A Fort Leavenworth professor is one of seventeen leading history scholars who will receive fully-funded research fellowships at the Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington for the 2016-17 academic year. These fellows will study on site at the Washington Library in Mount Vernon, VA, for up to six months beginning this fall.
Dr. Ricardo Herrera, associate professor of military history at the School for Advanced Military Studies will spend his time at the library researching a book tentatively titled Feeding Valley Forge: The Grand Forage of 1778. "I'm honored to have been awarded this fellowship," said Herrera. "This is a wonderful opportunity to conduct research at a superb library. Scholars compete nationally for these research grants and fellowships; I'm incredibly fortunate."
Herrera specializes in 18th and 19th Century American military history and early American history. He has written one book For Liberty and the Republic: The American Citizen as Soldier 1775-1861, and several articles on military history. Prior to joining SAMS, Herrera was with Fort Leavenworth's Combat Studies Institute. He has also served as Assistant Professor of History and Director of Honors at Mount Union College in Alliance, Ohio and was an armor and cavalry officer in the Army.
Dr. Chris King, Dean of Academics for the Command and General Staff College, said, "An award such as this is important to CGSC and military education because it provides an external assessment of the quality of our faculty and thus the quality of our educational programs. When one of our professors wins an award that is open to all the best schools in the country it is first a recognition of Dr. Herrera's accomplishment as a scholar but also is a visible sign of the quality of the military history program at CGSC."
"The fellowship will allow me to examine more fully George Washington's development as a military commander," said Herrera. He also expects to study the natural, political, social, and cultural environments in the operational areas and to give due to the lesser-known individual actors and units that participated in the Grand Forage of 1778 or in attempts to quash it.
The library's collections and the staff are invaluable resources in this effort. Herrera says he is going to look at published and archival holdings on military art and science, Valley Forge, the actors, and the Continental and British armies. His aim is to better frame and explore the environments in which the armies operated, but also the common soldiers' and peoples' experiences. Some of the library's holdings include the 1777-1778 bound manuscript returns for Brig. Gen. Enoch Poor's brigade at Valley Forge, Lewis Nicola's 1777 translation of Grandmaison's Treatise, on the Military Service, of Light Horse, and Light Infantry, in the Field, and in Fortified Places, Thomas Simes's Military Course for the Government and Conduct of a Battalion…, and James Anderson's Essays Relating to Agriculture and Rural Affairs.
"The American Revolution and the War for Independence were the signal events in the creation of the United States," said Herrera. "Too often, the revolution and the war, as with much of the popular understanding of American history, are shrouded in sentimentality, silliness, and myths. The men and women of this age faced difficult choices in a complex age, yet they were much as we are--ordinary people living their lives and trying to make the best of life's circumstances. The "good old days," when life was simpler and choices were more clear-cut is the stuff of nonsense. American independence was not inevitable; it depended on the decisions and actions of common and some not-so-common people."
"My new book examines the Continental Army's largest, riskiest, and most complex operation while at Valley Forge. It was the army's most significant undertaking between the battles of Germantown (October 1777) and Monmouth Court House (June 1778)," said Herrera. The expedition involved some 1,500 to 2,000 Continental soldiers, about one-third of Washington's able-bodied, armed, and uniformed force; it also included elements of the Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey militias, remnants of the Continental and Pennsylvania navies, and it spanned a geographic area ranging across southeastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey, northern Delaware, and northeastern Maryland. American forces remained in the field for nearly six weeks and engaged or avoided upwards of 2,300 British soldiers (about one-sixth of the able-bodied British occupation force in Philadelphia), several vessels and crews of the Royal Navy, and several hundred Loyalists. "This incredibly nuanced and successful operation remains largely unexamined and unknown," said Herrera. "This expedition demonstrates the operational and planning maturity of Washington, his commanders and staff, and the army."
Dedication to research makes better teachers said Herrera. "Research must inform teaching, much as teaching must inform research. History is one of the best disciplines to counteract the hubris of presentism. It teaches humility and sensitivity through the depth and breadth of human experience, valuable assets for our students," he said. "I'd go so far as to say that there's little new or novel about today's modern concepts of warfare or doctrine. While the equipment has certainly changed over the past two hundred and forty odd years and has helped ameliorate the tyrannies of time and space, many of the ideas remain fairly constant. Commanders and subordinates then and now needed mutual trust and clear understandings of their missions. Planning and arranging tactical actions in time space and purpose mattered as much in 1778 as they do in 2016. The terminology has changed, but the concepts remain constant." He concluded, "The book's genesis lies in my teaching at SAMS and in my previous position on the Staff Ride Team at the Combat Studies Institute, where I built and led a number of staff rides, including one on the Philadelphia Campaign of 1777."
"Scholarship is one of the four domains of faculty development required of all CGSC faculty members," said King. "Faculty are expected to research and publish on topics that add to the body of knowledge in the art and science of the military profession. This is a requirement for all graduate faculty across the country because it is universally understood that active scholars are better teachers."
Now in its fourth year, The Washington Library's fellowship program has become a highly sought-after honor for academics researching topics related to George Washington, his life, and the founding era. While in residence, the fellows become an important part of the Mount Vernon community. They take part in day-to-day activities at the estate and library. The scholars are frequently called upon to share their findings in formal settings and casual gatherings for staff, other visiting scholars, and special guests.
"There is no better place to study George Washington and the era in which he lived than here at Mount Vernon," said the library's founding director, Dr. Doug Bradburn. "We can tell that word has clearly gotten out about our research fellowship program by the caliber of applicants we have attracted."
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