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In a previous newsletter and short video, I covered the Battle of Pines Bridge (which was much more of a massacre than a ‘battle’). For the unacquainted, the Rhode Island Regiment was targeted and butchered in Yorktown, NY, specifically for being a diverse, integrated unit that included Black, White, and Indigenous soldiers fighting together. While this is an important story that I feel deserves more coverage, I feel that the greater story of this unit should not be overshadowed by the tragedy of Pine’s Bridge. Robert A. Geake presents how this unit was not just unique but exceptional. The 1st Rhode Island Regiment (also known as the Rhode Island Regiment or the “Black Regiment”) was one of the few units to serve the entirety of the war, from the Siege of Boston in 1775 until their disbandment on Christmas Day, 1783, months after the war had ended. While many of their peers and superiors thought that a unit containing Black or Indigenous soldiers could not compose themselves in battle, the unit proved them wrong on several occasions, including the Battle of Rhode Island, in which they were recognized by General Sullivan and the Marquis de Lafayette for their valiant fighting, the latter of whom noting that it was "the best fought action of the war". There is a prevailing myth that the first integrated unit in American history was organized during the American Civil War. The Rhode Island regiment is evidence that this is not the case. It must be noted, however, that the reason why this myth has endured is not only a result of the Rhode Island Regiment’s story being underdiscussed, but a severe lack of coverage on what happened to non-white soldiers after the Revolution. It is a known fact that the United States government failed to provide reparations, mainly in the form of pensions, to its white soldiers. The treatment of non-white soldiers was significantly worse. Geake notes how the lives of returning soldiers often mirrored their lives before the war (slavery, servitude, racial violence, etc), and in the years between the Revolution and Civil War, even more rights would be stripped from them than when the “tyrannical King” ruled over the colonies. The Rhode Island Regiment’s story is, to me, the truer story of the Revolution than what we were taught in school. While it does not encompass the entirety of perspectives and events that occurred during those 8 years, it does capture a wider range of backgrounds, professions, ages, attitudes, and religions than the textbook narratives that solely platform the white patrician class who wrote the words “all men are created equal”, but didn’t fight for it or understand it as much as the Rhode Island Regiment. This is a must-read with Rev250 coming up. Get it!
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