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The repulse of a British squadron, at
Stonington, by a few undisciplined
volunteers, having only two effective guns,
imperfectly protected by a low
earth-work,--and this repulse accomplished
without the loss of a single life,--was not
the least glorious achievement of the War of
1812-14. The fiftieth anniversary of the
action is close at hand. Few who
witnessed,--only three or four who
participated in it, survive. In this day of
great events, when armies and navies are
gathered on a scale of magnitude of which
our fathers never dreamed,--when from the
heights of modern science, we look back to
the guns and the ships of war of the last
generation, as to the toys of
childhood,--when we are in the very crisis
of a war greater in itself, and waged for a
grander issue, than the world has hitherto
witnessed,--it is not surprising that so few
find leisure or inclination to look from the
present to the past, or to recall to memory
the heroism of their fathers.
Yet there are some for whom the story of
"The Attack" has not yet lost its interest.
They learned it in childhood, from the lips
of those who shared the perils and the glory
of the action. They grew up, amid
associations which could hardly fail to
kindle an honest pride in their birth-place.
To them, the "Tenth of August" was not
merely a school-holiday, but an anniversary
entitled to equal honors with Independence
Day itself. They have helped draw the "old
Eighteens," through the streets of the
Borough, in solemn procession to the site of
the demolished Battery. They have seen the
cherished Flag--pierced and torn in a dozen
places by the enemy's shot,--float again
from the flag-staff, in honor of the day:
and some of them were standing by when "Old
Hickory" bared his head to salute it, and
bade the citizens preserve, with all care,
this precious memorial of the courage and
patriotism of their townsmen.
It is for these--the companions of my own
school-days,--and in honor of the volunteers
of 1814, that I have reproduced some of the
contemporary accounts of the attack and
defense of Stonington. The first (pp. 9-20)
was written by Col. Samuel Green, the
publisher of the "Connecticut Gazette", who
visited the Borough during the action, and
obtained his knowledge of facts of which he
was not an eye-witness, from the actors
themselves and from official sources. This
account, printed in the "Gazette", of August
17th, was copied into many of the newspapers
in the northern states, and appeared in
Niles's "Weekly Register", November 5th,
with some additional particulars.
Following this, are copies of the
muster-roll of the Borough company of
militia; the official account furnished for
publication by the magistrates, warden and
burgesses (pp. 24-32); and a letter from
Capt. Amos Palmer, chairman of the citizens'
committee of defense, to Mr. Crawford,
secretary of war, containing a concise
narrative of the action. Philip Freneau's
"Battle of Stonington",--though not of the
highest order of lyric
excellence,--challenges favorable comparison
with many of the loyal effusions which have
found their way to the public, during the
present war; and will be welcomed as an old
friend by some who value patriotism more
than poetry. T.
Source: The Defence of Stonington
(Connecticut) Against a British
Squadron, August 9th to 12th, 1814, by
J. Hammond Trumbull. Published 1864, at
Hartford.
Online Publication: The manuscript was
scanned and then ocr'd. Minimal editing has
been done, and readers can and should expect
some errors in the textual output. The
various spellings of Ramilies have been
retained in the text. Similarly, some
opening quotes are not always matched with
closing quotes.
