Rhode Island at War

7/30/2019 Rhode Island at War

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Rhode Island at War


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Cup taken from theGaspe byCommander Whipple

Tea kettle used to servetea to the men whoplanned the raid on theGaspe

The Unclaimed Reward


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Lexington & Concord, April 18-19, 1775 Nathanael Greene tried to lead the Kentish Guard to

Boston, but they were disbanded at the R.I. border by amessenger from R.I. Governor Joseph Wanton.

Siege of Boston, 1775 Rhode Island troops joined the Army of Observation in

Boston, and were present at the Battle of Bunker[Breeds] Hill, June 17, 1775

Expedition to Quebec, September 18, 1775-January 1776 Members of the 2nd R.I. Regiment accompanied

Benedict Arnold on his attempt to capture Quebec.Many were imprisoned in Quebec until August 1776


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Siege of Boston, 1775

Arnolds Quebec Expedition, 1775-1776

New York & New Jersey Campaign,Autumn, 1776

Battle of Princeton, January 3, 1777Defense of the Delaware, October-November , 1777

Battle of Monmouth (NJ), June 28, 1778

Battle of RI, August 29, 1778

Battle of Springfield, June 23, 1778

Siege of Yorktown, September 28-October 19, 1781


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British Grenadiers Cap,probably worn by a drummer.


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November 1, 1775:the head of a Squirll with a pasol of Candillwicks boyled up to gether wich made a very

fine Supe without Salthear on this we made a nobelfeast

Jeremiah Greenman,

2

nd

RI Regiment

Kettle, similar to those used by Continental Army.Excavated at Crown Point NY. Loaned by Carl Becker,2nd RI Regiment


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Used at an elegant entertainmentfor "his Excellency General

Washington provided by the

Gentlemen of the Town, where

after Dinner a number of patriotic

Toasts were drank." Providence

Gazette (4/13/1776)

Hackers Hall was on the east side

of South Main Street, between

Planet and Power Streets.


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On the night of July 9th - 10th, 1777,General Richard Prescott was captured by agroup of soldiers led by then-Captain

William Barton. The group included JackSisson, a slave who broke open the door tothe bedroom in which the general slept. In

1778, Sisson enlisted in the First RhodeIsland Regiment under ColonelChristopher Greene. William Barton waspromoted to colonel, and then general, ofthe Rhode Island militia.

Congress awarded GeneralBarton a sword inrecognition of his action incapturing General Prescott.


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On July 11, 1780, theFrench army underRochambeau madeNewport its headquarters.

In June, 1781, French troopsbegan the march southfrom Newport and

Providence to join theContinental troops underGeneral Washington.


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In May, 1776, Wilson Jacobs was amember of the IndependentCompany of Light Artillery inProvidence County.

In 1782, he applied to the Governorand Council of Massachusetts for acommission as commander of theprivateer Reprisal, which wereceived in March, 1782.

He is buried in Swan Point Cemetery.


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Captain George Augustus Hallowell,master of the American ship Betsy(Betsey/Bettsy), built in 1787 andowned by Cyprian Sterry ofProvidence.

John Barnet Chace items:footwarmer, spyglass, ships log.Chace served as supercargo on theIsis, owned by Brown & Ives.

Despite the success of merchants,

veterans struggled, especiallydisabled veterans. They were givenpensions from the government basedon the extent of their disabilities.


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The original of this painting was commissioned in 1805 byCommodore Edward Preble of the USS Constitution. Preble ledthe American naval bombardment of Barbary pirate forts inTripoli on August 3, 1804.


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Impressment!Embargo!Home Defenses!

The War of 1812 and the precedingEmbargoes were unpopular in RhodeIsland. Trade was vital to the economy,and Rhode Islanders expected to bearan undue burden fighting the war. The

Union Guards were formed to defendProvidence and her port; this canteenbelonged to Samuel Jackson of theUnion Guard.


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The Hero of the Lake

Oliver Hazard Perry was born in South

Kingstown, RI in 1785.; his father was a

captain in the fledging navy. He was

educated in Newport, and joined the

Navy as a midshipman in 1799, at the age

of 13. He served in the Navy during the

revolt in Haiti, and enforcing the Embargo

Act of 1806.

His younger brother, Commodore

Matthew Perry, opened Japan.


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At its simplest, the Mexican-American War of1846-1848 was a war about territory and

expansion. The war was precipitated by the

annexation of Texas in 1845. Mexico

considered Texas part of its territory despite

the Texas Revolution of 1836.

American forces occupied New Mexico and

California, and invaded northern Mexico,

eventually capturing Mexico City. Actual

combat lasted from 1846 into 1847, and thewar concluded with the treaty of Guadalupe

Hidalgo on February 2, 1848.


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John Rogers Vinton (1801-1847)was killed by an unexploded shellduring the Siege of Vera Cruz inMarch, 1847.

A Providence native and graduateof West Point, Vinton was also askilled artist.


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This portrait if General David HammondVinton (1803-1873) was painted by his olderbrother, John Rogers Vinton.

Like his brother, David Hammond Vintonalso graduated from West Point. He, too,served in the West (California and Texas)in the 1830s and 1840s. He also servedduring the Civil War.

In 1866 he was appointed Colonel of Staff

and Assistant Quartermaster General, butonly remained in service until 29 Jul 1866when he was retired because he was overthe age of 62.


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Rhode Islands population wasroughly 175,000 in 1861; thestate contributed 23,699 mento the army.

Elisha Hunt Rhodes of the 2ndRhode Island Volunteers is onof the most well-known Rhode

Islanders who served in thewar.


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Lieutenant Colonel Job Arnold (1827-1868) enlisted on April 17, 1861 with the1st Rhode Island Regiment; in 1862, hewas commissioned in the 5th Regimentof Heavy Artillery.

In the summer of 1863, he participatedin the Mississippi Campaign with the7th Regiment of RI Volunteers. Therigors of that campaign broke hishealth, and he was discharged from

service in May, 1864.

Job Arnold died in 1868 ofcomplications of what was probablymalaria.

These mittens were knit by Arnolds wife,Anna M. Angell. They married in June,1864, and had a daughter, Mary, born in1867.


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George M. Pop Turner wasa sergeant in Company A ofthe 3rd Rhode IslandRegiment of Heavy Artillery

(3d RIHA). enlisted as aprivate with the 3rd RhodeIsland Regiment on August20, 1861 for a term of three

years. He mustered out as asergeant, honorablydischarged on August 31,1864.


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Turner left us a collectionof souvenirs, from cottonand rice to this sock,picked up in a Confederate

camp in Florida. Some ofthe objects are useful , likethe button brush, andothers are curiosities, like

the palmetto.


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The beef barrels and breadboxes were marked B.C. and I would not deny inrespect to the same what thatname might imply. Thehard-bread it requiredhammers, axes, and stones tobreak.

Elisha Benjamin Andrews

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Rhode Island at War