Historian Robert A. Geake To Speak on the 1st RI Regiment in Newport

The Battle of Rhode Island Association’s Lecture Series sponsored by the Massachusetts Society of the Cincinnati continues with our partners at Rhode Island Slave History Medallions, the Middle Passage and Port Markers Project and NAACP Newport Chapter for a lecture by historian Robert A. Geake. The talk “Guardians of Liberty: The 1st Rhode Island Regiment in East Greenwich, Newport, and Philadelphia“ is on Wednesday, February 28th at 6:30 PM at Channing Memorial Church, 135 Pelham Street in Newport.

In those months away from the battlefield, the 1st Rhode Island Regiment was often tasked with guarding the southern shoreline of their home state, both from their encampment at Pojack Point in East Greenwich, then in Newport after the British departure, and finally as the military police of the former capital of Philadelphia. These were not idle months, and remind us that the War continued throughout the year, especially around those seaside communities vulnerable to raids.

Robert A. Geake is a historian and the author of fifteen books on Rhode Island and New England history, including From Slaves to Soldiers: The First Rhode Island Regiment in the American Revolution. Other books include A History of the Narragansett Tribe: Keepers of the Bay, Native and New Americans, New England’s Citizen Soldiers: Mariners and Minutemen, Fired A Gun at the Rising of the Sun: The Journal of Noah Robinson of Attleboro in the Revolutionary War, and a work in progress to be titled The Battle Off the Field in the American Revolution.

Mr. Geake served two terms as President of The Cocumscussoc Association which maintains Smith’s Castle, an historic house museum in North Kingstown, Rhode Island, and continues as Chair of the Association’s Education Committee. He also serves on the advisory board of the Rhode Island Slave History Medallion project. Mr. Geake is a contributor to the blogs smallstatebighistory.com, rifootprints.com, and most recently, The Cocumscussoc Review on smithscastle.org. His essay on Rhode Island and The American Revolution is among those contributed to EnCompass, online tutorials for the Rhode Island Historical Society and the Rhode Island Department of Education.

This Free lecture will be filmed for inclusion on our Website and YouTube page.