Colonel (Ret.) Kevin J. Weddle, Ph.D., author of the acclaimed book The Compleat Victory: Saratoga and the American Revolution (Oxford University Press, 2021, “Pivotal Moments in American History” series).
The Friends of the New York State Military Museum’s “Preserving Our Military Heritage Award” recognizes a wide variety of exceptional projects and publications that contribute to the understanding and remembrance of the rich military of New York State. The inaugural award, fittingly presented in October, New York State History Month, is given to Kevin Weddle for his outstanding and expertly researched book The Compleat Victory, which advances existing scholarship on the consequential events that occurred along the Revolutionary War’s “Turning Point Trail” in New York and Vermont in 1776 and 1777 that saved the American Revolution and ultimately changed the course of world history.
Weddle’s association with New York is a considerable one. He is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point (Class of 1979) where he later taught Military History as a Captain, a formative experience that prompted his interest in the topic of the Battles of Saratoga and the Revolutionary War. Over the years, Colonel Weddle has taught many military leaders from New York State at the United States Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania where he is a Distinguished Fellow; Professor Emeritus of Military Theory and Strategy; and the former Elihu Root Chair of Military Studies. Weddle served over 28 years in the U.S. Army as a combat engineer officer before retiring as a colonel. He served in a variety of command and staff positions in the United States and overseas including command of a combat engineer battalion and is a veteran of Operations Desert Storm and Enduring Freedom. He holds master’s degrees in history and civil engineering from the University of Minnesota and a Ph.D. in history from Princeton University.
The Compleat Victory is also the recipient of the following prestigious awards: The Fraunces Tavern Museum Book Award · The Gilder Lehrman Prize for Military History (presented at the New York Historical Society) · The Society of the Cincinnati Prize (American Revolution Institute) · National Society Daughters of the American Revolution Excellence in American History Book Award.
