The War of 1812 was the true making of the regular regiments and corps of the US Army. Three years' fighting against Britain saw the White House burned down, but also the bloody repulse of the redcoats, then the best infantry in the world, on a number of battlefields. The small constabulary force which entered the war - ill-led, ill-supported, and with an uncertain system of supply - ended it as a professional army with a system of command and services equal to any. This meticulous history of the uniforms of the American regulars is illustrated with many previously unseen paintings and photographs.
James L. Kochan spent nearly two decades as a museum director and curator, principally with the U.S. Army Museum System and the National Park Service (including seven years as supervisory curator at Morristown National Historical Park). Prior to forming his own historical consulting and antiques business in 1998, he was director of museum collections at Mount Vernon, during which he organized the blockbuster travelling exhibition, George Washington Revealed: Treasures from Mount Vernon. He is the recipient of numerous honors and awards for his curatorial and historical work, including the Anne S. K. Brown Military Fellowship at Brown University, the Award of Merit from the American Assoc. for State and Local History (AASLH), a Museum Fellowship from the British Council, and is a Fellow of the Company of Military Historians (CMH). Public service includes current and past positions as an officer, board member and editor for various professional organizations and charitable organizations, including AASLH, CMH, The Council for Northeast Historical Archaeology, the American Revolution Roundtable, and the Texas and Virginia Associations of Museums.
Kochan is the author of four books: Don Troiani's Soldiers of the American Revolution, Hearts of Oak & Yankee Pluck, and a two-volume treatment on the early United States Army, 1783-1815, released by Osprey Publishing. In addition, he is the co-author of two other books, Don Troiani's Soldiers in America, 1754-1865 and Hessian Documents of the American Revolution, 1776-1783, as well as having published more than 100 articles and studies on various facets of military, naval, costume, and art history. A new multi-volume work, King George's Sea Soldiers: The Royal Marines in the Age of Fighting Sail, 1755-1815, is scheduled for publication in 2010. He is considered a leading expert on American and British uniforms, accoutrements, martial arms and related military and maritime artwork and artifacts, 1700-1850.
In addition to Kochan's current career in the fine art and antiques trade, he continues to serve as an consultant to various museums and historic sites. Kochan also works with the film/media industry; past projects have included serving as primary historical advisor to A&E Television's The American Revolution (1994) and other PBS and History Channel productions, an expert appraiser for The Antiques Roadshow, and was the primary historical consultant and technical advisor for costume, props and set dressing on Peter Weir's film adaptation of the Patrick O'Brien novels, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. Mr. Kochan resides in Frederick, Maryland, where he divides his time between research and writing, historical consulting, running James L. Kochan Fine Art & Antiques (http://jameskochan.com/), and restoring a large Federal townhouse.
