Page 222 - Conflitti Militari e Popolazioni Civili - Tomo I

222 XXXIV Congresso della CommIssIone InternazIonale dI storIa mIlItare • CIHm

town and its surrounding countryside. This force was commanded by British Brigadier Gen-
eral Francis Smith. Smith was the same officer who had the misfortune of having his force
nearly annihilated by colonial militia during the 19 April 1775 day long battle of Lexington
rd
th
nd
and Concord. Smith’s 5 brigade consisted of the 22 , 43 , 54 and 63 regiments and also
rd
th
included three more Hessian regiments: the Landgraf Regiment, Regiment Von Huyn, and
Regiment von Bunau. The Hessians were commanded by Major General Christophe von
Huyn. The Light Dragoons and the women camp followers (each regiment had about 50 or
60 women in its employ as cooks or laundresses) were ordered to remain aboard ship until
things got firmly established ashore. 3
At the time the effective size of an 18 century infantry regiment usually totaled around 500
th
to 600 men. When you include other auxiliaries such as Royal Marines, Royal Artillery, light
dragoons, fleet sailors, and female camp followers, the total British and Hessian footprint on the
island of Aquidneck and in the town itself likely approximated nearly 6000 persons – or over
one-half of Newport’s entire pre-war population. The Reverend Dr. Ezra Stiles, the minister of
the town’s Second Congregationalist church and later President of Yale University lamented
that “it seems to be our Turn now to taste the heavy Calamities of the War. May God deliver us
in his own Time out of all our Destresses….This afternoon we hear that the Enemy landed yes-
terday about the Middle of the West Side of the Island, about Three Thousand Men: & Marched
into Newport, paraded before the Courthouse & there published the Kings Proclamation, &
formally took possession of the Town & erected the Kings Government & Laws.” 4
One of the amazing things about occupying forces during the wars of the 18 century was
th
the little thought given to the issue of logistics by commanders. And the British and Hessian
occupiers of Newport proved to be no exception. Most commanders assumed that shelter and
provisions could be locally obtained. It was also quite apparent that the British had miscalcu-
lated in landing a force in such a northerly climate so late in the year. British Major Frederick
MacKenzie noted in his journal the conditions faced by the British and Hessians troops the
first few days ashore: “As the troops could not get their tents on shore from the transports last
night, they were obliged to lie without any shelter, on a bleak hill, much exposed to the sever-
ity of the weather….Very hard frost last night, and Ice an Inch and half thick this morning. The
Hessian Regiment of Du Corp, marched into Newport, where they are to be quartered. Three
Battalions of British and 5 of Hessians remain encamped on the height about where the Army
landed.” With the invasion just a few days old, Ezra Stiles hinted at what was to come for
5
Newport. Since so much of the population had fled, Stiles noted that “about 15 or 20 persons
are imprisoned at Newport by the Regulars chiefly of the lower sort & some that had borne
Arms. The Officers were taking up houses for Barracks, & among others have taken my House
& Meetinghouse – which last it is said they intend to make an Assembly Room for Balls &c
after taking down the Pews. As yet they have put none to the Oath of Allegiance.” 6
Marine Captain John Trevett was asked by Rhode Island Governor Stephen Hopkins to

3 Hagist, General Orders, 2-3.
4 Ezra Stiles, The Literary Diary of Ezra Stiles, Vol. II, (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1901), 95.
5 Frederick Mackenzie, Diary of Frederick MacKenzie, 1775-1781, Vol. 1, (Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univer-
sity Press, 1930), 123.
6 Ezra Stiles, 11 December 1776, in Stiles, II, 96.