Host Professor Robert Allison welcomes historian Paul D. Lockhart to discuss Lockhart’s acclaimed book The Drillmaster of Valley Forge: The Baron de Steuben and the Making of the American Army. Together they explore the remarkable life and career of Baron de Steuben, the Prussian-born officer whose training, discipline, and organizational genius helped transform Washington’s ragged Continental Army into a professional fighting force.

Lockhart places Steuben in a broader European military and intellectual context, untangling the myths about his noble status and supposed “magnificent fraud,” and showing instead a serious soldier of the Enlightenment—well-read, imaginative, and deeply committed to his adopted country. The conversation ranges from Valley Forge and the famous “Blue Book” drill manual to Steuben’s volatile temper, gift for friendship, chronic money troubles, complicated relationships with Washington, Congress, Lafayette, and Jefferson, and his lonely final years in upstate New York. Along the way, Allison and Lockhart reveal how Steuben’s real legacy lies not just in drill on the parade ground, but in the systems, standards, and expectations that helped shape the American army for generations to come.

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In this episode of the Revolution 250 Podcast, host Professor Robert Allison welcomes historian Dr. Cynthia Hatch for a timely and eye-opening conversation about her forthcoming book, Enablers of Rebellion: The Colonial Court and the Road to the American Revolution, to be published by Savas Beatie in the spring of 2026.

Hatch reveals a dimension of the Revolution that is often overlooked: the pivotal role of colonial courts, local magistrates, sheriffs, and justices of the peace in the decades before independence. Far from being passive administrators, these officials shaped political culture, mediated local disputes, and—intentionally or not—created the civic space in which resistance could take root. Professor Allison and Dr. Hatch explore how legal institutions helped normalize dissent, how courtroom practices reflected changing ideas of authority, and how ordinary people used the law to renegotiate power long before shots were fired.

This conversation shines a fresh light on the machinery of colonial governance and the subtle but profound ways it helped prepare a people for rebellion. A must-listen for anyone interested in the legal, political, and social foundations of America’s fight for independence.

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This week t Professor Robert Allison welcomes Dr. Matthew Keagle, Curator at Fort Ticonderoga, for a vivid exploration of one of the most audacious logistical feats of the American Revolution: Henry Knox’s Noble Train of Artillery. Together they trace Knox’s remarkable mid-winter journey of 1775–1776—300 miles across frozen rivers and lakes, treacherous terrain, and sometimes snow-choked roads—to deliver more than 60 tons of captured British artillery to General George Washington. He also tells us about Real Time Revolution, Ticonderoga's plans for commemorating the 250th!

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