Site where the barricade was erected. Arnold's horse was killed under him very close to here. The camera starts off looking south towards Ridgefield. The British came from the north.
(continued from "Battle Of Ridgefield Monument"}
Tryon's force was augmented by a 300-man regiment of Loyalist irregulars, drawn from Long Island and Fairfield County, known as the Prince of Wales Provincial Volunteers. Because he truly believed that his army would be warmly received if it refrained from looting and pillage, Tryon excluded the unruly Hessian mercenaries from his expedition.
But General Tryon had miscalculated! Like a swarm of angry hornets, American forces were closing on Danbury from all directions. Twelve hundred Continentals under General McDougall were marching from Peekskill. Four Hundred and seventy-strong, the Dutchess County New York militia under Colonel Ludington was in motion, and contingents from as far as Litchfield, Wallingford and New Haven were also on the way. What's more, Colonel Jedidiah Huntington with fifty Continentals, and Major Nehemiah Beardsley with 150 men of the 16th Connecticut Militia regiment lurked in the Danbury hills. Worst of all, Tryon learned that Major General David Wooster, together with Arnold and Silliman, was at Bethel in his rear with another 700 militia. At two A.M. in the morning of April 27th, Tryon roused his troops and began retreat to the awaiting ships at Compo Beach.
To avoid Wooster's force, the British army veered south from Danbury, marched through Ridgebury, and headed for Ridgefield. Hoping to delay Tryon until overwhelming reinforcements arrived, Wooster split his force, sending the main body with Arnold and Silliman to Ridgefield, while personally harassing the British rear with the remainder. Collectively the three engagements that followed became known as the Battle of Ridgefield. With the element of surprise, Wooster swooped out the woods about three miles north of Ridgefield and crashed into Tryon's rear guard as it paused briefly for breakfast. Killing at least two redcoats, Wooster took about fifteen prisoners in this first engagement, then vanished back into the trees.
An hour later, Wooster struck again, but this time the British were ready, having positioned three artillery pieces in the rear. Rallying his men, the 67-year-old David Wooster was mortally wounded about two miles from Ridgefield center (a marker still graces the site) and his inexperienced militia dissolved in confusion. Wooster died five days later in Danbury, but his sacrifice had purchased precious time for Arnold to prepare a defensive position at Ridgefield.
Fife and drum blaring, colors rippling in the breeze, and bayonets gleaming, the British Column arrived in martial splendor at the base of Arnold's barricade sometime after noon. Following an 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 either flank that blunted these initial thrusts.
Outnumbering the Patriots by more than three to one, Tryon advanced on all three fronts, hurling a 600-man column under covering artillery fire against the barricade itself. Superior numbers and disciplined tactics carried the day for the Crown forces, but not without cost¾at least sixteen were killed and thirty wounded. After breaching the barricade and smashing both flanks, the British pursued their American adversary in a running battle the length of Town Street, and seized the town.
With twelve dead and double that number wounded, the Americans withdrew under Benedict Arnold's personal direction. Positioned between his men and the advancing enemy, the heroic Arnold was fired upon by an entire platoon of redcoats. Hit by nine separate musket balls, his horse collapsed, pinning the General to the ground.
After dispatching an advancing soldier (some reports say two), by pistol, Arnold worked free of the unfortunate horse and fled to a pre-arranged rendezvous where the next day he was again unhorsed in combat. After encamping for the night just south of the village, the British departed next morning, leaving six houses and the Episcopal Church (a Patriot supply depot) in flames. Although Tryon's Danbury raid and Ridgefield action were clear British successes, the retreat was a near thing, for within six hours thousands of American soldiers poured into the area. Never again would the British mount an inland expedition in Connecticut.
Loading...
0:40
Benedict Arnold - General David Wooster Monument, Ridgefieldby crocostimpy642 views
me too i past it to CVS every day =)
bigsacks3 3 years ago
i pass that sign almost every day... never read it tho
mac10guy 4 years ago
Great visual history lessons. Thank you kindly good sir. Beuchars, a fine English gent.
beuchars 4 years ago