This is the dynamic account of one of the most destructive maritime actions to take place in Connecticut history: the 1814 British attack on the privateers of Pettipaug, known today as the British Raid on Essex. During the height of the War of 1812, 136 Royal marines and sailors made their way up the Connecticut River from warships anchored in Long Island Sound. Guided by a well-paid American traitor the British navigated the Saybrook shoals and advanced up the river under cover of darkness. By the time it was over, the British had burned twenty-seven American vessels, including six newly built privateers. It was the largest single maritime loss of the war. Yet this story has been virtually left out of the history books—the forgotten battle of the forgotten war. This new account from author and historian Jerry Roberts is the definitive overview of this event and includes a wealth of new information drawn from recent research and archaeological finds. Lavish illustrations and detailed maps bring the battle to life.

The origins of Essex and Middle River can be traced back to the early 1800s, though Essex did not attain an official community name until 1908. The area grew rapidly, particularly because of the Glenn L. Martin Company, which employed more than 53,000 residents during World War II.

Essex is located on the shoreline of Lake Champlain near the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains. The town was important for its role in lake commerce, shipping goods down the Champlain Canal to the burgeoning markets of New York City and via the Erie Canal to Rochester, Buffalo, and points west during America's golden age of expansion. The photographic record of Essex contains the mansions of the merchants and the houses of the workers who all lived together in this prototypical American community. The town contains a remarkable collection of Greek Revival buildings from 1820 to 1860, its period of national significance, that are still intact. Today Essex exists with the majority of its historic structures standing and little fringe development, and the edges of the hamlet continue to merge seamlessly into the agricultural countryside.

This fascinating selection of photographs traces some of the many ways in which Saffron Walden and its surrounding villages have changed over the last century.