Project 1777, JJ's Talavera project, and Giving Tuesday

Jonathan Jones has posted on the coming culmination of his three-year effort to reproduce the Napoleonic battle of Talavera, a project that inspired my own Project 1777. The work he's done impresses me tremendously, and the determination he's displayed in keeping the project going is inspiring. I get bogged down in other things and run out of steam from time to time, so it's nice to have an example of stick-to-it-ive-ness like this.

Like Jonathan, I love the history of my period, and I'm enjoying delving into the personalities of the leaders that have formed the larger part of my posts so far. I look forward to learning more about all these gentlemen, and, who knows? Maybe some day it will spur an effort like that of my Jacqueline Reiter, soon to be published biographer of an underappreciated British peer and military figure.

Also like Jonathan, I appreciate the hard work of Nigel Marsh, the author of the Carnage and Glory simulation software that powers both JJ's Peninsular set-tos and my own Pennsylvania battles.

And I appreciate Mr J's linking his project to a worthy charity. In abject emulation, and since it's Giving Tuesday here in the US, here's a link to the Brandywine Battlefield Park Association. The association provides tours of Washington's headquarters at Brandywine, battlefield tours to visitors and school groups, staff rides for military officers and cadets, hosts a summer history camp, and provides on-request leadership seminars drawing on the example of Revolutionary War officers. The Association's website includes history, maps, information on battlefield preservation, and assistance on genealogical research.

Other great historic charities include

• Campaign 1776: Saving Revolutionary War and War of 1812 Battlefields
• The Museum of the American Revolution
• The National Parks Conservation Association
• Crossroads of the American Revolution National Heritage Area

and of course

• Colonial Williamsburg, the institution that first got me interested in American colonial history, and where I had my first history-facing job. :-)