I Simeon Smith of Cranston in the county of Providence & State of Rhode Island on oath do testify and say that I am now ninety four years old. That I was a private in a company called the Pawtuxet Rangers which company was under the command of Capt. Benjamin Arnold with the title of Colonel. Oliver Arnold was Lieutenant with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. I was a private in the same from the beginning to the end of the war of the Revolution. During the time the British had possession of Newport, which was three years, said company, was on duty almost all the time. In the 1777 said company did as much as nine months service either in garrison duty in the fort at Pawtuxet or at place another stationed where it was ordered. Also in the year 1778 it was on duty almost all the time in the same manner, and also in the same manner in 1779 until the British evacuated Rhode Island. It is impossible for me to specify the particular months which said company was on duty, or was not on duty, they were on duty so much and so continually.  And I further testify and say that I well remember a man named Stephen Fenner formally of said company and who moved away to the State of New York after the war and whose widow as I understand now resides in said State of New York. Said Stephen was a member of said company and was a sergeant in the same from the beginning of the year 1777 to the end of the war. He might have joined the company sooner but I remember him well as a member in February of said year. I had a dispute with him about the barracks while we were stationed at East Greenwich. He always performed as much service as any other member of the company. We served together at said East Greenwich one month and then went back to the fort. I also particularly remember that we served together at Bristol. Pawtuxet was a garrison town, and said company did duty in the fort. Our service in the fort was a military service for which we received pay and rations. Said Fenner did service in the same manner as myself and others in the fort. We were also stationed on Rhode Island as much as four months at different times, but the greater part of our service was at the fort at Pawtuxet and Warwick Neck where there was a guard house and where we were stationed several months.

 Simeon Smith

 Misc pension record

Following the 1789 Treaty of Paris, the men of the Company were called upon once again to serve in the War of 1812 as the Pawtuxet Artillery Company.  The fort at Pawtuxet Neck was resurrected and the Company went on duty again. The Company petitioned the General Assembly to change the name to the Pawtuxet Artillery Company. In June of 1812, “An Act to alter the name of the Independent Company in the towns of Warwick and Cranston, called the Pawtuxet Rangers and to continue the same as an Artillery Company. At the request of said Company, be it enacted by the General Assembly and by the authority thereof it is enacted, That the said Company be and the same hereby is constituted an artillery company by the name of the Pawtuxet Artillery Company…”. 

Col. William Rhodes commanded the Pawtuxet Rangers but had retired when the organization was incorporated in 1812 as the Pawtuxet Artillery. In 1814, during the second war with England, the company appointed a committee to inform him of “the unanimous desire of the members of the Corps that he should resume the Command of the same, particularly at the present critical juncture.”. The committee reported “that Col. William Rhodes had assented to become a member of the corps on the condition of not being fineable for absence when the Company meet for exercising.”. 

In 1841-1842, The Dorr Rebellion occurred in Rhode Island. Thomas Dorr led an armed insurrection against the state for changes to the electoral system.  The Pawtuxet Artillery was ready for duty to assist the Law & Order Party.

PAWTUXET – A band of about 40 men was organized on the insurgent side some weeks ago, and five days since they succeeded on getting muskets for the whole. They have been very bold and have paraded the streets up to the proclaimation of martial law. Yesterday, several of them were arrested, and others fled in a boat across the Bay, where they pitched a tent on the Massachusetts side of the line. The Pawtuxet Artillery are ordered to remain there and are under arms. The streets of the village are strictly patrolled, and all suspicious persons examined.

Source: The Providence Daily Journal, Vol XIII No 154, June 29 , 1842

The Pawtuxet Artillery is at Pawtuxet, having been ordered to remain there in consequence of the mischievous disposition <illegible> by the insurgents in the village.

PAWTUXET – A barn was set on fire at Pawtuxet yesterday afternoon, and destroyed. There was immediately after the Artillery Company had been dismissed. An express arrived for three hundred ball cartridges, where were immediately sent out, and the company will exercise a vigilant guard on the village. The hay-stack of Richard Thornton, near Pawtuxet, was set on fire last Friday night, but its destruction was prevented by timely discovery <illegible> have been searched in Pawtuxet , and a few muskets have been taken.

Source: The Providence Daily Journal, Vol XIII No 155, June 30, 1842

On July 24-25 of 1842, the Company marched to Providence in order to be ready for service to the state.  After arriving, they received orders to return to Pawtuxet where they maintained two artillery pieces throughout the rebellion. One of the pieces being “accidently” fired at some Dorrite clam diggers in Narragansett Bay.

The General Assembly of the State of Rhode Island was pleased with the assistance of the Pawtuxet Artillery in remaining loyal to the Law & Order party during the Dorr Rebellion. This, coupled with the fact that the Company’s cannons were attempted to be stolen caused the General Assembly to appropriate money ($800) for the building of a small armory on the corner of Remington and Bank Streets on the Warwick side in the village of Pawtuxet.  The armory was built in 1843 by Irish immigrants as a one-floor building.  It was constructed of stone and coated with smooth stucco to resemble large stone blocks.  It was used as an armory (drill floor, artillery storage) and meeting hall for the militia until 1847, at which time the Company's last report was made to the State.  The armory was sold in 1849 and used for a time as a local volunteer firehouse.  In 1853, it was sold for $105 to the Harmony Lodge and it became a Masonic Hall and a second floor and attic were added for their lodge.  The Masons sold the structure in 1906 and it became a private residence on two occasions. 

The reactivation of the unit began in 1972. The Gaspee Days Committee wanted a hometown fife & drum corps in their colonial parade to act as “host corps” and thus the committee raised such a corps. In 1972, the Pawtuxet Rangers Fife & Drum Corps hit the street led by Hoot Hartman. The original charter was reactivated at this time for the corps to operate under. When the nation’s Bi-Centennial celebrations were being planned, many of the chartered commands were re-activated to reenact the life styles of the Colonial soldier, who played such an important part in the history of the United States.  The Pawtuxet Rangers militia company was formed in 1974 and the charter transferred to it. The fife & drum corps was integrated with the militia in 1975. The commander was Col. Robert Lynch who would command the unit for 22 years. In 1985, the last owner of the original armory sold the property back to the Rangers. After extensive renovation and restoration by the Rangers themselves, the armory building was re-dedicated on July 15, 1989 to its original purpose-- as an armory and meeting hall for this historic and venerable state-chartered militia unit located in one of New England's oldest villages.

Today the Pawtuxet Rangers are among the oldest existing chartered commands in the country. They still operate under their original charter of 1774. Under the overall command of the Governor as Captain General, and the direct command of the Adjutant General of the Rhode Island National Guard, the Rangers still retain the independent status of their charter while also available on a voluntary basis to assist in certain State functions if so requested. The Pawtuxet Rangers are among the most active of Rhode Island's militia groups and are one of only four fife and drum corps in the United States that are part of an actual military organization. Today the Company has Militia including color guard, musket line and artillery and a Fife & Drum corps. They are constantly sought for participation in a wide variety of parades and public appearances, including ceremonial State functions, battle reenactments, living history demonstrations, educational visits and speaking engagements.