Setauket
RETURN TO INDEXVictory: British
Troops: United States 500 Continental infantry - Great Britain 260 Loyalist militia
The Battle of Setauket (August 22, 1777) was a failed attack during the American Revolutionary War on a fortified Loyalist outpost in Setauket, Long Island, New York, by a force of Continental Army troops from Connecticut under the command of Brigadier General Samuel Holden Parsons. In an attempt to repeat the success of the earlier Meigs Raid against Sag Harbor, Parsons' force crossed Long Island Sound to attack the Loyalist position. Alerted by spies to the planned assault, Lieutenant Colonel Richard Hewlett strongly fortified the local Presbyterian church, surrounding it with a stockade and earthworks. After Hewlett rejected Parsons' demand to surrender, a brief firefight ensued that did no significant damage. Parsons withdrew and returned to Connecticut. In early August 1777, British loyalist Lt. Col. Richard Hewlett’s 3rd Battalion of DeLancey’s Brigade, consisting of approximately 260 men, fortified a Presbyterian church in Setauket with breastworks and four swivel guns in anticipation of an attack. In fact, Maj. Gen. Israel Putnam had ordered Brig. Gen. Samuel Holden Parsons to take his 500-man force and raid Loyalist outposts on Long Island.n the night of August 21, Parsons and Webb set out across Long Island Sound in whaleboats, taking with them a few small brass cannons.
Early the next morning they landed at Crane's Neck (in present-day Old Field, just west of Setauket), and marched to Setauket. Finding the Loyalists strongly entrenched, Parsons first sent a truce flag to demand their surrender. Hewlett refused the demand, and the two forces began a three-hour exchange of gunfire. Neither side incurred significant casualties (Colonel Webb reported one man wounded), and the small American cannons failed to make an impression on the fortifications. Concerned that armed British ships in the Sound would hear the battle and come to investigate, Parsons called off the assault and retreated, taking with him a dozen captured horses and some blankets. The attackers successfully recrossed the Sound, and Parsons assigned Webb's regiment to patrol the Connecticut shore. In December 1777 Parsons, Webb, and Meigs were involved in a more elaborate attempt at taking British military stores at Setauket. This one failed, because rough seas prevented Meigs from crossing, and Webb's boat was captured by a British ship. Lieutenant Colonel Hewlett was favorably mentioned in general orders for his defense of the post, although it was abandoned several months later. Although Setauket was never again the target of a major expedition, it was frequently the target of small-scale raids.
Early the next morning they landed at Crane's Neck (in present-day Old Field, just west of Setauket), and marched to Setauket. Finding the Loyalists strongly entrenched, Parsons first sent a truce flag to demand their surrender. Hewlett refused the demand, and the two forces began a three-hour exchange of gunfire. Neither side incurred significant casualties (Colonel Webb reported one man wounded), and the small American cannons failed to make an impression on the fortifications. Concerned that armed British ships in the Sound would hear the battle and come to investigate, Parsons called off the assault and retreated, taking with him a dozen captured horses and some blankets. The attackers successfully recrossed the Sound, and Parsons assigned Webb's regiment to patrol the Connecticut shore. In December 1777 Parsons, Webb, and Meigs were involved in a more elaborate attempt at taking British military stores at Setauket. This one failed, because rough seas prevented Meigs from crossing, and Webb's boat was captured by a British ship. Lieutenant Colonel Hewlett was favorably mentioned in general orders for his defense of the post, although it was abandoned several months later. Although Setauket was never again the target of a major expedition, it was frequently the target of small-scale raids.
