Rebels, Tories & RedcoatsColonial New Haven and the American Revolution

Puritan New Haven

Colonial New Haven

Yale College

Long Wharf

Wadsworth Map of 1748

Landholding and merchant ventures

Smaller merchants, shopkeepers, yeoman farmers

Artisans, day laborers, fishermen, sailors

Arrival of Yale College, build up of merchant community, trade with Boston, transformed New Haven into a cosmopolitan town within 11 decades

Famous Faces of Colonial New Haven

Roger Sherman Ezra Stiles

Britain’s Bad Act-ing

Stamp Act, 1765

Quartering Act, 1765

Declaratory Act, 1766

Townshend Revenue Act, 1767

Intolerable Acts, 1774

Example of the Stamp Act

“That the said colonies and plantations in America have been, are, and of right ought to be subordinate unto, and dependent upon the imperial crown and parliament of Great Britain…”

Imposed taxes specifically to raise revenue on lead, glass, paper, paint and tea

Benedict Arnold, the Rebel

in New Haven

House on Water Street Colonel Arnold Arrest warrant from 1766

Shop sign on George Street

Demanding the Keys... April 22, 1775

Washington Tavern on College and Chapel Streets

Present day...

“Benedict Arnold Demands the Powder House Key” by Morton Kunstler

David Wooster

Will New Haven Be Invaded?Proximity to New York City and Newport

Significant Loyalist faction

Supplier to the Continentals

Redcoat Command

General William Tryon with assistance from General George Garth

Camilla (frigate)

Scorpion (sloop)

Halifax (brig)

Hussar (galley)

British ships bound for New Haven’s Harbor

Garth pushed to cross in Westville

Tryoninvades East Haven

Rebel Command

General Andrew Ward of Guilford, CT

Colonel Hezekiah Sabin of New Haven, CT

Captain Phineas Bradley of New Haven, CT

Lieutenant Daniel Bishop

Lieutenant Evelyn Pierpont

Lieutenant Azel Kimberly

All of New Haven,

CT

James Hillhouse Aaron Burr

James Campbell, British Adjutant

Despite being a British officer and part of the invasion, Campbell saved the life of patriot-parson, Noah Williston.

“We make war on soldiers, not civilians.” -Campbell

*Source: Macaluso, Laura. Historic Treasures of New Haven. The History Press. 2013

East Shore Destruction

Amos Morris Pardee-Morris House

Amos Morris’s List

Toll on New Haven

❖ 27 Patriots and New Haveners Dead, 19 wounded, 22 Prisoners of War

❖ 9 British & Hessian soldiers dead, 40 wounded, 25 missing

❖ 11 houses, 6 stores, 6 barns, and 7 vessels destroyed

➔ A polarization: (You’re either with us or against us), loyalists not

welcome

➔ Loyalist families had to flee, some were later invited to return

“...the conduct of the militia at New Haven does them the highest honor.”-

George Washington

Raid on NewHaven, Success or Failure? For Whom?

General Tryon

Admiral George Collier

Commander-in-Chief, Sir Henry Clinton

Lord George Germain

King Charles III

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