Fire on the Hill: The Battle for New Haven, 1779

On a July morning in 1779, more than 2500 British and Hessian troops stormed ashore on both sides of New Haven Harbor in a coordinated invasion.

Ann McGuire, President of the Friends of Fort Wooster, joins The Branford Historical Society to share the story of that 36-hour battle...of the British officer who died reaching for a wounded enemy, of the 19- militiamen who held Black Rock Fort until their powder ran out, and how on the hillside east of the harbor, now Fort Wooster Park, citizen defenders fought British regulars to a standstill. Come hear how a merchant town with no real army bloodied a professional invasion force on two hills at once.