War has played a key role in the history of the United States, from the nation's founding

right down to the present. War made the U.S. independent, kept it together, increased its

size, and established it as a global superpower. Understanding America's wars is essential for understanding American history.

Welcome to Key Battles of American History,

a podcast in which we discuss American history through the lens of the most important battles of America's wars.

Here is your host, James Early.

Thank you. your host, James Early. Hello and welcome to a special bonus episode of Key Battles of American History.

I'm your host, James Early, as always.

And I am super excited today because I have a great story for you.

Joining me to help tell this story is Jay Robeson.

Jay is a retired U.S. Air Force Colonel, as well as a retired vascular surgeon, who is now a

professor emeritus at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston.

Jay is an avid history buff, a geologist,

and a supporter of the podcast. And most importantly, to me, Jay is my first cousin and a dear friend.

Welcome to the podcast, Jay. Well, thank you, James. I'm really pleased and honored to be here with you.

Thanks. Yeah, I'm delighted to have you. It's going to be fun. So listeners, you may be wondering,

why did I get my cousin to come on? I mean, he's got an impressive resume, but it's just,

is this nepotism? What is it? So I wanted to remind our listeners, I think you all know

about my Patreon group. I have a group on Patreon that

helps support the podcast. They're called Early's Raiders. And there are five levels of support,

and each one has a military rank. There's Lieutenant, Captain, Major, Colonel, and General.

And people who support at the major level or up can commission an episode on a topic of their choosing, as long as it

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