Situated in southeastern Connecticut, New London was a center of American Revolutionary War naval activities. State and continental naval vessels operated out of its harbor, which doubled as a haven for American privateers (and now home to two US submarine bases).
By 1781, the Revolution had reached a stalemate. Throughout the summer the combined Franco-American armies of Generals George Washington and Jean-Baptiste comte de Rochambeau deceived British General Sir Henry Clinton into believing they were about to lay siege to the city of New York. When in fact, they were moving south toward Yorktown, Virginia, in a bid to trap Lord Cornwallis’ army against the sea.
Clinton, falling for the deception, dispatched former American General Benedict Arnold to attack New London, hoping the move would derail militia reinforcements and supplies headed from the port there to the allied armies outside New York, as well as destroy the privateers which operated out of the harbor.
Arnold landed on September 6th and in a textbook operation defeated local militia, took possession of the town, harbor, and forts, and set New London’s waterfront ablaze. But that is not how it is remembered.
Several leaders of the attacking British force were killed or seriously wounded, and when the British entered the fort the Americans surrendered, but the British continued firing and killed many of the defenders.
Accounts differ, but in one Lieutenant-Colonel William Ledyard surrendered by handing his sword hilt-first to Loyalist officer Major Bromfield, who took it and thrust it through Ledyard. In another Ledyard was bayoneted as he surrendered.
There were two witness accounts from men who did not see Ledyard killed. One said, “[Ledyard] was about six feet from them when I turned my eyes off from him, and went up to the door of the barracks… it was but a moment that I had turned my eyes from Col. L. and saw him alive, and now I saw him weltering in his gore !”
Another said “I turned suddenly round… crushed me to the ground. The first person I saw afterwards, was my brave commander, a corpse by my side, having been run through the body with his own sword.”
Arnold abandoned the fort soon after, and American forces eventually retook possession of it. It was the last major military encounter of the war in the northern United States.
The Connecticut governor’s propaganda campaign against the British and Arnold, who was already infamous for his treachery, created a narrative of partial truths and embellishments that persist to this day.
As such, most of the attention still remains focused on the bloody fighting and alleged “massacre” during the Battle of Groton Heights at Fort Griswold, but there is much more to the story.
Matthew E. Reardon has set out to rectify that oversight with the publication of The Traitor’s Homecoming: Benedict Arnold’s Raid on New London, Connecticut, September 4-13, 1781 (Savas Beatie, 2024) utilizes dozens of newly discovered British and American primary sources to weave together a balanced military study of an often forgotten and misunderstood campaign.
Reardon offers a major reinterpretation of the battle while dismantling its myths. Thirteen original maps and numerous illustrations and modern photographs flesh out his study.
Matthew Reardon is a native of northeastern Connecticut. He earned his BA in history and an MA in education from Sacred Heart University. His research interests mainly focus on Connecticut during the American Revolution and the Civil War.
He has published several articles for the Journal of the American Revolution and served as executive director of the New England Civil War Museum & Research Center for more than fifteen years. He currently works as a middle school teacher in Vernon, Connecticut.
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