Mary Gould Almy's Journal, 1778 During the Siege At Newport, Rhode Island, 29 July to 24 August 18778

As a rare account by a woman and a Loyalist during the French and Patriot attack on British forces at Newport in September 1778, Mrs. Almy's account provides valuable insights into a civilian woman's reactions to the war and to the situation in Newport. Among many other things, she graphically describes her attempts to protect her children as the French naval squadron under the Comte d'Estaing fought its way in and out of Narragansett Bay during the Battle of Rhode Island.

Professor John Brewster Hattendorf is the Ernest J. King Professor Emeritus of Maritime History at the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, a chair he occupied from 1984 to 2016. Additionally, he served as chairman of the College's Maritime History Department and director of the Naval War College Museum, 2003-16. A former surface warfare officer in the U.S. Navy, he earned his degrees in history from Kenyon College (A.B., 1964), Brown University (A.M., 1971), and the University of Oxford (D.Phil., 1979; D.Litt., 2016). He is the author or editor of more than 40 books, including Sailors and Scholars (new edition forthcoming) and the Oxford Encyclopedia of Maritime History (2007).