“Bloody Brook” is part of Portsmouth folklore. The story is that the brook ran red because of all the blood spilled there at the Battle of Rhode Island. What exactly happened there? Why is Bloody Brook or Barker Brook important to the battle?
Map with permission of the Benson Family
I came across an older account by Eric O’D Taylor with a map by John Norman Benson that helps me understand this.
“Immediately before the American line and just in front of the advancing German reinforcements was a brook, called even now from the appearance that day gave its muddy waters “Bloody Run Brook.” Where the road crossed, a bridge had been built. On either side of the road a soft marsh extended following both banks. If a battery could be placed so that it commanded the road, and, above all the bridge, all was not lost.
…Greene spotted nearly a quarter of a mile up the road at the base of a hill a slight eminence with a flat top and a clear command of the brook’s valley. Quickly he brought three field pieces to the place and opened on the advancing British ..
To return to Malsburg (a German commander). At nine AM he left his men north of Bloody Run Brook beside and even on the slopes of Barrington Hill. Re-crossing the brook, he came upon Lt. Murarius’ company already demoralized by the fire from the new battery. Reducing them to some sort of order, he continued to the rear and found the ammunition carts which he was seeking. …. If Malsburg was to advance, the troublesome redoubt with its three cannon must be taken or silenced. Eagerly he hurled again the insignificant mound all troops stills out of the brook. It was a distinct mistake. Slight as the elevation of the redoubt looked from the road and Turkey Hill, it loomed like a fortress above the low valley of the marshy brook. Encumbered in the marsh across which they must jump from grass tuft to grass tuft, the Hessians staggered forward. . Now they are on firm ground; the guns as just ahead of them; they slow up a moment to dress ranks for the charge. Does someone move in the bushes to right, to left, of the redoubt? It is too late. The word is given. The charge goes home—and crumples like paper before the sheets of flame which burst from behind the stone wall lining the road, from the windows of a house before now hidden in the trees, from the underbrush and from the super heights of the redoubt itself. As Malsburg withdrew his shattered column, finding refuge behind the wall on the right of the main road, he saw the elated defenders of the little redoubt, break out from their hidden defenses. “They were mostly wild looking persons,” he wrote, in their shirtsleeves. Among them, too, were many negroes.”
From Campaign on Rhode Island by Eric O’D Taylor and illustrated with woodcuts by John Norman Benson. This booklet is in the collection of Town Historian James Garman. There is an abbreviated pamphlet available online: http://www.newportalri.org/
The Varnum Continentals is a non-profit historic and patriotic organization that owns Varnum House Museum and the Varnum Armory and Military Museum. They are named in honor of James Varnum who served as Brigadier General in the Continental Army.
Varnum Continentals Image by Jay Killian
Varnum’s military career began with the Kentish Guards who were chartered as a militia by the Rhode Island General Assembly in 1774 as a unit of the Rhode Island Militia. Varnum was one of the founders of the Kentish Guards and he was elected their first commanding officer.
With the outbreak of the War for Independence, Varnum was commissioned by the RI Assembly as a Colonel of the First Regiment of Infantry. He served in the Continental Army as a Brigadier General from 1777-1779. He served in the siege of Boston, the battles of Long Island, White Plains, Red Bank (New Jersey), at Valley Forge and the Battle of Rhode Island. During the Battle of Rhode Island, Varnum’s Brigade – stretched across West Main Road and faced Turkey Hill. It was comprised of four continental regiments – 2nd Rhode Island, Livingston’s 1st Canadian, Sherburne’s and Webb’s. In all, Varnum commanded 800 Continentals in the Battle of Rhode Island.
Varnum was an advocate for the establishment of the 1st Rhode Island Regiment (known as the Black Regiment). This is his letter to Washington proposing the unit.
From Brigadier General James Mitchell Varnum Camp [Valley Forge] Janry 2d 177[8]
Sir— The two Battalions from the State of Rhode Island being small, & there being a Necessity of the State’s furnishing an additional Number to make up their Proportion in the continental Army; The Field Officers have represented to me the Propriety of making one temporary Battalion from the two, so that one intire Core of Officers may repair to Rhode Island, in order to receive & prepare the Recruits for the Field. It is imagined that a Battalion of Negroes can be easily raised there. Should that Measure be adopted, or recruits obtained upon any other Principle, the Service will be advanced. The Field Officers who go upon this Command are Colo. Greene, Lt Colo. Olney and Major Ward: Seven Captains, Twelve Lieuts., six Ensigns, one Pay Master, one Surgeon & Mate, One Adjutant & one Chaplin. I am your Excellency’s most obdt Servt J. M. Varnum
In 1907 a group of local men -(many had formerly been members of the Kentish Guard) – chartered the Varnum Continentals “to perpetuate the customs, uniform and traditions of the period [of the American Revolution], and thereby, and in other ways, to encourage patriotism in the people.” On December 31, 1992, Bruce Sundlun (Governor and Captain General of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations) formally reactivated Varnum’s Regiment of May 4, 1775, as a unit of the Rhode Island Militia.
The skirmishes around Lehigh Hill have taken on importance because of the presence of the Black Regiment. We call the area Lehigh Hill, but the British called it Burrington’s Hill and it was known as Durfee Hill by the Americans. The British had constructed a redoubt (temporary fortification) right by the West Road.
Clinton Collections – Clements LibraryFage Map, 1777
This redoubt became a focal spot for American defenses and British attacks. During the Battle of Rhode Island this thick walled redoubt became the strong position of the Rhode Island First Regiment, the Black Regiment. Normally led by Christopher Greene, it was led at this time by Major Samuel Ward. Around 10 AM the British, led by von der Malsburg, charged this position. Malsburg would write: “We found obstinate resistance, and bodies of troops behind the work (redoubt) at its sides, chiefly wild looking men in their shirtsleeves, and among them many negroes.” Malsburg pulled back, but General von Lossberg ordered another attack around 11:30 AM. British vessels (the Sphynz, Spitfire and Vigilant) had put themselves in good position to be shelling the Americans from Narragansett Bay. This attack was repulsed on land and the naval attack was ineffective. General von Lossburg personally directed a third more powerful assault. American General Nathanael Greene ordered Colonel Israel Angell’s 2nd Rhode Island Regiment to support Ward’s First Rhode Island Regiment. They were able to reach the redoubt before the British forces.
We have some first hand accounts from the leaders of both American regiments.
From the diary of Samuel Ward (First Rhode Island Regiment):
Early yesterday morning, the enemy moved out after us, expecting that we were leaving the island, and took possession of the Heights in our front. They sent out parties in their front, and we made detachments to drive them back again. After a skirmish of three or four hours, with various success, in which each party gave way three or four times, and were reinforced, we drove them quite back to the ground they first took in the morning, and have continued there ever since. Two ships and a couple of small vessels beat up opposite our lines, and fired several shots, but being pretty briskly fired upon from our heavy pieces, they fell down, and now lay opposite the enemy’s lines. Our loss was not very great, it has not been ascertained yet; and I can hardly make a tolerable conjecture. Several officers fell, and several are badly wounded. I am so happy to have only one captain slightly wounded in the hand. I believe that a couple of the blacks were killed and four or five wounded, but none badly. Previous to this, I should have told you our picquets and light corps engaged their advance, and found them with bravery.”
From the diary of Israel Angell (Second Rhode Island Regiment): August 29th, 1778. A Clear morning and Very Cool the ( ) Recd orders last evening to Strike their tents and march to the north end of the island; the advanced piquet was to come off at 12 oclock the enemy finding that we had left our ground pursued with all possible speed. Come up with our piquet about sunrise and a smart firing begun, the piquet repulsed the Brittish troops 2 or 3 times but was finally obliged to retreat as the Enemy brought a number of field pieces against them. The Enemy was soon check’t by our Cannon in coming up to our main body and they formed on Quaker Hill and we took possession of Buttses Hill the left wing of the British army was Compossed of the hessians who Attackt our right wing and a Sevear engagement Ensued in which the hessians was put to flight and beat of the ground with a Considerable loss. Our loss was not very great but I cannot assertain the number. I was ordered with my Regt to a Redoubt on a Small hill which the Enemy was a trying for and it was with Difficulty that we got there before the Enemy. I had 3 or 4 men kill’d and wounded today at night I was ordered with my Reg to lie on the lines. I had not Slept then in two nights more than two or three hours. The Regt had eat nothing during the whole Day. This was our sittuation to goe on guard, but we marched off Chearfully and took our post.
At this point the Americans were being flushed out of the area in the valley north of Turkey Hill and some of the British soldiers had moved beyond the redoubt. Nathanael Greene in command of the American troops saw an opening to attack a vulnerable spot in the Hessian lines. He sent in Sherburne’s and Jackson’s Continentals. The American line included 1600 soldiers (Varnum’s Brigade of 2nd RI, Livingston’s 1st Canadian, Sherburne’s, Webbs) as well as 1st RI, Lauren’s Guard and Jackson’s men. A bayonet charge by Jackson’s troops helped turn the tide. Greene sent in Lovell’s brigade with John Trumbull in charge to attack the Hessians. The British forces began to retreat to Turkey Hill. By 3:30 PM the fighting on the west side had ended.
In his August 31st letter to Congress, General Sullivan would write”
“The firing of artillery continued through the day, and the _ with intermission six hours. The heat of the action continued near an hour, which must have ended in the ruin of the British army, had not their redoubts on the hill covered them from further pursuit. We were about to attack them in their lines, but the men’s having had no rest the night before, and another to eat either that night or the day of the action, and having been in constant action through most of the day, it was not thought advisable, especially as their position was exceedingly strong, and their numbers fully equal, if not superior to ours.”
Plan of the Battle of Rhode Island from a Commonwealth Land Title Insurance Company map, 1926
Resources: As always, an excellent description of the Battle is in Christian McBurney’s Rhode Island Campaign.
Other sources include Paul Dearden’s The Rhode Island Campaign of 1778 (1980)
Anthony Walker’s So Few the Brave, 1981.
Geake, Robert. From Slaves to Soliders. Yardley, Pennsylvania, Westholme Publishing, 2016.
Angell, Israel. Diary of Colonel Israel Angell Commanding the Second Rhode Island Continental Regiment during the American Revolution 1778-1781. Edited by Edward Field. Providence; Preston and Rounds, 1899.
A Memoir of Lieut – Colonel Samuel Ward, First Rhode Island Regiment, Army of the American Revolution; John Ward, New York, 1875. (available on Kindle)
A continuation of a tour of Butts Hill Fort : Stop 5: At the parade grounds
In December of 1779 the British finally departed from Aquidneck Island. The Americans regained possession of Butts Hill. The French arrived on Aquidneck Island on July 11, 1780 and the island was again occupied by troops. In October of 1780 one American militiaman would report in a letter:
“…there are about 7500 Men on the Island at the Several ports, 5000 of which are French, at Newport, 2000 Three Months Men, at this place and 500 Continentals, under Col. Greene of this state.”
The allied French and American forces felt secure, but they continued to prepare to defend the island. On Butts Hill there were American troops assigned to support the work of the French troops in restoring the fortifications. Through the summer and fall of 1780, Butts Hill was actively being enclosed and made into a fort by the Americans and their French allies. This is the fort shape we recognize today.
Rochambeau Map 1780
We get a glimpse of their work through the Orderly Books of Ebenezer Thayer and John Jacobs. An orderly book is a record of the day to day activities of a unit. Thayer recorded the activities of a troop assigned to support the Expedition Pariculiere, the French Expeditionary Army under the command of Rochambeau. Their service was from August 16th to November 28, 1780. Other orderly books and some letters written from the camp give us an idea of life in the camp. That life was not easy.
The September 9th entry by Thayer shows they were assigned six men to a tent with a cook for each group of six. Later entries show that the kitchens had to be moved higher to prevent the smoke from filling the tents. A later entry tells us that the guard consisted of sixty rank and file soldiers. There were also sentinels around the encampment – 2 in front and one in the rear. This is kept up day and night. This day’s entry also includes concern about the filth around the camp that could be detrimental to the soldiers’ health.
They were not equipped well. An entry expresses concerns that there were not enough axes. One of the “fatigue duties” (labor duties that don’t require arms) was gathering wood. The axes would have been essential to chopping wood. Wood on Aquidneck Island was so scarce they had to go to Freetown, Massachusetts to obtain firewood.
Soldiers were hungry and stole from nearby homes and they were disciplines for that. The officers had a hard time securing enough food to last a day so that they might be fit for duty. In a October 10, 1780 letter to friends in Boston, Major May of the Boston Regiment shares his experience.
“We have but 21 days to tarry here, but famine seems to stare us in the face. I could give you particulars, but I never was fond of telling all. It may suffice to say, that we have one day’s rations of Indian meal on hand, no meat, no wood, no sauce etc. Before I go any further I must tell you I have been, even now, sick with a stupefying cold. ..I hope I may be returned to you all again, in health and safety.”
One group that were assured of good provisions were those actively helping the French masons. “There are four men to be detached from the brigade to attend constantly on the French Masons until the stone pillows (pillars?) of the Fort are completed and two masons detached to assist the French Masons until the works are finished and for their service they shall receive half a pint of rum a day when in the store.” Their provisions are ready for them so that they can complete the Fort works in a timely manner.
Fort building was hard work. One entry records that the American wagons are bringing loads of stone to the works at Butts Hill Fort. They are building a “sally port” which is a secure, controlled entry way to an enclosure like a fort. All tools must be returned to the engineer. Members of the Black Regiment continued the “works” at Butts Hill Fort once the Massachusetts militias departed.
We think of the Black Regiment’s valor during the Battle of Rhode Island, but I am discovering more ties between the First Rhode Island Regiment (commanded by Col. Christopher Greene) and the construction of the fort at Butts Hill. This was a time of transition for the soldiers of the Black Regiment and it is not always easy to follow them as they were absorbed into other units and divided for assignments.
First, I need to provide some background. When the British voluntarily left Aquidneck Island in October of 1779, the Americans came back to find the Island decimated. The First Rhode Island Regiment joined the Second Rhode Island Regiment in Newport on November 3, 1779. After the British Occupation, supplies of food and wood were dangerously low in Newport. They were sent to winter in Providence and East Greenwich. In early February of 1780 one report had the regiment at about 143 privates. They had orders to march for New York, but the arrival of the French on Aquidneck Island changed the plans.
On July 10, 1780 the French fleet and army arrived in Newport. General Heath of the American Army acted as Washington’s liaison, but on July 25th he was joined by Major General Lafayette. Five thousand French soldiers set up camp in Newport. Although a small number of the Black Regiment soldiers were sent as guards to Providence, by the end of July the remainder of Col. Christopher Greene’s men and the Rhode Island Six Months Continental Battalion encamped in Portsmouth. They performed guard duty at Butts Hill, Howland’s Ferry, and Bristol Ferry.
The Massachusetts Militia Orderly books show that Greene’s men were transported to East Greenwich to prepare for a march west with the American Army. However, the activity of the Royal Navy caused alarm and American General Heath ordered Greene’s troop to return to the island. Greene was disappointed but made a request in a letter to George Washington. The letter, dated October 14, 1780, gives us a further link between the Black Regiment and Butts Hill Fort.
“When Gen. Heath left this post, the command of the American Troops devolved on me. The difficulty of getting supplies of provisions has been such that we have been almost entirely without. This has greatly retarded the completion of the very important work at Butt’s Hill, where the three militia from the Massachusetts State have been employed. Their time of service expires the first of next month. I am confident they will not be able to put the fort in a defendable state by that time. Should your Excellency not call my Regiment to join the Army. They will undoubtedly be very usefully employed making it so. I wish to know your Excellency’s pleasure as to our staying here or joining the Army. If we stay in this state which part of it to La__ Winter Quarters – as the season is far advanced and the Times of the Six months Service expire the first of January. Perhaps in the short time they have to serve may be useful here as with the Army, though for my own part I ever wish to be with the Army…”
Letter of Col. Christopher Greene to George Washington – 10/14/1780
According to pension petitions, they helped the French soldiers and masons complete the job of re-enforcing the fortifications at Butts Hill. Fifty of their soldiers were detached to help the French move their artillery. After two calls back to Aquidneck Island, they would later join the American Army on the march south and participated in the final battle at Yorktown.
Resources
“They fought bravely, but were unfortunate.” by Daniel Popek was a valuable resource. Its footnotes led me to many important documents.
Letter of Col. Christopher Greene to George Washington, Oct. 14, 1780
Letter of Col. Christopher Greene to Governor William Greene, October 27, 1780
It seems appropriate during Halloween week to write about a graveyard and a brook that runs red with blood. Portsmouth has many legendary places and Hessian’s Hole and Bloody Brook are among them..
Hessian’s Hole is among the historical graveyards listed in Portsmouth, Rhode Island. This gravesite has its origin in the Battle of Rhode Island. Among the English troops that occupied Aquidneck Island were German soldiers, Hessians, who came primarily from the Hesse-Cassel region. During the Battle, Hessian and British troops chased the Americans who were trying to retreat from the island after the French fleet abandoned the campaign for Newport to repair their ships. Around Turkey Hill on the West Main Road, the Hessians rushed the hill to take an American redoubt.
From Captain Malsburg’s journals: “Here they experienced a more obstinate resistance than they expected. They found large bodies of troops behind the work and at its sides, chiefly wild looking men in their shirt sleeves, and among them many negroes.”
The Hessians had encountered the Rhode Island First Regiment – known as the Black Regiment. The Hessians were repulsed at least three times and according to General Sullivan’s account, 60 Hessians were left dead.
“Hessian’s Hole” was the name commonly used for the burial ground of these German soldiers. You can find it on modern online maps, but there are debates about just where it is located. One possible location is on the grounds of Portsmouth Abbey. Other sources claim it is by the top of Lehigh Hill on route 114 where there is a look-out. According to the state database of historical cemeteries, “This cemetery is just south of one of the holes on the golf course on the edge of the woods. It is on land of Portsmouth Abbey – must get permission to visit. These are the graves of Hessian soldiers who died during the Revolutionary War.”
Do the ghosts of the Hessian soldiers make an appearance now and then? A Daily News account in May of 1960 included a comment that the Hessian soldiers march on foggy nights around the Hessian’s Hole.
“Bloody Brook” is a nickname for Barker’s Brook because it was said to run red with the blood of the soldiers that died in that skirmish. Route 24 has interfered with the natural course of the brook, but you might still see portions of it.
References:
Rhode Island Historical Tracts #6. Copyright by Sidney Rider 1878
In my last blog entry I relayed some notes from Col. Thayer’s Orderly Books from Camp Butts Hill in 1780. One of the last entries I shared was about a court martial for Thaddeus Fuller who was accused of abuse to Dr. John Goddard. I was able to find a letter Goddard wrote from Camp Butts Hill. This letter reported a “sham battle” training exercise which involved Col. Greene’s Black Regiment. The letter is dated October 16, 1780 and was sent to Dr. Clement Storer. The general aim of the letter was to request a surgeon for a voyage. I found parts of the letter published online, and my interest was peaked by the description of the troops on Aquidneck Island and the description of the training exercise. This letter reminded me that there were German troops fighting with the French forces.
“…there are about 7500 Men on the Island at the Several ports, 5000 of which are French, at Newport, 2000 Three Months Men, at this place and 500 Continentals, under Col. Greene of this state, stationed at Stoddard’s Farm 3 miles from Newport Northwest. Notwithstanding the Superiority of the English Fleet the French appear to feel very secure their Fleet consisting of seven sail of the Line & three Frigates are drawn up in line of Battle from Tomany Hill across the Chanel to Conanicut. The Town of Newport is surrounded with Forts which are well filled with Cannon, on the whole I believe there is no Reason to fear an Attack from the Enemy this season.
I had like to have forgot to mention a famous Sham Battle on the 2d Inst between a party of the French Troops on one part representing the English & the Continental Regt reinforced by a party of the French and the German Line representing the allied Armies, the particulars I have not time to give you in full shall only mention a few of the principals, Maj. Gen’l Vianumino (Charles Joseph Hyacinthe du Houx de Viomenil) second in Command in the French Army (under Rochambeau) commanded the English who landed at Stoddard’s Farm & marched up & attained Col. Greene’s Reg’t. The line began with skirmishing between the Flank Guards light horse &cc. soon after a heavy cannonade on the part of the British obliged Col. Greene to retreat & form his Reg. behind a Wall where the resistance was obstinate & a constant fire kept uphill. Col. Greene was reinforced with about 2000 French & Germans commanded by his Excellency Count de Rochambeau with 12 pieces of Cannon, a severe conflict ensued in which the British gave way were finally surrounded & all made prisoners, the Action lasted about two hours during which a constant heavy fire was kept up – if I have any just Idea of a real Action this very nearly resembles it.”
I wonder how the “inhabitants” of Portsmouth reacted to such a vivid battle in their midst. Stoddard’s Farm would be just over the Middletown line off of West Main Road and the “battle” seemed to move through the west side of Portsmouth and uphill towards Turkey Hill and Butts Hill.
We are fortunate to have eyewitness accounts of the Battle of Rhode Island. One of those accounts is by Lieut.-Colonel Samuel Ward, the son of Rhode Island Governor Samuel Ward. He was born in Westerly on November 17, 1756. He graduated from Brown University in 1771. He was the grandfather of Julia Ward Howe.
Ward received his commission as Captain on May 8th, 1775. Ward was promoted to major of the 1st Rhode Island Regiment on January 12, 1777 and became a lieutenant colonel on 5 May 1779 (with date of rank retroactive to May 26, 1778). When the First Regiment arrived on Aquidneck Island, there were changes in leadership. Major Samuel Ward was given command of the First Rhode Island Regiment. The regiment was assigned to guard the abandoned British redoubt that was part of the American line. This location was to the southwest of Butt’s Hill. Ward and the Black Regiment are credited with driving back three waves of Hessian troops.
Ward’s published diary is more of an account of his military career with just a few quotations with his actual words. Fortunately the description of the Battle of Rhode Island is among the quotations.
The August 30, 1778 diary entry provides an eyewitness account: “The army retreated the evening of the 28th. Early yesterday morning, the enemy moved out after us, expecting that we were leaving the island, and took possession of the Heights in our front. They sent out parties in their front, and we made detachments to drive them back again. After a skirmish of three or four hours, with various success, in which each party gave way three or four times, and were reinforced, we drove them quite back to the ground they first took in the morning, and have continued there ever since. Two ships and a couple of small vessels beat up opposite our lines, and fired several shots, but being pretty briskly fired upon from our heavy pieces, they fell down, and now lay opposite the enemy’s lines. Our loss was not very great, it has not been ascertained yet; and I can hardly make a tolerable conjecture. Several officers fell, and several are badly wounded. I am so happy to have only one captain slightly wounded in the hand. I believe that a couple of the blacks were killed and four or five wounded, but none badly. Previous to this, I should have told you our picquets and light corps engaged their advance, and found them with bravery.”
We can make some comparisons between the diary accounts of Ward and Angell. Each was with a different Regiment – Ward RI First and Angell RI Second – so they had different skirmishes to fight.
Looking at the Movements of the Rebel and British forces:
Ward reports that the army began to retreat on the evening of August 28th. Angell reports that his troops struck their tents and marched north on August 29th.
Both Ward and Angell show fighting back and forth between the Rebels and the British. Ward reports that one such skirmish lasted three or four hours “in which each party gave way three or four times.”
Both Angell and Ward tell us that the British ships were firing on the Rebel forces, but Americans fired on them and the vessels retreated.
Looking at casualties:
Ward comments “our loss was not very great” and Angell seems to report that the British had considerable losses but there were only three or four of the Rebels killed.
Looking at the retreat:
Angell tells us that the Americans retreated because of Washington’s warning about British ships heading in.
Angell also tells us more about the retreat via Howland’s Ferry. The soldiers had little sleep and little to eat. They had to “lie in their lines” that night and the crossing happened in the early hours of the morning. After encamping near the ferry they went to an area between Bristol and Warren.
Sources:
A Memoir of Lieut – Colonel Samuel Ward, First Rhode Island Regiment, Army of the American Revolution; John Ward, New York, 1875. (available on Kindle)
Laura E. Richards, Maud Howe, Florence Howe Hall, Julia Ward Howe, 1819-1910, in two volumes, with portraits and other illustrations: volume 1
Geake, Robert. From Slaves to Soliders. Yardley, Pennsylvania, Westholme Publishing, 2016.
On February 14, 1778, the Rhode Island Assembly voted to allow “every able-bodied Negro, mulatto, or Indian slave in this state to enlist into either of the Continental Battalions being raised.” The Assembly specified that: “every slave so enlightening shall, upon the passing muster before Colonel Greene, be immediately discharged from the service of his master or mistress and be absolutely free.” Owners of the slaves enlisted were to be compensated by the Assembly for the market value of the slave.
Before 1778 Blacks had not been allowed to serve in the Continental Army. Rhode Island had trouble meeting its recruitment quotas with just white men, so General Varnum wrote to George Washington with the idea of allowing the ranks to be filled with Black and Native Americans. He asked Washington to send soldiers from Valley Forge to recruit these men.
Camp [Valley Forge] Janry 2d 177[8]1 Sir—The two Battalions from the State of Rhode Island being small, & there being a Necessity of the State’s furnishing an additional Number to make up their Proportion in the continental Army; The Field Officers have represented to me the Propriety of making one temporary Battalion from the two, so that one intire Core of Officers may repair to Rhode Island, in order to receive & prepare the Recruits for the Field. It is imagined that a Battalion of Negroes can be easily raised there. Should that Measure be adopted, or recruits obtained upon any other Principle, the Service will be advanced. The Field Officers who go upon this Command are Colo. Greene, Lt Colo. Olney and Major Ward: Seven Captains, Twelve Lieuts., six Ensigns, one Pay Master, one Surgeon & Mate, One Adjutant & one Chaplin. I am your Excellency’s most obdt Servt J. M. Varnum. (see citation below)*
In the Pre-amble to the letter, Varnum wrote that “History affords us frequent precedents of the wisest, freest, and bravest nations having liberated their slaves and enlisted them as soldiers to fight in defense of their country.” ( RI Colonial Records VII, 640, 641.) Washington did not comment on the letter, but he sent it on to the Governor of Rhode Island, Nicholas Cooke.
Rhode Island slave owners opposed the idea of the new regiment. In June of 1778 the Rhode Island Assembly repealed the decree, but those four months that it was in effect, 100 free and formerly enslaved African Americans enlisted. Forty-four slaves enlisted even after this repeal. The First Rhode Island Regiment had 225 men, 140 of them were African Americans. This was the largest percentage of blacks in an integrated military unit during the American Revolution. At first the African Americans comprised a separate company, but slowly the regiment was integrated.
At the Battle of Rhode Island in August 1778 the regiment fought under the command of Major Samuel Ward, Jr. It defended a redoubt on West Main Road and repelled three charges by the Hessians. The American line was not broken and General Sullivan was able to get American troops off of Aquidneck Island.
The August 30, 1778 diary entry of Samuel Ward provides an eyewitness account: “The army retreated the evening of the 28th. Early yesterday morning, the enemy moved out after us, expecting that we were leaving the island, and took possession of the Heights in our front. They sent out parties in their front, and we made detachments to drive them back again. After a skirmish of three or four hours, with various success, in which each party gave way three or four times, and were reinforced, we drove them quite back to the ground they first took in the morning, and have continued there ever since. Two ships and a couple of small vessels beat up opposite our lines, and fired several shots, but being pretty briskly fired upon from our heavy pieces, they fell down, and now lay opposite the enemy’s lines. Our loss was not very great, it has not been ascertained yet; and I can hardly make a tolerable conjecture. Several officers fell, and several are badly wounded. I am so happy to have only one captain slightly wounded in the hand. I believe that a couple of the blacks were killed and four or five wounded, but none badly. Previous to this, I should have told you our picquets and light corps engaged their advance , and found them with bravery.”
Through the years of war the First Rhode Island Regiment and the Second Regiment were united into the unit called the Rhode Island Regiment. They ended their battles at Yorktown in the battle that led to the British surrender. After Yorktown they were quartered at Saratoga, New York and discharged from service there. While the white soldiers were given pensions and land, the Black and Native American soldiers were dumped back into civilian life. In 1874 13 of the veterans of the Black Regiment hired a lawyer to get the wages or pensions they deserved. The Rhode Island Assembly passed an act for these soldiers on February 28, 1785. It called for the “support of paupers, who heretofore were slaves, and enlisted into the Continental battalions”. **. The act called on the town councils where they lived to take care of them.
As far as we know there were no members of the Black Regiment from Portsmouth, but our town is the site of a special memorial to the soldiers. It is located at the intersection of West Main Road (Rhode Island Route 114) and Rhode Island Route 24 on West Main Road
One of the plaques reads: “Site of the Battle of Rhode Island has been designated a National Historic Landmark. This site possesses National significance in commemorating the history of the United States of America. 1975. National Park Service, United States Department of the Interior”
Another of the monuments reads: Patriots Park, A Memorial To The 1st Rhode Island Regiment, and The Battle of Rhode Island, August 29, 1778. Dedicated August 2005
Another monument reads: Bloody Run Brook, First Black Militia, R. Island Regt., August 29, 1778 [In a circular design with a coiled rattle Snake and 13 Stars]. In honor of the first Black slaves and freemen who fought in the Battle of Rhode Island as members of the First Rhode Island Regiment The Black Regiment. Erected 1976 by Newport, Rhode Island Branch, NAACP, Bicentennial Commission.
There is also a large monument with the battle map. The 1st Rhode Island Regiment of the Continental Line 1775-1783
Timeline:
Late 1776 British Army occupies Newport
August 8, 1778 – French fleet forces past Newport harbor
August 9, 1778 – American Army moves onto Aquidneck Island
August 10, 1778 – British fleet lures French fleet and troops away from Newport
August 28, 1778 – American army begins retreat north
August 29, 1778 – British troops pursue retreating American army northward
August 29, 1778 – Hessian troops march north on west road in pursuit of American army
August 29, 1778 – British regulars advance to Quaker Hill
August 29, 1778 – Hessian mercenaries attack, but are repulsed by the 1st Rhode Island Regiment
August 30, American army withdraws onto mainland
“To George Washington from Brigadier General James Mitchell Varnum, 2 January 1778,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-13-02-0104. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 13, 26 December 1777 – 28 February 1778, ed. Edward G. Lengel. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2003, p. 125.]
**Fought Bravely, but Were Unfortunate:”: The True Story of Rhode Island’s “Black Regiment” and the Failure of Segregation in Rhode Island’s Continental Line, by Daniel Popek.
portsmouthhistorynotes 