Eyre launches a full-scale assault upon the…
September 1781 CE
As the British near the ditch, they are met by a bombardment of grapeshot that kills and wounds many.
This briefly scatters them, but they reform into two units.
Eyre leads one force against the southwest bastion, where American fire repulse the assault, seriously wounding Eyre and several of his officers. (New London historian Frances Manwaring Caulkins will assert that Eyre was mortally wounded, while Benedict Arnold will report that Eyre survived.)
Major William Montgomery leads the second party to an abandoned redoubt just east of the fort.
From there, they move across the ditch and assault the ramparts.
This unit gains the bastion against fierce resistance, but Montgomery is killed by the thrust of a ten-foot pike from Jordan Freeman, a black man who had previously been a slave in service to Colonel Ledyard.
Montgomery's men are finally able to open a gate from inside, and the British force pours into the fort.
Seeing that the fort is penetrated, Colonel Ledyard orders a cease fire and prepares to surrender it to the British.
What happened next is a subject of some controversy.
The most detailed accounts of the event are from American sources and are fairly consistent in what they describe.
According to these accounts, the British continued to fire on the Americans despite Ledyard's signs of surrender, and much of the garrison was consequently either killed or seriously wounded.
British descriptions of the battle ascribe several possible reasons for their behavior.
During the battle, the fort's flag was allegedly shot down at one point, although it was quickly re-raised.
Some of the British attackers claim to have interpreted the event as striking the colors, making a sign of surrender; the British suffered significant casualties when they then approached the fort on that occasion.
They claimed that this led them to disregard Ledyard's legitimate surrender, and they vented their anger over the death and wounding of their commanding officers.
Some other accounts claim that Americans in one part of the fort were unaware that Ledyard had surrendered, and continued to fight, leading the British to also continue fighting, even against those who had surrendered.
There are two black men and one native known to be among the defenders of Fort Griswold.
The black men are Jordan Freeman and Lambo Latham, who both acted heroically in the battle and were killed in action.
Tom Wansuc is a Pequot who was stabbed in the neck with a bayonet.
The massacre at Fort Griswold marks one of the largest tragedies in the history of Groton and Connecticut, and is one of the last British victories in North America before the end of the war.
Damage to New London is substantial; one estimate places the value destroyed at nearly $500,000.
The battle has left nearly one hundred families homeless and had destroyed nine public buildings and much of the town's waterfront.
The state will identify losses in 1792 that totaled more than £61,000, or $200,000 Continental dollars.
Some who lost homes or property will be awarded land in the Western Reserve.
The slaughter at Fort Griswold has left dozens of Americans dead.
The Groton Gazette will report that casualties numbered about one hundred and fifty.
Some survivors have escaped, but others have been taken prisoner.
Benedict Arnold will later issue a report stating that forty-eight British soldiers were killed and one hundred and forty-five wounded.
General Clinton will praise Arnold for his "spirited conduct", but will also complain about the high casualty rate; about twenty-five percent of the troops sent against Fort Griswold had been killed or wounded.
Many British soldiers will blame Arnold for the events at Fort Griswold, even though he had not been in a position to prevent the slaughter.
Arnold will next propose a raiding expedition against Philadelphia, but the surrender of General Charles Cornwallis at Yorktown in late October will end this idea.
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