[On June 14th, 1775, the Continental Army was formed at the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia. So for the 250th of that momentous military moment, I’ll AmericanStudy a handful of iconic Revolutionary War figures, leading up to a special weekend post on that historic anniversary!]
Three
telling details about the Continental Army’s longstanding, largely African
American 1st
Rhode Island Regiment.
1)
Fraught Origins: If the existence of a 1770s
army regiment dominated numerically by African American soldiers is no doubt
surprising, one of the main origin points for this unit will likely be less so:
throughout the first few years of the war, a number of slaveowners chose to send their
slaves to fight rather than join the Continental Army themselves (with the
slaveowners still receiving a good bit of the soldiers’ pay, natch). When the
Army, desperate for more troops, changed
the rules in February 1778 to allow Black soldiers to volunteer their
own service, Rhode Island (still a slave state, as they all were in 1778) took
things one step further: the state’s General
Assembly voted to allow the enlistment of “every able-bodied negro, mulatto, or
Indian man slave,” promising that every one who so enlisted would “be
immediately discharged from the service of his master or mistress, and be
absolutely free.” The worst and best of America, right there in one moment and
military unit.
2)
Two Brave Battles: Not too long after that
shift, the 1st Rhode Island saw its first significant combat, in the
August 1778 Battle
of Rhode Island (mostly fought near the island city of Newport). The 1st
were tasked with defending an important position that was under sustained
assault by the British, and specifically by very dangerous Hessian mercenaries;
the 1st
fought off three distinct attacks, helping win a pitched battle that the Marquis de
Lafayette would call “the best fought action of the war.” It was the first
of many battles the 1st would take part in, but here I’ll highlight one
more, a far more tragic and equally inspiring conflict: the May 1781 Battle
of Pine’s Bridge (New York), when a small band of the 1st were
ambushed by a far larger contingent of British troops. The regiment’s Colonel
Greene and eight Black soldiers were killed, and it
was reported that the soldiers “defended their beloved Col. Greene so well
that it was only over their dead bodies that the enemy reached and murdered him.”
3)
A Culminating Presence: The 1st
Rhode Island was one of the only Continental Army units to serve until the end
of the Revolution, only disbanding when the entire army was disbanded in November
1783. That meant for example that the regiment was part of the Revolution’s
final significant battle, playing an important role in the October 1781 Siege
of Yorktown. And while there was not much major combat over the two years
after that point, the regiment continued to serve an important role, guarding
the city of Newburgh, New York from potential British invasion and even taking
part in a planned but ultimately aborted expedition
to capture the British Fort Ontario in Oswego. From its origins to its
multiple endpoints, you can’t tell the story of the Continental Army nor of the
American Revolution without a prominent place for the 1st Rhode
Island Regiment.
Next
Revolutionary figure tomorrow,
Ben
PS. What
do you think? Rev War figures you’d highlight?
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