portsmouthhistorynotes

Brigadier General Francis Smith – 1723-1791

He commanded over 1600 troops at the Battle of Rhode Island.

He was commissioned in 1741, made Captain in 1747 and became a Major in the 10th Foot in 1758. He was Lt. Colonel in the 10th Foot in 1762. In North America he was in command at Lexington and Concord in April of 1775. He was wounded in the thigh during the retreat. He was given a temporary promotion to Brigadier General at the time of the Battle of Rhode Island. Later he would retire with 50 years of service.

Captain Alexander Graeme – 1741-1818
Graeme commanded the Sphynx ( a 20 gun frigate) from January to November of 1778. He had command of 125 men.

He was commissioned Lieutenant in 1767 and served on ships in the Leeward Island. With the end of the Six Year War, Graeme was on active duty occasionally. In October of 1765 he took command of a 10 gun schooner and saw duty off of Newfoundland and the Irish Coast. By 1771 he was again unemployed. In 1774 he became second Lieutenant on the flagship of the North American fleet. He was promoted to Commander in 1775. He participated in the 1776 occupation of Newport and was stationed in the Sakonnet Passage before taking command of the Sphinx. Graeme continued service on and off until his retirement as Admiral in 1804.

Friedrich Wilhelm von Lossberg – 1720-1800

Commanded 2119 men at Battle of Rhode Island

Originally from Hessen-Kassel, von Lossberg was sent to American to command a Fusilier Regiment. Fusilliers were infantry soldiers equipped with a fusil, an early flintlock musket. On December 7, 1776 Col. von Lossberg’s troops were among those that landed in Newport to occupy Aquidneck Island. In May of 1778 he was promoted to Major General, second in command of the Newport garrison. He served in America until the end of the war in 1783.

John Hattendorf’s book – The Battle of Rhode Island in 1778 – is a great source of biographical material on those on the British side of the Battle of Rhode Island.