Long before the first shots of the American Revolution rang out at Lexington and Concord, New London, Connecticut, was already a town defined by the sea. Situated at the mouth of the Thames River, with a deep natural harbor that opened onto Long Island Sound, the town had spent more than a century cultivating a maritime economy that made it one of the busiest ports between Boston and New York. Its wharves handled whale oil, rum, provisions, and the steady traffic of merchant vessels that linked the colonies to the Caribbean and beyond. When the imperial crisis of the 1770s forced American communities to choose between loyalty and resistance, New London's merchants, mariners, and civic leaders did not hesitate. They transformed their commercial port into one of the most aggressive centers of naval warfare in the Revolution—a decision that would ultimately bring catastrophic consequences at the hands of a man who had once called Connecticut home.
PEOPLE
KEY EVENTS
STORIES
HISTORICAL VOICE
The Traitor Comes Home
Benedict Arnold knew these waters. He had sailed them as a merchant, conducting business between New London and the Caribbean. He knew where the harbor was deep and where it was shallow, which buildin...
MODERN VOICE
The Merchant's War Room
The Shaw Mansion is one of those Revolutionary War sites that tells a story people do not expect. Visitors come anticipating a preserved colonial house — and it is that. But what makes it remarkable i...