Public Programs

Virtual Battle Brief

Tuesday, November 3, 2026, 7 p.m. ET 
Tuesday, November 10, 2026, 12 p.m. ET

The Battle of Williamsport, Maryland, took place from July 6 to July 16, 1863, during the U.S. Civil War. It marked the perilous retreat of General Robert E. Lee's Confederate army after their defeat at Gettysburg, when a flooded Potomac River trapped the rebels on the northern banks as they tried to cross into Virginia. Learn how Union forces under Maj. George G. Meade tried to crush Lee's troops, and how a slow pursuit failed to bag Lee and frustrated the President of the United States.

John R. Maass is a historian and educator at the National Museum of the U.S. Army. He received a BA in history from Washington & Lee University, and a PhD in early U.S. history from the Ohio State University. He served as an officer in the U.S. Army Reserve (80th Division). His most recent book is “The Battles of Spencer’s Ordinary and Green Spring, 1781” (2025).

In Person Battle Brief

Tuesday, November 10, 2026, 12 p.m. ET

The Battle of Williamsport, Maryland, took place from July 6 to July 16, 1863, during the U.S. Civil War. It marked the perilous retreat of General Robert E. Lee's Confederate army after their defeat at Gettysburg, when a flooded Potomac River trapped the rebels on the northern banks as they tried to cross into Virginia. Learn how Union forces under Maj. George G. Meade tried to crush Lee's troops, and how a slow pursuit failed to bag Lee and frustrated the President of the United States.

John R. Maass is a historian and educator at the National Museum of the U.S. Army. He received a BA in history from Washington & Lee University, and a PhD in early U.S. history from the Ohio State University. He served as an officer in the U.S. Army Reserve (80th Division). His most recent book is “The Battles of Spencer’s Ordinary and Green Spring, 1781” (2025).

Tuesday, November 17, 2026, 12 p.m. (ET) - Virtual

Museum Director Paul Morando shares select artifacts on display in the Museum’s new “Steel and Stone” exhibit, which tells the story of the United States Army Corps of Engineers and the September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City. Mr. Morando will then be available in the exhibit to answer visitor questions about the exhibit.

Paul Morando is the Museum Director of the National Museum of the United States Army at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. Previously he was the Chief Curator of the National Army Museum. He was also the Director at the U.S. Army Quartermaster Museum, 2011-2017. He earned a Masters Degree focused in American History from the City University of New York-College of Staten Island.

Tuesday, November 17, 2026, 12 p.m. (ET) - In Person

Museum Director Paul Morando shares select artifacts on display in the Museum’s new “Steel and Stone” exhibit, which tells the story of the United States Army Corps of Engineers and the September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City. Mr. Morando will then be available in the exhibit to answer visitor questions about the exhibit.

Paul Morando is the Museum Director of the National Museum of the United States Army at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. Previously he was the Chief Curator of the National Army Museum. He was also the Director at the U.S. Army Quartermaster Museum, 2011-2017. He earned a Masters Degree focused in American History from the City University of New York-College of Staten Island.

Thursday, November 19, 2026, 7 p.m. (ET) - Virtual

In Backcountry Resistance, Carl P. Borick delivers a groundbreaking account of the citizen militia that defied British forces in South Carolina's volatile Backcountry during the pivotal Southern campaign of the Revolutionary War. Focusing on rank-and-file militiamen, Borick explores how these ordinary men were recruited, armed, fed, and motivated. Drawing on underused pension records and state claims, he reconstructs their everyday realities and their battlefield experiences. He also examines the war's devastating effects on civilians, including enslaved people and women, who played crucial roles in the struggle.


Carl P. Borick is director of the Charleston Museum in Charleston, South Carolina, and the author of "Relieve Us of This Burthen: American Prisoners of War in the Revolutionary South, 1780-1782" (USC Press, 2011) and "A Gallant Defense: The Siege of Charleston, 1780" (USC Press, 2012).

Virtual Battle Brief

Tuesday, December 1, 2026, 7 p.m. ET 
Tuesday, December 8, 2026, 12 p.m. ET

From the winter crossing of the icy Delaware River on Christmas night, 1776, to Gen. George Washington’s crucial victory at Princeton, New Jersey, ten days later, American fortunes in the Revolutionary War changed from almost hopeless to suddenly promising. Learn from historian John Maass how Washington and his freezing, ragged troops defeated their British and Hessian enemies in three battles that marked a major turning point in the war, and helped lead to American independence seven years later.  

Dr. John Maass is an education specialist at the National Museum of the United States Army. He received a B.A. in history from Washington and Lee University, and a Ph.D. from the Ohio State University in early U.S. history and military history. 

In Person Battle Brief

Tuesday, December 8, 2026, 12 p.m. ET

From the winter crossing of the icy Delaware River on Christmas night, 1776, to Gen. George Washington’s crucial victory at Princeton, New Jersey, ten days later, American fortunes in the Revolutionary War changed from almost hopeless to suddenly promising. Learn from historian John Maass how Washington and his freezing, ragged troops defeated their British and Hessian enemies in three battles that marked a major turning point in the war, and helped lead to American independence seven years later.  

Dr. John Maass is an education specialist at the National Museum of the United States Army. He received a B.A. in history from Washington and Lee University, and a Ph.D. from the Ohio State University in early U.S. history and military history. 

Virtual History Talk 

Wednesday, December 2, 2026, 12 p.m.

Healthy Soldiers are essential for the U.S. Army to accomplish its mission. The food Soldiers eat is one way to keep a strong fighting force. The vitamins and minerals that make up a Soldier’s diet ensure that they are capable of enduring the physical and mental requirements to be successful. Since the Revolutionary War, the U.S. Army has experimented with and provided food to Soldiers based on available resources, nutrition, and current technology.

Coffee, hardtack, and salt pork comprised the majority of a Civil War Soldier’s diet. While these items may seem crude by 21st century standards, they met the nutritional needs of Soldiers at the time. The U.S. Army ration—the amount of food authorized for one Soldier per day—kept Soldiers’ stomachs full and gave them the energy to move forward.

 
In this History Talk, explore how the U.S. Army supplied its Soldiers during the Civil War. Learn how Soldiers supplemented their rations and, for many, learned to cook for the first time. As part of the field trip, you’ll also learn how to cook like a Civil War Soldier and make hardtack at home.

In Person History Talk 

Wednesday, December 2, 2026, 12 p.m.

Healthy Soldiers are essential for the U.S. Army to accomplish its mission. The food Soldiers eat is one way to keep a strong fighting force. The vitamins and minerals that make up a Soldier’s diet ensure that they are capable of enduring the physical and mental requirements to be successful. Since the Revolutionary War, the U.S. Army has experimented with and provided food to Soldiers based on available resources, nutrition, and current technology.

Coffee, hardtack, and salt pork comprised the majority of a Civil War Soldier’s diet. While these items may seem crude by 21st century standards, they met the nutritional needs of Soldiers at the time. The U.S. Army ration—the amount of food authorized for one Soldier per day—kept Soldiers’ stomachs full and gave them the energy to move forward.

 
In this History Talk, explore how the U.S. Army supplied its Soldiers during the Civil War. Learn how Soldiers supplemented their rations and, for many, learned to cook for the first time. As part of the field trip, you’ll also learn how to cook like a Civil War Soldier and make hardtack at home.

Thursday, December 17, 2026, 7 p.m. (ET) - Virtual

In "Desert Empire," Emerging Civil War historian Patrick Kelly-Fischer tackle the overlooked New Mexico Campaign of 1862 by exploring the men, battles, and politics that shaped the course of the war in the Southwest and the future of the region.

Patrick Kelly-Fischer is a historian with Emerging Civil War. He graduated from Bard College in 2009 with a B.A. in Political Studies and began writing for Emerging Civil War in 2021.

Phillip S. Greenwalt was a Supervisory Park Ranger of the Shark Valley District of Everglades National Park, and a Historian-Park ranger at George Washington Birthplace National Monument and Thomas Stone National Historic Site.

Tuesday, December 15, 2026, 12 p.m. (ET) - Virtual

Learn about the dramatic events of September 11, 2001, in the Washington area from a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel who witnessed the actual day of attack on the Pentagon, the aftermath, and the response that followed. Peter Knight was an Army captain serving on the Army G-2 Foreign Intelligence Watch as a daily briefer to then Secretary of the Army Thomas E. White, Jr. and then Chief of Staff of the Army General Eric Shinseki at the Pentagon on September 11. Dr. Knight witnessed first-hand the Army senior leadership’s response to that event and was an active participant in keeping them informed.

Dr. Peter G. Knight is the Director of the Historical Studies section at the U.S. Army Center of Military History at Fort McNair, Washington, D.C., where he has served since September of 2017. He is a retired Army Lieutenant Colonel with 23 years of service as a military intelligence officer, 1 combat tour in Iraq. 

Tuesday, December 15, 2026, 12 p.m. (ET) - In Person

Learn about the dramatic events of September 11, 2001, in the Washington area from a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel who witnessed the actual day of attack on the Pentagon, the aftermath, and the response that followed. Peter Knight was an Army captain serving on the Army G-2 Foreign Intelligence Watch as a daily briefer to then Secretary of the Army Thomas E. White, Jr. and then Chief of Staff of the Army General Eric Shinseki at the Pentagon on September 11. Dr. Knight witnessed first-hand the Army senior leadership’s response to that event and was an active participant in keeping them informed.

Dr. Peter G. Knight is the Director of the Historical Studies section at the U.S. Army Center of Military History at Fort McNair, Washington, D.C., where he has served since September of 2017. He is a retired Army Lieutenant Colonel with 23 years of service as a military intelligence officer, 1 combat tour in Iraq.