The New Windsor Cantonment State Historic Site will host a free living history event Sept. 12 highlighting the African and Indigenous contributions to the Continental Army’s 1st Rhode Island Regiment, widely regarded as the first Black regiment in U.S. military history.
The event will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the site, 374 Temple Hill Road, and will feature reenactors portraying soldiers of the 1st Rhode Island Regiment. Historical interpreters will discuss the lives and experiences of Black Revolutionary War soldiers and the regiment’s role during the war.
Visitors also will be able to observe military drills and demonstrations of daily camp life.
A special presentation at 1 p.m. will focus on the experiences of the Narragansett people and the lesser-known history of Indigenous service in the 1st Rhode Island Regiment.
Lorén M. Spears will present “Revolution: Impact, Diplomacy & Sovereignty.” The presentation will examine Narragansett experiences, unfreedom and sovereignty, as well as Indigenous contributions to the Revolutionary War.
Spears is executive director of the Tomaquag Museum and a Narragansett tribal elder, author, artist, oral historian and educator. She founded the Nuweetoon School and the Indigenous Empowerment Center. She also is a contributing author, with Robert Geake, of “From Slaves to Soldiers: The 1st Rhode Island Regiment in the American Revolution.”
The presentation will take place in the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor’s program room adjacent to the New Windsor Cantonment visitor center. Doors open at 12:30 p.m., and seating is limited.
The 1st Rhode Island Regiment emerged during a critical period of the Revolutionary War, when the Continental Army faced severe shortages of troops.
Rhode Island, the smallest state at the time, was required to provide two battalions but struggled to recruit enough white soldiers. State leaders eventually sought permission to enlist free and enslaved Black men.
The regiment was originally formed in 1775 as part of the Rhode Island Army of Observation. It was reorganized as the 1st Rhode Island Regiment in 1777, and Black soldiers began being recruited into the unit in February 1778.
The regiment became one of the few Continental Army units to serve throughout the seven-year war. Its soldiers fought in major engagements including the Siege of Boston, the Battle of Rhode Island and the Battle of Yorktown.
The Sept. 12 event is intended to provide visitors with a closer look at the contributions and experiences of Black and Indigenous people who served during the Revolutionary War.
Both the living history event and Spears’ presentation are free and open to the public.