he would fall at the tavern, pass out in the wagon and the horses would bring him home. is what he accomplished in his life. grab by jake, he left home on with a fifth grade education heading for the bright lights of toledo and he went to work is a buggy mechanic. and then one day it worse was monday pulled up at the shop and grandpas on that and he saw the future. he thinks back to do. did not take grandpa along to know that clinton has was to be had in more money was made selling them rather than preparing them. and also my uncle birth date and my grandma and grandpa's wedding anniversary were a little too close for comfort. so any way he got in the car business and by the time that i came along in the 1940's we had an ehud business and grandpa and my uncle owned a dish of and my father was a sales manager and as a younger brother ran a used-car lot and baby brother jack was a salesman and cousin hide it in the parts department and all the odds and girl cousins work in the office and all the boy cousins and me all worked out on the car lot cleaning and waxing the cars.

wausau and in addition to that he gave a sword with an inscription and kosciuszko was actually at the tavern when george washington said goodbye to the troops, and in fact he gave kosciuszko -- kosciuszko was made a member of the board of cincinnati, and washington when he was saying goodbye actually slated a hearing on his finger and said in the book the irony of this is it was as if washington was passing the baton to kosciuszko because you have one general passing the baton to another general trying to win freedom for his country. and as far as kosciuszko's relationship with washington it wasn't as more and fuzzy as the relationship he had with general horatio gates because general gates later freed his slaves and allowed us leaves to join his army as themselves rather than in the name of their owner, slave owners, so it was more of an offical relationship and washington spent probably the most amount of time with kosciuszko and on the visits to west point he would be given tours of the various readouts he was building. in fact later on when kosciuszko arrived in the united states for the

is both believe in the dark, when the french's tavern book award as the years best book on the american revolution. he is with us to discuss almost a miracle, the american victory and the war of independence. please join me in welcoming john ferling. [applause] >> thank you. it's a delight to be in chicago and to be at this fine institution. i want to begin by telling you that i had wanted to write this book for a long time. i taught a course on u.s. military history, taught a course on the american revolution and spent about half of that course dealing with the war. and taught a couple of seminars on the war of independence, but i had to wait until my editor finally gave me clarence to write the book. i also wanted to write it because a book i wrote in 2003, a leap in the dark, was a political history of the revolutionary era, and i wanted to write a book that would deal with the military aspects of the revolutionary era. and i took the title "almost a miracle" from a line in washington's farewell address to the continental army. he said goodbye to his continental army in november of 1

to vote then he began to get tired after about four years and he said i always love the commercial fishermen taverns and eateries which are often connected with marine hardware stores. it is the life of a local fisherman sui began searching for them and i went down to the joint i was falling along in his tracks i was watching another writer's search and search and unfortunately he waited a bit too late in his having trouble finding the nut but i stumbled on to another topic if you read "roads to quoz" you will see to it is not relevant right now. there is a dentist and court alain idaho richard smart to has invented an ordinary mountain bike that he mounts the outrigger you put on top of a steel rail the other real and you get on the bike you ride down the abandoned railroad lines are usually left up i heard about him and wrote a letter, what? >> [inaudible] questions? okay. i heard about this and i wrote a letter and said i want to try your real cycle and said , now so q and i did and you will see what it is like to get on top of a bicycle on top of rails and idaho and try to ride that on that stee

he cast about and thought i have always loved of the water of caverns and the commercial fisherman in taverns and eateries often connected with marine hardware stores. it is a focus of a life of a commercial fisherman on the gulf coast and he said i want to record those so he began searching for them. one. i went down to join him and was falling in his tracks and watching another writer search. unfortunately he on his way a bit too late to take that particular time that will make the book that he wants but maybe it'll work out, but i stumble on to another topic if you read "roads to quoz" it is not relevant now. there is a dentist in idaho, richard smart, who has invented what he calls a real cycle. you will see an image of it in it "roads to quoz". it is a bicycle ordinary mountain bike which he brings a wheel to the other side and you put it on top of a steel rail, the other will on the other rail and get on the bike and ride down the rail. in abandoned railroad lines usually. [laughter] i heard about him and rode him a letter. >> [inaudible] >> i heard about this and i wrote him a letter a

the military museum in warsaw. >> oh, really? >> in addition to that, he gave him a sword with an inscription on it and kosciuszko was actually at france's tavern when george washington said goodbye to the troops. and, in fact, he gave -- 'cause kosciuszko was made a member of the order of the cincinnati. and washington, when he was saying goodbye to him, actually slipped a cameo ring on his finger and i say in the book that the irony of this it was as if washington was passing the baton to kosciuszko because you have one farmer/general passing the baton to another farmer/general who was trying to win freedom for his country and as far as kosciuszko's relationship with washington, it wasn't as warm and fuzzy as the relationship he had with general gates because general gates later freed his slaves and he allowed slaves to join his army as themselves rather than in the name of their -- in the name of their owner, the slave owners. so it was more an official relationship and washington spent probably the most amount of time with kosciuszko when they were at west point and on the visits to west point, he would be given tours of the various readout