portsmouthhistorynotes

A general Introduction:

The British had ample reason to invade and occupy Aquidneck Island (called Rhode Island at that time). Newport had a fine harbor from which the British fleet could raid up and down the coast. It would enable them to blockade ships carrying supplies from abroad that were needed by the Americans. On December 8, 1776, British General Prescott landed at Weaver’s Cove. The American militiamen were unable to mount a defense and they escaped by using the ferries to Bristol and Tiverton.

The British Occupation of Rhode Island would last until October of 1779. Life for the residents deteriorated throughout that time. There were different experiences for those who lived in Newport and those who lived in the farmlands of Middletown and Portsmouth. Newport had more British sympathizers and life for them was good at first. The well to do and British enjoyed concerts, dances, card parties, and Christmas concerts after the British first arrived in 1776. In 1777 daily routines continued. The occupiers took over houses, shops, wharves, and farms. The British and Hessians came with wives and children and all needed food, supplies, housing and heat. The residents competed with the British for scare items. The British took hay and confiscated cattle and livestock. Residents could hunt birds, catch fish and collect shellfish. The British collected boats and guns. The longer the Occupation lasted, the harder it was on those in the maritime trades such as coopers, sailors, rope makers, etc. Wharves were pulled up for fire wood. Merchants had no supplies coming in so they had little to sell.

Local citizens couldn’t count on growing food for their families. Gardens were raided, fruit was plucked from trees and potatoes were dug up by British soldiers. There was no freedom of movement. Women could travel a little more freely at first, but later they needed passes to leave town. The border of Newport and the rest of the island was gated and locked There was no free press or local government. Births, deaths, marriages were not recorded and Newport lost its property records when the British shipped them to New York and they were ruined by water.

Destruction was even more disastrous when the French fleet was arriving in August of 1778. In creating defensive works. the British demolished homes, chopped down orchards and trees for abatis (a defensive obstacle formed by felled trees with sharpened branches facing the enemy.). Conditions worsened after the Battle of Rhode Island and through to October of 1779 when the British left the island.

Resources:

A chart of the harbour of Rhode Island and Narraganset Bay surveyed in pursuance of directions from the Lords of Trade to His Majesty’s surveyor general for the northern district of North America : published at the request of the Right Honourable Lord Viscount Howe / by J.F.W. Des Barres, Esqr., 20th July 1776.

The Banisters of Rhode Island in the American Revolution: Liberty and the Costs of Loyalties
by Marian Mathison Desrosiers, Dec 14, 2020. The Bannisters lived through Occupation in Newport and this book provides insights.

As the memorial stone at Butts Hill Fort reads, it is important for us to honor the “memory of those brave men who” fought in the Battle of Rhode Island”. It is also important for us to remember the Portsmouth women and their families who endured almost three years of British Occupation from December of 1776 to October of 1779. When the Portsmouth Town Council was able to meet again in 1779, the members pleaded with the state to have pity on us because the town was in a “Distressed Situation.” As I research this Revolutionary Era in Portsmouth history, the plight of Portsmouth women and their families was indeed disstressed.

What was Portsmouth like when the British came? The diary of British soldier Frederick Mackenzie provides a rosy picture. “There is a hill about 7 miles from Newport, and on the Eastern side of this Island called Quaker Hill, from there being a Quaker meeting-house on it, from whence there is a very fine view of all the N. part of the Island, and the beautiful bays and inlets, with the distant view of towns, farms, and cultivated lands intermixed with woods, together with the many views of the adjacent waters, contribute to make this, even at this bleak season of the year, the finest, most diversified, and extensive prospect I have seen in America.” This fine prospect did not last long under British military control. Much has been written about Occupied Newport, but the situation in Portsmouth had its own set of troubles. At times citizens were allowed to leave the island, but if you were a Portsmouth farm family you stayed to work and protect your farm. There were many Loyalists in the commercial port of Newport, but the majority of families in Portsmouth leaned towards the Rebel side. Only about ten percent of Portsmouth citizens left the island.

What happened to Portsmouth women and their families when the British arrived? British maps from the Revolutionary Era give us some idea.

1. Some families lost their homes. For example, the British fortified Bristol Ferry and they tore down homes that blocked their vision of the ferry landing. Some houses were taken over as barracks for troops or as housing for officers and generals.
2. Almost all families lost their trees and orchards. As time went by just about every tree on the island was cut down for firewood. The families were left in the cold while the British warmed their troops.
3. Farm families lost their livestock. There were many soldiers to be fed. Mackenzie’s diary says the British left families with a means of feeding themselves. They could keep one gun to hunt birds and they could keep a boat for fishing.
4. The British took just about every wagon and wooden farm tool. Wooden vehicles were used by the British for carrying loads, and almost anything wooden was burned for fuel.
5. Women assumed greater responsibility to care for their families. With the exception of Quaker families, almost all Portsmouth men served some time in the American cause. Even those who were on the island during the Occupation were impressed into service by the British to work on fortifications on Butts Hill and elsewhere.
6. When the British left the island they filled in just about every well – the source of water for families.

At the withdrawal of British troops in 1779, Portsmouth farm families had a difficult time getting their farms back into operation. Families listed their losses in hopes of getting some reparations. One of these lists is in the collection of the Portsmouth Historical Society. It gives us an idea of how devastating the household losses were. This list shows the losses of Edward Binney and Elizabeth Heffernan – in-laws who lived in a joint household just north of the Friends Meeting House on Quaker Hill.

Among the losses:

Livestock: 2 cows, one calf, 5 hogs, 12 goats, 1 jackass

5 acres of orchards, a cider press and mill, 4 acres of corn, 12 loads of hay,

Farm tools: An ox-cart, 3 hoes, forks, 2 spades

Household goods: desks, beds, drawers, wood cards, kettles, pots, gowns, tablecloths, etc.

It is clear that we should honor the brave Portsmouth women who cared for their families under such difficult circumstances.

Battery Park in Newport is a lovely place to sit and view the harbor. From its name you can imagine that it was the site of a battery (a cluster of cannons) during the American War for Independence). The British called it North Battery and it was an important element in the defenses of Newport. British soldier Frederick Mackenzie writes in his diary in September of 1777 that they were doing the principal work “enclosing the town of Newport from Easton’s beach, round the three windmills, to the North Battery and extent of 3000 yards.”

The Battery began as an earthen work begun by American forces. The British re-enforced this so it could be manned by seven soldiers. In preparation for the arrival of the French fleet in 1778, the British thickened the walls and installed guns. The battery was part of the defenses to protect Newport from a sea attack and was armed with two 24-pound and three 12-pound cannons.

When the British abandoned Aquidneck Island in December of 1779, they leveled the fortifications at North Battery. The Americans tried to reconstruct the battery when they returned to the Aquidneck Island. The North Battery was re-named Fort Greene in 1798 in honor of Rhode Island’s General Nathanael Greene.

Resources: Kathy Abbass’ Rhode Tour:

https://rhodetour.org/items/show/54

“Plan of the town and environs of Newport, Rhode Island / Exhibiting its defenses formed before the 8th of August 1778 when the French fleet engaged and passed the batteries, the course of the French fleet up the harbor, the rebel attack and such defensive works as were erected since that day untill the 29th of August when the siege was raised; also the works proposed to be erected in the present year 1779..” https://quod.lib.umich.edu/w/wcl1ic/x-6052/wcl006125. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections.