British sortie from Newport catches Sullivan's army mid-retreat on Aquidneck Island

For weeks, Major-General John Sullivan's Continental and militia forces had besieged British-held Newport, Rhode Island, counting on French warships offshore to help finish the job. On August 29, 1778, with the French fleet gone to Boston for repairs and militia melting away, Sullivan abandoned the siege and pulled his men north on Aquidneck Island. British troops under Major General Robert Pigot sortied out behind him, backed by Royal Navy guns, and struck the retreating column at Quaker Hill. The fighting, involving roughly 7,825 men in all, ended without a decision, and the Americans withdrew to the mainland the following night…