Sergeant Henry Johnson, an African-American hero of the First World War from Albany, NY, will officially have Fort Polk in Louisiana renamed in his honor this June. The move comes after Congress authorized the Naming Commission to provide new names for U.S. military bases and other Department of Defense installations originally named after Confederate leaders and U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) advocated for the change. [Read more…] about Army Base Being Renamed for Albany’s Henry Johnson
Military History
Blauvelt State Park: Rockland County’s Storied Martial History
Blauvelt State Park, in the Rockland County town of Blauvelt has a storied history. At first, it was a facility where members of the New York State National Guard (and the Naval Militia) could practice shooting. It was first used in October 1910, though still under construction at the time. Later on, the site would be called Camp Bluefields (Blauvelt means “blue field” in Dutch), but at this time the facility was known as the Blauvelt Rifle Range. [Read more…] about Blauvelt State Park: Rockland County’s Storied Martial History
Grumman’s Long Island Test Pilot Bruce Tuttle
Jet fighters once roamed the skies above Long Island. Grumman, the aviation powerhouse behind such planes as the Hellcat and the Avenger, turned its attention to jets by the end of the Second World War. And to test those jets, they turned to men like Bruce Tuttle. [Read more…] about Grumman’s Long Island Test Pilot Bruce Tuttle
The Search Continues For A WWII Bomber Lost in Lake Ontario
At the height of World War II, a B-24 Liberator bomber vanished with its crew while on a training mission over Upstate New York. The final hours and ultimate resting place of pilot Keith Ponder and seven other US aviators aboard the plane remain mysteries to this day. [Read more…] about The Search Continues For A WWII Bomber Lost in Lake Ontario
Battlefield to Stage: The Lives of John Burgoyne
The new book From the Battlefield to the Stage: The Many Lives of General John Burgoyne (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2023) by Norman S. Poser provides a rounded biography, covering not only the Saratoga campaign but also elements of General John Burgoyne’s eventful life that have never been adequately explored. [Read more…] about Battlefield to Stage: The Lives of John Burgoyne
The Green Mountain Boys & The Evolution of Vermont’s State Flag
If you walk into the Vermont Historical Society’s museum in Montpelier, you’ll a flag hanging from the wall behind the admission desk: the blue and green Green Mountain Boys flag.
It’s a flag that’s been wrapped up with a hefty dose of legend and mythology. [Read more…] about The Green Mountain Boys & The Evolution of Vermont’s State Flag
Field of Corpses: Arthur St. Clair & the Death of an American Army
November 4th, 1791 was a black day in American history. General Arthur St. Clair’s army encountered an Indigenous military force in what is now western Ohio.
In just three hours at what is known as St. Clair’s defeat, the Battle of the Wabash, or the Battle of a Thousand Slain, St. Clair’s force sustained the greatest loss ever inflicted on the United States Army by Native Americans — a total nearly three times larger than that incurred in the more famous Custer fight of 1876. [Read more…] about Field of Corpses: Arthur St. Clair & the Death of an American Army
Spotlight: Oakwood Cemetery in Rensselaer County
Oakwood Cemetery in eastern Lansingburgh, within the northeast section of the City of Troy, is a place to honor loved ones, contemplate nature, explore art and architecture, and discover the rich history of Upstate New York.
Founded in 1848, Oakwood is one of America’s largest rural cemeteries, commanding a spectacular panoramic view of the Hudson Valley with trails, ponds, and waterfalls. Oakwood’s picturesque 300 acre landscape and stately monuments make it a popular spot for runners, dog- walkers, families, nature lovers, and history buffs. [Read more…] about Spotlight: Oakwood Cemetery in Rensselaer County
Revolutionary Roads: Searching for the War That Made America Independent
The new book Revolutionary Roads: Searching for the War That Made America Independent… and All the Places It Could Have Gone Terribly Wrong (Twelve, 2023) by Bob Thompson takes readers on a time-traveling adventure through the crucial places American independence was won and might have been lost. [Read more…] about Revolutionary Roads: Searching for the War That Made America Independent
A New Book On The 1962 B-47 Crash At Wright Peak
This week on The Historians Podcast the guest is Alan Maddaus, author of Wright Peak Elegy: A Story of Cold War, Nuclear Deterrence and Ultimate Sacrifice (Epigraph, 2022).
The book tells the story of a US Air Force B-47 jet bomber that crashed into Wright Peak in New York’s Adirondack Mountains in January 1962. [Read more…] about A New Book On The 1962 B-47 Crash At Wright Peak