In January 1975, the Connecticut town of Lebanon commissioned painter and archaeologist David R. Wagner to create a series of historical murals for its school buildings. Wagner researched events such as Lebanon native William Williams' signing of the Declaration of Independence, and the Lebanon encampment of allied French troops under the Duc de Lauzun. "Lauzun's Legion," a part of the main French army under General Rochambeau (headquartered at Newport some 80 miles west), þnumbered almost 1500 mounted troops and infantry during its stay there.

  Wagner also studied the war-diary of the Marquis de Chastellux, whose troops were moving eastward in January 1781 from New York toward Wethersfield and Hartford. At a river-crossing, Chastellux noted, his force was "met by a detachment of the Rhode Island Regiment...[and] the majority of the enlisted men are Negro." Struck by this rare mention of such an African-American unit, Wagner charted the march-distances recorded by these units against the actual landscape, and found that these "Black"  soldiers must have been mounted on horseback like their French and American compatriots. Surely, he knew, there had to be more about these men.

  Soon, the First Rhode Island Regiment's origins and Revolutionary actions began to emerge from fragmentary records. It all began with a promise of freedom.

  The Regiment's Raising to Fill the Rebels' Ranks

  The American Revolution's Continental Army was fighting hard in late 1777. General George Washington faced serious need of soldiers to serve through more than the usual 90-day enlistment. General James Varnum gave him the idea to raise a regiment of volunteer "Blacks, Mulattoes, and Indians" from Northern colonies, and in January 1778 Washington ordered Rhode Island governor Nicholas Cooke to organize the new force. While Northern slave-owners received 120 English pounds for each volunteer, the volunteers themselves were promised more than pay---full freedom in exchange for loyal service through the war.

  By June 10, about 138 Northerïn slaves from several colonies had volunteered to form the "First Rhode Island Regiment" under the command of Colonel Nicholas Greene (cousin of the more famous Nathan). Wagner found that these "Black, Mulatto and Indian" troops wore not the blue-and-white uniforms of Northern Continental regiments, but white uniforms with brown sashes, and tall blue hats plumed with feathers, the hats crested with a white anchor (still the state symbol) and the volunteers' motto in red: For Our Country.

  These individuals, like all "minute men," had no idea how long the war would last, let alone its outcome. But especially for them, the Revolution was a chance to become free citizens. Baron Ludwig von Closen, an aide-de-camp of General Rochambeau, noted upon inspecting the American and French forces that "Three quarters of the Rhode Island regiment consists of Negroes, and that regiment is the most neatly dressed, the best under arms, and the most precise in its maneuvers."

  The men understood their situation and the need to prove themselves. Behind the colonial scenes, King George's ministers were already pressuring Northern slave-owners either to free their slaves or sell them to Southern buyers. Nor did the North's white tradesmen fail to remind authorities of another problem. In normal times, many of these "Blacks, Mulattoes and Indian" men worked as expert carpenters, woodcarvers and craftsmen: they were in great demand for embellishing the finer houses of wealthy New Englanders. White tradesmen disliked the prospect of their freedom---for if these slaves lived free after the war, they would become competitors in the marketplace.

 A Record of Honor in the War for Independence

  Gathered, equipped and trained by early summer, the First Rhode Island's volunteers marched straight to battle. By August 28, 1778, the Americans' Continental Army was in serious retreat from a British offensive that threatened to trap them as part of an invasion of New England. The First Rhode Island took up positions on a hillside overlooking Portsmouth, with then General John Sullivan hoping desperately that they might delay the British and allow the Army's tactical retreat.

  The British, knowing the importance of this battle, sent warships up-river to pulverize the First Rhode Island's positions with hours of cannon-fire. Then, they deployed a weapon more fearsome: the Anspach Regiment of their allied Hessian (German mercenary) troops, no less than 3,000 professional foot-soldiers. Thus began a full day of assaults against the First Rhode Island's hilltop under Colonel Green. The Hessian ranks charged the crest and were driven back: they charged it again that hot August afternoon, but the volunteers held somehow; and at last as darkness fell, a third determined wave broke its strength across the hill. The ferocity of this hand-to-hand fight gave the place its later name of Bloody Run Brook. Green himself remarked his volunteers' "desperate valor" against overwhelming odds. Their line held, and the main American forces escaped to fight another day.

  The First Rhode Island went on fighting, not for 90 days but for five years. At one point, ambushed near Groton, New York by British troops intent on capturing Colonel Green, the regiment's men threw themselves in front of charging British horses: more than 80 died helping their mortally-wounded commander to escape.

  They were veterans of Yorktown, too, present at the Revolution's end as Lord Cornwallis surrendered to American forces. The First Rhode Island was kept on active duty for another two years. At last, they were mustered at West Point, given "promissory notes" of payment that proved mostly worthless; and then, with the above racial, economic and political pressures in colonial play, these men were returned to their "masters" and their slavery.

 The Politics of History

  Works on The Civil War (80 years after these events) have paid tardy tribute to the 54th Massachusetts, another Afro-American regiment, via St. Gaudens' sculpture on Boston Common, Robert Lowell's poem "For the Union Dead," and the recent film Glory. In those works we experience the empowerment (rather than the "threat") of multicultural, fact-based historical memory---but the Revolution's First Rhode Island Regiment still waits its place in the sun.

  So far it seems impossible to trace individual names of volunteers who lived this story. Their pay-records stand in the names of each man's "owners." And, because in their white neighbors' eyes they were not "men," there seemed no reason to write down more about the First Rhode Island. Presumably, its members would not be able to read about it themselves. The new United States, forced to arm its "noncitizens" and helped to victory by those "Blacks, Mulattoes and Indians" on the field of battle, remained far from ready to allow them more than labor-skills in spite of their exceptional service. Later generations faced the same obstacles set up in their paths.

  The First Rhode Island's surviving volunteers ended their lives in servitude throughout the Northern towns that had sent them, while others as American citizens reaped the benefits of victory and independence. By the time of these volunteers' grandchildren in the 1830s, a woman named Prudence Crandall founded a small school in nearby Canterbury, Connecticut, to teach young African-American women to read and empower themselves in the dominant white world. Crandall's hope was shortlived. Local residents burned the school to the ground once aware of its intentions.

  Samuel G. Arnold's rare mention of this regiment (in his History of Rhode Island) grants that "their conduct at the Battle of Rhode Island entitles them to perpetual honor." But the First Rhode Island's story remains to be told.

 20 Years---and More Politics

  Back in 1975, artist David Wagner worked through circles of professional colleagues and state officials to suggest that various tributes to the Regiment should become part of the new Library of Congress. The Regiment's heroism and the national import of this discovery moved the discussion toward Mr. George M. White, then Architect of the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.

  Mr. White indeed launched a review of the historical representations of African-Americans on display in that building. He found "an unidentified black man holding Washington's horse," another "unidentified black man preparing food while General Francis 'Swamp Fox' Marion invites a British officer to share his food," and "a third...black man in the back of the boat at the Battle of Lake Erie" (New London Day editorial, 1975).

  But Mr. White informed the chairman of the Joint Congressional Committee on the Library (then Senator Howard W. Cannon, D-Nevada) that he saw no need in these national galleries for anything more on African-American historical subjects. Connecticut's then-Representative Christopher J. Dodd and Governor Ella Grasso did protest and promised further action, but again the First Rhode Island Regiment faded from any list of priorities.

  20 years later in 1995, a researcher for cable TV's The Learning Channel also found evidence of this Regiment's importance, and contacted David Wagner for rights to include his paintings in their 6-part series The American Revolution. It cannot be said that their productionÕs treatment of the Regiment brought its men toward recognition.

  Wagner has not given up, although today's publishers' all-exclusive fix on the profits of formula make them more inaccessible than ever; and so far, African-American scholars and historical organizations contacted have been curiously silent. At present, the First Rhode Island's story remains dishonored, one more hostage to the lines drawn by media marketing, professional and intercultural petty-politics.

  In August 1992, Wagner wrote an appeal for the Regiment's recognition to the influential Colin Powell, at that time Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Here is Powell's reply (original letter in Wagner's possession):

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

Washington D.C. 20318-0001

 31 August 1992

Dear Mr. Wagner:

   Thank you for your letter, for the photographs of your paintings and for the accompanying narrative of your efforts in painting them. The story---in all respects---is a very interesting one.

The brave men of the First Rhode Island Regiment occupy a prominent place in America's history. I suspect the Joint Committee on the Library and the Capitol receive many worthy suggestions such as yours. Regrettably, I cannot express a view or preference for any one proposal.

   Best of luck,

   Sincerely,

   Colin L. Powell,

    Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

 Time For This Story to be Known

   David Wagner and writer/producer Jack Dempsey are seeking funding to document the story of the First Rhode Island Regiment. If you know of a way to help make this happen, contact us at: jd37@hotmail.com, or 781-438-3042.