Major General Joseph Spencer had been ordered by Major General George Washington to launch an assault on Newport in 1777, but he had not done so, and was removed from command of the Rhode Island defenses.
In that same year, he served a major under General William Heath, and briefly as an adjutant general under General Joseph Spencer.
Also included in the district are two monuments (one to Nathan Hale and another to Gen. Joseph Spencer), a park, and a cemetery.
In 1776 Spencer was promoted to major general in support of William Heath in the Eastern Department.
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In 1794, Dr. Joseph Spencer gave the city its name after Vienna, New Jersey, where he had participated in a Revolutionary War battle.