Battle of Rhode Island
Location: [unknown]
Surname/tag: American_Revolution
- Alias: Battle of Quaker Hill; Siege of Newport
- Date: August 29, 1778.
- Location: Aquidneck Island, Rhode Island
- Result: Tactically indecisive, British strategic victory
- Belligerents: America, France, Great Britain
Continental Army and militia forces under the command of General John Sullivan were withdrawing to the northern part of Aquidneck Island after abandoning their siege of Newport, Rhode Island, when the British forces in Newport sortied, supported by recently arrived Royal Navy ships, and attacked the retreating Americans. The battle ended inconclusively, but the Continental forces afterward withdrew to the mainland, leaving Aquidneck Island in British hands.
The battle took place in the aftermath of the first attempt at cooperation between French and American forces following France's entry into the war as an American ally. The operations against Newport were to have been made in conjunction with a French fleet and troops; these were frustrated in part by difficult relations between the commanders, and a storm that damaged both French and British fleets shortly before joint operations were to begin.
The battle was also notable for the participation of the Category: 1st Rhode Island Regiment, Continental Army, American Revolution, a locally recruited segregated regiment of African Americans. It was the only major military action to include a racially segregated unit on the American side in the war. (1)
America and France
- Commanders and leaders
- Strength: 10,100
- Casualties and losses: 30 killed, 137 wounded, 44 missing
Great Britain
- Commanders and leaders
- Sir Robert Pigot - portrait by Francis Cotes
- Francis Smith
- Richard Prescott
- Friedrich Wilhelm von Lossberg
- Strength: 6,700
- Casualties and losses: 38 killed, 210 wounded, 12 missing
Images
- Entry of the French squadron in Newport Bay Aug. 8, 1778. (Drawing by Pierre Ozanne, 1778)
- A 1778 French military map showing the positions of generals Lafayette and Sullivan around Newport Bay on August 30.
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