Editing Paul Revere (section)

===Militia service===
Upon returning to Boston in 1776, Revere was commissioned a [[Major (rank)|major]] of [[infantry]] in the Massachusetts militia in that April, and transferred to the [[artillery]] a month later.{{sfn|Martello|2010|p=80}} In November he was promoted to [[lieutenant colonel]], and was stationed at [[Castle William]], defending Boston harbor. He was generally second or third in the chain of command, and on several occasions he was given command of the fort.{{sfn|Martello|2010|p=80}} He applied his engineering skills to maintaining the fort's armaments, even designing and building a [[caliper]] to accurately measure cannonballs and cannon bore holes.{{sfn|Martello|2010|p=80}} The service at Castle William was relatively isolated, and personality friction prompted some men to file complaints against Revere.{{sfn|Miller|2010|p=217}} The boredom was alleviated in late August 1777 when Revere was sent with a troop of soldiers to escort prisoners taken in the [[Battle of Bennington]] to Boston, where they were confined on board prison ships,{{sfn|Gettemy|1905|pp=148–151}}{{sfn|Drake|1899|p=128}} and again in September when he was briefly deployed to [[Rhode Island]].{{sfn|Gettemy|1905|pp=152–153}}

[[Image:Entree de l escadre francaise en baie de Newport 1778 Ozanne.jpg|thumb|right|Drawing depicting the arrival of the French fleet in Narragansett Bay in 1778]]
In August 1778 Revere's regiment served in a combined Franco-American expedition whose objective was to capture the British base at [[Newport, Rhode Island]].{{sfn|Forbes|1999|p=343}} His regiment was responsible for erecting and maintaining artillery batteries on [[Aquidneck Island]].{{sfn|Triber|1998|p=132}} The attempt was abandoned by the French when their fleet was scattered in a storm, and Revere's regiment returned to Boston before the British sortied from Newport to force the [[Battle of Rhode Island]].{{sfn|Triber|1998|p=133}}