Black Soldiers of Liberty
Estimates have appeared in print for generations that 3,000 to 5,000 Black soldiers served in the American military in the Revolution.
The Call to Arms in Rhode Island and the Community of Artisans who Crafted Them
The coming of the Revolutionary War brought a host of challenges to the upstart colonies, chief among them was a lack of weapons and ammunition that would be used to defend communities against attack as well as weaponize the militias and Continental Army that were sent to fight the War of Independence.
Dr. Roderick Terry Centennial Celebration at Butts Hill Fort
On Saturday, August 19th at 10:00 am, the Battle of Rhode Island Association (BoRIA) in partnership with the Portsmouth Historical Society (PHS) will mark 100 years since Dr. Roderick […]
Colonel Daniel Hitchcock Of Rhode Island
A collateral descendant of Daniel Hitchcock (first cousin, nine times removed), the author had always been fascinated by the short but important life of this colonel from Providence, Rhode Island, who was taken by illness following the Battle of Princeton at the young age of thirty-seven.
Ann Bates: British Spy Extraordinaire
One of the few known female spies on either side in the Revolutionary War, Ann Bates spied for the British during the Rhode Island Campaign of July and August 1778, the first time the French and American forces jointly cooperated to attack a British outpost.
Author’s Talk – Washington’s Marines: The Origins of the Corps and the American Revolution, 1775-1777
In the early days of the Revolutionary War, the Continental Congress rushed to form an army but soon realized that, to win its freedom, America would need men who could […]
Spencer’s Secret Expedition
A descendent of a Revolutionary War soldier came across an entry to his ancestor about a “secret duty.”
John Robertson Lecture “Revolutionary War Defenses in Rhode Island”
John K. Robertson, Ph.D., is a Colonel (Ret.), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers with 23 years of service and served on the faculty at West Point. Recorded May 1st in Bristol RI
Who Carried the British Grenadier Sergeant’s Carbine in the Varnum Armory Collection?
In a rack atop the 19th-century glass-front bookcase in the Varnum Commander’s Office is a rare English Carbine, a scaled-down version of the British Land Pattern Musket, commonly known as the “Brown Bess”.
Fort Building: Fascines and Gabions
Fascines and Gabions were the building blocks of Revolutionary War fort construction.
