The Rhode Island Campaign

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Americans Gather at Tiverton

The Tiverton redoubt (called Tiverton Heights Fort at the time) was the gathering place for the troops who would go to Rhode (Aquidneck) Island in hopes of ending the British Occupation. They traveled across the Howland Ferry area to get to Portsmouth. They returned to this same area in Tiverton during the retreat after the Battle of Rhode Island.

After the British occupied Aquidneck Island in 1776, Tiverton became a base of operations for Colonial forces. Both Rhode Island and Massachusetts cooperated in building the fortification. British officer Frederick Mackenzie’s journal describes the construction in an entry in his diary on June 11, 1777:

“The Rebels have been busily employed in making a work on the hill above Howland’s ferry where their guns have been placed all the Winter. It appears to be very extensive, and must cost them a great deal of labour, as there is little or no soil on the hill.” On June 28th 1777, Mackenzie observed the fort as “irregular in its figure, but very extensive. From the situation, it must be strong.”

Current view from Tiverton Redoubt, later renamed Fort Barton (Photo by G. Schmidt)
Current view from Tiverton Redoubt, later renamed Fort Barton (Photo by G. Schmidt)
February 6, 1778
The Treaty of Alliance with France was signed creating a military alliance between the United States and France against Great Britain.
February 6, 1778
March 10, 1778
Washington appointed Major General John Sullivan to be commander-in-chief of the Rhode Island theater. Sullivan began recruiting more troops and planning an attack on Newport. Sullivan continued to gather forces but they were (in general) slow to respond. There were four types of Patriot forces: Continentals, State Regiments, Militia, and independent volunteer companies. John Hancock commanded one Massachusetts militia unit. One of his officers was Lt. Col. Paul Revere.
March 10, 1778
August 6, 1778
Sullivan ordered all the units in Providence to march to Tiverton, the staging ground for the planned invasion. They arrived two days later. The number of transport boats at Tiverton was far too few, as was the number of seamen to operate them.
August 6, 1778
August 9, 1778
There were enough boats and seamen to ferry the American troops onto Aquidneck Island. 11,000 Continental troops and militia under the command of General Sullivan ferried across the short passage between Tiverton and Portsmouth known as Howland Ferry.
August 9, 1778

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