CHAPTER XXVI.

ACTS OF THE BRITISH TROOPS.--DISTRESS IN RHODE ISLAND.--EVACUATION OF NEWPORT.--REPUDIATION.--END OF THE WAR.

Disappointment of the Americans, 241

Wanton destruction of life and property by the British, 241

Pigot galley captured by Talbot, 242

Scarcity of food in Rhode Island, 242

Steuben's tactics introduced into the army, 244

Difficulty in raising money, 244

British left Newport, 245

Town records carried off by the British, 246

Repudiation of debt, 247

Rhode Island's quota, 248

Preparations for quartering and feeding the troops, 249

An English fleet of sixteen ships menaced the Rhode Island coast, 250

Assembly met at Newport; the first time in four years, 250

1781. End of the war, 251

The federation completed, 251