Church's Regiment

Last updated March 20, 2019

Church's Regiment (a.k.a. 3rd Rhode Island Regiment) was a unit of the Continental Army raised in Rhode Island which served from May 3, 1775 to December 31, 1775 in the American Revolutionary War. ^[1]

The Continental Army was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War by the ex-British colonies that became the United States of America. Established by a resolution of the Congress on June 14, 1775, it was created to coordinate the military efforts of the Thirteen Colonies in their revolt against the rule of Great Britain. The Continental Army was supplemented by local militias and volunteer troops that remained under control of the individual states or were otherwise independent. General George Washington was the commander-in-chief of the army throughout the war.

American Revolutionary War 1775–1783 war between Great Britain and the Thirteen Colonies, which won independence as the United States of America

The American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), also known as the American War of Independence, was an 18th-century war between Great Britain and its Thirteen Colonies which declared independence as the United States of America.

Organization

In May 1775 the Rhode Island General Assembly voted to raise a brigade of three regiments to join the Army of Observation which was surrounding Boston to preclude the British forces there from attacking the surrounding areas. (The Army of Observation consisted of mobilized militia units from Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Rhode Island and became the Continental Army when General George Washington assumed command, under a commission from the Continental Congress on July 3, 1775.)

The State of Rhode Island General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. A bicameral body, it is composed of the lower Rhode Island House of Representatives with 75 representatives, and the upper Rhode Island Senate with 38 senators. Members are elected in the general election immediately preceding the beginning of the term or in special elections called to fill vacancies. There are no term limits for either chamber.

George Washington was an American political leader, military general, statesman, and Founding Father who also served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. He led Patriot forces to victory in the nation's War of Independence, and he presided at the Constitutional Convention of 1787 which established the new federal government. He has been called the "Father of His Country" for his manifold leadership in the formative days of the new nation.

The Continental Congress, also known as the Philadelphia Congress, was a convention of delegates called together from the Thirteen Colonies. It became the governing body of the United States during the American Revolution. The Congress met from 1774 to 1789 in three incarnations. The first call for a convention was made over issues of the blockade and the Intolerable Acts penalizing the Province of Massachusetts Bay. In 1774 Benjamin Franklin convinced the colonial delegates to the Congress to form a representative body. Much of what is known today comes from the yearly log books printed by the Continental Congress called Resolutions, Acts and Orders of Congress, which gives a day-to-day description of debates and issues.

Of the three Rhode Island regiments, one regiment was raised in Providence County, another in Kent and Kings Counties and the third, Church's Regiment, was raised in Newport County and Bristol County. The regiment was commanded by Colonel Thomas Church who had previously served as lieutenant colonel of the Bristol County regiment of the Rhode Island Militia and as a justice of the Inferior Court of Common Pleas.

Newport County is one of five counties located in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. As of the 2010 census, the population was 82,888. It is also one of the seven regions of Rhode Island. The county was created in 1703. Like all of the counties in Rhode Island, Newport County no longer has any governmental functions. All of those functions in Rhode Island are now carried out either by the state government, or by the cities and towns of Rhode Island. Newport County is included in the Providence-Warwick, RI-MA Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is in turn constitutes a portion of the greater Boston-Worcester-Providence, MA-RI-NH-CT Combined Statistical Area.

Bristol County is a county located in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. As of the 2010 census, the population was 49,875, making it the least populous county in Rhode Island. In terms of land area it is the third smallest county in the United States, at only 25 square miles (65 km²). The county was created in 1747 when it was separated from Bristol County, Massachusetts. Bristol County is included in the Providence-Warwick, RI-MA Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is in turn constitutes a portion of the greater Boston-Worcester-Providence, MA-RI-NH-CT Combined Statistical Area.

The regiment consisted of a total of nine companies, each with 3 officers and 57 enlisted men. The regiment had a total authorized strength of 550 officers and men.^[2]

Service

Along with the two other Rhode Island regiments raised in May 1775 (Varnum's and Hitchcock's), Church's Regiment served in the Siege of Boston in a brigade commanded by Brigadier General Nathanael Greene.

For the Civil War and Spanish–American War units see 1st Rhode Island Infantry.

The 2nd Rhode Island Regiment was authorized on 6 May 1775 under Colonel Daniel Hitchcock in the Rhode Island Army of Observation and was organized on 8 May 1775 as eight companies of volunteers from Providence County of the colony of Rhode Island. As part of a brigade organized under Nathanael Greene, the unit participated in the Siege of Boston during the remainder of 1775. Some elements accompanied Benedict Arnold's expedition to Quebec late in the year. The unit was renamed the 11th Continental Regiment on the first day 1776.

The Siege of Boston was the opening phase of the American Revolutionary War. New England militiamen prevented the movement by land of the British Army, which was garrisoned in what was then the peninsular city of Boston, Massachusetts Bay. Both sides had to deal with resource supply and personnel issues over the course of the siege. British resupply and reinforcement activities were limited to sea access. After eleven months of the siege, the British abandoned Boston by sailing to Nova Scotia.

The regiment was discharged at the end of 1775 along with the rest of the Continental Army due to the expiration of enlistments. Soldiers from the regiment who desired to stay in the Army enlisted for one year in one of the other two Rhode Island regiments which were re-designated at the beginning of 1776 as the 9th Continental Infantry and the 11th Continental Infantry.^[3]

The 1st Rhode Island Infantry were two regiments of the United States Army, the first of which was raised in 1861 at the beginning of the American Civil War on a 90-day enlistment, the second during the Spanish–American War in 1898.

The Second Rhode Island Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment composed of volunteers from the state of Rhode Island that served with the Union Army in the American Civil War. They, along with the 1st Rhode Island, wore a very simple uniform. The uniform composed of a dark blue jacket like shirt, tannish grey pants, and a dark blue chasseur kepi. The 2nd Rhode Island also wore havelocks in the beginning of the war, but after finding them useless they discarded them.

Senior Officers

Colonel Thomas Church
Lieutenant Colonel William T. Miller
Major John Forrester
Major Henry Sherburne

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References

↑ Historical Register of Officers of the Continental Army. Francis B. Heitman. pg. 53.
↑ So Few the Brave. Anthony Walker. Rhode Island Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. Newport. 1981. pg. 103.
↑ So Few the Brave. Anthony Walker. Rhode Island Society Sons of the American Revolution. Newport. 1981. pg. 103.