1st Rhode Island Regiment

This address marks the home of Black Veteran Richard Cozzens and his wife Hannah Robinson. During the American Revolution, enslavers could send their enslaved men to fight in their place. Black and Indigenous men also joined by choice, whether to support the cause of freedom or for the promise of personal emancipation. These men formed the 1st Rhode Island Regiment and fought bravely alongside a racially mixed group of soldiers. Many enslaved survivors were granted freedom after the war, although some had to push to get it.