DAPHNE, Ala. — The Baldwin County Historical Society will meet at 2:30 p.m. May 23 at the Daphne Senior Center, 2605 Highway 98.

“Major Uriah Blue’s Campaign in the War of 1812 — Mobile Delta to Spanish Florida 1814-1815” will be the topic. Steve Thomas will present a program on the strategy and reactions in Spanish Florida and the U.S. Mississippi Territory to the British invasion of North America in the summer of 1814: including strategic operations at the end of the Creek/Redstick rebellion, after the battle of Horseshoe Bend.

The presentation is set in the larger context of the War of 1812 but is an overview of specific actions occuring around Mobile and Pensacola Bays, including the easily forgotten, but fairly large, campaign of Brevet Colonel (Maj.) Uriah Blue, Majors Russell and Childs and David Crockett in the areas from present-day Baldwin County to the Conecuh River in West Florida. These actions were waged at the same time as the Battle of New Orleans.

Presenting:

Steve Thomas

Steve Thomas is a data analyst and programmer for industry and government, and is heavily involved in historical projects.

He has been a presenting guest historian for several National Park Service and Alabama Historical Commission properties as well as other parks throughout the U.S.

He served as a volunteer and event coordinator for events at the Historic Pensacola Village, Historic Blakely Park, Fort Gaines, Fort Morgan and the Mobile Tricentennial.

He is a member of the 7th U.S. Infantry (Military Living History Association 1808-1850), a national unit of volunteer interpreters and historians and is an organizing member of the 2nd and the 39th US Infantry (1798-1829) and the South Coast Regulars, a living-history group on the Gulf Coast.

He has been active in the production of numerous documentary films describing historical events and sites from Louisiana to Florida. He was also on the staff as a site historian for the Grand Hotel for two years.