Dear Sir:
At the meeting of the Irish patriotic society to be held on August twenty-ninth, to celebrate the battle of Rhode Island, would it be possible to bring up the subject of the old fortifications on Butts Hill and call attention to the danger which threatens them, namely, their destruction?
Few such spots remain on this island, and is it not the duty as well as privilege of all loyal patriots to help preserve such spots where our forefathers so hardly fought and whose names we honor and revere?
I hope this may receive your support and that you will consider it of sufficient importance to bring before your society.
Yours very truly,
Susan P. Swinburne,
Regent, William Ellery Chapter, D. A. R.
August twenty-eight,
245 Broadway, Newport, R. I.
Butts Hill, to which Mrs. Lippitt and Miss Swinburne refer, is in Portsmouth, R. I. The fortifications alluded to were constructed by Gen. John Sullivan in 1778, in connection with the siege of Newport and the subsequent battle on Rhode Island.