Officers and men for the 9th Continentals came from the disbanded 1775 regiments of Varnum and Church and from disbanded Massachusetts units. Soldiers volunteered for one year's service. The regiment contained eight musket companies, eighty-eight officers and men per company, with a total authorized strength of 715, which was never attained. The regiment commander was James M Varnum of Kent County, who resigned in October 1776. From then on the unit was led by Lieutenant Colonel Archibald Crary. Along with the 11th (R.I.), 12th (Mass.), and 25th (Mass.) the 9th became a part of Nathanael Greene's brigade. When Greene was promoted to major general in August 1776 the brigade came under Brigadier General John Nixon but its composition had changed to include the 9th, 11th, 12th, and Nixon's old regiment, the 4th (Mass.). When Nixon was transferred in November, the brigade was turned over to the senior colonel, Daniel Hitchcock of Rhode Island, and was reinforced by Lippitt's Rhode Island regiment. In late December the men volunteered for one more month. Thus, the regiment did not disbanded until February 1777.
Battles;
Siege of Boston, January - March 1776
Long Island, 27 August 1779
Harlem Heights, 16 September 1776
White Plains, 28 October 1776
Second Trenton, 2 January 1777
Princeton, 3 January 1777
from:
Walker, Anthony. So Few The Brave (Rhode Island Continentals 1775-1783). Newport, Rhode Island: Seafield Press, 1981.