Broadside Soliciting Recruits for the Continental Army, ca. 1775 – Connecticut Historical Society

Revolutionary War (1775-1783)

Even before war erupted, Connecticut passed anti-Tory laws. In time, these—and harassment from liberty-minded neighbors—forced many loyal to Britain to flee their homes or suffer imprisonment. When fighting started in 1775, Connecticut patriots earned acclaim, from Benedict Arnold (before he turned traitor) at the seizure of Fort Ticonderoga, to Israel Putnam at Bunker Hill. Largely free from British occupation and major battles (except for raids on Danbury, as well as New London and other coastal towns), Connecticut provided food, cannon, and other goods to the Continental army and became known as the Provision State. Other Revolutionary War notables include state hero Nathan Hale, and Hannah Bunce Watson, publisher of the Connecticut Courant.

More on Revolutionary War from the CT Digital Archive

Browse more interactive content on the CT Digital Archive website.

Read More

Featured

Connecticut, from the Best Authorities

Stamford’s Three-Gun Armada

During the Revolutionary War, American privateers utilized armed whaling boats to keep the British from the colonies' shores and prevent illicit trade in British goods. …[more]

Learn More

Websites

“Connecticut Daughters of the American Revolution,” 2011. Link.
“Connecticut Society of the Sons of the American Revolution,” 2010. Link.
“Nathan Hale Revisited: A Tory’s Account of the Arrest of the First American Spy.” Library of Congress, 2003. Link.
National Park Service. “Revolutionary Connecticut: Experience America’s Roads to Independence,” 2013. Link.

Places

Department of Energy & Environmental Protection. “Fort Griswold Battlefield State Park,” 2016. Link.
“General Israel Putnam Cottage (Knapp’s Tavern),” 2016. Link.
Connecticut Daughters of the American Revolution. “Governor Jonathan Trumbull House,” 2016. Link.
Connecticut Landmarks. “Nathan Hale Homestead,” 2016. Link.
The Connecticut Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. “Nathan Hale Schoolhouse - East Haddam,” 2016. Link.
“Oliver Ellsworth Homestead,” 2014. Link.
“The Huntington Homestead Museum,” 2017. Link.
National Park Service. “The Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route,” 2011. Link.
The Connecticut Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. “Trumbull War Office,” 2010. Link.
Connecticut Daughters of the American Revolution. “Wadsworth Stable,” 2012. Link.
“Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum,” 2017. Link.

Documents

“A Map of Connecticut and Rhode Island, with Long Island Sound, &C.” London: Gentleman’s Magazine, 1776. University of Connecticut Libraries, Map and Geographic Information Center - MAGIC. Link.
Lyman, Daniel. “A Sketch of New London & Groton with the Attacks Made on Forts Trumbull & Griswold by the British Troops Under the Command of Brigr. Genl. Arnold, Sept. 6th. 1781.” 1781. Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division. Link.
University of Connecticut. “Colonial Connecticut Records 1636-1776,” 2016.
Historical Society of East Hartford. “Connecticut Markers on the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route - National Historic Trail,” n.d. Link.
Doolittle, Amos. “Connecticut, from the Best Authorities.” Philadelphia: Mathew Carey, 1795. University of Connecticut Libraries, Map and Geographic Information Center - MAGIC. Link.
“Fort-Griswold.” Faden Collection, 1781. University of Connecticut Libraries, Map and Geographic Information Center - MAGIC. Link.
“Map - Gov. Tryon’s Expedition to Danbury, 1777.” ca 1777. University of Connecticut Libraries, Map and Geographic Information Center - MAGIC. Link.
Connecticut State Library. “Research Guide to Revolutionary War Service Records,” 2016. Link.
The Indian & Colonial Research Center. “Revolutionary War Databases,” 2012. Link.

Books

Collier, Christopher. Connecticut in the Continental Congress. Chester, CT: Pequot Press, 1973.
Kuslan, Louis I. Connecticut Science, Technology, and Medicine in the Era of the American Revolution. Hartford, CT: American Revolution Bicentennial Commission of Connecticut, 1978.
Fennelly, Catherine. Connecticut Women in the Revolutionary Era. Chester, CT: Pequot Press, 1975.
White, David Oliver. Connecticut’s Black Soldiers, 1775-1783. Chester, CT: Pequot Press, 1973.
Callahan, North. Connecticut’s Revolutionary War Leaders. Chester, CT: Pequot Press, 1973.
Buel Jr., Richard. Dear Liberty: Connecticut’s Mobilization for the Revolutionary War. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 1980.
Middlebrook, Louis F. Exploits of the Connecticut Ship “Defence”, Commanded by Captain Samuel Smedley of Fairfield, Ct.: Revolutionary War. Hartford, CT, 1923. Link.
Roth, David M, and Freeman Meyer. From Revolution to Constitution: Connecticut, 1763 to 1818. Chester, CT: The Pequot Press, 1975.
Connecticut Historical Society, Moses Fargo, Nathaniel Morgan, Simeon Lyman, Benjamin Trumbull, Oliver Boardman, Bayze Wells, and Joseph Joslyn. Orderly Book and Journals Kept by Connecticut Men While Taking Part in the American Revolution. 1775-1778. Vol. 7. Hartford, CT: The Connecticut Historical Society, 1899. Link.
Connecticut. Adjutant-General’s Office, and Henry Phelps Johnston. Record of Connecticut Men in the Military and Naval Service During the War of the Revolution, 1775-1783. Hartford, CT: Case, Lockwood & Brainard Company, 1889. Link.
Sons of the American Revolution. General David Humphreys Branch. Revolutionary Characters of New Haven. New Haven, CT: Connecticut Society, Sons of the American Revolution, 1911. Link.
Selig, Robert A., and Connecticut Historical Commission. Rochambeau’s Cavalry: Lauzun’s Legion in Connecticut, 1780-1781: The Winter Quarters of Lauzun’s Legion in Lebanon and Its March Through the State in 1781: Rochambeau’s Conferences in Hartford and Wethersfield: Historical and Architectural Survey. Hartford, CT: Connecticut Historical Commission, State of Connecticut, 2000.

Articles

Carlson, Suzanne. “The ‘Provision State’: Connecticut Resources Fed Struggle For Independence During Revolutionary War.” Hartford Courant, May 4, 2014, sec. Moments In History | Courant 250. Link.