Bombardment of Stonington

The Bombardment of Stonington, Connecticut, over 9-12 August 1814 was one of the more curious episodes of the coastal war. A powerful British naval squadron, including two ships of the line, attempted to destroy a small Connecticut harbour town. The defenders — a handful of militia and civilians manning two cannon — held out for three days and repulsed the attack.

Commodore Thomas Hardy — Nelson’s Hardy, the captain of HMS Victory at Trafalgar — commanded the squadron from HMS Ramillies, a 74-gun ship of the line. His stated objective was the destruction of a torpedo boat (an early naval mine-delivery vessel) reportedly based at Stonington, along with the general disruption of the Connecticut coast.

Hardy sent a demand for the town’s surrender. The inhabitants refused. The bombardment commenced on the evening of 9 August, with bomb vessels lobbing mortar shells into the town while the frigate Pactolus and the brig Dispatch provided covering fire. The bombardment continued intermittently for three days.

The defence was improvised but effective. Two 18-pounder cannon, manned by local volunteers with no formal military training, were positioned on the point and returned fire against the British ships. The guns were served with courage and, occasionally, with accuracy — one shot struck Dispatch and caused sufficient damage to force her withdrawal.

The bombardment inflicted some property damage — several buildings were hit and fires started — but the town was not destroyed, and the defenders did not surrender. After three days, Hardy withdrew, having expended considerable ammunition to limited effect. British casualties from the defensive fire were approximately 21 killed and wounded.

Stonington became a minor symbol of American coastal resistance, though its strategic significance was negligible. The episode demonstrated what multiple engagements throughout the war had shown: naval gunfire, particularly from ships forced to remain at distance, was ineffective against fortified positions on shore. The technology of the period — smooth-bore naval guns firing solid shot at ranges of a mile or more — simply could not deliver the concentrated, accurate fire necessary to reduce a defended town.