CHAPTER IV.

RHODE ISLAND

Admission of Hon. Tristam Burges - Defence of Red Bank - Arrest of Major General Prescott by Prince - Colored Regiment of Rhode Island - Speech of Dr. Harris - Loyalty During the Dorr Rebellion.
pp. 126 - 131

     THE HON. Tristam Burges, of Rhode Island, in a speech in Congress, January, 1828, said: - "At the commencement of the Revolutionary War, Rhode Island had a number of slaves.  A regiment of them were enlisted into the Continental service, and no braver men met the enemy in battle; but not one of them was permitted to be a soldier until he had first been made a freeman."
     "In Rhode Island," says Governor Eustis, in his able speech against slavery in Missouri, 12th December, 1820, "the blacks formed an entire regiment, and they discharged their duty with zeal and fidelity.  The gallant defence of Red Bank, in which the black regiment bore a part, is among the proofs of their valor."  In this contest, it will be recollected that four hundred men met and repulsed, after a terrible and sanguinary struggle, fifteen hundred Hessian troops, headed by Count Donop.  The glory of the defence

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of Red Bank, which has been pronounced one of the most heroic actions of the war, belongs in reality to black men; yet who now hears them spoken of in connection with it?  Among the traits which distinguished the black regiment, was devotion to their officers.  In the attack made upon the American lines, near Croton river, on the 13th of May, 1781, Colonel Greene the commander  of the regiment, was cut down and mortally wounded; but the sabres of the enemy only reached him through the bodies of his faithful guard of blacks, who hovered over him to protect him, and every one of whom was killed.
     Lieutenant-Colonel Barton, of the Rhode Island militia, planned a bold exploit for the purpose of surprising and taking Major-General Prescott, the commanding officer of the royal army at Newport.  Taking with him, in the night, about forty men, in two boats, with oars muffled, he had the address to elude the vigilance of the ships of war and guard boats, and, having arrived undiscovered at the General's quarters, they were taken for the sentinels, and the General was not alarmed till his captors were at the door of his lodging chamber, which was fast closed.  A negro man, named Prince, instantly thrust his head through the panel door and seized the victim while in bed.  The General's aid-de-camp leaped from a window undressed, and attempted to escape, but was taken, and, with the General, brought off in safety. *

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     *Thacher's Military Journal, August 3, 1777.

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     I have received from Mr. George E. Willis, of Providence, the following list of names, as among the colored soldiers in the Rhode Island Regiment during the Revolutionary War: -

     RICHARD COZZENS, a fifer in the Rhode Island Regiment, was born in Africa, and died in Providence in 1829.
     In this connection, the following extracts from an address delivered, in 1842, before the Congregational and Presbyterian Anti-Slavery Society, at Francestown, N. H., by DR. HARRIS, a Revolutionary veteran, will be read with great interest: -
     "I sympathize deeply," said Dr. Harris, "in the objects of this Society.  I fought, my hearers, for the liberty which you enjoy.  It surprises me that every man does not rally at the sound of liberty, and array himself with those who are laboring to abolish slavery in our country.  The very mention of it warms the blood in my veins, and, old as I am, makes me feel something of the spirit and impulses of '76

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     "Then liberty meant something.  Then, liberty, independence, freedom, were in every man's mouth.  They were the sounds at which they rallied, and under which they fought and bled.  They were the words which encouraged and cheered them through their hunger, and nakedness, and fatigue, in cold and in heat.  The word slavery then filled their hearts with horror.  They fought because they would not be slaves.  Those whom liberty has cost nothing, do not know how to prize it.
     "I served in the Revolution, in General Washington's army, three years under one enlistment.  I have stood in battle, where balls, like hail, were flying all around me.  The man standing next to me was shot by my side - his blood spouted upon my clothes, which I wore for weeks.  My nearest blood, except that which runs in my veins, was shed for liberty.  My only brother was shot dead instantly in the Revolution.  Liberty is dear to my heart - I cannot endure the thought, that my countrymen should be slaves.
     "When stationed in the State of Rhode Island, the regiment to which I belonged was once ordered to what was called a flanking position, - that is, upon a place which the enemy must pass in order to come round in our rear, to drive us from the fort.  This pass was every thing, both to them and to us; of course, it was a post of imminent danger.  They reinforced, and attacked us again, with more vigor and determination, and again were repulsed.  Again they reinforced, and attacked us the third time, with the most desperate courage and resolution, but a third time were repulsed.  The

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contest was fearful.  Our position was hotly disputed and as hotly maintained.
     "But I have another object in view in stating these facts.  I would not be trumpeting my own acts; the only reason why I have named myself in connection with this transaction is, to show that I known whereof I affirm.  There was a black regiment in the same situation.  Yes, a regiment of negroes, fighting for our liberty and independence, - not a white man among them but the officers, - stationed in this same dangerous and responsible position.  Had they been unfaithful, or given way before the enemy, all would have been lost.  Three times in succession were they attacked, with most desperate valor and fury, by well disciplined and veteran troops, and three times did they successfully repel the assault, and thus preserve our army from capture.  They fought through the war.  They were brave, hardy troops.  They helped to gain our liberty and independence.
     "Now, the war is over, our freedom is gained - what is to be done with these colored soldiers, who have shed their best blood in its defence?  Must they be sent off out of the country, because they are black? or must they be sent back into slavery, now they have risked their lives and shed their blood to secure the freedom of their masters?  I ask, what became of these noble colored soldiers?  Many of them, I fear, were taken back to the South, and doomed to the fetter and the chain.
     "And why is it, that the colored inhabitants of our nation, born in this country, and entitled to all the rights of freemen, are held in slavery?  Why, but because they are

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black?  I have often thought, that, should God see fit, by a miracle, to change their color, straighten their hair, and give their features and complexion the appearance of the whites, slavery would not continue a year.  No, you would then go and abolish it with the sword, if it were not speedily done without.  But it is a suitable cause for making men slaves, because God has given them such a color, such hair and such features, as he saw fit?"
     During the Dorr excitement, the colored population of Rhode Island received high encomiums from the papers of the State of their conduct.  The New York Courier and Enquirer said: - "The colored people of Rhode Island deserve the good opinion and kind feeling of every citizen of the State, for their conduct during the recent troublous times in Providence.  They promptly volunteered their services for any duty to which they might be useful in maintaining law and order.  Upwards of a hundred of them organized themselves for the purpose of acting as a city guard for the protection of the city, and to extinguish fires, in case of their occurrence, while the citizens were absent on military duty.  The fathers of these people were distinguished for their patriotism and bravery in the war of the Revolution, and the Rhode Island colored regiment fought, on one occasion, until half their number were slain.  There was not a regiment in the service which did more soldierly duty, or showed itself more devotedly patriotic."
     A colored military company, called the "National Guard," has recently been formed in Providence, using, by special grant, the State arms.
 

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