The Battle of Groton Heights (also known as the Battle of Fort Griswold, and occasionally called the Fort Griswold massacre) was a battle of the American Revolutionary War fought on September 6, 1781 between a small Connecticut militia force led by Lieutenant Colonel William Ledyard and the more numerous British forces led by Brigadier General Benedict Arnold and Lieutenant Colonel Edmund Eyre. Lieutenant General Sir Henry Clinton ordered Arnold to raid the port of New London, Connecticut in an unsuccessful attempt to divert General George Washington from marching against Lord Cornwallis's army in Virginia. The raid was a success, but the Connecticut militia stubbornly resisted British attempts to capture Fort Griswold across the Thames River in Groton, Connecticut. New London was burned along with several ships, but many more ships escaped upriver. Several leaders of the attacking British force were killed or seriously wounded, but the British eventually breached the fort. As the British entered the fort the Americans surrendered, but the British continued firing and killed many of the defenders. However, the high number of British casualties in the overall expedition against Groton and New London led to criticism of Arnold by some of his superiors. The battle was the last major military encounter of the war in the northern United States, preceding and being overshadowed by the decisive Franco-American siege of Yorktown about six weeks later. At the battle of Yorktown, the Marquis de Lafayette reportedly yelled, "Remember Fort Griswold!" as American and French forces stormed the redoubts. Background Groton, Connecticut's history dates back to 1655. It was originally a part of New London, its larger counterpart on the other side of the Thames River on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. It was an important maritime port and became one of the largest along the New England coastline. Groton officially separated from New London and incorporated as a separate town in 1705. During the American Revolutionary War, the Groton–New London port was a major center of American naval operations, including highly successful privateering operations against British shipping, yet it was poorly protected. Fort Trumbull on the New London side was little more than a redoubt open on the inland side, while Fort Griswold in Groton was a more substantial fort. It was roughly square and bastioned, surrounded by a ditch and some outer earthen defenses. Both were typically garrisoned by small companies of militia, including a