Daniel Stanton, III

"Daniel Stanton had also two sons in the battle; Daniel and Edward, who were severely wounded. Of these, it is related that on the morning of the 6th, as soon as they heard the alarm, they hastened over eleven miles to their perilous posts and were in time to play heroically their part in the tragedy. Daniel received a painful bullet wound in the leg and twenty gashes from English cutlasses or bayonets, and was one of those sent down the hill in the wagon [to Ebenezer Avery's]. He survived his wounds and lived till January 4, 1826, when he died aged seventy seven. Edward was shot in the left breast by a musket ball, which tore his side so that the heart was visible to the physician who had charge of him during his convalescence.

After the massacre, while he lay bleeding, an English officer passed, of whom he begged for something to stanch the flow of blood. The compassionate officer, whose name he never knew, took from his pocket a knitted linen night cap, and folding it together, stopped the flow of blood and gave him a drink of water. By this humane act his life was saved.

The vest worn by Mr Stanton, showing two bullet tracks - the lower of which did not go through his under clothing; the upper bullet being the one which laid bare his heart, and also the linen night cap are now [were] in possession of his son David, who cherishes them, together with the sword of his great grandfather as mementos of the patriotism of his ancestors.

Subsequently, when nearly thirty three years later, the British ships made an attack on Stonington in August 1814, Edward again hurried to the front as a volunteer, where all were volunteers, and worked together with such zeal and skill that with two eighteen pounders they drove off the attacking fleet.

When President Monroe made his tour through New England, he visited Stonington, and at the old arsenal was introduced to this Revolutionary hero. The President remarked to him, "Our independence cost us many a hard blow." Mr. Stanton replied, laying bare his aged bosom, purpled and drawn with the scar, "Here was one of them." The circumstance is mentioned by the President in the description of his tour. Mr. Stanton received a pension for his services and survived till 1832, when he died at the age of seventy one, leaving three children who still survive him."

The Battle of Groton Heights: A Collection of Narratives, Official Reports ...By William Wallace Harris p. 264-5

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"Daniel Stanton Jun of Stonington hearing the firing at New London and concluding it to be attacked by the enemy mounted his horse & rode full speed eleven miles to fort Griswold & entered & made himself a volunteer in defense of the fort In the action he received twenty one wounds in the head body & limbs with ball & bayonet of all which he is fully recovered except one where a musket ball entered between the ankle bone & the heel of the foot came out near the ball of the foot at the root of the great toe disabled & contracted the main cord of the heel and other cords & tendons on the inside of the foot which has drop d the great toe and draw d it under the foot by which means he is disabled from travelling or any active business of that kind And we further beg leave to report it as our opinion that according to the rules adopted by the assembly in the cafe of the other cripples he ought to receive from the public during the continuance of his disability the sum of fix pounds a year as an annual stipend the same to commence from the time of his receiving his wound All which is submitted to Your Honor by

Your most obedient &very humble servants Samuel Mott Committee Rolf Crary In the Lower House The foregoing report of committee is accepted & approved & a bill in form ordered to be brought in accordingly"

source: The Battle of Groton Heights: A Collection of Narratives, Official Reports ... By William Wallace Harris p. 133 _____

HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF STONINGTON, county of New London, Connecticut, from its first settlement in 1649 to 1900, by Richard Anson Wheeler, New London, CT, 1900, p. 503, 596, 600

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