War of Independence
The United Train of Artillery was chartered by the Rhode Island General Assembly in 1774 as the Artillery Company of Providence. The following year it was merged with the Providence Fusiliers to become the United Companies of the Train of Artillery in the Town of Providence. The Company's first organizational meeting took place in the tavern of the Widow Olney, along North Main Street in Providence, and its first expenditure as a Company was to the Widow for the victuals consumed on the occasion.
The Company acquired a large number of ordnance of all sizes from an expedition which removed the cannons from Fort George when the HMS Rose left on patrol. It was in that same raid that John Brown of Providence re-acquired his cannons (which he had stored at Fort George) for use on his privateers. The Company was well equipped and well trained.
The Company's first Colonel was Daniel Tillinghast, a prominent citizen of Providence. Daniel Tillinghast was a merchant and distiller of rum in Providence. The Colonel held his position until 1795 at which time he refused further election to the great sorrow of the men of the Company. After his resignation, his wife having died two years prior, he retired to Uxbridge, MA, where he rests today at the Prospect Hill Cemetery.
Among the Company's first officers were such men as; John Crane, who later commanded the 3rd Continental Artillery; Darius Sessions who was the Deputy Governor of the State, Elihu Robinson who signed commission papers for privateer vessels; Levi Hall, who owned the water works at Central Falls; and many others. As the population of Providence at the time of the War for Independence was slightly less than 5,000, it is small wonder that so many of its known citizens appear on the rolls.
The United Train of Artillery was ordered to Dorchester Heights for the siege at Boston. The Company remained in Continental Service, while maintaining a state presence, and served in the Battle of Long Island in which it sustained heavy losses. Attached to General Lord Stirling's troops, the Company were cut off. Lieutenant Benajah Carpenter, commanding his guns in the battle, fired with good effect until he was killed in the battle (he is interred in the Swan Point Cemetery in RI). After this action, a portion of the Company returned to Rhode Island, while the rest, under John Crane, became the 3rd Continental Artillery.
In 1778, General Sullivan arrived in Rhode Island to launch an expedition to drive the British out of Newport. By this time, the UTA in Providence, was reduced to two iron field pieces in poor condition. General Sullivan made an exchange of artillery, taking the two iron guns and equipping the UTA with two French bronze pieces, cast in 1762, named Pallas and Tantae. With these two bronze pieces, the UTA took active part in the Battle of Rhode Island. The Company kept the bronze guns after the War through an arrangement with the federal government whereby the UTA, in recognition of their service, could keep the guns in perpetuity. The Company had to remind the US War Department of the arrangement in 1817, but kept the cannons until the Dorr Rebellion in the 1840s when the Dorrite rebels stole the guns from the UTA's gun house (essentially a wooden shed). The cannons were recovered by the Warren Artillery and taken to Warren. This action sparked a feud between the two Companies which lasted a good sixty years. Pallas and Tantae were stolen from the Town of Warren in 1981 and were chopped up into pieces for scrap. The thieves, unable to sell the pieces, dumped them in the pond at Roger Williams Park in Providence. They were recovered in 1994 and were recently fully restored (to a non-firing condition) through the efforts of this Company and that of the Federal Blues of Warren, Bristol and Barrington.
The Company acquired a large number of ordnance of all sizes from an expedition which removed the cannons from Fort George when the HMS Rose left on patrol. It was in that same raid that John Brown of Providence re-acquired his cannons (which he had stored at Fort George) for use on his privateers. The Company was well equipped and well trained.
The Company's first Colonel was Daniel Tillinghast, a prominent citizen of Providence. Daniel Tillinghast was a merchant and distiller of rum in Providence. The Colonel held his position until 1795 at which time he refused further election to the great sorrow of the men of the Company. After his resignation, his wife having died two years prior, he retired to Uxbridge, MA, where he rests today at the Prospect Hill Cemetery.
Among the Company's first officers were such men as; John Crane, who later commanded the 3rd Continental Artillery; Darius Sessions who was the Deputy Governor of the State, Elihu Robinson who signed commission papers for privateer vessels; Levi Hall, who owned the water works at Central Falls; and many others. As the population of Providence at the time of the War for Independence was slightly less than 5,000, it is small wonder that so many of its known citizens appear on the rolls.
The United Train of Artillery was ordered to Dorchester Heights for the siege at Boston. The Company remained in Continental Service, while maintaining a state presence, and served in the Battle of Long Island in which it sustained heavy losses. Attached to General Lord Stirling's troops, the Company were cut off. Lieutenant Benajah Carpenter, commanding his guns in the battle, fired with good effect until he was killed in the battle (he is interred in the Swan Point Cemetery in RI). After this action, a portion of the Company returned to Rhode Island, while the rest, under John Crane, became the 3rd Continental Artillery.
In 1778, General Sullivan arrived in Rhode Island to launch an expedition to drive the British out of Newport. By this time, the UTA in Providence, was reduced to two iron field pieces in poor condition. General Sullivan made an exchange of artillery, taking the two iron guns and equipping the UTA with two French bronze pieces, cast in 1762, named Pallas and Tantae. With these two bronze pieces, the UTA took active part in the Battle of Rhode Island. The Company kept the bronze guns after the War through an arrangement with the federal government whereby the UTA, in recognition of their service, could keep the guns in perpetuity. The Company had to remind the US War Department of the arrangement in 1817, but kept the cannons until the Dorr Rebellion in the 1840s when the Dorrite rebels stole the guns from the UTA's gun house (essentially a wooden shed). The cannons were recovered by the Warren Artillery and taken to Warren. This action sparked a feud between the two Companies which lasted a good sixty years. Pallas and Tantae were stolen from the Town of Warren in 1981 and were chopped up into pieces for scrap. The thieves, unable to sell the pieces, dumped them in the pond at Roger Williams Park in Providence. They were recovered in 1994 and were recently fully restored (to a non-firing condition) through the efforts of this Company and that of the Federal Blues of Warren, Bristol and Barrington.