Dutch Island, in the West Passage of Narragansett Bay, is an uninhabited, irresistible place that for decades has lured local kids across the water to camp or climb around the remains of what was once an impressive, self-sufficient, military fortification named Ft. Greble.

Named for John T. Greble, the first U.S. Military Academy graduate to die in the Civil War, Fort Greble was established as an Endicott fortification in 1897 and was part of the RI Coastal Defense. The fortifications were open-topped reinforced, concrete walls protected by sloped earthworks with large-caliber breech-loading artillery and mortar batteries.

In 1898, troops arrived and the construction of permanent housing and facilities began and continued for five years. Barracks for over 300 enlisted men were constructed as well as significant homes for officers and their families. A 12-bed Post Hospital was built in 1904, and at one point, temporary buildings housed as many as 495 men. There were two large docks, a tennis court, a commissary, a bowling alley, and a bakery that provided 280 rations daily. Letters from home were important to soldiers and a post office was established in 1910.

In the early 1900s, Jamestown was a bustling summer destination. The town boasted five resort hotels on its eastern side. On its western side, Jamestown and Ft. Greble were inextricably linked via underwater communication and power cables. The Jamestown Ferry, carrying visitors to the mainland and back, displayed a panoramic view of the impressive structures on the little island. Particularly notable were the large warehouses along the shore close to where the troops disembarked on arrival.

Two batteries at Ft. Greble remained armed at the beginning of WWII but were considered obsolete by 1942. Today, only concrete defense positions of the once powerful weapons remain. Dutch Island is currently closed to the public. Since 2015, the Army Corps of Engineers has been securing the remaining structures so that visitors may visit safely.

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Few Rhode Islanders remember the German Prisoner of War (POW) camps in RI. Fewer people realize that as they drive into Fort Getty, the stone gate posts were built by the German POWs encamped there in 1945. Ellen Brownell, a local Jamestown resident recalled, "We had prisoners at Fort Getty. I remember being out with my doll carriage going down Hamilton Avenue and a truck going by with prisoners, hollering and waving to me."

In 1945, the U.S. Army approved numerous "re-education schools" throughout the U.S. for German POWs. Five 60-day training sessions graduated 528 German POWs from the school at Fort Getty. The classes included English language, American and German history, and stressed democracy as a way of life. The prisoners were taught by academics from first-rate universities and were carefully screened, promising to help Americans in Germany after repatriation. POWs were anxious to be part of the program since they anticipated a quicker return to Germany and their families. Christian McBurney states "POWs were not allowed to stroll around town unescorted. However, they could use the beach near the school and a few residents remember seeing some of them on work details." Alcina Blair recalled two prisoners--who had gotten lost-- appeared on the front porch of her family's house on Windsor Street. "My mother and father were concerned and called the chief of police who came and got them. They were not escaping. They were lost." Only one POW, Gerhard Hetzfuss, escaped from Ft. Getty. He and his American girlfriend wanted to remain in the U.S.

In 1900, Fort Getty began as a Endicott Period Coastal Fort. By 1905, three gun batteries were completed: "Battery Tousard" with 12-inch M1900 guns on disappearing carriages, "Battery House" with 6-inch M1900 guns on pedestal mounts, and "Battery House Whiting" with 3-inch M1903 guns on pedestal mounts.

In 1948, the fort was abandoned. In 1995, it was sold to the town of Jamestown for $5,500. The purchase was narrowly passed by town residents: 159 to 114.

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Through the centuries, Jamestown's approximately 26 miles of rocky coastline have been a lure for fishermen. From the late 19th century until World War II, the southern part of the Beavertail Peninsula was primarily a private playground for outdoorsmen.

Many were guests of clubs and camps that were established chiefly for fishing. Often, these organizations came complete with a clubhouse and outbuildings, ensuring guests could fish and be comfortable at the same time.

Located several hundred yards from the lighthouse, the Beavertail Fishing Club was one of the most elaborate of the sportsmen associations. Not only did the establishment contain a clubhouse, it boasted a dining room, sleeping accommodations, and a stable.

A little less glamorous was Peckham Camp. In the 1910s, Peckham Camp consisted of seven cottages, each rented for $100 for the "season" of four months. An advertisement describes them as: "Bungalows fitted only for camp life. Most all cottages have large pleasant rooms, with broad verandas, hot and cold water, set tubs, open fire places, and are heated by steam or hot air."

The bungalows at the Peckham Camp continued to be leased each summer until the beginning of World War II. The same families returned year after year, and in some cases, generation after generation.

On Dec. 4, 1941, the U.S. Army established Fort Burnside. The 185-acre fort occupied the entire Beavertail Peninsula, including Peckham Camp, which the family sold to the government for $15,500 in 1943.

Prior to WWII, strategic Harbor Entrance Command Posts (HECPs) were built to protect US coastlines. Fort Burnside was the designated post for Narragansett Bay. Posing as a large seaside cottage, an observation building monitored all the comings and goings of military shipping, all while keeping a watchful eye to the horizon for enemy attacks. Additional structures were built to hold top-secret equipment with advanced radar. In 1945, the military installation was renamed the Naval Radio Station Newport. Over the next two decades, 25 radio antennas were erected, each connected to one or more of 30 transmitters, making Beavertail a Navy communications hub.

In 1980, the land was declared surplus and became Beavertail State Park.

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On August 28, 1863, the 1st battalion of the 14th R.I. Heavy Artillery (Colored) under Colonel Nelson Viall paraded through Providence on their way to an island in Narragansett Bay. Jamestowners felt the effects of the Civil War, even though battlefields were far away. Confederate cruisers were causing havoc on commerce in the unprotected West Passage of Narragansett Bay. Dutch Island, which commands the western entrance to the bay, was where the 1st Battalion headed to from their training in Providence. They were to assist in the construction of a camp and anti-Conferderate fortifications.

On November 19th, with the fortifications nearly complete, Governor James Y. Smith, the RI legislature, and other distinguished guests presented the standard to Colonel Viall at the newly-formed Camp Bailey.

"It affords me much pleasure to present to your regiment, our Fourteenth Corps d'Afrique, this flag, and I feel confident that it will be entrusted to as brave men as ever enter the service in our defense of our country and its liberties."

Although there was much fanfare at the dedication of Camp Bailey, it's not surprising that Black soldiers faced many forms of discrimination during their service in the Union Army. Most apparent was that Black units were commanded by White officers and had little opportunity for promotion. The issue of pay was also divisive. Initially, enlisted Black men thought that they would receive equal pay, but later found they would receive less per month than White soldiers.

Documents show that financial incentives, known as "bounty," used to increase enlistment, were rampant with fraud. Racist attitudes, coupled with illiteracy among many Black recruits, led to exploitative documents being "willingly" signed by Black soldiers. Most cases of deceit involved the deduction of expenses for worthless items and bounty never being paid. This corrupt behavior by recruiting officers wasn't rectified until testimonies of soldiers, including those of Privates Calvin Bailey, George Gordon, and John Dorsey from Camp Bailey, were given in a hearing to the House of Representatives in 1864.

In the winter of 1863-1864, units from Camp Bailey began to leave for Texas and Louisiana. The Providence Journal specifically named three of the Black soldiers: Charles Freeman, Peter Freeman, and Jeremiah Noka. Only Peter Freeman survived.

Although the 14th R.I. Heavy Artillery was mustered out on October 2, 1865, Dutch Island, almost deserted, remained an official outpost until 1897. At the time, an ambitious round of coastal defense construction had already begun at Ft. Greble.

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On the night of July 9, 1777, a young Rhode Island militia officer named William Barton and a small raiding party slipped through British defenses on the Portsmouth shore and carried away General Richard Prescott—wearing nothing but his nightclothes.

Colonel Barton was second-in-command of the fort at Tiverton Heights, a small foothold against the British forces that occupied Aquidneck Island across the Sakonnet River. That spring, Rhode Island’s General Assembly declared it a disgrace that no attack ``hath, as yet, been made against the enemy.’’ The assembly set bounties on the capture of British soldiers, from $20 for a private to $1,000 for a general.

Barton opted to go after the big prize, the officer in charge of 4,000 British and Hessian soldiers occupying Newport. His plan was so bold that it bordered on foolishness. Besides the troops under his command, Prescott was on an island, protected by a squadron of warships.

On July 3, Barton asked the regiment at Tiverton Heights to undertake a hazardous mission. According to lore, every man stepped forward. He selected forty strong rowers, including Thomas Austin, who carried the scars of 300 lashes on his back, ordered by Prescott after Austin refused the use of his oxen to haul British cannon.

On July 4, 1777, they launched three whaleboats into the Sakonnet for a roundabout trip across Mount Hope and Narragansett Bays before doubling back toward Portsmouth, their oars muffled with sheepskin. They rowed between two British warships, passing so near to one of them that the oarsmen could hear the watch on deck calling out the time.

Finally, the boats crunched ashore at Portsmouth. The men’s feet smudged the dew in the fields as they hiked to the farmhouse of Mr. Overing, where Prescott spent his nights, crossing a creek then cutting through the edge of an orchard hoping to avoid detection.

Led by African-American Guy Watson, who may have been Barton’s slave, the men kicked in the door and stormed into Prescott's chambers. The raiders led the partially-clothed general back across the fields, sat him in a whale boat and rowed him across the bay. The daring raid had succeeded.

The General Assembly made good on its $1,000 reward, a prize that Barton divided among his men. Continental Congress voted to present him “an elegant sword,” even though Barton wrote that he preferred cash. The sword is now in the collection of the Rhode Island Historical Society. The fortification at Tiverton Heights now bears his name, Fort Barton.

Even British Lt. Frederick Mackenzie gave grudging respect to Barton and his men for pulling off the capture: "The Rebels certainly run a great risk in making this attempt. They however executed it in a masterly manner, and deserve credit for the attempt. It is certainly a most extraordinary circumstance, that a General Commanding a body of 4,000 men, encamped on an Island surrounded by a Squadron of Ships of War, should be carried off from his quarters in the night by a small party of the Enemy from without, & without a Shot being fired."

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During August 1778, Tiverton was the fulcrum on which the American Revolution teetered. From all over New England militiamen marched along dusty roads to rendezvous at the fort on Tiverton Heights.

From Gloucester, Newburyport, and Marblehead came 265 fishermen to ferry American troops across the Sakonnet River.

From Boston came John Hancock, in command of the Massachusetts militia including Paul Revere, who wrote home, “It seems as if half of Boston was here.”

From New York came 1,000 Continental troops led by Rhode Islander Major-General Nathanael Greene, and another 1,000 led by the 19-year-old Marquis d’Lafayette.

Perhaps most importantly, from France came a fleet of twelve warships commanded by Comte D’Estaing, gun ports open, brass cannon glinting in the sun, the lead ship flying the French colors.

The French were not impressed by the American troops gathered at Tiverton. Lafayette’s aide wrote: “I have never seen a more laughable spectacle; all the tailors and apothecaries in the country must have been called out. They were mounted on bad nags, and looked like a flock of ducks in cross-belts.”

The target of this amassed force was Aquidneck Island, a short row across the Sakonnet. The British occupied the island with a garrison of 6,700 men. Their surrender might break England’s will, resulting in victory for the Americans.

D’Estaing knew that the British fleet expected reinforcements to arrive any day, which would mean certain destruction for the French ships. On the morning of August 10, D’Estaing decided to attack the enemy fleet anchored in Newport, but the British commander ordered his ships to flee. They receded toward the horizon with the French fleet after them, preparing to battle in the Atlantic.

American commander John Sullivan decided to press the land attack without French naval support. He ferried troops, cannon, horses, and supplies across the Sakonnet River, and the force of 10,000 marched toward Newport.

For days, both sides fired cannons at each other mostly without effect, while keeping an anxious eye on the sea, wondering what happened to the naval fleets that had slipped away from Newport to do battle. Whose sails would appear on the horizon?

Fog shrouded Newport on the morning of August 20, so thick it was difficult to see fifty yards. When skies cleared after noon, the sails of twelve large ships appeared. They drew nearer until a look through field glasses revealed the French tri-color flying from their masts.

But the French fleet had been crippled, not through battle with the British but by a storm at sea, and D’Estaing intended to sail into Boston for repairs.

Without support from the French fleet, many militia men wanted no part of British bullets and bayonets, and they began crossing the Sakonnet back to Tiverton in droves. The time had come to end the siege of Newport, but it would not be easy. Sullivan had to ferry nearly 5,000 men across the Sakonnet with an enemy force of 6,000 at his back.

The American retreat was defended by the Rhode Island First Regiment, a segregated unit of enslaved Rhode Islanders—African-Americans, Narragansetts, and men of mixed race—who were promised their freedom in exchange for enlisting. The solders of the 1st wore uniforms of cream-colored pants and jackets, with tall white hats emblazoned with blue anchors and topped with big blue feathers.

Twice the Hessians charged with their bayonets. Twice, in deadly hand-to-hand fighting, the 1st Rhode Island drove them back. The Hessians took on reinforcements and again attacked. With the help of reinforcements, the 1st “soon put the Enemy to rout,” Nathaneal Greene reported to General Washington, and the American forces escaped to Tiverton.

The Battle of Rhode Island resulted in a military draw. The Americans lost 30 dead and 137 wounded, while British losses were 38 dead, 210 wounded. The enemy temporarily kept their stranglehold on Rhode Island, but the underdog Americans stood toe-to-toe with the mighty British and had driven them back.

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