Company of Military Historians

A few photographs from the Company Meeting in Maine this weekend.

Sad news of the death of a long time Company member and Fellow.

With sadness we note the death of our longtime friend and advisor Marko Zlatich on July 26, 2023. An internationally known expert on the military uniforms of the Revolutionary era, Marko was associated with the Institute’s museum and library as a researcher and volunteer for more than three decades. He traced his interest in uniforms back to the miniature soldiers he played with as a child, but his scholarly pursuit of the subject became a second career upon his retirement as an archivist at the World Bank in 1989.

Marko was a regular presence in our library’s reading room (“If it’s Thursday, it must be Marko”). He mined our collections for every nugget of evidence about how each of the original states clothed and equipped their Continental lines. Our staff benefited greatly from his knowledge and insights that helped us identify and better understand items in our collections and those on the market that we might (or might not) want to pursue. Our library catalog lists forty-eight works under Marko’s name, including several original research studies he undertook at our request. He was the author, most notably, of the two-volume work George Washington’s Army (London: Osprey, 1994-1995), which remains a mainstay for anyone researching the uniforms and accoutrements of the Continental Army.

Marko was a mentor to many rising military historians and was always extremely generous in sharing his research. He was an Honored Fellow of the Company of Military Historians and a regular contributor to its journal and conferences. Last fall, he gave the library his collection of research papers—104 binders meticulously organized by subject. He is survived by his beloved wife, Nancy Aherne, who is one of the founding Associates of the American Revolution Institute.