Church's Regiment
Church's Regiment (a.k.a. 3rd Rhode Island Regiment) was a unit of the Continental Army raised in Rhode Island which served from May 3, 1775 to December 31, 1775 in the American Revolutionary War. [1]
Organization
In May 1775 the
Of the three Rhode Island regiments, one regiment was raised in Providence County, another in Kent and Kings Counties and the third, Church's Regiment, was raised in Newport County and Bristol County. The regiment was commanded by Colonel Thomas Church who had previously served as lieutenant colonel of the Bristol County regiment of the Rhode Island Militia and as a justice of the Inferior Court of Common Pleas.
The regiment consisted of a total of nine companies, each with 3 officers and 57 enlisted men. The regiment had a total authorized strength of 550 officers and men.[2]
Service
Along with the two other Rhode Island regiments raised in May 1775 (Varnum's and Hitchcock's), Church's Regiment served in the Siege of Boston in a brigade commanded by Brigadier General Nathanael Greene.
The regiment was discharged at the end of 1775 along with the rest of the Continental Army due to the expiration of enlistments. Soldiers from the regiment who desired to stay in the Army enlisted for one year in one of the other two Rhode Island regiments which were re-designated at the beginning of 1776 as the
Senior Officers
- Colonel Thomas Church
- Lieutenant Colonel William T. Miller
- Major John Forrester
- Major Henry Sherburne
References
- ^ Historical Register of Officers of the Continental Army. Francis B. Heitman. pg. 53.
- ^ So Few the Brave. Anthony Walker. Rhode Island Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. Newport. 1981. pg. 103.
- ^ So Few the Brave. Anthony Walker. Rhode Island Society Sons of the American Revolution. Newport. 1981. pg. 103.