Nicholas R. Marsella is a retired U.S. Army Colonel having served in various command and staff positions. As an Army civil servant, he educated and led red teams in support of Army senior leaders. He holds a doctorate in education from the College of William and Mary and holds graduate degrees from Villanova and Old Dominion Universities with a BA from Widener University (Pennsylvania Military College). He is a graduate of the Army War College and Harvard’s JFK School of Government Senior Fellows Program. He is a volunteer with the National Park Service at Yorktown Battlefield.
The 1781 defeat of British forces at Yorktown Virginia is often cited as the pivotal battle of the American Revolution, winning American independence. General George Washington with the support of French ground and naval forces under General Rochambeau and Admiral de Grasse, along with the expertise of French engineers, conducted a siege at Yorktown forcing […]
Understanding the important role played by the Dutch Republic[1] in the American Revolution is challenging. Few scholarly books and articles provide substantive details, and the role of the Dutch Republic is rarely adequately addressed in general histories of the period.[2] Nonetheless, the Dutch did play an important role—albeit a reluctant one—in aiding the united American […]
Largely ignored by scholars, Thomas Nelson Jr. of Yorktown, Virginia, was among the patriots who dared all when he signed the Declaration of Independence. He was well known to the wealthy and powerful of the era as a member of the Virginia gentry which held vast political and economic sway within the colony. Nelson filled […]