1st Rhode Island Regiment

The 1st Rhode Island Regiment (also known as Varnum's Regiment, the 9th Continental Regiment, the Black Regiment, the Rhode Island Regiment, and Olney's Battalion) was a regiment in the Continental Army raised in Rhode Island during the American Revolutionary War (1775–83). It was one of the few units in the Continental Army to serve through the entire war, from the siege of Boston to the disbanding of the Continental Army on November 3, 1783.

The unit underwent several reorganizations and name changes, like most regiments of the Continental Army. It became known as the "Black Regiment" because it was composed mostly of Black enlistees. However, there were also some Indigenous people. Some regard it as the first Black military unit because most of the enlistees after 1778 were non-white.

The 1st Rhode Island was initially formed by the Colonial government before being taken into the Continental Army. The revolutionary Rhode Island Assembly authorized the regiment on May 6, 1775, as part of the Rhode Island Army of Observation. The regiment was organized on May 8, 1775, under Colonel James Mitchell Varnum and was therefore often known as "Varnum's Regiment." It originally consisted of eight companies of volunteers from Kent and Kings Counties.

Varnum marched the regiment to Roxbury, Massachusetts in June 1775, where it took part in the siege of Boston as part of the Army of Observation. It was adopted into the Continental Army by an act of Congress on June 14, 1775. It was expanded to ten companies on June 28 and was assigned to General Nathanael Greene's Brigade in General George Washington's Main Army on July 28. Greene's Brigade was encamped at Prospect Hill in Somerville. General Washington officially took command of the Continental Army upon his arrival in Cambridge, Massachusetts on July 3, 1775.

The soldiers of Varnum's Regiment had enlisted until the end of 1775, like all others in the Continental Army, and the regiment was discharged on December 31, along with the remainder of the army.

The Continental Army was completely reorganized at the beginning of 1776, with many regiments receiving new names and others being disbanded. Enlistments were for one year. Varnum's Regiment was reorganized with eight companies on January 1, 1776, and re-designated as the 9th Continental Regiment. Under Colonel Varnum, the regiment remained near Boston until the British evacuated the city in March. It was then ordered to Long Island and took part in the disastrous New York and New Jersey campaign, including the Battle of Long Island and the Battle of Harlem Heights, retreating from New York with the Main Army. The Continental Army was reorganized at the end of the year, as was the case in 1775. Still, soldiers were now allowed to enlist for "three years or the war", unlike the previous practice of enlisting only until the end of the year.

The Continental Army was reorganized in 1776, and the 9th Continental Regiment was re-designated as the 1st Rhode Island Regiment. Colonel Varnum was promoted to brigadier general on February 27, 1777, and was succeeded by Colonel Christopher Greene, a distant cousin of General Nathanael Greene. Under Colonel Greene, the regiment, along with the 2nd Rhode Island Regiment, successfully defended Fort Mercer at the Battle of Red Bank on October 22, 1777, against an assault by 2,000 Hessians.

The regiment spent the winter of 1777 to 1778 at Valley Forge near Philadelphia. It endured the hardships of hunger, disease, and exposure to cold along with other units of the Continental Army. In early 1778, the regiment and the 2nd Rhode Island returned to Rhode Island to prepare for an upcoming expedition to dislodge British and Hessian forces occupying the city of Newport.