1777.

Kill. The conflagration was completed by the CHAP, II. enemy, who then returned to New York. During their short stay, a piquet guard was attacked by colonel Willet, and driven in with the loss of a few men; a circumstance believed by general M'Dougal to have hastened the re-embarkation of the detachment. The quantity of stores in the magazines was not so considerable as had been expected, and of consequence, the injury done in this expedition was much less than had been counted on by the British general when he directed it. A re-enforcement of about two thousand militia had been ordered from Connecticut; and, not long after the destruction of Peck's-Kill, about half that number actually arrived.

At Danbury on the western frontier of Con- At Danbury. necticut, not far from the highlands of New York, military stores, to a considerable amount had likewise been deposited. Although this place was not more than twenty miles from the sound, yet the intervening country was so rough; the troops from the eastward were so frequently passing through the town; and the zeal of the neighbouring militia so much relied on; that the magazines collected at it, were believed to be secure against any sudden attack from the enemy.. In addition to the means of defence which have been stated, general Washington had ordered as many of the draughts made by the state of Connecticut to fill up their

CHAP. II. Continental regiments, as the place was capable 1777. of accommodating, to be assembled there for the

double purpose of being inoculated, and of furnishing a guard to the stores. But under this order, only fifty men had been collected. Against Danbury, however, an expedition was projected, and two thousand men under the command of governor Tryon, major general of the provincials in the British service, assisted by brigadiers Agnew and sir William Erskine, were employed in it.

On the 25th of April the fleet appeared off the coast of Connecticut, and in the evening, landed the troops, without opposition, at Campo, between Fairfield and Norwalk. General Silliman, who was then in that part of the country, immediately dispatched expresses to alarm and call out the militia. In the mean time, the enemy proceeded almost undisturbed, to Danbury, which they reached about two o'clock the next day; and which place, with the magazines it contained, they set on fire and destroyed. Colonel Huntington who had occupied the town with one hundred and fifty militia and continental troops, retired on their approach, to a neighbouring height, where he waited the re-enforcements which were assembling from the country. General Arnold was also in the neighbourhood, superintending the recruiting service. He joined general Silliman at Reading, where that officer had collected

about five hundred militia. General Wooster CHAP. II. who had resigned his commission in the con- 1777. tinental service, and been appointed major general of the militia of Connecticut, fell in with them at the same place; and they proceeded that night, through a heavy rain to Bethel, about eight miles from Danbury. Here they halted; and having heard next morning, that the enemy, after destroying the town and magazines, were returning; they divided their troops, and general Wooster with about three hundred men fell in their rear, while Arnold with about five hundred, crossing the country, took post in their front at Ridgefield. Wooster came up with them about eleven in the morning, attacked their rear with great gallantry, and a sharp skirmish ensued, in which he was mortally wounded, and his troops compelled to give way.* The enemy then proceeded to Ridgefield, where they found Arnold, who had only arrived about an hour before them, already intrenched on a strong piece of ground, and prepared to dispute their passage. A warm skirmish ensued, which continued nearly an hour, when Arnold was compelled to give way, and being unable to rally his men, retreated to Paugatuck, about three miles east of Norwalk. The enemy remained that night at Ridgefield, which they also set on fire, and

* Congress voted a monument to his memory.

CHAP. II. by break of day next morning resumed their 1777. march. They were met about eleven in the April 28. morning by Arnold, whose numbers increased

during the day to something more than one thousand men, among whom were some continental artillery, and infantry; and a continued skirmishing was kept up until five in the afternoon, when the enemy reached a hill near their ships where they made a stand. Here the Americans charged them with intrepidity but were repulsed, and broken. Availing themselves of this circumstance, the enemy immediately re-embarked, and returned to New York.

The day before this detachment landed at Campo, twelve square rigged vessels, with some troops on board, sailed up the Hudson and anchored above Dobbs' ferry, where they were supposed to be stopped by a strong north wind, during which it was impossible for them to get further up the river. While this wind continued to blow, general M‘Dougal received intelligence of the advance of governor Tryon on Danbury, and, in the hope of intercepting him on his retreat, while he should be pressed by the Connecticut militia, set out on the night of the 27th from Peck's-Kill with about twelve hundred men, and marching all night, reached Bedford, a town not far from the road leading from Ridgefield to Norwalk, next morning about ten o'clock. There he was informed of the hasty retreat of general Tryon, and despair

ing of overtaking him, returned to Peck's-Kill, CHAP. IL which place he thought too important to hazard 1777. by a long absence at too great a distance from it. Had he arrived before Ridgefield was abandoned, the situation of the enemy would certainly have been rendered extremely critical. Notwithstanding the very decided inferiority of force opposed to them, the skirmishes were repeated with so much vivacity, that when they reached their ships, their ammunition of which they had received sixty rounds per man, is understood to have been entirely exhausted, and the men to have been rendered by extreme fatigue, almost unfit for further action.

The killed, wounded and missing of the enemy, amounted to about one hundred and seventy men. The loss of the Americans was represented by the British general to have been much more considerable. By themselves, it was not admitted to exceed one hundred. In this number, however, were comprehended, general Wooster, lieutenant colonel Gould, and another field officer, killed, and colonel Lamb wounded. Several other officers and volunteers were killed; and this circumstance, which was occasioned by the peculiar degree of danger to which the brave are exposed while commanding undisciplined troops, might have produced in the enemy an opinion, that the American loss was much greater than was in reality sustained. At the same time, it is to be recollected that,