But suddenly there was a new alarm. An English fleet of sixteen ships of war appeared in the offing, staid just long enough to spread a general apprehension of invasion, and after a second alarm took up its station in Long Island Sound and blockaded the French from the sure position of Gardiner’s Island. Thus for a time French coöperation once more failed.
In September the Assembly met in Newport, the first time in four years. The State House had been used by the British for a hospital, and all the churches except Trinity for barracks. The Assembly held its sessions in the Redwood Library.
Money was still the primary object of attention. Congress called on the states for three millions of dollars. For the first time Rhode Island was unable to meet her portion. She had also a large proportion of the French troops to provide for, whose headquarters were at Newport, where Rochambeau established himself in the Vernon House, which still bears his name. But the French brought hard money with them, and spent it freely.
In December Ternay, the French admiral, died, without having had an opportunity of doing any thing important for his allies. His tomb is still seen in Trinity church-yard.
We enter upon 1781, the decisive year of the war—and decisive also by its political significance. Connecticut and Virginia ceded their western lands to the Union, and Greene’s successes in the South, and Washington’s capture of Yorktown, virtually put an end to the war. In the same year the confederation was completed by the accession of Maryland. Rhode Island could not perform all her federate duties as heretofore, but the presence of the French fleet made her for a while an object of especial interest. Her daily quota of supplies was two thousand rations of fresh beef, besides rum and other stores.
In the same year she lost by surprise two of her best soldiers, Colonel Christopher Greene and Major Ebenezer Flagg, both distinguished by their part in the defence of Red Bank, in 1777. Peace was at hand, and with peace a new experiment in political life. The confederation had been tried in war and found wanting. How would it meet the requirements of peace?
CHAPTER XXVII.
ARTS OF PEACE RESUMED.—DOCTRINE OF STATE RIGHTS.