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05/16/2018 08:30 AMAmong Guilford’s many historic tributes, one commemorating a critically successful early Revolutionary War action has been missing for too long – 241 years, to be exact.
On Saturday, May 19, Guilford resident Craig Reynolds and co-members of the recreated 6th Connecticut Regiment will put that piece of Guilford history in place, by unveiling a plaque installed at Sachem’s Head Harbor commemorating the May 23, 1777 “Meigs Raid.”
The 6th Connecticut Regiment, together with the Guilford Preservation Alliance (GPA), invite interested members of the public to attend on Sat. May 19, 11 a.m. at “The Landing” of Sachem’s Head Harbor (lower Colonial Road). Parking is very limited and a transport bus (seats 20) will also leave the Community Center at 10:30 a.m. and return after the ceremony. Questions can be directed to GPA’s Event Historian, Tracy Tomaselli, by calling (203) 671-9351. Rain date for the event will be Sunday, May 20, 11 a.m.
With the 240th anniversary of the battle approaching in 2017, the 6th Connecticut Regiment began working over two years ago to research, raise funds, and work with local town and private organizations to bring about the plaque installation. The 6th thanks GPA as well as the Sachems Head Association and Town of Guilford for their assistance.
As a resident of Guilford, Craig, who portrays the 6th’s Corporal Thaddeus Todd, felt compelled to help the 6th Connecticut spearhead this campaign to commemorate an important Revolutionary War moment that happened in his hometown.
“The town’s historic role in this important moment in the Revolutionary War isn’t well known,” Craig says, “After 240 years, we felt it was important to raise the profile of this important event.”
The regiment’s present-day captain and founding member Richard Swartwout pointed the regiment in the direction of bringing about a commemorative plaque, says Craig.
“Our captain pushed us to do it because it was part of our heritage for the 6th Connecticut, and once I found out it was in Guilford, I pushed even harder,” says Craig. “But it was a group effort to do this. Our captain planted the seed; and we just took it and ran. It was really good to do the research; so we could understand more about it.”
The new “Meigs’ Raid American Revolutionary War” plaque describes the military action of 170 men, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Return Jonathan Meigs, who rowed across Long Island Sound to raid and destroy a British supply depot at Sag Harbor, New York. During the enemy engagement, not one American was killed or wounded. The 6th took 96 prisoners, destroyed 12 enemy vessels, and relieved the depot of its stores of hay, grain and other supplies. The 25-hour expedition was so pivotal to the flagging Continental Army that Congress voted to recognize Meigs for his heroic “prudence, activity, enterprise, and valor,” by awarding him a prestigious presentation sword. Today, the sword is on display in the Smithsonian.
The raid was a counter-attack after the British brutally attacked Danbury in April, 1777, destroying Continental Army supplies and killing over two dozen patriots.
“During the Revolutionary War, there was a lot going on between Connecticut and Long Island. Long Island was the British hot spot,” says Craig.
To retaliate for the burning of Danbury, Meigs and the 6th Connecticut planned a sneak attack on Sag Harbor, located on the western end of Long Island. From Guilford, that’s a distance of about 20 miles, as the crow flies.
“Imagine, these guys got into 13 whaleboats, which are about 20 feet long by today’s standards, and rowed that far,” says Craig, noting the Guilford launching point wasn’t a tactical choice.
“The 6th was made up of men from all over Connecticut, and they originally left from [their base in] New Haven and started going to Sag Harbor,” says Craig. “But a storm came in and they couldn’t manage the seas, so they docked at Sachem’s Head Harbor, which was Guilford’s harbor. They waited a couple of days for the weather to get better, and then they launched the attack from there.”
Rounding out the rowing flotilla were three American sloops.
“The three sloops had to go around the horn and come in,” says Craig. “They were brought because they planned on taking prisoners and taking all the wares; and they did,” says Craig.
The successful raid was so significant, General George Washington himself commended Meigs, adds Craig.
“This is a battle that Washington commended him for,” says Craig. “It wasn’t a big battle, but it was a huge win, because it was something that was needed at that time – because we weren’t doing very well. We did well up in Boston; but after that, we started going downhill. This is the first small, ‘big’ battle that we won; and we did it so well. And that’s why we think it really needs to be recognized.”
In fact, the idea to bring a commemorative plaque to town came to the members of the 6th Connecticut Regiment while participating in a reenactment of Meigs’ Raid on Long Island about three years ago.
“They have three or four plaques over there for this battle, and we didn’t have one over on this side. That’s why we really pushed for it,” says Craig.
Reenacting the battle also gave Craig just a small taste of what the 6th Connecticut went through on May 23, 1777. Instead of rowing across the Sound, the recreated regiment ferried over to Southold, LI (the tip of land facing Connecticut on the north fork, across from Sag Harbor).
“A couple of guys who had whale boats brought them to the reenactment; and we got in them and we rowed from Southold to Sag Harbor. Then we go out and we marched, and we did the battle and we came back,” says Craig of the trying reenactment, which included a march of about four miles. Still, as he notes, Lt.-Col. Meigs and his men had first rowed across Long Island Sound; and also carried their whale boats over land to get to the battle scene.
The 6th Connecticut participates in many reenactments and welcomes new members, he adds. Craig joined up about 18 years ago, after a chance business meeting with Swartwout.
“I sold lumber and I got to know him by selling him wood — he’s a master New England wood turner. I walked into his place of business; and where you’d usually see a desk, there was an 18th century (soldier’s kit) set up, with the tent and everything. I thought that was pretty neat,” says Craig.
From there, Craig was invited by Swartwout to attend a Fourth of July event at New Haven’s Grove Street Cemetery, where a member of the original 6th Connecticut is buried.
“I was just in civilians, and I watched them and I loved it,” says Craig, who joined the 6th the next weekend. “I love history. I grew up in Hamden and our family’s been there since the 1700’s — we traced our ancestry back to the HMS Rose. We had lineage in the Revolutionary war, but he wasn’t in 6th so I couldn’t play his part.”
From taking on the personas of original members to the gear they carry and the fires they cook over at campouts, members of today’s 6th Connecticut are painstaking in their attention to detail.
“One of the reasons why people understand Civil War more than the Revolutionary War is that there were photographs. When we’re out in public, we try to do everything as close to the original as possible, so people can see what it was like. We try to keep history alive,” says Craig.
Learn more about the 6th Connecticut Regiment at https://www.6thconnecticut.org/ or find The 6th Connecticut Regiment on Facebook.