07/04/2026
Happy 4th of July and Happy Birthday, America!
Below is a short story about the original owner of the land upon which Highland Greens sits
Captain Ambrose Hine, a Prospect Patriot.
As Prospect celebrates the 250th anniversary of our nation's founding, it is fitting to remember the men from our community who served in the Revolutionary War and helped secure American Independence.
Among these Patriots was Captain Ambrose Hine, a farmer, landowner, soldier, and public servant whose life reflected the ideals on which the nation was founded.
Captain Hine lived on Cook Road, where his home still stands today. Part of his former farm is now the Highland Greens Golf Course. It was there with his wife Sarah that they raised their 9 children.
When the colonies sought independence from King George III, he joined the cause by signing an oath of loyalty and leaving Connecticut to fight in some of the crucial early battles of the Revolutionary War.
It is likely that Ambrose Hine served as Captain of the Local Militia before the war. Based on this experience, he was appointed Second Lieutenant in Douglas's Battalion of Wadsworth's Brigade, a Connecticut militia unit organized to support General George Washington during the defense of New York.
Others in the battalion included local men such as Peter Gilkey and Joseph Plumb Martin, whose diary provided a first hand account of the Battles of Long Island, Kip's Bay, and White Plains.
At the Battle of Long Island, the men from Prospect witnessed and supported the courageous charge of the Maryland Regiment, whose sacrifice delayed the British long enough for much of Washington's army to escape safely to Brooklyn Heights.
At Kip's Bay on Manhattan's East Side, Captain Hine and the Connecticut troops were overwhelmed by an assault of nearly 4,000 British and Hessian soldiers after enduring heavy bombardment from five British frigates anchored in the East River.
They later regrouped at Harlem Heights, where they joined the counterattack led by another distinguished Connecticut Patriot, Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Knowlton and his Rangers.
For his service during the New York campaign, General Washington recommended Captain Hine for promotion in a letter to Governor Jonathan Trumbull.
Douglas's Battalion was mustered out in late 1776. Soon afterward, Governor Trumbull appointed Ambrose as Captain in a newly formed Connecticut Regiment. He served for the remainder of the war in Peekskill, New York, helping supply the strategic Hudson River forts around West Point.
Following the war, Captain Hine became one of the first representatives in the Connecticut State Legislature from the newly formed Town of Cheshire, which then included half of present-day Prospect. He served two terms.
Although the exact date of his death is uncertain, land records indicate that he died sometime during 1794. His burial place remains unknown.
Captain Ambrose Hine was a farmer, a soldier, a legislator, Patriot Hero and one of Prospect's Founding Fathers. He rose to meet the great challenges of his time and did what he must have considered to be his duty.
Prospect, the Best Small Town in Connecticut, owes our gratitude to the individuals such as Captain Ambrose Hine. As Prospect celebrates America's 250th anniversary, we honor his memory and the sacrifices of all those who fought to establish the United States of America.
