The Battle of Newport, 1778

The plan was for the americans to move down and trap the british inside the city, while the french landed four thousand men of their own on the western shore. The day before this was all supposed to happen, general sullivan spied an opportunity to get the jump on the britishes,. He moved downer, which only confirmed the french opinion that these americans weren't disciplined enough to really count on. But instead of landing the french troops, he pulled out of the harbor completely. For two days, the french and british fleets manoeuvred around each other, until an intense gale ravaged them both. They wound up so bad off that howe had