249 years after Saratoga, Enfield's own papers show how a river town fed the Revolution
ENFIELD - On Oct. 17, 1777, close to 6,000 British and German soldiers stacked their arms at Saratoga, N.Y., according to the National Park Service's timeline of the campaign. Nobody fought a battle in Enfield, but documents preserved by the Enfield Historical Society show how this river town, and its neighbor Somers, kept feeding men and supplies to the war that turned that autumn.
A journal kept by Connecticut militiaman Oliver Boardman of Middletown, digitized by Providence College, records the day in his own words. He called it a day when "the Hand of Providence work'd wonderfully In favour of America."
Enfield had chosen sides three years earlier. At a town meeting on July 11, 1774, residents voted unanimously that a "firm and Inviolable union of the Colonies" was needed to defend their rights, according to the historical society. They named a committee of correspondence, agreed to cut off trade with Great Britain and the West Indies, and promised money or provisions for Boston, whose port Parliament had closed.
When word of Lexington and Concord reached town by post rider on April 20, 1775, the meetinghouse had no bell. Drummer Thomas Abbe sounded the alarm instead, the society writes, and a large group of men under Nathaniel Terry set out for Boston the next morning. They arrived after the first fighting was over and were home within weeks. The meetinghouse they ran out of survives today as the Old Town Hall museum.
The summer of 1777 brought a harder call. On July 8, Col. Nathaniel Terry ordered his company commanders at Enfield to draft a quarter of their men, "properly armed and equipped," and keep them ready to march on short notice, under orders from Gen. Wolcott. The historical society keeps a copy of that order. The society's page does not say whether any of those Enfield draftees ended up in the Saratoga campaign.
Somers did its part on paper too. The society holds a receipt for five blankets the Somers selectmen gave to Captain Abbe for men in his company who had enlisted in the Continental Army. The receipt also raises a question the society asks openly: was Abbe really his spelling? Records of the time show it as Abbe, Abbey and Abby.
The town's best-known soldier came later. Elijah Churchill, who enlisted in Enfield, led a raid on the stockaded depot at Fort St. George on Long Island on Nov. 21, 1780, and was wounded while leading another raid at Fort Salonga on Oct. 2, 1781, according to the society. He is the first known recipient of George Washington's Badge of Military Merit, the forerunner of the Purple Heart. Only three men are known to have received it.
Today the Capt. Abbey memorial, a statue of the drummer in front of the Congregational Church on Enfield Street, marks the town's part in the war. It was dedicated on Nov. 4, 1916. The Old Town Hall museum at 1294 Enfield Street is open Sundays from 1 to 5 p.m. through the end of October, according to the Enfield Historical Society, and the society's online exhibit carries the rest of the story.
Source: Enfield Historical Society, "Enfield in the Revolutionary War" (https://enfieldhistoricalsociety.org/old-town-hall/enfield-in-the-revolutionary-war/); National Park Service, Saratoga National Historical Park campaign timeline (https://nps.gov/sara/learn/historyculture/campaign-timeline.htm); Journal of Oliver Boardman of Middletown, Providence College Digital Commons (https://digitalcommons.providence.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1016&context=primary).
How this story was made: AI tools helped research and draft this story, working from the sources cited and linked above. It was fact-checked against those sources, and our editor, Joshua Allen, reviewed and approved it before publication. See an error? Email upriverdaily@gmail.com.