Battle of Groton Heights - Battle

Battle

On the return of the second parley flag, Eyre launched a full scale assault upon the fort and its roughly 150 defenders. Stephen Hempstead, a sergeant in Ledyard's militia recounted, "When the answer to their demand had been returned ... the enemy were soon in motion, and marched with great rapidity, in a solid column ... they rushed furiously and simultaneously to the assault of the southwest bastion and the opposite sides." As the British neared the ditch, they were met by a bombardment of grapeshot that killed and wounded many. This briefly scattered the British, who reformed into two units. Eyre led one force against the southwest bastion, where American fire repulsed the assault, seriously wounding Eyre and several of his officers. (New London historian Francis Caulkins' assertion that Eyre was mortally wounded is apparently incorrect; Arnold reported that Eyre survived.) Major William Montgomery led the second party to an abandoned redoubt just east of the fort. From there they moved across the ditch and assaulted the ramparts. Against fierce resistance this unit gained the bastion, but Montgomery was instantly killed by a bayonet thrust. Montgomery's men were finally able to open a gate from inside, and the British force poured into the fort. Seeing that the fort was penetrated, Colonel Ledyard ordered a cease fire and prepared to surrender the place.

What happened next was a subject of some controversy. The most detailed extant accounts of the event are from American sources, but 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. Rufus Avery wrote in his account, "I believe there was not less than five or six hundred men of the enemy on the parade in the fort. They killed and wounded nearly every man in the fort as quick as they could..." Jonathan Rathbun described the cold-blooded killing of Colonel Ledyard with his own sword by an officer:

"... the wretch who murdered him, exclaimed, as he came near, 'Who commands this fort?' Ledyard handsomely replied, 'I did, but you do now', at the same moment handing him his sword, which the unfeeling villain buried in his breast! Oh, the hellish spite and madness of a man that will murder a reasonable and noble-hearted officer, in the act of submitting and surrendering!"

Some accounts claim that Captain George Beckwith killed Colonel Ledyard, while others claim it was Captain Stephen Bromfield, who assumed command after Major Montgomery was killed. Stephen Hempstead recalled the bloody scene in the aftermath: "Never was a scene of more brutal wanton carnage witnessed than now took place. The enemy were still firing upon us ... they discovered they were in danger of being blown up..." Rufus Avery believed the attack was called off due to the chance that further musket fire might set off the fort's powder magazine.

American accounts and historical descriptions ascribe several possible reasons for the British behavior. During the battle, the fort's flag was supposedly shot down at one point. Although it was quickly reraised, some of the British attackers 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. Combined with anger over the death and wounding of their commanding officers, this led them to disregard Ledyard's legitimate surrender. Some accounts also 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.

Early British historians generally did not report much beyond Arnold's report of the expedition, which did not mention killings after the surrender. William Gordon, however, reported in his 1788 history of the war that "he Americans had not more than a half dozen killed" before the fort was stormed, and that "a severe execution took place after resistance ceased." An Italian historian wrote in 1809 that "he assailants massacred as well those who surrendered as those who resisted."