Stoning ton, Connecticut

Before this place, on August 9, 1814, Sir Thomas M. Hardy appeared with a considerable force for service on sea and land, on three large ve els and a bomb-ship. He sent word to the magistrates of the borough that he intended to destroy the village and gave the inhabitants one hour in which to leave it. The magistrates replied: ‘‘ We shall defend the place to the last extremity; should it be destroyed we will perish in the ruins.” Most of the inhabitants left the town, and at night the bomb-ship ‘‘Terror”’ rained shells and rockets on the village, but without doing much damage. During the bombardment some bold spirits of Stoning ton erected redoubts on the peninsula and placed upon it a battery of 6-pound and 18-pound iron cannon. With these the enemy’s ships were a ailed until all the ammunition was exhausted. Some then proposed to surrender, but a magistrate acting as captain declared that the American flag should h not be hauled down in submi ion to a foe. Some powder was found in a place of concealment and the defense was renewed with such spirit that the British were forced to retire. 263