The Ridgefield Historical Society is pleased to present an illustrated presentation by historian Keith Marshall Jones III about his new book on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 6:30-7:30 p.m.
“The Battle of Ridgefield: Benedict Arnold, the Patriot Militia, and the Surprising 1777 Battle that Galvanized Revolutionary Connecticut” incorporates a wealth of new discoveries about this seminal event in Ridgefield history. The talk will take place at St. Stephen’s Church North Hall, 353 Main Street in Ridgefield.
Book sales will help support the Ridgefield Historical Society, which is presenting this free program. A book signing and reception will follow the lecture. Seating is limited and tickets are required to attend the free presentation.
To reserve a seat and to order a book for delivery at the event, please visit the Ridgefield Historical Society website. Books may also be ordered online for shipping after the Sept. 18 release date; cost is $35.95 for the book, plus $7 for shipping. It’s a soft cover volume, 320 pages, illustrated and indexed. If you'd like more than one copy mailed to you please call the Ridgefield Historical Society (203-438-5821) before placing your order.
Mr. Jones, the founding president of the Ridgefield Historical Society and author of Farmers Against the Crown (2002), has added a great deal of new information and understanding to the story of inland Connecticut’s largest Revolutionary War engagement, the April 27, 1777, Battle of Ridgefield. The book, which Connecticut State Historian Emeritus Dr. Walter Woodward calls “the definitive account of the Battle of Ridgefield for many years to come,” will initially be available exclusively through the Ridgefield Historical Society.
The Battle of Ridgefield, Benedict Arnold, the Patriot Militia and the Surprising 1777 Battle that Galvanized Revolutionary Connecticut, “shows the action was a more complex and significant Revolutionary moment than previously realized,” according to Dr. Woodward. The book integrates findings from a new generation of historians, with the Ridgefield Historical Society’s National Park Service 2022 Ridgefield Battlefield Protection Program Phase I Study and a digital trove of never-before-published archival primary source material, to reveal that:
- General George Washington was warned twice in advance of Tryon’s potential incursion and would not, or could not, act.
- The bloody, day-long running Ridgefield battle involved more Redcoats than at Lexington and Concord, or in Washington’s startling victories at Trenton and Princeton. Combined casualties and missing, up to 120 men, were higher than previously thought.
- American militia Major General David Wooster’s son Thomas, contrary to several prominent historians, was not killed alongside his father at Ridgefield; he was not even there!
- Only about half the Fairfield County militia turned out, but, together with nine unsung New York militia companies, it was enough to quash Tryon’s loyalist vision and chase his British army from Connecticut.
- Though a clear British victory, Ridgefield’s consequences – the ascendance of Benedict Arnold, freeing up local militia units to participate at Saratoga, and tightened screw on Connecticut loyalists – created conditions that helped assure Britain would lose the war.
Keith Marshall Jones III is the author of JOHN LAURANCE, the Immigrant Founding Father America Never Knew (awarded the American Philosophical Society’s 2019 “Publication of the Year”). His other books include: CONGRESS AS MY GOVERNMENT, Chief Justice John Marshall in the War for Independence (2008); Farmers Against the Crown (2002); and The Farms of Farmingville (2001). He lives in New York City and Tucson, Arizona.
For more information, visit ridgefieldhistoricalsociety.org, email the Ridgefield Historical Society at info@ridgefieldhistoricalsociety.org or call 203-438-5821.