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The country was palpitating with joy at the al-
liance with
France.
Congress on Sunday the sixth of August, with studied ceremony, gave its audience of reception to
Gerard de Rayneval, the
French plenipotentiary, listened to his assurances of the affection of his king for the
United States and for ‘each one’ of them, and ‘acknowledged the hand of a gracious Providence in raising them up so powerful a friend.’
At Headquarters there seemed to be a hundred chances to one in favor of capturing the garrison on
Rhode Island, and thus ending British pretensions to sovereignty over
America.
Robert Livingston expressed the hope that congress, in treating for peace, would insist on having
Canada, Hudson's Bay, the
Floridas, and all the continent independent.
On the eighth the French fleet, which a whim of
Sullivan had detained for ten days in the offing, ran past the
British batteries into the harbor of
Newport.
The landing had been concerted for the tenth; but, learning that the
British outpost on the north of the island had been withdrawn,
Sullivan, on the morning of the ninth, without notice to d'estaing, crossed
with his troops from the side of
Tiverton.
Scarcely had he done so, when the squadron of Lord Howe, which had been re-enforced from
England, was seen to anchor near
Point Judith.
On the tenth a strong
wind rising from the north-east, d'estaing by the advice of his officers, among whom were
Suffren and
de Grasse, sailed past the
Newport batteries, and in order of battle bore down upon the British squadron. Lord Howe stood to the southward, inviting pursuit.
For two days d'estaing was baffled in the attempt to
