On Saturday, July 27, 2019, two characters from the Revolutionary War past come back to the Mount Independence State Historic Site in Orwell, Vermont, for a time-traveling interview. This is the annual “Inquiry into the Revolutionary Mind” program, this year featuring two men in the caring professions—Dr. Jonathan Potts and Rev. Thomas Allen. The program begins at 2:00 pm.

Modern day historian and site interpreter Paul Andriscin will interview Potts and Allen, who were responsible for the well-being of the soldiers at Mount Independence. Potts was physician-surgeon for the Continental Army in this region and Allen was a chaplain here in the fall of 1776 and June 1777.

These first-person programs are always engaging and visitor favorites. Potts will be portrayed by Steve Whalen and Allen by Michael Blakeslee. Questions from the audience are welcome at the end.

This series of annual programs has explored the decision-making of Maj. Gen. Arthur St. Clair and the American withdrawal from the Mount in 1777, the lives of the common soldiers, engineer Col. Jeduthan Baldwin, Col. John Brown and the September 1777 American raid to take back the Mount from the British, the 1791 Vermont visit by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, conflict between American general Benedict Arnold and British general Guy Carleton, John Trumbull and Anthony Wayne, Lt. Gen. John Burgoyne and German Maj. Gen. Baron Riedesel, and other characters.

The event is included in the regular admission fee of $5.00 for adults and free for children under 15.  Please note the program is on Saturday, July 27, not Sunday, July 28, as it appears in some calendars. Enjoy the air-conditioned museum. While there you can visit the museum and walk any or all the six miles of trails on the over 300-acre site.  Call 802-948-2000 for more information.