Revolutionary War Period

Rhode Island In The Revolutionary War

The war for American Independence was a long and arduous struggle that demanded much of the American people. The Colony of Rhode Island responded to those demands with patriotic fervor, enduring the dangers and deprivations of a British invasion and occupation at home, while sending soldiers to almost every major campaign of the war.

Some of the most noteworthy contributions were made by Blacks, Native Americans, and by members of the sovereign Narragansett Indian Tribe who fought alongside Whites in our battle for independence. Rhode Island would also produce some of the period’s best military leaders including Major General Nathanael Greene, General James Mitchell Varnum, Colonels Christopher Greene, Israel Angell, and Jeremiah Olney. Between 1775 and 1783 more than 7,550 Rhode Islanders served as soldiers in the Continental Army and the State militia units.

The following are a list of notable facts and occurrences related to Rhode Island in the War of Independence.

The Burning of the British Custom’s ship, the Gaspee, in June of 1772 in Narragansett Bay; a violent act of protest that leads to the formation of the Committee of Correspondence, the beginning of American organized resistance to the British Crown… a year and a half before the Boston “Tea Party”.
A Providence Town Council meeting on May 17, 1774, becomes the first official government agency to advance proposals for a general congress of all the colonies to formulate united resistance to the policies of England.
The RI General Assembly on June 15, 1774, made RI the first colony to appoint delegates to the First Continental Congress.
Rhode Islanders Stephen Hopkins and Silas Downer become pioneers in the formulation of the federal theory of empire, upon which the colonies based their constitutional objection to the British Crown.
Rhode Island creates the forerunner of the United States Navy by being the first colony to form its own navy; it furnished the first warship to the Continental navy, the 10-gun sloop Providence); and it produced the new nation’s first naval commander in chief, Esek Hopkins.
Rhode Island becomes the first colony to declare independence from the British Crown on May 4th, 1776.

Continuation of The RI War Of Independence

Rhode Island is the first colony to give enslaved people their permanent freedom in exchange for their military service at equal pay as Whites; leads to the formation of the 1st RI Regiment of 1778, also known then as “The Black Regiment” who would fight at the Battle of RI and the Yorktown Campaign.
Newport and Acquidneck Island were blockaded and occupied by British naval and land forces from Dec of 1776 until Oct of 1779; the occupation devastated the RI economy and setback Newport as a major center of commerce that it never really recovered from.
The siege of Newport and subsequent Battle of Rhode Island on Aug 29th, 1778 was the largest military engagement in New England history with over 10,000 soldiers and 3 naval battle fleets involved in the 5 week campaign. The Aug 29th battle places 17th among the 1,331 wartime engagements in terms of number of casualties. British: 38 killed, 210 wounded; American: 30 killed, 137 wounded.
The Rhode Island Campaign represented the first time the American and French militaries worked together as new allies.