Guard History

The National Guard, the oldest component of the Armed Forces of the United States and one of the nation's longest enduring institutions, celebrated its 370th birthday in 2006. The National Guard traces its history back to the earliest English colonies in North America. Responsible for their own defense, the colonists drew on English military tradition and organized their able-bodied male citizens into militias. The citizen-Soldiers who make up the National Guard have fought in every major American war since 1637. War has changed a great deal since 1637, and today's Guard must be prepared to fight in a high-technology environment, using complex weapons and equipment. The men and women of today's Guard are ready to become full-time professional soldiers if the need arises, whether for federal or state missions just as they did in 1637.

The Rhode Island Army National Guard traces its history from the first colonial defensive force established in the town of Portsmouth, Rhode Island in 1638. This group of citizen soldiers consisted of two sergeants, two corporals, and one clerk. From this humble beginning the State's military grew, providing forces in many conflicts during the pre-revolutionary period, the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Civil War, the Spanish American War, the Mexican Border, World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm, Stabilization Forces (SFOR) in the Balkans and most recently the War on Terrorism.

Today, the Rhode Island Army National Guard consists of a force of over 2,500 dedicated men and women, who are prepared to serve our State or Nation in a variety of military specialties. Rhode Island has citizen soldiers qualified in military occupational specialties which include Artillery, Infantry, Signal, Engineer, Aviation, and Military Police.

Colonial Times

The Army National Guard predates the founding of the nation and a standing military by almost a century and a half and is therefore the oldest component of the United States armed forces. The Massachusetts Bay Colony organized America's first permanent militia regiments in 1636. Those units are among the oldest continuing units in history. Since then, the Guard has participated in every U.S. conflict from the Pequot War of 1637 to our current deployments in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

Today's National Guard is the direct descendent of the militias of the thirteen original English colonies. The first English settlers brought many cultural influences and English military ideas with them. For most of its history England had no full-time, professional Army. The English had relied on a militia of citizen-soldiers who had an obligation to assist in national defense.

The first colonists in Virginia and Massachusetts knew they had to rely on themselves for their own defense. Although the colonists feared the traditional enemies of England, the Spanish and Dutch, their main threat came from the thousands of Native Americans who surrounded them.

Initially, relations with the Indians were relatively peaceful, but as the colonists took more and more of the Indians' land, war became inevitable. In 1622, Indians massacred nearly one quarter of the English settlers in Virginia. In 1637, the English settlers in New England went to war against the Pequot Indians of Connecticut.

These first Indian wars began a pattern that was to continue on the American frontier for the next 250 years - a type of warfare that the colonists had not experienced in Europe.

By the time of the French and Indian War, which began in 1754, the colonists had been fighting Indians for generations. To augment their forces in North America, the British recruited regiments of "Provincials" from the militia. These colonial regiments brought to the British Army badly needed skills in frontier warfare. Major Robert Rogers of New Hampshire formed a regiment of "rangers" who performed reconnaissance and conducted long-range raids against the French and their Indian allies.