Tryon's raid

The military activity in the northern states was reduced significantly, and the armies of George Washington and Sir Henry Clinton watched each other warily in the New York area.

[2] He decided to dispatch Major General William Tryon, who organized an expedition to raid the coastal communities of Connecticut.

[1] Tryon assembled a force of 2600 men, and embarked them on a fleet on Long Island Sound commanded by Sir George Collier.

One division, led by Brigadier General George Garth, consisted of the 54th Regiment along with several companies of Royal Fusiliers, foot guards, and Hessian jägers.

Tryon's division landed in East Haven, Connecticut, where it met spirited resistance from a band of local militia, but managed to take Black Rock Fort.

In addition to destroying 54 barns and 47 storehouses, they burned 83 homes, two churches, and municipal buildings including a schoolhouse, the courthouse, and the local jail.

[6] After another night ashore, the expedition sailed across Long Island Sound, where it spent two days resting and resupplying in Huntington, New York.

Washington accused him of making war against women and children, and Silas Deane called the raids acts of "barbarity" and "almost beyond description".

[12] General Clinton insisted on a written report justifying the burnings,[12] and complained of the raiding he had been reduced to ordering, "I have been a buccaneer already too long; I detest that sort of war.

"[11] The last raid by the British against the Connecticut coast was conducted by its native son, Benedict Arnold, in 1781, when he attacked the port of New London.