Category: 18th century

Apache Wars history book – “A Bad Peace and A Good War” (University of Oklahoma Press, 2018) – Mark Santiago interview

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Mark Santiago is a historian and director of the New Mexico Farm & Ranch heritage Museum.  He’s written articles and books on Spanish history in the Americas and we talk about his new book on the Spanish-Apache War of 1795. 

 0:52 – Mark talks about how he got into studying history.  He’s currently the head of a New Mexico museum.

2:00 – Mark talks about the details of the book.  It deals with a period of 30 years when the Spanish were trying to deal with the Apaches. Many historians have called this a period of peace but in 1795 there was a large scale conflict between the Mescalero and the Spanish.

6:53 – Mark talks about the basis for Mescalero resistance to Spain.  This includes conflict with other Native American groups.

19:01 – Mark talks about the demographics and population patterns in this area in the late 18th century.

24:59 – Mark talks about the size and make-up of the garrisons in the Presidios.  He also discusses their weapons, armor and tactics. There is a lot of similarity to what the US cavalry did a hundred years later.

32:15 – Mark talks about cannons at the Presidios, the effectivness of the Presidios in controlling war parties, and where the troops at the Presidios came from.

 42:00 – Mark talks about three Presidios of Indian soldierson the northern frontier.

43:55 – Mark talks about the resources he used for the book.

58:55 – Mark talks about the end of the Spanish Empire.

1:09:20 – Mark can be reached at msantiagobooks@gmail.com to answer questions about his work.

Links of interest

https://www.oupress.com/books/15037346/a-bad-peace-and-a-good-war
http://www.nmfarmandranchmuseum.org/

For more “Military History Inside Out” please follow me on Facebook at warscholar, on twitter at Warscholar, on youtube at warscholar1945 and on Instagram @crisalvarezswarscholar

Guests: Mark Santiago

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: military, history, military history, conflict,war, interview, non-fiction book, Spanish borderlands, Bourbon reforms, Apaches,New Mexico, French, british, Spanish Empire, Spain, Arizona, Texas, Comanche.Bernardo De Galvez, reservations, presidios, Lepan, Chiracahua, Revolutionary France, light cavalry, heavy cavalry, carbines, dragoons, Carlos III

American Revolution history book – “Valley Forge” (Simon & Schuster, 2018) – Tom Clavin interview

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Tom Clavin is a prolific history writer who’s been on the New York Times Bestsllers list. We talk about his latest book co-authored with Bob Drury, Valley Forge.

0:41 – Tom talks about how he got into co-authoring a book on Valley Forge during the American Revolution.

3:05 – Tom talks about how the book is laid out and describes each of the three parts.

7:51 – Tom talks about the ways Washington was able to keep his troops at Valley Forge.

10:44 – Tom talks about Lafayette and Von Steuben.

14:14 – Tom talks about Washington’s feelings of fatherliness to the men in his army and to the country.

17:02 – Tom talks about the British plans and the effects of winter on campaigning.

19:58 – Tom talks about Washington’s plans for the time at Valley Forge and after. He also describes Von Steuben and what he did for the army.

24:19 – Tom talks about how Washignton managed an army made up of people from all over the country and also of other nationalities. There were also hundreds of black troops in the army.

29:00 – Tom talks about what they used to research the book.

31:55 – Tom talks about visiting the site of Valley Forge.

34:55 – Tom tells the sad story of John Lawrence, one of Washington’s favorites.

38:15 – The Americans deployed an attack submarine during Valley Forge. As wild as that sounds, Tom explains.

39:40 – Tom talks about the effort to usurp Washington.

43:54 – Tom talks about how camp followers were taken care of.

45:29 – Tom talks about the huge population of people at Valley Forge at the time.

47:04 – Tom talks about Washington’s experience in managing this large number of people.

53:45 – He has a website tomclavin.com

Links of interest

http://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Valley-Forge/Bob-Drury/9781501152719

For more “Military History Inside Out” please follow me on Facebook at warscholar, on twitter at Warscholar, on youtube at warscholar1945 and on Instagram @crisalvarezswarscholar

Guests: Tom Clavin

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: military, history, military history, conflict, war, interview, non-fiction book. George Washington, Lafayette, Von Steuben, Alexander Hamilton, Howe, British, Continental Army, Continental Congress, Franklin, American Revolution

18th and 19th C US Army history book – “The Soldiers of Fort Mackinac” (Michigan State University Press, 2018) – Phil Porter interview

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Phil Porter is director of Mackinac State Historic Parks and has studied the Mackinac area extensively. We talk about his latest book on the soldiers of Fort Mackinac.

1:49 – Phil talks about how he got into Mackinac history 46 years ago. He’s written about US military authority after the American Revolution and he’s written another book on Fort Mackinac history.

5:27 – The book is a collection of images of soldiers who served at Fort Mackinac but also discusses the life of these soldiers and why they were at the Fort.

8:30 – Phil talks about some of the history of the British retaking of the fort in the War of 1812.

11:00 – Phil talks about the importance of the fort in the region.

18:05 – Phil talks about images of soldiers at the fort during the pre-War of 1812 period.

20:00 – We talk about uniform variations among soldiers at the Fort from the rest of the US Army.

23:31 – Phil talks about famed medical Dr. Beaumont who was a pioneer on digestive processes.

29:30 – Phil talks about relations between Native American and he soldiers of the fort over time.

31:07 – Phil talks about Civil War soldiers who had served at Fort Mackinac. One was Confederate officer John Pemberton.

36:00 – Phil talks about a soldier that served in the First Barbary War.

37:30 – Phil talks about three wealthy Confederates who were imprisoned at Fort Mackinac for a few months.

45:55 – Getting permissions to use images was a long and tedious process.

47:20 – They found a photo of soldiers playing baseball at the fort. They still play baseball at the fort at the same field.

54:43 – The parks’ books can be found on Amazon and on their website mackinacparks.com.

55:35 – Phil explains why the spelling is Mackinac but is pronounced Mackinaw.

Links of interest

Mackinac State Historic Parks

For more “Military History Inside Out” please follow me on Facebook at warscholar, on twitter at Warscholar, on youtube at warscholar1945 and on Instagram @crisalvarezswarscholar

Guests: Phil Porter

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: military, history, military history, conflict, war, interview, non-fiction book, Revolutionary War, War of 1812, US Civil War, Mexican-American War, Native American, british, militia, First Barbary War, military prison, Michigan history