The BoRIA Post
The official newsletter of the Battle of Rhode Island Association featuring news, events and Rhode Island history. Learn more at www.battleofrhodeisland.org.
Jim Stearns, Editor
March 31st, 2026
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Butts Hill Fort and American Battlefield Trust's Park Day
Portsmouth, RI. The Butts Hill Fort Restoration Committee (BHFRC) is inviting volunteers to our annual Spring Cleanup on Saturday, April 25th. Cleanup starts at 9 AM and goes on until 2 pm. Come anytime. The meeting point is on Southern Battery Green closest to the Portsmouth High School’s tennis courts lot and the upper wind turbine lot. Participants are asked to park along Dyer Street or at the Portsmouth High School’s tennis courts.
We are teaming up with the American Battlefield Trust on their 30th annual Park Day Event. According to their website: “Each year, thousands of history enthusiasts, community-minded citizens, families, Boy and Girl Scouts, ROTC units and more come together in an effort to help keep our nation’s heritage not only preserved, but pristine. Park Day allows the American Battlefield Trust to cast a spotlight on beloved American landscapes nationwide. Projects will keep historic sites and battlefields clean, open and accessible for the enjoyment of all.”
This will be a general cleanup of the parade grounds, pathways and open spaces. Every participant will need to sign a town liability form upon arrival. BHFRC staff will be on hand throughout the day, so if you join in progress, please sign in with a team member. Participants are asked to bring gloves, protective eye gear, loppers, shears, weed whackers, and rakes.
For more information click here.
Rhode Island’s Role in Building America’s First Federal Government
As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary, historians are uncovering new details about how the young republic actually functioned in the years following the Revolutionary War.
A major digital project by historian Peter Kastor, titled Creating a Federal Government, 1789–1829, documents the people who built and operated the nation’s first federal institutions. The database identifies more than 37,000 early federal employees, ranging from customs collectors and postal officials to naval officers and clerks who carried out the daily work of government.
For Rhode Island, this history is especially relevant. Ports such as Newport and Providence were among the most active customs districts in the early republic. Customs collectors, naval officers, and inspectors working in these ports enforced federal trade laws, collected tariffs that funded the new government, and helped establish federal authority along the coast. In many ways, they were the operational backbone of the nation Washington and his contemporaries had just created.
The project also reminds us that the founding era was not only shaped by famous figures such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Alexander Hamilton, but by thousands of lesser-known public servants whose work translated revolutionary ideals into functioning
Readers interested in exploring this remarkable resource—including records that illuminate federal activity in Rhode Island—can visit the project website:
https:/
As the nation approaches the Semiquincentennial in 2026, this project highlights an important reality: the American Revolution did not end with victory on the battlefield. The same generation that fought for independence—including Rhode Islanders who defended Aquidneck Island during the 1778 Battle of Rhode Island—went on to build and operate the institutions of the new republic.
Joe Studlick
NOVA Shines a Spotlight on BoRIA’s Jay Waller
NOVA on PBS recently featured BoRIA’s pro bono consultant Jay Waller, senior archaeologist at the Public Archaeology Lab (PAL) in Pawtucket, in its episode “Revolutionary War Weapons.” In the program, Waller conducted live-fire demonstrations of 18th-century small arms to help evaluate their effectiveness on the battlefield.
Readers can watch a short NOVA segment on musket lethality here:
https:/
The full Revolutionary War Weapons episode is available here:
https:/
Waller has also led BoRIA-supported conflict-archaeology research on the Rhode Island Campaign, including the archaeological assessment of Butts Hill Fort that now guides restoration planning and state review, as well as metal-detecting surveys at Battle of Rhode Island sites.
BoRIA Outreach – The Battle of Rhode Island Board Game: Following the Action on a Historic Map
I have been developing a way for students (and adults) to follow the action during the Battle of Rhode Island (BoRI) on a contemporary map of Aquidneck Island. Much of the fighting took place along East and West (now Main) Roads in Portsmouth, and in several instances multiple engagements were unfolding at nearly the same time.
This map activity provides a simplified timeline that helps users trace the sequence of events during the battle. It draws on Christian McBurney’s The Rhode Island Campaign: The First French and American Operation of the Revolutionary War, as well as the diary of British officer Frederick Mackenzie.
The board game based on the battle focuses on the commanders and the decisions they faced. Input from experienced gamers would be very helpful as this concept develops. The activity can work as a three-person exercise: one person reads the narrative while the others move the American forces and the British and German forces. In a classroom setting, students might also follow the actions of individual commanders throughout the battle.
The map used in this activity was created by Edward Fage, a captain in the Royal Artillery. It is clear and legible, and we have added a few annotations to make the battle lines easier to follow.
Grant funding from the RI250 Commission will allow us to produce a durable boxed kit with printed map boards and movable pieces representing the commanders. A “Do-It-Yourself” version is already available on the Battle of Rhode Island website. It is also available on the website for teachers – TeachingRevolutionaryRhody.
Gloria Schmidt
Board Historical Advisor and Outreach
The Lafayette Trail to Install Two Markers in RI Towns on April 18th
On Saturday April 18th, the Lafayette Trail will install two markers in Bristol and in Tiverton commemorating Lafayette’s time spent in those towns. Bristol is one of the sites where Lafayette encamped following the Battle of Rhode Island late in the summer of 1778. Together, in collaboration with the Bristol Preservation and Historical Society, they have secured a new Lafayette Trail marker to be installed at Bristol’s iconic Independence Park at 419-459 Thames St, on the waterfront.
The sign will be formally dedicated on Saturday, April 18, 2026, at 10 AM on the northern end of the park in the presence of local officials and dignitaries. The ceremony will last approximately 45 minutes and include remarks from all the stakeholders involved in securing this new historic marker for Bristol.
In Tiverton, Lafayette encamped with Continental Army troops from August 30 to September 2, 1778, in the aftermath of the Battle of Rhode Island. A site has been identified adjacent to the town of Tiverton government building, immediately across from Fort Barton, a Revolutionary War defensive post. The dedication ceremony will be free and open to the public. The program will take place at 343 Highland Rd, at exactly 2 PM.
According to Julien Icher, President of the Lafayette Trail “Lafayette provided much-needed cultural mediation services in the aftermath of the evacuation following the Battle of Rhode Island. Chief among them was his ability to convince Washington to order anti-French rhetoric to stop. Such language had surged among soldiers following Count d’Estaing’s decision to retreat his fleet to Boston for repairs following a major storm. It was largely prompted by John Sullivan, who heavily criticized such a military decision, largely because the success of the operation was predicated upon French naval engagement. Washington’s decision to act on Lafayette’s feedback and restore normalcy and respect among allies speaks to the trust that Lafayette and Washington had built in one another. It also speaks to Lafayette’s core belief that the war could not be won without the auxiliary support of the French and that antagonizing them would serve in no way the U.S. national interest.”
The Lafayette Trail, Inc. is a nonprofit organization with the mission to educate the public about the national significance of Lafayette’s Tour and to promote a broader understanding of Lafayette’s numerous contributions to American independence and national coherence.
Visit their official website for more information, subscribe, and become a supporter now by visiting thelafayettetrail.
BoRIA Adds 51st Website Partner:
Fresh Adventures
We’re thrilled to welcome Fresh, LLC to our growing network of partners. Headquartered in North Kingstown, this innovative tech firm worked with us to create an engaging mobile experience that brings Revolutionary Rhode Island to life. Through historian-led videos, trivia, and puzzles, users can explore eight curated driving and/or walking tours across the state. Supported by a 2024 Rhode Island Commerce tourism grant, the platform—FreshMaps—powers these immersive journeys, known as Fresh Adventures. Learn more about the company at MyFreshAdventures.
RI250Quest by Fresh Maps/Adventures
Team registration is now open for the unique, “once in 250 years opportunity” to experience Rhode Island’s Revolutionary History in a fun statewide competition! Created in partnership with the Battle of Rhode Island Association and FreshMaps (the mobile app tech), now called Fresh Adventures (the experience, using the app), teams will explore eight walking and driving tours with video-based learning experiences, earning points through the app with trivia and puzzles. Teams that register by April 15th will get team t-shirts, swag bags, hunts in all eight towns and event invitations during the 10 weeks starting May 2/3 – Rhode Island’s Independence Day weekend! Learn more on RI250Quest.
Note: RI250Quest has been making news! Click here to see media coverage.
April 7th, 7:00 PM – Little Compton Historical Society’s Virtual Lecture Series: Lafayette in the American Revolution and his Evolution as an Anti-slavery Advocate. Click here to register for this free event.
April 8th, 6:30 PM – Fred Zilian Lecture, Nathanael Greene: Rhode Island’s Unsung Revolutionary War Hero, Tiverton Public Library
April 18th, 10:00 AM – Lafayette Marker Ceremony, Independence Park, Bristol
April 18th, 2:00 PM – Lafayette Marker Ceremony, 343 Highland Rd., Tiverton
April 22nd, 6:30 PM – Fred Zilian Lecture, Rhode Island & the American Revolution, Portsmouth Free Public Library. Click here to register for this free event.
April 25th, 9:00 AM-2:00 PM – Butts Hill Fort Park Day Cleanup, Portsmouth
May 2nd, 11:00 AM-4:00 PM – Smith’s Castle Opening Day, North Kingston.
May 3rd, 10:00AM-4:00 PM – Forgotten Founders Talk, Nathanael Greene Homestead, Coventry
By Don N. Hagist
“Dear Brother,” wrote Thomas Plumb from Newport, Rhode Island, on February 22, 1777, “this comes with my kind Love to you and hope these lines will find you, my Wife, Child & all Enquiring Friends in as good Health as they do Leave me at this Present time.”[1] Plumb has been in Rhode Island for almost three months, and it was important to let his family and friends know that he was in good health and spirits. He was a soldier, a British soldier, in a war that had been raging in America for almost two full years.
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Did You Know?
- Before the war, they stepped outside the “home sphere” for the first time. As “Daughters of Liberty,” they wielded economic influence by organizing boycotts of British goods such as tea and silk. Instead, they spun yarn and produced homespun cloth, turning everyday domestic work into acts of protest against the Stamp and Townshend Acts. These groups gathered in communities across Rhode Island, including Providence, Bristol, Newport, and Jamestown.
- They influenced public sentiment against the crown. Writers such as Mary Otis Warren and Phillis Wheatley of Massachusetts used the power of the pen to shape public opinion. Through poetry, plays and letters, they stirred resistance to the tyranny of the Crown and the presence of British military authority.
- They invested in successful family businesses, including Providence’s first printing press. In 1762, Sarah Updike Goddard, together with her children William and Mary Katharine, founded the colony’s first printing press, the Providence Gazette. Mary Katharine later printed the first broadside of the Declaration of Independence to include the signers’ names – adding her own at the bottom!
- They ran the farms and businesses while their husbands were away fighting. Mary Almy, a Loyalist in Newport, managed her family’s boardinghouse while her husband fought as a Patriot during both the British and French occupations of the city. Across Aquidneck Island, many women were left to defend their farms, homes, food stores – and even themselves – from British and German soldiers during the occupation from 1776 to 1779.
- Women provided nourishment and shelter during occupations of military on both sides. In Bristol, Mrs. Reynold’s home hosted the Marquis de LaFayette, providing food, lodging and serving as his headquarters during the Rhode Island Campaign. In Middletown, the Overing household was taken over as a place of respite outside of the bustling city of Newport for British General Richard Prescott. Now known as Prescott Farm, the site became famous for Prescott’s dramatic capture by Rhode Island militia in July 1777.
- Women played key support roles for officers and enlisted during encampments. Catharine Littlefield Greene, born on Block Island, followed her husband, General Nathanael Greene of the Continental Army, and helped manage camps and boost morale during the war. Many soldiers travelled with their families, and women provided essential support – cooking, laundry, and nursing – both during and between battles.
- As spies for both sides, women provided intelligence of military movements, often undetected. Newport’s Mary Wenwood, Mary Almy and others carried messages, sent letters, and hosted “spy rings,” passing intelligence to both Patriot and Loyalist officers throughout the war. They were often able to gather sensitive information because they were underestimated and thought incapable of understanding military affairs.
- They raised funds and produced goods to benefit their soldiers. Esther Reed organized the Ladies Association of Philadelphia, raising funds door-to-door from more than 1,500 Philadelphia households. She correspondence with George Washington about how the money should be used, ultimately directing it towards the purchase of linen. The Association produced more than 2,000 shirts for Continental soldiers, each one signed by its maker as a personal symbol of support.
- Women fought as soldiers or provided support on the battlefield. Deborah Sampson of Massachusetts served for over a year in disguise as a male soldier. “Molly Pitcher “is a legendary figure representing the many women who carried water and helped operate cannons during battle. Some women were even awarded military pensions in recognition of their service.
- After the war, the freedom fight led to the beginning of the abolition movement. Widowed during the war, Duchess Quamino – enslaved in Newport since childhood – used her baking skills to secure freedom for herself and her children, becoming one of Rhode Island’s most celebrated cake makers.
Michelle Girasole, RI250Quest.
