Rhode Island in the American Civil War The state of Rhode Island during the American Civil War , as with all of New England , remained loyal to the Union . Rhode Island furnished 25 , 236 fighting men to the Union Army , of which 1 , 685 died . On the home front , Rhode Island , along with the other northern states , used its industrial capacity to supply the Union Army with the materials it needed to win the war . Rhode Island ' s continued growth and modernization led to the creation of an urban mass transit system , and improved health and sanitation programs . Rhode Island during the war . During the war , Fort Adams near Newport was used temporarily as the United States Naval Academy . In May 1861 , the Academy was moved to Newport from Annapolis , Maryland , due to concerns about the political sympathies of the Marylanders , many of which were suspected of being supporters of the breakaway Confederate States of America . In September , the Academy moved to the Atlantic House hotel in Newport and remained there for the rest of the war . In 1862 Fort Adams became the headquarters and recruit depot for the 15th U . S . Infantry Regiment . This regiment , along with several others , had an organization in which the regiment had three eight company battalions . The 3rd Battalion of the 15th Infantry was organized at the fort in March 1864 . The USS " Rhode Island " was a side - wheel steamer commissioned in 1861 for the Union Navy . It served to intercept blockade runner s in the West Indies and was later a part of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron . Notable leaders from Rhode Island . Politics . U . S . Senator Henry B . Anthony , a former governor born in Coventry , was a powerful newspaper owner and staunch advocate of the policies of President Lincoln during the Civil War . The other Senator from Rhode Island , Samuel G . Arnold of Providence , was also a Republican ; he served in the Union Army until 1862 when he was elected to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of James F . Simmons . Rhode Island ' s early war governor , William Sprague , accompanied a detachment of state troops in the First Battle of Bull Run on July 21 , 1861 . He declined a commission as a brigadier general and remained in office . In 1862 , he attended the Loyal War Governors ' Conference in Altoona , Pennsylvania , which ultimately backed Lincoln ' s Emancipation Proclamation and the Union war effort . After failing to be re - elected as governor , he was elected as a U . S . Senator to replace Arnold , taking office in 1863 and serving into Reconstruction . During the war , Sprague married Kate Chase , daughter of Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P . Chase . In March 1863 , Sprague was replaced as governor by prominent businessman William C . Cozzens , but he did not fulfill his term , leaving office that May . James Y . Smith then led Rhode Island during the last two years of the war . Union Army . Maj . Gen . Ambrose Burnside , an antebellum arms manufacturer , politician , and general in the Rhode Island state militia , was perhaps the most influential Rhode Island army officer . He rose to command of the Army of the Potomac before his disastrous defeat at the Battle of Fredericksburg in December 1862 . He later commanded the Department of the Ohio as well as the IX Corps . He star - crossed field duty ended during the Siege of Petersburg with another fiasco for which he took the blame , the Battle of the Crater . Maj . Gen . Silas Casey of East Greenwich led a division in the Army of the Potomac during the 1862 Peninsula Campaign that suffered heavy losses at Battle of Seven Pines facing George Pickett ’ s brigade . He wrote the three - volume " System of Infantry Tactics " , including " Infantry Tactics " volumes I and II , published in August 1862 and " Infantry Tactics for Colored Troops " , published in March 1863 . The manuals were used by both sides during the Civil War . Isaac P . Rodman commanded the 3rd Division of the IX Corps during the Maryland Campaign . He led the efforts to take Turner ' s Gap during the Battle of South Mountain in September 1862 . A few days later , he was mortally wounded at the Antietam defending against a counterattack by Confederates under A . P . Hill . Brig . Gen . Richard Arnold , the son of Rhode Island governor and United States congressman Lemuel Arnold , was the Chief of Artillery for the Department of the Gulf . His guns helped force the surrender of two important Confederate towns — Mobile , Alabama , and Port Hudson , Louisiana . Zenas Bliss of Johnston led an infantry brigade in the IX Corps during the Siege of Petersburg . After the war , he was a recipient of the Medal of Honor for gallantry at Fredericksburg . Another officer who made a significant contribution was George S . Greene of Apponaug , who spearheaded the defense of the Union right flank at Culp ' s Hill during the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863 . At the very end of the war , Greene was in command of the 3rd Brigade in Absalom Baird ' s 3rd Division , XIV Corps , and participated in the capture of Raleigh and the pursuit of Gen . Joseph E . Johnston ' s army until its surrender . Brig . Gen . Thomas W . Sherman of Newport commanded the defenses of New Orleans before taking command of a division in Maj . Gen . Nathaniel P . Banks ' s army , which he led into action at the Siege of Port Hudson , where he was severely wounded , leading to the amputation of his leg and consignment to desk duty for the rest of the war . Frank Wheaton of Providence led first a brigade and then a division in the Army of the Potomac , seeing action in a number of major actions , including the Overland Campaign and the Siege of Petersburg . His men were hurried by train to Washington , D . C . , in time to help repel Jubal Early ' s raid on the capital in the summer of 1864 . Union Navy . William Rogers Taylor was Fleet Captain of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron in 1863 . He participated in attacks on the Confederate fortifications protecting Charleston , South Carolina . He then commanded the steam sloop " Juniata " during 1864 - 65 and took part in the operations that led to the capture of Fort Fisher , North Carolina .