The farm is the site of a significant event in the American Revolution. General Prescott, commander of the 4,000-strong British occupying force on Aquidneck Island, took the house owned by Loyalist John Overing as his rural headquarters. Prescott was not well liked, being characterized as dictatorial and arrogant. He had taken the Bannister House in Newport as his town headquarters, but unfortunately for him on July 10, 1777 he chose to be in the country. American Colonel William Barton, under cover of darkness, led a party of 30 or more men in longboats on a circuitous route from Tiverton to the point where the farm brook empties into the bay. The party somehow avoided guards during their stealthy trek to Overing House, surprised General Prescott, and absconded with him and his aide. As they retraced their path to the longboats, no shot was fired nor alarm given until they were well away. Thus the rebel force accomplished one of the more daring and successful raids of the Revolution. As an expression of patriot pride, the farm has been dubbed Prescott Farm since at least the mid-1800s.