Monument to 1st Rhode Island Regiment
Monument to the 1st Rhode Island Regiment | |
Interactive map of Monument to the 1st Rhode Island Regiment | |
| Location | 2880 Crompound Road, Yorktown Heights, New York |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 41°17′39.24″N 73°48′31.86″W / 41.2942333°N 73.8088500°W |
The Monument to the 1st Rhode Island Regiment in Yorktown Heights, New York, was erected on May 13, 1982, at the Crompond Presbyterian Burying Ground to commemorate the efforts of an American Revolutionary War unit composed predominantly of black soldiers that fought on May 14, 1781, under the command of Colonel Christopher Greene.
History
The Monument was installed thanks to the civic advocacy of African American historian and Westchester community leader John H. Harmon; Harmon was the founder in 1969 of the Afro-American Cultural Foundation as well as executive director[1] and the monument is a legacy of that institution.
An engraved plaque on a large stone marker calls attention to the patriotism of the First Rhode Island Regiment; 140 out of 225 soldiers were Black, the largest percentage by far in any of the integrated military units.
The Yorktown Heights area was the location of the Battle of Pine's Bridge, a minor yet exceptionally violent engagement during the American Revolutionary War that took place on May 14, 1781.[2] Both commanding officers and between 27 and 45 of their soldiers were killed in the deadly skirmish by members of a Loyalist unit known as the De Lancey's Brigade.[3][4]
The burial location of the soldiers is unknown.[5]The officers, Colonel Greene and Major Flagg, were buried in unmarked graves at the Crompond Presbyterian Burying Ground in Yorktown Heights, about two miles north of the site of their deaths. In 1900, the State of New York erected a large stone marker over their graves.[6][7] While the white officers had been commemorated with a memorial stone, the soldiers of the integrated unit who died in the battle remained overlooked for 200 years until May 13, 1982, when the Monument to the 1st Rhode Island Regiment was dedicated in the cemetery, next to the commanding officers' graves.[8]
The monument was added to the African American Heritage Trail of Westchester County in 2004 as part of a mission to “preserve and interpret the legacy and contributions that people of African descent have made to the development of our unique American identity.” It was sponsored by the Afro-American Cultural Foundation of Westchester County together with the Rhode Island Black Heritage Society.
In 2018, the Pines Bridge Battle Monument[9] was opened in the center of Yorktown Heights. A heroic sculpture by noted sculptor Thomas Jay Warren depicts three figures—Col. Christopher Greene and two soldiers of his integrated unit—an African American and a Native American.[10][11]
References
- ^ Gail Gorman (July 22, 1984). "Black youths tour Westchester's Afro-American cultural treasures". Gannett Westchester newspapers. p. 8.
- ^ DiSanto, Victor J. (February 22, 2024). "The First Rhode Island Regiment and the Pines Bridge Monument". Journal of the American Revolution.
- ^ "The Davenport House". Clio. Retrieved March 8, 2026.
- ^ "Colonel Christopher Greene: Commanded the Rhode Island 1st of African American Continental Soldiers". Revolutionary War Journal. March 2, 2022.
- ^ Williams-Myers, A.J (2007). "Out of the Shadows: African Descendants -- Revolutionary Combatants in The Hudson River Valley; A Preliminary Historical Sketch". Afro-Americans in New York Life and History. pp. 31 (1): 97.
- ^ "Burial Place Historical Marker". Historical Marker Database. Retrieved March 8, 2026.
- ^ The plaque on the stone also commemorates Lieutenant Abraham Dyckman, a noted Westchester guide who was mortally wounded by a Loyalist sniper on March 4, 1782, during one of the Patriots' subsequent raids on De Lancey's headquarters.
- ^ "Westchester Journal". New York Times. May 23, 1982. p. 3. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
- ^ Historically, the bridge was named after the Pine family, which is why many historical and academic sources refer to it as "Pine's Bridge" (with an apostrophe) in relation to the 1781 battle. However, modern conventions and official local resources omit the apostrophe for the present-day Pines Bridge Road and the surrounding area of Yorktown Heights, as well as for the Pines Bridge Monument erected in 2018.
- ^ DiSanto, Victor J. (February 22, 2024). "The First Rhode Island Regiment and the Pines Bridge Monument". Journal of the American Revolution.
- ^ "Pines Bridge Monument". Town of Yorktown, NY. Retrieved March 8, 2026.