On July 29, 1778, a powerful French naval squadron sailed confidently to the entrance of Narragansett Bay, which commenced the first joint French and American campaign of the Revolutionary War. On Thursday, October 6th at 5:30pm the Newport Historical Society will host author Christian McBurney to discuss this event, The Rhode Island Campaign, at the Colony House on Washington Square.
McBurney will discuss his new book, The Rhode Island Campaign: The First French and American Operation of the Revolutionary War, which is the most detailed study of the joint French and American effort to capture the British garrison occupying Newport during July and August of 1778. One of the most complex and multi-faceted events of the American Revolution, the campaign combined land and sea strategies and featured controversial decisions on both sides. He will also explain why the ultimate Battle of Rhode Island, previously downplayed by historians, was a victory for the Americans and was significant in foretelling a promising future for the American army.
