The Armory of the Kentish Guards is a historic

armory Armory or armoury may mean: * An arsenal, a military or civilian location for the storage of arms and ammunition Places *National Guard Armory, in the United States and Canada, a training place for National Guard or other part-time or regular mili ...

at Armory and Peirce Streets in

East Greenwich, Rhode Island East Greenwich is a town and the county seat of Kent County, Rhode Island. The population was 14,312 at the 2020 census. East Greenwich is the wealthiest municipality within the state of Rhode Island. It is part of the Providence metropolitan st ...

and is currently home to the Kentish Guards, a historic Rhode Island Independent Military Organization.

History

The Kentish Guards were founded in 1774, just prior to the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

. The

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...

armory building was constructed in 1843 with a $1,000 public grant from the

Rhode Island General Assembly The State of Rhode Island General Assembly is the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. A bicameral body, it is composed of the lower house, lower Rhode Island House of Representatives with 75 re ...

to the Kentish Guards for their aid in the Dorr Rebellion in 1842.Kentish Guards Armory
/ref> In 1970 the building was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

Collections

The Armory contains a gallery of pictures featuring former members of the Guard. The original charter hangs on the wall as a lasting reminder and a memorial to those men who organized the Kentish Guards in 1774.

Visiting

The Kentish Guards Armory may be visited on Tuesdays, when the militia company meets, and Wednesdays, when the fife & drum rehearses, both around 8:00 pm (except during holiday periods) and by special appointment. Visi
www.kentishguards.org
for more information.

Notable Kentish Guards

James Mitchell Varnum James Mitchell Varnum (December 17, 1748 – January 9, 1789) was an American legislator, lawyer, generalHeitman, ''Officers of the Continental Army'', 559. in the Continental Army, and a pioneer to the Ohio Country.Wilkins, ''Memoirs of the Rho ...

, Colonel and First Commander of the Kentish Guards, general during American Revolution *

Nathanael Greene Nathanael Greene (June 19, 1786, sometimes misspelled Nathaniel) was a major general of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War. He emerged from the war with a reputation as General George Washington's most talented and dependabl ...

, private in the Kentish Guards (rank limited due to a limp and lack of formal education), Major General during American Revolution *

Christopher Greene Christopher Greene (May 12, 1737May 14, 1781) was an American legislator and soldier. He lead the spirited defense of Fort Mercer in the 1777 Battle of Red Bank, and for leading the African American 1st Rhode Island Regiment during the American R ...

, legislator, soldier

References

External links