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From YouTube: Fort Griswold - Groton Tercentennial Lecture Series
Description
Connecticut Parks Services' Jonathan Lincoln discusses the historical significance of Groton's Fort Griswold and what makes the Fort one of the most unique parks in Connecticut. This lecture is part of the Groton Public Library's Tercentennial Lecture Series celebrating the incorporation of Groton in 1705.
A
There
are
some
part-time
helpers.
They
need
to
be
trained
by
the
full-time
helpers,
as
well
as
cutting
lawns,
taking
care
of
of
the
parts
that
have
buildings
on
them.
Haley
farm
doesn't
happen
to
have
that.
One
of
my
hats
that
I've
been
wearing
recently
is
that
I
would
love
to
have
an
outhouse
for
the
Haley
farm.
We
have
two
for
bluff
point.
We
have
none
for
Haley
farm,
but
even
with
the
two
John
and
his
one
full-time
person
and
few
part-time
people
are
the
ones
that
take
care
of
all
that.
A
B
Thank
you
very
much.
It's
a
pleasure
to
be
here.
One
of
my
hobbies
is
genealogy
and
have
traced
my
one
of
my
ancestors
back
to
Groton
in
1635.
So
it's
really
a
pleasure
to
be
here
to
help
celebrate
grotton's
300th
we're
here
to
talk
about
Fort
Griswold
I've
been
involved
at
Fort
Griswold
since
1979
when
I
worked
as
a
summer
employee
there
mowing
lawns
and
things
like
that.
B
I've
done
just
about
every
job
there
is
to
do
on
the
park,
so
I
can
literally
say:
I
I
know
every
inch
of
the
park
I've
been
the
park
supervisor
there.
Since
1985
I
lived
on
the
park
from
1985
to
1998,
so
it's
a
real
jewel
for
the
state
of
Connecticut.
Probably
the
most
important
thing
I
could
tell
you
today
is
that
it's
one
of
the
best
extant
remains
of
a
Revolutionary
War
fort
that
there
is
so
that
makes
it
very
significant
for
Connecticut
and
something
we
should
all
be
proud
of.
B
At
any
rate.
In
1775,
they
decided
to
create
forts
to
protect
New
London
Harper.
They
chose
the
height
on
Groton
side
to
locate
Fort
Griswold,
which
was
named
after
deputy
governor
Matthew
Griswold,
and
they
chose
a
point
of
land
on
a
New
London
side
to
to
cite
Fort
Trumbull,
which
was
named
after
colonial
governor
Jonathan
Trumbull.
The
forts
are
exactly
one
mile
apart,
so
really
they
were.
One
of
the
things
they
looked
at
was
the
overlapping
firepower
that
the
fort's
could
afford
to
protect
the
harbor.
B
So
really
the
guns
that
each
fort
had
had
it
had
a
pretty
accurate
range
of
a
little
over
half
a
mile
to
be
able
to
overlap
and
cover
the
harbor
New
London
was
a
very
successful
privateering
port.
During
the
Revolutionary
War
privateers
were
licensed
armed
ships
privately
owned.
That
would
go
out
and
capture
British
shipping,
then,
on
his
way
to
British
held
in
New
York,
they
were
very
successful.
They
were
a
real
thorn
in
the
British
side.
During
the
summer
of
1781,
they
captured
the
Hana,
which
was
valued
at
thirty
thousand
pounds
sterling.
B
We
have
one
of
the
fans
that
was
on
that
ship,
the
Hana
in
our
monument
house
Museum
when
they
would
bring
a
prize
ship
in
they
would
fire
three
cannon
shot,
which
was
generally
good
news.
Everybody
would
do
well
by
bringing
in
a
prize
ship.
The
warehouses
would
be
full,
the
crew
would
get
paid,
the
owners
of
the
ship
would
get
paid.
It
was
generally
good
news,
but
in
1775
they
located
Fort
Griswold
on
the
Groton
side,
and
this
is
a
1776
map
of
the
Harbor
Fort
Trumbull
over
in
this
area
here
fort
grizzled.
B
B
This
was
the
first
fortification
that
was
built
at
fort
grizzled,
a
river
battery
following
the
natural
configuration
of
the
land.
Now
this
is
where
our
present
River
battery
is
now,
and
this
was
called
the
covered
way.
It
was
really
a
ditch
that
they
could
get
up
and
out
of
the
harm's
way
it
didn't
have
a
top
on
it,
but
it
was
really
a
ditch
lined
with
stone
walls.
They
could
duck
down
and
protect
themselves
from
enemy
fire
up
at
the
top
here
behind
the
ledge.
This
went
up
around
the
ledge.
B
This
was
the
barracks,
so
many
people
don't
know
that
that
the
river
battery
and
the
covered
way
actually
predate
the
fort.
So
that
was
the
first
thing
there
and
then,
after
that,
they
constructed
the
fort
some
of
the
features.
I
know
I
realized
it's
hard
to
read,
but
the
the
magazine
was
in
this
area.
Here.
Here's
the
covered
way
that
came
up
behind
the
ledge.
B
This
structure,
this
V
out
in
the
front,
was
called
a
ravelin
and
each
one
of
these
little
triangles
here
is
a
gun
embrasure,
and
this
line
this
rectangle
right
here
was
the
barracks,
and
here
was
the
well,
so
it
was
pretty
well
self
self-sufficient
and
it
was
entirely
manned
by
by
militia
and
locals.
There
was
no
Continental
Army
here.
B
The
most
significant
thing
to
happen
on
the
property
was
September,
6,
1781,
I'm,
sure
all
you
know
the
Battle
of
Groton
Heights
and
the
burning
of
New
London.
The
idea
was
that
Benedict
Arnold
would
make
a
surprise
attack
during
the
summer
of
1781
after
they
captured
the
Hanna
Rivington
Royal
Gazette,
which
was
a
loyalist
newspaper
published
in
New
Jersey
referred
to
New
London,
as
the
magazine
of
America
and
as
the
most
detestable
nest
of
pirates
on
the
continent.
B
Those
are
pretty
pretty
strong
words
for
fur
back,
then
many
people
feel
that
the
battle
took
place
as
revenge
for
the
the
privateers
or
at
that
time
this
was
one
month
before
the
surrender
Yorktown's.
This
was
the
end
of
the
Revolutionary
War,
and
some
people
feel
that
it
may
have
been
a
diversionary
tactic
to
try
to
divert
Washington
who
was
then
marching
south
towards
Yorktown
the
idea
that
what
Benedict
Arnold
had
turned
about
a
year
before
and
he
was
put
in
charge
of
this
expedition.
B
He,
the
idea
of
the
attack,
was
to
come
in
at
night
on
an
onshore
breeze,
disable
the
fort's,
destroy
the
rebel
fleet
and
then
in
the
middle
of
the
night
in
early
September,
the
breeze
would
change
to
an
offshore
breeze
and
they
would
be
able
to
just
sail
right
out.
Well,
the
breeze
changed
much
earlier
than
they
thought
and
the
the
35
or
so
British
ships
got
stuck
out
off
the
mouth
of
the
harbor
when
they
were
seen
by
the
by
the
locals
and
alarm
was
sounded
now.
B
The
alarm
for
an
attack
was
to
Cannon
Colonel
William
Ledyard
was
in
charge
of
the
harbors
defenses.
He
was
in
charge
of
Fort
Griswold.
He
was
in
charge
of
Fort
Trumbull
and
he
was
in
charge
of
Fort
nonsense.
Fort
nonsense
was
a
fortification
that
was
up
near
Montauk,
Avenue,
New
London.
It
had
no
range
to
any
water
body,
and
so
the
locals
called
it
fort
nonsense
or
fort
folly.
B
It
was
probably
one
of
the
leftovers
from
a
fortified
house
from
before
the
construction
of
Fort
Griswold
and
Fort
Trumbull
Colonel
William
Leger,
to
ordered
the
fort
grizzle
to
fire.
The
two
shots
Benedict
Arnold,
knowing
the
signals
really
realized
that
he
was
from
Norwich
just
up
the
river
fired.
A
third
shot
which,
to
the
surrounding
countryside,
was
actually
kind
of
good
news.
B
Three
shots
remember
was
a
signal
that
they
were
bringing
a
prize
ship
and
from
from
a
privateer,
so
they
again
fired
the
two
shots
and
Benedict
Arnold
fired
a
third
confusing
the
signal
because
they
couldn't
get
the
British
ships
up
into
the
river.
They
were
against
the
wind
and
against
the
tide.
They
disembarked
down
at
the
mouth
of
the
harbor,
roughly
Ocean
Beach
on
a
New
London
side
about
800
troops
and
every
point
on
the
Groton
side
about
800
troops.
B
They
then
proceeded
to
march
up
towards
the
fort's
Fort
Trumbull
was
really
just
a
three-sided
River
battery
on
a
New
London
side
and
not
well
defended
from
its
landward
side,
because
the
British
were
approaching
from
the
land
captain
Adams
Shapley
and
a
30
or
so
defenders
of
Fort
Trumbull
fired
one
volley
at
the
approaching
British
and
then
got
into
boats
and
went
over
to
help
defend
fort
Griswold.
So
a
lot
of
the
defenders
at
Fort
Griswold
originally
came
from
Fort
Trumbull.
B
There
was
roughly
a
hundred
and
sixty
five
men
in
men
and
boys
in
fort
rizal
when
it
was
attacked
by
the
800
British,
so
they
were
outnumbered,
close
seven
or
eight
to
one.
There
was
demands
for
surrender
which
were
refused.
The
second
demand
for
surrender
came
with
a
threat
that
the
defenders
would
be
given
no
quarter.
In
other
words,
if
they
were
captured,
they
wouldn't
be
treated
very
well.
The
response
from
Colonel
Leonard
was
let
the
consequences
be
what
they
may.
We
will
not
give
up
the
fort
with
that.
B
Another
attack
by
the
British
took
place,
and
at
this
time
it
was
just
that
men
in
arms.
There
was
no
British
artillery
up
near
the
fort
at
that
time,
so
the
fort
was
able
to
hold
its
own
fairly
well
and
a
stray
shot
dropped.
The
colors
the
flag
dropped
from
its
halyard
being
cut.
It
was
quickly
remounted
on
a
Pike
pole,
but
a
lot
of
the
British
took
that
as
a
surrender
and
came
charging
over
only
to
be
repulsed
again.
B
Three
of
the
British
commanders
were
killed
in
the
in
the
attack
and
there
was
roughly
50
or
so
British
killed.
At
that
point,
then,
just
by
sheer
numbers,
the
British
gained
entrance
to
the
fort
Colonel
Edward
handed
his
sword
and
surrender
was
run
through
with
his
own
sword
and
a
massacre
ensue
about
88
of
the
65
or
so
defenders
were
killed.
B
At
that
point,
I'd
like
to
pause,
we
have
some
reenactors
here
in
attendance
and
I
mean
I
could
talk
an
hour
just
solely
on
the
Battle
of
Groton
Heights,
or
maybe
even
that
long
just
on
Benedict
Arnold,
but
we
are
covering
the
whole.
You
know
history
of
the
park
so
but
at
this
point,
I'd
like
to
pause
and
we've
got
some
things
I'd
like
to
show
Halon.
B
D
General
Washington
usually
discouraged
women
to
be
accompanying
their
husbands
in
battle,
mainly
because
it
slowed
down
everything.
It
also
caused
rifts
between
the
old
old
age
thing
of
people,
though
the
gentleman
who
would
have
a
spouse
there
and
the
single
soldiers
that
wouldn't
so
General
Washington,
usually
always
favored
women
that
were
of
a
large
stature
who
would
not
be
very
beautiful
so
that
men
would
be
discouraged
giving
them
their
attention.
I
am
dressed
today
in
what
would
be
a
polonaise
gown.
D
It
is
not
every
day
where
it's
one
of
my
finer
dresses
that
I
own
a
woman
if
she
had
one
fine
dress
like
this,
this
would
have
probably
have
been
my
wedding
dress
and
it
is,
you
know,
a
polonaise
where
it's
a
double
layer
and
has
a
ruffle
its
boned
down
the
front
here,
and
we
have
pockets.
Women
nowadays
carry
pocketbooks,
but
I
have
two
pocketbooks
on
today.
My
pocketbooks
are
down
here
in
Nice
slits
of
my
skirts
and
a
woman
since
mine
were
hidden
means
that
I
am
married.
E
E
Second
continental
light
dragoons,
a
regiment
that
was
established
under
the
Congressional
orders
and
funding.
It
wasn't
a
state-raised
regiment,
although
was
raised
in
the
state
of
Connecticut
Massachusetts
in
New
Jersey.
The
only
dragoons
you
would
have
seen
at
Fort
Griswold
were
couriers
and
messengers
going
through
along
the
coast,
road
to
carrying
washed
messages
from
Washington
to
Rochambeau
or
the
other
American
commanders
up
in
Rhode
Island
area
and
just
to
quickly
spin.
Through
this,
as
opposed
to
the
frigate
length
musket,
they
carried
a
carbine
length,
musket
the
main
difference
being
that
it
could
be.
E
Which
was
the
saber
so
but
because
dragoons
could
fight
mounted
and
dismounted,
they
also
carried
a
bayonet
that
would
fit
on
the
musket
now
being
shorter
than
the
must
the
musket
cured
by
the
British
soldiers.
It
wasn't
a
good
deal
to
go
up
a
bayonet
to
bayonet,
but
if
you
had
the
bayonet,
you
had
a
chance,
whereas
if
you
had
a
rifle
that
didn't
mount
it,
you
had
no
chance
against
the
musket.
Now
it's
simple
enough
what
you
would
have
seen-
or
it
would
have
been
civilians-
that
they
would
not
have
had
the
fancy
headgear.
E
Chair
the
riding
gauntlets,
the
army
could
barely
afford
weapons
and
food.
The
gauntlets
would
not
have
been
there.
The
coat
the
regimental
coats
wouldn't
have
been
worn
either.
So
all
you
would
have
ended
up
with
would
have
been.
They
would
have
had
a
cartridge
box
on
their
side
in
their
musket
if
they
had
a
musket
or
a
light
fowling-piece,
which
was
like
a
bird
hunting
shotgun
and
that's
all
they
would
have
had
to
for
the
home
guard
for
the
civilians,
Manning,
Fort,
Griswold
and.
B
Frances
men
wearing
Caulkins
history
in
London
quotes
that
the
shrieks
could
be
heard
in
New
London.
When
that
wagon
crashed
the
wounded
were
taken
to
the
nearest
house,
which
happened
to
be
the
House
of
ensign
Ebenezer
Avery,
where
many
of
them
spent
the
night
without
any
relief
and
the
next
morning
were
cared
for
and
a
lot
a
lot
of
them
didn't
make
it.
Through
the
night.
The
ebony
xur
Avery
house
is
now
located
on
the
grounds
of
Fort
grizzled,
State
Park.
B
They
did
a
significant
rebuilding
of
Fort
Trumbull
in
New
London,
and
they
did
quite
a
bit
of
of
rebuilding
a
fort
grizzled
as
well.
You
can
see
a
different
configuration
of
buildings
here.
They
also
dug
a
ditch
around
the
western
side
of
the
fort
on
the
water
water
side
of
the
fort
that
wasn't
there
in
the
Revolutionary
War.
But
here
you
can
really
get
a
feel
for
how
the
fortifications
came
out
around
the
ravelin.
B
A
lot
of
people
see
this
ravelin
and
don't
really
understand
what
its
function
was
as
it
looks
today,
but
its
function
was
to
protect
the
gate,
so
the
enemy
couldn't
pull
their
cannon
up
to
their
gate
and
just
blast
away.
So
these
projections
here
were
called
a
badess
which
were
like
juniper
branches
and
things
tied
together
at
one
end,
with
the
points
sticking
out
to
slow
down
any
enemy
troop
from
approaching.
B
We
suspect
one
of
them
may
have
been
a
shot
furnace,
but
we
really
don't
know
very
much
about
them
and
then
that
last
one
was
in
1819.
This
is
1820.
This
was
a
plan
for
Fort
Griswold
in
1820.
If
it
had
been
built,
the
the
property
would
look
a
lot
different
than
it
does
now
in
1794,
when
they
reconfigured
and
added
on
to
the
fort.
They
also
built
a
block
house
which
was
was
located
on
the
parade
ground
inside
the
inside
the
fort.
You
can
see
it
can
see
it
here,
square
structure.
B
They
also
built
a
block
house
at
Fort
Trumbull
and
the
block
house
at
Fort.
Trumbull,
we
believe,
is
the
the
only
one
still
in
existence.
They
were
a
square
structure
built
of
brick
and
stone
and
kind
of
an
area
of
last
refuge
used
as
a
magazine
and
as
barracks,
and
have
you
if
you
go
to
Fort
Griswold
today,
you
can
still
see
some
signs
of
the
foundation
of
the
block
house.
That
was
in
the
middle
of
the
fort.
B
In
1826
they
laid
the
cornerstone
of
the
monument
and
it
was
funded
by
a
lottery,
and
this
is
a
copy
of
one
of
the
lottery
tickets.
You
could
buy
for
two
dollars
and
that's
what
funded
the
was
a.
It
was
approved
by
this,
the
legislature
state
legislature
in
Connecticut,
and
they
built
the
monument.
It
was
took
four
years
to
build
it's
120,
so
it
was
127
feet
high
when
it
was
built,
26
feet
square
at
the
base
and
12
feet
square
at
the
top.
B
It
was
built
always
granite,
quarried
locally,
just
south
of
Fort
Griswold,
there's
actually
granite
Street,
that's
where
all
the
it
all
came
from.
It
was
built
by
Center
Derek
means
and
they
would
build
a
level
move.
The
derrick
up
build
a
level,
so
lots
of
teams
of
oxen
to
Holly's
huge
granite
blocks
up
there
to
build
the
monument.
B
The
cornerstone
was
laid
on
September
6
1826
and
the
monument
was
completed
and
dedicated
on
September
6
1830
and
here's
an
early
photograph
of
the
monument
a
little
hard
to
see.
But
you
can
see
it
has
an
open
top.
So
I
originally
have
you
climbed
to
the
top
166
steps
up
to
the
top.
You
would
just
have
a
little
railing
around
and
I'm
glad
they
have
they
closed
it
since
then,
moving
up
to
a
later
period.
This
is
1842,
and
this
is
the
plans
they
had
for
the
river
battery.
B
If
you
notice
from
the
earlier
configuration
see
the
river
battery
followed
the
natural
lay
of
the
land
in
1818
42,
they
now
implemented
what
they
called
the
third
system
of
coastal
defense
and
it's
the
same
kind
of
program
that
built
the
present
Fort
Trumbull
in
New
London,
but
they
redid
the
river
battery
at
Fort
Griswold
and
instead
of
having
a
SIG's
AG
shape.
They
straightened
it
out
and
kind
of
obliterated
the
southern
half
of
the
the
western
half
of
the
covered
way
and
they
made
gun
emplacements
in
a
straight
line.
B
B
The
idea
was
to
to
mount
15-inch
rodman
guns
there.
Actually
they
had
8
and
10
inch,
rod
and
guns
that
were
going
to
mount,
which
were
much
heavier
the
barrel
of
a
32
pounder.
We
have
two
of
them
in
existence
over
at
the
end
of
monument
street.
At
the
entrance
to
fort
Griswold.
Those
barrels
weigh
7,500
pounds
the
15
inch
Rodman,
which
they
proposed
to
to
mount
at
Fort
Griswold.
The
barrels
weighed
49,000
pounds,
so
quite
a
difference.
That's
why
they
had
to
go
to
a
heavier
base
to
be
able
to
support
it.
B
This
was
actually
in
1876
when
they
were
getting
ready
to
mount
these
15-inch
rodman
guns,
these
big
heavy
guns.
They
have
three
of
them.
They
brought
and
deposited
there,
although
they
never
mounted
them
and
here's
a
whole
stockpile
of
cannonballs
and
some
of
the
carriages
and
and
guns
that
they
dismounted
getting
ready
to
mount
these
heavier
ones
we're
kind
of
jumping
around,
but
we're
going
chronologically.
If
you,
if
you
bear
with
me
at
the
same
time,
that
the
monument
was
built,
the
monument
house
right
next
to
it,
was
built.
B
It
was
a
small
caretakers
house
and
had
kind
of
a
kitchen
area
sleeping
area,
and
there
was
a
caretaker
who
lived
there.
Who
would
go
out
and
open
the
monument
and
allow
the
people
to
climb
it.
In
1893,
the
Anna
Warner
Bailey
chapter
of
the
DAR
was
formed
and
they
met
at
the
bill
library
next
door.
Their
first
Regent
was
a
b-day
Slocombe
who
lived
in
a
house
called
Daisy
crest
right
across
from
the
park.
B
It's
now
a
condominium
house
across
from
bill
library,
a
big
yellow
house
there
and
that's
where
she
lived
and
she
approached
the
state
after
the
caretaker
moved
out.
He
the
caretaker,
moved
into
a
house
on
Smith
Street,
and
she
approached
the
state
about
using
the
monument
house
as
a
place
for
visitors
to
the
fort
to
rest
and
here's
one
of
the
earliest
photographs
that
we
have
of
the
interior
of
the
monument
house.
I.
B
Think
all
of
the
DAR
ladies
had
first
had
their
own
case.
I
know
there
was
the
the
Lucy
Stanton
wheeler
case.
Where
we
have,
we
have
copies
of
Burleigh
inventories
and
I.
Think
Lucy,
please
stand
and
wheel
her
out.
Did
everybody
else
shift
all
the
best
stuff
in
her
case,
there's
about
1700
items
now
in
the
collection
at
the
monument
house
at
Fort
Griswold
and
most
of
it
came
from
early
members
of
the
DAO
here's
another
view
now.
This
is
just
a
lower
room
over
in
this
area.
B
Here,
if
you,
if
you
go
into
monument
house
today,
there's
an
opening
here
up
into
the
upper
room
of
the
of
the
building
in
1906
the
DAR
raised
money
to
build
what
they
called
the
memorial
annex,
the
the
big
upper
room
on
the
on
the
monument
House
Museum,
and
here
this
is
a
Groton
hight
school
right.
Next
door,
this
is
an
early
early
photograph.
B
There
was
some
interesting
artifacts
that
the
DAR
acquired.
This
is
a
spanish-american
War
gun,
it's
actually
a
Spanish
gun
that
was
mounted
on
Admiral
Cerveris
flagship,
fired
the
first
shot
of
spanish-american
war
down
Sonny
Santiago
Harbor,
and
it
was
given
to
the
to
the
DAR
chapter
and
moved
to
Fort
grizzled
and
located
there.
Admiral
George,
Dewey
I
think
was
a
personal
friend
of
mrs.
Slocombe
and
I've.
Seen
some
references
in
the
DAR
writings
that
he
had
come
and
visited
crime.
B
They
they
donated
it
has
scrapped
and
it
was
two
hundred
twenty-five
thousand
two
hundred
twenty
pounds
of
scrap
and,
and
they
raised
seven
hundred
and
eleven
dollars
and
fourteen
cents
towards
the
war
effort.
So,
although
all
the
the
gun,
tubes
and
cannonballs,
and
all
that
you
saw
in
the
previous
image,
we're
all
donated
towards
towards
the
war
effort,
the
bigger
15-inch
rodman
guns,
they
had
to
dynamite
them
to
get
out
and
get
them
off
the
property.
B
My
understanding,
if
through
just
talking
to
people,
is
that
it
all
ended
up
over
in
New
London
at
Calamari's
for
a
long
period
of
time
what
they
did
after
that
I
don't
know,
but
there
are
two
that
are
remaining
from
Fort
Griswold
and
those
are
the
232
pounders
that
are
on
either
side
of
our
memorial
gates.
Here,
memorial
gates
were
dedicated
in
1911.
B
The
only
major
kind
of
renovation
to
Fort
Griswold
took
place
between
1904
and
1908
and
culminated
with
a
dedication
of
the
memorial
gates
and
and
the
wall
that
goes
all
the
way
up:
Park
Avenue
and
down
Smith
Street.
So
these
two
guns
were
originally
on
the
river
battery
down
at
the
bottom
of
the
hill
and
and
they're.
Now,
still
in
this
location
here,
here's
an
early
photograph
from
1911
and
it's
funny
how
everybody
instinctively
sits
on
the
sits
on
the
cannon
as
just
as
they
do
today.
B
These
were
taken
from
a
scrapbook
that
was
left
left
to
us
by
the
Hubbard's
guy
in
Rosman
Hubbard
owned
this
house,
which
is
right
across
the
field
from
the
monument
house.
The
state
purchased
it
in
1988
and
this
scrapbook
was
left
to
us.
These
are
September
6,
1931,
all
the
bunting
on
the
front
of
the
house,
one
of
the
cannons
they
used
in
her
in
a
reenactment
they
had
and
I
really
don't
know
what
this
structure
is
maybe
later
afterwards.
B
Somebody
who
knows
could
tell
me,
but
it's
the
river
behind
it,
so
this
is
right
up
on
the
southwest
Bastion
to
the
fort,
a
couple
of
that
neighbor
children
there
in
front
of
it
there's
a
little
more
of
a
close-up
of
it.
I
don't
know
if
it
was
something
left
over
from
World
War
one.
The
fort
was
occupied
by
the
military
from
the
Revolutionary
War
through
World
War,
two,
so
a
long
long,
military
history,
there
here's
another
1931
image.
Looking
over
towards
the
monument
house
and
the
monument.
B
B
Yes,
he
was
originally
Colonel.
Leger
was
originally
buried
in
Leger,
then
his
body
was
exhumed
and
moved
to
Colonel,
Ledyard
cemetery
and
here's
they.
Here's
an
image
of
of
the
fort,
also
I,
think
1931
and
everything
is
so
closely.
Mowed
I,
don't
know
how
they
did
it.
They
must
have
had
sheep
or
something
I.
Think
I
I
think
I
need
to
look
into
getting
a
few
rolls
here.
You
can
see
the
monument
here
we
have
a
marker
where
major
Montgomery
was
killed.
B
B
Now
we'll
get
into
some
more
modern-day
images.
These
were
not
not
too
long
ago.
One
of
the
things
in
1990
the
park
was
renamed
to
Fort
Griswold
battlefield
State,
Park
I,
probably
should
back
up
that
it
was
under
the
fort
grizzle
tract
Commission
until
1954,
when
it
was
transferred
to
the
State
Park
and
Forest
Commission,
which
was
the
predecessor
or
to
the
current
the
DDP
Department
of
our
mental
protection.
B
B
We've
had
people
that
would
come
and
do
their
daily
exercises
jogging
around
the
top
of
the
fort,
and
it
was
really
causing
a
lot
of
erosion
problems
and
our
obligation
is
to
try
to
preserve
it
as
best
we
can.
So
we
we
added
some
topsoil
on
the
top
and
fertilizer
and
things
like
that
and
put
some
signage
up
to
ask
people
not
to
walk
around
on
the
top,
and
it
seemed
to
help
quite
a
bit
now.
There's
grass
established
towards
before
we're
really
getting
a
gully
from
people
walking
around.
B
This
is
the
river
battery,
as
I
pointed
out
before
both
of
these
structures
were
built
in
1843.
This
is
the
powder
magazine,
and
this
is
the
shot
furnace.
The
shot
furnace
was
designed
to
heat
cannonball
red-hot.
So,
if
they're
fired
at
a
ship
that
would
set
them
ablaze,
one
of
the
most
common
questions
I
get
is
how
did
they
get
the
cannonball
that
were
red-hot
up
into
the
guns,
and
my
answer
has
always
been
very
carefully
I
think
they
had
tongs
that
they
would
have
picked
them
up
with.
Here.
B
B
B
B
Oddly
enough,
when
they
were
first
built
in
the
Revolutionary
War
Fort
Griswold
was
to
complete
for
the
bigger
Fort,
Fort
Trumbull
was
just
a
battery
and
then
they
kind
of
switched
roles
later
on
and
Fort
Trumbull
was
completely
rebuilt
and
was
the
bigger
fort
and
the
only
thing
they
used.
The
military
used
at
Fort
Griswold
was
the
river
battery.
B
They
had
an
ordnance
sergeant
who
lived
in
his
house,
and
one
of
the
things
he
had
to
do
was
grow
vegetables
out
in
the
field
out
in
the
front,
so
you
can
still
see
kind
of
a
concave
where
they
plowed
the
field
to
grow
corn
and
vegetables,
which
he
had
to
grow
for
all.
The
troops
over
at
Fort
Trumbull
here
is
the
another
image
of
the
Spanish
gun
that
was
given
to
the
DAR
that's
sitting
right
down
in
front
of
the
monument.
It's
the
bill
library.
B
B
Edward
Hart
is
in
the
back
here
and
he
I'd
consider
him
an
expert
on
on
those
here's.
The
Ebenezer
Avery
house,
which
in
1971
was
dismantled
completely
and
rebuilt
on
the
park
grounds
it's
still
operated
by
the
and
open
to
the
public
by
the
Ebenezer
Avery
Association,
and
they
they
staff
it
and
they
open
it
on
weekends
and
in
the
summer,
and
then
we
have
the
Trillium
Garden
Club
takes
care
of
the
garden
out
in
the
front
here,
and
they
do
a
fantastic
job
working
through
all
our
memorials.
B
B
We
also
had
the
city
of
grotton's
Memorial
to
to
their
War
veterans
and
that's
located
right
over
in
front
of
the
front
of
the
mine.
You
mean
these
were
taken
last
summer,
just
a
couple
of
shots
of
that's
looking
up
at
the
fort
from
down
at
the
bottom
of
the
hill
and
here's
how
our
memorial
gates
appear
today.
B
Another
shot
of
the
monument
from
down
at
the
bottom
of
the
hill
I
think
these
were
a
year
old,
or
so
we
have
our
old
flagpole.
Here
we
just
dedicated
three
new
flag
poles
with
the
help
of
the
city
of
Groton
and
the
Friends
of
Fort
Griswold,
and
these
pictures
were
taken
yesterday-
and
here
here
are
the
three
new
flag:
poles,
here's
the
interior
of
the
monument
house.
Just
a
couple,
a
couple
of
shots:
we
have
a
portrait
here
of
mrs.
Slocombe
another
shot,
looking
the
other
way
very
similar
to
view
from
the
ones
before.
B
Some
shots
from
yesterday
of
the
organist
are
just
residents.
A
Bernese
are
Avery
house
1979.
We
built
a
maintenance
building.
Finally,
on
the
property,
we
use
that
quite
a
bit
today
we
store
store
things
and
work
out
of
there
when
we're
at
the
park.
Here's
the
we
call
this
the
Hubbard
house.
This
is
the
house
right
across
the
field
from
the
monument
house,
which
is
part
of
the
park,
and
these
were
from
Sunday.
We
had
a
about
30
people,
there
sledding
down
the
hill,
very
popular
spot
for
sledding.
B
People
on
skis
and
sleds
and
tubes
and
of
course,
I
lived
in
that
in
the
house
right
over
to
the
left
of
this
picture,
and
you
know
people
very
often
come
out
in
the
middle
of
the
night
and
sled.
Of
course
the
park
is
closed,
but
nobody
can
sled
quietly
so
many
a
time
I
would
venture
out.
There
are
two
in
the
morning
telling
people
too
that
they
had
to
leave.
B
This
is
our
newest
addition
to
the
park.
This
is
down
at
the
waterfront
landing.
We
have
a
pioneer
Memorial
here.
This
is
where
they
took
the
prisoners
on
board.
After
the
Battle
of
Groton
Heights,
we
now
have
a
floating
dock,
we're
in
the
process
of
establishing
a
water
taxi
that
would
take
you
from
the
city
pier
across
the
river,
where
the
train
station
and
the
bus
station
and
a
parking
garage
is,
you
could
come
over
here
to
Fort
Fort
Griswold
side.
You
could
go
to
Fort
Trumbull.
B
You
could
go
up
to
the
Nautilus,
we're
in
the
process
of
working
to
establish
a
floating
dock
up
with
the
Nautilus
and
you'd,
be
able
to
go
out
to
new
line
and
legislate.
So
we
think
that'll
be
a
very
popular
addition.
Of
course,
the
last
time
there
was
a
water
taxi
operating
was
during
OpSail
and
everybody
got
on
the
water
taxi,
but
nobody
wanted
to
get
off.
B
And
I'll
end
with
this,
here's
Mike,
my
debut
in
the
New
London
Day
in
1985
about
20
years
ago,
and
the
caption
I
have
under
that
they
put
under
my
picture.
Much
to
my
surprise,
was
the
biggest
thing
I'd
like
to
see
here
is
public
restrooms
well
I'm
still
here
and
I'm
still
waiting,
but
no
the
reason
I
bring
that
up.
We
are
in
the
process
of
moving
forward
with
finally
having
public
restrooms
right
before
Christmas
and
that's
it.
Thank
you
very
much
and
thank
you
for
watching.