I inadvertently sent this to JD Sisson, thought I was replying to the list, so here it is A news clipping  from an article in the Cranston [RI] Herald of Thursday 17 October 1996 says "Major Barton and his American volunteers landed the Middletown shore, about a mile from the Overing house where General Wm. Prescott was staying as a guest of Mrs. Overing.  Barton divided his group into five units, ordering 3 units to attack the doors on the east, south and west, one to guard the road and one to be ready for any emergencies.  As they approached the house, a lone sentry advanced and demanded, "Who comes there?"  As Barton's men came closer, Barton replied,  "Friends."  The sentry demanded, "Advance and give the countersign."  Barton's reply was, "We have none, but have you seen any deserters tonight?"  The sentry had no chance to reply for, according to E. Field's account, John Hunt, one of Barton's men, "sprang upon him, pinioned his arms, took away his gun, and told him to preserve silence under the penalty of instant death. Very quickly following this action, one of Barton's men, presumably TACK SISSON, "burst in" the door.  Prescott was seized, allowed to put on but a few clothes and with his aide, Major Barrington, and his sentinel, Graham, was rushed to the boats. Once again the Rhode Islanders rowed past the British vessels lying at anchor and by midnight Barton's men and their prisoners were back at Warwick Neck.  The amazing episode, according to S.A. Greene, took but six and one-half hours.  Prescott was taken to David Arnold's Tavern on West Shore Road.  A bewildered Prescott is said to have remarked, "Sir, I did not think it possible you could escape the vigilance of the water guards."  The news spread quickly, not only throughout the colonies but back to England as well.  Perhaps the most glaring criticism of Prescott's being in a position to be captured can be found in the London Chronicle, Sept. 27, 1777, which made the following observation: On General Prescott. Being carried off naked, unannointed, unanealed. What various lures there are to ruin men; Woman the first and foremost all bewitches. A nymph thus spoiled a General's mighty plan And gave him to the foe without his breeches.  " Barb