Christmas 2022 will be long remembered for the savage winter storm that struck much of the United States. Buffalo, New York, saw four feet of snow and deadly low temperatures. A friend in Minneapolis-St. Paul told me that the weather service there once cheerily reported that the temperature would climb to 6 degrees the following…

As I finished the last pages of Peter Stark’s “Young Washington: How Wilderness and War Forged America’s Founding Father,” I could hear the distant bursts of fireworks—early celebrations for the Fourth of July. Very fitting as I closed a read capturing the early life of our nation’s first president. I very much enjoyed (and reviewed…

In the fall of 1777, Gen. George Washington’s army was reeling from the crushing defeat it suffered in Pennsylvania. British troops had won the battles of Brandywine and Germantown and occupied Philadelphia. Seeking a winter haven for his disheartened soldiers, Washington settled on Whitemarsh, Pennsylvania. But because it is so close to Philadelphia, the troops…

It was December 1777, one of the bleakest times during the Revolutionary War. The Continental Army had won a few battles; however, morale suffered as they had also lost a few crucial battles, such as the Battle of Long Island, the Battle for New York, the Battle of White Plains, and the Battle of Bennington….

As I write these words, the date is Feb. 2, 2021, and I am visiting my daughter in Elmhurst Township, Pennsylvania. The ground is covered by approximately 15 inches of snow, with no end in sight. Though born in this state, I was reared in the South, and though I’ve seen big snows, especially when…