Battle of Rhode Island Shared Articles
John Trumbull Under Fire at the Battle of Rhode Island
John Trumbull of Connecticut today is rightfully famous as a painter of Revolutionary War scenes.
Why Captain Wallace Failed to Prevent the Revolutionary War
From December 1774 to March 1776, Captain James Wallace of the British Navy patrolled Narragansett Bay.
‘Small State, Big History’ Tells Intriguing Stories
McBurney and an assortment of writers and historians are adding important details to our knowledge of Rhode Island history while telling charming stories about little known people and resurrecting interest in significant historical footnotes.
Rhode Island State Government’s Historical Lethargy
Historian Laureate Emeritus Patrick T. Conley urges state leaders to champion Butts Hill Fort and the Battle of Rhode Island as we approach America’s 250th
Longtime Friends
Marking 325 years, Quaker meeting house in Portsmouth is RI’s oldest active church
Agrippa Hull: A Revolutionary Story
Agrippa Hull was a free black man who enlisted in the Continental Army from Stockbridge, Massachusetts, and served until the end of hostilities.
The Final Mission of Butts Hill Fort 1782
In June 1781, French forces left Butts Hill and the rest of Rhode Island (Aquidneck Island) to join Washington as they marched toward Yorktown. This departure came after nearly a year of preparation, including a mock battle on Rhode Island in 1780.
Bob Cembrola: Discovery of British frigates and the University of Rhode Island
This occupation put a choke hold on commerce and caused great damage to many buildings on Aquidneck Island and communities surrounding the bay.
French Officers at the Battle of Rhode Island
Dozens of French Army officers departed France for America to serve as officers in the Continental Army. Several fought during the Rhode Island Campaign of July-August 1778 and at the Battle of Rhode Island.
A Rhode Island Officer’s Recollections Lead to New Information on Battle of Red Bank
The author recently came across the recollections of Simeon Thayer, who served from 1777 to 1781 as a major in Rhode Island Continental Army regiments. He was one of the outstanding military figures from Rhode Island during the war.
“I Had Like to Have Forgot to Mention a Famous Sham Battle”
With the Naval War College on Aquidneck Island, we island residents have a familiarity with the idea of “wargaming” or rehearsing the decisions leaders would make during warfare involving joint military operations. Wargaming did not begin with the War College in the 1870s. While the French were on the island during the American Revolutionary War from 1780 to 1782, they held “mock battles” by Woods Castle in the Third Beach area of Middletown.
Victims of Newport’s Stamp Act Riots Reimbursed (Not)
Bostonian merchants, sailors and dockworkers hated the Stamp Act enacted by Parliament in early 1765. What right did Parliament have to tax Americans when they were not represented in Parliament?
Lafayette in Rhode Island
“The moment I heard of America, I lov’d her.” The Marquis de Lafayette wrote this in a letter from his camp near Warren, Rhode Island, on September 23, 1778.
Another “Black Regiment” in the Revolutionary War
The Act of the General Assembly in February 1778 was historic because it was the first attempt to raise such a force of enslaved men in America.
Rochambeau Comes to Help the Revolution, Gets a Cold Shoulder
When le Comte Rochambeau and his 6,000 men sailed into Newport Harbor on the afternoon of July 11, 1780, they expected to be met by a welcoming committee of dignitaries, cheering crowds perhaps, or cannon salutes, speeches, a parade.
Newport’s Last Slave Auction: Rochambeau’s Prizes
In this article, historian Robert Selig writes about what may be the last slave auction in Newport, which was held by the French forces occupying Newport in 1781.
Eight Clues: Recovering a Life in Fragments, Arthur Bowler in Slavery and Freedom
In January 1792 forty-three-year-old Arthur Bowler left Halifax, Nova Scotia, on his second Transatlantic journey. Captured in Africa almost thirty years earlier, enslaved in Newport, Rhode Island, for nearly twenty years, a free man for ten, he was returning to Africa.
George Washington’s Thoughts on the Battle of Rhode Island
Washington wrote many letters in the days after the Battle. Letters he wrote to Lafayette and French commander D’Estaing were to smooth over hard feelings about the French withdrawal from Newport.
Congress and the Commodore: Esek Hopkins and the Raid on Nassau
On April 7, 1776 American ships began dropping anchors off New London, Connecticut. Esek Hopkins, commander in chief of the new Continental navy, was returning from a successful raid on the town of New Providence on Nassau island in the Bahamas.
The Physical Challenges of Major General Nathanael Greene
The American Revolution provides heroes like almost no other event in American history. In a society where most of us live in comfort, with good medical care and remedies for what ails us, we recognize the sacrifices the people of the eighteenth century made for the cause of American liberty and, eventually, to build a new nation.
Hopes and Disappointments Lafayette Recalls the Rhode Island Campaign
“Lafayette, on his visit to Rhode Island in 1824 told the late Mr. Zachariah Allen as he
rode with him in a carriage across the border from Connecticut – ‘In this state I have experienced
more sudden and extreme alternations of hopes and disappointments than during all the
vicissitudes of the American war.’”
Lafayette’s Mapmaker: Michel Capitaine Du Chesnoy
Illustrating the Marquis de Lafayette’s movements in Rhode Island. It is a map of the positions of American troops in August of 1778
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.
The Early Life of Nathanael Greene
This Continental Army general’s family arrived in America in the mid-1600s and soon became prominent and prosperous in their region. As a youth, he had little formal education but managed to find time to study great military leaders of the past. During our War for Independence, he lost most of the battles he fought but managed to hold his thread-bare regiments together.
Nathanael Greene Joins the Cause
Nathanael Greene was one of the greatest American generals to emerge from the American Revolution. Without any formal military training or any experience, Greene developed into a leader feared and respected by his British counterparts.
Black Soldiers of Liberty
Estimates have appeared in print for generations that 3,000 to 5,000 Black soldiers served in the American military in the Revolution.
Colonel Daniel Hitchcock Of Rhode Island
A collateral descendant of Daniel Hitchcock (first cousin, nine times removed), the author had always been fascinated by the short but important life of this colonel from Providence, Rhode Island, who was taken by illness following the Battle of Princeton at the young age of thirty-seven.
Bristol Historic & Preservation Society’s ‘Timeline of Enslavement’ wins national award
The Bristol Historical & Preservation Society received an Award of Excellence for its “Timeline of Enslavement in Bristol, R.I.” from The American Association for State and Local History.
Ann Bates: British Spy Extraordinaire
One of the few known female spies on either side in the Revolutionary War, Ann Bates spied for the British during the Rhode Island Campaign of July and August 1778, the first time the French and American forces jointly cooperated to attack a British outpost.
Who Carried the British Grenadier Sergeant’s Carbine in the Varnum Armory Collection?
In a rack atop the 19th-century glass-front bookcase in the Varnum Commander’s Office is a rare English Carbine, a scaled-down version of the British Land Pattern Musket, commonly known as the “Brown Bess”.
BUILDING AND ATTACKING REDOUBTS
From Bunker Hill to Yorktown, a feature of military actions during the American Revolution was the redoubt. Of course, redoubts were a fixture in world-wide military operations long before, and long after, that war, but those fortifications built of earth, sod and timber were usually more complex than their simple materials suggest.
Thomas Plumb, British Soldier, Writes Home From Rhode Island
“Dear Brother,” wrote Thomas Plumb from Newport, Rhode Island, on February 22, 1777.
A Loyalist or a Patriot?
Who was Bristol’s Most Loyal Loyalist and Bristol’s Most Patriotic Patriot?
Stanton Hazard, Feared Loyalist Privateer Captain
Stanton Hazard was born on January 8, 1743, into the prominent Hazard family of King’s (later Washington) County. He moved to Newport and, as with many young men, he took to the sea.
Rhode Island Militia Battles the Dreaded British Captain James Wallace on Prudence Island
The American Revolution was fought from Maine to Illinois, hundreds of military encounters occurring in what eventually became the United States of America. Among those events were two skirmishes on Prudence Island, a large island in Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island, on January 12 and January 13, 1776.
The French Depart Newport
Lieutenant General Jean Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur Comte de Rochambeau (1725–1807) did not simply wake up on the morning of June 18, 1781 and order his army of more than 6,000 men to break camp and begin their march south.
Why Newport Scorned the French 1780
One would expect that a country that had been at war for five years would welcome its first ally with open arms.
A French Duel in Newport
There were five or six duels fought in General Rochambeau’s army, three of them in Newport, Rhode Island in 1780 and 1781.
The French Soldiers Commemorated at the North Burial Ground in Providence
A large granite monument in the North Burial Ground in Providence, Rhode Island commemorates the French soldiers who died in Providence between 1780 and 1783.
A French Officer Seeks to Rebuild Aquidneck Island’s Revolutionary War Fortifications
Rhode Island’s fortifications were in a state of disrepair by the end of the Revolutionary War. The Rhode Island Assembly ordered, in October 1784, that the works on Goat Island be repaired and armed. The renovated fort was renamed Fort Washington
Providence Merchant John Brown Gets Rich Privateering.
Throughout 1776 and 1777, John Brown, a prominent merchant from Providence, Rhode Island, amassed a fortune by investing in privateers.
L’Expédition Particuliere: Winter 1780, Newport, and the Battle of Cape Henry
In July 1780, four frigates, seven ships of the line, and thirty-six transport vessels, sailed into Narragansett Bay.
The Pawtuxet Rangers, a glimpse into their Colonial beginnings.
The Origins of The Pawtuxet Rangers
Lafayette Stayed Here!
Lafayette’s stay in Rhode Island during the Siege of Newport and the Battle of Rhode Island was just the first time the general came to the state.
Local enslaved men fought in Revolutionary War
For centuries, many towns failed to acknowledge the contributions of Black soldiers in the War of Independence. Only in 2021 were Jamestown slaves first identified by public historian Peter Fay and honored by the town. They had been sold to the rebel government and promised their freedom for serving.
Creative Survival: Africans as Mariners in Colonial Rhode Island
The introduction of African bondage was a transformative experience that lasted over a span of four centuries and shaped the settlement, economic, religious and cultural growth of the Western Hemisphere.
Rhode Island’s Four Stages of the American Revolutionary War
Rhode Island’s role in the American Revolutionary War that raged from 1775 to 1783 is wide-ranging and complicated. It is yet another example of how Rhode Island’s history is way more impressive than its small size.
Rhode Island’s Road to Rebellion Against Great Britain, 1764-1775
In the afternoon of June 9, 1772, the sloop Hannah, a Providence packet commanded by Capt. Benjamin Lindsey, sailed forth from Newport up Narragansett Bay toward its home port. Very quickly Lindsey discovered that he was being chased by the Gaspee, a British revenue schooner stationed in the bay “for the protection of the Trade, and to prevent smuggling.”
Should They Stay or Should They Go? Rhode Island Black Loyalists after the American Revolution
In late 1779 Newport’s black residents, free or enslaved, faced a predicament: should they stay or should they go? Should they choose freedom but risk an uncertain future under British protection, or should they stay enslaved in wartime Rhode Island?
Occupied America: British Military Rule and The Experience of Revolution
Several cities in Revolutionary America were taken by British forces and the residents found themselves in an unexpected predicament. Many welcomed the return of law and order and a stable economy under British rule; the British were embraced as liberators.
French Encampment in Newport: July 11th – November 1st, 1780
French forces under General Jean-Baptiste de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau, had sailed into Narragansett Bay on 11 July 1780 and over the next few days debarked in Newport. A review in the Vioménil Papers lists a total of 5,218 NCOs and enlisted men arriving.
The Appalling Way the British Tried to Recruit Americans Away from Revolt
The British prison ships that dotted the Eastern seaboard during American Revolution have been gone for more than two centuries. But the horrors they left in their wake are unlikely to be forgotten: starvation, disease, cruelty and a death toll that may have exceeded 11,000 men and boys—far more than died fighting on land.
From Fence to Fence: The Battles of Prudence Island
The American Revolution was fought from Maine to Illinois, hundreds of military encounters in what became the United States of America.
British and Hessian Forces Occupy Newport and Aquidneck Island in 1776
Just more than two hundred and forty years ago, British, Hessian and Loyalist forces landed and occupied Aquidneck Island.
Maritime Skirmishes in Narragansett Bay, 1763-1769
Hundreds of ships carrying both raw materials from the colonies and manufactured products from England traveled Narragansett Bay annually.
Emergence of The French Alliance: The Beginning and Final Phases
It’s widely acknowledged that the military alliance between the United States and France was responsible for the end of the Revolutionary War.
Occupation of Middletown: Patriot Raid Captures British General Prescott
A band of American soldiers led by Lt. Col. William Barton, conducted a daring raid which led to the capture of General Prescott.
The Gaspee Affair: A Rhode Island Perspective on Its 250th Anniversary
“In a certain sense, the War for Independence began at sea when patriots clashed with the British on Narragansett Bay some two years before the momentous engagements at Lexington and Concord…”
The Conspiracy to Destroy the Gaspee
With but few exceptions, it has usually been surmised by historians that the 1772 attack on the Royal Navy schooner Gaspee was a spontaneous response to the accidental grounding of the King’s vessel…
