HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

The enforcement of the Sugar Act by the British in 1764, the Stamp Act of 1765, and the Townsend Acts of 1767 and other claims against the colony produced a stagnation of business and general resistance in the Colony of Rhode Island. Initially, this took the form of quick raids against British vessels that had been placed in Narragansett Bay and along the coast to stop illicit trade. These included boarding and burning of the sloop Liberty in Newport in 1769 and the Gaspee in Pawtuxet in 1772. Defiance had also taken place in Boston with the Boston Tea Party in 1773. The battles of Lexington and Concord and at Bunker Hill would occur in less than two years.

With increasing threats to commerce and liberty, it is no wonder that militia units sprang into service.

The Pawtuxet Rangers were chartered by the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations on October 29, 1774 to protect the village of Pawtuxet, which was a thriving fishing village and a seaport very busy with commerce. The responsibilities of the Company soon expanded to include the manning of the fort on Pawtuxet Neck, thereby helping to protect the 400 miles of Rhode Island coastline from incursions by the Royal Navy. Since Newport was occupied and burned during the war as was Bristol, the need for the militia proved to be real.

There were two types of militia units during the Revolution: independent chartered commands like the Pawtuxet Rangers and Continental regulars. General George Washington repeatedly commissioned these militia companies either for garrison duty or as auxiliary forces to the depleted Continental Line. Members of the Pawtuxet Rangers served in many military actions: the Battle of Rhode Island, the Battle of Saratoga, the Siege of Boston and the surrender at Yorktown.

Following the 1789 Treaty of Paris, the men of the Company returned home, only to be called upon once again to serve in the War of 1812. The men turned in their red coats to wear the traditional blue coats of the United States artillery companies, and became the Pawtuxet Artillery Company. The Company served in this capacity until 1847 when the Company was disbanded.

When the nation’s Bi-Centennial celebrations were being planned, many of the chartered commands were re-activated to reenact the life styles of the Colonial soldier, who played such an important part in the history of the United States, The Pawtuxet Rangers’ charter was reinstated in 1974, two hundred years after the original charter date. The Company will celebrate its 230^th anniversary of its original charter in October, 2004.