harbor in July 1779, when he escaped capture and fitted out a flotilla of armed boats by warrant authority, before being commissioned. Daring raid In November 1779 he commanded a voluntary force of 20 men from Stratford, Connecticut and the vicinity, crossed the Sound in a daring raid and brought back from Long Island, Thomas Jones, Esq, of Suffolk County, one of the Judges of the Ministerial Supreme Court of the Crown, and delivered him up as a hostage to exchange for General Gold Selleck Silliman who had been taken prisoner earlier that year. The daring raid and subsequent prisoner exchange were made into the film Mary Silliman's War produced by Heritage Films, under the auspices of The Institute for Early American History in Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia. It is based on the biography by Richard and Joy Day Buel, The Way of Duty (Norton, 1984). Protecting the Connecticut shore The next spring, on April 20, 1780 he went from Fairfield, Connecticut with three armed boats under his command to Blue Point, Long Island and captured eleven British and Tory vessels, all of which he either destroyed or ransomed, except four which he brought back to Fairfield and libeled. One of the latter was richly laden with West India goods. On April 6, 1780, in company with Capt. Ebenezer Jones, he took a Tory sloop commanded by Jared Bell. On October 15, 1780, he partook in the capture of the sloop Dorset. Under his last commission he was especially active in the Sound and performed important naval service in the prevention of illicit trade, seizing and libeling many boats and cargoes in the Fairfield Court. During his several exploits, first and last Captain Hawley is credited with the capture of over 20 sail of enemy craft during the American War for Independence. Personal life It is believed by some that Captain Hawley built the first brick house within the city limits of Bridgeport, Connecticut from bricks that may have been supplied by Nero Hawley. The home was located at the corner of Water and Gilbert Streets and was used, after Hawley's death as a saddle factory by Seth B. Jones and was the arena of great theological discussions among the workmen, especially; Joshua Lord, William Wright, Edwin B. Gregory and Alexander S. Gordon. Notes References Claghorn, Charles E. Naval Officers of the American Revolution: A Concise Biographical Dictionary. Metuchen, New Jersey: