Nathaniel and his brother Peleg (II) were sons of the Rev. Peleg Heath. Reverend Heath was the minister of the Old Barrington Village's Congregational Meetinghouse from 1728 until 1740, when it moved from Jenny's Lane to its current County Road location. As the new meetinghouse was being built, it was voted that Reverend Heath should continue to preach at the private home of Mr. Edward Bosworth. Following his refusal to do so, the town voted to dismiss "Mr. Peleg Heath from being minister of this town."

Although Rev. Heath faded from prominence and died within eight years of leaving his ministry, his sons Nathaniel and Peleg (II) remained active and prominent figures in their own right. Both served as officers in the American Revolution from c. 1776 to 1778. Nathaniel was a lieutenant in Captain Samuel Bosworth's Artillery Company. Peleg (II) served as a Major in the Bristol County Regiment and fought battles at Roxbury and Cambridge.

Although no battles were fought in Old Barrington Village, the American war for Independence against the British (1775 to 1783) touched the lives of many citizens and patriots living in town. Nowhere was this more true than in the Taverns.

Two days after the Battle of Bunker Hill, there was a gathering of patriots at Bowen Tavern. According to Henry Bowen's ledger, dated June 19, 1775, those gathered at the Tavern were served a large drink dubbed the "Defiance Bowl" - voted on and paid for by "The Town of Barrington."

Henry Bowen's support for the war against the British is evidenced further by his role as the Town's Military recruiting officer. When the brothers Nathaniel and Peleg (II) Heath decided to join the cause for independence, their enlistment would most certainly have been recorded by Henry Bowen and taken place within the Tavern--perhaps while sharing a Defiance Bowl.

Aside from his patronage and military enlistment at Bowen's Tavern, Nathaniel Heath benefited from his skills as a cabinet maker. When the prominent statesman Samuel Allen--and frequent patron of Bowen's Tavern--was charged 5 shillings and 7 pence for breaking Mr. Bowen's chair, door, and window pane, it was Nathaniel Heath who received payment for the repairs. Nathaniel was also paid another 6 shillings for repairing one of Mr. Bowen's ladders, apparently damaged by Joshua Bicknell.

In 1782, the brothers built twin homes on the same block, about a ¼ mile north of Bowen's Tavern - Peleg at 1825 Wampanoag Trail and Nathanial at 38 Old River Road.

As battle-tested veterans, no doubt each brother had many a tale with which to regale their fellow neighbors and tavern patrons, just a short walk away down the road.

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“On the President’s landing, he was welcomed by a federal discharge of Cannon, and the Ringing of Bells. The Concourse of People was prodigious. The Procession was conducted with great Decorum, and exceeded anything of the Kind before exhibited in this Town.”

- Providence Gazette and Country Journal (August 21,1790)

Have you ever seen the windows of University Hall illuminated by candles? We can thank George Washington’s stroll on the Main Green after Rhode Island joined the Union in May 1790 for this enduring tradition, which has persisted for 228 years.

You are looking at a plaque commemorating this momentous yet brief visit on the west side of University Hall. He was to stay the night on Benefit Street at one Mr. Daggett’s home, but before he retired for bed, he was told that the university students had prepared a special illumination of University Hall and that they would be honored if he witnessed the spectacle. Despite the slight rain, he climbed College Hill with a few friends and “there beheld the college building completely illuminated with candle lights in every window.”

The next day, Washington met President Manning at University Hall, where Washington said, “I am sure to find in the measures adopted by the guardians of literature in this place, for improving the morals of the rising generation, and inculcating upon their minds principles peculiarly calculated for the preservation of our rights and liberties.” From the year that Rhode Island joined the Union, Washington’s visit legitimized the University as a place for “guardians of literature” for hundreds of years.

The strength and endurance of the tradition is evidence of Brown’s high regard of Washington as a fundamental character in the history of the university. Founded in 1764 as the third college in New England and the seventh in the United States, Brown participated in and was impacted by the Revolutionary War. British troops attacked Newport and President Manning was forced to close the college, which wouldn’t reopen for six years. Many students joined the war effort and University Hall served as military barracks for American troops and hospitals for French soldiers. Contrast the portrait of Washington through the candlelight tradition with that of a more traditional painted portrait. The John Hay Library has a famous portrait by Gilbert Stuart on loan, and the RISD Museum’s Pendleton House has a permanent one in their collection.

In addition, take some time to look at the other plaques on the outside of University Hall. One marks the building as a Historic Landmark and one commemorates Nathanael Greene, one of George Washington’s most trusted officers. Greene was born in Rhode Island to a Quaker family, and he struggled to reconcile the Quaker’s strict pacifism with his passion for military science. Think about University Hall’s connections and position in American history, which was designated as a Registered National Historic Landmark by the National Park Service in 1963. The Quakers had a large presence in Rhode Island and were known for their anti-war and abolitionist beliefs. Think about the multitude of lives University Hall has touched throughout its history -- slaves, George Washington, Quaker Nathanael Greene, and now you.

In addition, do we have a standard narrative of “Colonial America?” What is the story of Colonial America that is taught to us, and how much do we take the time to challenge that story? If we think about the language, how does the term “colonial” interact with that of “America” as born from revolution and independence?

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According to local legend, in 1776 militia from the Head of Westport broke ranks with the remainder of their contingent to eat bread and cheese and to drink from the brook. The brook could also have been named after simple meals eaten on its banks by picnickers, farm and mill workers, and lovers of nature. As its importance to the residents of Westport evolved, Bread and Cheese Brook’s ambiguous name continued to reflect its practical and recreational uses. In the 18th century, the land that forms the Brookside Conservation Area held farms and homes of prominent Westport families including the Babcocks and the Giffords. Bread and Cheese Brook was central to this early agricultural economy, its water important to livestock and its banks a popular spot to dine on produce from fields and pastures In addition to his farm, George Gifford built a grain mill powered by the flow of the brook’s waters. In keeping with Westport’s colorful place names, locals referred to Gifford’s enterprise as Mouse Mill, since it supposedly processed only enough grain to feed a mouse. As Westport’s economy expanded and technology improved, the Giffords converted the Mouse Mill into a shingle and wagon spoke factory. A bit further downstream, where the brook joins the Noquochoke River, more powerful currents powered larger mills in the 19th century. Perhaps mill workers joined farmhands eating a quick lunch beside the brook. In the 20th century, lunch at the brook moved indoors to the Brookside restaurant where diners enjoyed the view through windows. By 2009, the restaurant stood abandoned and Westport voters approved expenditure from the Community Preservation Fund to protect the socially and environmentally important area and to provide public access. Today, the Brookside Conservation Area is managed by the Westport Land Conservation Trust for the benefit of residents and visitors. Although people today might be more likely to bring peanut butter and jelly to the brook rather than bread and cheese, lunching on its banks is still an important part of the brook’s identity along with fishing, hiking, and enjoying the picturesque remains of the century-old Granite Bridge. Although Westport’s economy no longer depends on Bread and Cheese Brook, the health of the Westport River Watershed and the town’s aquifer still rely on this small portion of the river system. The Westport River Watershed Alliance works with the town of Westport to monitor the conditions of Bread and Cheese Brook to ensure its future enjoyment by picnickers, hikers, and nature lovers.

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While the Dorr Rebellion is of course centered in Rhode Island, the conflict became national news, and leaders across the country took sides. One such leader, Connecticut Governor Chauncey Cleveland, a Democrat, was a known supporter of Thomas Wilson Dorr.

When Dorr fled Rhode Island through Connecticut, he was granted safe passage, even when Rhode Island Governor Samuel Ward King demanded the return of fugitive Dorr. Despite the fact that women would not achieve their own suffrage until the next century, many were vocal, active supporters of political causes, Dorr’s among them. Six Dorrite women, Mary Hidden, Eliza Shaw, Sarah A Davis, Mary Stiness, Ann Buffington, and Maria L. Gardiner, believed so strongly in Dorr’s innocence that they wrote a collaborative letter of thanks to the Connecticut governor:

“It is impossible for us to find language sufficiently strong to express our heartfelt gratitude for your many manifestations of kindness and generous devotion to that man, whose name will ever be held in grateful remembrance by every lover of freedom; we mean Sir, Thomas Wilson Dorr . . . We have to the best of our ability endeavored to impress upon you the minds of those over whom we have been able to exert our influence, the sentiments of that Champion of American Freedom (Lafayette). Nothing shall deter me from the exercise of this right of a free man, to fulfill the duty of a citizen; neither the momentary errors of opinion; for what are opinions when they depart from principles? None say respect for the representatives of the people for I respect still more the people whose sovereign will it is to have a Constitution.”

These writers invoked the Marquis de Lafayette not simply for his apt description of the Dorrite ideal, ignoring public opinion for the good of the state and the sanctity of the Constitution. Since the colonists’ victory during the Revolutionary War, Lafayette had been lauded as a national hero. Four decades after the Treaty of Paris, Americans still wished to express their gratitude for the beloved French general: in 1824 Lafayette embarked on a tour of 24 states across the U.S. where he received accolades and the dedication of countless monuments, parks, and street names. During his visit to Providence, Lafayette was deeply impressed by a spectacle of female supporters, who lined the path to the State House to welcome him. The Providence Patriot reported: “The poplar avenue . . . was lined on each side with nearly two hundred misses arrayed in white, protected by a file of soldiers on each side, and holding in their hands bunches of flowers, which (as the General proceeded up the avenue . . .) they strewed in his path, at the same time waving their white handkerchiefs.”

Unlike the very public display of gratitude for Lafayette in Providence, the six women who wrote the letter to Gov. Cleveland expressed a clear support for Dorr, but were nonetheless concerned about their privacy. It appears that as strong as their convictions were, they did not wish that their families or neighbors discover where their alliances lay. A postscript written in the bottom lefthand corner of the letter indicates a wish to remain invisible: “P.S. Keep our names from the public.”

151 North Main Street was along the route of Marquis de Lafayette's parade when he visited Rhode Island.

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This home of Declaration-signer Stephen Hopkins (1707 – 1785) is among the oldest still standing in Rhode Island and the oldest in Providence. Hopkins lived here with his family and at least seven enslaved people in eight rooms that are now chock-full of antiques, Hopkins’ personal heirlooms, and general 18th-century objects.

Over the almost 45 years that Hopkins owned this house, at least 19 others resided there as well. Among these residents were Hopkins’ first wife Sarah and their seven children; his second wife Anne and her three children; enslaved woman Fibbo (Phoebe) and her two enslaved children Primus and Bonner Jr.; and four enslaved men St. Jago, Prince, Toney, and Adam. Quakers were among the first to speak out against slavery in the colonies. Despite mounting pressures from the Society of Friends, Hopkins emancipated only St. Jago among the people he owned, and lost his membership in the Society as a result. St. Jago went on to work as a sailor and has living descendants today.

The house played host to such luminaries as George Washington in 1776, on one of his four trips to Providence. Then-governor Nicholas Cooke wrote to Washington that “General [Nathanael] Greene [a Rhode Islander] having informed me that your Excellency proposed to set out for Providence this Day I do myself the Honor to acquaint that a House is prepared for you and your Lady.” Martha Washington did not accompany her husband to Providence, and in fact, Hopkins himself was not even present for Washington’s visit: he was at the time attending the Continental Congress in Philadelphia.

Stephen Hopkins became embroiled in the first violent act of resistance to the British Crown in the colonies during the infamous Gaspee Affair, which predates the Boston Tea Party by a year. Serving as Chief Justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court in 1772, Hopkins was strongly encouraged to make known the names of the men who had set fire to the British customs ship The Gaspee and kidnapped its captain, Lieut. Dudingston. The Crown wanted Hopkins to provide “a full and particular account of all the proceedings had and done by him for discovering and bringing to justice the persons who committed the aforesaid offence.” Hopkins promised to do so “without loss time.” Though he may have agreed to investigate the “offence,” Hopkins, a staunch patriot, apparently had no intention of doing so, as there is no record of any such written account.

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Canonicus was the Narragansett sachem who offered refuge to Roger Williams and his party in 1636, but before this place was named that in a fit of Colonial Revival fervor, it was popularly called Hoyle Square. In 1953, Rhody Photo News said the district was “our 20^th century version of the Streets of Bagdad,” where you could find “a derelict headed for a mission soup kitchen brushing up against a well-to-do housewife on a bargain hunt.” Cranston and Westminster were both busy highways in the early 18^th century, providing access to western towns and Connecticut. Rochambeau marched his armies down Cranston Street in June 1781 to meet Washington and defeat Cornwallis at Yorktown. Back then, those soldiers marched past the Hoyle Tavern, where the Citizens Bank stands now. The tavern, built in 1739, became a focal point for gatherings and entertainment as the city grew. The tavern was demolished in the late 19^th century and the bank constructed in 1921. Redevelopment projects of the 1960s have drastically altered the life of the square. The north side of Westminster suggests the busy commercial area that once thrived here. 

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Redcoats are patrolling this fortified outcropping near Jamestown, when one sees a devil dog—black coat, with red eyes and fangs. The soldier takes such a fright that he dies two days later. Soon after, other British soldiers go insane from their encounters with the specter. Over time, people have added to this myth. Stories of dead soldiers wandering the halls are associated with Fort Wetherill, though it has never seen any combat. Ghost hunters and urban explorers still come here regularly, searching for the devil dog. Fort Wetherill fell out of use after World War II and in the 1970s became a state park After the Revolutionary War, Rhode Islanders constructed a more permanent fortification on this site, named Fort Dumpling after the way round boulders seemed to float on the surface of the water. Fort Dumpling was never used, except for target practice and as a romantic ruin by artists. During World War II, when Rhode Island was used as a base for overseeing an Atlantic minefield, the fort was again rebuilt. Fort Wetherill fell out of use after World War II and was purchased by the state of Rhode Island in the 1970s to be used for recreational purposes. In 2012, film director Wes Anderson used the state park as the setting for Moonrise Kingdom. In the film, two young lovers, a boy scout named Sam and a summer vacationer named Suzy, plot to run away to the “Moonrise Kingdom,” a secluded cove played by the bay below Fort Wetherill. Though their escape to the kingdom is fraught, the cove is as idyllic as they hoped. While on the beach, they swim, dance, listen to records, and make out. Moonrise Kingdom is a love letter to New England and its scenery. Set on a fictional island, New Penzance, the movie was filmed at several Rhode Island locations as varied as elegant Newport homes and an abandoned Linens ‘n Things store. Moonrise Kingdom is also unabashedly a Wes Anderson film, from its saturated color palette to its use of symmetry and flat, storybook planes. Like other Anderson films, it is lyrical and gentle and packs a punch all at once. It is considered by many to be his best film to date, exploring the themes of childhood, innocence, and love.

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Before Europeans arrived, the Pocasset people fished and farmed along the eastern shore of the Sakonnet River in what is now Tiverton. Forests, swamps, and streams provided fresh water, game, wood products, berries, and winter shelter. In 1651, Richard Morris of nearby Portsmouth purchased the Nannaquaket peninsula from its native inhabitants. There is no evidence of Morris settling here, so he may have used the peninsula to grow crops and graze animals. In 1659, Morris’ claim was recognized as legitimate by Plymouth Colony, which at that time included the Tiverton area as part of its holdings.

Strapped for cash by King Phillip’s War (1675 – 1676), Plymouth sold a tract of this land in 1679 for £1100 to the Proprietors of Pocasset. The “First Division” of the Pocasset Purchase created thirty large lots, with the northernmost edge close to the present-day Fall River-Tiverton border and the southern boundary at the Tiverton-Little Compton line.

Edward Gray (1667 – 1726) held nine shares along the southern boundary of this purchase. The 237-acre tract now known as Pardon Gray Preserve passed to Edward’s grandson, Pardon Gray (1737 – 1814), who farmed the property. During the Revolutionary War, Pardon Gray became a Colonel in the Rhode Island militia, and he was placed in charge of the local commissary, which he ran from his home. Colonel Gray supplied 11,000 militia and Continental troops stationed at Fort Barton prior to the Battle of Rhode Island in 1778. Marquis de Lafayette briefly used a house nearby as his headquarters. Pardon Gray died at the age of 78 in 1814, and he is buried alongside his wife, Mary, in the family cemetery.

The West family owned most of the property throughout the 19th century, along with land slightly north on the other side of Main Road, where Samuel West (1774 – 1838) built a house around 1800. Samuel’s father, the first of three Samuels, graduated from Harvard in 1754 and entered the ministry in 1761 in New Bedford. He became active in politics and was a member of the Massachusetts convention that ratified the United States Constitution. He retired from the ministry in 1803 and lived at his son’s Tiverton property until his death in 1807.

The second Samuel West was a physician, as was his son, the third Samuel West (1806 – 1879), an 1831 Harvard Medical School graduate. He began his practice in New Bedford, but moved to Tiverton after his father’s death to take over his practice. Samuel built the existing farmhouse not long before his death in 1879. After Samuel’s death, his brother John sold most of the family land to Samuel Hathaway, who came here from Illinois to run the farm in the late 19th century.

The Matta family, which owned the property in the 1990s, agreed to sell the land to a developer who planned to build 110 homes, each on a two-acre lot. The project was delayed by lack of access to water and adequate sewerage and by the expense of road construction. Meanwhile, Tiverton’s 1997 Comprehensive Land Use Plan included guidelines for the preservation and conservation of the natural and cultural characteristics of the town.

Four citizens—Joe Bossom, Stephen Barker, Mary Wehle, and Martin VanHof—began to meet informally to produce plans, goals, and objectives for the conservation of Tiverton’s natural environment. They were soon joined by a fifth member, Allen Smith. The group needed to act quickly to preserve the Pardon Gray property from development. They created the Tiverton Land Trust, a private organization committed to protecting Tiverton’s rural character by conserving open space, agricultural lands, and wildlife habitats. With the help of Louise Durfee, the group wrote grant applications, secured tax exempt status, and tapped local and state resources to raise $1.2 million to purchase the entire 237-acre property on March 31, 2000.

Each September, the Tiverton Land Trust celebrates the preservation of Pardon Gray Preserve by sponsoring A Country Day at Pardon Gray, an old-fashioned country fair complete with tractor pulls, crafters, pony and hay rides, live entertainment, kid games, a petting zoo, great grilled food, and lots more. Fees are kept low so that the event is affordable for all families. Thanks to the Tiverton Land Trust and its supporters, Pardon Gray Preserve will remain in its natural state in perpetuity.

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Primus Collins was a man with great responsibilities within his community. He mediated disputes, ensured that laws were obeyed, and handed out punishments when necessary. He was similar to any other governor, with one exception—Primus Collins had once been a slave.

Collins was born in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1777, to enslaved parents Sorphox and Phillis. At the age of four, Primus’s master gave him to Colonel William Richmond of Little Compton with a term of twenty-five years of servitude. During the Revolutionary War, Richmond gained fame by raising a regiment to fight for America’s independence.

According to the 1800 Federal census, Collins belonged to a small group of twenty-two enslaved African-Americans in Little Compton. Colonel Richmond owned other enslaved persons, including Saul and Saul’s wife (name unknown). Richmond gave one of the couple’s children to local clergyman Mase Shepard.

By the end of the American Revolution, most slaves in Little Compton had been freed or their contracts turned into apprenticeships. Some had joined the black regiments in the Revolutionary War with the promise of freedom in exchange for serving. Primus remained enslaved.

Around 1800, Colonel Richmond freed Collins, releasing him from his term of service about five years early. There are no records to indicate why Richmond’s attitude toward slavery changed, but he also gave Collins a farm plot adjacent to his own land that became known as Primus’ Flat Iron because of its triangular shape.

This land gave Collins the legal right to vote in state and local elections as a free, property-owning man. However, the first time Collins tried to vote, the moderator at the polling station would not allow him to cast a ballot. His former master, Colonel William Richmond, who had encouraged Collins to vote in the first place, interceded on his behalf, raising his cane and shouting, “That man shall vote!” and Collins was able to cast his ballot.

The legal status of freed slaves was unclear in early nineteenth century America. The voting laws in some states allowed people like Primus Collins access to local politics. Perhaps in response, Little Compton’s Isaac Wilbour, Chief Justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court, supposedly inserted the word “white” into the state voting statute. The voting rights issue would not be resolved until the passage of the 15th amendment in 1870.

In spite of this, Collins continued to vote in Little Compton throughout his long life. He married, purchased additional land, and upon his death in 1858 left this inheritance to his daughters, including Lucy, shown in the photograph. Collins was nominated to serve on the Rhode Island General Assembly, but racial sentiments prevailed and he was not appointed.

Throughout the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, black communities in New England chose their governors on an appointed “‘Lection Day,” an event that combined North American and West African celebratory traditions.

‘Lection Day usually began with a procession to the polling place, and a “grand jollification” when the ballots were counted and the winner of the election was declared. The celebration included singing, dancing, and another procession to the home of the new governor, who treated supporters to food and rum.

It was a fitting celebration for a new governor, and for the life of a remarkable man who achieved success far beyond the boundaries that confined him. His grave is located in the Old Burial Grounds next to his wife and daughters.

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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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In June of 1776, on the highest point of ground in Newport, the Americans erected a signal beacon and a small fortification. This high point is known as Tonomi Hill, a shortening of Miantonomi, the name of the sachem of the Narragansetts when Newport was settled in 1639. According to local tradition, the Narragansetts used the hill in much the same way as the European settlers, as a lookout and signaling location.

When the British occupied Newport in December of 1776, they made Tonomi Hill a focus of their efforts to defend the city, according to Frederick Mackenzie, a British soldier who kept a detailed diary of his time spent in America. For instance, on August 10, 1777, Mackenzie reported, “A Detachment of a Captain, 2 Subs. and 100 men of the 22d Regiment, marched this day and encamped near Tonomi-hill near Newport, where they are to be employed in carrying on some works.”

On May 2, 1778, Mackenzie wrote, “The troops are employed in construction of a Redoubt on Tonomi hill, which, from the nature of the situation, is capable of being made a place of great strength, and will cover the left of our position.” On May 5, he reported, “Three of the Redoubts near the town are finished, and that on Tonomi hill nearly so. When the works intended to be made from Green-end to the shore on the left of Tonomi are finished, the town will be rendered very secure, as it is by much the best position for the purpose.”

There were actually two earthwork fortifications at this location. The first and larger is on Tonomi Hill; the second earthwork (sometimes called a “fleche”) is located on an outcrop to the north called Sunset Hill or Little Tonomi, and was connected to the main earthwork by a high ridge. After the French sent their fleet into Narragansett Bay on July 29, 1778, Mackenzie noted, “The troops were informed last night, that on three Guns being fired from the North Battery in Newport, (which is the Signal that the Enemy is landing) they are immediately to get under arms. On this Signal, Ditfourth's Regiment is to throw 200 men into Tonomi hill; 30 into the Fleche on the left of it.”

In August of 1778, when the Americans began massing troops on the north end of Aquidneck Island in preparation for an attempt to retake Newport, the British created a new front line, with Tonomi as the westernmost position. During the American siege, Mackenzie noted the role Tonomi played in defending the British position: “About 6 this afternoon about 40 Rebels took post at Potter's chimnies on our left, but some shots being fired at them from Little Tonomi & Irish's they went off. We lost no men this day by the fire of the Enemy. Our troops at work on the Line, which is now extended within 200 yards of Great Tomini.”

After the Revolution, the earthworks at Tonomi Hill remained intact due to their difficult terrain and inaccessibility. Francisco de Miranda, a Venezuelan who traveled within the former thirteen colonies after the Revolution, described the “two hills close to each other and very dominating called Tonomi hills, where there is a sufficiently capable and well constructed...redoubt.” The property surrounding the fortifications soon reverted to farmland. On October 15, 1795, William Ellery (a signer of the Declaration of Independence) was paid $10 for “levelling the earth round the Citidel on Tonomi hill,” possibly to remove the remains of the barracks or an encampment.

On his 1848 visit to Newport, the American historian Benson Lossing provided a detailed description of Tonomi Hill: “About a mile and a half northward of Newport rises a bold, rocky eminence, called ‘Tonomi Hill’, celebrated as the seat of the Narragansett sachem of that name, and the commanding site of a small fort or redoubt during the war of the Revolution. …Tonomi Hill is said to be the highest land upon the island, except Quaker Hill, toward the northern end. On its southern slope is the mansion of Mr. Hazzard. …On the top of the hill Mr. Hazzard has erected an observatory, seventy feet high, over a cellar which was dug by the Indians, and in which is a living spring of water. The hill is two hundred and seventy feet above the bay and the top of the observatory commands one of the most beautiful panoramic views in the world.”

According to a 1921 description of the area, “A dense growth of cedars now covers these hills. In the center of Tonomi Hill fort there is an observation tower, which replaced an old one blown down many years ago, from which an extensive view of Newport and its harbor and surroundings could be enjoyed.” In 1922, Newport created a city park on Tonomi Hill, which included a 90-foot tall stone memorial, supposedly on the foundation of the Tonomi Hill powder magazine.

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In early 1776, the residents of the Point neighborhood in Newport awoke to see the British frigate HMS Scarborough anchored just offshore. With the threat of war suddenly looming, the town hastily threw up a semi-circular earthwork fort at the northern end of the neighborhood on the pastureland of “Quaker Tom” Robinson.

When the British occupied Newport in December of 1776, they took possession of the earthwork and began to improve it. In December 1777, British officer Frederick Mackenzie noted in his diary that one corporal and six privates manned the fort. As the British prepared for imminent attack by combined French and American forces in 1778, they thickened the battery’s walls and installed guns. The North Battery became one of three British sea batteries designed to protect Newport from attack by water. During the aborted siege of Newport, the battery stood ready to defend its position with two 24-pound and three 12-pound cannons.

Before the British abandoned Newport and Aquidneck Island in 1779, they destroyed many of the earthworks and fortifications. When the Americans returned they went to work to repair the damage. Jeremiah Greenman, a young soldier from Rhode Island, reported in his diary entry of October 29-31, 1779: "Continuing in Newport fixing the North battery on the point which the enemy had layed almost level".

The North Battery was re-named Fort Greene in 1798 to honor Rhode Island’s General Nathanael Greene, one of George Washington’s most trusted officers. The fort was abandoned a few years later, after the construction of Fort Adams at the entry of the passage to the Atlantic Ocean. During the War of 1812, Fort Greene was again repaired, this time with a semi-circular brick wall facing the water. In 1814 – 1815, the Secretary of War granted responsibility of the fort to the Newport Artillery Company. In 1891, the Secretary of War approved use of the property as a park, and the City of Newport filled in remaining trenches and levelled the surface.

By 1905, the fort and its wall were in ruins. The semicircular brick wall was nearly destroyed and covered with water. In 1926, the War Department offered the property for sale, and former Newport mayor Frederick P. Garretson bought the site and gave it to the city. During World War II, the government purchased the site back from the city of Newport and used it for ship repair and storage, but in 1964 sold it back into private hands for commercial purposes. Local citizens banded together and raised funds to preserve the property, and in 1973 Fort Greene again became a city park, this time permanently.

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In 1778, when the British built a defensive line of earthworks to protect Newport from the besieging American troops, the Battery at Green End stood near the southern end of that line. A sinuous mound of earth and a grassy open area with a steep slope to the east mark the site of this Revolutionary War defense work. As recently as the late 19th century, cannonballs were unearthed from nearby properties, souvenirs of the 1778 Siege of Newport, in which the Americans to the east kept up a cannonade against British positions.

The British held their positions in and around Newport until October of 1779, when they withdrew to prepare for a campaign in the colonies to the south. In July 1780, a French fleet with thirty-six troop transports arrived in Newport to begin the planning and staging that ultimately led to American victory in the Battle of Yorktown.

The French troops of the St. Onge regiment improved on the British fort at Green End, and it became known as the Redoubt St. Onge. When they departed in June of 1781, Green End fort was abandoned.

During the 19th century the area around the fort became farmland, and in 1894 the Newport Historical Society assumed ownership of Green End Fort. By 1923, the property was developed as a park, with a grassy central open area and a historical marker. The site is now maintained by the Sons of the Revolution and recent removal of the aggressive local overgrowth has revealed the fort's dramatic eastern profile.

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The remains of Fort Barton stand on a rise 110 feet above sea level that is capped by an observation tower offering a commanding view of Narragansett Bay. During the early years of the American Revolution, the fort occupied a strategic highpoint overlooking a bottleneck of navigable water between the Sakonnet River and Mount Hope Bay, the shortest distance between Aquidneck Island and the mainland. These narrows—connected by a series of ferries and bridges from the 1680s—were the most vulnerable part of the passage for vessels plying the waters between the upper Narragansett Bay area and the Sakonnet River to Newport and the open ocean. 

After the British occupied Newport and Aquidneck Island in 1776, Tiverton became an asylum for American sympathizers and a mustering point for Colonial forces. Construction of the fortification was a joint effort by the governments of Rhode Island and Massachusetts. On June 11, 1777, British officer Frederick Mackenzie described these efforts in his journal: “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 28, 1777, the Americans erected a flagstaff at the fort and raised their colors. The following day, Mackenzie described the fort as "irregular in its figure, but very extensive. From the situation, it must be strong."

A week after the fort was commissioned, Lieutenant Colonel William Barton led a daring raid to capture British General Richard Prescott on Aquidneck Island. This exploit brought such renown that the fort at Tiverton Heights was named Fort Barton in his honor. 

During 1777 and 1778, thousands of Colonial troops—including Paul Revere and John Hancock—were assembled in Tiverton for an invasion of Aquidneck Island. During the summer of 1778, 11,000 Continental troops and militia ferried across the narrows in one of the greatest massings of American soldiers during the war. With French naval support crippled by a storm, American troops fought their way back to Tiverton under the protection of the guns at Fort Barton. After this battle, most of the soldiers departed the area, leaving only a handful of men at the fort. 

In 1923, Dr. Roderick Terry donated the site to the Newport Historical Society. During World War II, Tiverton Civil Defense erected a plane-spotting tower atop Fort Barton, and a continuous watch was maintained. A current Tiverton resident remembers her father volunteering four-hour shifts to spot enemy planes, whose silhouettes were painted above the tower’s windows. In 1968, the property was transferred to the town of Tiverton. Today, a park includes remains of the earthworks, an observation tower, and a nature walk through the woods to the east along Sin and Flesh Brook.

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In May of 1776, the Americans hastily built an earthwork battery in a large field on the west side of the Beavertail peninsula on Conanicut Island. British diarist Frederick Mackenzie later described the fortification as a "Battery or Redoubt with 4 embrasures” facing the West Passage of Narragansett Bay.

There were at least two other fortifications on Conanicut during the American Revolution: another battery at Beavertail and a battery on the eastern side of the island that later was rebuilt and named Fort Dumpling, after the shape of the rocky protrusions along the shoreline. There may have been another American battery further north on Beavertail at Sheffield Cove. These defenses, along with a battery across the West Passage on Bonnet Point, were intended to protect Narragansett Bay from British naval incursions. They failed in this role.

When the British sailed past Conanicut Battery on December 7, 1776, they were met with no opposition. The British forces occupied Conanicut and Aquidneck Island, and took control of the abandoned American defenses. The British improved most of these fortifications, including the Conanicut Battery, to defend their occupation.

When the French finally arrived on July 29, 1778, British soldiers at Conanicut Battery fired its guns at two of the French ships. American Colonel John Laurens wrote to his father that, “The Sagittaire, a ship of the line, went up the western passage on the morning of the 30th , and was fired upon by a two gun battery of 24 pounders, which the enemy had on the west side of Cononicut. The Sagittaire returned a broadside as she passed, and we discovered from the Admiral's ship an explosion at the battery, which induced us to believe that the enemy had abandoned it. … The ship received two scratches in her hull, and proceeded to her station.” Upon their departure, the British destroyed the magazines, and the abandoned fort was left to decay.

After the Revolution, Beavertail returned to agricultural uses. In 1931, the Daughters of the American Revolution erected a bronze plaque on the site, but it has since disappeared. During World War II, the military installed observation and communication posts nearby. In the 1990s a local profit group, Friends of the Conanicut Battery, secured funding to protect the site. Today the 22-acre park features trails to the World War II structures, interpretive signs, and the remains of the Conanicut Battery.

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Butts Hill Fort is the largest remaining Revolutionary War fortification in southeastern New England. In 1776, when the Americans built a small battery there, the area was also known as Windmill Hill after a succession of mills, beginning in 1668, that took advantage of the high and windy location. In December of 1776, British and Hessian troops occupied the existing fort. In September of 1777, British General Robert Pigot ordered the residents of Portsmouth to aid in the construction of earthworks, and by December the British had completed barracks for 200 men just south of Butts Hill Fort.

During the summer of 1778, American troops began massing at Fort Barton in Tiverton, and on July 26, the British received word that a fleet of French ships had sailed from New York and was likely headed for Rhode Island to reinforce the Americans. In response, the British army abandoned its fortifications in the northern portions of the island and began to reinforce defensive lines around Newport.

By August 11, American troops were camped around Butts Hill, and on August 15, they moved south toward Newport. The American dug trenches opposite the British defenses and the two sides exchanged cannon fire while the Americans awaited the expected arrival of French reinforcements. After more than a week of cannonading, the Americans received news that the French fleet had sailed to Boston to make repairs inflicted by a storm, and that the British fleet was returning.

On August 28, 1778, the American forces began an orderly retreat, but were soon pursued by the British. During the ensuing Battle of Rhode Island, the largest military engagement of the war within the former colony, Butts Hill Fort served as the American headquarters. From its heights, American commanders could easily see the battlefield between Butts Hill, Quaker Hill, and Turkey Hill.

In the early morning hours of August 31, the last members of the American army left Aquidneck Island. Fort Butts had protected the initial retreat, and the guns of Fort Barton in Tiverton and a battery on Gould Island in the Sakonnet River protected the troops as they crossed to the mainland. The Americans held Butts Hill Fort for only seventeen days in 1778. Despite that short time, the earthwork had been the center of the American line during the Battle of Rhode Island. When the British abandoned Rhode Island in October 1779, the Americans again occupied Fort Butts, and in the summer of 1780 they connected the redoubt and the former British barracks into one structure.

Following the war, Butts Hill Fort remained virtually intact, largely due to the land’s unsuitability for farming. A great deal of the structure remained in 1848 when Benson Lossing visited Butts Hill Fort and made a sketch of the battle ground. However, by 1907 the fort and the surrounding property had been platted for 200 house lots. Local preservationists worked to save the earthwork, and in 1923 the fort opened as a park with a series of tablets to mark the lines of the fortification. Unfortunately, by 1934 the earthwork at Butts Hill was overgrown with low vegetation and trees. By 1968, the State of Rhode Island had taken possession of the fort and conveyed it to the town of Portsmouth.

Interest in the Fort was renewed after the Portsmouth Historical Society formed the The Butts Hill Fort Restoration Committee (BHFRC) in 2021. After successfully gaining recognition for Butts Hill on the Washington–Rochambeau Route (WARO) National Historic Trail, the BHFRC was absorbed by a new nonprofit, the Battle of Rhode Island Association (BoRIA). Alongside the long-term goal of restoring Butts Hill, BoRIA is committed to researching and preserving the Revolutionary history of Rhode Island, including their contributions to the commemoration of America’s 250th anniversary in 2026.

Together with the Portsmouth Department of Public Works, the BoRIA has made the southern half of Butts Hill accessible to visitors and has stabilized and maintained seven segments of Revolutionary Era earthworks. Work is ongoing on the northern half of the Fort, which includes seven more earthworks segments. Visitors can also explore a virtual tour of Butts Hill on the Battle of Rhode Island Association’s website, alongside a digital collection of historical maps, fort renderings, and battle artifacts.

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