The Chevalier de Ternay died at Newport soon after the arrival of the fleet, and was buried with distinguished honors in Trinity Church-yard, where a slab was afterward erected March, 1781 to his memory. Admiral de Barras succeeded him in command early in the following Spring, about which time Washington arrived at Newport, and held a conference with Rochambeau. The town was illuminated on the occasion of his visit, and from that time until the departure of the allies, quiet prevailed on Rhode Island. Active military operations ceased there, and, until the close of the war, the people were undisturbed, except by occasional menaces from English vessels in pursuit of American privateers, of which a large number hailed from Narraganset Bay, or made its waters their place of refuge when in danger upon the coast. * Newport suffered terribly during the war. Its population of eleven thousand in 1774, was reduced to about six thousand in 1782; and, according to an
* It is believed that Newport furnished more seamen for the naval service of the United States during the Revolution than any other port on the continent, except Boston. At least one thousand men were shipped for service in the navy from that port, one half of whom fell into the hands of the enemy and died in prison-ships. The naval commanders in the war who belonged to Rhode Island were John Grimes, Benjamin Pierce, Joseph Gardiner, William Dennis, James Godfred, Remembrance Simmons, Thomas Stacy, Oliver Read, Captain Bently, Samuel Jeffers, John Coggeshall, William Finch, Captain Jaques, James Phillips, Ezekiel Burroughs, John Murphy, Isaac Frabor, William Ladd, Joseph Sheffield, and Captain Gazzec. These either sailed from Newport previous to its possession by the enemy, or subsequently from other ports of New England.—Ross, page 62. Silas Talbot, also, belonged to Rhode Island.
Property destroyed in Newport.—Ride to Butte's Hill.—Hospitality.—Fort on Butts's Hill.—View of the Battle-ground.
estimate of a committee of the General Assembly, appointed for the purpose, the value of private property destroyed was six hundred and twenty-four thousand dollars, silver money.
The sun has gone down behind Conannicut and the hills of the Narraganset country; the broad sails of the wind-mills are still; the voices of the milkers come up from the neighboring farm-yard, and twilight is spreading its mysterious veil over the bay, the islands, and the ocean. Let us descend from our observatory on the hill of Miantonômoh and return to the city, and in the morning visit the places hallowed by events just viewed in the speculum of history.
The morning of the 23d was cold and blustering; the ground was hard frozen; October, 1848 ice covered the surface of the pools, and the north wind was as keen as the breath of December. I started early in a light rockaway for the battle-ground at the north end of the island, making a brief call on the way (or, rather, out of the way) upon Mr. Nathaniel Greene, a grandson of the eminent general of the Revolution who bore that name. He resides about three miles above Newport, and kindly furnished me with explicit directions respecting the localities I was about to visit. About a mile north of his estate I came to the head-quarters of Prescott, printed on page 76, which I sketched in haste, for my fingers were too soon benumbed with cold to hold the pencil expertly. Twelve miles from Newport I came to the residence of Mr. Anthony, which is, I believe, the "Brindley House" in the picture on page 83. An introductory line from his brother, David Anthony, Esq., was a key to his generous hospitality; and after accompanying me to the top of Butts's Hill, and pointing out the places of interest included in the view from its summit, he kindly invited me to dine with him when my sketching should be finished, an invitation heartily accepted, for a ride of twelve miles in the cold morning air was a whetstone to my usually good appetite.
The remains of the old fort on Butts's Hill, the embankments and fosse, with traces of the hastily-constructed ravelins, are well preserved. Even the ruts made by the carriage-wheels of the cannons, at the embrasures (for the ordnance was composed of field-pieces), were visible. The banks, in some places, are twenty feet high, measuring from the bottom of the fossé. Fortunately for the antiquary, the works were constructed chiefly upon a rocky ledge, and the plow can win no treasure there; the banks were earth, and afford no quarry for wall builders, and so the elements alone have lowered the ramparts and filled the ditches. Southward from this eminence, I had a fine view of Quaker and Turkey Hills—indeed, of the whole battle-ground. Sitting upon the exterior slope of the southern parapet, and sheltered from the wind by a clump of bushes and the remains of one of the bastions, I sketched the above view, which includes all the essential portions of the field of conflict. The eminence in the center, on which stands a 'wind-mill, is Quaker Hill; that on the right is Turkey Hill, on the northern slope of which is seen the west road. In the hollow at the foot of these hills the hottest of the battle was waged. On the left is seen the little village of Newton, beyond which is the Eastern or Seaconet Channel, stretching away to the ocean, and bounded on the left by the cultivated slopes of Little Compton. The undulations in the foreground are the embankments of the fort.