The BoRIA Post

More than 100 people attended the celebration on August 23 on Quaker Hill. The event included talks, dedications, and “breaking of bread”. Jim Garman, Portsmouth’s Town Historian noted that this is the oldest extant structure in Town and the Meeting House played a pivotal strategic and logistical role in the Battle of Rhode Island on August 29, 1778. 

It served as both a contested military objective and a symbol of the complex challenges faced by pacifist Quaker communities. Located atop the strategically important Quaker Hill at an elevation of 286 feet, the Meeting House became an unwilling participant in what would be the only major Revolutionary War battle fought on Rhode Island soil. Quaker Hill provided commanding views of the surrounding terrain and approach routes, making it essential for controlling movement across northern Aquidneck Island. The hill’s position between the East Main Road and Middle Road made it a natural defensive strongpoint.

The British forces drove out the Quakers and converted the Meeting House into a military facility, using the main worship space as barracks and the basement as an ammunition magazine. This militarization of the sacred space represented a profound violation of Quaker principles and effectively ended regular worship services at the building.

According to British Lieutenant Mackenzie’s diary, the British were particularly concerned about the Quaker population’s reaction to the Hessian troops, noting that “The inhabitants of the Island, being principally Quakers, are exceedingly alarmed at the appearance of the Hessian troops, are under great dread of them.” Despite this, when the British ordered all Portsmouth inhabitants to work on Butts Hill Fort construction beginning on September 15, 1777, only seventeen men appeared because the majority of inhabitants were Quakers who refused to assist in any war-related activities.

The Fighting at Quaker Hill

The engagement at Quaker Hill became one of the most intense phases of the battle. American forces, including Wigglesworth’s Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Henry Brockholst Livingston’s advance guard, and Colonel Nathaniel Wade’s pickets, established defensive positions at the junction of Middle Road, East Road, and Hedley Street, directly in the vicinity of the Friends Meeting House.

Contemporary accounts describe fierce fighting lasting approximately one hour. A private from Jackson’s detachment recorded the intensity of the combat: “The action began to be warm when we were reinforced by Col. Shepard’s Regiment… The action then commenced hot. We plied them so briskly that they began to give way.” The Americans initially held their ground and even launched a counterattack, with Major Louis Tousard of Lafayette’s staff courageously charging a British artillery piece before being wounded.

Despite their initial success, the overwhelming British numbers and reinforcements forced the American withdrawal from Quaker Hill back to the main defensive line at Butts Hill. The British briefly secured Quaker Hill but were unable to advance further against the strengthened American positions

Following the Battle, the Friends Meeting House continued to serve military purposes under different occupying forces. The building was used by both British and American forces, with evidence suggesting that “victorious Americans took possession of the meetinghouse for similar purposes” after the battle. When French forces arrived in 1780 as part of the continuing alliance, they too occupied the Meeting House.

This extended military use took a significant toll on the building’s condition. The extent of damage is documented in Quaker records. Jacob Mott, who died on January 24, 1779, could not be buried in the traditional Quaker burying ground because “the Meeting house at Portsmouth and Burying Ground also… Being at that time occupied by a number of German Troops.” This record provides evidence that Hessian forces continued to occupy the Meeting House well into 1779, months after the Battle.

By 1781, the Meeting House was reported to be “in need of significant repair.” Meeting minutes from October 31, 1780, record that the Quaker congregation had to petition the French army to have their building released: “A party of the Meeting House at Newport having for some time past been occupied by the French Army we appoint James Mitchell, James Chase, Isaac Lawton and Jacob Mott to use their endeavors to have it released.”

The War devastated the Quaker community on Aquidneck Island. Many of the wealthier Quakers fled to Philadelphia and New York during the British occupation, while those who remained faced property seizure by colonial forces for refusing to take loyalty oaths or serve in the military. The traditional Quaker refusal to participate in war-related activities led to their being “distrained of their property by colonial forces” and subjected to raids by British supply parties.

The war marked a turning point in Quaker political influence in Rhode Island. Following the conflict, the Society of Friends decided that Quakers should no longer hold any public office, ending over a century of Quaker political dominance in the colony. This decision reflected both practical necessity and theological conviction, as the experience of the war had demonstrated the incompatibility between Quaker pacifist principles and the responsibilities of civil governance during wartime.

Archaeological evidence discovered during renovation work in 1955 confirmed the building’s military use during the Revolutionary War. Cannonballs were discovered in the cellar during excavation, providing proof of the building’s role as an ammunition storage facility. These cannonballs are still preserved in the building today on a fireplace mantle.

Click here for Katie Mulvaney’s article about Friends Meeting House from the Providence Journal/USA Today Network.