WARTIME: A History Series

The Iraq War came about following a moment of crisis – September 11th, 2001. In real-time, the world watched our leaders react and made decisions based on fast-paced information presented to them, not unlike the moment we are currently facing in our country today. However, the response to the Iraq War led to an all-time low level of public trust in government and media, which is something we never fully recovered from. Each season of The Fault Line will cover defining moments in our history that shook our foundation. On the first season of The Fault Line: Bush, Blair and Iraq, renowned journalist, David Dimbleby, explores the 18 months between 9/11 and the start of the war and how the distrust in leadership response to crisis effects our world today.    The Fault Line: Bush, Blair and Iraq – premieres on September 29th on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever you get your podcasts. 

Hello everyone! Starting January 6th Brady will now be the host of Dispatches: The Podcast of the American Revolution. Tune in now for the latest in 1776 each week, every week! Our feed will still update with new episodes of Battlefield Pennsylvania starting this summer, but to hear Brady every week search "Dispatches" in your podcast service or visit www.AllThingsLiberty.com

While the British army occupied Philadelphia, the insurgent General George Washington was determined to starve it of supplies. Lead by Patriot raider-extraordinaire John Lacey, militiamen burned and terrorized Pennsylvania crops and farms to ensure that their wares could not be sold into the city. In an attempt to reopen supply lines British dragoons took to the countryside to find Lacey's Patriot militia in a seek and destroy mission. This week our guests are Historian Dennis Cook and the National Park Service's Andrew Zellers-Frederick...spared no expense. 

In 1877 America was in peril. As Federal troops struggled to maintain order in the South and defend the rights of freed African-Americans, labor uprising swept across the North and West. Considered part of the "Red Scare," a massive uptick in labor violence saw cities across the north burn, Pittsburgh worst of all. On this episode we discuss the Great Railway Strikes of 1877. Guests are retired Professor Charlie McCollister and author Ken Kobus...spared no expense. 

On the eve of the American Revolution, the northeast prepared for war. After both claiming much of modern northeastern Pennsylvania, Connecticut settlers poured into the Wyoming valley. After taming the soil and organizing communities, these "Yankees" established a veritable New England colony within the modern boundaries of Pennsylvania. Feeling slighted, the Penn family waged a partisan war against the Yankees, leading to a civil war between the colonies known as the "Yankee-Pennamite War." On this episode our guests are lawyer Steven Killian and Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commissioner Bill Lewis...spared no expense. 

In 1778 the true brutal nature of the American Revolution was revealed when Iroquois warriors and Loyalist rangers attacked the Patriot settlement of Wyoming. Known as the breadbasket of the Revolution, the settlers of Wyoming were betrayed by a local loyalist family and subsequently massacred by their attackers. The bloodshed and violence at the Wyoming Valley remains one of the most terrible moment of the American Revolution. On this episode are guests are Bob Mischak and author Mark Dziak...spared no expense. 

On July 2nd, 1863 the battle for Lee's left flank was on. While the Army of the Potomac and Army of Northern Virginia tangled at Gettysburg, the two sides squared off four miles away at Hunterstown. Pitting Wade Hampton against George Armstrong Custer, Hunterstown represented the most leftward action of the battle, and many consider it a smaller battle in its own right. This week marks the return of four-time guest JD Petruzzi...spared no expense. 

In 1779 George Washington launched what would be his most successful campaign of the entire American Revolution: the destruction of Iroquoia. A three pronged attack from all directions, the Sullivan-Clinton-Brodhead Campaigns reduced the Haudenosaunee world to ashes and ended a centuries' old way of life. On this episode our guest is the devilishly handsome, brilliant, and endlessly funny Brady Crytzer...spared no expense. 

In 1754 the armies of New France descended upon the North American frontier. After building a series of forts connecting the Great Lakes to the Ohio River, the post named Fort Duquesne stood as the key to continent. By connecting vital rivers and lakes, Fort Duquesne was the great beacon of French power in the Western Hemisphere, and united an empire larger than the distance from Paris to Moscow. On this episode our guest is Fort Pitt Museum's Alan Gutchess...spared no expense. 

In 1756 the French Empire allied with the disaffected warriors of the Ohio Country. As the Seven Years' War began, these Mingo, Delaware, and Shawnee warriors began raiding the Scots-Irish settlers of the Pennsylvania backcountry. In one of their first raids, McCord's Fort was attacked and destroyed revealing a new level of violence yet unseen along the North American frontier. On this episode our guests are US Army Historian Andrew Newman anf Jonathan Burns of Juniata College...spared no expense.

In early August 1763, British North America was under siege. Following their great victory during the Seven Years' War, the Crown was rocked when France's former Indian allies continued to wage war. After destroying many small forts and besieging larger one, the collective warriors of the Great Lakes and the Ohio Country sought to push their European enemies off of the continent once a for all. In an effort to liberate Fort Pitt, the largest fort in the Ohio Country, Colonel Henry Bouquet and the Black Watch, the 42nd Highlanders, dueled with the warriors of Guyasuta in the backwoods of Pennsylvania. Bouquet's Scots were the supreme tribe on that day, and Fort Pitt was saved. On this episode our guest is Jack Giblin of the US Army War College...spared no expense. 

On July 1st, 1863 Confederate General JEB Stuart launched a bold attack on the Pennsylvania city of Carlisle. Unbeknownst to "The Last Cavalier," as he shelled the town the rest of the Army of Northern Virginia was engaged in a fierce battle thirty miles south at Gettysburg. Though Stuart was victorious, Robert E. Lee himself would later claim that the cavalry commander's absence was a critical component of the Union's legendary victory. On this episode our guests are author JD Petruzzi and US Army War College Professor Emeritus Dr. Richard Sommers...spared no expense. 

In 1758, British General John Forbes began his march on the French Fort Duquesne. Along the way he built several forts and posts, but none was more impressive than Fort Ligonier. On this episode our guests are Fort Ligonier's Director of History and Collection Erica Nuckles, and Brad Mooney of Heritage Restorations...spared no expense. 

In 1765 armed rebels surrounded a British fort in the backcountry of Pennsylvania. Led by James Smith, the men opened fire on Fort Loudoun a full ten years before Lexington and Concord and the start of the American Revolution. While many have attributed "The Black Boys Rebellion" as a prologue to 1776, new evidence suggests that Smith's men were attempting to uphold royal authority, not challenge it. On this episode our guests are Andrew Newman and archaeologist Steve Warfel...spared no expense. 

On July 3rd, 1754 George Washington and his men made a stand in the backwoods of the Ohio Country. Surrounded by French soldiers, the young Virginian soon ran out of musket balls and hope. His surrender would become the stuff of legend, and be one of the primary causes of the largest war in world history to that point, the Seven Years' War. Our guests on this episode are Dr. David Preston and Brian Reedy...spared no expense.

After the Washington's defeat at the Battle of Brandywine, the Continental Army had one last chance to save the city of Philadelphia. Led by "Mad" Anthony Wayne, the Patriots tangled with the Redcoats in the dead of night near the Paoli Tavern. The result was fraught with controversy, and the Battle of Paoli is remembered as a massacre. On this episode our guests are Greg Bray and Matt Kalos...spared no expense. 

In 1763 the peaceable kingdom of Pennsylvania was torn apart by violence. In response to the brutal raids of Indian wars from the west, Scots-Irish settlers on the frontier rose up in rebellion. After murdering the men, women, and children of a peaceful Conestoga village, the partisans turned their sites on the colonial capital of Philadelphia. On this episode we discuss the Paxton Boys Rebellion and the murder of the Contestogas. Our guests on this episode are author Jack Brubaker and educator Mary Ann Robbins...spared no expense. 

Just one day before the Battle of Antietam, the Allegheny Arsenal exploded. Primarily operated by young women on the homefront, a black powder explosion rocked the munitions hub of Pittsburgh and changed the city forever. Mysteries still remain regarded what caused the explosion, and explosive rounds are still being discovered to this day. On today's episode our guests are Senator John Heinz History Center CEO Andrew Masich and Lawrenceville Historical Society researcher Jim Wudarczyk...spared no expense.

In 1754, a young George Washington recieved his first taste of battle in the wilds of the western backcountry. Fighting alongside Indian allies, Washington's attack on a party of French soldiers known as the Battle of Jumonville Glen remains shrouded in mystery. Our guest on this episode is Brian Reedy of the National Park Service...spared no expense. 

In the summer of 1892 the workers of the Homestead Steel Works and security forces hired by Carnegie Steel went to war. Known as a watershed moment in the history of American Labor, the Homestead Steel Strike saw full scale combat during the heart of the Industrial Age. On this episode our guests are Rivers of Steel CEO Augie Carlino and retired professor Charlie McCollester...spared no expense. 

In 1863 Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia invaded Pennsylvania. On June 30th, 1863 Confederate Lt. General Albert G. Jenkins and Union Major General Darius Couch squared off at Sporting Hill. Just one day before the Battle of Gettysburg, the Skirmish at Sporting Hill gave northerners a small taste of just how terrible the war could be. As it stands, Sporting Hill was the northern most engagement of the Gettysburg Campaign. On this episode our guests are author Cooper Wingert and Jim Schmick...spared no expense. 

On September 11th, 1777 George Washington's Continental Army was all that stood between Philadelphia and the British Army. Understanding that a great stand would be required to save the colonial capitol, the General clashed with William Howe's Redcoats along the banks of the Brandywine. After a day-long battle Washington failed, and retreated in short order. As a result, the British Army captured and occupied Philadelphia for nine months and delivered one of the most terrible defeats of the American Revolution to the fledgling Patriots. On this episode our guests are authors Michael C. Harris and Bruce Mowday...spared no expense. 

Known as a bastion of independence on the American frontier, the Scots-Irish city of Hannastown was considered a vital target of Pro-British forces during the American Revolution. In 1775, a full year before the penning of the Declaration of Independence, Hannastown produced their own document challenging the Crown. As many of the Patriot armies most infamous troops emerged from the town, Seneca warriors razed Hannastown in 1782. It was the greatest Indian victory of the American Revolution. On this episode our guests are site supervisor Lisa Hayes and Dr. Peter Gilmore...spared no expense. 

In the decade after the American Revolution farmers on the western frontier rose up in rebellion against the new federal government. Believing themselves to be ill-represented and abused, the region known for its whiskey production became a hotbed of sedition. On this episode our guest are Dr. Kevin Kopper and Robert Windhorst...spared no expense. 

In 1844 the city of Philadelphia exploded into violence and chaos. With recent Irish immigrants coming to America by the tens of thousands each year, Nativist forces across the Northeast began to protest. In the Irish neighborhood of Kensington tensions boiled over, and the result was three days of fighting, church burning, and eventually open combat. On this episode our guests are author Ken Milano and Professor Katie Oxx...spared no expense.

In July of 1863 the Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia attempted to escape Pennsylvania after their defeat at Gettysburg. Moving through a narrow mountain gap called Monterey Pass, they were chased down by pursuing Federal cavalry. The resulting battle was the second largest engagement of the Gettysburg Campaign, and one of the few battles to take place on both sides of the Mason-Dixon Line. Our guests this week are author J.D. Petruzzi and Park Historian John Miller...spared no expense. 

On September 11th 2001, United Flight 93 out of Newark, NJ was hijacked by four Al-Qaeda terrorists. After the World Trade Center and Pentagon were attacked, forty men and women onboard Flight 93 launched a counteroffensive against the terrorists that hijacked their airplane. In the end the plane crashed in a field outside of Shanksville, PA, but the brave passengers of Flight 93 gave their lives to save countless others. On this episode are guests are author Tom McMillan and NPS Superintendent Keith Newlin...spared no expense

On July 30th, 1864 a Confederate force under the command of Brigadier General John McCausland captured the city of Chambersburg, PA. A year after the terrible bloodletting at Gettysburg, this time the Southern Rebels returned seeking revenge for union depredations in Virginia. After ransoming the town for $500,000, the Confederate General torched the city filled with noncombatants. The Burning of Chambersburg remains as a shocking reminder of the brutal reality of the American Civil War, and a seminal moment in the conflict. On this episode our guests are former NPS Historian Ted Alexander and Pulitzer Prize nominee Jeffrey Wert...spared no expense. 

From September to November of 1777, the British Navy besieged the Patriot post of Fort Mifflin. As the British fully occupied the city of Philadelphia, they needed to import vital supplies up the Delaware River. So long as Fort Mifflin stood, their route was blocked. On this episode our guests are author Tim McGrath and site administrator Beth Beatty...spared no expense.

On June 28th, 1863 as Confederate forces marched toward Gettysburg, they first tried to cross the Susquehanna River. To do so, rebels under the command of General John B. Gordon first needed to cross the world's largest covered bridge at Wrightsville. A battle against Pennsylvania militia ensued, and the landmark bridge was destroyed. On this episode our guest is author Scott Mingus...spared no expense.

In 1813 the paltry American navy squared off with the British navy on the Great Lakes. Lead by Oliver Hazard Perry, the Battle of Lake Erie was a shocking upset and redirected the fortunes of the perilous War of 1812. On this episode our guest is Erie Maritime Museum and US Brig Niagara Director, Captain Walter Rybka...spared no expense. 

Welcome to the WARTIME PODCAST NETWORK! On this episode we discuss the JEB Stuart and the Battle of Hanover, a rare example of urban cavalry warfare during the American Civil War. Guests are authors Eric Wittenberg and JD Petruzzi...spared no expense.

In 1811 America's largest slave rebellion occurred in the new territory of Louisiana. Skillfully timed and ultra-violent, the rebellion was fueled by the dream of a free republic for freed slaves. With the Haitian Revolution in mind, nearly five hundred enslaved men marched for freedom leaving many dead plantation owners in their wake. After nearly capturing New Orleans, the rebels were tortured and mutilated, and steps were taken by officials to erase the event from American history. On this episode we discuss the German Coast Uprising of 1811.

In 1811 the dream of a unified Indian republic died at Tippecanoe. From a young age the Shawnee warrior Tecumseh fought for a destiny disrupted, a dream lost. Utilizing political skill, warrior prowess, and persuasive action Tecumseh came closer than any other Indian leader to creating a free and independent nation in the American West. On this episode, we discuss Tecumseh's rebellion. 

On this special emergency episode of WARTIME we discuss the removal of Confederate statues and monuments. We detail their history, meaning, and symbolism. I give my opinion, and you might be surprised...

From 1791 to 1804, the enslaved peoples of the Caribbean’s richest island rebelled for their freedom. Led by a former enslaved man turned successful planter, the rebellion on Saint-Domingue was one of the bloodiest and horrible spells of violence in modern history. Taking many forms and costing thousands of lives, the Haitian Revolution overturned an old order, and put the entire New World on edge. After all the struggle and death, the world would never be the same. On this episode, we discuss the Haitian Revolution.

In 1798 the American nation was embroiled in partisan conflict. With total control of the government, President John Adams and his Federalist Congress prepared for war with France. As part of their planning, the Adams Administration proposed a radical series of new laws including a “House Tax” that stirred resentment throughout the country. One of these groups was Pennsylvania’s vast German minority, and their animosity boiled over into a rebellion just a few miles from the capital city of Philadelphia.  On this episode we discuss Fries “Hot Water” Rebellion of 1798.

Just ten years after the American Revolution, the frontier was once again raising arms. Buried in debt, Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton placed an excise tax on domestically produced whiskey. Considering it a terrible burden, angry frontier farmers rose up in open rebellion against the United States in the vast Ohio Country. In the end, President George Washington saddled up his horse and led the American army as Commander-in-Chief one final time. On this episode we discuss the Whiskey Rebellion.

Just three years after the American Revolution, rebellion stirred once more in Massachusetts. When state debts become too great, state officials demanded that backcountry farmers pay their dues at once. With foreclosures skyrocketing under the weight of crushing taxes, Revolutionary War veterans took up arms once more. “No Taxation Without Representation” was back in a big way, and under the leadership of Daniel Shays the rebellion threatened to end the American Republic in its earliest years. On this episode we discuss Shays’ Rebellion.

By the 1740’s, the city of New York was the second largest slaveholding city in North America. Since its earliest days as a cultural melting pot under the flag of the Dutch, the city held African slaves as a permanent underclass and became a slave trading commercial giant. After being taken over by the English in 1667, tensions amongst the enslaved classes began to boil over into open rebellion, and fear and panic flooded the streets of Manhattan. On this episode we discuss the New York City’s Slave Rebellions of 1712 and 1741.

A full five years before the American Revolution, backcountry farmers in North Carolina took up arms. While often grouped in with the later Patriot movement, the Regulators were had little interest in royal separation. Instead of fighting as revolutionaries, the North Carolina Regulation was an effort to root out corruption from within the colonial government by any means necessary. Culminating with the now infamous Battle of Alamance, the War of the Regulation remains one of the most contentious actions in the history of Colonial America. On this episode we discuss the Regulators.

Following the expedition of Vitus Bering in 1741, the Russian Empire planted its flag firmly in North America. With riches in mind, traders and trappers from Siberia soon found a wealth of furs and opportunity in the great wilderness of Alaska. Although the Russians prospered as North America’s fourth colonial superpower, its unfettered exploitation of the native Aleutic peoples backfired in the form of open rebellion. From 1763 to 1804, Russian North America was plagued by warfare, and the strains of a globalized economy began to take its toll on the tribal societies of Alaska. On this episode we discuss the rebellions of Russia’s secret North American empire.

In the summer of 1680 a revolution swept through the deserts of Spanish New Mexico. Led by the fabled Popé, the Pueblo Revolt saw native warriors rise up against oppressive Spanish rule in the Rio Grande River Valley. After only two weeks of fighting, Popé’s warriors accomplished the unthinkable forcing the imperialists out of their ancestral homeland, an inspiration to revolutionaries for centuries to come.  On this episode we discuss the Pueblo Revolt of 1680.

A century before the American Revolution, a sweeping Indian rebellion sent New England reeling. Led by Metacom, known locally as King Phillip, warriors raided and devastated Puritan towns on a massive scale. Considered by many as the bloodiest per capita war in American history, King Phillip’s War left a permanent scar on the psyche of the Puritan’s great City on a Hill.  On this episode we discuss King Phillip’s War. It’s the Season Six Premiere!

One hundred years ago this week America was gripped in fear and panic. In a span of two weeks, five people were attacked and four were killed as a result of the first shark attacks in modern US history. Known as the destination for the debonair, the Jersey Shore became the scene of a bloody collision of man vs. beast that would ultimately inspire the literary and cinema classic “Jaws”. Most shockingly of all were the deaths of two people in a shallow tidal creek over thirty miles from the open ocean. The search for the Jersey Man-Eater would eclipse World War I in newspaper coverage that summer, and a century later the culprit remains unknown. On this episode we discuss the Jersey Shore Shark Attacks of 1916.

On this episode we answer your questions and give away free books. From politics to history to films, Wartime holds nothing back!

Less than a year after the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom, American soldiers were fighting house to house in the city of Fallujah. Known as a hotbed of radical activity, Fallujah saw Coalition forces storming buildings and trading machine gun fire with an almost invisible enemy. Fought by Army, Marines, and Naval servicemen, the month-long struggle known as Operation Phantom Fury stands as the harshest fighting seen by US soldiers since the Vietnam War. After a month of fighting the city was recaptured, and the final chapter remains to be written. On this episode we discuss Operation Phantom Fury: The Second Battle of Fallujah.

On July 30th, 1864 a Confederate force under the command of Brigadier General John McCausland captured the city of Chambersburg, PA. A year after the terrible bloodletting at Gettysburg, this time the Southern Rebels returned seeking revenge for union depredations in Virginia. After ransoming the town for $500,000, the Confederate General torched the city filled with noncombatants. The Burning of Chambersburg remains as a shocking reminder of the brutal reality of the American Civil War, and a seminal moment in the conflict. On this episode we discuss the Burning of Chambersburg.

In June of 1876, on the eve of America’s 100th birthday, two armies went to war. Led by the war chief Sitting Bull, the peoples of the Great Plains clashed with George Armstrong Custer’s vaunted 7th Cavalry. Due to negligence on all levels of command and the supreme horsemanship of the Plains Indians, Custer’s men were thoroughly defeated. Now almost 150 years later controversy still swirls around the events that transpired on those grassy Montana plains.  On this episode we discuss The Battle of the Little Bighorn: Custer’s Last Stand.

In 1756 the Colony of Pennsylvania was at war. With the incursion of the French, the Western Delaware peoples of the Ohio Country raided and burned the frontier villages of William Penn’s Peaceable Kingdom. Although the colonial government was staunchly Quaker and did not believe in a standing army, the efforts of Benjamin Franklin rallied the province into action. In September of 1756 Colonel John Armstrong led 300 frontiersmen into the wilderness to raid and destroy the Delaware village of Kittanning. Although celebrated at the time, modern historians question the Kittanning Raid’s true motivations and effectiveness. On this episode we discuss the Kittanning Raid of 1756.

After two years of combat Confederate General Robert E. Lee moved his army north. At the centerpiece of what is now known as the Gettysburg Campaign the Southern officer planned a full scale invasion of the United States. Although he had tallied numerous victories, it would not be until Lee could persuade northern voters to reject President Abraham Lincoln in 1864 that his rebellion would truly be a success. After days of foraging and skirmishing, the Army of Northern Virginia accidently crossed a Union scout party leading to the largest battle in the history of the Western Hemisphere. On this episode we discuss the Gettysburg Campaign.