In 1845, Amasiah Ford of Ballston Spa wrote a multi-page manuscript for his application seeking a veteran’s pension. The account of his military experience 30-plus years earlier would be used 150 years later as references in several books on the War of 1812. [Read more…] about Hard Times For War of 1812 Veteran Amasiah Ford
Military History
‘Black Devils’ At War In Europe & At Home
On April 6th 1917 America declared war against Germany. It was the first time in the nation’s history that the United States sent soldiers abroad to defend foreign soil. In May 1917, General John Joseph “Black Jack” Pershing was designated Supreme Commander of the troops in France. He assembled the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) in July 1917 and its involvement on the battlefield tipped the balance in favor of Allied Forces towards the middle of 1918. [Read more…] about ‘Black Devils’ At War In Europe & At Home
Lafayette’s 1824-25 Farewell Tour Commemoration (A Virtual Talk)
In 1824, the French aristocrat Lafayette (Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette), who had played a key role in securing victory over the British during the American Revolution, was invited by President James Monroe to visit the United States, then about to celebrate its 50th anniversary.
Upon his arrival on Staten Island, the general was greeted with open arms. He had been a favorite of General Washington, who had acted as a surrogate father to the young Lafayette.
As an advocate for democracy in both the American colonies and in France, and a proponent of abolition, the Frenchman was warmly welcomed on a thirteen-month tour of the United States. His visit spanned a highly controversial 1824 presidential election season in which the House of Representatives selected John Quincy Adams over the highest vote-getter, Andrew Jackson. Lafayette has been seen by historians as a uniting force, whose presence served to remind Americans of their mutual bonds. [Read more…] about Lafayette’s 1824-25 Farewell Tour Commemoration (A Virtual Talk)
John Hersey and the Hiroshima Cover-up
In Fallout: The Hiroshima Cover-up and the Reporter Who Revealed It to the World (Simon & Schuster, 2020), a crisply-written, well-researched book, Lesley Blume, a journalist and biographer, tells the fascinating story of the background to John Hersey’s path-breaking article “Hiroshima” and of its extraordinary impact upon the world.
In 1945, although only 30 years of age, Hersey was a very prominent war correspondent for Time magazine — a key part of publisher Henry Luce’s magazine empire — and living in the fast lane. That year, he won the Pulitzer Prize for his novel, A Bell for Adano, which had already been adapted into a movie and a Broadway play. Born the son of missionaries in China, Hersey had been educated at upper class, elite institutions, including the Hotchkiss School, Yale, and Cambridge. During the war, Hersey’s wife, Frances Ann, a former lover of young Lieutenant John F. Kennedy, arranged for the three of them to get together over dinner. Kennedy impressed Hersey with the story of how he saved his surviving crew members after a Japanese destroyer rammed his boat, PT-109. This led to a dramatic article by Hersey on the subject — one rejected by the Luce publications but published by the New Yorker. The article launched Kennedy on his political career and, as it turned out, provided Hersey with the bridge to a new employer – the one that sent him on his historic mission to Japan. [Read more…] about John Hersey and the Hiroshima Cover-up
War College of the Seven Years’ War Call for Papers
Fort Ticonderoga has announced they are now accepting proposals for papers broadly addressing the period of the Seven Years’ War for its Twenty-Sixth Annual War College of the Seven Years’ War to be held May 20th through 22nd, 2022. [Read more…] about War College of the Seven Years’ War Call for Papers
Washington’s Army: Surviving the Winters
Book purchases made through this link support New York Almanack’s mission to report new publications relevant to New York State.
George Washington and his Continental Army braving the frigid winter at Valley Forge form an iconic image in the popular history of the American Revolution. Such winter camps were also a critical factor in the waging and winning of the War of Independence.
Resistance to the Revolution in Saratoga County, May 1777
On April 18th, 1777, during the American Revolution, the New York Provincial Convention received the following letter, dated two days previously:
“Dear Sir – Upon my arrival home , I found a letter from the chairman of the county committee, requesting the assistance of our militia to quell an insurrection of the tories in Ballstown, and upon inquiry found that the same spirit prevailed much in my regiment, to such a degree that it appears numbers have enlisted , and have taken the oath of secrecy and allegiance to the King of Great Britain, and that a regiment of royal volunteers is to be raised in the county of Albany, under the command of J. Hueston, as will appear by the enclosed; in consequence of which we have not complied with the request of the chairman. Seventeen of the villains are now in confinement, and by the vigilance of our committee, and militia officers, hope soon to detect the whole and transmit to the Convention the proof that shall be collected.
I am, dear sir, in great haste, Yours, [signed] Robt. Van Rensselaer” [Read more…] about Resistance to the Revolution in Saratoga County, May 1777
Chains Across The Hudson River (Podcast)
This week on The Historians Podcast, Bevis Longstreth is author of the novel Chains Across the River (Honeycomb, 2021), a historical novel dealing with the great chains that American forces stretched across the Hudson River during the American Revolution to prevent the British fleet from sailing from New York City to Albany. [Read more…] about Chains Across The Hudson River (Podcast)
Indispensables: New Book On Marblehead’s Soldier-Mariners
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 Indispensables: The Diverse Soldier-Mariners Who Shaped the Country, Formed the Navy, and Rowed Washington Across the Delaware (Atlantic Monthly Press, 2021) by Patrick O’Donnel looks back at the American Revolution’s soldier-mariners from Marblehead, Massachusetts. [Read more…] about Indispensables: New Book On Marblehead’s Soldier-Mariners
Tragic, But True: A New York Soldier In The Civil War
The guns at Fort Sumter had barely fallen silent when Hobart Walker – an idealistic New York teenager enlisted. From then until the very last days of the war, he successively wore the uniform of five different units, suffered wounds in battle and was held as a prisoner-of-war. Discharged for a disability, he re-enlisted. Discharged when his regiment was overstaffed, he re-enlisted. He evolved from starry-eyed youth to seasoned veteran, but he never lost sight of that which sustained him – the conviction that his country needed him. [Read more…] about Tragic, But True: A New York Soldier In The Civil War