The only action which may properly be called a battle that happened in Rhode Island during the Revolution, was fought, with no decided success on either side, on Butts' or Quaker hill, in Portsmouth, the original settlement of the island. Yet the people were staunch adherents of the popular cause, and many opportunities came for the display of their gallantry and valor at home as well as abroad. Long before the actual commencement of hostilities, they performed the first overt act of resistance which was made in the Colonies to the royal authority, by the summary destruction of the armed sloop 'Liberty,' in return for her rude treatment of a vessel from an adjoining colony, and of themselves when they demanded atonement therefor. The incensed Newporters boarded the Liberty,' cut her cables, and let her drift out to Goat Island, where she was soon afterward burnt during a heavy thunder-storm. Subsequently to this act there occurred, further up the bay, the similar exploit of Gaspee Point, in which the obnoxious toll-gathering craft, the Gaspee,' was adroitly persuaded to run upon the unknown, hidden sands, and while thus helpless, was destroyed by a rebellious party from Providence. Not less daring was the attack of the 'Pigot' by the crew of the little sloop 'Hawk,' on the east side of the island. Nothing, either, could have been more neatly done than the bold seizure of the British commander Prescott, at his own head-quarters at Portsmouth, when Colonel Barton, of Providence, and a few trusty fellows dropped down the bay at night,

under the noses of the enemy's ships, and mastering the sentinels, coolly took the old tyrant from his bed and carried him, without superfluous toilette, again beneath the shadow of the British vessels, to the American camp. The General himself said at the moment to his gallant captor: Sir, you have made a bold push to-night!'

The first threat of war against Rhode Island was made in the fall of 1775, when Admiral Wallace, who commanded an English fleet in the harbor at the time, seemed to be preparing to carry off the live stock at the southern end of the island for the supply of the royal troops in Boston. Foiled seasonably in his project, he swore vengeance against the town, frightening away half of its inhabitants, and sorely terrifying the rest, until a compromise was made by furnishing him certain stores and supplies. He then proceeded up the bay, leaving desolation wherever his demands were denied. In the following spring (1776) Wallace was by a spirited effort driven out of the harbor of Newport; but before Christmas of that same year there came a British fleet, under Sir Peter Parker, from which nine or ten thousand troops, English and Hessians, were landed at Middletown, five miles from Newport; and hereabouts the intruders stayed until the autumn of 1779, now in their camp, and now quartered upon the inhabitants of the towns, but, in camp or not, always aggressive and destructive; so that at their final departure they left only ruin and dismay where they had found prosperity and happy content. On abandoning the island, after their three-years' possession, they completed the destruction they had begun and continued by burning the barracks at Fort Adams and the light-house on Beavertail Point, and by bearing away the town records, which were subsequently regained, but in such condition as to be of little use.

THE PERRY MONUMENT.

The churches had been used and abused as barracks; the Redwood Library was robbed of its treasures; hundreds of buildings had been destroyed, and of all the beautiful trees which formerly adorned the island, scarcely one remained.

The investment of the island by the British, and the gradual wreck which resulted from wanton destruction and from the continual defence of their position, reduced the population from twelve to four thou sand, desolated the country, and ruined Newport, despite the brilliant flicker of life which followed, in the gay occupancy of the town by the French troops under Rochambeau and the Admiral de Ternay.

A brave but futile attempt had been made the previous autumn, (August, 1778,) with the coöperation of a French fleet, under D'Estaing, to expel the enemy from Rhode Island. The people now confidently hoped for release from the yoke which had so long galled them, but with the exception of a little maneuvering, and sailing to and fro, and the sinking of some boats as obstructions to the navigation, nothing of great moment happened on the water, and nothing on the land but the action (during the retreat of the Americans) at Butts' hill, already alluded to as the only battle of the Revolution fought upon Rhode Island soil. In this attempt from ten to fifteen thousand of the patriot troops were engaged, under the command of Generals Greene and Sullivan. They crossed over from the main-land to the upper end of Aquidneck, at Tiverton. The

failure of the expedition is attributed to the want of prompt and energetic aid on the part of the Count d'Estaing.

The coming of the second French fleet, under De Ternay, though not required now to drive the enemy from their threshold, was no less warmly hailed than had been that of

WHITEHALL.

SCENE FROM SACHUEST OR SECOND BEACH.

D'Estaing before. It entered Newport harbor on the 10th of July, 1780, amidst the acclamations of the populace. Scarcely, however, was Rochambeau established in his head-quarters, at the old 'Vernon house,' (yet standing,) when news came of the approach of the enemy's blockading squadron. As in the case of previous rumors of war, however, no engagement followed, and the French officers were left to display their gallantry in the drawing and ball-room, to the high edification of the beautiful belles of the day and place, instead of their prowess in the tented field. They went, at last, and finally, during the following year, (1781,) and Newport was left, without any new troubles, to mourn over the crushing and fatal issue of her past misfortunes.

During the French occupancy of the town, Washington was received there amidst a general illumination, and such rejoicings as the depressed hearts of the people allowed. He was entertained at the head-quarters of the Count de Rochambeau, in the present Old Vernon House.' The commander of the fleet, the Count de Ternay, died here, and was buried with great pomp in the cemetery of Trinity Church.

6

Thus brilliantly ended the Revolutionary story of Newport. The brightness, though, made the gloomy night which followed only the darker; for, as the gay ships sailed away, so passed the last ray of the old sunshine of success in which the now desolate and almost deserted town had so long and so joyously lived.

There is little to be said of Newport during the half-century between the close of the Revolution and her memorable social renaissance, about the year 1840. This was the dark age in her eventful history,

in which the wearied and worn old town seemed to doze her crippled life away, without effort and without hope. No longer was the daring whaler seen entering her harbor covered with the slime of distant seas; no more were her warehouses crowded with the rich fabrics and products of the far-off Indies; no longer echoed the cheerful hum of industry, and her houses- what remained of them-were so deserted that it became, with the unsympathizing around, a jest to say that with the tenant's privileges in Newport was the liberty to use such portions of his dwelling as he pleased for his daily fuel!

In process of time the pleasant light of stars' shone out, and the town reawakened at last to the new and yet brighter dawning which gradually followed. Other ports had in the interval supplanted her in her old commercial position, but the original secrets of her success were again remembered - the beauties of her rocky shores, and the marvelous sweetness of her climate. In summer days, many came to enjoy these enviable pleasures. Year by year the number of these visitors increased, until the annual 'arrivals' swelled from tens to hun