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236 EXPEDITION TO RHODE ISLAND. |
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On the day after he arrived at Newport, Lord Howe, with the British fleet, came in sight. D'Estaing went out to meet him, and after a sharp conflict, with some injury to the shipping of both sides, they separated. The British fleet went to New York, and the French returned to Newport. D'Estaing thought it necessary to go to Boston with his fleet to repair, and two days after set sail, notwithstanding the earnest protestations of the officers of the American land forces, who had been dispatched from the main army to assist in the expedition. Under these circumstances, the militia, who had volunteered with great eagerness to co-operate with their new allies, went home disgusted and disheartened, and General Sullivan ordered a retreat. So the expedition failed.
5 Clinton's name alarmed his mind. Sir Henry Clinton did not arrive in the neighborhood of Rhode Island until some time after D'Estaing had left it.
This song was written in Philadelphia, but the author is unknown. Rivington published it in the Royal Gazette, at New York, on the third of October, 1778, without comment. It also appeared in the English newspapers, during the early part of the year following. |
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