PORTSMOUTH — The Newport County branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) will celebrate the 238th anniversary of the Battle of Rhode Island this …
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PORTSMOUTH — The Newport County branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) will celebrate the 238th anniversary of the Battle of Rhode Island this Sunday, Aug. 28.
The ceremony will honor the 1st Rhode Island Regiment starting at 3 p.m. at Patriots Park, located at Routes 114 and 24.
The park contains a memorial to the Continental Army unit, which became known as the "Black Regiment" after Rhode Island, which was having trouble recruiting enough white men to meet troop quotas, enlisted slaves to serve in the unit.
The regiment was a contingent of slaves, freedmen and Native Americans who valiantly stopped the advances of the Hessian forces at the site of the park on Aug. 29, 1778 during the Revolutionary War.