John Whittlesey

Killed in defense of Fort Griswold, September 6, 1781

"John Whittlesey, aged twenty three, and his half brother Stephen Whittlesey, sixteen, although originally credited to New London, are known to have belonged to that part of Saybrook now constituting the town of Westbrook. They were drafted from the militia of that town for the defence of New London harbor and were members of Captain Shapley's company of artillery stationed in Fort Trumbull, and crossed with him to Fort Griswold where they were stationed in the southwest bastion.

John was shot through the forehead at his post. Stephen was killed by a bayonet thrust during the massacre about the door of the magazine. Their family traditions are that they were barbarously bayoneted after death. John had one child at the time of his death; another, also a son, was born October 1781. Their burial place is not definitely known, but it is highly probable that it is near that of an elder brother, Joseph, whose monument is found in the cemetery at Westbrook Village."

Source: The Battle of Groton Heights: A Collection of Narratives, Official Reports ...By William Wallace Harris, p. 260-1