Silliman was born in
Fairfield, Connecticut, graduated from
Yale University and practiced law and served as a crown attorney before the
American Revolution. He was appointed Colonel of the Fourth Regiment, Connecticut
militia, in May 1775 and became
Brigadier General in 1776. He patrolled the southwestern border of
Connecticut, where the loyalists of Westchester County, New York, caused constant irritation and concern for patriot towns and farms along the Connecticut coast. He also fought with the main army during the
New York Campaign of 1776 and opposed the British raid on Danbury in 1777. At the beginning of Tryon's raid on
Danbury, Connecticut, Silliman was at his home in Fairfield. As soon as he heard word of the
British landing on the coast, he sent out expresses to alarm the nearby towns and to collect the militia. By noon the next day he arrived in
Redding, Connecticut, with five hundred men and was joined by
Major General David Wooster and Brigadier General
Benedict Arnold in the
Battle of Ridgefield. One night in May 1779, nine
Tories crossed the sound in a whale boat from Lloyd's Neck. One of the Tories had been previously employed by Silliman as a carpenter, so he knew the house well. Eight of the men forced their way into the house at midnight and took the general and his adult son. They were taken to Oyster Bay, New York, and finally to Flatbush. The Americans had no prisoner of equal rank to exchange for Silliman, so they captured one.
Thomas Jones, a highly reputed loyalist, was captured in November 1779 by
Continental Navy Captain
David Hawley and brought back to Connecticut. Silliman and Jones were exchanged in May 1780, with Silliman's son being exchanged as well. These events were accurately depicted in the 1994 TV film ''Mary Silliman's War'' by Heritage Films, based on the 1984 biography of Silliman's second wife by Joy and Richard Buel. Silliman died on July 21, 1790. ==Family==