Firelands and Other Historical Stories

Stephen Jarvis, Jr. grew up among his mother’s kin, the Starr family, in Danbury, Connecticut. But he also spent time with his father’s family who lived 25 miles away on the Connecticut coast. In the lead up to the American Revolution, the two families were on different sides: his mother and her family were Patriots, his father and the rest of the Jarvis family were Loyalists. Stephen naturally followed his father’s sentiments. But after Lexington and Concord, his loyalties would be tested.

“Some time in the month of April 1775, when the first blood was shed at Lexington, I became acquainted with a Lady to whom I paid my address, and who I afterwards married . . .” -- Colonel Stephen Jarvis, Jr., c.1830.

After the Battle of Lexington and Concord, the town of Danbury, Connecticut raised a company commanded by Captain Noble Benedict. Assigned to the Northern Army under Major Generals Philip Schyuler and Richard Montgomery, Benedict and his men invaded Canada, participating in the siege of Fort St. John and Fort Chambly. Most of the company returned safely and victoriously after the fall of Montreal in November; hardened by war but still committed to the Patriot cause.

DANBURY AT WAR 1775 - CAPTAIN NOBLE BENEDICT'S COMPANY ROSTER In 1775, the 6th Company, Fifth Connecticut Regiment under the command of Captain Noble Benedict of Danbury, Connecticut was assigned to the Northern Army under Major Generals Philip Schyuler and Richard Montgomery participated in the invasion of Canada. Learn about the men of this company and how they fared on the expedition. {url}

After a forty-eight-day siege, the British garrison of St Johns surrendered to the American army of Brigadier General Richard Montgomery. The road toward the conquest of Canada now lay open and he intended to press forward. Captain Noble Benedict and the company he had raised in Danbury, Connecticut, could take pride in their part in this hard-won - if relatively bloodless—victory. But they, like much of the army, believed their duty was complete. They wanted to go home.

Since the Battle of Lexington and Concord, Captain Noble Benedict and the company he raised in Danbury, Connecticut, had marched and rowed north to join the American Northern Army in its invasion of Canada. On September 6, 1775, they received their baptism of fire in a failed assault on the British fortress of St Johns. Plagued by low morale, relentless rain, and illness, they now faced harsher ordeal: a protracted siege.

On September 4, 1775, Captain Noble Benedict and his company from Danbury, Connecticut reached Île-aux-Noix as part of an American invasion of Canada under Generals Schuyler and Montgomery. The next day, they experienced combat for the first time in a failed assault on the British fortress of St Johns. Now back at Île -aux-Noix, they prepared to try again.

In the summer of 1775, Captain Noble Benedict led the 6th Company of Colonel David Waterbury’s 5th Connecticut Regiment from New York to Fort Ticonderoga. In late August, they left that post and paddled down Lake Champlain to Île -aux-Noir, only a few miles from the British fortress of St Johns. They remained green troops, untested under fire. That was about to change.

In April 1775, after clashes at Lexington and Concord, Captain Noble Benedict led a militia company from Danbury, Connecticut, to join the Continental Army in the invasion of Canada. Despite facing illness and internal dissent at Fort Ticonderoga, the regiment prepared to forge ahead on their mission northward.

DANBURY AT WAR 1775 – ANSWERING THE CALL

A FIRST BIRTHDAY IN DANBURY, CONNECTICUT – 1776

Happy Semiquincentennial

Assault on Quebec New Year’s Eve 1775

Review: The American Revolution, Episode 6, The Most Sacred Thing

Review: The American Revolution, Episode 5, The Soul of All America

Review: The American Revolution, Episode 4, Conquer by a Drawn Game

Review: The American Revolution, Episode 3, The Times That Try Men's Souls