The Defence of Stonington (Connecticut) Against a British Squadron, August 9th to 12th, 1814

In the waning days of summer 1814, a modest Connecticut harbor became the stage for an unlikely showdown. A British squadron of warships drifted into view, demanding the town’s surrender, while a handful of local volunteers scrambled to ready two battered guns and a crude earthwork. With no professional soldiers in sight, the citizens of Stonington—farmers, merchants, and fishermen—stood shoulder‑to‑shoulder, determined to defend their homes against a far more powerful foe. Their resolve would transform a routine naval raid into a celebrated episode of the War of 1812.

This volume brings together the very documents that recorded those tense hours: a newspaper dispatch from the Connecticut Gazette, the militia’s muster roll, the official report filed by the borough’s magistrates, a candid letter from the town’s defense committee to the War Department, and a stirring poem that captured the community’s pride. Together they convey the immediacy of the battle, the voices of those who lived it, and the lasting sense of honor that still echoes through Stonington’s streets.