Cannon Square

 

On a public square between Main Street and Water Street are cannons, monuments and artifacts commemorating the Battle of Stonington. During the War of 1812, the British Navy indiscriminately attacked the small fishing borough of Stonington. Over a four-day period in August of 1814, residents used three cannons to successfully defend the town against four British ships. The British guns barraged civilian homes with fifty tons of explosives before upping anchor and sailing away. Brave local residents refused to surrender, and the British lost 21 men in the battle. Of the 750 Stonington inhabitants, three died during the attack of natural causes; but no one was killed by the British. Thomas Barrett Powers, a British Midshipman, perished in the Battle of Stonington and is buried in the Stonington Cemetery. The cannons and some cannonballs used during the battle are the very same on display in Cannon Square today.