BoRIA Commemorative Coin #1 Back In Stock
Commemorative Coin #1 is back in stock, order yours today! Coin 4, featuring General Varnum, will be available December 5th and our 2024 series will launch in February!
This website launched on the Anniversary of the Battle of Rhode Island - August 29, 1778. BoRIA will be adding both more information and features to the website over the next 6 months.
Latest News & Events
Ships of Rhode Island in the American Revolution by Dr. Kathy Abbass
The Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project (RIMAP) has published many histories of the vessels in Rhode Island during the American Revolution and has done many archaeological studies to find and document what remains of those that were lost. Vessels of various types and sizes were lost due to marine peril, human error, or in engagements between enemy combatants.
Butts Hill Fort Restoration Committee and the Bristol Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution
BHFRC Chair Col. Paul Murphy (USAF Ret,) spoke to the Bristol Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR).
Battle of Rhode Island Association’s Editorial Board Member Dr. Robert Selig Receives La Médaille d’Or des Valeurs Francophones
Battle of Rhode Island Association’s Editorial Board Member Dr. Robert Selig Receives La Médaille d’Or des Valeurs Francophones
Siege of Newport
Historians differ on when to mark the beginning of the Siege, but I am using August 9th, 1778, as the start of the Siege. This is the date the Americans transported their soldiers by ferry from Tiverton to Aquidneck Island and set up camp in Portsmouth. We tend to focus on the battle, but the siege portion of the Rhode Island Campaign includes the dates of August 9th to August 28th when the American leaders decide to execute a planned retreat. This retreat marked the end of the Campaign.
Battle of Rhode Island Association Receives Proclamation Letter from Town of Portsmouth for Butts Hill Fort Rededication Ceremony.
The Battle of Rhode Island Association recently received a proclamation from the Town of Portsmouth acknowledging our efforts for the Dr. Roderick Terry Centennial Celebration at Butts Hill Fort.
Seth Anthony Remembers the Battle of Rhode Island
In researching Revolutionary Rhode Island, I came across a book by Judge Benjamin Cowell. Cowell was born in 1781, so he wasn’t a Revolutionary War veteran, but he made it his aim in life to help Rhode Island veterans get their pensions. He began recording the stories these old soldiers had to tell to justify their service. Cowell began to gather eyewitness accounts, speeches, letters, rosters, and every piece of information he could find on Rhode Island’s role in the War for Independence. In 1850 he gathered all this material into a book “Spirit of ’76 in Rhode Island.”
