During World War II, when many athletes went into military service, the military post at the Fort Ontario State Historic Site became a regional baseball powerhouse, due in part to the posting there of former professional and minor league ballplayers, even including a former starting pitcher for the New York Yankees. [Read more…] about When Fort Ontario Was A Baseball Powerhouse
Military History
New Civil War Novel Based On 124th NY Volunteers
Book purchases made through this link support New York Almanack’s mission to report new publications relevant to New York State.
Charles J. LaRocca’s new novel The Red Badge to Gettysburg: An Episode of the American Civil War (2021) is a sequel to Stephen Crane’s classic novel, The Red Badge of Courage, based on the actions of the 124th NYSV, the famed “Orange Blossoms” from Orange County, New York. [Read more…] about New Civil War Novel Based On 124th NY Volunteers
Valcour Island: Keeping The Cause of Liberty Alive
The summer of 1776 was among the most perilous periods of the Revolutionary War, and almost all the action took place in New York. The young nation tottered on the edge of destruction that summer.
With an army of 20,000 men, George Washington could not hold New York City against an enemy force twice as large. The British drove him out of the city and across New Jersey into Pennsylvania. By December, he had 3,000 men left and was admitting to his brother, “I think the game is pretty near up.” [Read more…] about Valcour Island: Keeping The Cause of Liberty Alive
Dixie Kiefer: The Indestructible Man
Book purchases made through this link support New York Almanack’s mission to report new publications relevant to New York State.
The new book The Indestructible Man: The Incredible True Story of the Legendary Sailor the Japanese Couldn’t Kill (Stackpole Books, 2021) by Don Keith with David Rocco, looks at the life and naval career of Dixie Kiefer. [Read more…] about Dixie Kiefer: The Indestructible Man
British Forts on Long Island
David Griffin has turned his architectural eye to the landscape of Long Island and to the history of the Revolutionary War-era fortifications built by the British.
His book, Lost British Forts of Long Island (History Press, 2017), documents the painstaking results: twelve locations throughout Nassau and Suffolk counties with evidence of our occupied past. Using maps, eye-witness accounts, and present day research, Griffin has uncovered much of what has been hiding in plain sight. [Read more…] about British Forts on Long Island
Women Spies for the French Resistance
This week on The Historians Podcast the guest is Sarah Patten, author of The Measure of Gold (Ashland Press, 2020) a historical novel set in Europe in the Second World War with a focus on French Resistance women spies. Patten discusses the lives of actual spies including Virginia Hall, an American woman who later served with the CIA. [Read more…] about Women Spies for the French Resistance
Grant Awarded to Restore Fort Ticonderoga Defensive Wall
Originally constructed in the 18th century, the north stone demi-lune was used to defend Fort Ticonderoga against invaders and was part of the fort’s outer defenses that Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold saw as they crossed Lake Champlain on their journey to capture the fort in May of 1775 securing America’s first victory in the American Revolution. [Read more…] about Grant Awarded to Restore Fort Ticonderoga Defensive Wall
The Boston Massacre: A Family History
Is there anything more we can know about well-researched and reported events like the Boston Massacre?
Are there new ways of looking at oft-taught events that can help us see new details about them, even 250 years after they happened?
Military Material Culture,1609-1815: Fort Ti Conference Call for Papers
Fort Ticonderoga has issued a call for papers for “Material Matters: It’s In the Details, a Material Culture Conference” set for January, 2022. [Read more…] about Military Material Culture,1609-1815: Fort Ti Conference Call for Papers
Bennington Battlefield Acquires Replica Historic Cannon
The Bennington Battlefield State Historic Site, an important Revolutionary War battlefield near the New York and Vermont border at Walloomsac in the Town of Hoosick has received a historic replica cannon donated by an American descendant of a badly wounded “Hessian” soldier who survived thanks to an act of battlefield compassion. [Read more…] about Bennington Battlefield Acquires Replica Historic Cannon