In late April 1777, a British fleet consisting of a dozen transports, a hospital ship, and a few smaller boats was assembled in New York and placed under the command of Captain Henry Duncan. The landing force consisted of 1,500 uniformed British soldiers, around 300 loyalists from the Prince of Wales American Regiment, and a small contingent of the 17th Light Dragoons, led by Generals William Erskine and James Agnew. The entire operation was under the command of Major General William Tryon, the former governor of the colony of New York.
On April 22, the fleet sailed from New York into Long Island Sound. The mission was to land on the Connecticut shore near Fairfield, then march inland to Danbury where the Continental Army had established a major supply depot that could provide food, clothing, shelter, and ammunition to its troops fighting the spring offensive in the Hudson Valley near West Point. The depot was guarded by only 50 Continental soldiers and about 100 local militiamen, making it a relatively easy target for such a large contingent of British regulars. The initial plan was to raid the depot, purloin as many supplies as could fit into the wagons they planned to commandeer, and then destroy the supply houses before returning to their ships with their plunder.
On Friday, April 25, the fleet was spotted close to the shoreline near Norwalk and messengers were dispatched to warn militia leaders of what appeared to an eminent landing of the British forces.
It was early Friday evening when the fleet set anchor near the mouth of the Saugatuck River at Compo Point. They were undisturbed as they disembarked and assembled for their march northward. Encountering only a small group of armed men about a mile from where they landed, they marched otherwise unimpeded towards their goal until they reached a meadow on Redding Road near today’s border between Fairfield and Easton. There they rested for approximately six hours before resuming their march on the morning of the 26th.
The route the British chose to reach Danbury was the one that was the least difficult to navigate on foot. They would only cross one river by bridge, the Aspetuck at today’s Easton by the Gilbertown Cemetery. The remainder of their twenty-six-mile journey would be relatively easy.
The march through the parish of North Fairfield (Easton today) was done in the early morning hours of Saturday. Despite previously published writings based on greatly embellished oral hand-me-down tales of local history, the area along their march saw no destruction and only minor confrontations that were quickly quelled by the advancing forces.
By 10 AM, the British were on Redding Ridge where they paused in front of the Church of England, ministered by loyalist preacher John Beach, that is located at the intersection of the Black Roack Turnpike and Cross Highway. There, the British officers were treated to cakes and wine by Mister William Heron who resided next door to the church. The rest of the force took their midday meal in the fields directly north of that church, and they were on their way by noon as storm clouds began to gather in the sky.
Generals Wooster and Arnold were in New Haven when they received word that the British had landed a few miles west of Fairfield. They immediately set out to catch up with General Gold Silliman who had managed to summon about 500 militiamen by midmorning on Saturday the 26th. Silliman and his men set out after the British, arriving in Redding by the late afternoon. There, Wooster and Arnold caught up with him, and all three were invited to dine with Mister Heron.
Heron would later be identified as a double agent. There is no doubt that he served both sides during the Revolution, but letters he produced after the conclusion of the war appeared to prove his true loyalty was with the rebels. But there are many historians who believe Heron could and would have produced similar correspondence with the British that could have proven his loyalty to the Crown, should the British have prevailed instead.
At Redding, it was decided that Wooster would pursue the British along the same route they had taken to Danbury earlier in the day, while Silliman and Arnold would take their contingents north through Ridgefield should Tryon attempt to return to the coast along that route. By the time Wooster reached the village of Bethel, it was nearing 11 PM, it had been raining heavily for several hours, and his men’s powder was undoubtedly too wet to rely on firing. It was decided to camp there and wait until dawn before engaging the enemy at Danbury.
Tryon’s plans had run into a major snag at Danbury earlier that evening. Expecting more loyalists than he encountered, he learned that when the local teamsters had heard of the approaching British forces, they hitched up their heavy wagons and all headed north. By the time Tryon’s forces had reached Danbury, most of the wagons he had expected to find there were already in New Milford. With no way to transport their bounty back to their ships, it was decided to inventory the supplies and then destroy them along with the storehouses where they were kept.
In all, 4,000 barrels of pork and beef were destroyed, along with 1,000 barrels of flour, 89 barrels of rice, 100 hogsheads of sugar, 50 hogsheads of molasses, 20 casks of coffee, 15 large casks of assorted medicines, 5,000 pairs of shoes, over 1,000 tents, and 120 puncheons of rum – a good deal of which was consumed by Tryon’s troops before they set fire to everything. A total of 19 houses, as well as all 22 of the storehouses and barns that made up the depot were consumed by fire and destroyed.
By 1:00 AM on Sunday morning, Tryon was apprised of the proximity of Wooster’s forces, and he decided to retreat to his ships via Ridgefield. Leaving long before Wooster’s men reached Danbury, the British ran into Arnold and Silliman’s forces at Ridgefield where several skirmishes took place throughout the day as the British found themselves suddenly being attacked on both sides. Wooster’s men continued to attack from the rear, with Wooster being mortally wounded at Ridgefield during one of the larger skirmishes.
Arnold’s troops were stationed at every major river crossing along the way. They had the bridges secured, but the British had recruited enough loyalist guides to provide them with the best places to ford each river and stream evading the Continentals while seldom engaging them in battle.
By the time Tryon’s forces made it back to the ships on Monday, his army had sustained 154 men wounded or killed with another 40 listed as missing or captured. On the other side, the Continentals had seen 20 men killed with another 80 listed as being wounded. While the raid on Danbury had been a tactical victory for the much larger British forces, it turned out to be a strategical success for the Continental Army and the militia, as the area which had remained mostly neutral in a war that many Connecticut residents had felt mostly ambivalent about, suddenly experienced an increase of about 3,000 young men who were willing to fight against the British. That raid would be the last inland incursion by the British in Connecticut during the remainder of the war.
On Saturday, April 27, 2024, you can see a partial reenactment of the Battle of Ridgefield take place at the old Onion Field on Lonetown Road in Redding (just north of the Redding Elementary School). Sponsored by the Drum Hill Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) and the Redding Historic Cemetery Committee, this event will be a two-day affair, with Friday devoted exclusively to teaching third-graders at RES about the events of that weekend in 1777, with Saturday open to the general public with military exhibitions and demonstrations by the Brigade of the American Revolution.
Beginning at 9:45 on Saturday morning, the Brigade will provide several activities including artillery, medical, and other demonstrations through the morning and early afternoon that will culminate in a battle reenactment at 3:00 PM.
Background and registration information can be found online @ Wilton DAR. Advance online admission is $12.50 for adults. Tickets purchased at the gate will be $15. Children under 12 will be admitted free, as will veterans, active military, and first responders. Because of the noise created by the firing of muskets and artillery, absolutely no pets will be allowed on the grounds during this event.
Food trucks will be available for sustenance and refreshments throughout the day.
