Battle of Groton Heights - Background

Background

With its history dating back to 1655, Groton, Connecticut was originally a part of New London, its larger counterpart on the other side of the Thames River on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. Groton was an important maritime port, and became one of the largest along the New England coastline. Groton officially separated from New London and incorporated as a separate town in 1705. During the American Revolutionary War, the port was a major center of rebel naval operations, including highly successful privateering operations against British shipping. The port, however, was comparatively poorly protected: Fort Trumbull, on the New London side, was little more than a redoubt open on the inland side, while Fort Griswold in Groton was a more substantial, roughly square, bastioned stone fort surrounded by a ditch and some outer earthen defenses. They were typically garrisoned by small companies of militia, including a few artillerymen, and overall command of the area's defenses was directed by Lieutenant Colonel William Ledyard. The forts suffered from continuous shortages of provisions and equipment. In the case of Fort Trumbull, the fort itself was unfinished. Although Fort Griswold's infrastructure was complete, it lacked sufficient gunpowder, cannonballs, food, and troops to conduct an effective stand against the British.

In August 1781, Continental Army Major General George Washington realized there was an opportunity to strike at the British army of Lieutenant General Charles, Earl Cornwallis, in Virginia. Using a variety of strategems to deceive the British Commander-in-Chief and head of the British forces in New York City, Lieutenant General Sir Henry Clinton, Washington began moving his forces south from the New York area. General Clinton realized on September 2 that he had been deceived. Unable to mobilize quickly enough to assist Cornwallis, and unwilling to detach a large percentage of his forces in the face of the Continental forces Washington had left around New York, Clinton decided to launch a raid into Connecticut in an effort to draw Washington's attention. Though Clinton only planned it as a raid, he also believed that if a permanent British occupation of New London could be established, it could be used as a base for further operations into the interior of New England. He gave command of the forces for the raid to Norwich, Connecticut native Brigadier General Benedict Arnold, who had changed sides the previous September.