The flag of the 1st Rhode Island Regiment.
The 1st RI was one of the first units in the Colonial Army to have a mixed force with both black freed slaves and freemen and white enlisted troops. Despite having less than 140 non-white troops when the regiment was at full strength of 225 men the regiment became known as a 'black regiment.'
In 1781, Col. Greene, commander of the 1st RI, and several of his black soldiers were killed in a skirmish with Loyalists. Greene's body was mutilated by the Loyalists, apparently as punishment for having led black soldiers against them.