“Brave Men As Ever Fought” Portrait Showcase

Brave Men as Ever Fought by artist Don Troiani will be on loan at the Rhode Island State House from the Museum of the American Revolution until June 29th, 2025.

Brave Men as Ever Fought
Painted by Don Troiani

On September 2, 1781, the Rhode Island Regiment marched through Philadelphia on its way Yorktown, Virginia, with the rest of the Continental Army. Formed in 1780 by combining the 1st Rhode Island Regiment and the 2nd Rhode Island Regiment, the Rhode Island Regiment featured two companies entirely made up of enlisted soldiers of African and Native American descent. A good portion of these men had gained their freedom from enslavement upon enlisting in the 1st Rhode Island Regiment in 1778 following the “Act to Enlist Slaves,” which was passed by the Rhode Island legislature that year.

Commissioned by the Museum of the American Revolution in 2020, renowned historical military artist Don Troiani (b.1949) recreated what the Rhode Island Regiment’s march through Philadelphia in 1781 might have looked like. As part of the scene, 15-year-old African American sailor James Forten looks on as the regiment marches past the brick façade of the Pennsylvania State House (now known as Independence Hall). Later in life, Forten became a successful business owner, abolitionist, and community leader, and he described what he witnessed back in 1781 to his friend and fellow abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison: “I well remember that when the New England Regiment marched through this city on their way to attack the English Army under the command of Lord Cornwallis, there was several Companies of Coloured People, as brave Men as ever fought.” Forten was referring to the Rhode Island Regiment.

On loan from the Museum of the American Revolution, Funded by the National Park Service Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route National Historic Trail.