Category: Modern Era

Celebrating Uncle Sam

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A good way to celebrate America on its birthday (and other times) is to learn about good ole Uncle Sam. Where did he come from, what did he do, and where is he going? How much better is it to celebrate in 2026, the year of America’s 250th birthday!

By Mark D. Harris

The 250th birthday of America is only a week away. Raleigh County (WV) has a county fair, a baseball game, several fireworks displays, special dinners, a golf cart parade, and activities at our veterans and first responders museum, to celebrate the occasion. For these events, some of us will become Uncle Sam, entertaining others and telling them about our great nation. If any of our readers wants to serve as Uncle Sam for this, or any other Independence Day activity (in any year), the information  following can help.

Materials

  • Uncle Sam costume – basic costumes cost $30-100. High quality, custom made costumes will cost over $1,000.
  • Uncle Sam poster 24×36 – This is the classic portrayal which most people remember

What about weapons? Uncle Sam has been heavily involved in defending the nation.

  • Revolutionary and 1812 (west) Virginia Rifle (flintlock) – Brother Jonathan and later Uncle Sam (1812) would have had such a rifle.
  • Civil War rifle (caplock) – Springfield model 1861/3.
  • World War 1 – typically without a weapon at all, but reenactors can use the 1903 Springfield or the 1917 Enfield.
  • World War 2 – Uncle Sam could be portrayed with an M1903 Springfield bolt action rifle or the M1 Garand.
  • Vietnam – M16, standard issue rifle

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Saratoga Campaign 1777

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The Battle of Saratoga was a turning point in the American Revolution. Leaders like John Burgoyne, Horatio Gates, and Benedict Arnold, with thousands of valiant men, fought in a drama that would change the world.

By Mark D. Harris, MD, MPH, MBA, MDiv, ThM, PhD, DBA

Background: The Road to Saratoga

After fighting side by side to defeat the French and Indians (1756-1763), Britain and her American colonies drifted apart. Laboring under a heavy debt, Parliament increased taxation and control over the Americans. The Quebec Act (1774) was intended to build support for Britain among the Catholic French Canadians, institute the French system of civil law,[1] and limit colonial migration into the Ohio Valley. However, it infuriated English colonists. But it, and other “intolerable acts,” provided the tipping point into revolution.

Before Congress even declared America to be a new nation (4 July 1776), American rebels captured Fort Ticonderoga (10 May 1775), Crown Point, Fort St. Johns (17 Sep to 3 Nov 1775), and Montreal in the early months of the conflict. US General Richard Montgomery commanded about 1000 militia through the St. Lawrence River north to Quebec. Moving primarily by water, they brought most of the artillery and supplies. US General Benedict Arnold began taking about 1000 militia through the wilderness of Maine, from the Kennebec River to the Chaudière River. Having started in July, Arnold’s force lost about 500 men to starvation, desertion, expiring enlistments, and disease (smallpox). Montgomery’s force diminished to 700 by expiring enlistments.

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The Battle of Tarawa: America’s Early Lesson in WWII Amphibious Warfare

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By Mark D. Harris, MD, MPH, MBA, MDiv, ThM, PhD, DBA

What was the Battle of Tarawa in World War II? Why was it important then,…and today?

The morning of November 20, 1943, dawned over a small coral atoll in the Central Pacific that few Americans had ever heard of. Within seventy-six hours, Tarawa would become seared into the American consciousness as one of the most savage battles of World War II. The ferocious fighting on this tiny strip of land, barely twelve square miles in total area, would claim over 6,000 lives and fundamentally transform how the United States Navy and Marine Corps conducted amphibious operations for the remainder of the war.

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Early American Medicine

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If we lived one or two hundred years ago, many of us would have died long before we reached our current age. Medical knowledge has exploded, and we are the happy beneficiaries. But studying the past still holds clues for the future. 

This summer my family and I explored Fort Ligonier, an eighteenth century British fort in Western Pennsylvania, and the Bushy Run Battlefield, a historic site of the Seven Years War (1756-1763). My children opined about what it must have been like to live in those days. As we looked at the hospital buildings, however, my daughter said “the thing that I would miss the most is 21st century medicine. “

She is not alone. Some people attend Renaissance Fairs and pretend to live in Medieval Europe. Others reenact the Civil War or other major conflicts. No one that I have ever spoken to, however, wants to give up modern medicine. Not that modern medicine is perfect. Too often it is impersonal, profit driven, complicated and expensive. However, compared to much of existed before, it is miraculous. We would do well to remember that, and be thankful for it.

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Gettysburg Sesquicentennial 2013

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Photographs of the re-enactment of the Battle of Gettysburg, Civil War, Sesquicentennial June

2013

Living History at Gettysburg on the Sesquicentennial

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A once-in-a-lifetime chance to revisit one of the most important battles in American history. 

Some families enjoy history. Mine has reconnoitered the fields at Saratoga, examined the batteries at Fort McHenry, walked the decks of the USS Wisconsin, and explored the beaches at Normandy.  On Independence Day weekend my oldest son David, my oldest daughter Anna, and I enjoyed another famous battlefield, Gettysburg.

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