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War of 1812
Battle of Goshen Point
The Battle of Goshen Point proved an important victory for America’s small gunboat fleet over a larger and more powerful British force.
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The Hartford Convention – Today in History: December 15
On December 15, 1814, delegates to the Hartford Convention met in secret at the Old State House in Hartford.
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Fame and Infamy for the Hulls of Derby
Two Connecticut men, uncle and nephew, had starring roles—one in defeat and one in victory—during the War of 1812.
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Samuel Foot: A Trader Turned Governor
Samuel Foot was a West India trader from Cheshire, Connecticut, who went on to a successful career in politics in the US Congress.
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Defending Connecticut: Fortifying New London Against the British in 1812
“Sir, You will immediately commence the repairs of the magazine at Fort Trumbull and the block house at Fort Griswold…,” wrote the US Secretary of War to a captain in New London.
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Site Lines: The Mysterious Blue Lights
During the War of 1812, warning signals in the form of two blue lights prevented US ships from slipping past the British blockade of New London’s harbor.
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The Hartford Convention or Leap no Leap
A political cartoon lampoons radical members of New England’s Federalist party by poking fun at their motivations for gathering in Hartford to end the War of 1812.
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Roger Griswold: A Governor Not Afraid To Challenge Authority
Born in Lyme, Roger Griswold was a lawyer, judge, and politician who spent the better part of his life in service to Connecticut.
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A Patriotic Legacy in Print
Two hundred years ago, on September 10, 1813, the US captured six vessels from the British Royal Navy, the most powerful maritime force in the world.
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The Stonington Battle Flag
On August 10, 1814, during a lull in the attack by the British on Stonington, citizens nailed a large US flag–a banner of defiance–to a pole above the battery.
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The British Raid on Essex
On a cold April night in 1814, a British raiding force rowed six miles up the Connecticut River to burn the privateers of Essex, then known as Pettipaug.
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An Orderly & Decent Government: Significant Events & Developments, 1776-1818
With its limited supply of fertile land either occupied or exhausted, one of Connecticut’s principal exports in the post-Revolutionary years was people.
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Middletown’s Nathan Starr Supplied Cutlasses for the War of 1812
On May 18, 1808, the Navy Agent Joseph Hull of New London negotiated a contract with Nathan Starr of Middletown for 2,000 cutlasses.
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The War Connecticut Hated
For most Connecticans, the War of 1812 was as much a war mounted by the federal government against New England as it was a conflict with Great Britain.
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