A native of Reading, Pennsylvania, he was educated at Dickinson College and the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. He has spent years studying Federal cavalry operations in the Gettysburg Campaign, with a special focus on the actions of Brig. Gen. John Buford and his veteran troopers. The author of a number of works on the mounted actions, he enjoys recounting the stories of the hardships faced by the cavalry forces of both sides in the American Civil War. He is a member of APCWS, the Brandy Station Foundation, and is a former president of the Central Ohio Civil War Roundtable. He is also the chairman of the Elon Farnsworth Memorial Association.