On this date in 1778, the Black, elite First Rhode Island regiment defeated three assaults by British troops at the Battle of Rhode Island (Newport).
The First Rhode Island regiment was the first all-Black unit in America. Most Continental regiments were integrated except this northern regiment.
Assembled into service in late 1776 and early 1777, they numbered 197 Black enlisted men commanded by white officers. Col. James Varnum was commander from Jan. 1, 1777, to Feb. 27, 1777, then Col. Christopher Greene, Feb. 27, 1777, to May 14, 1781, when Rhode Island Continentals were reorganized. The regiment saw further service, including Yorktown, when, on October 14, 1781, the regiment took part in the assault and capture of Redoubt 10.
The First Rhode Island was disbanded in 1783 when Congress decided to consolidate all regiments with fewer than 500 men, and the state refused to spend additional recruiting money.
Unfortunately, unlike their white counterparts, these Black soldiers were not compensated for their service after the war. Some Americans realized the irony of enslaved Blacks fighting under the banner of the Declaration of Independence, one of those who dared trust in Providence for the defense and security of their liberty. In contrast, they enslave and wish to continue in slavery thousands who are as entitled to freedom as themselves."
Although the Revolution did not end slavery, it helped plant the seed of emancipation, which, thanks to the First Rhode Island Regiment, led to the American Civil War about 80 years later.
