|Silliman home in fairfield in the 1890s
Militia general Born in Fairfield, Connecticut, 1732. Silliman graduated from Yale and practiced law and served as a crown attorney before the Revolution.
He was the commander of a local body of militia cavalry and took rank as a militia brigadier general after 1776. He was mostly concerned with patrolling the southwestern border of Connecticut, where the loyalists of Westchester County, New York spilled over and caused constant irritation and concern for patriot towns and farms.
He also fought with the main army during the New York campaigns of 1776 and opposed the British raid on Danbury in 1777. At the beginning of Tryon’s raid on Danbury, the general was at his home in Fairfield. As soon as he heard word of the British landing on the coast, he sent out expresses to alarm the nearby towns and to collect the militia. By Noon the next day he arrived in Redding with five hundred men and was joined by Generals Arnold and Wooster.
On a dark night in May 1779, nine tories crossed the sound in a whale boat from Lloyd’s Neck. One of them had been employed by Silliman as a carpenter, so he knew the house well. Eight of the men forced their way into the house at midnight and took the general and his son. they were taken to Oyster Bay and finally to Flatbush to be exchanged a year later.
The Americans didn’t have a prisoner of equal rank to exchange, so they captured one. The victim was the Honorable Thomas Jones, a highly reputed loyalist. Jones was captured in November 1779 and brought back to Connecticut. Silliman and Jone were exchanged in May 1780, with the general’s son being exchanged as well.
Lossing, Pictorial Field-Book of The Revolution, New York, 1860
Who Was Who in the American Revolution, 1993
Silliman nyumbani katika Fairfield katika miaka ya 1890s, Mshambuliaji mkuu, alizaliwa katika Fairfield, Connecticut, 1732. Silliman alihitimu kutoka Yale na kufanya mazoezi ya sheria na kutumika kama mwanasheria wa taji kabla ya Mapinduzi. Alikuwa kamanda wa jeshi la wapanda farasi wa kijeshi na alichukua cheo cha brigadier mkuu wa kijeshi baada ya 1776. Alijishughulisha hasa na doria ya mpaka wa kusini magharibi wa Connecticut, ambapo waaminifu wa Kaunti ya Westchester, New York walienea na kusababisha kukasirika na wasiwasi wa mara kwa mara kwa miji na mashamba ya wazalendo. Pia alipigana na jeshi kuu wakati wa kampeni za New York za 1776 na kupinga uvamizi wa Uingereza juu ya Danbury mnamo 1777. Mwanzoni mwa shambulio la Tryon dhidi ya Danbury, jenerali alikuwa nyumbani kwake huko Fairfield. Aliposikia habari za kuwasili kwa Waingereza kwenye pwani, alituma ujumbe wa kuonya miji iliyokuwa karibu na kukusanya wanajeshi. Kufikia saa sita mchana siku iliyofuata alifika Redding akiwa na wanaume mia tano na akajiunga na Majenerali Arnold na Wooster. Katika usiku wa giza wa Mei 1779, Tories tisa walivuka sauti katika mashua ya nyangumi kutoka Lloyd's Neck. Mmoja wao alikuwa amefanya kazi kwa Silliman akiwa seremala, kwa hiyo alijua nyumba hiyo vizuri. Wanaume wanane waliingia ndani ya nyumba hiyo usiku wa manane na kumchukua jenerali huyo na mwana wake. Baada ya kuhamishwa Oyster Bay, walipelekwa Flatbush, ambapo walipelekwa kwa ajili ya kubadilishana. Wamarekani hawakuwa na mfungwa wa cheo sawa wa kubadilishana, kwa hiyo walimkamata mmoja. Mhasiriwa alikuwa Mheshimiwa Thomas Jones, mshikamanifu mwenye sifa nzuri sana. Jones alikamatwa mnamo Novemba 1779 na kupelekwa Connecticut. Silliman na Jone walibadilishwa mnamo Mei 1780, na mwana wa jenerali alibadilishwa pia. "Kutoka kwa ""Pictorial Field Book of the Revolution"" (New York, 1860) na ""Who Was Who in the American Revolution"" (Mwanzoni mwa Mapinduzi ya Marekani, 1993)."