The French arrived in Newport in July of 1780. Most of the forces wintered in Newport except the Lauzun Legion which camped in Connecticut. Rochambeau was very skillful in handling his troops and the Americans began to appreciate their presence. Where the British had demolished defenses, the French engineers worked on rebuilding them. Major General William Heath’s diary for September of 1780 notes that “The batteries were strengthened, a very strong one erected on Rose-Island, and redoubts on Coaster’s-Island: the strong works on Butt’s-Hill (were) pushed..” A few days later he would remark: “The French army continued very busy in fortifying Rhode-Island: some of their works were exceedingly strong, and mounted with heavy metal.” We know from orderly books (daily records) that the American militiamen were aiding the French masons as they enlarged and fortified Butts Hill Fort.
As the road to Yorktown began, Rochambeau and his general staff left Newport on June 10, 1781. He arrived at Providence the following day. Brigadier General de Choisy was left behind in Newport with some French troops. In August he sailed with Barras’ fleet to the Chesapeake area.
On the morning of June 11, 1781, the first Brigade of French troops began to load onto the small vessels in the harbor of Newport. All the troops had left by the 12th and camped on the west side of Providence between Westminster and Friendship streets. The French Army performed a grand review in Providence on June 16, then set out for Coventry in four divisions. One division departed each day from June 18 to 21. Rochambeau left Providence with the first division (the Bourbonnais Regiment) and arrived at Waterman Tavern in Coventry in the evening of June 18.
The Route:
Followed the alignment of Broad Street to Olneyville.
Passed through Stewart Street to High Street,
West along High to the “junction” (Hoyle Tavern),
Cranston Street (then called the Monkey Town road) to Route 14
Route 14 to the eastern side of the Scituate Reservoir.
The original road was lost to the reservoir but picks up again as Old Plainfield Pike in Scituate.
West of Route 102 in Foster,
Route 14 into Coventry.
There the army camped outside of Waterman’s Tavern.
General Rochambeau’s French Army was marching to join forces with General Washington’s Continental Army. The allied armies moved hundreds of miles toward victory in Yorktown, Virginia in September of 1781.
A detail from the National Park Service Map of the French Route through Rhode Island.
October 25, 1779: The British evacuate Newport to consolidate their position in New York.
On July 11, 1780 a squadron of French warships approached Newport. It was not the first time the French came to Newport’s waters. The Treaty of Alliance with France was signed on February 6, 1778. On July 29, 1778 a French squadron sailed into Narragansett Bay. It created a military alliance between the United States and France against Great Britain. On the American side it was negotiated by Benjamin Franklin, Silas Deane, and Arthur Lee. This treaty stipulated that France and America would not negotiate a separate peace with Britain and that American independence would be a requirement before any peace treaty was signed. The Rhode Island Campaign in 1778 was the first French and American operation under the treaty. This joint action ended prematurely when damage from a storm took the French out of the Campaign.
In 1780 the “Expedition Particuliere” or Special Expedition would be a successful alliance. In July of 1781 Rochambeau’s French troops would leave Newport to join Washington’s army for the ultimate victory over the British in Yorktown.
RFrench Map of Newport
The French arrived in Newport in July of 1780. Most of the forces wintered in Newport except the Lauzun Legion which camped in Connecticut. Rochambeau was very skillful in handling his troops and the Americans began to appreciate their presence. Where the British had demolished defenses, the French engineers worked on rebuilding them. Major General William Heath’s diary for September of 1780 notes that “The batteries were strengthened, a very strong one erected on Rose-Island, and redoubts on Coaster’s-Island: the strong works on Butt’s-Hill (were) pushed..” A few days later he would remark: “The French army continued very busy in fortifying Rhode-Island: some of their works were exceedingly strong, and mounted with heavy metal.” We know from orderly books (daily records) that the American militiamen were aiding the French masons as they enlarged and fortified Butts Hill Fort.
On March 6, 1781, three months before the French army departed from Newport, General Washington visited Count de Rochambeau to consult with him concerning the operation of the troops under his command. Washington was hoping to encourage Rochambeau to send out his fleet to attack New York City. In an address to the people of Newport, Washington expressed gratitude for the help of the French: “The conduct of the French Army and fleet, of which the inhabitants testify so grateful and affectionate a sense, at the same time that it evinces the wisdom of the commanders and the discipline of the troops, is a new proof of the magnanimity of the nations. It is a further demonstration of that general zeal and concern for the happiness of America which brought them to our assistance; a happy presage of future harmony…appeasing evidence that an intercourse between the two nations will more and more cement the union by the solid and lasting times of mutual affection.” (Quote taken from New Materials for the History of the American Revolution by J. Durant. Henry Holt, New York, 1889.)
Washington left Newport and journeyed overland to Providence. On his departure he was saluted by the French with thirteen guns and again the troops were drawn up in line in his honor. Count de Rochambeau escorted Washington for some distance out of town, and Count Dumas with several other officers of the French army accompanied him to Providence. We know that General George Washington travelled by Butts Hill Fort on the old West Main Road on his way to the Bristol Ferry because the West Road was the customary route from Newport to the ferry. Washington’s aide, Tench Tilghman, recorded the fee for the Bristol Ferry on the expense book.
In May of 1781 Washington and Rochambeau met again, this time in Weathersfield, Connecticut. This meeting confirmed the joining of the forces and the march South.
The French left Newport in stages: Regiment Bourbonnois under the vicomte de Rochambeau, left on June 18 Regiment Royal Deux-Ponts under the baron de Vioménil, left on June 19 Regiment Soissonnois under the comte de Vioménil, left on June 20 Regiment Saintonge under the comte de Custine, left on June 21.
Brigadier General de Choisy was left behind in Newport with some French troops. He sailed with Barras’ fleet to the Chesapeake area in August. In the summer of 1781, General Rochambeau’s French Army joined forces with General Washington’s Continental Army, With the French Navy in support, the allied armies moved hundreds of miles toward victory in Yorktown, Virginia in September of 1781.
By Robert Selig, PhD. for the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route Resource Study & Environmental Assessment, 2006. https://digitalcommons.providence.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1018&context=ri_history. Visit of George Washington to Newport in 1781 – French E. Chadwick. 1913 Loughrey, Mary Ellen. France and Rhode Island, 1686-1800. New York, King’s Crown Press, 1944.
Dr. Robert Selig’s translation of Rochambeau’s Orderly Book gives us an understanding of the French presence at “Camp Butts Hill” in 1780 to 1781. Orderly books contain daily “Morning Reports”, “Garrison orders” and “General Orders”. They don’t give a narration of what happened, but they often give us clues as to who was performing what tasks. We have had access to at least two orderly books from Massachusetts militia units, but Selig’s work brings us a fuller picture from the French side. Selig will be continuing his research and I look forward to adding new information from the engineers who were in charge of the construction at the fort.
In Selig’s article on the French engineers, he provides background to why the French were interested in building a stronger “Butts Hill Fort.” When the French arrived the fort was in poor shape and there was concern that the British may come back and invade Aquidneck Island again. General Rochambeau, Lafayette and others saw the fort as a key communications point if the British returned.
Colonel Jean Nicholas Desandroüins left a description of the fort of December 1780, just as Rochambeau’s engineers began their work. Desandroüin’s observations give us an idea of the condition of the fort when the French began their work.
“It was also necessary to provide the means of being rescued by ensuring communication with the mainland. With this in mind at the far end (northern-most point) […] a fort called Bootshill was built on the height which dominates (overlooking) the space between the two passes or ferry crossings of Bristol and of Howlands. Assistance can assemble under its protection. This good work is of a high elevation, well flanked, preceded by a ditch as wide and deep, dug partly in the rock. It was sufficiently stocked with artillery and could hold 500 men. For its construction, we took advantage of two older, very imperfect, redoubts, whose mutually supporting fronts were shaved off, and which were joined together by two branches with breaks and redans, to make a single piece of good defence and capacity.” (Quoted in Blondet, Jeux de Guerre, p. 239. Blondet dates the letter to 9 December 1780.)
Butts Hill Fort from the Berthier Brothers Map 1780-81
As I read the American Orderly Books from “Camp Butts Hill” (for example Orderly books of Ebenezer Thayer, Jr.) I imagined American militia aiding the French engineers and doing the physical labor at the fort. What I am discovering through Dr. Robert Selig’s work with Rochambeau’s orderly book, is that four French regiments where also present at the construction of the Butts Hill Fort. They included the Soissonnois, Bourbonnois, Royal Deux Ponts, and Santonge Regiments.
Quoting from the Selig’s English version of the orderly books:
Order of 9 December 1780 “Each regiment will furnish two squads [at 12 men each] and a sergeant, the brigade of Soissonnois a lieutenant, and that of Bourbonnois a Capitaine en second who will command the whole, they will assemble at 7 o’clock in the morning near the guardhouse on the Parade Ground. This detachment will march with arms and baggage to Butts Hill Fort near Howland’s Ferry to work there as directed to them by the engineer who will be there, they will take with them cooking pots, mess tins, flasks, and provisions for five days, which each regiment will take care to procure today. The captain who will command the detachment ordered to work at Butts Hill Fort, a mile from Howland’s Ferry, will keep his soldiers in good order and discipline, he will order each day only one corporal and four men as guards, and will not allow more than one cook be employed per regiment in order to keep as few men as possible from the work.”
This entry demonstrates that the French soldiers were actively working at fort construction. Five would work as guards and one as cook, but they wanted to “keep as few men as possible from the work.”
In the table below I have outlined the rotation of French Regiments as detailed in Rochambeau’s Orderly Book.
Date
Unit
Duty
Comment
12/23/1780
Each regiment
Distribute provisions
12/28/178
Soissonnois, Santonge, Royal Deux Ponts – Bourbonnais 23
3 regiments return. Take orders from Palisse, Major of the Royal Corps of Engineers
For the security of the post, the police of the guard, and the preservation of the fort’s works. The detachment will also take orders from Monsieur de Palisse, Major of the Royal Corps of Engineers, and from Monsieur Planchard for the work that can be done.
Order of 31 December 1780
Soissonnois
Relieve previous
1/4/1781
Saintonge
Relieve previous
1/9/1781
Deux Ponts
Relieve previous
All the working soldiers employed in repairing the camp effects will be exempt from roll call and will be allowed to work until 8 o’clock in the evening.
1/14/1781
Bourbonnais
Relieve previous
1/16/1781
Rochambeau grant
Quarter supplement to the ration of bread per day to the workers at the fort of Butts Hill Fort.
1/19/1781
Soissonnois
Relieve previous
1/24/1781
Saintonge
Relieve previous
1/29/1781
Royal Deux Ponts
Relieve previous
2/2/1781
Bourbonnais
Relieve previous
2/7/1781
Soissonnois
Relieve previous
2/13/1781
Saintonge
Relieve previous
2/18/1781
Royal Deux Ponts
Relieve previous
2/23/1781
Bourbonnais
Relieve previous
2/28/1781
Soissonnois
Relieve previous
3/5/1781
Saintonge
Relieve previous
Will be relieved by the first American troop that will establish itself in this fort
3/18/1781
Soissonnois
Send to Butts Hill the soldiers named Armand,Corporal and Foucault, soldiers of the company de lay Boyere, fleur Damour of that company of Anselm and Bourdet of the company of Scanty were they will take the order of M. De Turpin, Captain of the Engineers
Americans relieve
4/1/1781
Royal Deux Ponts
One sergeant and a squad
4/11/1781
Soissonnois
One corporal and six men
4/16/1781
Saintonge
One corporal and eight men
4/21/1781
Deux Ponts
One sergeant and one corporal and 10 men
4/25/1781
Bourbonnais
One sergeant, one corporal and 10 men
4/29/1781
Soissonnois
One sergeant and one corporal and 10 men
5/3/1781
Saintonge
One sergeant and one corporal and 10 men
5/8/1781
Deux Ponts
One Sargent, three corporals and 20 men.
5/18/1781
Soissonnois
Three corporals 10 men
5/23/1781
Saintonge
One sargeant, three corporals 10 men
5/28/1781
Deux Ponts
One sargeant, three corporals 10 men
6/2/1781
Bourbonnais
One sergeant, three corporals and ten men.
6/7/1781
Soissonnois
Three corporals 10 men
The presence of, and the work carried out by, French soldiers at Butts Hill Fort from July 1780 and June 1781 is beyond doubt. The Orderly Book clearly established that within a week of their arrival in Newport, French engineers, most notably Major de Palys, were supervising repairs at the fort. At this point the work was carried out by American militia. It was only in December 1780, that French soldiers began working at Butts Hill Fort, which they did until June 1781, when Rochambeau’s forces deployed to New York.
References:Dr. Robert Selig’s research is detailed in a video on Battle of Rhode Island Association website. Rochambeau’s Engineers at Butts Hill.
In earlier blogs I wrote about a war game or “sham battle” described in the letter of an American doctor (John Goddard) to a colleague. This battle was on October 2, 1780, but there are also descriptions of later mock battles or skirmishes on October 8th and October 11th of 1780. Louis Bertrand Dupont d’Aubevouede Lauberdiere kept a Journal of his experience in the American Revolutionary War. Through the work of Norman Desmarais, we have an English translation – The French Campaigns in the American Revolution, 1780-1783: The Diary of Count of Lauberdiere, General Rochambeau’s Nephew and Aide-De-Camp.
We know through a brief Providence newspaper account that another “battle” occurred on October 8th. Lauberdiere described the battle as being “on the eighth.” In his diary he mentions yet a third of these war games on October 11th. There are some similarities of the mock battle descriptions in both the American and French accounts.
From Lauberdiere’s diary:
“May our comrades arrive soon and draw us out of the somber tranquility in which we live. The soldiers under canvas (tents) want to see the enemy, want to hear the cannon. In the absence of the British, Mr. De Rochambeau created some and, on the eighth he drilled the army on the point where the real enemy might land. We pretended that a fleet entered our harbor and planned a landing.” ( Road to Yorktown.” page 40-41).
The British ships had been seen near Newport waters and the expectation was that they would invade. Rochambeau picked the location of the British invasion in 1776 as the site for the battle. The diary calls the location “Stauder’s House,” but the actual name was Stoddard. British maps label this location. close to the Middletown – Portsmouth border, as the landing site of the British.
Fage Map
“We put 1500 men under the command of the Viscount de Viomenil who was at Stauder’s house. It was there that our enemies first began to take possession of a few houses along the shore. Mr. De Rochambeau kept the rest of the troops with him for the imminent attack to which he joined the American Rhode Island Regiment commanded by Co. (Christopher) Greene. These troops were divided into two column. Mr. De Rochambeau personally led the left column. The Baron de Viomenil commanded the right. The grenadiers and light infantry battalions formed a separate one.”
In Goddard’s account of the October 2nd mock battle, the American forces, the Rhode Island First Regiment (the Black Regiment), under Col. Christopher Greene, took part in the drill. The French Army did have drills between their own men and some of those may have been in the Third Beach area of Middletown. This drill on the eighth of October was also a drill of combined forces of the Americans and their French allies.
Col. Christopher Greene
“The attack began with several discharges of cannon, well-executed to create a complete effect of the fictitious enemy leaving their boats and forming quickly. At the same time, the column of grenadiers advanced to dislodge the enemy from the houses as they began to establish themselves there. During this musket fire, the Baron de Viomenil turned their right under the protection of a hill which concealed his movement. When he was ready and the attack was fully engaged, Mr. De Rochambeau had the charge sounded. Everything advanced in good order. The enemy disappeared and reassembled on the seashore.”
An Accident Happens: Lauberdiere’s diary:
“An accident occurred during this drill. A cannoneer cleaning a piece lost an arm by the sponge. The one who was aiming it had neglected to cover the touchhole with his thumb. An ember remaining from the preceding shot ignited and the charge caught fire.”
During the Revolutionary War a sponge head was used to extinguish embers from the previous firing. The sponge was part of a sponge-rammer tool that pushed the round into the barrel. The sponge head was dipped in water and run down the barrel to quench any embers left over.
Lauberdiere continued:
“Other accidents might have also happened, always caused by the cannon. Many of our navy officers who wanted to witness this drill rented horses. They were usually poor horsemen and wanted to remove all doubt, as three or four were thrown on the ground with each cannon shot.”
It appears there was an audience for the October 8th battle as well as the one described in Goddard’s account of the one on October 2nd.
The diary goes on to describe another drill, this one on the 11th of October:
“Mr. The Count de Rochambeau had the same drill at the point of Stauder’s house on the 11th, just as on the eighth. It was not executed with enough precision or vivacity. It’s on when we are outside the lines and near the one giving orders that we can see the mistakes and know how important it is to have well-informed officers and experienced soldiers. The former understand the orders they receive more easily with experience. In the election, the latter are more prompt, often foresee the objectives and march with greater assurance.”
Lauberdiere’s diary gives an insight into the value of these drills.
“A skirmish is an image of a real battle when it is well conceived and it is also educational. The only real difference, I think, is saving the blood of a large number of brave men. Our general, then, could not make better use of the leisure time which the English gave or to which our small number reduced us, than to accustom his soldiers to the sound of the musket and the cannon to teach them to march without fear especially on the land where they would really fight if the enemy appeared.” (page 46)
The Battle of Rhode Island Association has sponsored valuable research on the construction of Butts Hill Fort by Robert Selig and John K. Robertson. I am just now getting around to digesting the reports as I work on a timeline of what happened at the fort during the “Camp Butts Hill” period of 1780 to 1781. This is the first in a series of “Digging In” to the research. Today I am doing a close reading of Robert Selig’s article “Rochambeau’s Engineers at Butts Hill Fort July 1780 to June 1781.” The article appears in the Battle of Rhode Island website – battleofrhodeisland.org.
When the French arrived on Aquidneck Island, they found that work was being done on Butts Hill Fort. Selig writes about a diary entry of Ervoil d’Oyré. Describing the defensive works, he found upon arrival in Newport in July 1780: “Finally, the works built by the Americans on the north of the island were re-established and repaired to assure communication with the continent.”
Selig writes about the French intentions on Aquidneck Island in their early days on the island.
“Prior to the arrival of Rochambeau’s forces in Rhode Island in mid-July 1780, Butts Hill Fort ‘was the only fort active on the north end of the island.’ As Rochambeau set up defenses against the anticipated and feared British attack, he sought to strengthen Butts Hill Fort to block any access from the north. Earthworks had been set up earlier in the war and repairs and additions were made by Massachusetts State troops, but French engineers almost immediately provided the expertise that the Americans lacked.”
Selig goes on to say that on the 9th of July, 21 British ships were seen near Newport Harbor. .
“The next morning Rochambeau accelerated the construction of defensive works, not only around Newport but at Butts Hill Fort as well. An entry in the journal of Major Marius de Palys’s Journal de Campagne, mentions the redoubts at Howlands Ferry and Butts Hill Fort.
” ‘Eight days had elapsed since the commencement of the work, and no thought had yet been given to fortifying the point of the island which should have 1st thought of. This is the point of Howlands Ferry, and Monsieur de La Fayette decided to occupy it better than it was at the time. There were two bad redoubts, which were connected and formed into a respectable fort, which had not been finished, the fort and another in the shape of a star, which protected the ferry together with a battery on the mainland assured communication with the mainland, which was essential for relief or retreat in case of misfortune.'”
Palys’s Journal continued: “Eight days had elapsed since the commencement of the work.”
That would place the date of the beginning of the work to around 28 or 29 July 1780. Selig tells us that La Fayette spent ten days in Newport from the evening of 24 July to late afternoon 3 August 1780. In a letter to General George Washington, dated “Newport july the 26th at seven o’clock P.M.,” he informed Washington that he “could not help advising him [i.e., Rochambeau] very Strongly and very often to erect works and keep a communication oppenn’d with the Continent By Howland’s Ferry or Bristol Point. That matter will I hope be attended to in the Course of the next day.”
When I started researching Butt Hill Fort, I found several orderly books from Massachusetts militias who were at the fort. I imagined a few French engineers supervising the American workers. Reading through Selig’s translation of a French orderly book gives me a different image. There was a constant French presence at the fort with a five day rotation of men from Soissonnois, Santonge, Royal Deux Ponts, and Bourbonnais. Every five days a new detachment would leave Newport at 7 AM. “This detachment will march with arms and baggage to Butts Hill Fort near Howland’s Ferry to work there as directed to them by the engineer who will be there. They will take with them cooking pots, mess tins, asks, and provisions for five days …The captain who will command the detachment order to work at Butts Hill Fort, a mile from Howland’s Ferry, will keep his soldiers in good order and discipline, he will order each day one corporal and four men as guards, and will not allow more than one cook to be employed per regiment in order to keep as few men as possible from the work.” (Order of 9 December 1780).
The orders of December 28, 1780 provide the duties of the French troops -“for the security of the post, the police of the guard, and the preservation of the fort’s works,” The detachment takes orders from Monseur de Palisse, Major of the Royal Corp of Engineers and from Monsieur Planchard.
The French Orderly book lists orders from December 23, 1780 to June 7, 1781. French forces left Aquidneck Island to travel south in June of 1781. The road to Yorktown began with Aquidneck IsIand. On their way to Bristol Ferry the French army would pass nearby the fort they had been working to build.
Soissonnais Regiment.Royal Du Pontes1780-81 map showing Butts Hill Fort
Plaques on the side of Vernon House on Clarke Street feature images of Rochambeau and Lafayette. Why are these French military officers associated with the home?
Vintage postcard of Vernon House
The application for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places calls it one of Newport’s “most interesting buildings.” Peter Harrison, the designer of Redwood Library, is often mentioned as the architect of this colonial home. Re-modeling of the home in 1759 provided additions that give it an appearance of a Georgian mansion. Charles Bowler may have bought the property in 1753 when he became the Collector of Revenue. Bowler sold it to his son, Metcalf Bowler. Bowler was a noted merchant in the West Indies trade and he was active in local politics. He had a country home on Wapping Road in Portsmouth where Lafayette stayed during the Siege of Newport in 1778. Bowler fled to Providence and even held a state judgeship, but years later it was determined that he had acted as a British spy.
In 1773 Bowler sold the Newport home to William Vernon who was a successful merchant and ship builder. When the French arrived in Newport in 1780, Vernon offered the home as the quarters of Rochambeau. Rochambeau hosted both Lafayette and Washington while he resided at the home from 1780 to 1781.
The home is now in the hands of the Newport Restoration Foundation. The address is 46 Clarke Street.
Other homes associated with the French in Newport:
Hunter House: Headquarters of Charles Louis de Ternay before he died in December of 1780.
The Thomas Robinson House: Vicomte de Noailles of the Soissonain Regiment.
Buliod-Perry House occupied by Quartermaster Belville.
Sources: Application for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Place.
General Lafayette’s first visit to Rhode Island was during the perilous times of the Rhode Island Campaign in 1778. His second visit was in the summer of 1780. Washington sent Lafayette to carry his greetings to Rochambeau. Lafayette was in New Jersey when he received his orders from General Washington. His route led him through Peekskill, Danbury, Hartford, Lebanon and finally arriving in Newport on July 25th. Lafayette remained in Newport with Rochambeau at Vernon House (Rochabeau headquarters) until July 31, 1780. By August 7th Lafayette was back in Peekskill commanding his troops.
Vernon House in Newport where Lafayette stayed with Rochambeau
A Third Visit to Rhode Island
After the close of the Revolutionary War, Lafayette made a third trip to Rhode Island. In October of 1784 he arrived in Providence. The Providence Gazette of 1784 reported:
“Last Saturday Afternoon (October 23) the Honorable Marquis de la Fayette arrived here from Boston. He was met a few miles from hence by a Number of principal Inhabitants, and received at the Entrance of the Town and escorted in, by the United Company of the Train of Artillery under arms. On his Arrival he was welcomed by a Discharge of 13 Cannon at the State House Parade, the Bells were rung and at Sunset, the Salute was repeated by heavy Cannon on Beacon Hill.”
“The Marquis having visited Newport returned from thence on Monday Evening and on Tuesday partook of an Entertainment at Mr. Rice’s Tavern at which were present his Excellency the Governor, his Honor the Deputy-Governor, both Houses of Assembly, a Number of respectable Inhabitants, Officers of the late Army &c. After diner the Marquis set out for Boston and was again saluted with 13 Cannon.”
“On Monday last (October 25) the Society of Cincinnati of this State convened at Mr. Rice’s Tavern where an elegant Dinner was provided upon the Occasion; and having finished the Business of their Meeting they were honored with Company of his Excellency the Governor his Honor the Lieutenant Governor and the Honorable the Marquis de la Fayette accompanied by the Chevalier De L’Enfant.” Thirteen toasts were given.
References: Preston’s 1928 article in the Rhode Island Historical Society Collections.
July 11, 1780 a squadron of French warships approached Newport. Their journey was started on February 2, 1780, when King Louis XVI approved a plan, code-named the expédition particulière (special exhibition). On May 2, a fleet with crews totaling about 7,000 sailors, commanded by Admiral de Ternay set sail from France for Rhode Island. This was not the first French fleet that had arrived at Newport waters as part of a French and American alliance. The fleet commanded by General d’Estaing in 1778 was part of a Rhode Island Campaign to free Rhode Island (Aquidneck Island) from the grip of British occupation. That fleet quickly retreated following damage from a storm and the campaign ended with the retreat of the Americans at the Battle of Rhode Island. This 1780 arrival would prove to be a key moment in the French and American alliance. This landing was the beginning of cooperation between the forces that would ultimately lead to victory at Yorktown.
When the French arrived they found a Newport that was diminished by three years of British occupation. The people couldn’t feed themselves or gather enough wood to keep warm. Livestock had been taken, anything wood had been burned, farm fencing had been destroyed and almost all the trees had been chopped down. After years of occupation Newporters were not enthusiastic about having to support another army.
The French had their own concerns. One-third of the French troops were weakened during the long voyage by scurvy. Forty-seven men died during the first seven weeks on Rhode Island. General Washington sent Dr. James Craick, the assistant director of hospital for the Continental Army, to set up hospitals. With a good diet of fruit and vegetables, the men recovered.
At first the French troops were camped throughout Newport. A camp ran east from Easton’s Beach to the west by Thames Street. Lauzon’s Legion camped at Castle Hill. When the winter came it was important to find housing for the troops. General Rochambeau was in charge and he began to repair the houses that the British had left in ruins.
Plan de Rhodes-Island, et position de l’armée françoise a Newport. [1780] Map. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/gm71002156/.
Rochambeau was skillful in managing his troops. Conduct and discipline were important. Where the British had taken from the inhabitants, the French were careful to bring supplies in from France and they paid for what they needed. Newport merchants began to resume trade. Townspeople were able to work again. The French Commissary department employed sailors, drivers, cooks, butchers, carpenters, wheelwrights and countless other tradesmen.
The French brought engineers and soon after they landed they began to repair the defenses that the British had destroyed before they left. These fortifications were remodeled and guns were mounted. In a letter to a friend, Militiaman Dr. John Goddard commented: “…there are about 7500 Men on the Island at the Several ports, 5000 of which are French, at Newport, 2000 Three Months Men (militia), at this place and 500 Continentals, under Col. Greene of this state….Notwithstanding the Superiority of the English Fleet the French appear to feel very secure. Their Fleet consisting of seven sail of the Line & three Frigates are drawn up in line of Battle from Tomany Hill across the Chanel to Conanicut. The Town of Newport is surrounded with Forts which are well filled with Cannon, on the whole I believe there is no Reason to fear an Attack from the Enemy this season.”
With the arrival of the French in 1780, Rhode Islanders felt more secure.
portsmouthhistorynotes 