Battle of Ridgefield

Battle of Ridgefield
Part of the American Revolutionary War
Date April 27, 1777 Location near Danbury and Ridgefield, Connecticut Result Tactical British victory; Strategic American victory
Belligerents
United States	Kingdom of Great Britain
Commanders and leaders
David Wooster † Gold S. Silliman Benedict Arnold John Lamb Jedediah Huntington Henry Ludington	William Tryon William Erskine James Agnew Invasion Fleet: Henry Duncan
Strength
700	2,000 6 guns
Casualties and losses
20 killed 80 wounded	200 killed and wounded 40 captured

The Battle of Ridgefield was in fact multiple hostile engagements between American and British forces during the American Revolutionary War near the modern-date city of Danbury, Connecticut and town of Ridgefield, Connecticut on April 27, 1777. American Continental Army Major General David Wooster, Brigadier General Gold S. Silliman, and Brigadier General Benedict Arnold commanded a combined force of roughly 700 Continental Army regular and irregular local militia forces. They engaged a British invasion force of 2,000 commanded by then Royal Governor of the Province of New York, Major General William Tryon with the assistance of Brigadier General William Erskine and Brigadier General James Agnew, which was attempting to regroup with an invasion fleet anchored at Compo Beach in modern-date Westport, Connecticut. The Battle was a tactical victory for the British forces, although served as a strategic victory for American forces due to the resulting extraction of British troops from the area and increased Patriot support.

Engagements

An invasion fleet embarked from New York on April 22 by order from the Commander and Chief of British forces, General William Howe with twelve transports, a hospital ship, and some small craft commanded by Captain Henry Duncan. General Howe's orders were for General Tryon to lead a ground invasion force to the primary target of an inland Patriot supply depot in Danbury. General Tryon disembarked on April 25 from the invasion fleet's anchored position at Compo Beach off the mouth of the Saugatuck River in Long Island Sound to proceeded North towards Danbury with 1,500 regulars, 300 Loyalist milita irregulars, a six-piece artillery unit, and a small mounted contingent of dragoons. The British reached Danbury after a day of forced marching and drove off 150 Continental Army regulars who had been attempting to remove supplies. Before their departure early the next morning, the British destroyed 4,000 to 5,000 barrels of pork, beef, and flour, 5,000 pairs of shoes, 2,000 bushels of grain, and 1,600 tents among other supplies. British troops were ordered before dawn on April 27 to return to the fleet by General Tryon by marching South through the village of Ridgefield to avoid General Wooster’s forces near Bethel, Connecticut.

Hoping to delay General Tryon until overwhelming reinforcements arrived, General Wooster split his force, sending the main body with General Arnold and General Silliman to Ridgefield, while personally harassing the British column's rear with the remainder. With the element of surprise, Wooster engaged Tryon’s rear guard as it paused briefly for breakfast about three miles north of the town of Ridgefield. Killing at least two British, Wooster took about forty prisoners in this first engagement, then retreated for cover in nearby woods. Wooster struck again an hour later, but the British were more prepared for an engagement having positioned three artillery pieces in the rear. Rallying his men, the 67-year old General Wooster was mortally wounded moments after yelling "Come on my boys! Never mind such random shots!" about two miles from Ridgefield's town center (a marker still graces the site) and his inexperienced militia dissolved in confusion. Wooster died five days later in Danbury at the house of Nehemiah Dibble, whose house had also served as General Tryon's temporary quarters in Danbury. Wooster's last words were "I am dying, but with a strong hope and persuasion that my country will gain her independence." Wooster's harassment of the British column had provided enough time for Arnold and Silliman to prepare a defensive position at Ridgefield.

General Benedict Arnold
Copy of engraving by H.B. Hall after John Trumbull

The British Column arrived at the base of Arnold’s barricade at the Northern end of Ridgefield's town center sometime after noon. Following an hour-long artillery barrage of the barricade, Tryon dispatched flanking parties to test both sides of the American position. Having anticipated this move, General Silliman posted forces at both flanks that blunted initial thrusts. Outnumbering the Patriot forces by more than three to one, Tryon chose to advance on all three fronts including a 600-man column under covering artillery fire against the barricade itself under the leadership of General Erskine. Superior numbers and disciplined tactics ensured a tactical victory for the British, but not without at least sixteen killed and thirty wounded. After breaching the barricade the British pursued their Patriot forces in a running battle the length of Town Street, and seized the town. With twelve dead and twenty four wounded, the Americans withdrew under Benedict Arnold orders. Arnold was positioned between his men and the advancing enemy. Arnold was dismounted and pinned to the ground after his horse fell from nine musket wounds from a distance of only thirty yards. However, Arnold killed a British soldier who ran up to take him prisoner and was able to flee to a prearranged rendezvous.

After encamping for the night just south of the village, the British forces departed the next morning, leaving six houses and the Episcopal Church (a Patriot supply depot and field hospital) in flames. General Tryon's forces attempted a quick return to the invasion fleet at Compo Beach having reached near exhaustion and militia now swarming around their vulnerable position. Determined to even the score with the British, Arnold once more rounded up the militia. Artillery reinforcements under Colonel John Lamb of New York and further militia under Colonel Jedediah Huntington of Connecticut and Colonel Henry Ludington of New York joined Arnold. The April 28 retreat proved to be costly for Tryon, comparable to a smaller scale retreat from Concord to Boston in 1775. From behind convenient stone walls, trees, and buildings the militia fired continually at the British marching on the road heading South to Compo Beach. Arnold stationed his forces so that they commanded both roads by which Tryon might try to gain the safety of the invasion fleet's ships. The exhausted British were now outnumbered and vulnerable to capture, but reinforcements of marines from the fleet prevented a devastating American attack. Arnold rode attempting to rally his men to repulse the marines and close in on Tryon during which time another horse was shot under him and a bullet ripped through his coat collar. Although Lamb's artillery also fought valiantly, the bulk of the American forces fled. In the confusion Tryon's men slipped aboard their ships. Final British casualties were approximately two hundred, including ten officers. The Americans lost about twenty killed and forty wounded.

Aftermath

Although Tryon’s raid on Danbury and actions in Ridgefield were British successes, the engagements by American forces at the Battle of Ridgefield and the proceeding influx of American forces in the area would deter the British from never again attempted a landing by ship to attack any inland colonial strongholds during the war. The British also would never again conduct inland operations in Connecticut, despite Western Connecticut's strategic importance in securing the Hudson River Valley for multiple campaigns in New York. After the raid on Danbury and proceeding Battle of Ridgefield, George Washington ordered supply depots moved beyond a one day march from the coast.

The destruction by the British of at least 19 houses and 22 stores and barns, along with military and medical supplies increased support in the area for the Patriot cause, thus negating the short-term gains by Tryon against Patriots in territory that had previously been neutral. Soon after Tryon sailed away from Compo Beach, approximately 3,000 Connecticut citizens joined the Connecticut Army of Reserve. Due to New York's militia's assistance of Patriot forces in the engagement, ties between Patriot residents of Connecticut and New York would grow. Connecticut's forces would later assist New York's Patriots later that year, sending a considerable number of militia to help General John Stark at the Battle of Bennington. And later, they sent 200 cavalry and two regular regiments of to assist General Horatio Gates in the defeat of General John Burgoyne at the historic Battle of Saratoga.

Remembrance

Beginning in 1877, residents of Ridgefield have remembered the battle with some form of anniversary ceremony every twenty-five years. A full day tribute was hosted at former Connecticut Governor Phineas C. Lounsbury’s Town Street mansion in conjunction with the town’s bicentennial celebration of 1908. The 150th anniversary affair in 1927 featured the publication of George L. Rockwell’s History of Ridgefield, while the 200th anniversary was held a year early to tie-in with America’s bicentennial celebration of 1976. The bicentennial and 225th anniversary celebrations included reenactments of the battle, for which portions of Town Street (now Main Street) were covered with dirt for sake of authenticity.

Landmarks

British cannonball lodged into a corner post at the Keeler Tavern

Today, the dead from both sides in the final engagement are buried together in a small cemetery on Main Street on the right of the entrance to Casagmo condominiums: "...foes in arms, brothers in death..."

The Keeler Tavern, a local inn and museum, features a British cannonball still lodged in the side of the building.

Educational markers are maintained at various points of significance throughout the town, including the locations where David Wooster was mortally wounded and Benedict Arnold was pinned by his shot horse.

Further reading

• The Concise Illustrated History of the American Revolution. Eastern Acorn Press. 1972.
• Marshall, D. & Peckham, H. Campaigns of the American Revolution. University of Michigan Press. Ann Arbor, Michigan. 1976. Page 40.
• Gilmore, Jodie. "The Fire That Backfired." The New American. 3 May, 2004. <http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0JZS/is_9_20/ai_n25089215/pg_1>.
• Jones, Keith M. "The Battle of Ridgefield." Town of Ridgefield, Connecticut. <http://www.ridgefieldct.org/content/42/249/1077.aspx>.
• "The Danbury Raid." myrevolutionarywar.com. <http://www.myrevolutionarywar.com/battles/770425.htm>
• McKay, Ian. "Danbury Raid." The Connecticut Society for the Sons of the American Revolution. <http://www.connecticutsar.org/articles/danbury_raid.htm>
• Locher, Paul. "Gen. David Wooster: A Largely Forgotten Hero Of The Revolution." Wooster Daily Record. Wooster, Ohio. <http://web.cortland.edu/woosterk/locher.html>