Wednesday, August 30, 2017

Invading Indiana (Tippecanoe and Tecumseh too)!


Indiana and the NW Territory
American Revolution
Tippecanoe Battlefield Museum
In 1840 William Henry Harrison was elected the 9th President of the United States.  His political career had been launched by his military victory over Native American forces at the Battle of Tippecanoe which took place on November 7, 1811 and was fought in Battle Ground Indiana (http://www.tippecanoehistory.org/our-sites/tippecanoe-battlefield-museum/).  Sadly, Harrison took ill shortly after his inauguration perhaps due to the foul Washington weather which resulted in pneumonia or perhaps due to typhus.  In any case Harrison died after occupying the White House for only 32 days.  Harrison may, arguably, have made fewer mistakes than any other US President!
William Henry Harrison
America's least imperfect President!
In the Indiana chapter of America Invaded: A State by State Guide to Fighting on American Soil we noted...

Battle of Tippecanoe Memorial
Battle Ground, IN
"The Hoosier state derives its name from being a Land of Indians. Native Americans resided in the area for thousands of years before Europeans came.

Even before Europeans arrived in significant numbers in what is now Indiana, their activities farther east would have a knock-on effect in the area.  The competition among Native Americans to supply valuable furs to European traders and receive  rearms from those same traders helped ignite the so-called Beaver Wars, or Iroquois Wars. Iroquois attacked Algonquian tribes.

In 1679, French explorer Robert de La Salle arrived in what is now Indiana and camped at what became South Bend. By 1681, he had negotiated a deal with the Miami and Illinois people, and the French started allowing them to buy guns. With France increasingly involved in fighting the Iroquois and aiding their Native American enemies, peace was finally on the way.  e Great Peace of Montreal in 1701 brought an end to the  fighting.

In the period after, French influence and trade in the area began to expand.  The French founded the settlement at Vincennes, and built forts like Fort Miami at what is now Fort Wayne, and Fort Ouiatenon at what is now West Lafayette.

However, British in influence was starting to spread into the area as well. French officer Celoron de Bienville (or Blainville) led French attempts in the region both to deter British traders and to dissuade Native Americans from trading with them, but the end of French power in the area was not far o . Fort Miami had already been attacked during King George’s War. During the French and Indian War, the North American part of the Seven Years’ War, British forces again advanced into the area and seized Fort Miami and Fort Ouiatenon.  rough the peace deal that ended the war in 1763, the French passed their claims on the area to the British.  is did not, however, take into account the fact that many of the local tribes were not eager about accepting British rule and new settlers. In a war that became known as Pontiac’s War, after one of the Native American leaders, tribes across the area attacked British targets, and Britain lost control again of Fort Miami and Fort Ouiatenon.

After Pontiac’s War  finally ground to a halt, Britain began to expand its control in the area, but there was more conflict ahead. In 1773, the British made the area part of the Province of Quebec, which hugely upset those colonists that had been hoping for their own chance to expand into the territory. Soon another battle to control the area had begun.

The War of Independence saw a number of military operations within what is now the state of Indiana.

In 1778, George Rogers Clark, having advanced from Virginia, seized a number of locations in the region, including Vincennes.  The British recaptured it, but in February 1779, Clark retook it, establishing a strong US presence in southern Indiana. In late 1780, a militia force raised from the French community and led by Augustin de la Balme attempted to seize Fort Detroit, but instead ended up ambushed and defeated by forces under Chief Little Turtle near what is now Columbia City.
After attacking Fort St. Joseph, at what is now Niles, Michigan, a raiding party under Jean Baptiste Hamelin and Lieutenant  Thomas Brady suffered a similar fate at about the same time in the Battle of Petit Fort on the Indiana shore of Lake Michigan. In February 1781, however, a Spanish and Native American force under Captain Don Eugenio Pouré passed through Indiana and captured Fort St. Joseph.  e fort was plundered, and then Pouré’s troops safely withdrew to the south again.
In August 1781, another American attempt to capture Fort Detroit again ended in defeat. A force of Pennsylvania militiamen under Archibald Lochry was destroyed by Mohawk leader Joseph Brant near what is now Aurora.

Nevertheless, in 1783, in the peace deal that ended the war, Britain passed all its claims to the area to the young United States.  is was not, however, the end of  fighting. The United States might think it controlled the territory, but a lot of the local Native Americans were less than keen on the idea. A lot less than keen.

 The tribes combined to resist the arrival of American settlers and to combat American military expeditions sent into the area. In 1791, Little Turtle and Blue Jacket, leading  fighters from fourteen tribes, scored a significant victory in the Battle of the Wabash, destroying an American force under Major General Arthur St. Clair. For the price of a few of  fighters killed and wounded, the Native American forces killed 623 Americans and wounded 258. It was a stunning defeat for the newly established United States.

"Mad" Anthony Wayne
Valley Forge, PA

In response, Congress commanded Major General “Mad Anthony” Wayne to build a bigger and better military force, the Legion of the United States.  e Native Americans hoped for aid from the British, who still occupied Fort Miami, but it did not come.  e decisive battle was, in the end, fought in 1794 near Fort Miami, at a place where a tornado had hit recently.  e battle became known as the Battle of Fallen Timbers. It was a crushing defeat for the Native American confederation, and they were forced to accept peace terms under the Treaty of Greenville in 1795, which allowed American settlement in some parts of southeastern Indiana.

William Henry Harrison
Tippecanoe Battlefield, IN
But more war was to come. In 1808, by the Treaty of Fort Wayne, the Delaware and the Potawatomi agreed to sell three million acres in the Indiana Territory to the United States. A Shawnee leader, Tecumseh, and his brother Tenskwatawa, a spiritual leader, united a number of tribes to resist. Tecumseh said that the land was shared by other tribes as well, and demanded that Governor William Henry Harrison—who would be elected president of the United States in 1840—agree not to implement the treaty. In 1811, Harrison marched a military force toward Prophet's Town. On November 7, Tenskwatawa led an attack on Harrison’s forces at what is now Battle Ground, Indiana. In what became known as the Battle of Tippecanoe, casualties were about equal on both sides, but eventually American cavalry managed to force back the Native Americans.

Tecumseh
Tippecanoe Battlefield Museum

And  fighting in the region was still not  finished.  The War of 1812 broke out. Tecumseh allied himself with the British against the United States, and many of the tribes rose in resistance against US forces. In 1812, Fort Harrison and Fort Wayne came under heavy attack, but both managed to hold out. Settlers were also targeted in incidents like the Pigeon Roost Massacre. An American punitive expedition launched against Miami villages in retaliation for the violence against settlers was set upon in December at the Battle of Mississinewa, but managed to hold o  its attackers with the use of cavalry. In 1813, Kickapoo warriors clashed with Indiana Rangers at the Battle of Tipton’s Island. However, in 1814, the war came to an end, and the Native Americans were left to face the United States without British assistance."


Signed copies of America Invaded: A State by State Guide to Fighting on American Soil are available at the Rocky Mountain Military Museum and here...www.americainvaded.com

Regular copies may be purchased from Amazon...www.amzn.com/0692902406

Or on Kindle...www.amzn.com/B073RJQ8PK

Listen to my interview with Bob Cudmore...http://bobcudmore.com/thehistorians/tracks/ChristopherKelly(August2017)(29)(mp3).mp3

Travel Notes: The excellent Tippecanoe Battlefield Museum now has signed copies of America Invaded in  its gift shop...(http://www.tippecanoehistory.org/our-sites/tippecanoe-battlefield-museum/).




Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Invading Wyoming

Fort Phil Kearny
America Invades(d) Van

"Native Americans had a long history in what is now Wyoming, over many thousands of years, before the arrival of Europeans in North America.

Teepees
Fort Caspar, WY
When people of European heritage did  finally make it to the region, they found a number of Native American peoples living there, including Arapaho, Blackfeet, Cheyenne, Crow, Kiowa, Shoshone, Sioux, and Ute.

It wasn’t until the eighteenth century that the  first Europeans arrived, though. On their 1743 expedition, for instance, the Vérendrye brothers probably visited bits of Wyoming, although if so, it’s hard to be entirely sure which.

The Lewis and Clark Expedition didn’t go through Wyoming, but John Colter separated from the main expedition and explored parts of Wyoming, including an area of geysers that would later become part of Yellowstone National Park.

Meanwhile, despite comparatively few people of European heritage actually having been there, the area acquired quite a tangled list of outside powers eager to claim parts of it.  The Spanish claimed the territory to the east of the Rockies.  Then the French made their claim—but with their defeat in the French and Indian War, France ceded that to Spain.  Then in 1792, Lieutenant Broughton claimed the Columbia River basin for Britain.  The Spanish ceded most of their claims in Wyoming to the French, who promptly sold them to the United States under the Louisiana Purchase. But the confusion wasn’t entirely  finished. Britain and the United States jointly administered a small section of what is now Wyoming as part of their Oregon Country compromise, until 1846. Mexico had a claim on another small piece of Wyoming, and then the Republic of Texas had a claim, until finally after 1848, the entire territory was internationally recognized as part of the United States.  This process almost completely ignored the rights and interests of the Native Americans who actually lived on the land.

But gradually, as the nineteenth century progressed, more and more outsiders entered Wyoming. At first, these were mainly trappers and traders. For instance, Jedediah Smith explored parts of the area. But once the South Pass through the Rockies became known among the outsiders, Wyoming became a through route as emigrants traversed it on their journeys to elsewhere.

And with the trappers and traders and emigrants came the US Army.

Cavalry Barracks
Fort Laramie, WY

In 1849, the army purchased a fort originally built privately for fur trading and renamed it Fort Laramie.

The 1851 Treaty of Fort Laramie signed between the US and local Native Americans aimed to de ne the indigenous people’s land rights, protect settlers on the trails, and provide for the United States to build forts and roads.

However, early on there were signs that the process was not going to be entirely peaceful. In 1854, in what is now Goshen County, a dispute over a dead cow and an ensuing clumsy attempt by twenty-nine soldiers under Lieutenant John Grattan to arrest the man responsible led to the killing of all thirty Americans and their interpreter.

As increasing numbers of settlers and migrants  owed through Wyoming, much more violence was to come.

Wagon Train Battle
Fort Phil Kearny, WY

In July 1865, after the Sand Creek Massacre in November the year before, Lakota Sioux and Cheyenne attacked US forces in the Battles of Platte Bridge Station and Red Buttes, hitting both troops at the bridge and a wagon train, and killing twenty-eight American soldiers. In retaliation, the Powder River Expedition was sent out by the US military. A number of clashes ensued, including a major incident on August 29. Brigadier General Connor’s forces attacked an Arapaho village at what is now Ranchester, killing sixty-three before the Arapaho, under Black Bear, counterattacked and forced Connor to withdraw. In the end, the expedition failed to destroy Native American resistance.
In 1866, the army established three forts—Reno, Phil Kearny, and C. F. Smith—on the Bozeman Trail, which connected with gold-rush territory in Montana and the Oregon Trail. Sioux leader Red Cloud commenced a guerrilla campaign against the forts, and he got support from other Native American leaders, including Black Bear, Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, and Hump.

William Fetterman
Leader of the second greatest US disaster in the West after Custer

On December 21, 1866, warriors under Crazy Horse and Hump attacked wagons carrying timber. An eighty-one-man military force under Captain William Fetterman raced to rescue it, but the US detachment was ambushed and wiped out. In August 1867, a Cheyenne force attacked hay cutters and their guards near Fort C. F. Smith, but due to their new breech-loading Springfield rifles, the hay-cutting party managed to hold off the attackers in the Hay field Fight.

Crazy Horse
The day after this attack, Red Cloud, Crazy Horse, and American Horse attacked a wood-cutting party near Fort Phil Kearny.

Although the Native American forces could not defeat the might of the US military, the US military was besieged in its forts and unable to protect the Bozeman Trail.

Battle of Red Buttes Plaque
Fort Caspar, WY
In the end, the federal government was forced to accept that negotiating with the Native Americans was the only realistic option. Various agreements were signed with various peoples, and in November 1868, Red Cloud signed the Fort Laramie Treaty. Under its terms, the Great Sioux Nation Reservation was established, and the three forts along the Bozeman Trail were abandoned. After their abandonment, the Sioux burned them.

Interior Officer's Room
Fort Caspar, WY

It was not, however, the end of fighting in Wyoming.

 The Black Hills War erupted in 1876 after Custer and gold miners invaded the Black Hills, which were Sioux territory.  e war was mainly fought beyond the borders of Wyoming, but forts in Wyoming did play a role, acting as US bases. In June, Custer’s force was defeated at the Battle of Little Bighorn in Montana. In November 1876, Colonel Ranald Mackenzie attacked a Cheyenne village on the Red Fork of the Powder River. Escaping Cheyenne waded through deep snow to Crazy Horse’s camp 150 miles away from the battle site.

By July 1877, the Black Hills War was officially declared finished."

Covered Wagon
Fort Laramie, WY

If you have enjoyed this excerpt from the Wyoming chapter of America Invaded you will like the book even more!

I signed one for YOU!
Signed copies of America Invaded: A State by State Guide to Fighting on American Soil are available at the Rocky Mountain Military Museum and here...www.americainvaded.com

Regular copies may be purchased from Amazon...www.amzn.com/0692902406

Or on Kindle...www.amzn.com/B073RJQ8PK


Travel Notes: Fort Phil Kearny (http://www.fortphilkearny.com/), Fort Caspar (in Casper...http://www.fortcasparwyoming.com/) and Fort Laramie (www.nps.gov/fola/index.htm) are amazing places to explore the often violent history of the American west.  FireRock Steakhouse is my favorite restaurant in Casper...http://firerocksteakhouse.com/.  Wind City is my favorite book store in Casper...http://www.windcitybooks.com/.



Tuesday, August 22, 2017

Custer "Invades" Montana

George Armstrong Custer


An excerpt from the Montana chapter of America Invaded: A State by State Guide to Fighting on American Soil...

"Historians and writers slow down to observe the phenomenon of Custer’s defeat at Little Bighorn in much the same way motorists tap the brakes to observe a smoking wreck on the interstate. Little Bighorn, which was fought during the Great Sioux War, was the deadliest battle in Montana’s recorded history.
Custer fell here
George Armstrong Custer was a body in motion that stayed in motion until he finally came to rest at the Battle of Little Bighorn in Montana on June 25, 1876. After graduating thirty-fourth out of a class of thirty-four at West Point in 1861, Custer was immediately swept up in the conflagration of the Civil War. Custer disdained the slow-moving infantry; he was a horseman and a natural cavalryman. He fought for his country as a dashing Union cavalry o cer, serving at the First Battle of Bull Run and the Battle of Gettysburg, and was present at Lee’s surrender at Appomattox. Custer, a lifelong Democrat from Ohio, was said to have held presidential aspirations.

His long blond hair and swagger attracted the attention of Elizabeth “Libbie” Bacon, whom he married. In 1867, military discipline could not prevent the uxorious Custer from going AWOL to reunite with Libbie—for which he was court-martialed on eight counts, the most egregious charge being abandonment of his command.

During the 1873 Yellowstone Expedition, at the Battle of Honsinger Bluff, Custer encountered opponents he would meet again—the forces of Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse.  is time Custer and most of his men managed to live through the experience.

Prior to Little Bighorn, Custer was advised to equip his unit with the latest in killing technology: Gatling guns. He refused as their transportation might slow him down. Custer also made the fatal mistake of dividing his command.

Chief Crazy Horse had assembled approximately 1,800 warriors, who outnumbered Custer’s 7th Cavalry by about three to one. Many of the Sioux warriors were armed with Winchester repeating rifles that were superior to the Springfield rifles Americans carried. Of course, not all Indians opposed Custer. Many Crow Indians served as scouts with the 7th Cavalry.

Giovanni Martini

Some of the American soldiers that served with Custer were foreign born. Many were Irish or English. Giovanni Martini, Custer’s bugler, was a veteran of the Italian Army. Martini carried Custer’s last message to Captain Frederick Benteen, urging him to “Be quick. Bring packs.” As a result, Martini survived the battle and died in Brooklyn in 1922 after being struck by a beer truck!
After Custer’s death at Little Bighorn, along with 268 of his men, many tried to adapt the Custer legend to their own purposes. His widow Libbie wrote three books that unconvincingly attempted to exonerate her husband by blaming Major Marcus Reno for the debacle. But also Bill Cody exploited the Custer legend by staging reenactments of the battle, sometimes using Indians who had participated in the actual battle. Anheuser Busch transformed Custer’s apotheosis at Little Bighorn into a poster that adorned thousands of saloons across America.



In 1877, Crazy Horse was captured and held at Fort Robinson in Nebraska. He was killed by a bayonet-wielding guard that same year. Sioux resistance weakened after the death of their charismatic leader."



Signed copies of America Invaded: A State by State Guide to Fighting on American Soil are available at the Rocky Mountain Military Museum and here...www.americainvaded.com

Regular copies may be purchased from Amazon...www.amzn.com/0692902406


Monday, August 21, 2017

Invading Montana

Nez Perce War memorial
Fort Missoula, MT


Custer's disastrous battle at Little Big Horn in 1876 is well known.  There were, however, other battles fought between Americans and indigenous people in Montana.  We noted some of them in the Montana chapter of America Invaded: A State by State Guide to Fighting on American Soil...

"Other tribes, however, took up arms against the Americans. US forces clashed with the Nez Perce at the Battle of the Clearwater in Montana in July 1877. After the battle, the Nez Perce retreated eastward, pursued by the US military. Other clashes followed. On August 9–10, 1877, the Battle of the Big Hole was fought between the US Army and the Nez Perce. It proved to be the second deadliest battle on record ever fought in Montana, costing over 110 lives, including women and children. Many of the Nez Perce surrendered to US forces after the Battle of Bear Paw Mountains later the same year. Others escaped north into Canada."

Cannon
Rocky Mountain Military Museum

Travel Notes: Fort Missoula and the Rocky Mountain Military Museum (http://www.fortmissoula.org/) is a great place to explore Montana history.


Signed copies of America Invaded: A State by State Guide to Fighting on American Soil are available at the Rocky Mountain Military Museum and here...www.americainvaded.com

Regular copies may be purchased from Amazon...www.amzn.com/0692902406

Or on Kindle...www.amzn.com/B073RJQ8PK

"Invading" the Rocky Mountain Museum of Military History
Fort Missoula, MT

My Podcast with Bob Cudmore...http://bobcudmore.com/thehistorians/tracks/ChristopherKelly(August2017)(29)(mp3).mp3




Thursday, August 17, 2017

A Taste of America Invaded



Thanks very much to Military History Now for offering a taste of our new book -- America Invaded: A State by State Guide to Fighting on American Soil...

http://militaryhistorynow.com/2017/08/15/battlefield-usa-seven-american-states-that-were-attacked-invaded-or-occupied-by-foreign-powers/



In America Invades (2014, www.americainvades.com) Kelly and Laycock wrote about American military involvement around the globe devoting a chapter to every country in the world.  The one country they left out was the United States of America.  With their new sequel, America Invaded: A State by State Guide to Fighting on American Soil (www.americainvaded.com) they turned this approach on its head.  Their new book features conflicts with indigenous people, the American Revolution, the Civil War, Axis submarines off the American coastline in World War II and even the terrorist attacks of the 21st Century.  America Invaded explains how invasions and fighting in all fifty states helped shape them with repercussions that are with us today.

Soldier Fort Ticonderoga, NY

I) New York
New York was, of course, invaded by the Dutch.  Their invasion had a more commercial character as Manhattan was purchased for 60 guilders from the Canarsee tribe – though it was mainly inhabited by the Weckquaesgeeks.   In 1777 “Gentleman Johnny Burgoyne” led one of the most dangerous invasions of New York form Canada.  He seized Fort Ticonderoga but was defeated in the Battles of Saratoga.  The surrender of his army led directly to French intervention on the Patriot side in the American Revolution.  Nazi U-boats used the brightly illuminated skyline of Manhattan to sink many ships in the early days of World War II.

Robert E. Lee
Invaded Pennsylvania
II) Pennsylvania
The Keystone state has been subject to many invasions.  The Swedish set up a colony (new Sweden) establishing a Fort on Tinicum Island in 1643.  The British arrived not long after.  The French launched invading expeditions into Pennsylvania in the Seven Years War .  The British seized Philadelphia during the American Revolution.  Robert E. Lee led an invasion of Pennsylvania with 75,000 Confederate soldiers that culminated with the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863.  The airspace over Pennsylvania was, in a sense, “invaded” by Al Qaeda terrorists on 9/11 when United Flight 93 crashed into a field near Shanksville, PA.

Andrew Jackson
Jackson Square, New Orleans
III) Louisiana
Many waves of invasion have swept across Louisiana.  Hernando de Soto, the Spanish Conquistador, explored the Mississippi River in 1541 and died, possibly in Louisiana in 1542.  The Spanish were followed by the French who named the area Louisiana in honor of Louis XIV – the Sun King.  Napoleon sold the Louisiana Territory to the United States in 1803.  During the War of 1812 the British launched a determined invasion of Louisiana that sought to capture the commercial entrepôt of New Orleans.  Andrew Jackson won a decisive victory over the British at the Battle of New Orleans on January 8, 1815 with a force that included Baratarian pirates and Jean Laffite.  In April of 1862 David Farragut captured New Orleans with Union Naval forces during the US Civil War.

IV) Indiana
The Hoosier state derives its name from being a Land of Indians.  French explorer Robert de La Salle arrived in the area now known as South Bend in 1679.  American settlers clashed with native Americans repeatedly in the frontier area of Indiana.  Governor William Henry Harrison led American forces in the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811 near an area that is now known as Battleground.  Morgan’s Raid swept through Indiana in 1863 during the US Civil War.

Mitchell Monument
6 Americans died here near Bly, Oregon
Killed by a Japanese Fu-Go Bomb
V) Oregon
Spanish ships were the first Europeans to explore the Oregon coast in the 16th century. Captain Robert Gray of Rhode Island and the US Navy arrived off the Columbia River in 1792.  Captains Lewis and Clark constructed Fort Clatsop near the Oregon coast in 1805.  During the War of 1812 the HMS Racoon cruised along the Oregon coast and Fort Astoria was briefly re-christened Fort George.  But it was the American invasion of the Oregon territory that would endure.  Various conflicts between American settlers and native Americans flared up in Oregon in conflicts such as the Rogue River War of 1855-56.  Fort Stevens was built in 1863 to prevent an “invasion” by Confederate raiders.  On June 21, 1942 Fort Stevens was shelled by the deck gun of a Japanese submarine.  No one was killed or injured.  A Japanese seaplane bombed the forests of  Oregon near Brookings that same year.  In 1945 a Japanese Fu-Go balloon bomb detonated in a forest near Bly Oregon killing a woman and five children – the only fatalities caused by the thousands of bombs that were launched.

VI) Alaska
Between 13,000 and 15,000 years ago humans first crossed the Bering Sea into the area now known as Alaska.  Captain Cook explored Alaskan waters in 1778.  The Russians invaded and colonized Alaska before selling the territory to the United States in 1867.  In June of 1942 Japanese planes bombed Dutch Harbor  and Japanese troops invaded Attu and Kiska in the Aleutian Islands.  In May of 1943 American forces invaded and liberated Attu.  Kiska was booby-trapped and abandoned by its Japanese occupiers in 1943.

Plaque marking the site of
Captain Cook's home in London
VII) Hawaii
Polynesian people first arrived in Hawaii around 1,500 years ago.  Captain Cook of the Royal Navy was killed by Native Hawaiians on his second visit to the islands in 1779.  The French, British and Russians sent warships to Hawaii.  American missionaries began arriving in the islands in 1819.  In 1893 an American coup made the islands American.  On December 7, 1941 warplanes of the Imperial Japanese navy attacked ships of the US Navy at Pearl Harbor forcing America into World War II.



Signed copies of America Invaded: A State by State Guide to Fighting on American Soil are available here...www.americainvaded.com

Regular copies may be purchased from Amazon...www.amzn.com/0692902406





Wednesday, August 16, 2017

Olive Oil Riot





What was the Olive Oil Riot?

CRK is IBM (Italian By Marriage)
This incident took place in Missoula Montana in 1942 during World War II.  We noted it in the Montana chapter of America Invaded...


"Fort Missoula became a prisoner-of-war camp in World War II.  The crew of the Italian ship SS Conte Biancamano, which had been seized in Panama, was transported to Missoula and held prisoner in Fort Missoula.  Japanese-American men were also detained at Fort Missoula.  The Italian detainees called the area Bella Vista, and many wound up settling in Montana after the war. So this would qualify as an Italian detention rather than an invasion.  There was, however, one violent incident—the Olive Oil Riot. An Italian cook became indignant when told that he must use beef fat for cooking rather than his beloved olive oil. A guard shot himself in the foot during the ensuing disturbance!"

Conte Biancamano
On my recent visit to the Rocky Mountain Military History Museum in Fort Missoula (http://www.fortmissoula.org/) I found photographs of Italian detainees that were held in Montana during the war.  On Italy's surrender in 1943 most of the detainees were repatriated though a few opted to join the US Army and became American citizens.  One of these founded the Broadway Market store in Missoula Montana.

Italian Detainees in Fort Missoula

Thanks Western Free Press...http://www.westernfreepress.com/2017/08/16/olive-oil-riot/

I signed a book for YOU!
Signed copies of America Invaded: A State by State Guide to Fighting on American Soil are available here...www.americainvaded.com

Regular copies may be purchased from Amazon...www.amzn.com/0692902406

Or on Kindle...www.amzn.com/B073RJQ8PK



Signed Copies of Italy Invades: How Italians Conquered the World are available here...www.italyinvades.com

Or on Amazon...www.amzn.com/1940598729

Or on Kindle...www.amzn.com/B0178GCYDO


Meet Christopher Kelly on the road.  Here is our America Invaded Tour Schedule...http://americanconservativeinlondon.blogspot.com/2017/08/america-invaded-book-tour-schedule-2017.html

My Podcast with Bob Cudmore...http://bobcudmore.com/thehistorians/tracks/ChristopherKelly(August2017)(29)(mp3).mp3


Monday, August 14, 2017

America Invaded: Book Tour Schedule 2017

Hitting the Road!
8/17/17 - 10/12/17

I am thrilled to be launching the America Invaded book tour this week.  Major Jack Coughlin (USAF ret.) and I will be driving in our Sprinter van across the USA to promote the launch of America Invaded: A State by State Guide to Fighting on American Soil.  Our tour will include stops at two battleships, many bookstores, several military museums and at least five libraries.  We will be attending four Italian events where the focus will be on our earlier book Italy Invades: How Italians Conquered the World.

Major Jack Coughlin
Soviet MIG
In America Invades (2014, www.americainvades.com) Kelly and Laycock wrote about American military involvement around the globe devoting a chapter to every country in the world.  The one country they left out was the United States of America.  With their new sequel, America Invaded: A State by State Guide to Fighting on American Soil (www.americainvaded.com) they turned this approach on its head.  Their new book features conflicts with indigenous people, the American Revolution, the Civil War, Axis submarines off the American coastline in World War II and even the terrorist attacks of the 21st Century.  America Invaded explains how invasions and fighting in all fifty states helped shape them with repercussions that are with us today.

The initial response to America Invaded has been excellent...

"Unique, informative, exceptionally well written, organized and presented, "America Invaded: A State by State Guide to Fighting on American Soil" is an inherently fascinating read..."  Midwest Book Review

"Easy to browse and easy to enjoy...America Invaded is a fun jumping-off point for discussions about history."  Foreword Reviews


"Kelly and Laycock are masters of the fascinating factoid...All told, this is a worthwhile addition to the authors’ invasion series."  Kirkus Reviews

For Full reviews see...http://americanconservativeinlondon.blogspot.com/2017/07/america-invaded-reviewed.html

We look forward to seeing you on the road!


Aunties Books
Spokane WA

DATE DAY VENUE TIME

Aug 18 FR        Aunties Books 1:30PM
402 W Main Spokane, WA 99201

Aug 19 SA Fact and Fiction 10:30AM
220 N Higgins Ave, Missoula, MT 59802           www.factandfictionbooks.com/
        SA Rocky Mountain Museum of Military History 2:00PM
        Buildings T-310 and T-316
        Fort Missoula, MT
Aug 21 MO Country Bookshelf 2:00PM,
                                28 West Main Street, Bozeman, MT 59715         www.countrybookshelf.com/

Aug 22 TU Wind City Books 2:00PM
152 S. Center Street, Casper, WY to 4:00PM
www.windcitybooks.com/

Aug 25 FR Watermark Books        6:00PM
   4701 East Douglas                      to 8:00PM
   Wichita, KS.
www.watermarkbooks.com/
Aug 26 SA Prospero’s Books 2:00PM
1800 West 39th Street, Kansas City, Missouri 64111
   
Aug 27 SU I Know you Like a Book 2:00PM
4707 N. Prospect Road, Peoria Heights, IL 61616
 
Aug 29 TU Michigan Military Heroes Museum TBD
1250 Weiss Street, Frankenmuth, MI www.michigansmilitarymuseum.com/

Aug 30 WE Public Library TBD
311 S Main St, Poland, OH 44514

Battleship New Jersey
Sep 3 SU Battleship New Jersey 10:00AM 
        62 Battleship Place, Camden, NJ 08103 to 5:00PM

Sep 7 TH Lemon Mediterranean Restaurant 7:00PM
        3475 Route 9
       A&M Shopping Plaza
       Freehold, NJ 07728
       Italy Invades
       Italian American Cultural Center of NJ

Sep 9 SA Norfolk Gun Show 9:00AM to 
        Norfolk Scope Arena 5:00PM
        201 E Brambleton Ave
        Norfolk, VA 23510

Sep 10 SU Norfolk Gun Show   10:00AM to
        Norfolk Scope Arena 5:00PM
       201 E Brambleton Ave
       Norfolk, VA 23510

Sep 11 MO America Invaded Dinner 7:00PM
       Plates Kitchen
       01 Glenwood Avenue Suite 100, Raleigh, NC

Sep 13 WE Fort McCoy Public Library 12:00N CANCELLED DUE TO IRMA
        14660 NE Co Rd 315,
                                Fort McCoy, FL 32134

Sep 14 TH Belleview Public Library 3:30PM . CANCELLED DUE TO IRMA
        13145 SE County Hwy 484
                                Belleview, FL 34420

Sep 15 FR Dunellon Pulbic Library 2:00PM .   CANCELLED DUE TO IRMA
        20351 Robinson Rd, Dunnellon, FL 34431
www.marioncountyfl.org/departments-agencies/departments-o-z/public-library-system

Sep 16 & 17  Springdale Gun show   From 9:00AM
   Encore Event Center, Springdale, AR
  https://rkshows.com/event/springdale-ar-gun-show-91617/

Sep 17 Sun Pea Ridge Battlefield          1:00pm
          www.nps.gov/peri/index.htm

Sep 19 TU Garden District Bookshop 6:00
        2727 Prytania Street              to 7:30PM
       New Orleans, LA 70130
Sep 20 WE Italy Invades Presentation 7:00PM
The Italian Cultural and Community Center
1101 Milford, Houston, Texas 77006

Battleship Texas

Sep 21 TH Battleship Texas 1:00pm
                                3523 Independence Pkwy
        La Porte, TX 77571

Sep 23 SA Festa Italiana 10:00AM
        Fisher Pavillion, Seattle Center to 7:00PM
       305 Harrison Street, Seattle, WA 98109

Sep 24 SU Festa Italiana 10:00AM
        Fisher Pavillion, Seattle Center to 7:00PM
        305 Harrison Street, Seattle, WA 98109
        www.festaseattle.com

Major Jack
Chetco Public Library
Brookings, OR


Sep 27 WE Chetco Community Public Library 6:00pm
        405 Alder Street
       Brookings, OR 97415

Sep 28 TH Village Books 7:30PM
        1200 11th Street
        Bellingham, WA 98225
        www.villagebooks.com/

Sep 30 SA Lynden Pioneer Museum 2:00PM
        217 Front Street
        Lynden WA, 98264                     http://lyndenpioneermuseum.com/

Oct 7 SA Great Italian Festival TBD
        El Dorado Resort / Casino
        345 N. Virginia Street
        Reno, NV, 89501

Oct 8 SU Great Italian Festival TBD
        El Dorado Resort / Casino
        345 N. Virginia Street
        Reno, NV, 89501




ALL FOUR of my books will be available at ALL of the above events!


You can also order signed copies here...




Also available on Amazon.com...