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Revolutionary Places: Stories from Vernon House in Newport – A Spy, A Patriot, A Black Regiment Soldier, and French Heroes

October 31, 2025

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The Spy: Metcalf Bowler

The Vernon House at 46 Clarke Street in Newport has special significance in the history of the Revolution in Rhode Island. It has connections to a British spy, an American war heroes and the French in Newport. It has a history dating from 1744, but the first owner with Revolutionary connections was Metcalf Bowler who bought the property from his father in 1759. Bowler was a noted merchant and judge, but we know now that he was also a British spy. He was concerned about his country estate in Portsmouth and hoped to salvage it from British destruction by providing information to British General Gates. In 1774 he sold the house on Clarke Street to William Vernon, a merchant and slave trader. Unfortunately for Bowler, his work as a spy did not protect his Portsmouth farm.

The Patriot: William Vernon

William Vernon and his brother Samuel were early supporters of the revolution, so when the British came to Newport, William fled Newport for Rehoboth, Massachusetts. Vernon moved to Boston and In 1777 Vernon was appointed by the Continental Congress as president of the Naval Board – a role resembling Secretary of the Navy. He was responsible for building and outfitting ships for the Continental Navy. He supported the Navy cause with his own money.

The Black Soldier: Cato Vernon

Cato Vernon was probably one of the two Black males aged under sixteen listed in the 1774 census as part of William Vernon’s household in Newport. By December of 1776 the British were in Newport and William Vernon had fled. In late 1776, Cato was working in East Greenwich as an apprentice to a ship carpenter.

On March 11, 1778, Cato enlisted in the First Rhode Island Regiment of Continentals (the famous “Black Regiment”). Cato may have enlisted without permission from William Vernon who was in Boston, but by law William was entitled to Cato’s value. Enlisting in the regiment for the duration of the war had the promise of securing freedom. The Black Regiment played a key role in the American retreat during the Battle of Rhode Island on August 29, 1778. The Regiment held back three charges of British allied Hessian troops and that was one factor enabling the Americans to get away to fight another day. Cato and the Black Regiment served all the way to the surrender at Yorktown.

Life was not easy for Cato after the war. In August 1793, Cato Vernon was in a Newport jail because he could not pay his debts. He wrote a letter from jail to William Vernon and there is a record of William Vernon paying that debt so Cato would be free.

The French in Newport

On July 11, 1780, the French Fleet arrived in Newport. The Comte de Rochambeau The commander in-chief of the French forces, used the house as his quarters and the headquarters of the French forces. Records show that on March 6, 1781 General George Washington slept at the Vernon House. On July 25, 1780. Lafayette remained in Newport with Rochambeau at Vernon House until July 31, 1780.

Resources:

Vernon House – A History of Enslaved People at the Vernon House

Newport Restorations website on the Vernon House: https://www.newportrestoration.org/programs-initiatives/telling-stories-dispersed-monument/vernon-house/

Revolutionary Rhode Island – Vernon House Newport

Rhode Island Rebels: 1764 – 1769 Early Incidents – Before the Gaspee

October 31, 2025

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The St. John Incident: First shots

Fage map: Ft. George labeled as Battery on Goat Island.

In 1763 the British enacted a new trade policy which was aimed to clamp down on the smuggling out of Rhode Island. The British sent warships to Newport. One such warship was the custom schooner St. John. The crew of the St. John had been accused of stealing livestock and threatening to impress local seamen (forcing men to serve on British ships). On July 9, 1764 the Rhode Island Governor (Stephen Hopkins) and General Assembly ordered the gunner at Fort George on Goat Island to fire at the St. John. Accounts vary, but from eight to thirteen shots were taken. The St. John hurriedly left Newport Harbor without sustaining much damage. Some Rhode Islanders consider these the first shots fired in the Revolution.

The Maidstone Incident

June 4, 1765 the HMS Maidstone with Captain Charles Antrobus commanding, was on customs duty in Narragansett Bay.  The Maidstone’s Captain had impressed so many sailors that it effected the trade in Newport. A mob took the longboat from the ship and burned it in a town square.

The Liberty Incident

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.”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.

Resources:

The Liberty Incident
Protest Events
This Licentious Republic: Maritime Skirmishes in Narragansett Bay 1763-1769

Rhode Island Rebels: Stephen Hopkins

October 30, 2025

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I am working on new projects that have me looking at the whole of Rhode Island’s Revolutionary experience and those Rhode Islanders who played major roles in the action. Most of my research has been on the Rhode Island Campaign, the Battle of Rhode Island and the French role in converting Butts Hill into a proper fort. The general picture of rebellious Rhody is new ground for me. Timelines published in the Newport Mercury by John Millar and his book – Rhode Island: Forgotten Leader of the the Revolutionary Era, are helping me to focus on the larger picture.

Stephen Hopkins: 1707-1785

Lawyer, merchant, politician and co founder of Brown University.

28th, 30th, 32nd, and 34th Governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations,

Represented Rhode Island Island at the Albany Congress of 1754 where he pressed for union of the colonies.

Wrote the Rights of Colonies Examined in 1764 which held that Britain’s authority over the colonies had little basis. This was in response to the Sugar Act.

In 1772, when the British vessel Gaspee was attacked and burned, Chief Justice Hopkins refused to sign the court order to arrest those responsible.

Delegate to the First and Second Continental Congress where he introduced bills to establish a navy. His brother Esek became the first admiral of the Navy.

Signer of the Declaration of Independence. Hopkins was frail and his hand shook, but the commented: “My hand trembles but my heart does not.”

Resources:

His house on Benefit Street in Providence is open to the public. http://www.stephenhopkins.org

Aisha Pierre’s Article on Stephen Hopkins as a Founding Father: https://rhodetour.org/items/show/284

“The Rights of the Colonies Examined”. Essay, 1764. From Teaching American History. https://teachingamericanhistory.org/document/the-rights-of-the-colonies-examined/ (accessed October 30, 2025).

Walking Butts Hill

October 24, 2025

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Brochure_Butts2025! newpdgDownload

If you haven’t been to Butts Hill lately, this is an excellent time to go. This week we hosted 46 AP History students from Portsmouth High Schools on a tour of Battle of Rhode Island skirmish sites. We ended with a walking tour of the fort.

We hope to have better signage up in the coming year and full self-tour with QR codes. Meanwhile we have some resources to help explain what you see walking through the fort.

A Walking Tour of Butts Hill FortDownload
Hillsstory-pdf-P17791989Download

Photos from Brigade of the American Revolution event in May 2025

Honoring Founding Mothers and Looking for their Descendants

October 2, 2025

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It was a touching moment. A descendant of Mary Paine Tripp came to an event at Bristol Ferry and watched actress Cindy Killavey portray her ancestor. That was at last year’s “Discover Your Portsmouth” event, and this year more of the Founding Mothers will have a moment of attention. The Portsmouth Conservation Commission with the help of the Battle of Rhode Island D.A.R and the Portsmouth Community Theater will honor the women who were with Anne Hutchinson in establishing their families here. The ceremony honoring the women and the efforts to preserve Founders Brook will be at 1 PM on October 26th – at Founder’s Brook. All are welcome, but it would be especially nice to have descendants of those Founding Mothers at the event that honors them.

Site were settler’s first gathered.

I first heard the names of some of them at an event at Founder’s Brook honoring Anne Hutchinson during the 375th celebration. I knew the names of the men featured on the bronze plaque with the Portsmouth Compact, but it really moved me to hear the names of some of the women who also were pioneers. I started researching who the women might be. Eve LaPlante who wrote American Jezebel provided me with the list that was read at the event. We are familiar with Anne Hutchinson and some of us know about Mary Dyer who was a martyr for her Quaker Faith. Mary Paine Tripp secured the land for the Tripp ferry when as a barmaid she traded wine for the land title. Herodias Long Gardner Hicks Porter was married to four of the first settlers. Jane Hawkins was a midwife and therefore was accused of witchcraft as midwifes were in those days. Rebecca Cornell met an untimely death and a “ghostly witness” aroused suspicions about murder.

For many of the women I could only find their maiden name, husband’s name and the number of children they had. At least that fleshes out more information about them. I have information on around 30 of the women who were in Portsmouth with Anne Hutchinson. I am not a genealogist – I really admire those who are skilled in that research. I am listing names I have found, and if I have something incorrect, I would love to correct it. The members of the Battle of Rhode Island D.A.R. will be reading the names at the Discover Your Portsmouth – Founder’s Brook event and it would be good to accurately give information on the Founding Mothers.

Mary Moseley Coddington 1603-1647,
Elizabeth Harris Clarke 1610-1670,Anne Marbury Hutchinson 1591-1643.
Mary Gould Coggeshall 1604-1684, Elizabeth Goodyear Aspinwall 1606-1650.
Ann Bradford Wilbore – 1597-1645, Margaret Odding Porter- 1596-1665. 
Bridget Hutchinson Sanford – 1618-1698,
Katherine Hamby Hutchinson. 1615-1651,
Faith Hutchinson Savage 1617-1652.
Mary Barrett Dyer 1611-1660, Mary Wilson Freeborn – 1600-1670.
Sarah Odding Shearman – 1610-1681,
Katherine Hutchinson Walker 1609-1654.
Elizabeth Baulston – 1597-1683,
Elizabeth Bull.
Mary Hall 1619-1680.
Sarah Lott Mott 1604-1647,
Susanna Thompson Wilcox 1607,
Mary Paine Tripp 1618-1687,
Sarah Cornell Briggs 1627-1661,
Frances Latham Clarke Vaughn 1609-1677,
Elizabeth Hazar Layton (Lawton),
Joan Savage Earle 1609-1699,
Rebecca Marbury Maxson 1602-1656,
Jane Hawkins 1585-1659,
Herodias Long Hicks Gardner Porter 1623-1674,
Mary Mayplet Gorton 1607-1677
Susanna Potter Anthony 1619-1674, Rebecca Cornell 1600-1673, Sarah Lott Mott 1604-1647,
Joan Fowle Borden 1604-1688, Katherine Walker 1609-1654

Cindy Killavey will portray Anne Hutchinson and Trish Culver will portray Mary Dyer. The actors will tell the story of the early days in Portsmouth and the journey from Boston through “letters.” Dr. Ron Marsh will take the part of a journalist who advocated for protecting Founders Brook when the state wanted to build a cloverleaf through it.

Send a note through this blog if you have information for me.

Commanders of the Battle: Malsburg

September 19, 2025

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Captain Friedrich Wilhelm von der Malsburg (c. 1745–1825)

Malsburg was captain of the riflemen and commanded maybe 100 men.

Malsburg served on Aquidneck Island who whole of the British Occupation from 1776-1779. He wrote a diary which helps us understand his life on Aquidneck Island. There wasn’t a Jager unit (skilled hunters and marksmen) so two units were formed from Chasseur companies (rapid movement unit). Captain Friedrich von der Malsburg of the Ditfurth Regiment commanded the first company and Captain August Christian Noltinius of the von Bunau Regiment headed the second. These men were armed with musket, bayonet, and sabre. They were on round the clock alert in readiness for special assignments. These rapid advaance men went up West Main Road ahead of the other troops and challenged the American pickets.

Found in Malsburg’s diary was a poem about the Rhode Island Campaign. There are mentions of d’Estaing, Pigot, Clinton. Ludwig is French King Louis. The term “Jonathan” was a commonly used to denote someone from New England. Hancoc refers to John Hancock. Hancock was actually at the Siege of Newport, but left before the Battle.

Resources: There is little information on Malsburg, but Walter Schroder’s The Hessian Occupation of Newport and Rhode Island has good information from his diary. The web article on Yankee Doodle is the source of the poem.

Yankee Doodle Custom. Rhode Island, 1778.

Commanders in the Battle: Wade and Jackson

September 18, 2025

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Note: These short military histories of men who commanded at the Battle of Rhode Island are focused on their experience up to the Battle of Rhode Island. I am researching for a role playing activity about the decisions made at the Battle of Rhode Island.

Col. Nathaniel Wade 1750 – 1826

During the Rhode Island Campaign he commanded 385 members of the Massachusetts Militia.

Wade was born in Ipswich, Massachusetts and drilled with the Ipswich Minute Men. On December 24, 1774, his company signed on as “Minute Men, to be ready for military operation, upon the shortest notice.” At the beginning of hostilities, his unit pursued British soldiers retreating from the battles of Concord and Lexington and fought in the Battle of Bunker Hill. In May of 1777 he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. As a member of Col. Keye’s Regiment, he went to Rhode Island as part of the secret expedition of General Spencer. The planned invasion of Aquidneck Island never took place, but he stayed in Rhode Island for a time and headed up his own regiment. When orders were given on July 31st, he headed from East Greenwich to Tiverton. As Captain and later Colonel, he commanded troops throughout the campaign in Rhode Island.

Col. Henry Jackson – 1747-1809

Jackson started his military career as an officer of the First Corps of Cadets in Boston. During British occupation, it was disbanded. After the British left Boston, the cadets organized a company with 87 officers and men called the Boston Independent Company in 1776. Jackson was their commander. The unit was made part of Continental service as Jackson’s Additional Continental Regiment. Jackson led this regiment in the Philadelphia campaign of 1777. Jackson was a lifelong friend of Henry Knox who became Secretary of War. Jackson faced criticism for retreating without orders during the Battle of Monmouth. He commanded about 200 Massachusetts Continentals at the battle.

See Christian McBurney’s article for more information on Jackson and the accusations of retreating without orders. https://allthingsliberty.com/2020/10/colonel-henry-jackson-accused-by-his-junior-officers-of-misconduct-at-the-battle-of-monmouth-court-house/

Commanders of the Battle: Laurens and Talbot

September 16, 2025

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Lt. Colonel John Laurens – 1754-1782

John Laurens was from a wealthy South Carolina family. He was educated in England and arrived in Charleston in 1777. He wanted to join the Continental Army, and his father Henry secured a position for his 23 year old son. His father would serve in the Continental Congress. George Washington invited him to join his stall in August of 1777 as a volunteer aide-de-camp. Laurens became close friends with two other aides – Lafayette and Alexander Hamilton. On September 11, 1777 he served at the Battle of Brandywine and later the Battle of Germantown in which he was wounded. He was known for his recklessness, but he was given his official position of aides-de-camp to Washington and commissioned a lieutenant colonel. He served at the Battle of Monmouth in June of 1778.

John Laurens
Silas Talbot

Major Silas Talbot – 1751 – 1813

Talbot was born in Dighton, Massachusetts. He was trained as a mariner and as a builder and made his home in Providence. In the aftermath of the burning of the Gaspee and the Boston Tea Party, Rhode Island merchants were alarmed.  Independent militias were forming and Talbot joined and was commissioned as a Lieutenant.  He joined others of his company in learning military skills in a Providence warehouse, but he didn’t have any real military experience. On June 28, 1775 Talbot answered the Rhode Island Assembly’s call to send units to Boston.  He marched with his men to join the Second Rhode Island Regiment and by July 1, he was commissioned a captain.  Talbot and the other 1200 men in the Rhode Island brigade took part in the Siege of Boston watching over the Red Coats but not in direct battle.  Talbot’s skills as a bricklayer came in handy as they built barracks on Prospect Hill.  By April of 1776 the Siege was over and Rhode Islander Esek Hopkins, Commander in Chief of the Continental Navy needed a crew to sail the ships home to Providence.  Washington offered to loan Hopkins men from the Rhode Island Regiment and Talbot switched from soldier to sailor. Silas Talbot was intimately involved in the Rhode Island Campaign. As someone with experience as a mariner and builder, Talbot helped to construct the flatboats that would take American forces to Portsmouth on August 9th of 1778.

Commanders of the Battle: Israel Angell And Samuel Ward

September 15, 2025

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Colonel Israel Angell – 1740- 1832

At the Battle of Rhode Island he commanded 260 men.

2nd RI flag

Israel Angell came from one of the founding families of Providence. He served throughout the Revolutionary War. Was was a major in Hitchcock’s Regiment at the beginning of the war. He served with that regiment at the Siege of Boston. As the Continental Army was organized in 1776, Angell was part of the 11th Continental infantry. When Hitchcock was appointed brigade commander, Angell commanded the regiment. His regiment was re-named the 2nd Rhode Island Regiment on January 1, 1777. Angell was promoted to lieutenant colonel and shortly after was promoted to Colonel. He commanded the regiment following the death of Hitchcock. He was an experienced soldier serving at Valley Forge, the Siege of Boston, Brandywine, Red Bank, Monmouth and then the Battle of Rhode Island.

Samuel Ward Jr. – 1756 – 1832

At the Battle of Rhode Island he commanded 140 men.

Samuel Ward Jr.

Ward was from Westerly and was the son of a Governor of Rhode Island. He was captain of the Kings and Kent County Militia in 1775. When the regiment was mobilized under Col. Varnum, he served as captain. Varnum’s Regiment became part of the Army of Observation during the Siege of Boston. He served as a volunteer under Christopher Greene to support Benedict Arnold’s expedition to Quebec. He was captured on New Year’s Eve, 1775 and was later exchanged for other prisoners. Ward was promoted to a major of the 1st Rhode Island Regiment on January 12, 1777, and was promoted to lieutenant colonel on 5 May 1779 (with date of rank retroactive to May 26, 1778). With the 1st Rhode Island Regiment he fought at the Battle of Red Bank (October 1777) and the Battle of Rhode Island (August 1778). He is an ancestor of Julia Ward Howe.

Commanders of the Battle: Greene And Glover

September 14, 2025

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Major General Nathanael Greene – 1742-1786

Nathanael Greene

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.

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