Editing Litchfield County, Connecticut (section)

==History==
Litchfield County was created on October 9, 1751, by an act of the Connecticut General Court from land belonging to Fairfield, New Haven, and Hartford counties. The act establishing the county states:
<blockquote>
That the townships of Litchfield, Woodbury, New Milford, Harwinton, New Hartford, Barkhempstead, Hartland, Colebrook, Norfolk, Canaan, Salisbury, Kent, Sharon, Cornwall, Goshen, Torrington, and Winchester, lying in the northwesterly part of this Colony, shall be and remain one entire county, and be called the County of Litchfield, and shall have and exercise the same powers, {{sic|priviledges}} and authorities, and be subject to the same regulations, as the other counties in this Colony by law have and are subject unto. The bounds of which county shall extend north to the Colony line, and west to the
Colony line till it meets with the township of New Fairfield, and to include the towns abovementioned.
<ref name="ccr">{{cite web |url=http://www.colonialct.uconn.edu/ViewPageByPageNew.cfm?ID=2825&Volume=10&Master=622&Letter=L&v=10&p=56&c=4 |title=CCR: Volume 10, Page 56 |access-date=June 17, 2008}} {{Dead link|date=September 2010|bot=H3llBot}}</ref>
<ref name=Hathi>{{cite book |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=njp.32101067880318&view=1up&seq=66 |title=The public records of the colony of Connecticut [1636-1776] ... transcribed and published, (in accordance with a resolution of the general assembly) ..., vol.10 (May 1751-Feb.1757), Page 56. HathiTrust Digital Library. |publisher=Brown & Parsons |access-date=2 March 2020}}</ref>
</blockquote>

Between 1780 and 1807, several new towns were created at the boundaries between Litchfield County and other counties in Connecticut. The town of Watertown was established in 1780 from Waterbury and was placed under Litchfield County jurisdiction. The establishment of the town of Brookfield from part of New Milford in 1788 resulted in Litchfield County losing territory to Fairfield County. In 1796, the town of Hartland was transferred to Hartford County. In 1798, the town of Oxford was established from part of Southbury causing Litchfield County to lose territory to New Haven County. In 1807, the town of Southbury was transferred to New Haven County. The final boundary change occurred on October 8, 1807, when the town of [[Middlebury, Connecticut|Middlebury]] was established from part of Woodbury.<ref>[http://historical-county.newberry.org/website/Connecticut/documents/CT_Individual_County_Chronologies.htm#LITCHFIELD Newberry Library &ndash; Connecticut Atlas of Historical County Boundaries] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131110043227/http://historical-county.newberry.org/website/Connecticut/documents/CT_Individual_County_Chronologies.htm |date=November 10, 2013}}</ref>

In 1862, during the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], Litchfield County raised the [[2nd Connecticut Heavy Artillery Regiment|2nd Connecticut Regiment of Volunteers Heavy Artillery]]. This regiment, originally the [[19th Connecticut Infantry Regiment|19th Connecticut Volunteer Infantry]], served in the defense of Washington, D.C. from September 1862 to March 1864, at which time it was transferred to the [[Army of the Potomac]]. On June 1, 1864, the 2nd Connecticut Heavy Artillery fought as infantry (as it continued to do through the war) in the [[Battle of Cold Harbor]], experiencing the heaviest proportionate losses of any Connecticut regiment in the Civil War. The regiment remained active to the end of the war, and its final mustering out September 5, 1865.<ref>[http://www.the2dconn.com/history.htm 2d Connecticut Volunteer Heavy Artillery Regiment - Unit History] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130107035537/http://the2dconn.com/history.htm |date=January 7, 2013 }}. The2dconn.com. Retrieved on July 15, 2013.</ref>