During the Revolutionary War, on May 25, 1778, a large British army detachment of soldiers from Newport landed on Bristol Neck and spent the day burning parts of Bristol, Warren and boats at the Kickemuit River and seizing some 60 civilians as prisoners. This talk will focus on Bristol, where twenty percent of its houses were torched.  The talk will also compare the British army's march from Warren to Bristol, and from Bristol to Bristol Ferry, to the British army's march at the Battle of Lexington and Concord where patriot militia inflicted heavy casualties on the enemy during its march.  Come hear Rhode Island and Revolutionary War historian Christian McBurney tell the fascinating story.

Christian McBurney has authored eleven books on the history of Rhode Island and/or the Revolutionary War.  His book The Rhode Island Campaign:  The First French and American Operation in the Revolutionary War includes the most detailed and accurate account of the raid on Bristol and Warren in print.  His latest Revolutionary War book is Dark Voyage: An American Privateer's War on Britain's African Slave Trade, about a Rhode Island privateer.  His latest book is Machine Guns in Narragansett Bay, The Coast Guard's War on Rumrunners.  Christian is also the founder and publisher of a leading Rhode Island history blog at smallstatebighistory.com.  Christian resides in Kensington, Maryland, and has a second home in West Kingston, Rhode Island.