War of 1812 Heritage Talks

Sixth Annual War of 1812 Heritage Talks April 25-26, 2014 The Fort La Présentation Association offers a varied fare those with broad interests in the War of 1812. Friday evening there is a concert of period music planned. This is a community event free to all. The seven Saturday seminars will look at the militias of New York and Upper Canada, the USN on the St. Lawrence River, a Connecticut officer on the Northern Frontier, the Canadian Voltigeurs, US Army uniforms of the period, and the 1814 British campaign on the Cheseapeake. Exhibits: Battle of Crysler's Farm; Sackets Harbor; re-enactment photographs; and more. We are forgoing the closing banquet and dinner speaker to allow the participants time to networking and more opportunity to take in the displays from local museums and heritage organizations. We have all the facilities of Ogdensburg’s Freight House Restaurant, from the side rooms to the banquet hall to the bar. Friday evening, there will be the concert, along with the customary meet and greet. Saturday, a continental breakfast and buffet lunch, and the Freight House will offer a special menu for those who stay for dinner. For information contact us at 1-315-394-1749 or email fort1749@yahoo.com. Speakers Horst Dresler (The Canadian Voltigeurs and the Battle of Chateauguay) a Canadian living in Woodstock, VT has been an active re-enactor for three decades and event organizer for more than 10 years. Horst is a founder of the Quebec Historical Corps a bilingual, nonprofit organization promoting a better understanding of our past through learning how our ancestors lived and the events they experienced. He is the author of "Farmers and Honest Men” (American Revolution) and most recently “Defenders of Lower Canada, the Canadian Voltigeurs” (War of 1812). Horst is the owner of Anything Printed; the name says it all. The business covers production jobs from concept to final production. David Murray (The American Infantry Uniform from 1811 to 1815), Morristown, NY, has researched and recreated American military uniforms for more than twenty years, concentrating on the War of 1812. As a longtime member of an 1812 military re-enactment group, he enjoys experimental archaeology by creating and wearing the period clothing. Putting his recreated military tunics, small clothes, and associated military accouterments through actual service conditions have been invaluable in corroborating the authenticity of the construction techniques he uses. David is an elected official in Morristown, NY and is a former teacher. Bryan Thompson (Lt. Col. Thomas B. Benedict, the Accidental Commander of the St Lawrence County Militia) is the municipal historian for the town of De Kalb, NY. Bryan was the recipient of a 2007 Hackman research fellowship at the NYS archives to study the career of Lt Col. Benedict. In 2009 he was the recipient of the Bruce W Dearstyne award from the NYS Board of Regents for excellence in the educational use of local government records. He has authored more than 30 articles. Gregory Kloten (Captain George Howard United States Army: The Chronicles of a Connecticut Yankee on the Northern Frontier of the War of 1812) from Wethersfield, CT, teaches American and World history at Capital Community College in Hartford. The George Howard manuscript illuminates the lives of young men who came of age in the early Republic and provides an intimate look at the US Army in the War of 1812 from the perspective of a junior officer. Childhood visits to historical sites on the Niagara frontier sparked a life long interest in the War of 1812. Richard David Feltoe (The Upper Canada Militia in Peace and War, 1808-1816) from Brampton, Ontario is the Curator and Corporate Archivist for Redpath Sugar Ltd., Canada’s oldest sugar company. Since 1978, Richard has been a Living History re-enactor, recreating the life of a Canadian militia soldier from the North American War of 1812-1815. He has authored seven books on the War of 1812, published by Dundurn Press. Having “served” in the ranks, as a senior NCO and as Commanding Officer within the recreated Incorporated Militia of Upper Canada, Richard has “fought” upon many 1812 heritage sites and battlefields in the United States and Canada. Ralph Eshelman Ph.D. (The British Campaign in the Chesapeake) lives in Maryland and is the co-author with Burton K. Kummerow of In Full Glory Reflected: Discovering the War of 1812 in the Chesapeake. Specific to the War of 1812, conducted a holistic inventory of War of 1812 sites in Maryland for the National Park Service’s National Battlefield Protection Program. This resulted in two reports: “Maryland... War of 1812: Battlefields, Selected Skirmishes, Encampments, Earthworks, and Related Sites” (2000; co-authored with Christopher George); and “Maryland Revolutionary War and War of 1812 Battlefields/Skirmishes and Associated Historical Properties Survey" (2002; co-authored with Susan Langley and Ben Ford). Eshelman was co-director of the Patuxent River Cultural Resource Survey which discovered and partially excavated an American War of 1812 military vessel from the U.S. Chesapeake Flotilla. Dennis McCarthy (The US Navy support of the Wilkinson Campaign and the Battle of French Creek), from Cape Vincent, NY has co-authored several Divers Guide Books to the Thousand Islands and the book Shipwrecks of the Thousand Islands. He is amateur archaeologist and historian and for more than 40 years a certified scuba diver. Dennis is the co-founder of the St Lawrence River Historical Foundation and project manager of its Iroquoise Project, the 1990's underwater archaeology survey of the 1759-1761 French Iroquoise, wrecked on Niagara Shoal. He is the web master for www.forthaldimand.com, dedicated to the memory of Fort Haldimand and the Revolutionary War military post on Carleton Island. COST $60…Regular Fee - includes continental breakfast and buffet lunch $50…Members (Fort Association, Canadian Friends, Forsyth’s Rifles), Educators, NYS Town Historians - includes continental breakfast and buffet lunch $30…Students- includes continental breakfast and buffet lunch $20…Exhibitors- includes continental breakfast and buffet lunch