Rhode Island Army National Guard
The Rhode Island Army National Guard 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.
Units of the Rhode Island Army National Guard may be called up for federal service. If federally activated, units operate as part of the Army National Guard of the United States, a reserve component of the United States Army.
The President may also call up members and units of the Rhode Island Army National Guard, with the consent of the state governor, to repel invasion, suppress rebellion, or execute federal laws if the United States or any of its states or territories are invaded or is in danger of invasion by a foreign nation, or if there's a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the federal government, or if the President is unable with the regular armed forces to execute the laws of the United States.
The Rhode Island Army National Guard is a component of the United States Army and the United States National Guard and is maintained by the National Guard Bureau. Members and units are trained and equipped as part of the United States Army. The same ranks and insignia are used and National Guardsmen are eligible to receive all United States military awards in addition to state awards.
History
Colonial era
Note – Most of the information in this section is taken from Civil and Military List of Rhode Island, 1647–1800 by Joseph Jencks Smith published in 1900.The Rhode Island National Guard traces it origins to the earliest known colonial defensive force which was formed on May 13, 1638, and called the "Traine Band", in Portsmouth, Rhode Island. The new force was founded as, "Freemen as a militia subject to call and expected to perform certain military duties in the protection of the people."
During the Colonial era, the organization of the Rhode Island Militia was fairly simple. Each town had at least one militia company commanded by a captain or a lieutenant. In May 1673 future governor John Cranston was appointed "captain in chief of the Colony Military Force". In 1675 Cranston was promoted to major.
In 1683 the town companies were organized into two regiments – the Regiment of the Islands and the Regiment of the Main. Each regiment originally was commanded by a major and the two majors presumably reported directly to the governor.
In 1714 the Militia of the Island was designated the 1st Regiment and the Militia of the Main Land was designated the 2nd Regiment. The 1st Regiment consisted of six companies and the 2nd Regiment had nine companies. The number of companies in each town varied with its population with Newport and Providence having three apiece. In 1719 the rank of the regimental commanders was increased to colonel.
In 1731, a regiment was formed for each of the three then existing counties Newport, Providence and Kings which were designed the 1st, 2nd and 3d regiments respectively. The Newport County regiment had six companies, Providence County had 13 companies and Kings County had 9 companies.
American Revolution
The Rhode Island Militia undertook its first military actions against England on July 19, 1769, when they sunk the British schooner HMS Liberty in Newport, Rhode Island. Three years later, on the night of June 10, 1772, now under Captain Abraham Whipple's command, the militia seized and burned the British schooner in Narragansett Bay. On April 22, 1775, following the Battles of Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts, the Rhode Island General Assembly created a 1,500 man "Army of Observation" under the command of Brigadier General Nathanael Greene and sent them to Boston to serve in the new Continental Army under General George Washington. Major General James Mitchell Varnum was also involved in the war effort. In July 1777, Captain William Barton, with a hand-picked force, kidnapped British General Richard Prescott from Newport, Rhode Island and 3,000 enemy soldiers, in order to have someone high enough to swap to get captured American General Charles Lee back from the British.Over twenty Rhode Island units had fought for independence including the First Rhode Island Continentals who stood at Yorktown for the surrender of British General Cornwallis. After the war, the militia reorganized into five brigades: the Bristol County, the Kent County, the Newport County, the Providence County, and the Washington County Brigades.
Post-Revolution
Several militia units were mobilized to defend Rhode Island against possible British attack during the War of 1812.American Civil War
With the outbreak of the Civil War in April 1861, Rhode Island Militia units formed the ten line companies of the 1st Rhode Island Detached Militia Regiment under the command of Colonel Ambrose Burnside. Additionally, the Providence Marine Corps of Artillery was mobilized as the 1st Rhode Island Battery. Both of these units fought at the First Battle of Bull Run, under the command of Major Joseph Pope Balch, who succeeded to command after Burnside was promoted to brigadier general. The 1st Rhode Island was discharged, along with the 1st Battery, when its 90-day Federal service obligation expired on August 2, 1861.Post-Civil War
After the Civil War, the RI Militia underwent a major re-organization which organized the units into a brigade consisting of two infantry regiments, a separate infantry battalion, an artillery battalion and a squadron of cavalry. Annual training was a six-day period initially at Oakland Beach in Warwick and later moved to Quonset Point in North Kingstown after a purpose-built camp for the Rhode Island Militia was developed there.During the Spanish–American War, a regiment consisting of three battalions of four companies each was mobilized and called the 1st Rhode Island Volunteer Infantry. In addition to the 1st RIVI, two artillery batteries were mobilized. None of these units were sent overseas.
Militia Act of 1903
The greatest turning point in the history of the Rhode Island National Militia, and all other state militias, was the passage of the Militia Act of 1903. This act, also known as the Dick Act, was passed with the support of Secretary of War Elihu Root, who sought to reform the United States Army. The key provision of the Dick Act was that state militia forces would receive federal funding for paying their members as well providing equipment in exchange for adhering to the federal standards of training and organization. State militia forces adhering to federal standards were called the National Guard to distinguish them from more traditional militia forces.The Rhode Island Militia was officially re-designated as the Rhode Island National Guard by General Order No. 9 on April 15, 1907. The two Infantry regiments of the Brigade of Rhode Island Militia were re-organized as Coast Artillery companies in order to provide a trained reserve of soldiers trained to man the five coast defense forts in Rhode Island. Other units were a Cavalry squadron and a Light Artillery Battery.
A few of the chartered units of the Rhode Island Militia chose not to convert to National Guard units. This was mostly because they would be denied the privilege of electing their own officers. These units included the Artillery Company of Newport, Bristol Train of Artillery and the Kentish Guards. These units, along with several others, today comprise the Historic Military Commands of the Rhode Island Militia.
The position of commanding general of the militia was combined with that of the state adjutant general so the position of adjutant general was transformed from having only administrative responsibilities to having command authority over the units of the National Guard.
Mexican intervention and First World War
In 1916, Light Battery "A", Rhode Island Field Artillery, was called into federal service on June 19, 1916, for duty with General John J. Pershing to fight against Pancho Villa during the Mexican Expedition. The following year, Battery "A", Rhode Island Field Artillery, expanded to form the 1st Battalion, 103d Field Artillery, an element of the 26th "Yankee" Division during World War I.The 103d was shipped to France with the 26th Division and saw action in the Champagne-Marne, Aisne-Marne, St. Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne campaigns in 1918.
The coast artillery companies, which were descended from infantry units, were also mobilized in 1917 and were used to garrison Rhode Island's coast defense forts for the duration of the war.
Most Rhode Island units were demobilized in December 1918 following the signing of the Armistice with Germany on November 11.