The Newport Artillery Company of Newport, Rhode Island was chartered in 1741 by the Rhode Island General Assembly during the reign of King George II of Great Britain. It is the oldest military unit in the United States operating under its original charter, and the company maintains a museum in its historic armory. The company has served in wars ranging from the French and Indian War to the First World War. Individual members of the Company have served in every war fought by the United States.
The Newport Artillery was the first chartered independent unit in the Rhode Island Militia. Unlike most colonial era militia units, which served under officers commissioned by the governor, the Newport Artillery was granted the right to elect its own officers. It also had the privilege of being subject only to the orders of the governor, rather than the appointed officers in the colony's militia structure.
After receiving its charter from the Rhode Island General Assembly during the reign of King George II in 1741, members of the Newport Artillery served in the French and Indian War and was led by elite members of the community. Its first commanding officer was Captain Jahleel Brenton (1691-1767). Captain Brenton was the grandson of Governor William Brenton and the father of Jahleel Brenton, Jr. who became a rear admiral in the Royal Navy.
Post Revolution
During the American Revolution, the British Army occupied Newport for almost three years starting in December 1776. As the members of the company had divided loyalties, the company became inactive until 1792 when Francis Malbone, who was elected to Congress the same year, asked the Rhode Island General Assembly to recognize the validity of the company's 1741 charter. The Assembly found no reason that the charter was invalid and Malbone was elected captain (i.e. commanding officer) of the company.[2]
In 1814, during the War of 1812, the company was activated and garrisoned Fort Greene in the Point section of Newport. The company was inactivated when the Treaty of Ghent, which ended the war, was signed in early 1815.
In 1834, a plot of land was donated to the company by Audley Clarke to build an armory.[3]
During the Dorr War of 1842 to 1843, the company was one of several militia units to mobilize to suppress the rebellion against the government of Rhode Island. The Artillery Company of Newport volunteered to lead the charge against the Dorr defenses, because of this the unit has the right of line in any parade in Rhode Island to this day.
During the American Civil War, the company was mustered into Federal service as Company F of the 1st Rhode Island Infantry (a.k.a. 1st Rhode Island Detached Militia) in April 1861 under the command of Captain (later Brevet Brigadier General) George W. Tew. It fought at the Battle of Bull Run in July and was mustered out of Federal service in August. Individual members of Company F volunteered for service with other regiments after they were mustered out of service in August 1861.
Members of the Company who were unable to serve in Company F were designated as the "Old Guard" and garrisoned Fort Adams guarding the entrance to Newport Harbor from April to May 1861 when the fort became the site of the United States Naval Academy which moved to Newport for fear the Confederates would invade Maryland.
In 1862 the company was activated to provide the guard force at the newly established Lovell General Hospital at Portsmouth Grove, a few miles north of Newport.[4]
During the Spanish–American War in 1898 the company was activated for one week and received training on coast defense guns at Fort Adams so the company could supplement the fort's garrison in the event Newport was attacked. A number of members of the Company enlisted in the 1st Rhode Island Volunteer Infantry Regiment which served stateside from 1898 to 1899.
Early 20th Century
The Dick Act of 1903 required that state militia units, in order to receive Federal funding and equipment, would have to conform to Federal military regulations in order to be integrated in the National Guard. The Newport Artillery Company, along with several other Rhode Island Militia units, decided to retain the privilege under their charter of electing their own officers and voted not to become a unit of the Rhode Island National Guard.
In September 1913 the company, led by Colonel Frank P. King, went to Put in Bay, Ohio to celebrate the centennial of the Battle of Lake Erie. Unfortunately, many of the company's members were sickened by food poisoning during the trip. The company purchased historic reproduction uniforms for the occasion. These uniforms became the basis for Company's colonial uniform which is currently worn.
As the company was not part of the National Guard it was not called into Federal service during the First World War. It was, however, called into state service and guarded a railroad bridge connecting the towns of Portsmouth and Tiverton from April to June 1917. A former commander of the company, Colonel Alvin A. Barker, was placed in command of the Rhode Island State Guard (RISG). The RISG was formed to replace National Guard units which had been called into Federal service. the RISG consisted of 16 companies spread throughout the state. The Newport Artillery formed Company F of the RISG. The RISG was disbanded after Rhode Island National Guard units were demobilized following the implementation of the Armistice on November 11, 1918.
After the First World War, the Company entered a period of slow decline and was not activated during the Second World War. It was rejuvenated in the early 1960s under the leadership of tobacco heir, and Newport resident, Louis Lorillard. Outfitted with Colonial style uniforms and using original cannons, cast by Paul Revere in 1798, the company began to participate in many military and historic events. During the Bicentennial celebrations in the mid-1970s the Company played a prominent role in many events which included serving as the honor guard to Queen Elizabeth II when she visited Newport in July 1976.
Over the next few decades the company has participated in a number of annual events, including the Gaspee Days Parade in Pawtuxet Village, Rhode Island; the Summer Pops Concert in Westerly, Rhode Island, and the June Day election ceremony of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts in Boston. The company traditionally fires a 21-gun salute to the nation every 4 July at noon at Washington Square in Newport. In 2016 the company celebrated its 275th anniversary.
Current status
The Newport Artillery is a unit of the Chartered Commands of the Rhode Island Militia, of which it is the senior unit. It officers are elected by its members and commissioned by the Governor of Rhode Island. It is also a member of the Centennial Legion of Historic Military Commands, which is composed of military organizations pre-dating 1876. It is currently very active and participates in many ceremonial events each year.
Name
The official name of the company on its 1741 charter is "The Artillery Company of Town of Newport". In common practice, however, the company is referred to as the "Artillery Company of Newport", the "Newport Artillery Company" or the "Newport Artillery".
Armory Building and Museum
The Newport Artillery Company in 1891 in front of the Armory before the fire and addition of a second story
The company's stone and brick armory building, located at 23 Clarke Street in Newport, was constructed in 1835 in the Greek Revival style. The work was overseen by master stonemason Alexander McGregor who came to the United States from Scotland in 1825 to construct Fort Adams in Newport. About 1875 the armory was extended about 50 feet west. It was heavily damaged by a fire in 1906. When the armory was rebuilt later that same year, the second story was added.
The museum also contains several artillery pieces including four bronze cannons cast for the state of Rhode Island by Paul Revere in 1798 and a portrait of President George Washington by Jane Stuart (daughter of Gilbert Stuart). A letter from President Washington to the Newport Artillery Company is currently on display at the Museum of Newport History.
James Mitchell Varnum was an American legislator, lawyer, general in the Continental Army, and a pioneer to the Ohio Country.
The Massachusetts National Guard is the National Guard component for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded as the Massachusetts Bay Colonial Militia on December 13, 1636, it contains the oldest units in the United States Army. What is today's Massachusetts National Guard evolved through many different forms. Originally founded as a defensive militia for Puritan colonists in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the militia evolved into a highly organized and armed fighting force. The Massachusetts militia served as a central organ of the New England revolutionary fighting force during the early American Revolution and a major component in the Continental Army under George Washington.
The Common Burying Ground and Island Cemetery are a pair of separate cemeteries on Farewell and Warner Street in Newport, Rhode Island. Together they contain over 5,000 graves, including a colonial-era slave cemetery and Jewish graves. The pair of cemeteries was added to the National Register of Historic Places as a single listing in 1974.
The Armory of the Kentish Guards is a historic armory at Armory and Peirce Streets in East Greenwich, Rhode Island and is currently home to the Kentish Guards, a historic Rhode Island Independent Military Organization.
Associators were members of 17th- and 18th-century volunteer military associations in the British American thirteen colonies and British Colony of Canada. These were more commonly known as Maryland Protestant, Pennsylvania, and American Patriot and British Loyalist colonial militias. But unlike militias, the associator military volunteers were exempt from regular mandatory military service. Other names used to describe associators were "Associations", "Associated", "Refugees", "Volunteers", and "Partisans".
The Rhode Island Army National Guard (RIARNG) is the land force militia for the U.S. state of Rhode Island. It operates under Title 10 and Title 32 of the United States Code and operates under the command of the state governor while not in federal service. National Guard units may function under arms in a state status, therefore they may be called up for active duty by the governor to help respond to domestic emergencies and disasters, such as those caused by hurricanes, floods, or civil unrest.
The Governor's Guards of Connecticut are four distinct units of the Connecticut State Guard, a part of the organized militia under the Connecticut State Militia. There are two foot guard units and two horse guard units. All four units are formed fully of volunteers and serve under the authority of the Connecticut Adjutant General and the Governor of the State of Connecticut, who serves as the Guards' Commander-in-Chief.
The 211th Military Police Battalion is a unit of the Massachusetts Army National Guard. Its Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment is descended from the First Corps of Cadets, initially formed in 1741. It is one of several National Guard units with colonial roots. Its motto is Monstrat Viam – "It Points the Way." While it has served in five wars, the sub-unit's primary contribution to Massachusetts and to the United States was as an officer-producing institution for new regiments from the Revolutionary War through World War II.
Samuel Cranston (1659–1727) was a governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations during the first quarter of the 18th century. He held office from 1698 to 1727, being elected to office 30 times and served as governor longer than any other individual in the history of both the colony and the state of Rhode Island. The son of former Rhode Island Governor John Cranston, he was born in Newport and lived there his entire life. Going to sea as a young man, he was captured by pirates, and held captive for several years before returning to his family.
The First Corps of Cadets of Massachusetts formed in 1741. Its motto is Monstrat Viam - "It Points the Way." While it has served in several wars, the sub-unit's primary contribution to Massachusetts and to the United States was as an officer-producing institution for new regiments from the Revolutionary War through World War II.
Fort Wolcott was a fortification on the small Goat Island in Newport Harbor of Narragansett Bay less than 1 mile west of the city of Newport, Rhode Island. The attacks on HMS St John and HMS Liberty occurred near the fort.
The 103rd Field Artillery Regiment is a regiment of the United States Army. The only currently existing component is the 1st Battalion, 103rd Field Artillery Regiment, a unit of the Rhode Island National Guard. The regiment was originally constituted in 1917, but it descends from predecessor units dating back to 1801.
Charles Foster Tillinghast Sr. was a business executive, yachtsman and a National Guard officer who held the rank of colonel during World War I. He was the father of Charles Foster Tillinghast Jr.
The Rhode Island State Guard is the currently inactive state defense force of Rhode Island. As a state defense force, the Rhode Island State Guard served as a state military unit which assumed the stateside duties of the Rhode Island National Guard when the National Guard was in federal service. However, unlike the National Guard, the State Guard, when organized, answers solely to the Governor of Rhode Island and by law cannot be federalized or deployed outside the borders of Rhode Island.
The 243rd Coast Artillery Regiment was a Coast Artillery Corps regiment in the Rhode Island National Guard. It garrisoned the Harbor Defenses of Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island 1924–1944.
The 169th Military Police Company is an independent company of military police of the Rhode Island National Guard. It is a subordinate unit of the 118th Military Police Battalion and the 43rd Military Police Brigade. It is the oldest unit of the Rhode Island National Guard and one of the oldest units in the United States Army, and is one of several National Guard units with colonial roots.
The Rhode Island Independent Military Organizations are a group of independently operated chartered militias in the state of Rhode Island, most of whose histories date back to the state's colonial and revolutionary history. Under Rhode Island law, they are considered part of state's organized militia forces but are explicitly distinct from Rhode Island's National Guard, State Guard, and Naval Militia. Today, these organizations are largely ceremonial and educational in purpose but are sometime called up for active civil service in minor capacities.
The Varnum Continentals are an active independent military organization of the Rhode Island militia that was founded in 1903 and currently serve primarily as a ceremonial honor guard and as historic educational organization in East Greenwich, Rhode Island. The Warren Varnum Continentals operate the historic Varnum Memorial Armory, an armory museum at 6 Main Street in East Greenwich, which was built in 1913, and housed Rhode Island State and National Guard units from 1918 to 1996. The Varnum Continentals were named after Revolutionary War General James Mitchell Varnum, a founder of the Kentish Guards, and the Continentals are dedicated to preserving Varnum's memory.
The Kentish Artillery was a military organization in Rhode Island originating in the 18th century.
↑ Sydney V. James, Sheila L. Skemp, Bruce Colin Daniels, The Colonial Metamorphoses in Rhode Island: A Study of Institutions in Change (UPNE, 2000), 214-216
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
