Portsmouth

Map of redoubts along Sakonnet Coast

The Portsmouth landscape was beautiful before the Occupation. British officer Frederick Mackenzie was quartered there, and his December 16th, 1776 journal entry described the beauty of the local area, even in winter…

The Mackenzie Diaries

Banister's and Dudley's Redoubts, Fage map of Newport in 1778

Frederick Mackenzie’s Diary is a valuable source for information on the British Occupation of Rhode Island (Aquidneck Island). He began writing his diary in 1748…

Introduction to Occupation

Des Barres Map

The British had ample reason to invade and occupy Aquidneck Island (called Rhode Island at that time). Newport had a fine harbor from which the British fleet could raid up and down the coast…