Lt. Colonel William Barton
General Prescott's Headquarters
In Portsmouth
Marquis De Lafayette
Admiral D'Estaing
General John Sullivan
Battle Flag Of General Sullivan
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HISTORY
For about three years during the Revolution, when the British held Aquidneck Island, Tiverton was an asylum for Americans fleeing from
British occupation, and the town became a mustering point for Colonial
forces who gathered together to drive the British off the island.
When the British captured Newport in December 1776, it was well understood by the Continentals that the English might attempt to enlarge their sphere of occupation in the direction of either Providence or Boston. The shortest water distance between the Island of Aquidneck and the mainland, and therefore the most logical point for troop crossing, was at Howland’s Ferry, Tiverton. The Massachusetts General Court agreed to aid the State of Rhode Island in erecting fortifications on commanding ground overlooking this narrow strait, thus establishing a vital defense at this key site. On 28 June 1777, TIVERTON HEIGHTS FORT was commissioned.
The following week - July 1777 - Lt. Col. William Barton and forty picked men from the Tiverton fort consummated one of the most daring exploits in the records of the American
military. Through contacts on Aquidneck, Barton had learned that the commanding general
of the British Newport garrison was spending much of his summer at the home of a Mr. Overing, about halfway down the island. Embarking Tiverton in five whale boats, and hugging the west shore of Prudence Island to avoid detection by the British ships patrolling upper Narragansett Bay, Barton’s raiders landed on the western shore of Portsmouth. Pressing inland by following the course of a brook known to flow adjacent to the Overing House, the Americans soon came upon the general’s lair.
In rapid order, the Continentals over-powered the sentries, broke into the house, battered down the bedroom door of the entrapped Prescott, and took captive a bewildered English Army general. The Continental Congress fittingly noted the event and voiced appreciation to Barton and his men, presenting the Colonel an elaborately engraved sword. Like a sunrise ushering in a new day . . . with new hope . . . the success of this coup de main was of tremendous import in boosting the low morale of the American people at that particular time in the war. It was most appropriate that the fort in Tiverton be named in honor of this soldier with outstanding patriotism and bravery: FORT BARTON. A more exacting account of Barton's Raid can be found here.
Many thousands of men were gathered at FORT BARTON in the summer and fall of that year - 1777 - for an October invasion of Aquidneck. However, because of the allowance of insufficient time for the amassing of materiel, the inexperience of the officer-in-charge, and the accompanying bad weather at the designated times of invasion, two half-hearted attempts to establish beachheads across Howland’s Ferry were thwarted.
In the spring of 1778, General Washington selected General John Sullivan - an officer of proven ability - to assume command of FORT BARTON and to direct staging operations for a new invasion attempt of Aquidneck. The Marquis de Lafayette was to coordinate the participation of a French fleet and landing force, and a Grande Plan of a strike by land and sea was formulated. On 9 August 1778, the BATTLE OF RHODE ISLAND began with the crossing at Howland’s Ferry of 11,000 Continental line troops and militia. The French navy blocked Narragansett bay, forcing the British to scuttle their small naval force.
The American army under General Sullivan landing on the island, forced the smaller British/German force to withdraw behind fortifications built around the town of Newport. Within a few days, a large British naval force arrived to challenge the French fleet. The French fleet sailed out of the bay to do battle in the open ocean. As the two fleets maneuvered, preparing for battle, a hurricane came upon them and scattered the fleets on the 13th and 14th of August, causing severe damage to both. For the land forces, the high winds and rain also did great damage to both sides, but the British defenders faired better because they were behind prepared positions and in a town. For the next week, elements of the scattered French fleet returned to the bay, but then all of the French ships sailed to Boston for repairs. Lafayette’s disappointment at a reduced role of command, the French Admiral d’Estaing’s failure to contribute landing troops, and the severe damage sustained by the French fleet brought the full force of the defending British, Hessian and Loyalist troops to bear on the hardy invaders from Tiverton’s shores. Without the sea attack to draw the attention of many of the defenders away from the land attack, the British line held.
The American army, which was much larger than the British, was composed largely of short-term militia soldiers who had joined up just for this campaign. When the French fleet sailed away, they became very discouraged, knowing that they could not take the town and hold it without strong naval support. By the end of the month, the dishearted army began to withdrawal. On August 29, the British perceived that the Americans were attempting to leave the island, and sallied out of their lines to attack, hoping to disrupt the retreat. The Americans were moving to the north end of the long, narrow island, and crossing the narrow water to the mainland. The north end of Aquidneck island is dominated by hill, on top of which was a fort built by the British but now in American hands. The Americans took position on the hill, and defended it successfully against several British attacks. The First Rhode Island, the first black regiment in our nation's history, took part in the action. Located on the right (west) side of the American line, they defended their part of the hill against fierce attacks by German troops. Numbering 400 men, the First Rhode Island acquitted itself well, repulsing three separate and distinct charges from 1,500 Hessians under Count Donop. They beat them back with such tremendous loss that Count Donop at once applied for an exchange, fearing that his men would kill him if he went into battle with them again, for having exposed them to such slaughter.
After a siege of twelve days by the Americans dug in on Honeyman’s Hill in Middletown, a weary and disappointed General Sullivan realized the land attack alone could not
penetrate the English line. With extreme regret, Sullivan was obliged to order withdrawal. Near midnight on 30 August 1778, the last of the Continentals was removed from Aquidneck. The regular troops were sent to rejoin General Washington, the militia returned home, and only a small force was left to man the guns of FORT BARTON. The BATTLE OF RHODE ISLAND was over. Today there is a monument at the site of the action. Even though the Americans totally failed to take the island, and were in full retreat when the battle occurred, it is often considered an American victory, because the Americans successfully held off a professional army.
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