| Name |
Silas Bates |
| Birth |
1737 |
North Kingstown, Washington, Rhode Island, United States  [1, 2] |
| Gender |
Male |
| DAR ID |
A007508 |
| Family Search ID |
L18B-L1H |
| Find A Grave ID |
209921110 |
| Military Service |
From May 1781 to 1784 [3, 4, 5] |
| American Revolution, Continental Army |
- Private in the Rhode Island Regiment of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War
DAR application:
My ancestor's services in assisting in the establishment of American Independence during the War of the Revolution were as follows:
Silas Bates - Soldier in the 3rd Battalion of Militia of the State of Rhode Island. Enlisted May, 1781 for 3 years service. His name appears on the "Revolutionary Muster and Pay Rolls" and on the Roll of honor in the Secretary of States office of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantation.
The Wikipedia entry on the Rhode Island Regiment, starting in May of 1781:
With Colonel Greene's death, command of the regiment devolved on Lieutenant Colonel Jeremiah Olney. Under Olney's command, the regiment took part in the Siege of Yorktown in October 1781, which proved to be the last major battle of the Revolution.
After Yorktown, the regiment moved with the Main Army to Newburgh, New York where its primary purpose was to be ready to react in the event British forces in city of New York went on the offensive.
On 1 March 1783 the regiment was reorganized into six companies and re-designated as the Rhode Island Battalion (a.k.a. "Olney's Battalion"). On 15 June 1783, the veteran "during the war" enlisted men of the Rhode Island Regiment were discharged at Saratoga, New York. The remaining soldiers of the Battalion who were enlisted for "three years" were organised into a small battalion of two companies. After the British Army evacuated New York, the unit was disbanded on 25 December 1783 at Saratoga, New York. It was one of the few units in the Continental Army to have served through the entirety of the Continental Army's existence.
The Rhode Island Regiment served its final days in Saratoga, New York, under the command of Major William Allen. The regiment was left waiting in Saratoga for months, with low supplies and a terrible snowstorm until December 25, 1783, when Major William Allen and Adjutant Jeremiah Greenman printed the discharge certificates. The discharged troops were “dumped back into civilian society,” with only the white soldiers being guaranteed 100 acres of bounty land from the Federal Government, as well as a pension.
The 1st Rhode Island was one of the few regiments in the Continental Army which had a large number of black Patriot soldiers in its ranks.
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military_records\bates_silas_1st_Rhode_Island_Regiment_Flag
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| _UID |
8486DC1011D945F7B32DF331529BD1EAC891 |
| Death |
Jan 1801 |
Exeter, Washington, Rhode Island, United States [2, 6] |
| Burial |
Rockland Cemetery, Scituate, Providence, Rhode Island, United States [6] |
| Person ID |
I782 |
My Genealogy |
| Last Modified |
27 Apr 2025 |
1737 - 1801 (64 years)
