Military History Digest #150
Contents
19th Century
1. A Fugitive Slave Wins His Freedom by Donald Shaffer
"February 18, 1861 is generally remembered as the day
Jefferson Davis took his oath as Provisional President of the
Confederacy (read Adam Goodheart’s fascinating analysis of
Davis’ inaugural speech in Disunion). But also on that day a
brief story appeared in the New York Times, with the headline
“Decision in the case of the Fugitive Slave Anderson.; THE
PRISONER SET AT LIBERTY.“ The story read:
HAMILTON, C.W., Saturday, Feb. 16. The final decision in the
case of ANDERSON, the fugitive slave, was given to-day. The
Court sustained the decision of the Court of Queen’s Bench on
the question of..."
2. Sons of Confederate Veterans Forced to the Back of the Bus by Kevin Levin
"Even in the “Heart of Dixie” the Sons of Confederate Veterans
can muster little more than a few hundred people from its
ranks to commemorate the inauguration of Jefferson Davis.
Based on the YouTube clip below yesterday’s event sounded
more like a political rally than a reenactment. The speaker’s
comparison of the SCV’s challenges with [...]..."
3. Edward Van Wert by Steve Soper
"Edward Van Wert was born on November 19, 1839, in Groveland,
Livingston County, New York, the son of Isaac (d. 1812) and
Jemima Ann (Groesbeck, 1815-1844/48).Isaac and Jemima were
both born in Renssalear County, New York and were married at
the bride’s home in New York in September of 1832. By 1844
the family had settled in Washtenaw County, Michigan where
Jemima died in November of that year. According one report
soon after the death of his wife Isaac left his children with
relatives in Tyrone, Kent County, probably until the
following year when he remarried a..."
4. William Van Dyke by Steve Soper
"William Van Dyke was born on April 14, 1843, in Monroe
County, Michigan, the son of Henry (1802-1855) and Eliza (b.
1805). By 1860 Irish-born Eliza had moved her son to the
western side of the state and William was a student living
with his mother, working as a domestic (but with some $2000
dollars in personal property) possibly with the Barringer
family in Crockery, Ottawa County.William was 18 years old
and probably living in Crockery or Kent County when he
enlisted with his mother’s’ consent in Company C on May 13,
1861.On April 6, 1863..."
5. SCV and Earl Ijames Do Better by Kevin Levin
"Tony Way of the SCV and Earl Ijames are working to
commemorate ten black North Carolinians, nine of which have
been identified as slaves, who were present in the Army of
Northern Virginia as slaves. This is truly a step in the
right direction given the way this story was reported back in
May 2010. [...]..."
6. Should Nathan Bedford Forrest Be on a License Plate? by Brooks D. Simpson
"Word comes from various sources, including Eric Wittenberg’s
Rantings of a Civil War Historian and local press coverage,
of efforts by the Mississippi chapter of the Sons of
Confederate Veterans to propose several new special vanity
plate designs, including one … Continue reading →..."
7. Dr. Thomas P. Lowry Responds | Crossroads by n/a
"..."
8. A Northern Religious Perspective on Slavery by Donald Shaffer
"February 24, 1861 was a Sunday. No doubt, many Americans,
South and North, attended religious services that day. One
such group of the faithful gathered that February 24 at the
Congregational Church in Norfolk, Connecticut, to hear the
sermon of the Reverend Joseph Eldridge. Eldridge’s talk that
day was titled ”Does the Bible Sanction Slavery?” It so
impressed his parishioners that they petitioned him to
publish it which he did. Civil War Emancipation already has
covered two pro-slavery sermons, one from Louisiana and the
other from Georgia. So, both for some sectional balance and
because the sermon was delivered..."
9. Dr. Thomas P. Lowry Responds by Brooks D. Simpson
"It’s been exactly a month since the National Archives
announced that Thomas P. Lowry had confessed to altering the
date on a Lincoln document so as to make it appear that the
president signed the document on April 14, 1865, … Continue
reading →..."
10. Cw 150 Legacy Project: Virginia Memory Scanning Project by matthew.t.eng@navy.mil (Matthew T. Eng)
"It seems that victories, albeit tiny in comparison to the
grand spectacle of the war itself, continue to surface during
the sesquicentennial years. Documents, once privately-held,
are continuously There was a recent post on the Virginia
Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission's Facebook page about
an ongoing project conducted by the Library of Virginia and
the Virginia Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission. The
article, appearing on progress-index, talks about two members
of the Legacy Project scanning documents in Dinwiddie found
by a woman who decided to save them from a soon to be
demolished house in Sussex County. As with all..."
11. The Fine Craftsmanship of the Revere Copper Napoleon Guns by Craig Swain
"Federal production 12-pdr Model 1857 “Light” Field Guns are
one of, if not THE, largest group of surviving field pieces
from the Civil War. These came from five vendors – Cyrus
Alger, Ames Manufacturing, Miles Greenwood (Eagle Iron
Works), Henry … Continue reading →..."
World War I
1. World War One Navy Recruiting Posters by Charles McCain
"A constant theme throughout the history of the United States
is the need for manpower for the armed services. To this end,
there have always been recruiting efforts and the most simple
and straight forward of these has been the poster. No matter
which era they are from, they repeat a common message - do
your duty and serve your country because only through your
help can we win. Over the next few weeks, I will be providing
some examples of these recruiting posters as they pertain to
the Navy.
The following posters are all from World War One and carry..."
2. German Light Cruiser Königsberg by Charles McCain
"I have written about the German light cruisers previously
including the Königsberg. The Königsberg was the first of the
three 'K' class light cruisers built and so they are also
referred to as Königsberg class according to German naval
tradition.
The K class light cruisers suffered from many design problems
since they were designed and built in the late 1920's and had
to adhere to the strict limit's imposed on Germany by the
Treaty of Versailles. As the design problems became
increasingly apparent, the duties of the ships were limited
to compensate and they increasingly failed to serve in..."
3. World War One Treasure Trove Found by Peter Burness
"Vignacourt is an old rural village in France, larger than
most, 12 kilometres north of the city of Amiens. During the
First World War it stood behind the front-line of the Somme
fighting, although the action was never far away and soldiers
were always present. For much of the time it was a forward
rest [...]
..."
4. German Light Cruiser Königsberg by Charles McCain
"I have written about the German light cruisers previously
including the Königsberg. The Königsberg was the first of the
three 'K' class light cruisers built and so they are also
referred to as Königsberg class according to German naval
tradition.
The K class light cruisers suffered from many design problems
since they were designed and built in the late 1920's and had
to adhere to the strict limit's imposed on Germany by the
Treaty of Versailles. As the design problems became
increasingly apparent, the duties of the ships were limited
to compensate and they increasingly failed to serve in..."
5. The Last Veteran? by light.sue@gmail.com (Sue Light)
"There has been a fair bit of publicity this week for Florence
Green, who on reaching her 110th birthday has been named as
both a 'super-centenarian' and also the last surviving female
'veteran' of the Great War. As time goes by, the definition
of 'last veteran' seems to have changed. Once it was used
solely for those men who had met the Germans or other
adversaries on the battlefield, but as they disappeared, it
was broadened to include anyone who was in military service
at any time during the Great War. Florence Green joined the
Women's Royal Air Force..."
World War II
1. A Pro-Nazi U.S. Army Unit in WWII by Thomas E. Ricks
"Yep. Gather round, little grasshoppers, and I will tell the
strange tale. I know it sounds like the reverse of a Quentin
Taratino movie, but it is true: During World War II, the Army
intentionally formed a unit chockablock with fascisti and
their suspected sympathizers. What a sensible idea -- much
better than kicking them out into society and losing track of
them. This is all discussed in the new issue of Army Lawyer ,
where Fred Three Sticks Borch has a fascinating article
about PFC Dale Maple, a brilliant young man who was born in
San Diego in 1920 and who..."
2. Incompetence, Stupidity, and Cowardice: the Royal House of Savoy and the Governance of Italy, 1861-1946 by Charles McCain
"Mussolini was not the buffoonish clown he seems today. He was
quite deadly and quite serious and was very much a dictator.
In fact, the first dictator in the 20th Century in the West,
a pioneer as it were. At first he was popular but after a few
years the economy got worse and he grew deeply unpopular and
would have been voted out of office. Benito Mussolini gives a speech to the..."
3. Lockheed Hudson – More Holes by Jamie Croker
"A second large hole has been cut into the fuselage this week,
this being for the lower tunnel gun position. A large amount
of modification to the airframe had been carried out to
support flooring, and various large camera mounts thorughout
it’s time as a geo survey platform. All these modifications
were removed to clear the [...]
..."
Cold War
1. Diary Entry 29: Saigon, Saturday Night, 17 July 1965 by noreply@blogger.com (J.R. Clark)
"Saigon Saturday Night, 17 July 1965 The Big Red One (1st
Infantry Division, 2nd Brigade) has landed. That was the
purpose of part of my trip last month to Vung Tau, Cam Ranh
Bay, Qui Nhon, and elsewhere. We had to figure out where best
to stage them through which ports and airfields. Finally
settled on Cam Ranh Bay for 1/3, stage the balance off ships
to shore at Vung Tau then by air to Bien Hoa air base. Moved
3,500 or so without so much as a small injury to any. Came
off well. When the actual move..."
2. Diary Entry 27: Saigon, Thursday Night, 15 July 1965 by noreply@blogger.com (J.R. Clark)
"Saigon Thursday Night, 15 July 1965 Went to Vung Tau Monday
to watch landings by the 2nd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division,
at that station. Can say what unit it is now that they have
come ashore. They could not get ashore from the boats due to
high seas so we let them stay on board over night. There
wasn’t that much business that day and came back to Saigon.
At any rate, went back the next day---now remember it was
Tuesday and we had another bad day. Finally got them in on
Wednesday (9:00 a.m. at least) and..."
3. Diary Entry 25: Saigon, Sunday Night, 11 July 1965 by noreply@blogger.com (J.R. Clark)
"Saigon Sunday Night, 11 July 1965Feel pretty pleased with
myself tonight. Worked real hard all day and got caught up
with that infernal paperwork. Feel like I can breathe again
with all of it out of the way for a day or two. Grady moved
today so it is kinda quiet here tonight. He came by to tell
me his room at the Vinh Loi is not as nice as this apartment,
but he expects to move up to better things as others move
out. No more guns around here to scare me. Woke up this
morning at 4:30..."
4. Diary Entry 31: Saigon, Tuesday, 20 July 1965 by noreply@blogger.com (J.R. Clark)
"Saigon Tuesday, 20 July 1965Today is the Vietnamese
Independence Day and all US forces have been restricted to
work areas or BOQs. The South Vietnamese had a big rally this
morning against the Communists and there was a possibility
that the rally could have turned into a riot. Tonight they
expect some counter-action from the VC in the form of
incidents against Americans, so we are all buttoned up. Don’t
think you could find an American out on the street tonight if
you tried.Had an unusual experience today. This morning I sat
at a desk which had the nameplate..."
5. Diary Entry 30: Saigon, Monday Night, 19 July 1965 by noreply@blogger.com (J.R. Clark)
"Saigon Monday Night, 19 July 1965Today I feel kinda blown up
and want to brag. This afternoon briefed one of Mr.
McNamara’s “whiz kids”---one of the assistant secretaries of
Defense---and came out a winner. [Clark probably briefed Paul
R. Ignatius, who served as the Assistant Secretary of Defense
for Installations and Logistics in July 1965.] He had given
all previous briefers a hard time because they did not have
answers but I didn’t miss a one. Later in the day, he came
down to our office and said to me, “Well, I see that
transportation at least is..."
Post-Cold-War
1. Harriers From Nassau by NHHC
"On 20 February 1991 the amphibious assault ship USS Nassau
(LHA4) launched four AV-8B Harriers of Marine Attack Squadron
(VMA) 331, flight call sign ‘Magic’ just before dawn. This
flight was the first combat strike by fixed-wing aircraft
from the flight deck of an amphibious assault ship, and was
directed at Iraqi anti-aircraft batteries and [...]..."
Misc/Thematic
1. War Is Cute by Brett Holman
"I've previously posted some of Gorden Cullen's artwork for
the Tecton Group's 1939 book Planned A.R.P.. Here are some
more of his cute drawings dealing with an awful subject. In
this case, he is illustrating the 'general agreement among
experts' on the threat posed by the bomber. (a) The range,
speed, and carrying capacity of bombers have increased
enormously since the last war.1
This was a commonplace observation and was demonstrably true,
as anyone who knew anything at all about aviation would know.
(b) In order to avoid anti-aircraft fire, balloon barrages,
etc., the attacking bombers will probably..."
2. Navy TV – the Story of the Pea Island Lifesavers by NavyTV
"Watch the story of the legendary Pea Island Life Savers, an
all-black lifesaving crew that accomplished one of the most
daring rescues in the annals of the Life Saving Service in
1896, saving the entire crew of the three-masted schooner
E.S. Newman, for which they were posthumously awarded the
Gold Lifesaving Medal by the Coast [...]..."
3. History in Fiction by George Simmers
"There are two articles in today’s Guardian about the use of
history in fiction. Helen Dunmore’s piece begins like this: A
novelist who uses historical material in fiction has to go
beyond the black and white, beyond the received images which
are so familiar that our eyes are dulled to them, beyond the
speeches and public cheering faces, and into the colour,
intimacy and resonance of being alive at that time, not
knowing what is to come, unaware of one’s place in history,
of analyses that will be made or outcomes that will be
debated. This made me chortle more..."
4. Rifled 42-Pounders – the Federal Side by Craig Swain
"As mentioned in earlier posts about the 42-pdr seacoast guns,
the history of the type begins to thread out a bit after
production of the Model 1845. Concurrent with the start of
the Civil War, technical advances rendered the 42-pdr …
Continue reading →..."