The following information was assembled from numerous sources and cannot be used directly as proof of Qualifying Service or Lineage.
It is considered a research aid and is intended to assist in locating sources that can be used as proof.
Taken prisoner at Fort Griswold during the Battle of Groton Heights, (September 6, 1781)
Additional References:
Johnston, Henry P, ed. The Record of Connecticut Men in the Military and Naval Service During the War of the Revolution 1775-1783. Vol I-III. Hartford: 1889
U.S, Rev War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, 1800-1900, Caleb Avery Pension No. W25363
Spouse: Mary Avery Children: Robert Austin; James; Sarah/Sally; Eliza;
Members Who Share This Ancestor
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*This means that the NSSAR has no applications for this Patriot on file.
Instead the information provided is best effort, and from volunteers who have either researched grave sites, service records, or something similar. There is no documentation available at NSSAR HQ to order.
Caleb Avery was born on 25 February 1760 at Groton, New London County, Connecticut, son of James and Elizabeth (Allen/Allyn) Avery.
At the age of 16, Caleb enlisted in the company of Captain Joseph Gallup, commanded by Colonel Troup of the Connecticut Militia. He served four months of garrison duty at Fort Griswold, which lies within the town limits of Groton. Caleb's second enlistment was sometime in 1777, serving in the company of Captain Stoddard of the Connecticut Militia in Groton. He was called out on various alarms and short tours from 1777 through 1780. On 6 September 1781, while serving in the company of Captain Simeon Allyn, commanded by Colonel Nathan Gallup of the Connecticut Militia Regiment, he volunteered to defend Fort Griswold, which came under attack by British forces under the leadership of the traitor Benedict Arnold. Caleb, his brother Rufus Avery, and cousin Peter Avery were among those taken prisoners during the attack. Caleb was bound and put on a refugee sloop, transferred to a British frigate, and sent to New York, where he was imprisoned in an old Sugar House for forty days, then removed to Elizabeth Town Point, New Jersey, on 28 October 1781, where he was soon after exchanged.
He walked back to Groton with the aforesaid Peter Avery, arriving home on 10 November 1781. Rufus, Caleb's brother, wrote years later that after the murder of their Colonel Ledyard, "Over the next two minutes, the British killed every American they could…. We trod in blood.... We trampled under [our] feet the limbs of our Countrymen, our neighbors, and dear kindred. Our ears were filled with the groans of the dying." (Rathbun 29).
Nine Avery men died defending Fort Griswold, three were wounded, and three were taken prisoner; among the dead were Caleb's uncles, Captain Simeon Allyn and David Avery, cousin Ebenezer, and many other family members and friends.
Several years after his return home, Caleb married his cousin Mary Avery at Groton on 16 January 1788. They remained for the rest of their lives in Groton, where they raised a family of four children:
Sarah "Sally" was born on 25 June 1790.
Eliza was born on 31 August 1796.
James was born on 16 January 1794
Robert Austin was born on 3 August 1803.
The Patriot died in Groton on 6 April 1835. His wife Mary died 18 years later and rests beside him in the Avery-Morgan Burial Ground in Groton.
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