The Rhode Island Campaign: The First French and American Operation in the Revolutionary War

This is a very well writtten book that covers an area of the war that is often overlooked. A couple of drawbacks. (1) It concentrates heavily on the American aspects and does not deal with the British side in the same detail. This is disappointing and makes the book a bit lop sided. (2) It deals with some parts of the story in very great detail - perhaps too much. This is also the case in may American books on the ACW. It does bring out the problems of the alliance between France and the USA and deals with this very well. In doing so it also reminds the reader of the huge impact of the French decision to declare war on Britain - perhaps the single factor that lead to the successful break from Britain for the whole of America (Canada excepted). I can't agree with the conclusion that this campaign is an American victory. At the end of this campaign Newport remained in British hands; the American army had withdrawn to the mainland; the Royal navy remained on station and the French fleet had left the theatre of operations. With a bit of luck with the weather Clinton could have captured the whole of the American force on the island.

Very informative. I read it while vacationing 10 days on Aquidneck Island and got to visit a few sites!!

Not knowing anything about this topic and attending a conference in a few months where the author will speak, I decided to read this book. I am glad I did. It uncovers an interesting but neglected theater of the American Revolutionary War. Perhaps better described as the Battle of Newport, Rhode Island, it covers the first combined operation between Rebel and French forces against the British in what started out as a siege. Fate in the form of a hurricane would intervene and seriously damage the French fleet and cause it to leave its American allies and retire to Boston for refitting and repair. The author perceptively questions whether had the French forces remained to join the Rebels whether the British strongly entrenched position could have still been taken, especially without the serious loss of life. The fascinating portion of the book (aside from the tension between the French and Rebels over the French decision to retire) is the remarkably efficient, fighting retreat by General Sullivan and his troops to the mainland to avoid capture by the formerly besieged British who now had become the pursuers. The author employs workmanlike prose that is easy to follow. His research is prodigious. 230 pages of text are followed by another 200 pages of appendices, detailed footnotes, bibliography, and index for serious students. The lack of contemporary, rather than the use of period, troop movement and placement maps is my only significant complaint. Anyone looking to acquire a basic and even in-depth knowledge of this campaign would be well-advised to start with this book.

This military history is a first rate study, excellently documented and engagingly written. Mr. McBurney described the background of the battle for Newport in detail and even-handedly recorded the battle strategy of Sullivan, the concerns of his erstwhile ally d'Estaing, and the dire consequences of the Great Storm upon the island of Aquidneck. The author gives credit where it is due and places a deserving share of negligence upon the individual state's belated sending of militia forces to the battle site. It is easy in hindsight to blame Sullivan, d'Estaing, or the weather, but McBurney masterfully tells the tale of all three making a genuinely unfortunate set of military circumstances against which no one might have saved the day. In addition, intriguing descriptions of civilian tragedies capture the reader' s attention amid the military action. [This book was read by and this review has been written by Helene-Carol Brown, MA, who is considering writing a historical novel about the battle.] The book was purchase by Mr. Remmick for her.]

I don't do a lot of reading, but I enjoy books about history - either well written nonfiction or well written historical fiction. In the main, the nonfiction authors didn't present the history in "story form;" they seemed too concerned about explaining the sources from which they drew their conclusions about the historical facts. In contrast, I thought Christian McBurney told the story of the Rhode Island campaign very well. He didn't let his documentation of the historical facts [and the inevitable uncertainty as to some of the details] get in the way of a coherent story line that explained what happened and also the significance of the individual incidents to the overall outcome. Before reading this book, I knew absolutely nothing about the Rhode Island campaign; nevertheless, I didn't feel that I needed to know more than was in the book in order to understand it. Bottom line: I highly recommend the book.

When I picked this up, I expected it to be dry and obscure. But "The Rhode Island Campaign" is not only meticulously researched and annotated, but well-written and very readable as well--a combination not often found in scholarly works. Although the events of this Revolutionary War campaign are not well known, many of the participants are--Benedict Arnold, the Marquis de Lafayette, British Admiral Richard Howe, and American General Nathaniel Greene. And the events of the campaign are varied and interesting: privateering, raiding parties, a naval fleet engagement, and ultimately the 17th largest battle of the entire war. The description of the climactic battle is tautly delivered, and the author's concluding assessment of the leaders on each side is backed up by his review of original documentation. This book is a great read whether or not you are a New Englander or student of Revolutionary War history.