William Ledyard Rare Letter by Martyr of Battle of Groton Heights Requests Provisions 1781

In this letter to the selectmen of Lebanon, Connecticut, Lt. Col. William Ledyard requests that they send any flour or meal they have collected to Norwich Landing for use by his troops in New London. Lebanon is approximately 20 miles north of New London, and Norwich is roughly ten miles from each on the Thames River. Flour and meal delivered there could be transported by water down the Thames to New London.

Five months later, Ledyard was murdered in the act of surrendering by a Loyalist officer at the Battle of Groton Heights.

[REVOLUTIONARY WAR.] WILLIAM LEDYARD, Autograph Letter Signed, to Selectmen of Lebanon, April 4, 1781, New London, Connecticut. 1 p., 8" x 12". Expected folds; addressed on verso; tear from breaking wax seal on opening that obscures one word; irregular edges; somewhat faint text.

Complete Transcript
New London 4th April 1781
Gentlemen
I have received a Resolve dated 26th Ulto directing me to call on you Gentlemen for what flour & meal you have got collected for the Use of this Department, and as we are now almost destitute of any flour, will be much Obligd to you to order to Norwich Landing what you have collected for the Public Acct as soon as possible, for which I will send you a Receipt and Resolves of the Council of Safety if Necessary.
I am Gentlemen Your / Most Obedt Servant
Wm Ledyard Lt Colo / Commandt
To the Gentn Sellectmen of the Town of Lebanon

Historical Background
On September 6, 1781, a British force under the command of General Benedict Arnold attacked Forts Trumbull and Griswold. Fort Trumbull on the west side of the river with only a handful of defenders fell quickly. On the eastern side at Fort Groton, a group of approximately 150 militia under the command of Lt. Col. Ledyard resisted an attacking force of approximately 800 men. After the death of the British lieutenant colonel commanding the force and his successor major, command passed to enraged Tory Major Stephen Bromfeld. When the British succeeded in storming the fort, Ledyard told his men to surrender. He offered his sword to Bromfeld, who used it to murder Ledyard and led a massacre of some eighty surrendering Americans. According to one report, African American soldier Lambo Latham avenged Ledyard by killing Bromfeld. The British forces proceeded to destroy New London. It was one of the last British victories in North America before the end of the war and the last significant combat in the northern theater of the war.

Connecticut Governor Jonathan Trumbull (1710-1785) was born in Lebanon and was the only colonial governor to support the Patriot cause in the Revolutionary War. He served as Governor of Connecticut from 1769 to 1784. When the Connecticut General Assembly created the Council of Safety in 1775, Trumbull convened it at his store in Lebanon, where Trumbull and his supporters planned the delivery of supplies to the Continental Army and militia units. Many of the Council's more than 1,200 meetings were held in this building, which became known as "The Pentagon of the Revolution." Council of Safety Secretary William Williams (1731-1811) was also a Lebanon native and Trumbull's son-in-law. Williams was one of the Connecticut signers of the Declaration of Independence.

On March 26, 1781, the Governor and Council of Safety met in Hartford. They resolved "That Colo. William Ledyard be directed to call upon the selectmen of the towns of Windham and Lebanon for the flour collected in said towns for the use of the State, for the purpose of furnishing bread to the garrison at New London and Groton, and the said selectmen are hereby ordered and directed to deliver said flour to said Colo. Ledyard or his order, or so much thereof as he shall require, taking proper receipts for the same."

The board of selectmen was typically a board of three members that acted as the executive arm of government for New England towns, such as Lebanon, Connecticut. They had charge of the day-to-day operations of the town government.

William Ledyard (1738-1781) was born in Connecticut. During the Revolutionary War, he was a lieutenant colonel in the Connecticut militia. He commanded Fort Trumbull and Fort Griswold on either side of the mouth of the Thames River to protect New London, Connecticut. He was murdered with his own sword after surrendering by British Major Stephen Bromfield in Benedict Arnold's raid on New London.

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