Nearby on April 26, 1777, British General William Tryon and his invading army captured citizens of Redding and imprisoned them in New York for ransom. Those taken were Russell Bartlett, Stephen Betts, Daniel Chapman, Thomas Couch, David Fairchild, Ezekial Fairchild, Jabez Frost, Daniel Meeker, Timothy Parsons, Jonas Platt, James Rogers, Jeremiah Sanford, Oliver Sanford, and Nathaniel Squire. Daniel Chapman, Ezekial Fairchild, and Jeremiah Sanford died while imprisoned, and Stephen Betts and James Rogers were selectmen. Ned, a Redding slave, ultimately gained his freedom at Danbury by an enemy officer’s sword.