Rathbun served in the Continental Navy from its late 1775 beginning as John Paul Jones First Lieutenant.
Dawn found the American stars and stripes flying over conquered enemy territory for the first time since the Continental Congress approved the flag.
The American merchant seamen were sent into the harbor to demand surrender of five ships lying under the guns of Fort Nassau.
Rathbun brought Providence into harbor in the early afternoon, and loaded all Fort Nassau's gunpowder and 300 small arms.
Fog closed in, but when it lifted, Queen of France was next to a merchantman whose crew mistook the American for a British escort vessel.
There, with smaller ships, she was stationed in the Ashley River to prevent British forces under Cornwallis from crossing and attacking the city.
Thereupon, Rathbun, a true patriot, secured a commission from Congress on 4 August to command the Massachusetts privateer brig Wexford.