Ledyard, Connecticut, is located along the east bank of the Thames River. The town was named for Colonel William Ledyard, who commanded Colonial forces in the Battle of Groton Heights in September 1781. The town's western village of Gales Ferry was the location of a fort established by Commodore Stephen Decatur during the War of 1812. The images in Ledyard and Gales Ferry provide a nostalgic glimpse of the shared history of these two communities. Included are special events like the Harvard-Yale Regatta, the longest-running intercollegiate athletic event in the nation, and local icons such as the Great Oak, once the second-largest tree in Connecticut, under whose branches native tribes are said to have held their councils.