The latest A New York Minute in History Podcast highlights the war experiences of the legendary 1st Rhode Island, a multiracial combat regiment that served through the entirety of the American Revolution, from the Siege of Boston to the disbanding of the Continental Army in 1783.
It became known as the “Black Regiment” because it was composed mostly of Black enlistees. However, there were also some Native Americans and white soldiers. Some regard it as the first Black military unit because most of the enlistees after 1778 were non-white.
The regiment saw action at the battles of Red Bank and Rhode Island before being transferred to New York’s Hudson Valley where they took part in the Battle of Pines Bridge, in Yorktown, NY.
They also took part in the unsuccessful Oswego Expedition, the covert 1783 mission to retake Fort Ontario, located on the east side of the Oswego River on high ground overlooking Lake Ontario. The mission was planned by George Washington and led by Colonel Marinus Willett.
The episode also tells the story of Isaac Ormsbee, a white private in the Rhode Island Regiment who took part in the Oswego Expedition before mustering out at with the Rhode Island Regiment at Saratoga.
He would later return to Saratoga on foot, walking from Rhode Island to the Town of Greenfield, to purchase land there. Descendants of Isaac Ormsbee still live on that land today.
Interviewees for this episode include Dr. Shirley L. Green, author of Revolutionary Blacks: Discovering the Frank Brothers, Freeborn Men of Color, Soldiers of Independence and Eric Schnitzer, Park Ranger and Military Historian at the Saratoga National Historical Park.
Click here to listen to the full episode or read the transcript.
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Illustration: 1781 watercolor drawing by Jean-Baptiste-Antoine DeVerger of American soldiers from the Yorktown campaign, showing a black infantryman from the 1st Rhode Island Regiment on the far left.
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