Calendar of Historical Programs

Research Services Librarian Rachel Nellis discusses three manuscripts written by Gen. George Washington during the American Revolution. The manuscripts, recently donated to the Institute as part of the George Miller Chester Jr. (Society of the Cincinnati in the State of Connecticut) Collection of Historic General Washington Documents, include two wartime letters written by Washington from Harlem Heights in 1776 and Morristown in 1777. The third manuscript, issued to a French officer in 1783, is one of the earliest examples of…

In 1777, French army officer Michel Capitaine du Chesnoy arrived in Charleston, South Carolina, with the marquis de Lafayette. During the American Revolution, Capitaine du Chesnoy served with Lafayette as both his aide-de-camp and mapmaker, producing several important plans of key engagements. In addition to his maps serving as vital tools for French officers who were strangers to the geography of the United States, Capitaine du Chesnoy’s maps also became an important propaganda tool. Join the Institute’s historical programs manager,…

Museum Collections and Operations Manager Paul Newman discusses an 1830s model of HMS Roebuck, a forty-four-gun British frigate that saw extensive service during the American Revolutionary War. Launched in 1774, the Roebuck found itself performing blockade duty on the Delaware River as early as 1775. The Roebuck later patrolled off Long Island and took part in the attacks on Forts Mercer and Mifflin and the siege of Charleston, South Carolina, before it returned to Great Britain in 1781. This presentation…