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French admiral whose fleet arrived off Rhode Island in 1778 to support the American attack on Newport. A severe storm and the appearance of a British fleet led d'Estaing to withdraw to Boston for repairs, leaving the American ground forces without naval support and dooming the campaign.

Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, Comte de Rochambeau, commanded the French expeditionary force that arrived in Newport in July 1780. His patience, professionalism, and willingness to serve under Washington were essential to the alliance that won the war at Yorktown.

Rhode Island officer who led the daring nighttime capture of British General Prescott from his headquarters near Newport in July 1777. The raid, executed by a small party crossing Narragansett Bay in whaleboats, was one of the war's most celebrated commando operations.

British general who commanded the occupation of Newport. He was famously captured in a nighttime raid by American Lieutenant Colonel William Barton in July 1777 and exchanged for the American general Charles Lee. His capture humiliated the British garrison.

Commander of the 1st Rhode Island Regiment, which included Black and Indigenous soldiers. Greene led the regiment at the Battle of Rhode Island in 1778, where they repulsed repeated Hessian assaults. He was killed in a Loyalist raid in Westchester County, New York, in 1781.

A Black soldier who participated in the raid to capture General Prescott in 1777. Sisson is credited with breaking down the door to Prescott's quarters. His role in one of the war's most celebrated operations highlights the contributions of Black soldiers that were often overlooked in subsequent retellings.

Minister of Newport's Second Congregational Church before the war and close associate of the town's diverse religious communities. Stiles left Newport ahead of the British occupation and later became president of Yale. His Newport diary entries document the town's political and social life on the eve of revolution.

Newport woman whose diary from 1778 provides one of the few civilian accounts of life under British occupation. Married to a Loyalist while her sympathies leaned patriot, Almy documented the fear, scarcity, and moral complexity of living in an occupied town during wartime.