Books by Robert Grandchamp

This book offers a compilation of essays regarding the military history of Rhode Island. Although small in size, Rhode Island history is big in significance. Since the American Revolution, and especially in the Civil War, Rhode Islanders have long contributed to the nation's defense. These essays, each different in its scope, provide an overview into the Rhode Island military experience and a better understanding of the rich military heritage of the smallest state.Rhode Island's motto is Hope, originally styled as "In Te Domine Speramus," meaning "Our Hope is in Thee, Lord." Rhode Islanders have long used the anchor as a symbol of Hope, while wearing badges and buttons inscribed with the motto on their uniforms in times of conflict, or even now by the Rhode Island State Police and Rhode Island National Guard.Chapters include: "We landed beat them from fence to fence," "Died in the Service of his Country," "The muffled drum's sad roll has beat," Solving a Rhode Island Civil War mystery, "An Officer of Rare Judgement," "Martyrs to the Cause of Liberty," "I have not heard of him since," In Search of Private Coman, Writing Rhode Island Civil War History, Ocean State Confederates, "They have just brought one more," "Here we lost many good men," "With regret I am called to inform you," "Scarce a man but lost a friend or relative," and Lines on the Death of Alfred S. Knight.

Rhode Islanders served in nearly every major battle of the war, firing the first infantry shots at Bull Run, and some of the last by the cavalry at Appomattox. Over 23,000 Rhode Islanders enlisted in the Civil War; over 2,000 gave the ultimate sacrifice.From 1862 until the second decade of the twentieth century, the soldiers and sailors of Rhode Island also left an indelible mark on the pages of history by writing and publishing many histories of their participation in the Civil War. Indeed, with the exception of Batteries C and G, First Rhode Island Light Artillery and the Second and Third Rhode Island Cavalry Regiments, every unit sent from Rhode Island published a history written by men who served in the organization. Over the last century these veteran-published sources were added to by scores of other books and articles by scholars, buffs, and those interested in Rhode Island's role in the Civil War. Indeed, Rhode Island has perhaps the greatest written record of any northern state in the Civil War era.This volume represents every known published work (books, pamphlets, thesis, and monographs) relating to Rhode Island and the Civil War published between 1862 and 2018. Chapters include: General Sources, Biographical Sources, Rhode Island Militia Sources, Infantry Sources, Light Artillery Sources, Heavy Artillery Sources, Cavalry Sources, Naval Sources, Town Histories, Monuments and Cemeteries, and Conclusions, which discusses the future of publications about Rhode Island and the Civil War. Historical value has been annotated for each entry.

Known as the "Fighting Fourth," the Fourth Rhode Island Volunteers was the last infantry unit raised in Rhode Island in 1861. After Union setbacks in the West, and after the humiliating defeat at Bull Run, the regiment had no trouble recruiting ten companies from throughout the state in August and September 1861. The men of the Fourth were true volunteers who enlisted before large bounties became an enticement to enlist.The companies of the regiment were recruited as follows: Company A (Providence), Company B (Providence), Company C (Providence), Company D (Burrillville, Glocester, and Hopkinton), Company E (Smithfield and Woonsocket), Company F (Providence), Company G (Middletown and Newport), Company H (North Kingstown), Company I (Pawtucket), and Company K (Warwick).This roster represents the most complete and accurate set of data of the officers and men who served in the Fourth Rhode Island Volunteers. It was carefully transcribed from the original muster rolls and descriptive books held at the Rhode Island State Archives. The roster lists all the men known to have actually served in the regiment from 1861-1864, and does not include those who deserted before the regiment was mustered in on September 30, 1861. In certain cases additional information regarding casualties, deserters, and those who died at home has been added to the register from sources including Rhode Island newspapers, town hall records, the letters and journals of members of the Fourth Rhode Island, pension and service records, as well as the personal observations by this writer in the cemeteries of Rhode Island and elsewhere.Additional chapters include: Field and Staff, Regimental Band, Enlistments by Town, Regimental Statistics, and the poem, "The Rhode Island Dead at Newbern."

On May 22, 1862, Governor William Sprague issued general orders for the raising of the Seventh Rhode Island Volunteers. Camp Bliss was erected in Southern Providence as the destination for these recruits and many men came to Camp Bliss in the summer of 1862. A few had seen service in the United States Army and other volunteer regiments, and some were politicians and gentlemen from the hierarchy of the state, but the majority were farmers and mill workers from southern and western Rhode Island. By the end of August 1862, over 900 Rhode Islanders had gathered at Camp Bliss. Governor Sprague selected Zenas Randall Bliss of Johnston as their commander.The ten companies of the Seventh Rhode Island were recruited from the following Rhode Island communities: Company A (Charlestown, Hopkinton, and Richmond), Company B (Providence), Company C (Glocester), Company D (Burrillville and West Greenwich), Company E (Cumberland, Smithfield, and Woonsocket), Company F (Exeter and North Kingstown), Company G (South Kingstown), Company H (East Greenwich and Warwick), Company I (Bristol and Newport), and Company K (Coventry, Foster, and Scituate). These brave Rhode Islanders fought (and many died) in the following engagements: Fredericksburg, Vicksburg, Jackson, the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, North Anna, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, Weldon Railroad, Poplar Springs Church, and Hatcher's Run.The book opens with a brief history of the Seventh Rhode Island Volunteers and a new look at Rhode Island Civil War Casualties. Individual chapters are devoted to Companies A through K; and Companies B, D, and G of the New Organization, which were composed of the veterans of the Fourth Rhode Island Volunteers when the Fourth was combined with the Seventh Rhode Island Volunteers in the fall of 1864. Other chapters include: Field and Staff, Enlistments by town, Regimental Statistics, and Further Reading.

Drawing on a twenty-year study of regimental histories, pension files, letters, diaries, and visits to every cemetery in the state, award-winning Civil War historian Robert Grandchamp documents 2,182 Rhode Islanders who died as a direct result of military service in the US Civil War.