Author: David Naumec

Ridgefield Historical Society staff and researchers from Heritage Consultants, LLC are documenting areas in town where fighting occurred in addition to the three most well-known engagements along Route 116. What is less known is the fighting that occurred throughout town afterwards which may be described as a “fourth engagement.”

Ridgefield Historical Society staff and researchers from Heritage Consultants, LLC are documenting areas in town where fighting occurred in addition to the three most well-known engagements along Route 116. What is less known is the fighting that occurred throughout town afterwards which may be described as a “fourth engagement.”

Watch Dr. David Naumec of Heritage Consultants (and part of the research team for the Historical Society’s Battlefield Project) speak about the Battle of Ridgefield at Preservation Connecticut’s virtual noontime chats series, “Talking About Preservation.”

A typical battlefield survey of a private home includes hours of scanning the landscape with metal detectors. Once a signal is detected the archaeologist recovers an object by peeling back the grass and digging a small hole to pinpoint the artifact which is typically found between 5 to 10 inches deep and rarely deeper than a foot.

Heritage Consultants documented significant artifacts recently shared with the battlefield research team: a British musket and bayonet used during the battle. This flintlock arm is known as a “Short Land, New Pattern Musket,” more commonly referred to as a “Brown Bess,” and was made at Dublin Castle, Ireland, circa 1775.