ORWELL — The summer and fall of 1776 during the American Revolution was a time of high drama on Lake Champlain and Mount Independence in Orwell. On Saturday, July 25, at 2 p.m. the Mount Independence State Historic Site gets out the time machine for the program, “An Investigation Into the Revolutionary Mind: What Were You Thinking, Benedict Arnold and Guy Carleton?”
Modern-day historian and site interpreter Paul Andriscin will summon up American Gen. Benedict Arnold and British Gen. Guy Carleton to ask them about their activities on Lake Champlain in 1776, including October’s Battle of Valcour and the British appearance north of Mount Independence and Fort Ticonderoga at the end of the month. What were the American and British plans for offense and defense? What role did Mount Independence play? A truculent common soldier might even make an appearance.
Benedict Arnold will be portrayed by Steve Whalen, Guy Carleton by James Ross, and the soldier by Mike Austin. Audience members are welcome to ask their questions at the end. 
This series of annual programs has explored the decision-making of Maj. Gen. Arthur St. Clair and the American withdrawal from the Mount in 1777, the lives of the common soldiers, engineer Col. Jeduthan Baldwin, Col. John Brown and the September 1777 American raid to take back the Mount from the British, and the 1791 Vermont visit by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.
The event is included in the regular admission fee of $5 for adults and free for children under 15. Attendees can visit the museum and walk any or all of the six miles of trails on the over 300 acre site. Call 802-948-2000 for more information.