Daniel Bissell: Windsor's Nearly-Forgotten Hero

It took nearly a century for the Windsor residents to recognize the significance of Daniel Bissell's role in the Revolutionary War.

At the height of the Revolution, Windsor had selflessly sent many of its young men to fight against the British. Daniel Bissell, despite being of a rich and prominent family, had done the same. Yet George Washington, recognizing Bissell's intelligence, conceded to give him a special assignment: to infiltrate and collect information on British fortifications in New York City and on Long Island. One could even argue that Bissel had become America's first double agent. During the revolution, he had been pressed into excruciating circumstances and had succeeded wildly.

Yet the success of Bissell, a descendent of one of Windsor's first and most prominent families, had been severely mistaken due what he had undertaken. This was largely due to two conjoining stipulations: the local belief that he had defected to the British Army, and a lack of communication between Revolutionary leaders and Windsor residents. Bissel's success at being a spy is exactly what caused his legacy to be surrounded by so much confusion.

In 1914, F. Clarence Bissell, a descendent of Daniel, helped to clarify his ancestor's unusual juxtaposition. At a conference of Connecticut's Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (S.A.R.), F.C. Bissell explains that in August 1781 his ancestor was selected by Washington to embark into “perilous service of going within the British lines to ascertain their position and force, and that the undertaking would be one of great danger.” The original plan, as described, is that he was too find work cutting wood for the British on Long Island after observing fortifications on New York city. A boat would be readied eleven days following, located at what is now Lloyd's Neck, for him to escape in.

Daniel Bissell, as George Washington wrote, was furnished sent into “secret service [with] 146 pounds” and arrived in New York City shortly after. As can be expected, nothing went to plan. This is where the first instance of confusion reigns on Bissell's desertion. To avoid suspicion, Bissell was “published in the official returns as a deserter, his real purpose being known only to Washington and a few of his officers.” Posing as a American deserter, he was greeted by British sentries that had been stationed outside the city to serve as ''press gangs.'' They presented Bissell with three options in exchange for admittance to NYC: post bail for being a “rebel”, pay 70 pounds or enlist in the British army.

Legend has it that he was able to convince the gang that he had an Uncle Tory within the city limits. Bissell continued this fabrication by conceiving that this imaginary Uncle Tory was a British loyalist. Tory would pay his 70 pound fee, but only when Bissell had found him. This was impossible. While no author or source documents it, it is at this point that I suspect the Windsor spy had to change his plans. Many accounts claim that, unable to pay the fine, he spent the next few days searching for “Uncle Tory,” when in reality, he was merely observing the numerous fortifications in New York City. It is unclear what Bissell would have done if he had not fallen severely ill.

Sick and with little money, he chose to enlist with the British army in order to receive medical attention. After spending several months recovering, Bissell had to serve with the enemy army. Yet it seems his sickness and subsequent enlistment was enough to run out his bad luck and leave him with only good situations. Weak from sickness, and without British military training, he was left to help operate and organize the British provision deliveries as a supply sergeant for General Benedict Arnold's forces. General Arnold was in control of the forces that were charged with defending the British stranglehold on Long Island and around New York City.

Bissell would serve the British military in this role for several months. As a supply sergeant, he had prime access to the locations of hundreds of troops, forts and defenses. After spending nearly 13 months as a British soldier, Bissell saw an opportunity to return to General Washington with the information he had been charged with collecting. While many officers were out at an annual party, he managed to convince his supervisor to go on a pig hunt. Taking with him a British comrade who also wished to defect, along with a boy to help, he managed to make his way to Lloyd's Neck, and eventually, back the American lines with valuable information.

After the American Revolution had finished, Bissell was presented with a Badge of Merit, an award that would later become the Purple Heart. On June 8th, 1783 General George Washington wrote that “Sergt. Bissell of the Second Connecticut regt. having performed some important services within the immediate knowledge of the Commander-in-Chief in which the fidelity, perseverance and good sense of the said Sergt. Bissell were conspicuously manifested, it is therefore ordered that he be honored with the Badge of Merit.” This was presented to Bissell along with two other soldiers. Generally, this trio is recognized as being the first recipients of the American Purple Heart.

Surprisingly, this honor did not clear his name in Windsor. In fact, he would never return to the town. It was not until nearly a century later (F.C. Bissell would argue nearly 150 years later) that his name would be cleared by Windsor authorities of having not been a deserter, but rather, a hero. While it is certain that many would blame this on a lack of viable communication within the newly founded United States, F. Clarence Bissell would argue otherwise in a 1928 Hartford Courant article entitled “A Connecticut Saga”. In this editorial, he made the case that Bissell's significant undertaking was mistaken for lack of a notable writer in Connecticut. “To be sure we had no [Henry Wadsworth] Longfellow to immortalize our Connecticut Patriot, as he did Revere.” It was only after Bissell's family historians had revived Daniel “almost forgotten story after 80 years or more had elapsed” that his true role could come into focus.

This article was written utilizing resources provided by The Windsor Historical Society. The Windsor Historical Society staff was not involved in the fact checking process of this article. Any opinions within this column do not reflect the viewpoints of The Windsor Historical Society or its staff. You can visit the Windsor Historical Society at www.WindsorHistoricalSocety.org.