The Twenty-Eighth Annual War College of the Seven Years’ War

The past weekend I was able to join, for the second time, the “War College” at Fort Ticonderoga, NY, covering the Seven Years’ War – although the talks mostly cover the French and Indian War part of it (which I don’t mind at all). It was a quick trip to Upstate New York – I again didn’t have time for a more thorough visit this year, so had to keep it to a minimum.

Fort Ticonderoga has been hosting this event, which is a weekend seminar, for 27 years now. Matthew Keagle, the curator at the museum, presented their latest research and key changes in the collection. His talks are super interesting, not only because Matt is a great presenter, but the museum’s research always looks for a connection between the historical events and artifacts.

What great excuse to take a short trip!

The author Michael Laramie presented his research on the book “The Road to Ticonderoga: The Campaign of 1758 in the Champlain Valley”. There were a few things that kindled my interest and I need to crosscheck with other sources how they described specific events. Then I have to decide which source I will follow in the game…

I am really looking forward to his next book, “King George’s War and the Thirty Year Peace: The Third Contest for North America”, which should be out later this year. Getting his Ticonderoga book was a small ordeal, I had it on order from amazon.de for almost six months, then I found it at Adlibris, who delivered it to me swiftly (once they claimed they can do it!).

I picked up three of his other books and got them all signed 🙂

John Hayward’s talk titled “Give It to Them, Jersey Blues!” A look at the New Jersey Regiment, “The Jersey Blues,” in the French & Indian War 1755-1760” was quite interesting. It has been a bit difficult to find good sources on the colonial regiments in order to evaluate their performance during various campaigns. Ultimately, for my project, I doubt I learned much new.