Battle of Groton Heights
- When
- 1781
- Where
- Fort Griswold
- Episodes
- 1
On September 6, 1781, British forces under Brigadier General Benedict Arnold attacked Fort Griswold in Groton, Connecticut. The engagement was part of a raid intended to divert General Washington from marching against Lord Cornwallis's army in Virginia.
Episodes
Background and detail
Strategic Context. Lieutenant General Sir Henry Clinton ordered Benedict Arnold to raid New London and Groton. This action was designed to divert General George Washington from marching against Lord Cornwallis's army in Virginia during the American Revolutionary War.
The Assault. British forces led by Brigadier General Benedict Arnold and Lieutenant Colonel Edmund Eyre engaged a Connecticut militia force commanded by Lieutenant Colonel William Ledyard. The British forces were more numerous than the militia defending Fort Griswold across the Thames River.
People involved
- Benedict Arnold · British Brigadier General
- William Ledyard · American Lieutenant Colonel
- Edmund Eyre · British Lieutenant Colonel
Sources
- Battle of Groton Heights Wikipedia, revision of 2026-08-31
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.