John Willard Shy (March 23, 1931 – April 8, 2022) was a military historian and professor emeritus at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

. Shy was part of a group of military historians who examined the interplay of the military, politics, and society in the colonial and revolutionary periods of American history.

Education

Born in

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, Shy attended the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

, graduating with a B.S. degree in the class of 1952. He received his M.A. degree in history from the

University of Vermont The University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, commonly referred to as the University of Vermont (UVM), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont, United States. Foun ...

in 1957. Shy graduated with his Ph.D. degree in history from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

in 1961. His doctoral thesis was entitled ''The British army in North America, 1760-1775''.

Career

Shy was commissioned as a

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

officer in 1952 and served on active duty until 1955. He transitioned to the Army Reserve and ultimately attained the rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

. Shy became an associate professor at Princeton in 1959, an associate professor at Michigan in 1968 and a full professor there in 1971. He was a visiting professor at the

United States Army War College The United States Army War College (USAWC) is a U.S. Army staff college in Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, with a Carlisle postal address, on the 500-acre (2 km2) campus of the historic Carlisle Barracks. It provides graduate-level instru ...

from 1974 to 1975. Shy specialized in the American Colonial and Revolutionary periods. The University of Michigan presented him with the Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award in 1994. Shy received the Morison Prize from the

Society for Military History The Society for Military History is a United States–based international organization of scholars who research, write, and teach military history of all time periods and places. It includes naval history, air power history, and studies of technol ...

in 2002. Shy gave the 2008 George C. Marshall Lecture in Military History. Shy lived in

Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in Washtenaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851, making it the List of municipalities in Michigan, fifth-most populous cit ...

after his retirement and died in 2022.

Selected works

*Paret, Peter, and John W. Shy. ''Guerrillas in the 1960s''. New York: Published for the Center of International Studies, Princeton University, by Praeger, 1962. *Shy, John W. ''Toward Lexington; The Role of the British Army in the Coming of the American Revolution''. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1965. *Shy, John W. ''A People Numerous and Armed: Reflections on the Military Struggle for American Independence''. New York: Oxford University Press, 1976. *Gilbert, Benjamin, and John W. Shy. ''Winding Down: The Revolutionary War Letters of Lieutenant Benjamin Gilbert of Massachusetts, 1780–1783: From His Original Manuscript Letterbook in the William L. Clements Library, Ann Arbor, Michigan''. nn Arbor University of Michigan Press, 1989.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shy, John 1931 births 2022 deaths United States Military Academy alumni Military personnel from Ohio United States Army officers United States Army reservists University of Vermont alumni Princeton University faculty Princeton University alumni Military historians Historians of the American Revolution University of Michigan faculty United States Army War College faculty