Author: Michael Barbieri

A life-long Vermonter, Mike has spent forty years researching and interpreting the Revolution with a concentration on the northern theater. He has taught history at high school and college levels and has given innumerable presentations on the 18th century. In 1974, Mike helped form Whitcomb’s Rangers and subsequently based his master’s thesis on the original unit. He worked for a number of years at the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum and, now semi-retired, is quite active supporting the historic sites in the region, particularly Hubbardton and Mount Independence which are at the center of much of his research.

 Reviews Posted on

Robert Rogers, Ranger: The Rise and Fall of an American Icon

BOOK REVIEW: Robert Rogers, Ranger: The Rise and Fall of an American Icon by Martin Klotz. (Yardley, PA: Westholme Publishing, 2024). $32.50 hardcover. In 1940, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer movies released “Northwest Passage,” a rather loose adaptation of Kenneth Roberts’ book by the same name.[1] In it, well-liked and respected hero-figure Robert Rogers leads a skilled and disciplined […]

by Michael Barbieri
Autobiography and Biography Posted on

“The Utility of Our Business:” Samuel Holland, Surveyor-General

With the end of the Seven Years’ War, Great Britain found itself in possession of vast new territories. The government looked on these holdings as a means to reduce the enormous debt built up during the war but, when it came to utilizing those resources, existing “salutary neglect” policies and practices simply did not suffice. […]

by Michael Barbieri
Autobiography and Biography Posted on

American Traitor: General James Wilkinson’s Betrayal of the Republic and Escape from Justice

BOOK REVIEW: American Traitor: General James Wilkinson’s Betrayal of the Republic and Escape from Justice by Howard W. Cox (Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2023) Beginning in his late teens, James Wilkinson developed the reputation of being an all-around abhorrent human being and history has continued to support that view. Howard Cox decided to investigate this […]

by Michael Barbieri
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Autobiography and Biography Posted on

From the Battlefield to the Stage: The Many Lives of General John Burgoyne

BOOK REVIEW: From the Battlefield to the Stage: the Many Lives of General John Burgoyne by Norman S. Poser (Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2023) It has been three decades since the last attempt at an in-depth biography of John Burgoyne. Max Mintz in his 1992 book,The Generals of Saratoga, looked at both Burgoyne and Horatio Gates […]

by Michael Barbieri
Documents Posted on

Orderly Book of the 5th Continental Infantry Regiment, New Hampshire Historical Society

In the summer and fall of 1776, the decrepit fortifications at Ticonderoga and the area surrounding it became one of the top five population centers in North America—ultimately numbering 12,000 or more. In early July, a brigade under the command of New Hampshire’s John Stark began building fortifications on the forested, 300-acre rocky peninsula across […]

by Michael Barbieri
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Law Posted on

“Good and Sufficient Testimony:” The Development of the Revolutionary War Pension Plan

One of the greatest sources of information on the American Revolution is the collection of pension applications submitted by American veterans of the war or their families. Over 80,000 files are available to researchers as part of the National Archives and Records Administration microfilm publication M804. Intent on finding some desired morsel of information, however, […]

by Michael Barbieri
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Reviews Posted on

A Tale of Three Gunboats: Lake Champlain’s Revolutionary War Heritage

Book Review: A Tale of Three Gunboats: Lake Champlain’s Revolutionary War Heritage by Philip Lundeberg, Arthur Cohn, Jennifer Jones, et al. (Lake Champlain Maritime Museum and the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, 2017) [BUY NOW] Sitting on the shore of Lake Champlain a few miles south of Burlington, Vermont, is the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum (LCMM). Like […]

by Michael Barbieri
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Techniques & Tech Posted on

Winter Soldiering in the Lake Champlain Valley

From the beginning, the American army knew south-facing Fort Ticonderoga did little to protect against an attack coming up Lake Champlain from British-controlled Canada.[1] To address the problem, they decided to fortify the north-facing peninsula, called East Point or Rattlesnake Hill, that poked out into the lake across from Ticonderoga. During the summer of 1776, […]

by Michael Barbieri
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Places Posted on

Valcour Island Redux

Lying between Vermont and New York, astride the border between the United States and Canada, accessible via canals from the St. Lawrence and Hudson Rivers, and 125 miles long, Lake Champlain is a major boating attraction. On any summer’s day, hundreds of watercraft displaying registrations from numerous states and Canadian provinces will pause for a […]

by Michael Barbieri
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Economics Posted on

The Worth of a Continental

The American army during the Revolution consisted of three basic varieties of units—militia, state troops, and the Continental Army. Beginning with the earliest communities, militia served as a short-term local defense force raised by towns. The men who responded to the call on April 19, 1775, and laid siege to the British in Boston came […]

by Michael Barbieri