A New Interpretation of the Rhode Island Regiment Flag of 1781 by Joshua Bucchioni of Colonial Williamsburg
A Web Article by Daniel M. Popek, September 2017
This web article is an attempt to give some publicity and credit to new interpretations of the integrated 1781 Rhode Island Regiment
of the Continental Line. For too long, the same cliched, historically inaccurate stories of Rhode Island's Continental Line continue
to be produced by liberal special interest groups. In particular, Brown University persists in its long tradition of bad scholarship on
this subject. As a native of Rhode Island who grew up in a US Army family, I am very interested in this story because one of my
ancestors served six years in Rhode Island's Continental Line. After reading several errors in the historical literature and noticing
over 80 Permanent Deserters on the 2005 "Black Regiment" Monument in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, I decided to write my own book on Rhode
Island's Continental Line focusing on the "Black Regiment" of 1778 to 1780. After seven years of research, my book was self-published in
November 2015. I was contacted less than a year later by Joshua Bucchioni of Colonial Williamsburg who was interested in the Virginia
connections (particularly the Rhode Island Regiment of 1781 which served in the Williamsburg area) that I had published in my book.
A native of New York, Joshua graduated from William and Mary University and had worked several years in the Military Interpretations
Section of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. Joshua independently researched the Rhode Island Continental Flags and agreed with the
conclusion in my book that the "RIR" cursive flag (see photo below) was mostly likely made in 1782 by the Rebecca Young shop in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania. The remaining surviving Rhode Island Continental flag with the anchor in the Rhode Island State House in Providence, Rhode
Island has been attributed by some individuals as belonging to the "Black Regiment" of 1778 to 1780, but I disagree with this conclusion.
More likely, the "Anchor Flag" is the Rhode Island Regiment flag of 1781 that was used in the Yorktown, Virginia campaign from September
to November 1781.
Let us continue this article by viewing some relevant photographs.
September 28, 2011 view of the original Revolutionary War Flags (marked 1 and 2) in the Rhode Island State House.
Click on picture for a larger view. Note that the flag marked "First Continental Infantry" is in fact the Rhode
Island Regiment 1782 Philadelphia Flag and the flag marked "Second Continental Infantry" is likely the 1781 Rhode
Island Regiment flag. Photo by myself.
Close up view of the original Revolutionary War Flags in the Rhode Island State House. The original silk fragments
were glued on to a mesh background and put into these displays cases on the main ground floor of the State House.
Click on picture for a larger view. Photo by myself.
This is the same flag marked "1" above and reproduced from a photo of
the early 1900s in Gherardi Davis' book "Regimental Colors in the War
of the Revolution," 1907, frontispiece. This flag is the 1782 Philadelphia
standard of the Rhode Island Regiment (see another reproduction below).
This is the flag marked "2" above and reproduced from a photo of the
early 1900s in Gherardi Davis' book "Regimental Colors in the War of
the Revolution," Plate 1, page 9. Note the four cutout holes in a
semicircle pattern above the anchor.
A reproduction of the 1782 Philadelphia flag of the Rhode Island
Regiment from my personal collection. I use these small flags to
mark known Rhode Island Regiment graves because the State of Rhode
Island and Providence Plantations is too CHEAP to put its own
monuments up on its numerous Revolutionary War dead that the State left
in unmarked graves during the war. Read my book for more details...
Joshua Bucchioni has found additional evidence from other flags
produced by the Rebecca Young shop in Philadelphia that matches
the cursive "RIR" details on this flag. Obviously, "RIR" equals
"Rhode Island Regiment," and there are no numerals on the flag...
Joshua Bucchioni of Colonial Williamsburg in May 2017 displays his new interpretation of the
Rhode Island Regiment flag of 1781 likely used in the Yorktown Campaign.
Click on the photograph for a larger view.
Joshua Bucchioni and a volunteer with the Military Interpretations Group of Colonial
Williamsburg display Joshua's new Rhode Island Regiment flag interpretation. Note the
"In God We Hope" motto and compare to Gherardi Davis' photo of the original flag remnant.
Joshua has found historical evidence that "In God We Hope" was a common motto in Rhode
Island during the late 1700s through the mid-1800s. Click on the photograph for a larger view.
Joshua discovered this article about the flag of the Newport Light Infantry Company in Rhode Island
from the Virginia Gazette newspaper of May 11, 1775. The article shown here comes from the original
Newport Mercury newspaper published on April 17, 1775, two days before the Battle of Lexington. Note
the flag motto inscription.
Members of the Military Interpretations Group of Colonial Williamsburg march down
Duke of Gloucester Street with a couple of young Americans during the Memorial Day
celebration in May 2017.
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Joshua Bucchioni and the Military Interpretations Section of Colonial Williamsburg for their hospitality and special access granted
during my visit in May 2017. I also enjoyed watching the night program where the Military Interpretations Section "drilled" a group of American
high school students into the life of American Continental soldiers during the Revolutionary War.
Sources
Gherardi Davis, "Regimental Colors in the War of the Revolution" (New York: Privately Printed [Gilliss Press], 1907)
Daniel M. Popek, They "...fought bravely, but were unfortunate...," The True Story of Rhode Island's
"Black Regiment" and the Failure of Segregation in Rhode Island's Continental Line, 1777 - 1783, AuthorHouse, 2015.
[my own book which covers the colored and white soldiers of Rhode Island's Continental Line in a balanced and
accurate account]
If you have any comments or have manuscript evidence concerning Rhode Island Revolutionary War
flags, then please send me an email.
