Events
February 2025
Lecture—Benjamin Franklin, Francisco Saavedra de Sangronis and Spain’s Grand Strategy in the American Revolutionary War
Historian Thomas E. Chávez focuses our attention on Spanish participation throughout the American Revolution through a discussion of Spain’s grand strategy during the war; the contributions to the Spanish war effort of Francisco Saavedra de Sangronis, a Spanish official working for Spain’s Ministry of the Indies; to the Spanish war effort and the interactions of Benjamin Franklin with key Spanish officials—from his early correspondence with the prince of Spain through his election as an honorary member of the Spanish Royal…
Find out more »Author’s Talk—From Trenton to Yorktown: Turning Points of the Revolutionary War
For eight grueling years, American and British military forces struggled in a bloody war over colonial independence. This conflict also ensnared Native American warriors and the armies and navies of France, Spain, the Dutch Republic and several German principalities. From frozen Canada to tropical Florida and as far west as the Mississippi River, the Revolutionary War included hundreds of campaigns, battles and skirmishes on land and sea in which soldiers and sailors fought and died for causes, crowns and comrades.…
Find out more »March 2025
Author’s Talk—Threshold to Valley Forge: The Six Days of the Gulph Mills Encampment
Between December 12–19, 1777, Gen. George Washington and his Continental Army encamped in the towering hills of Gulph Mills, Pennsylvania, fifteen miles from Philadelphia. Known as the threshold to Valley Forge, the Gulph Mills Encampment is often forgotten or minimized, falling between the more famous military engagements of the Philadelphia Campaign and the well-known experience of the army at Valley Forge. Yet, the Gulph Mills Encampment was a pivotal microcosm of the Revolutionary War and the issues that confronted the…
Find out more »Lecture—The Cutting Off Way: Indigenous Warfare in the American Revolution
Historian Wayne E. Lee of the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill discusses Indigenous warfare before and during the American Revolution. Throughout the Revolution, Indigenous warriors sought to surprise their targets, and the size of the target varied with the size of the attacking force. A small war party might "cut off" individuals getting water or wood or out hunting, while a larger party might attempt to attack a whole town. Once revealed by its attack, the invading war party…
Find out more »April 2025
Lecture—The Realities of Infantry in Combat During the American Revolution
Historian Alex Burns, Ph.D., assistant professor of history at Franciscan University of Steubenville, places the common enlisted man during the American Revolution at center stage by discussing their experiences during the war. Drawing from his archival research on the American, British and Prussian armies, Dr. Burns shows how the infantryman throughout the eighteenth century played an important role by asserting tactical reforms from below and places the tactical experiences of the Continental Army in a European context. Registration is requested.…
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