The Fourth Alabama Painting by Don Troiani

Second Brigade, Second Division

Lieutenant Colonel J S Pitman

Lieutenant Colonel J S Pitman, 1st Rhode Island Detached Militia Infantry

First Rhode Island Detached Militia Infantry

Arrived at Washington D. C. at 12 PM on 26 and 30 April, 1861, and was mustered in United States service for three months on 2 May, 1861

COLONEL A E BURNSIDE
Colonel A E Burnside was assigned to command the Second Brigade, Second Division, Army of Northeastern Virginia, on 21 July, 1861.

LIEUTENANT COLONEL J S PITMAN
Lieutenant Colonel J S Pitman was assigned to duty at Providence, Rhode Island, on 19 June, 1861, and was not present at the first battle of Bull Run.

MAJOR J P BALCH
Second Major J P Balch was promoted to major on 27 June, 1861, and assumed command on 21 July, 1861. Colonel W Goddard was on the assigned to the staff of Governor W Sprague and was appointed second major on 27 June, 1861. Major J S Slocum resigned and was appointed colonel, 2nd Rhode Island Infantry on 8 May, 1861 (See the 2nd Rhode Island Infantry).

Company A National Cadets: CAPT. A F DEXTER
Company B Providence Artllery: CAPT. N VAN SLYCK
Company C First Light Infantry No.1: CAPT. W W BROWN
Private W H Helme was assigned to the the United States Corps Topographical Engineers, Balloon Detachment, under the command of First Lieutenant H L Abbot, on 14 July, 1861 (See the United States Corps Topographical Engineers, Balloon Detachment).
Company D First Light Infantry No.2: CAPT. N W BROWN
Company E Pawtucket Light Guard: CAPT. S R BUCKLIN
Company F Newport Artillery: CAPT. G W TEW
Company G Providence Mechanic Rifles No.1: CAPT. J T PITMAN
Captain D A Peloubet was detached at Annapolis, Maryland, and returned to Providence, Rhode Island.
Company H Providence Mechanic Rifles No.2: CAPT. C W H DAY
Company I Westerly Rifles: CAPT. H C CARD
Company K Woonsocket Guards: CAPT. P SIMPSON, Jr.
Unlettered Company Carbineers: CAPT. F W GODDARD
The company was organised with other companies members and was assigned as an independent company 9 June, 1861.
Unlettered Company American Brass Band: Band Master J C Greene
The American Brass Band, Providence, Rhode Island, with twenty-four musicians, accompanied the 1st Rhode Island Detached Militia Infantry to Washington D. C. and were assigned to duty caring for the wounded and dying at the first battle of Bull Run.
Private H A DeWitt was assigned as engineer on 31 May, 1861.

Sources

"The tailor-become-soldier outfitted his regiment in grey trousers and a loose blue pullover blouse with long tails that hung like a frock coat. Instead of issuing overcoats, he drew on his Mexican War observations and ordered blankets with slit for wear like ponchos, thus saving his soldiers the extra burden of a heavy coat."

"Burnside's brigade typified an untidy diversification of arms and equipment in that infant national army. His Rhode Islanders, though dressed similarly in blue blouses and grey trousers, with broadbrimmed black hats, were not armed the same: the 1st regiment carried new Springfield rifles, while the 2nd had had to settle for old .69 calibre smoothbores. The 2nd New Hampshire, in its grey uniforms and forage caps, could have passeed for Confederates; it also shouldered the short-range smoothbores, except for Company B: courtesy of the private donations of Concord citizen, Company B went to war equipped with the new Sharps breechloading rifles. The 71st New York wore its own version of the antebellum militia uniform, dressed down for the field, but the weapons it carried remain a mystery."

Burnside, by William Marvel

"A company of Carbineers, to act as skirmishers, was formed, by details from the other companies, 1st Rhode Island (Detached Militia) Infantry, and armed with the Burnside rifles. On the 19 June, 1861 it was organised as a separate corps, and its place in the line of march was in front of the column. Its officers were appointed as follows: Francis W Goddard, commissioned as Captain. Walter B Manton, commissioned as Lieutenant. John B Campbell, of Company A, Sergeant. George O Gorton, of Company C, Sergeant. Robert H Deming, of Company D, Sergeant. Louis T Hall, of Company G, Sergeant. Peleg E Bryant, of Company B, Sergeant.

The Company numbered seventy-three privates, but its members messed, quartered, and were paid with their respective companies. Consequently no roll was preserved.

Burnside also took two companies of the Burnside Carbineers (a Zouave Unit) as sharpshooters to accompany the First Regiment. The Burnside Carbineers were under the command of Captain Francis W Goddard. The Carbineers were armed with the deadly Burnside Carbine lever action fast firing breach loader."

"The white havelocks, which our friends at home had provided, the red blankets, and the blue blouses formed a good combination of the national colours; the regimental band played its most patriotic strains, and the men kept martial step to the music of the Union."

Narrative of the campaign of the First Rhode Island Regiment, in the spring and summer of 1861, by Augustus Woodbury

"The Regimental Band contains 22 musicians. The uniform of the Regiment consists of the regulation hat, a loose blue blouse, and grey pantaloons. A plain leather belt around the waist sustains the cartridge-box, the bayonet, and six-barrelled revolver, with which each man is armed. The officers are distinguished by a small gold strap on the shoulders; they wear a sash and a long sabre, and a revolver supported by a plain belt."

Rebellion Record: Document 80, Gov. Sprague's Rhode Islanders, New York Tribune, 22 April, 1861

"These consisted of a light blue blouse, of the Garibaldi pattern, dark grey pants, and Kossuth hat, with the brim turned up on the right side, and fastened to the crown with a brass plate, eagle shaped."

History of Company F, 1st Regiment, R. I. Volunteers, during the spring and summer of 1861, by Charles H Clarke

Major General Ambrose E. Burnside and the Ninth Army Corps: A narrative ofcampaigns in North Carolina, Maryland, Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Mississippi and Tennessee, during the war for the preservation of the republic, by Augustus Woodbury

The Union army: A history of military affairs in the loyal states 1861–65, records of the regiments in the Union army, cyclopedia of battles, memoirs of commanders and soldiers, Volume 1, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Delaware

Notes

The 1st Rhode Island Detached Militia Infantry was organised at Providence, Rhode Island, and the first detachment of 544 officers and men, under the command of Colonel A E Burnside, was ordered to proceed to Washington D. C. on board the steamer Empire State on 19 April, 1861. The detachment was accompanied by Governor W Sprague and arrived at New York Harbour on 20 April, 1861. The 1st Rhode Island Detached Militia Infantry was transferred to the steamer Coatzacolcos and joined Lieutenant Colonel E D Keyes' command at Fort Monroe, Old Comfort Point, Virginia. The 12th New York State Militia was transferred to the steamer Coatzacoalcos at Fort Monroe, Old Comfort Point, Virginia, and the 1st Rhode Island Detached Militia Infantry arrived at Annapolis, Maryland, on 24 April, 1861 (See the 12th New York State Militia). The detachment was ordered to proceed to Annapolis Junction, Maryland, and arrived at 4 AM on 26 April, 1861. The 1st Rhode Island Detached Militia Infantry arrived at Washington D. C. at 12 PM on 26 April, 1861, and encamped at the Patent Office, Washington D. C. The second detachment, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel J S Pitman, arrived at Washington D. C. on 30 April, 1861, and the 1st Rhode Island Detached Militia Infantry and the 1st Rhode Island Detached Militia were mustered in United States service at the Capital Grounds, Washington D. C. as the 1st Rhode Island Detached Militia on 2 May, 1861. The 1st Rhode Island Detached Militia Infantry encamped at Camp Sprague, Keating Farm, Washington D. C., on 10 May, 1861, and was assigned as a reserve during the occupation of Arlington Heights and Alexandria, Virginia, on 24 May, 1861 (See the Occupation of Arlington Heights and Alexandria). Twenty-six men were assigned to duty guarding and operating the ferries as the 11th New York Infantry proceeded across the Potomac River to Alexandria, Virginia (See the 11th New York Infantry). The 1st Rhode Island Detached Militia Infantry, under the command of Colonel A E Burnside, was ordered to join the Army of the Upper Potomac at Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, on 10 June, 1861, and arrived via Baltimore, Maryland, at 12 PM on 11 June, 1861. The regiment was assigned to the First Brigade, First Division, Army of the Upper Potomac, under the command of Colonel G H Thomas (See the Army of the Upper Potomac). The 1st Rhode Island Detached Militia Infantry was ordered to return to Washington D. C. on 15 June, 1861, and arrived at Camp Sprague, Keating Farm, Washington D. C., on 19 June, 1861. The regiment was ordered across the Potomac River via the Long Bridge, Washington D. C., at 3 PM on 16 July, 1861, and sixty sick men were assigned to guard duty at Camp Sprague, Keating Farm, Washington D. C. The Second Brigade, Second Division, Army of Northeastern Virginia, under the command of Colonel A E Burnside, was ordered to proceed along the Columbia Turnpike to Little River Turnpike, near Annandale, Virginia, and encamped at Bailey's Crossroads, Virginia, in the evening on 16 July, 1861. Colonel A E Burnside was ordered to proceed to Fairfax Courthouse, Virginia, via Little River Turnpike, Virginia, on 17 July, 1861, and the 71st New York State Militia, Corps Engineers, and a detachment of the 2nd New Hampshire Infantry with axes were assigned to clear the road for the artillery. The Second Brigade, Second Division, Army of Northeastern Virginia, arrived at Fairfax Courthouse, Virginia, at 9 AM on 17 July, 1861, and was ordered to Camp Bush, near Centreville, Virginia, via Germantown, Virginia, in the morning on 18 July, 1861. The 1st Rhode Island Detached Militia Infantry was ordered to Sudley Ford, Virginia, at 2 AM on 21 July, 1861. After the first battle of Bull Run the 1st Rhode Island Detached Militia Infantry was ordered to retreat to Centreville, Virginia, and arrived at 9 PM on 21 July, 1861. The regiment was ordered to return to Camp Sprague, Keating Farm, Washington D. C., between 11 and 12 AM on 21 July, 1861, and arrived at the Long Bridge, Washington D. C., in the morning on 22 July, 1861. The 1st Rhode Island Detached Militia Infantry was ordered across the Potomac River to Camp Sprague, Keating Farm, Washington D. C., at 8 AM the same day, and was ordered to Providence, Rhode Island, on 25 July, 1861. The 1st Rhode Island Detached Militia Infantry arrived at Providence, Rhode Island, on board the steamers Bay States and State of Maine on 27 July, 1861, and was mustered out on 2 August, 1861.

Governor W Sprague requested A E Burnside, formerly a brigadier general, Rhode Island Militia, stationed at New York City, to return to Providence, Rhode Island, and assume command of the 1st Rhode Island Detached Militia on 15 April, 1861. A E Burnside arrived at Providence, Rhode Island, on 16 April, 1861, and was appointed colonel the same day.

Reports

OFFICIAL REPORT NO.39: Series I, Volume 2 (S# 2), Chapter IX, pp. 395–399
Colonel A E Burnside, First Rhode Island (Detached Militia) Infantry, commanding Second Brigade, Second Division

OFFICIAL REPORT NO.40: Series I, Volume 2 (S# 2), Chapter IX, pp. 399–400
Major J P Balch, First Rhode Island (Detached Militia) Infantry