Background
Barton was born in Warren, Rhode Island on May 26, 1748, the son of Benjamin and Lydia Barton, was born at Warren, Rhode Island.
Barton was born in Warren, Rhode Island on May 26, 1748, the son of Benjamin and Lydia Barton, was born at Warren, Rhode Island.
At the beginning of the Revolutionary War he enlisted, was soon a captain, and on August 19, 1776, became major of Rhode Island troops. The circumstances under which he sprang into national fame were these: the English commander, Brig. -Gen. Prescott, occupied the island of Rhode Island in December 1776. He held arbitrary rule at Newport, quartered his force largely in farmhouses, laid waste the neighborhood, and exacted contributions. Personally he was ill-tempered, insolent, and contemptuous of Americans. In a previous campaign he had ill-treated Ethan Allen, had been taken prisoner and exchanged for Gen. Sullivan. It occurred to Barton that the recapture of Prescott would serve to procure the release of Gen. Charles Lee, something which seemed very desirable, since Barton shared the prevailing delusion of Lee's loyalty and military importance. Admitting few into his confidence, Barton planned his route and the details of the capture. The men, forty-one in all, were carefully selected, though the entire regiment had volunteered. The force started in boats from Tiverton, on the night of July 4, touched at Bristol, and proceeded thence to Warwick Neck on the mainland. From there, with muffled oars it crossed Narragansett Bay, skirting Prudence Island, and on the night of July 9 landed on the western shore of Rhode Island itself.
The house which Prescott occupied with a small body of troops was a mile inland. Barton's party silenced the sentinel, broke into the house, and captured the English general. He was conducted safely to Warwick, sent to the state authorities in Providence, treated apparently with courtesy, and in due time exchanged. He was soon promoted to major-general, but did not escape lampoons and criticisms in the English press, due to the humiliating features of his capture.
Barton returned to Tiverton, and was promoted on November 10, 1777, to the rank of lieutenant-colonel. His achievement, regarded as a most gallant act, had greatly helped morale in a time of especial need. He received a vote of thanks from the Rhode Island General Assembly, and from Congress a resolution of thanks and the gift of a sword. He served through the war, and was wounded in the British retreat from Warren in 1778. In 1787 when his state declined to send delegates to the Federal convention, Barton joined with others in a letter to the convention, pledging support. Naturally therefore, he was a member of the state convention in 1790 which adopted the Federal Constitution.
In later life he was unfortunate. Having bought (or obtained by grant from Congress) a tract of land in Vermont, he refused to pay a judgment upon it, and was detained as a prisoner for fourteen years, kept in a kind of honorable captivity in the inn at Danville. On the occasion of Lafayette's famous semi-centennial visit to America in 1824-25 he learned of Barton's plight and paid the claim, thus setting Barton free. The old soldier returned to Rhode Island, and died in Providence.
He was a member of the Society of the Cincinnati.
When twenty-two years of age he married Rhoda Carver, daughter of Joseph Carver of Bridgewater, Massachussets.
