William Ledyard (December 6, 1738 – September 6, 1781) was a lieutenant colonel in the Connecticut militia who was killed during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. He commanded

Fort Griswold Fort Griswold is a former American defensive fortification in Groton, Connecticut named after Deputy Governor Matthew Griswold. The fort played a key role in the early stages of the American Revolutionary War, in correspondence with Fort Trumbull ...

in Groton and resisted the British forces during the

Battle of Groton Heights The Battle of Groton Heights (also known as the Battle of Fort Griswold, and occasionally called the Fort Griswold massacre) was a battle of the American Revolutionary War fought on September 6, 1781 between a small Connecticut militia force le ...

on September 6, 1781. The British finally took the fort, and Ledyard surrendered—but the British officer took Ledyard's sword and used it to kill him in the very act of his surrender, then led the British forces to slaughter the surrendering Americans.

Early life

Ledyard was the son of John Ledyard, Esquire (1701-1771) and his wife Deborah who had come to America from England. His parents lived their later years in

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...

Fort Griswold

Ledyard was in command of

Fort Trumbull Fort Trumbull is a fort near the mouth of the Thames River on Long Island Sound in New London, Connecticut and named for Governor Jonathan Trumbull. The original fort was built in 1777, but the present fortification was built between 1839 and 18 ...

and

on September 6, 1781 when Fort Griswold fell to the British under

Benedict Arnold Benedict Arnold ( Brandt (1994), p. 4June 14, 1801) was an American military officer who served during the Revolutionary War. He fought with distinction for the American Continental Army and rose to the rank of major general before defect ...

in the

. Ledyard had refused a British demand to surrender the fort, and he resisted the attack of a British force of 800 men led by Lieutenant Colonel Eyre, with 157 hastily collected and poorly armed militia inside Fort Griswold, according to accounts of the battle. This attack was made on three sides; there was a battery between the fort and the river, but the Americans could spare no men to work it. The British made their way into the fosse and scaled the works in the face of severe fire from the garrison. Eyre was wounded and died 12 hours afterward on shipboard, and his successor Major Montgomery was killed while mounting the parapet. The command passed to

Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...

Major Bromfield, who effected an entrance into the fort after nearly 200 of his men had been disabled, including 48 killed, the Americans having lost only about 12 men. The British then stormed the fort, and Ledyard ordered his men to cease firing and to lay down their arms. Bromfield demanded to know who commanded the fort. Ledyard replied, "I did, sir, but you do now," and offered his sword. The British officer took the sword and stabbed Ledyard to death, initiating a massacre of some 80 surrendering Americans. Arnold wrote the following account of the battle in a despatch to Henry Clinton two days afterward: "I have inclosed a return of the killed and wounded, by which your excellency will observe that our loss, though very considerable, is short of the enemy's, who lost most of their officers, among whom was their commander, Col. Ledyard. Eighty-five men were found dead in Fort Griswold, and sixty wounded, most of them mortally. Their loss on the opposite side (New London) must have been considerable, but cannot be ascertained." Colonel Ledyard is buried in the Colonel Ledyard Cemetery in Groton.

Legacy

The town of

Ledyard, Connecticut Ledyard is a Town in New London County, Connecticut, United States, located along the Thames River. The town is named after Colonel William Ledyard, a Revolutionary War officer who was killed at the Battle of Groton Heights. The population was 1 ...

is named for Colonel Ledyard. The town's high school football team is called the Ledyard Colonels, and a road in the town of Ledyard is named Colonel Ledyard Highway. William Ledyard's nephew was noted explorer

John Ledyard John Ledyard (November 1751 – 10 January 1789) was an American explorer and adventurer. Early life Ledyard was born in Groton, Connecticut, in November 1751. He was the first child of Abigail Youngs Ledyard and Capt. John Ledyard Jr, son o ...

. The events of Fort Griswold and the subsequent death of Ledyard was depicted in '' Turn: Washington's Spies'' Season 4, Episode 10.

References

External links

Ledyard's service record
from Francis B. Heitman's ''Historical Register of Officers of the Continental Army'' *

Sons of the American Revolution The National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR or NSSAR) is an American Congressional charter, congressionally chartered organization, founded in 1889 and headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, Louisville, Kentucky. A non-prof ...

Joseph Duffy, "Connecticut At War", Connecticut Humanities Council
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ledyard, William 1738 births 1781 deaths Connecticut militiamen in the American Revolution United States military personnel killed in the American Revolutionary War People from Groton, Connecticut Ledyard, Connecticut People of colonial Connecticut Deaths by stabbing in Connecticut