2019 -- S 0917

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2019

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S E N A T E   R E S O L U T I O N

COMMEMORATING THE 150TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ANNUAL MEMORIAL DAY

PARADE IN SOUTH KINGSTOWN

     Introduced By: Senators Sosnowski, Algiere, Valverde, Lombardi, and Felag

     Date Introduced: May 23, 2019

     Referred To: Recommended for Immediate Consideration

     WHEREAS, Annually for the past 150 years, the Town of South Kingstown has held a

Memorial Day Parade to honor the memory of those brave service men and women who made the

ultimate sacrifice to protect and preserve the freedom and liberty we all cherish today; and

     WHEREAS, Originally called "Decoration Day," Memorial Day was born out of the

American Civil War, a period of immense pain and sacrifice for the entire nation; and

     WHEREAS, On May 29, 1869, South Kingstown Civil War Veterans and members of

Rodman Post 12 took part in a solemn procession, marching to the gravesite of Civil War Hero

and South Kingstown native, Brigadier General Isaac P. Rodman of the Union Army; and

     WHEREAS, Brigadier General Rodman was born on August 12, 1822, in South

Kingstown. He had served as the President of the Town Council in South Kingstown and as a

member of the Rhode Island State Senate. Upon the start of the Civil War, he immediately

enlisted and received the rank of Captain with the 2nd Rhode Island Infantry Regiment. He then

saw combat in the First Battle of Bull Run, was promoted to the rank of Colonel with the new 4th

Rhode Island Infantry regiment and later fought in the battles of Roanoke Island, and New Byrne,

where his superior performance earned him a promotion to the rank of Brigadier General. After

the Battle of Fort Macon, General Rodman contracted typhoid fever and returned to South

Kingstown to convalesce; and

     WHEREAS, While in recovery, General Burnside wrote to General Rodman and

informed him of his desperate need for officers in the forthcoming Maryland Campaign. While

still ill, and against the advice of his doctors, General Rodman answered the call of duty to take

part in the Battle of South Mountain and, shortly thereafter, the momentous and crucial Battle of

Antietam, a vital and strategic Union victory that cost the lives of more than 12,000 Union

soldiers and 10,000 Confederate troops. Tragically, General Rodman perished while he was

racing on his horse in open field to warn his fellow commanders of an impending Confederate

attack; and

     WHEREAS, On May 27, 2019, the Town of South Kingstown will be holding its 150th

annual Memorial Day Parade to honor its native son, Brigadier General Isaac P. Rodman, and all

of the brave armed forces' men and women who have perished while in service to our nation and

in defense of our liberty and all the precious rights that make us a free nation; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this Senate of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations

hereby commemorates the 150th Anniversary of the annual Memorial Day Parade in the Town of

South Kingstown on May 27, 2019; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to VFW Post 916, South Kingstown.

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