began building its fortifications. At the end of 1778, he joined Connecticut troops at winter quarters in Redding. In December 1779, Parsons took command of Putnam's Division, and spent the following months recruiting, training, and trying to engage British General Sir Henry Clinton in battle. The high point of this period was the discovery, in September 1780, of Benedict Arnold's treacherous scheme to surrender West Point to the British. Parsons served on the board of officers which tried Arnold's accomplice, Major John André, and ultimately sentenced him to death. On October 23, 1780 Parsons was promoted to Major General. In the winter of 1781 he helped suppress the mutinies of soldiers in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and took part in efforts to clear out Tory militias in Westchester, north of New York. After months of containing the British troops in New York, American forces, now bolstered by French reinforcements, departed for Virginia. Parsons and his troops were left behind to keep the British contained. In July 1782, following the British surrender at Yorktown, Virginia, Parsons – broken physically and financially – tendered his resignation to Congress. Forty-five years old, he had served continuously since the Lexington Alarm of 1775. Civilian life On the eve of the war, Parsons had moved his family to Middletown, Connecticut, which was then a prosperous port on the Connecticut River. He returned there during the summer of 1782, hoping to revive his law practice, his political career, and his depleted finances. Something of a celebrity, Parsons was elected to the legislature, became involved in organizing the Connecticut branch of the Society of the Cincinnati, and was appointed by Congress to help with Indian diplomacy on the western frontier. In March 1787, Parsons became a director of the Ohio Land Company, a scheme that enabled ex-Revolutionary officers to trade their pay certificates for Ohio lands. Parsons played a leading role in persuading Congress to sell land to the company, and then jockeyed for appointment to a leading position in the territory. Though aspiring to the governorship—which was later awarded to General Arthur St. Clair—Parsons was appointed Chief Justice. In the midst of this, Parsons was also an active member of the Connecticut Convention for adopting the U.S. Constitution. Frontier jurist In March 1788, Parsons and his son Enoch, who had been appointed Registrar and Clerk of Probate, set out for the Northwest Territory. They arrived at