Presenters, Guides & Historians Biographies

Garry Adelman

A graduate of Michigan State University and Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania, Garry Adelman is the award-winning author, co-author or editor of 20 books and 50 Civil War articles. He is the vice president of the Center for Civil War Photography and has been a Licensed Battlefield Guide at Gettysburg for 25 years. He has conceived and drafted the text for wayside exhibits at ten battlefields, has given thousands of battlefield tours at more than 60 sites and has lectured at hundreds of locations across the country including the National Archives, the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian. He has appeared as a speaker on the BBC, C-Span, Pennsylvania Cable Network, American Heroes Channel, and on HISTORY where he was a chief consultant and talking head on the Emmy Award-winning show Gettysburg (2011) and Blood and Glory: The Civil War in Color (2015). He works full-time as Chief Historian at the American Battlefield Trust.

Sarah Kay Bierle

Sarah Kay Bierle graduated from Thomas Edison State University with a BA in History, works in the Education Department at American Battlefield Trust, and occasionally writes for Emerging Civil War. She has spent years exploring ways to share quality historical research in ways that will inform and inspire modern audiences, including school presentations, writing, and speaking engagements. Sarah has published three historical fiction books and her first nonfiction book, Call Out The Cadets: The Battle of New Market, is part of the Emerging Civil War Series.

Andrew Dalton 

Andrew Dalton is Executive Director of the Adams County Historical Society and Beyond the Battle Museum. A 2019 graduate of Gettysburg College, he has received project funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and is the author of a book, Beyond the Run: The Emanuel Harmon Farm at Gettysburg (2013), as well as numerous journal articles. His work as a historian and non-profit executive has been featured in The Washington Post, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, The Harrisburg Patriot, and Hallowed Ground Magazine, among other publications. He is a frequent contributor and guest at the American Battlefield Trust, Gettysburg National Military Park, and Gettysburg College. From 2020-2023, Andrew spearheaded successful planning and fundraising efforts for the historical society's $12 million debt-free capital campaign to build its new history center and museum in Gettysburg. 

Daniel Davis

Dan Davis is Principal, Interpretation and Special Projects at the American Battlefield Trust. He is a native of Fredericksburg, VA, where his love for the Civil War began on childhood trips to local battlefields. Dan is a graduate of Longwood University with a bachelor’s degree in Public History. Dan has worked as a Ranger/Historian at Appomattox Court House National Historical Site and the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park. He is the author or co-author of numerous books and articles on the Civil War.

Codie Eash

Codie Eash serves as Director of Education and Museum Operations at Seminary Ridge Museum and Education Center in Gettysburg, and is a 2014 graduate of Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in communication/journalism and held a minor in history. In addition to museum tours and interpretation, he lectures for American Battlefield Trust conferences, National Park Service sites, historical societies, Civil War roundtables, educational groups, and other organizations. Codie is a founding contributor to the collaborative project Pennsylvania in the Civil War, writes book reviews for Civil War Monitor, and is a member of the Gettysburg Magazine editorial board.

William Griffith 

Dr. Chris Mackowski 

Chris Mackowski, Ph.D., is the editor-in-chief and co-founder of Emerging Civil War. He is the series editor of the award-winning Emerging Civil War Series, published by Savas Beatie, and the “Engaging the Civil War” Series, published in partnership with Southern Illinois University Press. Chris is a professor of journalism and mass communication at St. Bonaventure University in Allegany, NY, and historian-in-residence at Stevenson Ridge, a historic property on the Spotsylvania battlefield in central Virginia. He has also worked as a historian for the National Park Service at Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park, where he gives tours at four major Civil War battlefields (Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Wilderness, and Spotsylvania), as well as at the building where Stonewall Jackson died. Chris has authored or co-authored a dozen books on the Civil War, and his articles have appeared in all the major Civil War magazines. Chris serves on the national advisory board for the Civil War Chaplains Museum in Lynchburg, Virginia. Chris owes all of his success in the Civil War field to his best friend, mentor, boss, and co-author, Kristopher White.

Wayne Motts

Wayne E. Motts is a historian, author, and licensed battlefield guide at Gettysburg National Military Park, where he has led tours for nearly forty years. He has dedicated his career to public history, serving as the leader of three nonprofit historical organizations, including the Adams County Historical Society (Gettysburg History) and the Gettysburg Foundation. Wayne currently serves as chief executive officer of the National Civil War Museum in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania—one of the largest museums in the world devoted to the exhibition and interpretation of the American Civil War. He holds two degrees in history and is the author or co-author of works on the Civil War.

Timothy H. "Tim" Smith 

Timothy H. Smith has been a Licensed Battlefield Guide at Gettysburg National Military Park for over 25 years and is currently the Director of Education at the Adams County Historical Society (ACHS). He was also named County Historian in 2023. Tim has been involved with ACHS since the late 1980s when he began volunteering as a research assistant. He is the author of ten books and numerous articles about the Civil War, the Gettysburg Campaign, and a host of other local history topics. Tim is also a historical consultant for the American Battlefield Trust and a frequent lecturer at Civil War Round Tables and Seminars, and appears regularly on the Pennsylvania Cable Network’s Battle Walks Series. Tim is recognized as one of the leading experts on the Battle of Gettysburg and all aspects of Adams County history.

Kristopher D. White 

Kris is the director of education at the American Battlefield Trust. White is a graduate of Norwich University with an M.A. in Military History and California University of Pennsylvania with a B.A. in History. He served as a ranger-historian at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park. He has also served the Penn-Trafford Recreation Board as a historian and as a continuing education instructor for the Community College of Allegheny County. White is the co-founder of Emerging Civil War and co-creator of the Emerging Civil War Series. An award-winning speaker, book and video editor, White has authored, co-authored, or edited more than two dozen books and numerous articles covering everything from the Seven Years' War to the World Wars. For more than two decades, Kris has led tours and staff rides of major military campaigns in the United States and abroad, including Gettysburg, Normandy, Ypres, and many others.