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UNIT PROFILE – 1ST RHODE ISLAND REGIMENT (VARNUM’S REGIMENT/THE BLACK REGIMENT)
On 14 FEB 1778, Rhode Island’s General Assembly officially opened the ranks of the 1st Rhode Island Regiment of the Continental Army to Black, Native-American, and mixed residents of the colony.
On 14 FEB 1778, Rhode Island’s General Assembly officially opened the ranks of the 1st Rhode Island Regiment of the Continental Army to Black, Native-American, and mixed residents of the colony.
When the Army reorganized in 1778, Rhode Island transferred enlisted men of the 1st to the 2d Rhode Island and sent veteran officers and NCOs home to reconstitute the 1st RI by recruiting free Black, Native-American, and mixed Rhode Islanders.
#aRMYHISTORY #USArmy #TRADOC
#aRMYHISTORY #USArmy #TRADOC
Slaves who wished to fight in return for emancipation were also allowed to enlist; the regiment's 255 men included about 140 Black soldiers (88 of whom were slaves). Although it never achieved full strength, the 1st RI fought in 1778’s Battle of Rhode Island.
#RevolutionaryWar
#RevolutionaryWar
"Finding the #smallpox to be spreading much and fearing that no precaution can prevent it from running through the whole of our Army...", General #GeorgeWashington instituted the first mandatory widespread #inoculation order in #militaryhistory on Feb 6 1777. #COVID19 #vaccines
2. GW recognized the risks especially that inoculation, unlike vaccines, led to the contraction of a "less" virulent case. "This Expedient may be attended with some inconveniences and some disadvantages, but yet I trust in its consequences will have the most happy effects."
3. But for GW it was a military necessity and an order that was needed to be given to save the army, the Revolution, and the nation.
