Greene was born into a Quaker family in the Coventry area of Rhode Island. He worked as the resident manager of the Coventry Iron Works, working at the forge making large ship anchors and chains until he enlisted in the army. Although of Quaker background, Greene was active early in the colonial fight against British revenue policies in the early 1770s. He was self educated and valued books and learning – especially about military topics. He helped establish the Kentish Guards, a state militia unit, but a limp prevented him from joining it. Rhode Island established an army after the April 1775 Battles of Lexington and Concord. Greene was tapped to command it. Later that year Greene became a general in the new Continental Army. Greene served under George Washington in the Boston campaign, the New York and New Jersey campaign, and the Philadelphia campaign. He was appointed quartermaster general of the Continental Army in 1778, but he reserved the right to command troops in the field. Before the Battle of Rhode Island, Greene was placed in charge of the right flank of the army. He had the reputation of being one of Washington’s most talented Generals.
Brigadier General John Glover 1732-1797
John Glover
John Glover was born in Salem, Massachusetts, but he grew up in Marblehead. He began as a fisherman and merchant and ultimately owned his own ship. As tensions increased between the colonists and British Crown, Glover became active in the rebel cause. He joined the local militia and became commander in 1775. He participated in the siege of Boston. General Washington hired Glover’s ship to raid British shipping and it (the Hannah) became one of the first ships of the Continental Navy. The Marblehead militia became a Continental Regiment known as “the amphibious regiment.” Glover’s Regiment (the 14th Regiment) would have nearly 500 men – seamen, mariners and fishermen who had nautical skills. The 14th regiment was also integrated unit, with Native American, African American, Spanish, and Jewish volunteers all working together.
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.
Model of Sphinx
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.
Von Lossberg
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.
I collect eyewitness accounts of the Battle of Rhode Island. As I searched through my own local history collection, I came across an account I don’t remember reading. It is a transcription by John Millar of the diary of a Peter Reina, a young British soldier in the Battle of Rhode Island. Millar transcribed the diary from photocopies sent to him by an English descendent of Peter and the transcription appeared in the August, 1979 edition of the Rhode Island History Magazine.
Map drawn by S. Lewis, engraved by Benjamin Jones. Philadelphia 1807
Although the transcription begins with the arrival of the French fleet, I am going to share just the portion on the Battle of Rhode Island. It is interesting to have another British view to contrast the American diaries, Order Books and letters we have for research.
“Reports arriving by deserters: the enemy were retreating to the north end of the Island. The Commander in Chief, Sir Robert Pigot, on the morning of the 29th ordered the Light Infantry and Grenadiers with Brown’s and Fanning’s Corps to march out of their lines and attack them, as were the 22nd, 43rd with the Hessian and Anspach Corps from Easton’s Beach.
They marched without opposition for some miles till meeting with a considerable body of the enemy on Quaker Hill. A severe fire took place; the van of our small army, for some time being not supported by the rear, suffered considerably, but the foreign troops advancing to support of the 22nd and 43rd, the Rebels were repulsed and drove from their works with considerable slaughter on their part. They then took post on Windmill Hill, an eminence commanding every other and very strongly defended.
Our troops took post on Quaker’s Hill. Great numbers of wounded coming into the Town gave the Rebels there no small satisfaction; their countenances shew’d it while they at the same time seek’d to administer relief.
The Sphynx 20 gun ship and Vigilante galley which arrived on the 27th, were sent up the River to cut off the retreat of the Rebels, but they could not effect it, not getting past the batteries at Bristol Ferry.
However, the Rebels being quite dispirited by the loss of their Allies, they could not remain longer, and on the night of Sunday 30th totally evacuated the Island to our great satisfaction and ease.
Thus ended Mr. Sullivan’s third expedition on Rhode island, much to his dishonor and disgrace to his magnanimous allies, who with 25,000 men and a fleet of 12 ships of the line made a shameful retreat from before a small army not exceeding 6000 troops, and those but ill provided with artillery.”
Note: John FItzhugh Millar was very active in researching Rhode Island Revolutionary history in the timeframe of the bi-centennial.
Tomorrow we honor those who participated in the Battle of Rhode Island with a Sunset Salute at Butts Hill Fort. Why did we have a battle? What was the spark? Over the past week I have heard an historian and a US Senator tell us that it was initiated by the British. I have been working on a role playing activity to let students and adults experience the decision making that principals in the Battle of Rhode Island had to make in the heat of the action. I like to draw from primary sources as I provide background material to the decisions that had to be made. Drawing from the diary of British soldier Frederick Mackenzie, I believe that the British were reacting to the retreat that they discovered that the Americans had already started overnight on August 28th.
Sunset Salute 2024
“As soon as the day broke this Morning and we could see as far as the Enemys Encampment it was observed that their tents were struck; I went immediately on top of Dudleys house, and when it grew lighter, I could plainly perceive that the Rebels had struck their whole Camp, and had marched off; hardly a man was to be seen in their Batteries or Trenches. I rode as fast as possible to General Pigot’s quarters in Newport and informed him of it, and returned to the Camp with his orders for all the troops to get under arms with the utmost expedition. The General came to Irishes Redoubt by the time the Troops were assembled, and being satisfied that the Rebels had quitted their position, he gave orders for a part of the Army to march out, in three Columns, to pursue them, but to advance with caution, and not bring on an Action with a part of our force.” Mackenzie’s diary August 29, 1778
The British didn’t decide to go on the attack against the American Siege of Newport. Mackenzie notes that the British were “to advance with caution, and not bring on an Action with a part of our force.” The British found that Americans had left their positions and General Pigot decided to go after them to capture the American Army before it could retreat off Aquidneck Island. The goal of the Americans was to get their soldiers and equipment safely to Tiverton so they could fight another day. The American aim in the battle was to push the British and German (Hessian) troops back so that a successful retreat could be made. They were in an untenable position once it was clear that the French were not coming back to aide in the plans of the Rhode Island Campaign. The Americans were not trying for a full engagement either.
The new housing development being built by the old Anne Hutchinson school is being named after Ade Bethune. I remember Ade as a liturgical artist. She had the St. Leo’s shop out of her home on Washington Street in Newport. I went there to buy some things and what sticks out in my memory is that her coffee table was her wooden coffin! She designed jewelry and liturgical objects under the name of the Terra Sancta Guild. I still have some of those pieces.
Why would you name senior housing after Ade? Ade founded The Church Community Housing Corporation (CCHC), in 1969. The CCHC has the lease from the Town of Portsmouth to build a senior housing development.
Ade (Adelaide De Bethune) was born in Brussels, Belgium, in 1914. Ade and her family emigrated to New York City in 1928. In 1933 she met Dorothy Day at a place were the poor were being fed. Ade thought the illustrations in Dorothy’s newspaper The Catholic Worker, could use some help and she volunteered to do it. In my library I own a book on Dorothy Day and Ade was the illustrator. This early experience led Ade to focus on liturgical art and architecture which were rooted in the Catholic faith. Ade Bethune wanted her artistic gifts to be of service to others.
In 1938 Bethune moved to Newport, Rhode Island. Ade thought that home ownership was important to giving people a sense of belonging to a community. Throughout the years Ade was a vocal critic of efforts to tear down existing housing in Newport. She and a group of concerned citizens created the Church Community Corporation in 1969 (later the Church Community Housing Corporation or CCHC). This organization worked through renovation and new construction to enable low-income residents to find a home. In the 1980s Ade worked to develop Harbor House on Washington Street for elder housing. She was one of the first residents in 2002, but died shortly after. She is buried at Portsmouth Abbey in the monastery’s burial grounds.
Illustration from the Dorothy Day Book
To learn more about Ade – I would recommend these sites:
I’m not a military historian. I am working on a role playing activity to give students and interested adults a sense of the decisions that had to be made on both sides in the Battle of Rhode Island. So I am learning about military tactics. If I ask role players to make decisions about what they would do when faced with certain situations during the Battle of Rhode Island, I need to inform the players about what their choices might be. What follows is a gathering of military tactics and an attempt to define them in a way players might understand. I appreciate feedback from readers that have more military experience.
Tactics 1. Linear formations: Both British and American forces often fought in close-order formations, relying on mass volleys because musket fire was not very accurate.
2. Open formations: Instead of close formation in line, skirmishers are more spread out and use the terrain to take cover.
3. Scouts: Used ahead of the main forces to gather information and to protect the flanks (sides) and rear of the army.
4. Fabian Strategy: General Washington employed this tactic, which involved avoiding major battles while harassing the enemy and gathering intelligence, according to the American Battlefield Trust.
5. Guerilla Tactics:
A. Surprise Attack: Element of surprise used to gain an advantage. Soldiers used the American landscape to their advantage – using forests and hills ( especially stone walls and corn stalks in Portsmouth) to hide and then surprise the enemy.
B. Ambush: A type of surprise attack where the attackers conceal themselves and then launch a sudden attack inflicting damage before the enemy can defend themselves.
C. Hit-and-run attacks: Using short surprise attacks and withdrawing before the enemy can respond in force. This inflicts damage on the enemy without a full-scale battle.
D. Harassing Tactics: Firing from a distance, disrupting formations, tactics that delay the enemy.
Edward Wigglesworth was born and raided up in Newburyport, Massachusetts. He graduated from Harvard and worked for merchants in Newburyport. That gave him experience as a ship’s captain in the Caribbean. In 1776 he was commissioned a Colonel and he took command of the 6th Massachusetts Continental Battalion. His battalion was ordered to Fort Ticonderoga as the Americans were quickly building a fleet to counter the British on Lake Champlain. As an experienced mariner, General Gates appointed Wigglesworth as third in command of the American fleet. Wigglesworth joined the fleet and took part in the Battle of Valcour Island in October of 1776. With the destruction of the American fleet, Wigglesworth escaped back to Fort Ticonderoga and took command of his battalion again. When his battalion disbanded, he was took command of the 13th Massachusetts Regiment. He was at Valley Forge and took part in many battles.
During the Battle of Rhode Island, Wigglesworth was positioned at Quaker Hill. American units (Wiggleworth’s Regiment, Livingston’s advanced guard and Wade’s pickets) were waiting at the junction of Middle Road, East Road and Hedley Street near where the Quaker Meeting House was located. Wigglesworth mistook the uniform of the Hessians troops advancing for American soldiers. Sullivan sent John Trumbull up Quaker Hill to set Wigglesworth straight. American General Sullivan saw his troops retreating, so he sent in Shepard’s Regiment of Massachusetts Continentals. General Sullivan’s “Life Guards” were sent in as well. For a while the Americans had an advantage.
A private from Jackson’s attachment described the action:
Detail of Quaker Hill from Huntington Map.
“We began to attack. The action began to be warm when we were reinforced by Col. Shepard’s Regiment under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Sprout. The action then commenced hot. We plied them so briskly that they began to give way. Our troops seeing this, gave three cheers and advanced. The enemy then gave way and left one piece of cannon but poorly supported. A party of our men then advanced, drove the artillerymen and took possession of the cannon. The enemy then rallied and being reinforced, advanced and gave our men so heavy a fire that they obliged them to quit their prize, the cannon.” (From: Diary of a soldier in the RI Expedition (Massachusetts Historical Society. Quoted in McBurney.)
Like many other officers he exhausted his financial reserves and resigned from the army in 1779. He returned to Newburyport and ultimately was appointed tax collector for the port. He held this post for many years prior to his death on December 8, 1826.
Christian McBurney’s book on the Battle Rhode Island Campaign provides me with a step by step breakdown of the action, but I still need to digest it slowly. While I work on a tabletop role playing activity centered around the Battle of Rhode Island, I am trying to draw out the points in the battle where decisions had to be made. These are some of the decision points I may include in the role playing.
August 28
Once the Americans knew the French would not be returning, Sullivan’s council of war had to make a decision on whether to continue their Siege or Retreat.
Once the decision was made to retreat – Sullivan had to devise a strategy for that retreat.
August 29
In making a decision to retreat, how did the geography of Portsmouth affect the strategy for the retreat?
How would Sullivan decide to distribute the seasoned soldiers and raw militia?
How would Sullivan decide where to place the advanced guards to hinder the enemy?
The British had been on the defensive with the Siege. What decisions does Pigot make to go on the offensive?
What is Pigot’s strategy?
On Turkey Hill, Lauren asks Sullivan for more men. What decisions does Sullivan make?
When Malsburg is out of ammunition past Turkey Hill, what decision does he make?
What were Malsburg’s decisions on attacking the redoubt.
What decisions did the British Navy make?
Greene urged Sullivan to Fully Engage when the British got beyond Quaker Hill. What decision did Sullivan make?
How did the American actions change the Navy’s decisions?
What decisions did Nathanael Greene make in flanking the Hessians?
What decisions did Smith make when he had orders not to make a general engagement?
Later in the afternoon, when Sullivan was faced with the choice of counter attack or stay put – what decision did he make?
Questions:
How did both armies communicate?
What were some of the tactics used by the Americans?
What were some of the tactics used by the British?
On the 19th of July in 1769 a Newport mob was so exasperated with the captain of a sloop owned by Royal Commissioners that they “went on board the Liberty as she lay at Anchor in the Harbour, and cut her cables, and let her drift ashore, they then set her on fire…” (Boston Chronicles, 24, July 1769). This incident was almost three years before the burning of the Gaspee. The Liberty burning has some aspects in common with the Gaspee Affair. Both were protests to the increase in taxation on the colonists. But the roots of the burning of the sloop Liberty have some interesting origins that start with charges brought against John Hancock, the original owner of the Liberty. Liberty’s story begins in Boston.
The Seizure of the Sloop Liberty
The Revenue Act of 1767, part of the Townshend Acts, placed heavy taxes on goods imported to the colony. The American Board of Customs Commissioners was put in place so that royal officials could inspect incoming merchant vessels and charge the appropriate taxes, but Hancock had refused to allow the officials to inspect one of his vessels – the Lydia. When the customs official was sent to inspect the Liberty, he accused Hancock’s men of offering him a bribe to look the other way while they were unloading. He refused the bribe and he claimed they locked him in the hold of the ship. When news of the incident spread, an angry crowd assaulted the officials involved, broke the windows of their homes and set the officials personal boats on fire on the Commons. The sloop was seized at Boston Harbor on June 10, 1768. John Adams defended Hancock against the smuggling charges. The case dragged on and the charges were later dropped due to lack of evidence. The sloop Liberty, however, had been seized and Hancock could not get it back. It was condemned in August of 1768 and sold in September.
Illustration from John Fitzhugh Millar’s book – Rhode Island: Forgotten Leader of the Revolutionary Era
The Burning of the Sloop Liberty
Parliament’s taxation laws hit the New England economy hard, and some turned to smuggling to avoid the taxes. In 1769 the sloop Liberty came into Newport Harbor. It was the same sloop that had been seized from John Hancock. The captain, William Reid, was authorized to capture smugglers and in return he and his crew would receive a bounty. The Liberty was a private vessel hired by the Commissioners of Customs. Reid had the reputation for being overly zealous in carrying out his order. He frequently boarded and searched legitimate merchant ships and delayed their sailing.
On 17 July 1769 the Liberty took a Connecticut-owned brig into custody on Long Island Sound and brought her to Newport. But Reid could not prove the brig had violated any laws. Captain Packwood, the ship’s master, had declared his cargo at the customs house before sailing. Reid’s crew continued to hold the ship in the hopes something else would be discovered to justify their bounty for the capture. Captain Packwood visited the Liberty to take control of his vessel, but shots were fired towards him. Local Newporters became outraged and a crowd gathered. Tempers flared when local officials would not help the Captain get his vessel back. A group of men attacked the Liberty, cutting the sloop’s mooring lines and drifting her down toward Long Wharf. One report is that they cut down her masts and threw her guns overboard. The hulk drifted out of the harbor on the tide and came to rest on Goat Island, where another mob set her ablaze.
This is the account of the burning in the Boston Gazette – July 24, 1769.
“We hear from Newport, Rhode-Island, that last Monday the Sloop Liberty, Capt. Reid, said to be owned by the Commissioners, brought in there a Brig and a Sloop belong to Connecticut, that they had for some pretext seized in the Sound, which, together with the impudent behavior of the Captain and some of his People, so exasperated a number of persons there, that on Wednesday afternoon they went on board the Liberty as she lay at Anchor in the Harbour, and cut her cables, and let her drift ashore, they then set her on fire but being informed a considerable Quantity of Powder was on board, for fear of endangering the Town, they extinguished it again; they then cut away her mast, threw her guns and stores overboard, entered the Cabin and destroyed the Captains and his wife’s cloaths, bedding, broke the tables, chairs, china and other things therein, and did not quit her til 3 oclock the next morning, when after scuttling the vessel, they left her a meer Wreck, and now remains sunk near one of the wharfs there. They also seized her barge and boat and burnt them – The Brig that was seized we hear was legally discharged on Thursday, but that the Sloop made her escape in the confusion the evening before.”
An 1835 edition of the The Rhode-Island Republican (Newport, R.I.), November 1, 1837 has an in-depth story about the burning. The article starts with an account “related to us by one of the old inhabitants of the town, Mr. Benjamin Hadwin”. Hadwin adds some details of how the crowd was able to get on board the Liberty. The reporter found articles to substantiate. the story. One was from the Providence Gazette of July 22nd, 1769 and it adds more details to what incensed the crowd. The Captain of the brig went on board the vessel to retrieve his sword and other items. When he found a crew member of the Liberty in possession of it, he seized it and made for the shore. Musket fire came from the Liberty directed at the Captain of the brig. Witnesses on the shore saw the attack and Captain Reid had to bring his men on shore to answer for their actions and “a number of men, chiefly from Connecticut, went on board and rendered her unfit for service. ”
Governor Wanton issued a proclamation that officers of justice should bring the persons guilty of the crime of destroying the Liberty, but nothing became of it.
An article dated August 28th, 1769 contains the Order of the Commissioners. It names the sloop Reid brought in as the Sally whose master was Edward Finker of New London. “A reward of one hundred pounds sterling is offered to any person or persons who shall inform against any of the offenders (except Nathanial Shaw, Joseph Packwood and ________ Angell;) to be paid on his or their convictions.” Nathanial Shaw’s family were noted New London merchants and later privateers working for the Americans. The Shaws may have been the owners of the Sally.
An article in the Newport Mercury (July 22, 1769) adds a few more details. Captain Packwood of the brig had “to draw his sword to force his way into his boat whereupon the officer called upon the Liberty’s people to fire on Captain Packwood…” Captain Reid was made to send his men to shore to discover who fired on Packwood and the crowd took that opportunity to board the Liberty.
The burning of the barge and the boat the accompanied the Liberty are commemorated with a plaque in Newport today. According to the Rhode Island Republican 1835 article “The Boats were burned on the Common, opposite the Pound. They were run up the Long Wharf, then up the Parade, and through Broad Street by the populace…”
Background – His military life began in 1746 as an ensign. He had a long line of service with the 22nd Regiment of Foot. In 1775 he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. He retired on October 11th, 1778 but later served as Captain of the Plymouth Invalid Company. His service extended to a total of almost 48 years.
In Rhode Island Lt. Col. John Campbell served as commanding officer of the 22nd Regiment and saw action during the British Occupation and the Battle of Rhode Island. He and his regiment raided towns around Rhode Island.
The Rebels would need to reach Rhode Island (Aquidneck) by boat and the British planned to attack shipyards, lumber mills and military stores. On May 25, 1778, British soldier Mackenzie records that the 22nd Regiment, Companies of the 54th, Notenius’s Company of Hessian Chasseurs, ..etc. (500 men in total) moved to Arnold’s Point in Portsmouth. They embarked in flatboats and landed at the mouth of the Warren River. Campbell’s men were divided into two columns. In the town of Warren itself they burned down the Baptist meeting house and other buildings, ransacked homes and property. The other group of Campbell’s men headed to the Kickemuit River. By the Kickemuit Bridge they found and burned 125 boats, large batteaux capable of carrying 40 soldiers. They found a sloop loaded with military stores, a store house, and a corn mill and they burned them. They also burned houses, a bridge and gun carriages. They spiked cannons and set fire to new Privateer Sloop as well as magazines of gun powder.
2024 Bristol Re-enactment of Campbell’s raids.
Campbells troops returned by way of Bristol. About 300 Rebels were assembled behind walls, trees and houses. They burned houses, a church, ammunition magazines and twenty of the principal houses. The British boats came round from Papasquash Point to the Bristol Ferry. The British ships Flora and Pigot covered the British troops as they crossed over from Bristol Ferry.
During the Battle of Rhode Island, Campbell was in charge of the 22nd Regiment as they proceeded down East Road.
Eyewitness Account
“The twenty-second, Forty-third, and flank companies of the Thirty-eighth and Fifty-fourth regiments, marched under Brigadier-General Smith, by the east road, to intercept the retreating enemy. A stand was made by the Americans, and some sharp fighting occurred, in which the twenty-second, under Lieut.-Colonel Campbell, highly distinguished themselves. The Americans were driven from Quakers’ Hill, when they fell back to their works at the north end of the island, from which they afterwards withdrew. Major-General Pigot stated in his public despatch,—”To these particulars I am, in justice, obliged to add Brigadier-General Smith’s report, who, amidst the general tribute due to the good conduct of every individual under his command, has particularly distinguished Lieut.-Colonel Campbell and the twenty-second regiment, on whom, by their position, the greatest weight of the action fell.” The regiment had eleven rank and file killed; Lieutenant Cleghorn, Ensigns Bareland, Proctor, and Adam, two serjeants, and forty-eight rank and file wounded; one man missing”. (source: Historical Record of the 22nd or Cheshire Regiment of Foot. This is a quote from Major General Pigot letter to Sir Henry Clinton dated Newport, Rhode Island, August 31, 1778)
Resources: Good biographical material can be found in John Hattendorf’s book: The Battle of Rhode Island in 1778: The official British View as Reported in the London Gazette.
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