American Revolution Conference
Save-the-Date - May 29-June 1, 2025 - The American Revolutionary War Conference 250
Speakers Confirmed (More will be added and topics updated soon)
Major General Jason Q. Bohm USMC - 250th United States Marine Corp
Alexander R. Cain - We Stood Our Ground: 250th of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, April 19, 1775
Abby Chandler - Choosing Sides: North Carolina's Regulator Rebellion and the American Revolution
Gary Ecelbarger - The Mammoth of Monmouth: George Washington's 1778 Campaign in New Jersey
Michael P. Gabriel - Richard Montgomery and the Other Invasion of Canada
Shirley L. Green - Integrating Enslaved and Free: Rhode Island’s Revolutionary Black Regiment
Don N. Hagist - State of British Army in 1775
Patrick H. Hannum - Great Bridge and Kemps Landing, Virginia 1775
Edward G. Lengel - 250th General George Washington and the Continental Army
Wayne Lenig - Committee of Safety and the Mohawk Valley in 1775
James Kirby Martin - Setting the Stage for Bloody Warfare in the Mohawk Valley: Neutrality versus Partisan Combat in 1775
James L. Nelson - Bunker Hill: The First Battle of the American Revolution
Jane Simpson, U.E. - Twice Refugees: A Huguenot Family’s Shades of Allegiance in Dutchess and Westchester County New York, during the American Revolution
William P. Tatum III - “To Quell, Suppress, and Bring Them to Reason by Force:” Combatting the Loyalist Threat in New York during 1775
Bruce M. Venter - "It is infinitely better to have a few good men than many indifferent ones": Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys Take Fort Ticonderoga
Bus Tour - We Stood Our Ground: Battles of Lexington & Concord, April 19, 1775 - Led by Alexander R. Cain - Thursday, May 29, 2025
The Fort Plain Museum & Historical Park and its Board of Trustees, sincerely thank you all for attending this year's American Revolutionary War Conference 250 and bus tour, and for the many donations, memberships, and book purchases throughout the event. Thank you to all of the attendees, speakers, sponsors, and volunteers, you are all great supporters of the museum, and we appreciate it greatly. Thank you for the feedback via the evaluations, as we will implement changes to better enhance your future attendance. We will inform you when our programs appear of CSPAN.
Conference Lodging:
Please Click Here for the 2025 Hotel-Lodging Information
Lunch: Provided on Saturday and Sponsored by Lorna Hainesworth, Ambassador and National Traveler and Fort Plain Museum Board of Trustees Member
Conference Location: The Fulton-Montgomery Community College's Theater - The Visual Arts & Communications Building (Campus Map Building #2) - 2805 NY-67, Johnstown, NY 12095 - Please Park in Lots 5, 4 or Visitor's Lot - Please Click Here - FMCC Campus Map
Please Click Here to Learn More about our Sponsors & Supporters
2024 Conference Speakers and Bus Tour:
Fireside Chat - James Kirby Martin with guest host Mark Edward Lender - Professor and Student Discuss the American Revolutionary War, the Upcoming 250th Anniversary and Their Legacies
Nancy Bradeen Spannaus - "For the Future Grandeur and Glory of America" Alexander Hamilton's War for Our Economic Independence (Supported by the Alexander Hamilton Awareness Society)
Gary Ecelbarger - "This Happy Opportunity": George Washington and the Battle of Germantown
James R. Fichter - Tea - Consumption, Politics, and Revolution, 1773–1776
Shirley L. Green - Revolutionary Blacks: Discovering the Frank Brothers, Freeborn Men of Color, Soldiers of Independence
Mark Edward Lender - "Liberty or Death!" - Some Revolutionary Statistics and Existential Warfare
Shawn David McGhee - No Longer Subjects of the British King: The Political Transformation of Royal Subjects to Republican Citizens, 1774-1776
James Kirby Martin - The Marquis de Lafayette Visits the Mohawk Valley, Again and Again
Matthew E. Reardon - The Traitor's Homecoming, Benedict Arnold's Raid on New London, September 4-13, 1781
John L. Smith - The Unexpected Abigail Adams: A Woman “Not Apt to Be Intimidated” (Supported by the Dr. Joseph Warren Foundation)
Glenn F. Williams - No Other Motive Than the True Interest of This Country: Dunmore's War 1774
The James F. Morrison Mohawk Valley Resident Historian - Chris Leonard (Schenectady City Historian) - Storehouse Schenectady: Depot and Transportation Center for the Northern War
David Moyer - Recent Archaeology Discoveries on the Site of Revolutionary War Fort Plain
Bus Tour - 1774: The Rising Tide, Schenectady to Johnstown - Tour Leaders Norman Bollen and Wayne Lenig
2023 Conference Speakers and Bus Tour:
Fireside Chat - Special Guest Lorna Hainesworth and Guest Host Bruce M. Venter - For the Love of History!
Lisa Anderson & Charles E. Vandrei - Revolutionary War Soldiers Remains: Uncovering the Mystery of the Unearthed Lake George Burying Grounds
Friederike Baer - Hessians: The German Soldiers in the American Revolutionary War
Benjamin L. Carp - The Boston Tea Party at 250: Reflections on the Radicalism of the Revolutionary Movement
Vivian E. Davis - Over 250 Years Ago! The Battle of Golden Hill, January 19, 1770
Holly A. Mayer - Congress's Own A Canadian Regiment, the Continental Army, and American Union
Steven Park - 250 Years of Remembering: The Changing Landscape of Gaspee History
Nina Sankovitch - The Abiding Quest of a Forgotten Hero: How Josiah Quincy Battled Overwhelming Odds to Bring Together the Northern and Southern Colonies in 1773, Fanning the Flames of Revolution and Laying the Groundwork for Independence from England
Eric H. Schnitzer - Picturing History: The Images of the American War for Independence
Sergio Villavicencio - St Eustatius and the American Revolution
Mohawk Valley Resident Historian - Terry McMaster - A Revolutionary Couple on the Old New York Frontier: Col. Samuel Clyde & Catharine Wasson of Cherry Valley
New York State and the 250th: Where Things Stand - Presenters: Devin R. Lander, New York State Historian, Phil Giltner, Director of Special Projects, NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, Constance M. Kehoe, President, Revolutionary Westchester 250 and Lauren Roberts, Saratoga County Historian
Norman J. Bollen - The Fort Plain Museum & Historical Park’s Grand Enhancement Plan – Rebuilding the Blockhouse for the 250th
Bus Tour - Forts and Fortified Homes of the Mohawk Valley - Tour Leaders Bruce Venter, Wayne Lenig and Norm Bollen
2022 Conference Speakers and Bus Tour:
Fireside Chat with John "Jack" Buchanan and Guest Host Bruce M. Venter - Rice Kings, "Pack of Beggars", and Smelly Continentals -- Revolution in the Deep South with the Swamp Fox, the Gamecock, and other characters "Agile, Mobile, and Hostile"
William M. Fowler, Jr. - The Revolution's Odd Couple: John Hancock and Samuel Adams
James Kirby Martin - A Contagion of Violence: The Human Slaughter in Frontier New York: 1775-1783
Mark Edward Lender - John Brown's Raid on Fort Ticonderoga in September 1777
Ricardo A. Herrera - Feeding Washington's Army: Surviving the Valley Forge Winter of 1778
Eric H. Schnitzer - Brave and Gallant: Black and African American Military Men at Saratoga
Craig Bruce Smith - The Interests of Our Dearest Country: Honor and the Continental Army
David Head - George Washington and a Very Mysterious Business: Tracking Down the Newburgh Conspiracy
Christian McBurney -
Glenn F. Williams - Leadership from Both Sides During the Sullivan-Clinton Campaign of 1779
Robert A. Selig - The Road to Yorktown: Moving the Army from Newport, Rhode Island to Yorktown, Virginia
Bus Tour - Drums Along the Mohawk: General Nicholas Herkimer, the Battle of Oriskany and Siege of Fort Schuyler (Stanwix) - Tour Leaders Glenn F. Williams and Norman J. Bollen
2021 Conference Speakers and Bus Tour:
Fireside Chat - William M. Fowler, Jr. with Guest Host Christian DiSpigna – Revolution Breaks Out in Boston and it’s the Usual Suspects, Adams, Hancock, Warren, Revere, and others!
Andrew Jackson O’Shaughnessy - The Architect of the British War for America: Lord George Germain
David O. Stewart - George Washington: The Political Rise of America’s Founding Father
Katie Turner Getty - Escape from New York! American Prisoners of War and the Jails and Prison Ships of New York
Eric H. Schnitzer - The Value of Revisionism: Don Troiani's Campaign to Saratoga - 1777
Wayne Lenig - Joseph Brant’s 1780 Raid on Fort Plain and the Canajohary Settlement
Wade P. Catts & Robert A. Selig - The Battles of Stone Arabia and Klock's Field, October 19, 1780: A Study
Robert A. Selig - Tuesday, 14 August 1781: The Day that Shook the World
Todd W. Braisted - In Reduced Circumstances: Loyalist Women and British Government
Assistance, 1779-1783
James E. Richmond - War on the Middleline: The Founding of a Community in the Kayaderosseras Patent in the Midst of the American Revolution
Bus Tour – The Battles of Stone Arabia and Klock’s Field, 1780 - Tour Leader Wayne Lenig
2020 - No Conference Due to COVID-19 Pandemic
2019 Conference Speakers and Bus Tour:
Eric H. Schnitzer – Benedict Arnold at Saratoga: How a Newly Discovered Letter Changed History
David L. Preston – First in Peace: The Delaware Indian Nation and its 1778 Treaty with the
United States
John Buchanan – The Road to Charleston: How Major General Nathanael Greene Dealt with
Logistics, Savage Civil War, and Politics in the Carolina's and Georgia
Mark Edward Lender – The Plot against General Washington: The Conway Cabal Reconsidered
Christian Di Spigna – Founding Martyr: The Life and Death of Dr. Joseph Warren, the American Revolution's Lost Hero
Albert Louis Zambone – The Rewards of Persistence: Daniel Morgan in the Saratoga Campaign
James Kirby Martin – The Man Who Wouldn't Be King: George Washington, an Exceptional Revolutionary Leader
Bruce M. Venter – Defending the Mohawk Valley: Forts and Homes Illustrated by Rufus Grider's
Art Work
Holly A. Mayer – Women at War: Continental Army Followers
Tony Williams – George Washington & Alexander Hamilton: A Revolutionary Relationship
Glenn F. Williams – Beyond the Mohawk: The Battles of Newtown and Groveland
Douglas J. Pippin – The American Revolution in the St. Lawrence Valley
Bus Tour 1 – The Clinton Portage: Sullivan/Clinton Campaign of 1779 - Tour Leader Wayne Lenig
Bus Tour 2 – The Footsteps of General Washington, 1783 - Tour Leader Norm Bollen
2018 Conference Speakers and Bus Tour:
Rand Scholet - The Alexander Awareness Society President & Kayla Empey - Central New York Chapter President - What is the Alexander Awareness Society?
Michael E. Newton - Alexander Hamilton’s Revolutionary War Service
Russell Shorto - Revolution Song: America’s Founding Era in Six Remarkable Lives
Edward G. Lengel – George Washington and the Burning of New York City, 1776
Eric H. Schnitzer – “Hessians” at the Battle of Bennington, 1777
James L. Nelson – Benedict Arnold's Navy: The Story of the Rag Tag Fleet that Lost the Battle of Valcour Island and Won the American Revolution
Don N. Hagist – Redcoats Along the Mohawk: British Soldiers in Western New York, 1777-1783
Bruce M. Venter – Benedict Arnold's Nemesis: Colonel John Brown's Fateful Journey to the Mohawk Valley
Jennifer DeBruin – Traitors, Spies & Heroes: Loyalist Espionage in the American Revolution
Glenn F. Williams – Sir William Johnson, the Iroquois Confederacy and Lord Dunmore’s War
John Buchanan – Two Warriors: George Washington and Sir William Howe
Wayne Lenig – The Tryon County Committee of Safety
Panel Discussion – Patriot or Loyalist? – All Presenters and Audience
Bus Tour - Season of Terror 1778: Battle and Raid Sites - Tour Leader Wayne Lenig
2017 Conference Speakers and Bus Tour:
Tom Mercer and Anthony Vertucci - Benedict Arnold: Hero Betrayed Preview
William M. Fowler Jr. - An American Crisis: George Washington and the Dangerous Two Years After Yorktown, 1781-1783
Gavin K. Watt - Neighbours Against Neighbours - Fort Schuyler and Oriskany
Eric H. Schnitzer - Tactics of the 1777 Battles of Saratoga
Christian M. McBurney - Abductions in the American Revolution in Northern New York
Robert A. Geake - From Slaves to Soldiers: The 1st Rhode Island Regiment in the American Revolution
Dean R. Snow - Oneidas, Mohawks, and the Saratoga Campaign
Bruce M. Venter - Gentleman Johnny Burgoyne discussed: “The Murder of Jane McCrea or How I Lost the War in America!”
Wayne Lenig - 1780, the Year of the Burning: The War on the Mohawk Frontier
Todd W. Braisted - The Royalist Corps in the Burgoyne Campaign
Matthew J. Hollis & David A. Ranzan - Middling Officers in the Mohawk Valley
Daniel M. Sivilich - Musket Balls: Diagnostic Tools for Military Sites
Bus Tour 1 - Mohawk Country - Tour Leader Norm Bollen
Bus Tour 2 - Drums Along the Mohawk - Tour Leaders Wayne Lenig and Ron Burch
2016 Conference Speakers and Bus Tour:
Bruce M. Venter - The Battle of Hubbardton: The Rear Guard Action that Saved America
James Kirby Martin - Benedict Arnold in the Mohawk Valley: The Rescue of Fort Schuyler (Stanwix)
Edward G. Lengel - First Entrepreneur: How George Washington Built His and the Nation's
Prosperity
Lois Huey - Molly Brant A Legacy Of Her Own
Todd Braisted - Grand Forage 1778: The Battleground Around New York City
J.L. Bell - The Road to Concord: How Four Stolen Cannon Ignited the Revolutionary War
Don Hagist - The Journal of the American Revolution
Darren Bonaparte - Colonel Louis Cook, Oneidas at Oriskany
Philip D. Weaver - Stories from “The Jersey Greys” of 1776 in Upstate New York’s Mohawk Valley Region
Archeological Review of New York’s British & American Revolutionary War Fortifications
Featuring:
- Dr. Amy Roache-Fedchenko – Fort Stanwix (Fort Schuyler)
- Dr. Susan Maguire – Fort Niagara
- Dr. Douglas Pippin – Fort Haldimand
- Aaron Gore – Fort Oswegatchie
- Wayne Lenig – Fort Plain/Fort Rensselaer
Bus Tour 1 - Western Frontier - Tour Leaders Wayne Lenig and Norm Bollen
Bus Tour 2 - Sir William Johnson's World - Tour Leaders Wayne Lenig and Norm Bollen
2015 Conference Speakers and Bus Tour:
Bruce M. Venter - Col. John Brown and the Battle of Diamond Island on Lake George
Jame Kirby Martin - Forgotten Allies, the Oneida Indians and the American Revolution
Todd W. Braisted - “A hellish plan to go over to the enemy" The Revolutionary War Adventures of Lieutenant Edward McMichael
Don Hagist - The Revolution's Last Men, the Soldiers Behind the Photographs
Glenn F. Williams - The Year of the Hangman, George Washington's Campaign Against the Iroquois
Jack Kelly - Band of Giants
Wayne Lenig - Revolutionary War Fort Plain
Bus Tour - Revolutionary War Historic Sites and Museum around Fort Plain - Tour Leaders Norm Bollen and Peter Couser