During the American Revolution, Governor Jonathan Trumbull used this former mercantile office as a headquarters for Connecticut’s Council of Safety. From 1775 through the end of the war, the council met more than 1,100 times, many of them in this building. Its members responded to urgent military requests, mobilized militia, arranged coastal defenses, gathered supplies, and helped sustain the Continental Army. The small structure became one of the most active administrative centers of the Patriot war effort.

Trumbull was the only colonial governor to support independence and remain in office throughout the Revolution. His long experience as a merchant gave him knowledge of regional producers, transport routes, credit, and storage. Those skills were invaluable when George Washington needed food, clothing, livestock, arms, wagons, and men. Washington affectionately referred to him as “Brother Jonathan,” a phrase later associated more broadly with the American people.

The Council of Safety functioned as an executive committee capable of acting when the legislature was not in session. War created constant emergencies. British fleets threatened the coast, prisoners required supervision, militia units needed orders, and Continental officials submitted demands that often exceeded available resources. Council members reviewed correspondence, issued warrants, authorized purchases, appointed officers, and balanced local needs against continental obligations.

Connecticut became known as the “Provision State” because of its extensive contribution of agricultural and manufactured supplies. That achievement depended upon coercion as well as patriotism. Officials levied taxes, imposed quotas, regulated prices, and requisitioned goods from communities already burdened by inflation and shortages. The War Office therefore represents the difficult machinery behind battlefield operations, not merely voluntary generosity.

Prominent American and French officers met with Trumbull and the council, including Washington, Henry Knox, Israel Putnam, the Marquis de Lafayette, and the Comte de Rochambeau. French troops also passed through Lebanon during the Yorktown campaign. Such visits placed the building within a communications network extending from local farms to allied headquarters.

No battle occurred inside the office. Its historic action consisted of thousands of decisions recorded in meetings, letters, accounts, and orders. Those decisions fed armies, replaced losses, and kept Connecticut’s defenses functioning. The building survived and has been maintained as a historic property, preserving an unusually tangible example of revolutionary administration.

The War Office reminds visitors that independence required a functioning state behind the soldiers. Armies could not campaign on courage alone. They needed flour, beef, uniforms, gunpowder, horses, transport, hospitals, and reliable information. Trumbull’s office was one place where scattered resources were converted into organized support. Its modest scale contrasts with the enormous consequences of the work performed here throughout the Revolution.