The Jeremiah Miller Sr. House

Today on the 244th Anniversary of Arnold's Raid on New London, Connecticut, I share with you more details about Arnold's stay in New London while his forces occupied the town. After the British occupied the town, Arnold went and stayed at the home of an old friend, Jeremiah Miller Sr. on the Bank, where he was provided with dinner. Miller was 62-years-old in 1781, and by conviction a loyalist, albeit a secret one. Before leaving New York City two days earlier, Arnold had been charged by Joseph Chew, the British Secretary for Indian Affairs, to visit Miller while he was in New London. The two had kept up a secret correspondence throughout the war, and Miller's son, Jeremiah Jr., often fed intelligence to Chew.

Chew also provided Arnold with a list of all known loyalists and the "most violent rebels" in New London. But before giving Arnold the list, Chew made Arnold promise him to protect the property of loyalist citizens, which the general assured him that he had “Sir Henry Clinton’s orders to protect all Such Persons.”

Site of the Jeremiah Miller Sr. House along Bank Street in New London.

After the nearly two-hour occupation of New London, Arnold kept his promise and departed the Miller house without incident. But after the British forces left town, a storehouse across the street from the Miller house exploded. In their hurry to destroy the storehouses, the British troops missed a cache of gunpowder which exploded and sent the flames up and down the Bank, destroying Miller’s and several other homes.

After Miller’s house was burned, Miller submitted a damage claim to the British government for damages. In it, he never blamed Arnold. Arnold supported Miller’s claim and testified, “[I was] cordially received and entertained by [Miller] and that aid was given by Him in favour of His Majestys Cause.”

The photo here is of where the Miller house once stood along the Bank, a short distance up the street from the home of Nathaniel Shaw Jr. Originally slated to be included in “The Traitor’s Homecoming,” it was cut due to lack of available space. Now today, you can visit the site of where the famous, or infamous meeting, and explosion occurred.