Richard “Dick” Rhodes

Richard “Dick” Rhodes (c. 1760-died January 17, 1823) – Born in Africa and then enslaved to Nehemiah Rhodes, Richard Rhodes obtained freedom by enlisting with the 1st Rhode Island Regiment on February 28, 1778.¹ Richard Rhodes encamped at Valley Forge before suffering a severe wound from a musket ball at the Battle of Monmouth Courthouse.² From June through July 1778, the muster rolls record Richard Rhodes as “Sick at Englishtown,” New Jersey, probably due to the bullet wound.³ The injury resulted in permanent stiffness of his right elbow joint, so that he could not fully extend his arm. This would have made it more difficult to load and fire a musket. Still, Richard Rhodes continued his military service and later fought at the 1781 Siege of Yorktown.⁴ After the war, he became a mariner before settling in Warwick, Rhode Island, and in October 1786, he married Catharine Spencer.⁵

 

Endnotes

1. Ancestry.com. U.S., Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, 1800-1900 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Original data: Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files (NARA microfilm publication M804, 2,670 rolls). Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Record Group 15. National Archives, Washington, D.C.; and Compiled Service Records of Soldiers Who Served in the American Army During the Revolutionary War, Rhodes, Richard, Fold3 - Historical Military Records, Publication No. M881, NARA Catalog ID 570910, Record Group 93, Roll 0846, Page 3, December 10, 2020.

2. Ancestry.com. U.S., Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, 1800-1900 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Original data: Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files (NARA microfilm publication M804, 2,670 rolls). Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Record Group 15. National Archives, Washington, D.C.

3. “United States Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9WB-Q4GV?cc=2068326&wc=M61K-FZ7%3A355078501 : 21 December 2016), 85-Rhode Island (jacket 1-12) > images 132 and 712 of 814; citing NARA microfilm publication M246 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1980).

4. Ancestry.com. U.S., Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, 1800-1900 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Original data: Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files (NARA microfilm publication M804, 2,670 rolls). Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Record Group 15. National Archives, Washington, D.C.

5. Ancestry.com. U.S., Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, 1800-1900 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Original data: Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files (NARA microfilm publication M804, 2,670 rolls). Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Record Group 15. National Archives, Washington, D.C.