The Organization of the Rhode Island Militia 1774–1783

The organization of the Militia in colonial Rhode Island[1] was established by law. Five county regiments and the number of companies in each town were specified.[2] Annually the General Assembly approved the locally elected officers for the trained bands (companies of militia) at its session in May or the next session in June. In 1771, 1772, and 1773, no approvals were recorded, but the existing officers were continued for another year. In 1774 the Assembly approved the first militia officers since 1770 at the August session.[3] Table 1 shows the regiments, one for each county, and their constituent companies. Four towns did not submit officers: Tiverton and Middletown in Newport County, Cumberland in Providence County, and Warren in Bristol County. Warwick in Kent County submitted names for only the 1st Company.

We have no data to indicate how many men were in each company, except the 1774 census numbers for men over sixteen. By law, men between 16 and 50 were to train (unless excused[4]) and serve when called; those between 50 and 60 were liable to turn out on alarm; and those over 60 are not mentioned.[5] From the 1782 census we can calculate that twenty-eight percent of the white males over sixteen were over fifty. Assuming this to have been true in 1774, we can get some idea of the numbers in each militia company.[6] In the town of Newport out of twenty-one hundred, approximately six-hundred would be over 50, leaving fifteen-hundred to serve in the four companies, or approx. three-hundred seventy-five per company, a large number to be officered by three officers and administered by a single clerk. Quick inspection of Table 1, shows that only Newport and Providence had such large companies, most others being between one-hundred and one-hundred fifty men.

The militia of August 1774 is the pre-war colonial militia of Rhode Island. It may have been a paper militia, one that had the officers named, but did not meet, nor train. There are several indications that the militia was not training as prescribed by law.[17] At the session of the Assembly in October 1774, we see two movements surface which indicate the people were preparing to defend themselves. The first activity was the resizing of the militia regiments and companies; the second was the formation of chartered companies of militia.

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Providence County with nineteen companies was the first to divide. Its split into three regiments and formation into a brigade was approved at the October 1774 session.[18] At the June 1775 session both Kings County and Kent County divided their single regiments into two regiments.[19] The last division occurred at the May 1776 session and divided the Newport regiment into two regiments.[20] The splitting of companies is summarized in Table 2.

Table 3 Advertisement The Rhode Island Militia Regiments – August 1776 (See FIG 2.)
Regiment	Town[35]	Companies	Captain
1st Newport County	Newport (4)	1st Newport	William Tripp
Col. George Irish		2nd Newport	Henry Wiles
		3rd Newport	Wing Spooner
		4th Newport	William Champlin
	Portsmouth (2)	1st Portsmouth	David Gifford
		2nd Portsmouth	??
	New Shoreham (1)	New Shoreham Co.	John Sands
	Middletown (1)	Middletown Co.	John Vars
	Jamestown (1)	Jamestown Co.	Edward Carr, jr
2nd Newport County	Tiverton (2)	1st Tiverton	Isaac Cooke
Col. John Cooke		2nd Tiverton	George Westgate
	Little Compton (2)(see table 2)	1st Little Compton	Gideon Simmons
		2nd Little Compton	George Simmons
The Providence County Brigade[36] William Tyler, Adjutant-Major
1st Providence County	Providence (4)(see table 2)	1st Providence	Jonathan Russell
Col. Jabez Bowen		2nd Providence	James Burrill
		3rd Providence	John Demount
		4th Providence	James Snow
	Johnston (2)(see table 2)	1st Johnston	Richard Fenner
		2nd Johnston	Emmor Olney
	North Providence (1)	North Providence Co.	Eleazer Jenks
	Smithfield (3)(see 2nd Regt)	1st Smithfield	Thomas Jenckes
	Cranston (3)(see 3rd Regt)	1st Cranston	Anthony Potter
		2nd Cranston	Frederick Williams
2nd Providence County	Smithfield (see 1st Regt)	2nd Smithfield	David Eddy
Col. Chad Brown		3rd Smithfield	Nehemiah Smith
	Gloucester (4)(see table 2)	1st Gloucester	Benajah Whipple
		2nd Gloucester	Samuel Mayes
		3rd Gloucester	Abraham Winsor
		4th Gloucester	??
	Cumberland (2)	1st Cumberland	Enoch Weatherhead
		2nd Cumberland	Reuben Ballou
3rd Providence County	Scituate (6)(see table 2)	1st Scituate	Peleg Fiske
Col. William West		2nd Scituate	Simeon Herrenden
		3rd Scituate	James Williams
		4th Scituate	Jeremiah Davis
		5th Scituate	Samuel Wilbour
		6th Scituate	Stephen Sheldon
	Cranston (see 1st Regt)	3rd Cranston	Edward Knight
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
1st Kent County	Warwick (3)	1st Warwick	Job Randall
Col. John Waterman		2nd Warwick	Reuben Wightman
		3rd Warwick	Thomas Rice
	East Greenwich (2)	1st East Greenwich	John Glazier
		2nd East Greenwich	Allen Johnston
2nd Kent County	West Greenwich (3)	1st West Greenwich	Eleazer Carr
Col. Stephen Potter		2nd West Greenwich	Jeremiah Austin
		3rd West Greenwich	Job Angell
	Coventry (4)(see table 2)	1st Coventry	Benedict Colvin
		2nd Coventry	William Roy
		3rd Coventry	Benjamin Greene
		4th Coventry	Joseph Whipple
1st Kings County	Westerly (3)(see table 2)	1st Westerly	Thomas Thompson
Col. Joseph Noyes		2nd Westerly	William Greene
		3rd Westerly	??
	Charlestown (2)(see table 2)	1st Charlestown	Thomas Sheffield
		2nd Charlestown	??
	Hopkinton (3)(see table 2)	1st Hopkinton	Joshua Wells
		2nd Hopkinton	John Randall
		3rd Hopkinton	??
2nd Kings County	North Kingstown(3)	1st North Kingstown	Thomas Clarke
Col. Charles Dyer		2nd North Kingstown	William Taylor
		3rd North Kingstown	Samuel Thomas jr
	South Kingstown (3)(see table 2)	1st South Kingstown	Samuel Potter
		2nd South Kingstown	James Parker
		3rd South Kingstown	Ray Sands
	Exeter (3)(see table 2)	1st Exeter	Jonathan Bates
		2nd Exeter	John Hoxsie
		3rd Exeter	Daniel Barber, jr
	Richmond (2)(see table 2)	1st Richmond	Simeon Clarke, jr
		2nd Richmond	Jonathan Maxson
Bristol County	Bristol (1)	Bristol Co.	Jeremiah Ingaham
Col. Nathaniel Martin
	Warren (1)	Warren Co.	Ezra Ormsbee
	Barrington (1)	Barrington Co.	Stephen Smith

Table 3 and the table that constitutes the caption for Figure 2 show the state of the militia just before the British occupation which began in December 1776. Between August 1774 and August 1776 the number of regiments doubled from five to ten, and the number of companies increased from fifty-eight to seventy-two, but population didn’t increase significantly; the increase in companies and regiments was a result of bringing them down to a manageable size and decreasing the distance men had to travel to train. With the British occupation of Aquidneck and Conanicut (Jamestown) Islands in December 1776 and the inability to provide protection for Block Island (New Shoreham), the 1st Newport County Regiment became non-functional. Many remained in the occupied territory, but significant numbers emigrated to other counties and states.

In January 1776, the Assembly formed artillery companies of fourteen men, equipped with two-, three-, or four-pound pieces on carriages in the coastal towns. These companies were separate from the militia companies and not included in the militia regiments.[39] At the same time, a watch was ordered in each town bordering the sea, Narragansett Bay, and select rivers where troops were not already stationed. This function, separate from the militia, was placed on the towns to administer.[40]

In December 1776, right after the British occupation, the Assembly removed the Alarm List men (those aged 50 to 60) from their town companies into a separate town alarm list company with their own elected officers.[41] These companies along with the militia companies were drafted into three divisions (later six divisions) and one division at a time was called out to guard the coasts.[42] The three towns of Bristol County with less than 32 alarm list men, were formed into a county-wide alarm company.[43]

The militia company from the town of Jamestown was removed from the 1st Newport County Regiment and placed into the 2nd Kings County Regiment in January 1777.[44] Apparently enough residents of Jamestown had relocated to the mainland and desired to maintain their town identity and continue to serve; similar moves for the towns on Aquidneck Island (Newport, Middletown, and Portsmouth) are not recorded, their residents having either remained in the occupied town or escaped to the mainland and dispersed.

In December 1777 the Assembly moved the 1st Smithfield Company from the 1st Providence County Regiment and placed it into the 2nd Regiment (in terms of Figure 2, the light green patch in Smithfield turned dark green).[45] And in June 1778, the 2nd Company in Tiverton divided into two companies, so there were then three Tiverton companies.[46] These were the only company and regimental realignments between June 1776 and May 1779.

In 1779 the structure of the militia was changed. Two new levels of command were added, one at the state level below the governor, and brigades were formed above the regiments. In May 1779 the 2nd Kings County regiment was split into the 2nd and 3rd Regiments,[47] and the brigades were first formed.[48] The militia law was revised to bring together in one comprehensive law all the pieces that impacted the militia. This had last been done in 1718 and must have been a monumental task.[49] The militia now had a new two-tier structure: men 16 to 50 years old not excused constituted the training company; and those 16 to 50 that were excused, but were still tasked with maintaining arms, formed into senior class companies; those 50 to 60 had to have arms and accouterments, and enroll, but alarm list companies were no more. Each of the new regiments was to have an artillery company, and a troop of horse under the regimental lieutenant colonel commandant’s authority. In addition to a brigadier, each brigade had a brigade major, quartermaster, commissary, surgeon and mate. At the state level a major general was appointed, along with an adjutant general, quarter master general, commissary general, purveyor general, and surgeon general.[50] In May 1780 the 3rd Providence County Regiment split into the 3rd and 4th Regiments.[51]
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[i] Structure is from the Militia Act of 1779 and A&R May 1780. Officer names are from the A&R of May, June, and both July 1780 sessions and Council of War sessions from July and August.

[ii] The number in parentheses following the town name is the number of companies authorized by “The Act for better forming, regulating and conducting the military Force of this State,” (Militia Act) passed at the October 1779 session of the Assembly (A&R Oct 1779:29).

[iii] The Militia Act (A&R Oct 1779:29) does not include New Shoreham in the militia reorganization. The Act was passed just days after the British evacuated Aquidneck Island and the unsettled state of Block Island (New Shoreham) was yet to be evaluated.

[iv] In May 1779, the 1st Newport County Regiment was omitted as part of the brigade as it was not in existence due to the British occupation of Aquidneck Island (A&R May 1779:13). The Militia Act included the regiments of Newport County, but through the annual elections of 1783, no field officers were named for the 1st Regiment, and officers did not appear for either Newport or Portsmouth towns.

[v] The text of the Act is not clear, but my interpretation of it is that two small battalions, each commanded by a major, were to be formed (A&R Oct 1779:29).

The troops of horse were phased out starting in October 1780.[58] In May 1781 the 2nd Company in Westerly divided, bringing the 1st Kings County Regiment to nine companies.[59] The 2nd Company of Hopkinton divided in August 1781 bringing the 1st Kings County Regiment to ten companies.[60] Also in August 1781, the town of Scituate was divided, creating the new town of Foster. Since Scituate was the only town in the 3rd Regiment, Providence County, the old Scituate companies, now located in Foster, changed names to Foster and remained as part of the 3rd Regiment. One company, the 4th Scituate, straddled the boundary between Foster and Scituate and remained as the 4th Scituate, with men now living in Foster still part of it. In January 1782 the 4th Scituate was divided and the new company became the 4th Foster Company.[61] In October 1781 the Assembly voted to change the name of Kings County to Washington County which didn’t change anything structurally, but did change the regiments’ names to the 1st thru 3rd and Senior Class Washington County Regiments.[62] There were no further changes to the militia until after the end of the war.

My maps (Figures 1 thru 3) don’t have the detail I would like. It would be nice to know the geographic location of each company within the towns. Each of the petitions for splitting a company during the war contain detailed descriptions of how a company’s area was to be divided with landmarks for the boundaries. Someone with local knowledge and good base maps should be able to produce maps locating the companies within each town. It should be possible to locate the petitions for divisions from before the war in the Acts & Resolves to couple with the wartime information and create fairly accurate maps.

[1] At the time of the revolution Rhode Island was the name applied to the island which today is identified as Aquidneck Island. The name of the colony was officially Rhode Island and Providence Plantations as it still is today. I will apply modern usage and Rhode Island will refer to the whole area consisting of the five counties and the island will be called Aquidneck.

[2] In 1718 the Assembly repealed all prior laws pertaining to the militia and passed a new Militia Act. That act with changes passed in 1736, 1740, 1744, 1745, 1754, 1755, 1756, and 1758 was summarized in Acts and Laws of the English Colony of Rhode-Island and Providence-Plantations in New-England in America published in 1767 by Samuel Hall (Acts and Laws 1767: 179). In 1772, Solomon Southwick published a supplement that added laws passed between June 1767 and 1772. The latter only contained one small revision pertaining to the militia.

[3] Rhode Island Assembly (Assembly), August 22, 1774 session (Acts & Resolves (A&R) 1774:59; the Records of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations in New England (Records), John R. Bartlett, ed., Records 7:254) for the same session omits these appointments. In my opinion the Acts and Resolves is a much more complete source than the more commonly cited Records. In this paper I will only cite A&R.

[4] The Militia Act had a lengthy list of exceptions; in addition Rhode Island had provisions for people of tender conscience to be excused from training and serving, Acts and Laws 1767:179. Many additional people were exempted as the war progressed: workers at the cannon foundry; shoemakers and gun lock makers, and other trades essential to producing the goods needed for war.

[5] Acts and Laws 1767:179.

[6] The 1782 census, which counted males in four age groups less than 16, 16-22, 22-50, and over 50 allows calculation of percent over 50 and results in 28.4%.

[7] The number in parentheses following the town name is the number of militia companies authorized in that town in Acts and Laws 1767:180.

[8] Assembly, June 13, 1774 session, A&R 1774; insert between pages 54 and 55.

[9] Assembly, May 4, 1774 session, A&R 1774: 3. Dunham is the only colonel named in May; the other colonels and the company officers are all appointed in August, Assembly, August 22, 1774 session, A&R 1774:59 and 84.

[10] The militia law as summarized in the Acts & Laws 1767 does not specifically authorize troops of horse in any town, but does contain rules governing their meetings and accoutrements, Acts and Laws 1767:187.

[11] Ibid.

[12] I am unable to pinpoint when the Providence Company was divided into two companies. Acts & Laws 1767:180 shows a single company authorized; the supplement to Acts & Laws dated 1772 doesn’t show the division. Prior to the splitting off of North Providence in 1765, Providence had three companies. After the division, Providence was authorized one, and North Providence two. Starting in 1768, the Assembly started approving officers for a second Providence company. North Providence had officers approved for two companies in 1766, and after that (1767 and beyond) officers for a single company. At the second meeting of the Assembly in June 1767, part of North Providence formed in 1765 was transferred back to the town of Providence, in all probability this transfer of land and the people living thereon resulted in one company moving from North Providence back into Providence. Information on officer approvals is available in A&R and in Joseph Jenckes Smith’s Civil and Military List of Rhode Island, 1647–1800 (Providence: Preston and Rounds Co., 1900).

[13] Assembly, August 22, 1774, A&R 1774: 84

[14] Warren shows as having two companies in Acts and Laws 1767:180; but that was before West Warren broke off as Barrington in May 1770, Assembly, May 1770, A&R 1770: 15.

[15] Barrington is not listed in the Acts and Laws 1767: 180.

[16] The Town of New Shoreham (Block Island) at map bottom is part of Newport County and its regiment, Acts and Laws 1767:180.

[17] Providence Gazette, June 18, 1774, “A commendable Spirit for military Discipline continues to increase in this Town, and we hear will soon be revived throughout the Colony;” Newport Mercury February 20,1775, “Last Tuesday the militia of this town were mustered and exercised, when they performed extremely well, considering there has not been a muster here before upwards of ten years.”

[18] Assembly, October 26, 1774 session, A&R 1774:109-110.

[19] Assembly, June 28, 1775 session, A&R 1775:51.

[20] Assembly, May 1, 1776 session, A&R 1776:5-6.

[21] Assembly, December 5, 1774 session, A&R 1774:132.

[22] Assembly, May 3, 1775 session, A&R 1775:5).

[23] Assembly, May 3, 1775 session, A&R 1775:5.

[24] Assembly, June 12, 1775 session, A&R 1775:28.

[25] Assembly, June 12, 1775 session, A&R 1775:31.

[26] Assembly, June 12, 1775 session, A&R 1775:66.

[27] Assembly, August 21, 1775 session, A&R 1775:108.

[28] Assembly, October 31, 1775 session, A&R 1775:129.

[29] Assembly, October 31, 1775 session, A&R 1775:136.

[30] Assembly, October 31, 1775 session, A&R 1775:157.

[31] Assembly, October 31, 1775 session, A&R 1775:192.

[32] Assembly, May 1, 1776 session, A&R 1776:6.

[33] Assembly, May 1, 1776 session, A&R 1776:6.

[34] Assembly, June 10, 1776 session, A&R 1776:111.

[35] The number in parentheses following the town name is the sum of the number of militia companies authorized in that town in, Acts and Laws 1767:180, and the splits shown in Table 3.

[36] Formed by the Assembly at the October 1774 session (A&R Oct 1774:110). To be officered by a colonel of brigade, a lieutenant colonel of brigade, and a major of brigade. An adjutant-major was to be appointed annually. As far as I can determine the brigade officers were never appointed, except for the adjutant-major and the Providence Brigade never functioned as a brigade until other brigades were created in 1779.

[37] The pre-war troops of horse are absent in the wartime organization.

[38] This column adds to 31, but the towns of Smithfield and Cranston were each counted twice since they have companies in two regiments. Between 1774 and 1776 no new towns were created.

[39] Assembly, January 8, 1776 session, A&R 1775:222.

[40] Assembly, January 8, 1776 session, A&R 1775:221.

[41] Assembly, December 10, 1776 session, A&R 10 Dec 1776:8.

[42] Assembly, December 23, 1776 session, A&R 23 Dec 1776:15, 30.

[43] Council of War Proceedings, Rhode Island State Archives, Mss. C#00253 (CW), Book 1:39.

[44] CW 1:24.

[45] Assembly, December 1, 1777 session, A&R 1 Dec 1777:35.

[46] Assembly, June 29, 1778 session, A&R Jun 1778:16.

[47] Assembly, May 5, 1779 session, A&R May 1779:13.

[48] Assembly, May 5, 1779 session, A&R May 1779:22.

[49] In January 1777 (CW 1:52) we see the first attempt at revising and digesting the militia laws into a single document. At the March 1777 session of the Assembly (A&R 24 Mar 1777:8) a committee was formed for this purpose, including incorporating the law on tender consciences. Nothing came of this early attempt, and at the February 1779 Assembly session (A&R Feb 1779:11) another committee was appointed. A bill was read at the June session of the Assembly (A&R Jun 1779:26) but action postponed; draft to be published in the newspaper. In October 1779, the Assembly (A&R Oct 1779:29) approved the Act Regulating the Militia.

[50] Assembly, October 25, 1779 session, A&R Oct 1779:29.

[51] Assembly, May 3, 1780 session, A&R May 1780:3.

[52] Structure is from the Militia Act of 1779 and A&R May 1780. Officer names are from the A&R of May, June, and both July 1780 sessions and Council of War sessions from July and August.

[53] The number in parentheses following the town name is the number of companies authorized by “The Act for better forming, regulating and conducting the military Force of this State,” (Militia Act) passed at the October 1779 session of the Assembly (A&R Oct 1779:29).

[54] The Militia Act (A&R Oct 1779:29) does not include New Shoreham in the militia reorganization. The Act was passed just days after the British evacuated Aquidneck Island and the unsettled state of Block Island (New Shoreham) was yet to be evaluated.

[55] In May 1779, the 1st Newport County Regiment was omitted as part of the brigade as it was not in existence due to the British occupation of Aquidneck Island (A&R May 1779:13). The Militia Act included the regiments of Newport County, but through the annual elections of 1783, no field officers were named for the 1st Regiment, and officers did not appear for either Newport or Portsmouth towns.

[56] The text of the Act is not clear, but my interpretation of it is that two small battalions, each commanded by a major, were to be formed (A&R Oct 1779:29).

[57] Includes artillery and troop of horse.

[58] Assembly, October 23, 1780 session, A&R Oct 1780:8.

[59] Assembly, May 28, 1781 session, A&R 28 May 1781:25.

[60] Assembly, August 20, 1781 session, A&R Aug 1781:17.

[61] Assembly, January 28, 1782 session, A&R Jan 1782:3.

[62] Assembly, October 29, 1781 session, A&R Oct 1781:19.