For them to see the other half of the Revolutionary War piece in their backyard? Amazing.”

Cindy Perry, AP American history teacher at Portsmouth High School

PORTSMOUTH — It’s one thing to open up a dusty U.S. history book to read a rather dry account of Revolutionary War skirmishes from a classroom desk chair. It’s quite another to be standing just a stone’s throw away from the spot — Union Street and Middle Road in Portsmouth — where Col. Nathaniel Wade’s rebel troops ambushed the British during the Battle of Rhode Island in August 1778.

Paul Murphy, a member of the Battle of Rhode Island Association (BoRIA) and chairman of the Butts Hill Fort Restoration Committee, shared an account of the raid with about 40 Portsmouth High School history students as he stood in front of “Old Town Hall” on the grounds of the Portsmouth Historical Society. 

It was part of a recent tour students took of half a dozen spots scattered throughout town where the crucial Battle of Rhode Island was fought after the British occupied Newport starting in 1776. The May 21 event was sponsored by BoRIA and the Massachusetts Society of the Cincinnati.

The idea of the program, organized by Gloria Schmidt, the historical research advisor for BoRIA and a member of the Portsmouth Historical Society, and PHS history teacher Cindy Perry, was to show off Portsmouth’s rich history that helped shape America’s future.

Perry said the importance of teaching local history cannot be overstated.

“I teach the advanced placement (AP) U.S. history program,” she said. “Every unit that I do — and we have 40 chapters in our textbook and the kids took their exams a couple of weeks ago — I take the content and I pop Rhode Island out of every single chapter. Because you can. We start with Anne Hutchinson, which is right here in Portsmouth, and we go down to Newport. We have everything here — good, bad, wonderful, not so wonderful — but it should be told. I can bring them and they can see it. This is their backyard.”

Perry was able to secure a grant from the Daughters of the American Revolution, and has been taking students to other important historical Rhode Island sites, such as in Woonsocket and the Newport Mansions. 

“We did four walking tours. And now, for them to see the other half of the Revolutionary War piece in their backyard? Amazing,” she said.

“Amazing” was the same way she described Schmidt, who has worked with Perry's students inside, and now outside, the classroom. “This is a phenomenal opportunity for our students,” said Perry, noting it was the first time local history has been a real part of the school curriculum.

Tour started at Society

Schmidt, who shares local history on her Portsmouth History Notes blog, said she was thrilled to finally see all the planning pay off.

“It has been a year in the making to do, but the logistics to do it was the thing. We just wanted to show our enthusiasm. This is our town. A battle took place through most of our towns, and people don’t know it. This is one way of letting people know,” said Schmidt, adding that she’s always wanted local history to be a key part of any school curriculum. “When I was a librarian at Elmhurst, that was one of the things I really tried to do,” she said.

The trip started on the grounds of the Portsmouth Historical Society, where students also got to tour the historical Southermost School, which dates to 1725 and is said to be the oldest one-room schoolhouse in Newport England. 

From there buses took them to Heritage Park on Turkey Hill, where Seth Chiaro dressed as a member of the 54th Regiment of Foot and gave a demonstration on musketry. Other stops were Patriot’s Park (where the “Black Regiment” Memorial is located) and Quaker Hill. Students listened to brief lectures on the battle from BoRIA members Gloria and Richard Schmidt, Paul Murphy, and Town Historian Jim Garman.

Ended with Butts Hill 

The last stop was Butts Hill Fort adjacent to the high school, which BoRIA and a committee under it, The Butts Hill Fort Restoration Committee, are working toward bringing it back to its former glory. Butts Hill is the oldest period earthwork still extant in southeastern New England.

“The restoration of the fort is of major importance to us,” said Schmidt. “The kids are in school and don’t even know it’s there.”

Students were surprised to learn many things about the town’s role in the Revolutionary War, she said.

“I went into the classrooms and talked to them before we came,” she said. “A lot of them had no idea that under the British, we had such a terrible occupation. They didn’t know you could have an earthwork fort. They think of Fort Adams, which is made of brick. 

“It’s in your backyard — you just have to point it out.”

For more about BoRIA, visit https://battleofrhodeisland.org.