STORIES OF REVOLUTIONARY WAR SOLDIERS

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William Ledyard

" William Ledyard was born in Connecticut in 1738. He was a murdered martyr in the glorious cause of Liberty. After bravely defending Port Griswold at New London against an overwhelming force under the traitor Arnold he was compelled to surrender. A British officer entered and asked who commanded the fort. Colonel Ledyard replied: "I did but you do now" and handed him his sword which he immediately plunged through the body of his defenseless prisoner. Nearly 70 were slaughtered after the surrender. The fort was manned by 157 militia hastily collected and poorly armed. But 6 were killed in the regular attack. The British had two commissioned officers and 40 privates killed: 135 non-commissioned officers and privates wounded, and conclusive proof of the bravery of Colonel Ledyard and his men in an action of only forty minutes. The following extract from the inscription on the tomb-stone of Colonel Ledyard shows the high estimation in which he was held." "By a judicious and faithful discharge of the various duties of his station he rendered most essential services to his country and stood confessed the unshaken patriot and intrepid hero. He lived the pattern of magnanimity, courtesy and humanity. He died the victim of ungenerous rage and cruelty."

Source: The Sages and Heroes of the American Revolution by L. Carroll Judson