Dr. David L. Preston, Gen. Mark W. Clark Distinguished Professor of History, The Citadel
SY 18-19, David Preston, Department of Military History
“From Braddock’s Defeat to Dunmore’s War: The Transformation of Early American Warfare”
British military disasters in the wilderness of North America in the 1750s underscored the fundamental military challenges facing the British: offensives across vast distances and rugged geography against formidable French and Indian opponents who were highly skilled in irregular warfare. By the 1760s and 1770s, warfare in North America was transformed as British and American forces began to adapt their tactics and develop the logistical capacity to undertake offensives deep into the interior of the country.
About the speaker:
David Preston is an award-winning historian of American military history with a special interest in how war and peace among the French, British, and Indian peoples in eighteenth-century America shaped the modern world. He has been described by the Pulitzer-Prize winning historian David Hackett Fischer as “one of the most gifted young historians writing today.” He earned his doctorate in American history at The College of William & Mary, and is currently the General Mark W. Clark Distinguished Professor of History at The Citadel, where he teaches cadets and officer candidates about U.S. military history, leadership, and early American history. He serves as the Director of The Citadel’s flourishing online master’s degree program in military history.
The author of several books, he is best known for Braddock’s Defeat: The Battle of the Monongahela and the Road to Revolution, which received one of the nation’s most prestigious and largest literary awards, the Gilder Lehrman Prize for Military History, among several other awards. His forthcoming sequel to Braddock’s Defeat will focus on the civil and military formation of George Washington’s leadership in the decades before the American Revolution.
Professor Preston is also a serving officer in the South Carolina State Guard, holding the rank of lieutenant colonel and the position of Brigade Operations Officer. As a specialist in emergency management, he has deployed in conjunction with the South Carolina Army National Guard on numerous disaster and emergency support missions during hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, and the COVID-19 pandemic.