlier raid against the Continental Army outpost at Peekskill, New York.^[6]

A fleet was assembled consisting of 12 transports, a hospital ship, and some small craft, all under the command of Captain Henry Duncan.^{[ citation needed ]} The landing force consisted of 1,500 regulars drawn from the 4th, 15th, 23rd, 27th, 44th, and 64th regiments, 300 Loyalists from the Prince of Wales American Regiment led by Montfort Browne, and a small contingent of the 17th Light Dragoons, all led by Generals Sir William Erskine and James Agnew.^[4]^[7] Command of the entire operation was given to General Tryon, and the fleet sailed from New York on April 22, 1777.^[4]

The Danbury depot had been established in 1776 by order of the Second Continental Congress, and it primarily served forces located in the Hudson River valley.^[8] In April 1777, the army began mustering regiments for that year's campaigns, and there were about 50 Continental Army soldiers and 100 local militia at Danbury under the command of Joseph Platt Cooke, a local resident and a colonel in the state militia.^[9]

Danbury

The British fleet was first spotted when it passed Norwalk. When the troops landed messengers were dispatched to warn Danbury and local militia leaders of the movements. Generals Wooster and Arnold were in New Haven when messengers reached them on April 26. Wooster immediately sent the local militia to Fairfield. When he and Arnold reached Fairfield, they learned that General Silliman had already departed for Redding, with orders that any militia raised should follow as rapidly as possible; they immediately moved in that direction.^[10] The forces assembled at Redding moved toward Danbury in a pouring rain, but had only reached Bethel, about 2 miles (3.2 km) short of Danbury by 11 pm, where they decided to spend the night rather than press on to Danbury with wet gunpowder.^[11] The forces consisted of about 500 regular militia members and about 200 volunteers.^[12]

Related Research Articles

The Invasion of Quebec was the first major military initiative by the newly formed Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. The objective of the campaign was to seize the Province of Quebec from Great Britain, and persuade French-speaking Canadiens to join the revolution on the side of the Thirteen Colonies. One expedition left Fort Ticonderoga under Richard Montgomery, besieged and captured Fort St. Johns, and very nearly captured British General Guy Carleton when taking Montreal. The other expedition, under Benedict Arnold, left Cambridge, Massachusetts, and traveled with great difficulty through the wilderness of Maine to Quebec City. The two forces joined there, but they were defeated at the Battle of Quebec in December 1775.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Tryon</span> British Army officer and colonial administrator (1729–1788)

Lieutenant-General William Tryon was a British Army officer and colonial administrator who served as governor of North Carolina from 1764 to 1771 and the governor of New York from 1771 to 1777. He also served during the Seven Years' War, the Regulator Movement, and the American War of Independence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Howe (Continental Army officer)</span> Continental Army general from North Carolina

Robert Howe was a Continental Army general from the Province of North Carolina during the American Revolutionary War. The descendant of a prominent family in North Carolina, Howe was one of five generals, and the only major general, in the Continental Army from that state. He also played a role in the colonial and state governments of North Carolina, serving in the legislative bodies of both.

David Wooster was an American general who served in the French and Indian War and in the American Revolutionary War. He died of wounds sustained during the Battle of Ridgefield, Connecticut. Several cities, schools, and public places were named after him thereafter. He has been called "a largely forgotten hero of the Revolution."

Samuel Holden Parsons was an American lawyer, jurist, general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, and a pioneer to the Ohio Country. Parsons was described as "Soldier, scholar, judge, one of the strongest arms on which Washington leaned, who first suggested the Continental Congress, from the story of whose life could almost be written the history of the Northern War" by Senator George F. Hoar of Massachusetts

Brigadier-General James Tanner Agnew, of Howlish Hall, Co Durham was a British Army officer reportedly killed by a sniper in the Battle of Germantown during the American Revolutionary War.

The 5th Connecticut Regiment was raised on April 27, 1775, at Danbury, Connecticut, under the command of David Waterbury. The Regiment was one of six formed by the Connecticut Legislature in response to the hostilities at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts. The Fifth would see its first action during the Invasion of Canada. As was the practice during the first few years of the war, the New England troops were engaged only until year's end and the original Fifth Connecticut Regiment was disbanded on December 13, 1775. It would not see National service during 1776, but a State Regiment, organized by Colonel Philip Burr Bradley, did serve in the New York and New Jersey campaign. The Fifth returned to Continental duty at the beginning of 1777. The Regiment went on to fight at the Battle of Ridgefield, Battle of Germantown and the Battle of Monmouth. The Regiment was merged along with the 7th Conn. into the 2nd Conn. on January 1, 1781. The Fifth was furloughed June 15, 1783, at West Point, New York and disbanded on November 15, 1783.

The 6th Connecticut Regiment was raised on May 1, 1775, at New Haven, Connecticut, as a provincial regiment for the Continental Army. It then became a regiment of the Continental Line on January 1, 1776, designated the 10th Continental Regiment, and a regiment of the Connecticut Line on January 1, 1777, again designated the 6th Connecticut. The regiment saw action at the siege of Boston, the Battle of Long Island, the New York Campaign, and its colonel and company of light infantry served in the Corps of Light Infantry at the Battle of Stony Point. The regiment was merged into the 1st Connecticut Regiment on January 1, 1783, at West Point, New York, and disbanded on November 16, 1783.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">9th Connecticut Regiment</span> Military unit

The 9th Connecticut Regiment was a regiment of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. It was first called Webb's Additional Continental Regiment before being added to the Connecticut Line in 1780. It saw action at Setauket in 1777, Rhode Island in 1778, and Springfield, New Jersey, in 1780, and was generally active in the defense of Connecticut, southern New York, and northern New Jersey. It was merged into the reorganized 2nd Connecticut Regiment in January 1781.

Benjamin Hinman was a surveyor, soldier and legislator.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meigs Raid</span> Military raid by American Continental Army forces

The Meigs Raid was a military raid by American Continental Army forces, under the command of Connecticut Colonel Return Jonathan Meigs, on a British Loyalist foraging party at Sag Harbor, New York on May 24, 1777, during the American Revolutionary War. Six Loyalists were killed and 90 captured while the Americans suffered no casualties. The raid was made in response to a successful British raid on Danbury, Connecticut in late April that was opposed by American forces in the Battle of Ridgefield.

Jedediah Huntington, was an American general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. After the war, he served in numerous civilian posts.

Gold Selleck Silliman (1732–1790) was a Connecticut militia General during the American War for Independence.

Lieutenant-General Sir William Erskine, 1st Baronet was a British Army commander and the 1st Baronet of the Erskine of Torrie creation.

The military career of Benedict Arnold in 1775 and 1776 covers many of the military actions that occurred in the northernmost Thirteen Colonies early in the American Revolutionary War. Arnold began the war as a captain in Connecticut's militia, a position to which he was elected in March 1775. Following the outbreak of hostilities at Lexington and Concord the following month, his company marched northeast to assist in the siege of Boston that followed. Arnold proposed to the Massachusetts Committee of Safety an action to seize Fort Ticonderoga in New York, which he knew was poorly defended. They issued a colonel's commission to him on May 3, 1775, and he immediately rode off to the west, where he arrived at Castleton in the disputed New Hampshire Grants in time to participate with Ethan Allen and his men in the capture of Fort Ticonderoga. He followed up that action with a bold raid on Fort Saint-Jean on the Richelieu River north of Lake Champlain. He then resigned his Massachusetts commission after a command dispute with the head of a detachment of Connecticut militia troops that arrived in June to reinforce Ticonderoga.

The military career of Benedict Arnold from 1777 to 1779 was marked by two important events in his career. In July 1777, Arnold was assigned to the Continental Army's Northern Department, where he played pivotal roles in bringing about the failure of British Brigadier Barry St. Leger's siege of Fort Stanwix and the American success in the battles of Saratoga, which fundamentally altered the course of the war.

Events from the year 1777 in the United States.

Tryon's Raid occurred in July 1779, during the American Revolutionary War, in which 2700 men, led by British Major General William Tryon, raided the Connecticut ports of New Haven, Fairfield, and Norwalk. They destroyed military and public stores, supply houses, and ships as well as private homes, churches, and other public buildings. The raids were ineffectually resisted by militia forces.

The Battle of Setauket was a failed attack during the American Revolutionary War on a fortified Loyalist outpost in Setauket, Long Island, New York, by a force of Continental Army troops from Connecticut under the command of Brigadier General Samuel Holden Parsons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burning of Fairfield (1779)</span> American Revolutionary War action in CT

The Burning of Fairfield refers to the action of the American Revolutionary War at Fairfield, Connecticut on July 7, 1779 after a British landing force under the command of General William Tryon attacked the town, engaged and dispersed its militia forces, and burned down the vast majority of its buildings. Much of the action took place in areas that are now part of Bridgeport, Southport, and Westport.

References

↑ Johnston, pp. 36, 46, 126–127, 448
↑ Ward, pp. 202–253
1 2 Nelson (1990), p. 150
1 2 3 Ward (1952), p. 492
↑ Burr (1906), p. 141
↑ Burr (1906), p. 142
↑ Case (1927), p. 12
↑ Ives (1900), p. 429
↑ Ives (1900), p. 431
↑ Bailey (1896), p. 61
↑ Bailey (1896), p. 63
↑ Bailey (1896), p. 64

Bibliography

Bailey, James Montgomery; Hill, Susan Benedict (1896). History of Danbury, Conn., 1684–1896. Burr Print. House. OCLC 1207718.
Beatson, Robert (1804). Naval and Military Memoirs of Great Britain, from 1727 to 1783, Volume 6. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees and Orme. OCLC 4643956.
Boatner, Mark Mayo (1966). Cassell's Biographical Dictionary of the American War of Independence, 1763–1783. London: Cassell & Company. ISBN 0-304-29296-6. OCLC 1627102.
Burr, William Hanford; Atwell, George C.; Arms, H. Phelps; Miller, Francis Trevelyan (1906). "Invasion of Connecticut by British in the War for American Independence". The Connecticut Magazine. The Connecticut Magazine Company. 10: 139–152.
Case, James Royal (1927). An Account of Tryon's Raid on Danbury in April, 1777. Danbury, CT: Danbury Print Co. OCLC 1300736.
Connecticut Historical Society (1997). The Record of Connecticut Men in the Military and Naval Service During the War of the Revolution, 1775–1783. Baltimore, MD: Clearfield. ISBN 978-0-8063-4742-4. OCLC 38505000.
Ives, J. Moss; Atwell, George C.; Arms, H. Phelps; Miller, Francis Trevelyan (1900). "A Connecticut Battlefield in the American Revolution". The Connecticut Magazine. The Connecticut Magazine Company. 7: 421–450. OCLC 1564863.
Johnston, Henry, ed. (1889). The Record of Connecticut Men in the Military and Naval Service During the War of the Revolution, 1775–1783. Baltimore, MD: Connecticut Historical Society. ISBN 978-0-8063-4742-4. OCLC 38461894.
Martin, James Kirby (1997). Benedict Arnold Revolutionary Hero . New York University Press. ISBN 0-8147-5560-7. OCLC 36343341.
Mather, Frederic (1913). The Refugees of 1776 from Long Island to Connecticut. Albany, NY: J. B. Lyon. ISBN 9780806304953. OCLC 2613390.
McKay, Ian. "Danbury Raid". The Connecticut Society for the Sons of the American Revolution. Archived from the original on 2011-05-12. Retrieved 2010-04-25.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
Moore, Frank (1860). Diary of the American Revolution, Volume I. New York: C. Scribner. p. 427. OCLC 1543121.
Nelson, Paul David (1990). William Tryon and the Course of Empire A Life in British Imperial Service . Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 978-0-8078-1917-3. OCLC 21079316.
Robertston, A. Heaton (1911). Revolutionary Characters of New Haven. New Haven, CT: Sons of the American Revolution, General David Humphreys Branch. OCLC 4954644.
Ward, Christopher (1952). The War of the Revolution . New York: Macmillan. OCLC 214962727.