Today in the history of mounted warfare

[Calendar]

June 12

1665 England installed a municipal government in New York, formerly the Dutch settlement of New Amsterdam.

1775 In the first naval battle of Revolution the US ship Unity captured the British ship Margaretta. This, it should be noted, came before the Declaration of Independence.

1776 Virginia's colonial legislature became the first to adopt a Bill of Rights.

1798 Samuel Cooper, Gen, C.S.A., born.

1821 Henry Moses Judah, Brig Gen, U.S., born.

1825 John Cook, Brig Gen, U.S., born.

1838 The Iowa Territory was organized.

1849 The gas mask was patented by L. P. Haslett.

1862 Confederate General J.E.B. Stuart begins his ride around the Army of the Potomac during the Peninsular campaign This would see Stuart's troops ride 100 miles, pursued by Union cavalry that was commanded by Stuart's father-in-law, Philip St. George Cooke.

1863 C.S.S. Clarence, Lieutenant Read, captured bark Tacony of Cape Hatteras and shortly thereafter took schooner M. A. Shindler from Port Royal to Philadelphia in ballast.

1864 Gen. Lee sent Early into the Shenandoah Valley.

1864 General Ulysses S. Grant pulls his troops from their positions at Cold Harbor, Virginia, and moves south.

June 12

1876 - Marcus Kellogg, a journalist traveling with Custer's 7th Cavalry, files one of his last dispatches before being killed at the Battle of the Little Big Horn. A native of Ontario, Canada, Kellogg migrated with his family to New York in 1835. As a young man he mastered the art of the telegraph and went to work for the Pacific Telegraphy Company in Wisconsin. Sometime during the Civil War, Kellogg abandoned his career in telegraphy in favor of becoming a newspaperman. In 1873, he moved west to the frontier town of Bismarck in Dakota Territory and became the assistant editor of the Bismarck Tribune. A chance event in the winter of 1876 began Kellogg's unexpected path toward the Little Big Horn. While returning from a trip to the East, Kellogg was on the same train as George Custer and his wife, Elizabeth. Custer was on his way to Fort Abraham Lincoln, near Bismarck, where he was going to lead the 7th Cavalry in a planned assault on several bands of Indians who had refused to be confined to reservations. After an unusually heavy winter storm, the train became snowbound. Kellogg improvised a crude telegraph key, connected it to the wires running alongside the track, and sent a message ahead to the fort asking for help. Custer's brother, Tom, arrived soon after with a sleigh to rescue them. Ever since his days as a Civil War hero, Custer had enjoyed being lionized in the nation's newspapers. Now, as he prepared for what he hoped would be his greatest victory ever, Custer wanted to make sure his glorious deeds would be adequately covered in the press. Initially, Custer had planned to take his old friend Clement Lounsberry, who was Kellogg's employer at the Tribune, with him into the field with the 7th Cavalry. At the last minute, Kellogg was picked to go instead-perhaps because Custer had been impressed by his resourcefulness with a telegraph key. When Custer led his soldiers out of Fort Abraham Lincoln and headed west for Montana on May 31, Kellogg rode with him. During the next few weeks, Kellogg filed three dispatches from the field to the Bismarck Tribune, which in turn passed the stories on to the New York Herald. (Leaving nothing to chance, Custer himself also sent three anonymous reports on his progress to the Herald.) Kellogg's first dispatches, dated May 31 and June 12, recorded the progress of the expedition westward. His final report, dated June 21, came from the army's camp along the Rosebud River in southern Montana, not far from the Little Big Horn River. "We leave the Rosebud tomorrow," Kellogg wrote, "and by the time this reaches you we will have met and fought the red devils, with what result remains to be seen." The results, of course, were disastrous. Four days later, Sioux and Cheyenne warriors wiped out Custer and his men along the Little Big Horn River. Kellogg was the only journalist to witness the final moments of Custer's 7th Cavalry. Had he been able to file a story he surely would have become a national celebrity. Unfortunately, Kellogg did not live to tell the tale and died alongside Custer's soldiers. On July 6, the Bismarck Tribune printed a special extra edition with a top headline reading: "Massacred: Gen. Custer and 261 Men the Victims." Further down in the column, in substantially smaller type, a sub-headline reported: "The Bismarck Tribune's Special Correspondent Slain." The article went on to report, "The body of Kellogg alone remained unstripped of its clothing, and was not mutilated." The reporter speculated that this might have been a result of the Indian's "respect [for] this humble shover of the lead pencil." That the Sioux and Cheyenne respected Kellogg for his journalistic skills is highly doubtful. However, his spectacular death in one of the most notorious events in the nation's history did make him something of an honored martyr among newspapermen. The New York Herald later erected a monument to the fallen journalist over the supposed site of his grave on the Little Big Horn battlefield.

From: posting.php?mode=quote&f=3&p=97510

1877 Thomas C Hart, Admiral, born.

1880 Lee Richmond of the Worcester Ruby Legs pitched the first perfect game in major league history in a 1-0 victory over the Cleveland Blues.

1898 Philippine nationalists declared independence from Spain.

1901 Cuba agreed to become an American protectorate by accepting the Platt Amendment.

1918 First airplane bombing raid by an American unit occurred on World War I’s Western Front in France.

1921 President Harding urged every young man to attend military training camp.

1924 George Bush, forty-first President of the United States, was born.

1929 Anne Frank, diarist, victim of the Holocaust, born.

1937 The Soviet Union executed eight army leaders during a purge.

1942 American bombers struck the oil refineries of Ploesti, Romania for the first time.

1944 The 1st V-1 rocket assault on London took place.

1948 The Women's Armed Forces Integration Act provides for enlistment and appointment of women in the Naval Reserve and the regular Marine Corps.

1951 Eighth Army controlled the "Iron Triangle" in Kora as Operation PILEDRIVER wrapped up.

1951 Twenty-five sailors were killed when the destroyer USS Walke struck a mine east of Wonsan.

1981 Major league baseball players began a 49-day strike over the issue of free-agent compensation.

1965 South Vietnamese Premier Phan Huy Quat's resigns and a military triumvirate headed by Army General Nguyen Van Thieu took over and expanded to a 10-man National Leadership Committee on June 14.

1987 President Ronald Reagan publicly challenged Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev to ''tear down this wall" while on a visit to Berlin.

1992 Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin said the Soviet Union had shot down nine U.S. planes in the early 1950's and held 12 American survivors.

1999 NATO troops began entering Kosovo. At Pristina and confronted Russian soldiers over control of the airport. A Russian armored column entered Pristina before dawn to a heroes' welcome from Serb residents. Two Serbs were killed and a German soldier was wounded as peacekeepers moved into Kosovo.

2008 A divided U.S. Supreme Court ruled that foreign detainees held for years at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba had the right to appeal to U.S. civilian courts to challenge their indefinite imprisonment without charges.

2009 The switch from analog to digital TV transmission was completed in the U.S.[/quote]

Congressional Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day

FURNESS, FRANK
Rank and organization: Captain, Company F, 6th Pennsylvania Cavalry. Place and date: At Trevilian Station, Va., 12 June 1864. Citation: Voluntarily carried a box of ammunition across an open space swept by the enemy's fire to the relief of an outpost whose ammunition had become almost exhausted, but which was thus enabled to hold its important position.

WILLISTON, EDWARD B.
Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, 2d U.S. Artillery. Place and date: At Trevilian Station, Va., 12 June 1864. Citation: Distinguished gallantry.

Victoria Crosses awarded for action on this day:

CADELL Thomas. Lieutenant. The 2nd European Bengal Fusiliers For having, on the 12th of June, 1857, at the Flag-staff Picquet at Delhi, when the whole of the Picquet of Her Majesty's 75th Regiment and 2nd European Bengal Fusiliers were driven in by a large body of the enemy, brought in from amongst the enemy a wounded Bugler of his own regiment, under a most severe fire, who would otherwise have been cut up by the rebels. Also, on the same day, when the Fusiliers were retiring, by order, on Metcalfe's house, on its being reported that there was a wounded man left behind, Lieutenant Cadell went back of his own accord towards the enemy, accompanied by three men, and brought in a man of the 75th Regiment, who was severely wounded, under a most heavy fire from the advancing enemy.

ANGUS William: Lance Corporal. 8th Royal Scots. On 12 June 1915 at Givenchy, France, Lance-Corporal Angus voluntarily left his trench under very heavy bomb and rifle fire and rescued a wounded officer who was lying within a few yards of the enemy's position. The lance-corporal had no chance of escaping the enemy's fire when undertaking this gallant deed, and in effecting the rescue he received about 40 wounds, some of them being very serious.

CARROLL John. Private. New South Wales 33rd Battalion. On 7–12 June 1917 at St. Yves, Belgium, during the Battle of Messines, Private Carroll rushed the enemy's trench and bayoneted four of the occupants. He then noticed a comrade in difficulty and went to his assistance, killing another of the enemy. Next, he single-handedly attacked a machine-gun team, killing three of them and capturing the gun. Later, two of his comrades were buried by a shell; in spite of heavy shelling and machine-gun fire, he managed to rescue them.

GANJU LAMA: Rifleman. 1st Battalion, 7th Gurkha Rifles. Indian Army. On 12 June 1944 at Ningthoukhong, Burma (now Myanmar), 'B' Company was attempting to stem the enemy's advance when it came under heavy machine-gun and tank machine-gun fire. Rifleman Ganju Lama, with complete disregard for his own safety, took his PIAT gun and, crawling forward, succeeded in bringing the gun into action within 30 yards of the enemy tanks, knocking out two of them. Despite a broken wrist and two other serious wounds to his right and left hands he then moved forward and engaged the tank crew who were trying to escape. Not until he had accounted for all of them did he consent to have his wounds dressed.

MYNARSKI Andrew Charles: Pilot Officer. Royal Canadian Air Force. 12 June 1944. The KING has been graciously pleased to confer the VICTORIA CROSS on the undermentioned officer in recognition of most conspicuous bravery: - Pilot Officer Andrew Charles Mynarski (Can./J.87544) (deceased), Royal Canadian Air Force, No. 419 (R.C.A.F.) Squadron.

Pilot Officer Mynarski was the mid-upper gunner of a Lancaster aircraft, detailed to attack a target at Cambrai in France, on the night of 12th June, 1944. The aircraft was attacked from below and astern by an enemy fighter and ultimately came down in flames.

As an immediate result of the attack, both port engines failed. Fire broke out between the mid-upper turret and the rear turret, as well as in the port wing. The flames soon became fierce and the captain ordered the crew to abandon the aircraft.

Pilot Officer Mynarski left his turret and went towards the escape hatch. He then saw that the rear gunner was still in his turret and apparently unable to leave it. The turret was, in fact, immovable, since the hydraulic gear had been put out of action when the port engines failed, and the manual gear had been broken by the gunner in his attempts to escape.

Without hesitation, Pilot Officer Mynarski made his way through the flames in an endeavour to reach the rear turret and release


the gunner. Whilst so doing, his parachute and his clothing up to the waist were set on fire. All his efforts to move the turret and free the rear gunner were in vain. Eventually the rear gunner clearly indicated to him that there was nothing more he could do and that he should try to save his own life. Pilot Officer Mynarski reluctantly went back through the flames to the escape hatch. There, as a last gesture to the trapped gunner, he turned towards him, stood to attention in his flaming clothing, and saluted, before he jumped out of the aircraft. Pilot Officer Mynarski's descent was seen by French people on the ground. Both his parachute and his clothing were on fire. He was found eventually by the French, but was so severely burnt that he died from his injuries.

The rear gunner had a miraculous escape when the aircraft crashed. He subsequently testified that had Pilot Officer Mynarski not attempted to save his comrade's life, he could have left the aircraft in safety and would, doubtless, have escaped death.

Pilot Officer Mynarski must have been fully aware that in trying to free the rear gunner he was almost certain to lose his own life. Despite this, with outstanding courage and complete disregard for his own safety, he went to the rescue. Willingly accepting the danger, Pilot Officer Mynarski lost his life by a most conspicuous act of heroism which called for valour of the highest order.

McKAY Ian John: Platoon Sergeant. 4 Platoon, B Company, 3rd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment. British Army. During the night of 11th/12th June 1982, 3rd Battalion The Parachute Regiment mounted a silent night attack on an enemy battalion position on Mount Longdon, an important objective in the battle for Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands. Sergeant McKay was platoon sergeant of 4 Platoon, B Company, which, after the initial objective had been secured, was ordered to clear the Northern side of the long East/West ridge feature, held by the enemy in depth, with strong, mutually-supporting positions. By now the enemy were fully alert, and resisting fiercely. As 4 Platoon's advance continued it came under increasingly heavy fire from a number of well-sited enemy machine gun positions on the ridge, and received casualties. Realising that no further advance was possible the Platoon Commander ordered the Platoon to move from its exposed position to seek shelter among the rocks of the ridge itself. Here it met up with part of 5 Platoon.

The enemy fire was still both heavy and accurate, and the position of the platoons was becoming increasingly hazardous. Taking Sergeant McKay, a Corporal and a few others, and covered by supporting machine gun fire, the Platoon Commander moved forward to reconnoitre the enemy positions but was hit by a bullet in the leg, and command devolved upon Sergeant McKay.

It was clear that instant action was needed if the advance was not to falter and increasing casualties to ensue. Sergeant McKay decided to convert this reconnaissance into an attack in order to eliminate the enemy positions. He was in no doubt of the strength and deployment of the enemy as he undertook this attack. He issued orders, and taking three men with him, broke cover and charged the enemy position.

The assault was met by a hail of fire. The Corporal was seriously wounded, a Private killed and another wounded. Despite these losses Sergeant McKay, with complete disregard for his own safety, continued to charge the enemy position alone. On reaching it he despatched the enemy with grenades, thereby relieving the position of beleaguered 4 and 5 Platoons, who were now able to redeploy with relative safety. Sergeant McKay, however, was killed at the moment of victory, his body falling on the bunker.

Without doubt Sergeant McKay's action retrieved a most dangerous situation and was instrumental in ensuring the success of the attack. His was a coolly calculated act, the dangers of which must have been all too apparent to him beforehand. Undeterred he performed with outstanding selflessness, perseverance and courage.

With a complete disregard for his own safety, he displayed courage and leadership of the highest order, and was an inspiration to all those around him[/quote]

[Pat Holscher]

Tom and Jerry. In the states they are a cat and a mouse, Warner Brothers cartoon characters. Is that what you meant...

That's the one. I distinctly remember seeing one or the other of those splendid fellows wearing a zoot suit.

Sounds like the mouse, the more waggish of the pair.

It was the cat. In early Tom and Jerry cartoons the cat was often sort of a Jazz listening hipster.

[Calendar]

June 13

323 BC Alexander the Great dies of a mysterious illness in Babylon, sparking 42 years of war for his succession.

40 Caius Julius Agricola, Roman general, conqueror of the Iceni, born.

313 The 'Edict of Milan' is proclaimed, ending the persecution of Christians across the Roman empire.

1249 Coronation of Alexander III as King of Scots.

1373 Anglo-Portuguese alliance, signed.

1774 Rhode Island became the 1st colony to prohibit importation of slaves.

1777 The Marquis de Lafayette landed in the United States to assist the colonies in their war against England.

1786 Winfield Scott, Gen, US, born.

Friday June 13 (yikes!)

Interesting story from Meriwether Lewis' journal.

1805 - Having hurried ahead of the main body of the expedition, Meriwether Lewis and four men arrive at the Great Falls of the Missouri River, confirming that the explorers are headed in the right direction. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark had set out on their expedition to the Pacific the previous year. They spent the winter of 1804 with the Mandan Indians in present-day North Dakota. The Hidatsa Indians, who lived nearby, had traveled far to the West, and they proved an important source of information for Lewis and Clark. The Hidatsa told Lewis and Clark they would come to a large impassable waterfall in the Missouri when they neared the Rocky Mountains, but they assured the captains that portage around the falls was less than half a mile. Armed with this valuable information, Lewis and Clark resumed their journey up the Missouri accompanied by a party of 33 in April. The expedition made good time, and by early June, the explorers were nearing the Rocky Mountains. On June 3, however, they came to a fork at which two equally large rivers converged. "Which of these rivers was the Missouri?" Lewis asked in his journal. Since the river coming in from the north most resembled the Missouri in its muddy turbulence, most of the men believed it must be the Missouri. Lewis, however, reasoned that the water from the Missouri would have traveled only a short distance from the mountains and, therefore, would be clear and fast-running like the south fork. The decision was critical. If the explorers chose the wrong river, they would not be able to find the Shoshone Indians from whom they planned to obtain horses for the portage over the Rockies. Although all of their men disagreed, Lewis and Clark concluded they should proceed up the south fork. To err on the side of caution, however, the captains decided that Lewis and a party of four would speed ahead on foot. If Lewis did not soon encounter the big waterfall the Hidatsa had told them of, the party would return and the expedition would backtrack to the other river. On this day in 1805, four days after forging ahead of the main body of the expedition, Lewis was overjoyed to hear "the agreeable sound of a fall of water." Soon after he "saw the spray arise above the plain like a column of smoke.... [It] began to make a roaring too tremendous to be mistaken for any cause short of the great falls of the Missouri." By noon, Lewis had reached the falls, where he stared in awe at "a sublimely grand specticle [sic].... the grandest sight I had ever held." Lewis and Clark had been correct--the south fork was the Missouri River. The mysterious northern fork was actually the Marias River. Had the explorers followed the Marias, they would have traveled up into the northern Rockies where a convenient pass led across the mountains into the Columbia River drainage. However, Lewis and Clark would not have found the Shoshone Indians nor obtained the horses. Without horses, the crossing might well have failed. Three days after finding the falls, Lewis rejoined Clark and told him the good news. However, the captains' elation did not last long. They soon discovered that the portage around the Great Falls was not the easy half-mile jaunt reported by the Hidatsa, but rather a punishing 18-mile trek over rough terrain covered with spiky cactus. The Great Portage, as it was later called, would take the men nearly a month to complete. By mid-July, however, the expedition was again moving ahead. A month later, Lewis and Clark found the Shoshone Indians, who handed over the horses that were so critical to the subsequent success of their mission.

From: http://tdiumh.blogspot.com/2005/06/june-13.html

1809 Philip St George Cooke, Brig. Gen., U.S. born.

1813 Philip Vere Broke, commanding HMS Shannon, defeats US warship Cheseapeake, off Boston Harbour and tows her to Halifax as a prize.

1818 Richard Talbot sails for Canada from Dublin Ireland with 200 Irish settlers who will found St. Thomas, Ontario.

1821 Gustavus Vasa Fox, Asst SecNavy, born.

1823 Gustave Paul Cluseret, Brig Gen, U.S., born.

1825 Benjamin Jefferson Hill, Brig Gen, C.S.A., born.

1833 John Wilson kills Robert Lyon in the last fatal duel in Ontario The two law students and former friends quarreled over remarks made by Lyon about a local teacher, Elizabeth Hughes. Wilson is acquitted of murder; later marries Hughes and becomes an MP and judge.

1866 Negotiations between US and Sioux representatives took place at Ft. Phil Kearny.

1881 The USS Jeannette is crushed in an Arctic Ocean ice pack.

1891 The cemetery at Ft. Laramie relocated to Ft. McPherson Nebraska.

1893 Grover Cleveland undergoes secret, successful surgery to remove a large, cancerous portion of his jaw.

1898 Yukon Territory is formed, with Dawson chosen as its capital.

1900 Chinese Boxer Rebellion against foreigners and Chinese Christians erupted.

1916 Emily Murphy of Edmonton Alberta appointed first woman police magistrate In the British Empire.

1917 The deadliest German air raid on London during World War I is carried out by Gotha G bombers and results in 162 deaths.

1924 George Herbert Walker Bush, naval aviator, President born.

1940 Canadian brigade leaves for France from the UK to form defence line across Brittany peninsula.

1942 President Roosevelt created the Office of War Information, and the OSS, Office of Strategic Services.

1942 John C. Cullen, Seaman 2/c discovered Nazi saboteurs landing on beach at Amagansett, Long Island.

1942 CGC Thetis sank the German U-boat U-157 off the Florida Keys.

1942 First V-2 rocket launch from Peenemunde, Germany, reached 1.3 km.

1944 The first German V-1 buzz bomb was fired at London.

1951 U.N. troops seized Pyongyang, North Korea.

1952 Swedish Douglas DC-3 is shot down by a Soviet MiG-15 fighter.

1952 The Combat Development Group was established at the Headquarters of the Army Field Forces with the mission of evaluating the effects of scientific developments upon Army doctrine and developing requirements for new weapons.

1966 The Supreme Court ruled in Miranda v. Arizona that criminal suspects must be informed of their constitutional rights prior to questioning by police, abrogating, in the case of the Constitution, the age old assumption that everyone is deemed to know the law.

1971 The New York Times began publishing the Pentagon Papers.

1978 Israeli Defense Forces withdraw from Lebanon.

1979 Sioux awarded $105 million in compensation for the 1877 seizure of the Black Hills in South Dakota.

Congressional Medals of Honor awarded for action on this day:

FASSEUR, ISAAC L.: Ordinary Seaman, U.S. Navy. Born: 1860 Holland. Biography not available. Citation: Serving on board the U.S.S. Lackawanna, 13 June 1884, at Callao, Peru, Fasseur rescued William Cruise, who had fallen overboard, from drowning.

WILLIAMS, LOUIS (Second Award): Captain of the Hold, U.S. Navy. Born: 1845 Norway. Accredited to: California. G.O. No.: 326, 18 October 1884 Citation: Serving on board the U.S.S. Lackawanna, Williams rescued from drowning William Cruise, who had fallen overboard at Callao Peru, 13 June 1884.

SAGE, WILLIAM H.: Captain, 23d U.S. Infantry. Place and date: Near Zapote River, Luzon, Philippine Islands, 13 June 1899. Entered service at: Binghamton, N.Y. Birth: Centerville, N.Y. Date of issue: 24 July 1902. Citation: With 9 men volunteered to hold an advanced position and held it against a terrific fire of the enemy estimated at 1,000 strong. Taking a rifle from a wounded man, and cartridges from the belts of others, Capt. Sage himself killed 5 of the enemy.

KEDENBURG, JOHN J.: Specialist Fifth Class, U.S. Army, 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), 1st Special Forces. place and date: Republic of Vietnam, 13 June 1968. Entered service at: Brooklyn, N.Y. Born: 31 July 1946, Brooklyn, N.Y. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Sp5c. Kedenburg, U.S. Army, Command and Control Detachment North, Forward Operating Base 2, 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), distinguished himself while serving as advisor to a long-range reconnaissance team of South Vietnamese irregular troops. The team's mission was to conduct counter-guerrilla operations deep within enemy-held territory. prior to reaching the day's objective, the team was attacked and encircled by a battalion-size North Vietnamese Army force. Sp5c. Kedenburg assumed immediate command of the team which succeeded, after a fierce fight, in breaking out of the encirclement. As the team moved through thick jungle to a position from which it could be extracted by helicopter, Sp5c. Kedenburg conducted a gallant rear guard fight against the pursuing enemy and called for tactical air support and rescue helicopters. His withering fire against the enemy permitted the team to reach a preselected landing zone with the loss of only 1 man, who was unaccounted for. Once in the landing zone, Sp5c. Kedenburg deployed the team into a perimeter defense against the numerically superior enemy force. When tactical air support arrived, he skillfully directed air strikes against the enemy, suppressing their fire so that helicopters could hover over the area and drop slings to be used in the extraction of the team. After half of the team was extracted by helicopter, Sp5c. Kedenburg and the remaining 3 members of the team harnessed themselves to the sling on a second hovering helicopter. Just as the helicopter was to lift them out of the area, the South Vietnamese team member who had been unaccounted for after the initial encounter with the enemy appeared in the landing zone. Sp5c. Kedenburg unhesitatingly gave up his place in the sling to the man and directed the helicopter pilot to leave the area. He then continued to engage the enemy who were swarming into the landing zone, killing 6 enemy soldiers before he was overpowered. Sp5c. Kedenburg's inspiring leadership, consummate courage and willing self-sacrifice permitted his small team to inflict heavy casualties on the enemy and escape almost certain annihilation. His actions reflect great credit upon himself and the U.S. Army.

Victoria Crosses awarded for action on this day:

SHAW Same (John): Private. The Prince Consort's Own, British Army. Private Same Shaw
Date-of Act of Bravery, 13th June, 1858.
For the Act of Bravery recorded in a despatch from Major-General James Hope Grant, K.C.B., Commanding the Lucknow Field Force, to the Deputy Adjutant-General of the Army, of which the following is an extract:
"Nowabgitnye, 17th June, 1858. "I have to bring to notice the conduct of Private Same Shaw, of the 3rd Battalion, Rifle Brigade, who is recommended by his Commanding Officer for the Victoria Cross, An armed rebel had been seen to enter a tope of trees. Some officers and men ran into the tope in pursuit of him. This man was a Ghazee. Private Shaw drew his short sword, and with that weapon rushed single-handed on the Ghazee. Shaw received a severe tulwar wound, but after a desperate struggle, he killed the man." " I trust his Excellency will allow me to recommend this man for the Victoria Cross, and that he will approve of my having issued a Division Order, stating that I have done so.

[Calendar]

June 14:

Today is Flag Day in the United States

1623 The first breach-of-promise lawsuit, a now extinct cause of action, was filed by Rev Gerville Pooley against
Cicely Jordan. Rev. Pooley lost the action.

1775 The Continental Army is created. So today is the birthday of the U.S. Army.

1777 Continental Congress adopts the Stars & Stripes as the national flag.

1777 John Paul Jones takes command of the USS Ranger.

1789 Capt William Bligh and HMS Bounty loyalists reach Timor in a small boat, a major feat in nautical navigation and seamanship.

1805 Robert Anderson, Maj Gen, U.S., born.

1811 Harriet Beecher Stowe, author ("Uncle Tom's Cabin"), born.

1814 Wellington thanks his army for its performance in the Peninsula.

1836 Thomas Wilberforce Egan, Brig Gen, U.S., born.

1841 The first Canadian parliament opens in Kingston, Ontario.

1846 California Republic proclaimed in Sonoma

1863 Battle of Second Winchester, Virginia

1864 Battle of Pine Mountain, Gen Leonidas Polk killed in action

1900 Hawaiian Republic becomes the US Territory of Hawaii

1917 Gen Pershing and staff arrives in Paris during WW I.

Pershing a month later.

1919 First nonstop air crossing of Atlantic by Alcock and Brown leaves Newfoundland.

1928 Ernesto "Che" Guevara Serna, Argentine born Cuban revolutionary and jailer, born.

1935 Gran Chaco War between Bolivia and Paraguay officially ends.

1936 Oranienburg Concentration Camp opens

1940 Germans occupy Paris.

1940 Germans open Auschwitz.

1941 Ground broken for Boeing Plant II in Wichita KS

1942 First US Launcher, Rocket, Antitank, M-1, the original "bazooka", produced in Bridgeport Ct.


1942 Walt Disney's "Bambi" is released, thereby starting the sad anthropomorphizing of the natural world by Disney.

1943 Japanese form the collaborationist "Indian National Army".

1944 First B-29 raid against mainland Japan

1982 Argentina surrenders to the UK in the Falkland Islands ending the 74-day war.

Congressional Medals of Honor awarded for action on this day:

DURHAM, JAMES R.
Rank and organization: Second Lieutenant, Company E, 12th West Virginia Infantry. Place and date: At Winchester, Va., 14 June 1863. Citation: Led his command over the stone wall, where he was wounded.

FOX, NICHOLAS: Private, Company H, 28th Connecticut Infantry. Place and date: At Port Hudson, La., 14 June 1863. Citation: Made 2 trips across an open space, in the face of the enemy's concentrated fire, and secured water for the sick and wounded.

LOVERING, GEORGE M.: First Sergeant, Company I, 4th Massachusetts Infantry. Place and date: At Port Hudson, La., 14 June 1863. Citation: During a momentary confusion in the ranks caused by other troops rushing upon the regiment, this soldier, with coolness and determination, rendered efficient aid in preventing a panic among the troops.

PATTERSON, JOHN T.: Principal Musician, 122d Ohio Infantry. Place and date: At Winchester, Va., 14 June 1863. Citation: With one companion, voluntarily went in front of the Union line, under a heavy fire from the enemy, and carried back a helpless wounded comrade, thus saving him from death or capture.

ROBINSON, ELBRIDGE: Private, Company C, 122d Ohio Infantry. Place and date: At Winchester, Va., 14 June 1863. Citation: With 1 companion, voluntarily went in front of the Union line, under a heavy fire from the enemy, and carried back a helpless, wounded comrade, thus saving him from death or capture.

FITZGERALD, JOHN: Private, U.S. Marine Corps. Citation: For heroism and gallantry in action at Cuzco, Cuba, 14 June 1898.

QUICK, JOHN HENRY: Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps. Citation: In action during the battle of Cuzco, Cuba, 14 June 1898. Distinguishing himself during this action, Quick signaled the U.S.S. Dolphin on 3 different occasions while exposed to a heavy fire from the enemy.

STOCKHAM, FRED W. (Army Medal): Gunnery Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps, 96th Company, 2d Battalion, 6th Regiment. Place and date: In Bois-de-Belleau, France, 13-14 June 1918. Citation: During an intense enemy bombardment with high explosive and gas shells which wounded or killed many members of the company, G/Sgt. Stockham, upon noticing that the gas mask of a wounded comrade was shot away, without hesitation, removed his own gas mask and insisted upon giving it to the wounded man, well knowing that the effects of the gas would be fatal to himself. He continued with undaunted courage and valor to direct and assist in the evacuation of the wounded, until he himself collapsed from the effects of gas, dying as a result thereof a few days later. His courageous conduct undoubtedly saved the lives of many of his wounded comrades and his conspicuous gallantry and spirit of self-sacrifice were a source of great inspiration to all who served with him.

URBAN, MATT: Lieutenant Colonel (then Captain), 2d Battalion, 60th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division, World War II. Place and date: Renouf, France, 14 June to 3 September 1944. Lieutenant Colonel (then Captain) Matt Urban, l 12-22-2414, United States Army, who distinguished himself by a series of bold, heroic actions, exemplified by singularly outstanding combat leadership, personal bravery, and tenacious devotion to duty, during the period 14 June to 3 September 1944 while assigned to the 2d Battalion, 60th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division. On 14 June, Captain Urban's company, attacking at Renouf, France, encountered heavy enemy small arms and tank fire. The enemy tanks were unmercifully raking his unit's positions and inflicting heavy casualties. Captain Urban, realizing that his company was in imminent danger of being decimated, armed himself with a bazooka. He worked his way with an ammo carrier through hedgerows, under a continuing barrage of fire, to a point near the tanks. He brazenly exposed himself to the enemy fire and, firing the bazooka, destroyed both tanks. Responding to Captain Urban's action, his company moved forward and routed the enemy. Later that same day, still in the attack near Orglandes, Captain Urban was wounded in the leg by direct fire from a 37mm tank-gun. He refused evacuation and continued to lead his company until they moved into defensive positions for the night. At 0500 hours the next day, still in the attack near Orglandes, Captain Urban, though badly wounded, directed his company in another attack. One hour later he was again wounded. Suffering from two wounds, one serious, he was evacuated to England. In mid-July, while recovering from his wounds, he learned of his unit's severe losses in the hedgerows of Normandy. Realizing his unit's need for battle-tested leaders, he voluntarily left the hospital and hitchhiked his way back to his unit hear St. Lo, France. Arriving at the 2d Battalion Command Post at 1130 hours, 25 July, he found that his unit had jumped-off at 1100 hours in the first attack of Operation Cobra." Still limping from his leg wound, Captain Urban made his way forward to retake command of his company. He found his company held up by strong enemy opposition. Two supporting tanks had been destroyed and another, intact but with no tank commander or gunner, was not moving. He located a lieutenant in charge of the support tanks and directed a plan of attack to eliminate the enemy strong-point. The lieutenant and a sergeant were immediately killed by the heavy enemy fire when they tried to mount the tank. Captain Urban, though physically hampered by his leg wound and knowing quick action had to be taken, dashed through the scathing fire and mounted the tank. With enemy bullets ricocheting from the tank, Captain Urban ordered the tank forward and, completely exposed to the enemy fire, manned the machine gun and placed devastating fire on the enemy. His action, in the face of enemy fire, galvanized the battalion into action and they attacked and destroyed the enemy position. On 2 August, Captain Urban was wounded in the chest by shell fragments and, disregarding the recommendation of the Battalion Surgeon, again refused evacuation. On 6 August, Captain Urban became the commander of the 2d Battalion. On 15 August, he was again wounded but remained with his unit. On 3 September, the 2d Battalion was given the mission of establishing a crossing-point on the Meuse River near Heer, Belgium. The enemy planned to stop the advance of the allied Army by concentrating heavy forces at the Meuse. The 2d Battalion, attacking toward the crossing-point, encountered fierce enemy artillery, small arms and mortar fire which stopped the attack. Captain Urban quickly moved from his command post to the lead position of the battalion. Reorganizing the attacking elements, he personally led a charge toward the enemy's strong-point. As the charge moved across the open terrain, Captain Urban was seriously wounded in the neck. Although unable to talk above a whisper from the paralyzing neck wound, and in danger of losing his life, he refused to be evacuated until the enemy was routed and his battalion had secured the crossing-point on the Meuse River. Captain Urban's personal leadership, limitless bravery, and repeated extraordinary exposure to enemy fire served as an inspiration to his entire battalion. His valorous and intrepid actions reflect the utmost credit on him and uphold the noble traditions of the United States.

WISE, HOMER L.: Staff Sergeant. U.S. Army, Company L, 142d Infantry, 36th Infantry Division. Place and date: Magliano, Italy, 14 June 1944. Citation: While his platoon was pinned down by enemy small-arms fire from both flanks, he left his position of comparative safety and assisted in carrying 1 of his men, who had been seriously wounded and who lay in an exposed position, to a point where he could receive medical attention. The advance of the platoon was resumed but was again stopped by enemy frontal fire. A German officer and 2 enlisted men, armed with automatic weapons, threatened the right flank. Fearlessly exposing himself, he moved to a position from which he killed all 3 with his submachinegun. Returning to his squad, he obtained an Ml rifle and several antitank grenades, then took up a position from which he delivered accurate fire on the enemy holding up the advance. As the battalion moved forward it was again stopped by enemy frontal and flanking fire. He procured an automatic rifle and, advancing ahead of his men, neutralized an enemy machinegun with his fire. When the flanking fire became more intense he ran to a nearby tank and exposing himself on the turret, restored a jammed machinegun to operating efficiency and used it so effectively that the enemy fire from an adjacent ridge was materially reduced thus permitting the battalion to occupy its objective.

BLEAK, DAVID B.: Sergeant, U.S. Army, Medical Company 223d Infantry Regiment, 40th Infantry Division. Place and date: Vicinity of Minari-gol, Korea, 14 June 1952. Citation: Sgt. Bleak, a member of the medical company, distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and indomitable courage above and beyond the call of duty in action against the enemy. As a medical aidman, he volunteered to accompany a reconnaissance patrol committed to engage the enemy and capture a prisoner for interrogation. Forging up the rugged slope of the key terrain, the group was subjected to intense automatic weapons and small arms fire and suffered several casualties. After administering to the wounded, he continued to advance with the patrol. Nearing the military crest of the hill, while attempting to cross the fire-swept area to attend the wounded, he came under hostile fire from a small group of the enemy concealed in a trench. Entering the trench he closed with the enemy, killed 2 with bare hands and a third with his trench knife. Moving from the emplacement, he saw a concussion grenade fall in front of a companion and, quickly shifting his position, shielded the man from the impact of the blast. Later, while ministering to the wounded, he was struck by a hostile bullet but, despite the wound, he undertook to evacuate a wounded comrade. As he moved down the hill with his heavy burden, he was attacked by 2 enemy soldiers with fixed bayonets. Closing with the aggressors, he grabbed them and smacked their heads together, then carried his helpless comrade down the hill to safety. Sgt. Bleak's dauntless courage and intrepid actions reflect utmost credit upon himself and are in keeping with the honored traditions of the military service.

SPEICHER, CLIFTON T.: Corporal, U.S. Army, Company F, 223d Infantry Regiment, 40th Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Minarigol, Korea, 14 June 1952. Citation: Cpl. Speicher distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and indomitable courage above and beyond the call of duty in action against the enemy. While participating in an assault to secure a key terrain feature, Cpl. Speicher's squad was pinned down by withering small-arms mortar, and machine gun fire. Although already wounded he left the comparative safety of his position, and made a daring charge against the machine gun emplacement. Within 10 yards of the goal, he was again wounded by small-arms fire but continued on, entered the bunker, killed 2 hostile soldiers with his rifle, a third with his bayonet, and silenced the machine gun. Inspired by this incredible display of valor, the men quickly moved up and completed the mission. Dazed and shaken, he walked to the foot of the hill where he collapsed and died. Cpl. Speicher's consummate sacrifice and unflinching devotion to duty reflect lasting glory upon himself and uphold the noble traditions of the military service.

Victoria Crosses awarded for action on this day:

RATCLIFFE William: World War One. Private. 2nd Battalion, The South Lancashire Regiment, British Army. Citation: On 14 June 1917 at Messines, Belgium, after an enemy trench had been captured, Private Ratcliffe located an enemy machine-gun which was firing on his comrades from the rear, and single-handed, on his own initiative, immediately rushed the machine-gun position and bayoneted the crew. He then brought the gun back into action in the front line. Private Ratcliffe had displayed similar gallantry and resource on previous occasions.

Last supplemented on June 14, 2012.

[Calendar]

June 15

1215 King John puts his seal to the Magna Carta. It stated, in the 1215 version:

KNOW THAT BEFORE GOD, for the health of our soul and those of our ancestors and heirs, to the honour of God, the exaltation of the holy Church, and the better ordering of our kingdom, at the advice of our reverend fathers Stephen, archbishop of Canterbury, primate of all England, and cardinal of the holy Roman Church, Henry archbishop of Dublin, William bishop of London, Peter bishop of Winchester, Jocelin bishop of Bath and Glastonbury, Hugh bishop of Lincoln, Walter Bishop of Worcester, William bishop of Coventry, Benedict bishop of Rochester, Master Pandulf subdeacon and member of the papal household, Brother Aymeric master of the knighthood of the Temple in England, William Marshal earl of Pembroke, William earl of Salisbury, William earl of Warren, William earl of Arundel, Alan de Galloway constable of Scotland, Warin Fitz Gerald, Peter Fitz Herbert, Hubert de Burgh seneschal of Poitou, Hugh de Neville, Matthew Fitz Herbert, Thomas Basset, Alan Basset, Philip Daubeny, Robert de Roppeley, John Marshal, John Fitz Hugh, and other loyal subjects:

(1) FIRST, THAT WE HAVE GRANTED TO GOD, and by this present charter have confirmed for us and our heirs in perpetuity, that the English Church shall be free, and shall have its rights undiminished, and its liberties unimpaired. That we wish this so to be observed, appears from the fact that of our own free will, before the outbreak of the present dispute between us and our barons, we granted and confirmed by charter the freedom of the Church's elections - a right reckoned to be of the greatest necessity and importance to it - and caused this to be confirmed by Pope Innocent III. This freedom we shall observe ourselves, and desire to be observed in good faith by our heirs in perpetuity.

TO ALL FREE MEN OF OUR KINGDOM we have also granted, for us and our heirs for ever, all the liberties written out below, to have and to keep for them and their heirs, of us and our heirs:

(2) If any earl, baron, or other person that holds lands directly of the Crown, for military service, shall die, and at his death his heir shall be of full age and owe a `relief', the heir shall have his inheritance on payment of the ancient scale of `relief'. That is to say, the heir or heirs of an earl shall pay £100 for the entire earl's barony, the heir or heirs of a knight l00s. at most for the entire knight's `fee', and any man that owes less shall pay less, in accordance with the ancient usage of `fees'

(3) But if the heir of such a person is under age and a ward, when he comes of age he shall have his inheritance without `relief' or fine.

(4) The guardian of the land of an heir who is under age shall take from it only reasonable revenues, customary dues, and feudal services. He shall do this without destruction or damage to men or property. If we have given the guardianship of the land to a sheriff, or to any person answerable to us for the revenues, and he commits destruction or damage, we will exact compensation from him, and the land shall be entrusted to two worthy and prudent men of the same `fee', who shall be answerable to us for the revenues, or to the person to whom we have assigned them. If we have given or sold to anyone the guardianship of such land, and he causes destruction or damage, he shall lose the guardianship of it, and it shall be handed over to two worthy and prudent men of the same `fee', who shall be similarly answerable to us.

(5) For so long as a guardian has guardianship of such land, he shall maintain the houses, parks, fish preserves, ponds, mills, and everything else pertaining to it, from the revenues of the land itself. When the heir comes of age, he shall restore the whole land to him, stocked with plough teams and such implements of husbandry as the season demands and the revenues from the land can reasonably bear.

(6) Heirs may be given in marriage, but not to someone of lower social standing. Before a marriage takes place, it shall be' made known to the heir's next-of-kin.

(7) At her husband's death, a widow may have her marriage portion and inheritance at once and without trouble. She shall pay nothing for her dower, marriage portion, or any inheritance that she and her husband held jointly on the day of his death. She may remain in her husband's house for forty days after his death, and within this period her dower shall be assigned to her.

(8) No widow shall be compelled to marry, so long as she wishes to remain without a husband. But she must give security that she will not marry without royal consent, if she holds her lands of the Crown, or without the consent of whatever other lord she may hold them of.

(9) Neither we nor our officials will seize any land or rent in payment of a debt, so long as the debtor has movable goods sufficient to discharge the debt. A debtor's sureties shall not be distrained upon so long as the debtor himself can discharge his debt. If, for lack of means, the debtor is unable to discharge his debt, his sureties shall be answerable for it. If they so desire, they may have the debtor's lands and rents until they have received satisfaction for the debt that they paid for him, unless the debtor can show that he has settled his obligations to them.

(10) If anyone who has borrowed a sum of money from Jews dies before the debt has been repaid, his heir shall pay no interest on the debt for so long as he remains under age, irrespective of whom he holds his lands. If such a debt falls into the hands of the Crown, it will take nothing except the principal sum specified in the bond.

(11) If a man dies owing money to Jews, his wife may have her dower and pay nothing towards the debt from it. If he leaves children that are under age, their needs may also be provided for on a scale appropriate to the size of his holding of lands. The debt is to be paid out of the residue, reserving the service due to his feudal lords. Debts owed to persons other than Jews are to be dealt with similarly.

(12) No `scutage' or `aid' may be levied in our kingdom without its general consent, unless it is for the ransom of our person, to make our eldest son a knight, and (once) to marry our eldest daughter. For these purposes ouly a reasonable `aid' may be levied. `Aids' from the city of London are to be treated similarly.

(13) The city of London shall enjoy all its ancient liberties and free customs, both by land and by water. We also will and grant that all other cities, boroughs, towns, and ports shall enjoy all their liberties and free customs.

(14) To obtain the general consent of the realm for the assessment of an `aid' - except in the three cases specified above - or a `scutage', we will cause the archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls, and greater barons to be summoned individually by letter. To those who hold lands directly of us we will cause a general summons to be issued, through the sheriffs and other officials, to come together on a fixed day (of which at least forty days notice shall be given) and at a fixed place. In all letters of summons, the cause of the summons will be stated. When a summons has been issued, the business appointed for the day shall go forward in accordance with the resolution of those present, even if not all those who were summoned have appeared.

(15) In future we will allow no one to levy an `aid' from his free men, except to ransom his person, to make his eldest son a knight, and (once) to marry his eldest daughter. For these purposes only a reasonable `aid' may be levied.

(16) No man shall be forced to perform more service for a knight's `fee', or other free holding of land, than is due from it.

(17) Ordinary lawsuits shall not follow the royal court around, but shall be held in a fixed place.

(18) Inquests of novel disseisin, mort d'ancestor, and darrein presentment shall be taken only in their proper county court. We ourselves, or in our absence abroad our chief justice, will send two justices to each county four times a year, and these justices, with four knights of the county elected by the county itself, shall hold the assizes in the county court, on the day and in the place where the court meets.

(19) If any assizes cannot be taken on the day of the county court, as many knights and freeholders shall afterwards remain behind, of those who have attended the court, as will suffice for the administration of justice, having regard to the volume of business to be done.

(20) For a trivial offence, a free man shall be fined only in proportion to the degree of his offence, and for a serious offence correspondingly, but not so heavily as to deprive him of his livelihood. In the same way, a merchant shall be spared his merchandise, and a husbandman the implements of his husbandry, if they fall upon the mercy of a royal court. None of these fines shall be imposed except by the assessment on oath of reputable men of the neighbourhood.

(21) Earls and barons shall be fined only by their equals, and in proportion to the gravity of their offence.

(22) A fine imposed upon the lay property of a clerk in holy orders shall be assessed upon the same principles, without reference to the value of his ecclesiastical benefice.

(23) No town or person shall be forced to build bridges over rivers except those with an ancient obligation to do so.

(24) No sheriff, constable, coroners, or other royal officials are to hold lawsuits that should be held by the royal justices.

(25) Every county, hundred, wapentake, and tithing shall remain at its ancient rent, without increase, except the royal demesne manors.

(26) If at the death of a man who holds a lay `fee' of the Crown, a sheriff or royal official produces royal letters patent of summons for a debt due to the Crown, it shall be lawful for them to seize and list movable goods found in the lay `fee' of the dead man to the value of the debt, as assessed by worthy men. Nothing shall be removed until the whole debt is paid, when the residue shall be given over to the executors to carry out the dead man s will. If no debt is due to the Crown, all the movable goods shall be regarded as the property of the dead man, except the reasonable shares of his wife and children.

(27) If a free man dies intestate, his movable goods are to be distributed by his next-of-kin and friends, under the supervision of the Church. The rights of his debtors are to be preserved.

(28) No constable or other royal official shall take corn or other movable goods from any man without immediate payment, unless the seller voluntarily offers postponement of this.

(29) No constable may compel a knight to pay money for castle-guard if the knight is willing to undertake the guard in person, or with reasonable excuse to supply some other fit man to do it. A knight taken or sent on military service shall be excused from castle-guard for the period of this servlce.

(30) No sheriff, royal official, or other person shall take horses or carts for transport from any free man, without his consent.

(31) Neither we nor any royal official will take wood for our castle, or for any other purpose, without the consent of the owner.

(32) We will not keep the lands of people convicted of felony in our hand for longer than a year and a day, after which they shall be returned to the lords of the `fees' concerned.

(33) All fish-weirs shall be removed from the Thames, the Medway, and throughout the whole of England, except on the sea coast.

(34) The writ called precipe shall not in future be issued to anyone in respect of any holding of land, if a free man could thereby be deprived of the right of trial in his own lord's court.

(35) There shall be standard measures of wine, ale, and corn (the London quarter), throughout the kingdom. There shall also be a standard width of dyed cloth, russett, and haberject, namely two ells within the selvedges. Weights are to be standardised similarly.

(36) In future nothing shall be paid or accepted for the issue of a writ of inquisition of life or limbs. It shall be given gratis, and not refused.

(37) If a man holds land of the Crown by `fee-farm', `socage', or `burgage', and also holds land of someone else for knight's service, we will not have guardianship of his heir, nor of the land that belongs to the other person's `fee', by virtue of the `fee-farm', `socage', or `burgage', unless the `fee-farm' owes knight's service. We will not have the guardianship of a man's heir, or of land that he holds of someone else, by reason of any small property that he may hold of the Crown for a service of knives, arrows, or the like.

(38) In future no official shall place a man on trial upon his own unsupported statement, without producing credible witnesses to the truth of it.

(39) No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled, or deprived of his standing in any other way, nor will we proceed with force against him, or send others to do so, except by the lawful judgement of his equals or by the law of the land.

(40) To no one will we sell, to no one deny or delay right or justice.

(41) All merchants may enter or leave England unharmed and without fear, and may stay or travel within it, by land or water, for purposes of trade, free from all illegal exactions, in accordance with ancient and lawful customs. This, however, does not apply in time of war to merchants from a country that is at war with us. Any such merchants found in our country at the outbreak of war shall be detained without injury to their persons or property, until we or our chief justice have discovered how our own merchants are being treated in the country at war with us. If our own merchants are safe they shall be safe too.

(42) In future it shall be lawful for any man to leave and return to our kingdom unharmed and without fear, by land or water, preserving his allegiance to us, except in time of war, for some short period, for the common benefit of the realm. People that have been imprisoned or outlawed in accordance with the law of the land, people from a country that is at war with us, and merchants - who shall be dealt with as stated above - are excepted from this provision.

(43) If a man holds lands of any `escheat' such as the `honour' of Wallingford, Nottingham, Boulogne, Lancaster, or of other `escheats' in our hand that are baronies, at his death his heir shall give us only the `relief' and service that he would have made to the baron, had the barony been in the baron's hand. We will hold the `escheat' in the same manner as the baron held it.

(44) People who live outside the forest need not in future appear before the royal justices of the forest in answer to general summonses, unless they are actually involved in proceedings or are sureties for someone who has been seized for a forest offence.

(45) We will appoint as justices, constables, sheriffs, or other officials, only men that know the law of the realm and are minded to keep it well.

(46) All barons who have founded abbeys, and have charters of English kings or ancient tenure as evidence of this, may have guardianship of them when there is no abbot, as is their due.

(47) All forests that have been created in our reign shall at once be disafforested. River-banks that have been enclosed in our reign shall be treated similarly.

(48) All evil customs relating to forests and warrens, foresters, warreners, sheriffs and their servants, or river-banks and their wardens, are at once to be investigated in every county by twelve sworn knights of the county, and within forty days of their enquiry the evil customs are to be abolished completely and irrevocably. But we, or our chief justice if we are not in England, are first to be informed.

(49) We will at once return all hostages and charters delivered up to us by Englishmen as security for peace or for loyal service.

(50) We will remove completely from their offices the kinsmen of Gerard de Athée, and in future they shall hold no offices in England. The people in question are Engelard de Cigogné', Peter, Guy, and Andrew de Chanceaux, Guy de Cigogné, Geoffrey de Martigny and his brothers, Philip Marc and his brothers, with Geoffrey his nephew, and all their followers.

(51) As soon as peace is restored, we will remove from the kingdom all the foreign knights, bowmen, their attendants, and the mercenaries that have come to it, to its harm, with horses and arms.

(52) To any man whom we have deprived or dispossessed of lands, castles, liberties, or rights, without the lawful judgement of his equals, we will at once restore these. In cases of dispute the matter shall be resolved by the judgement of the twenty-five barons referred to below in the clause for securing the peace (§ 61). In cases, however, where a man was deprived or dispossessed of something without the lawful judgement of his equals by our father King Henry or our brother King Richard, and it remains in our hands or is held by others under our warranty, we shall have respite for the period commonly allowed to Crusaders, unless a lawsuit had been begun, or an enquiry had been made at our order, before we took the Cross as a Crusader. On our return from the Crusade, or if we abandon it, we will at once render justice in full.

(53) We shall have similar respite in rendering justice in connexion with forests that are to be disafforested, or to remain forests, when these were first a-orested by our father Henry or our brother Richard; with the guardianship of lands in another person's `fee', when we have hitherto had this by virtue of a `fee' held of us for knight's service by a third party; and with abbeys founded in another person's `fee', in which the lord of the `fee' claims to own a right. On our return from the Crusade, or if we abandon it, we will at once do full justice to complaints about these matters.

(54) No one shall be arrested or imprisoned on the appeal of a woman for the death of any person except her husband.

(55) All fines that have been given to us unjustiy and against the law of the land, and all fines that we have exacted unjustly, shall be entirely remitted or the matter decided by a majority judgement of the twenty-five barons referred to below in the clause for securing the peace (§ 61) together with Stephen, archbishop of Canterbury, if he can be present, and such others as he wishes to bring with him. If the archbishop cannot be present, proceedings shall continue without him, provided that if any of the twenty-five barons has been involved in a similar suit himself, his judgement shall be set aside, and someone else chosen and sworn in his place, as a substitute for the single occasion, by the rest of the twenty-five.

(56) If we have deprived or dispossessed any Welshmen of lands, liberties, or anything else in England or in Wales, without the lawful judgement of their equals, these are at once to be returned to them. A dispute on this point shall be determined in the Marches by the judgement of equals. English law shall apply to holdings of land in England, Welsh law to those in Wales, and the law of the Marches to those in the Marches. The Welsh shall treat us and ours in the same way.

(57) In cases where a Welshman was deprived or dispossessed of anything, without the lawful judgement of his equals, by our father King Henry or our brother King Richard, and it remains in our hands or is held by others under our warranty, we shall have respite for the period commonly allowed to Crusaders, unless a lawsuit had been begun, or an enquiry had been made at our order, before we took the Cross as a Crusader. But on our return from the Crusade, or if we abandon it, we will at once do full justice according to the laws of Wales and the said regions.

(58) We will at once return the son of Llywelyn, all Welsh hostages, and the charters delivered to us as security for the peace.

(59) With regard to the return of the sisters and hostages of Alexander, king of Scotland, his liberties and his rights, we will treat him in the same way as our other barons of England, unless it appears from the charters that we hold from his father William, formerly king of Scotland, that he should be treated otherwise. This matter shall be resolved by the judgement of his equals in our court.

(60) All these customs and liberties that we have granted shall be observed in our kingdom in so far as concerns our own relations with our subjects. Let all men of our kingdom, whether clergy or laymen, observe them similarly in their relations with their own men.

(61) SINCE WE HAVE GRANTED ALL THESE THINGS for God, for the better ordering of our kingdom, and to allay the discord that has arisen between us and our barons, and since we desire that they shall be enjoyed in their entirety, with lasting strength, for ever, we give and grant to the barons the following security:

The barons shall elect twenty-five of their number to keep, and cause to be observed with all their might, the peace and liberties granted and confirmed to them by this charter.

If we, our chief justice, our officials, or any of our servants offend in any respect against any man, or transgress any of the articles of the peace or of this security, and the offence is made known to four of the said twenty-five barons, they shall come to us - or in our absence from the kingdom to the chief justice - to declare it and claim immediate redress. If we, or in our absence abroad the chiefjustice, make no redress within forty days, reckoning from the day on which the offence was declared to us or to him, the four barons shall refer the matter to the rest of the twenty-five barons, who may distrain upon and assail us in every way possible, with the support of the whole community of the land, by seizing our castles, lands, possessions, or anything else saving only our own person and those of the queen and our children, until they have secured such redress as they have determined upon. Having secured the redress, they may then resume their normal obedience to us.

Any man who so desires may take an oath to obey the commands of the twenty-five barons for the achievement of these ends, and to join with them in assailing us to the utmost of his power. We give public and free permission to take this oath to any man who so desires, and at no time will we prohibit any man from taking it. Indeed, we will compel any of our subjects who are unwilling to take it to swear it at our command.

If-one of the twenty-five barons dies or leaves the country, or is prevented in any other way from discharging his duties, the rest of them shall choose another baron in his place, at their discretion, who shall be duly sworn in as they were.

In the event of disagreement among the twenty-five barons on any matter referred to them for decision, the verdict of the majority present shall have the same validity as a unanimous verdict of the whole twenty-five, whether these were all present or some of those summoned were unwilling or unable to appear.

The twenty-five barons shall swear to obey all the above articles faithfully, and shall cause them to be obeyed by others to the best of their power.

We will not seek to procure from anyone, either by our own efforts or those of a third party, anything by which any part of these concessions or liberties might be revoked or diminished. Should such a thing be procured, it shall be null and void and we will at no time make use of it, either ourselves or through a third party.

(62) We have remitted and pardoned fully to all men any ill-will, hurt, or grudges that have arisen between us and our subjects, whether clergy or laymen, since the beginning of the dispute. We have in addition remitted fully, and for our own part have also pardoned, to all clergy and laymen any offences committed as a result of the said dispute between Easter in the sixteenth year of our reign and the restoration of peace.

In addition we have caused letters patent to be made for the barons, bearing witness to this security and to the concessions set out above, over the seals of Stephen archbishop of Canterbury, Henry archbishop of Dublin, the other bishops named above, and Master Pandulf.

(63) IT IS ACCORDINGLY OUR WISH AND COMMAND that the English Church shall be free, and that men in our kingdom shall have and keep all these liberties, rights, and concessions, well and peaceably in their fulness and entirety for them and their heirs, of us and our heirs, in all things and all places for ever.

Both we and the barons have sworn that all this shall be observed in good faith and without deceit. Witness the abovementioned people and many others.

Given by our hand in the meadow that is called Runnymede, between Windsor and Staines, on the fifteenth day of June in the seventeenth year of our reign.

1607 James Fort in Jamestown completed.

1629 Brothers David, Lewis and Thomas Kirke's privateering expedition reach Gaspé'.

1775 - The Second Continental Congress voted unanimously to appoint George Washington head of the Continental Army.

1776 Benedict Arnold orders Montreal burnt as the Continental Army retreat. The citizens put the fire out.

1779 - General Anthony Wayne captured Stony Point, New York, from the British. "I'll storm the Gates of Hell if you will but plan the attack," Wayne told Gen. Washington.

1811 John Jacob Astor's ship Tonquin attacked by local Nootka on Vancouver Island who kill the sailors and destroy the ship the following day.

1814 Major General Jacob Brown leads American raiders across Lake Erie to attack Port Dover and Long Point Ontario.

1815 Selkirk settlers, dependent on buffalo for survival, forced to leave for Upper Canada because of harassment by Metis hunters. The North West Company traders wanting to challenge the authority of the Hudson's Bay Company were backing the Metis nationalists in this struggle. The settlement was reestablished the following August.

1846 - Representatives of Great Britain and the United States sign the Oregon Treaty, which settles a long-standing dispute with Britain over who controlled the Oregon territory.

1849 - James Polk, the 11th president of the United States, died in Nashville, Tenn.

1859 Hudson Bay Company pig breaks into the potato patch of American squatter in Washington; nearly resulting in a British-American war over ownership of one of the San Juan Islands.

1873 American whisky/fur traders massacre Assiniboine Indians in their camp in the Cypress Hills, Saskatchewan. This event lead to formation of the North-West Mounted Police.

1877 - Some 800 Nez Perce were pursued by the US Army and began their journey to reach safety in Canada. The Nez Perce had been ordered to leave the valley of the Winding Waters in the Northwest. They refused to be resettled and fled.

From: http://tdiumh.blogspot.com/2005/06/june-15.html

1877 Henry Flipper graduates from West Point, making him the first African American to do so. His time in West Point was difficult, due the prejudice of fellow cadets. He served, following graduation, with the 10th Cavalry until 1882 when he was dismissed from the U.S. Army following a Court Martial in which he was largely found innocent, but in which he did receive a bad conduct finding and received a sentence far harsher than generally regarded as the norm. He thereafter worked as an engineer and sometimes served in government service in other capacities. His status as an officer was posthumously restored in the 1970s.

1888 Kaiser Wilhelm II became the Kaiser.

1898 - The U.S. House of representatives approved the annexation of Hawaii. Some 38,000 Hawaiians signed the “Monster Petition” that was delivered to Washington by Queen Liliu’okalani. the petition was ignored.

1898 - US marines attacked the Spanish off Guantanamo, Cuba.

From: http://tdiumh.blogspot.com/2005/06/june-15.html

1898 The Alger Light Artillery of Cheyenne entered US service as "Battery A, Wyoming Light Artillery."

1909: From the Casper Star Tribune's history column, item's that ran this calendar week in the past:

http://www.trib.com/articles/2009/06/14 ... 8030de.txt

This is an interesting item because it pertains to the ongoing private range wars that were only just beginning to end in this period of time. Cattle range wars of the 1890s had given way to wars against sheepmen shortly thereafter, with raids on sheep camps being common in some areas.

Natrona County Tribune, 1909

"RAIDERS PAY DAMAGES

"Dig up $25,000 and Turn Range Over to Sheepmen.

"The noted criminal cases in Crook county which grew out of the raiding of sheep camps and burning of ranches of the Rodney King Sheep company, and the Guthrie Sheep company of Moorcroft and Gillette, have been settled out of court, the nine defendant cattlemen paying ... $25,000, and agreeing to not again molest the sheepmen. Valuable range in dispute, was also left to the sheepmen. ...

"(W)ell known cattlemen ... were arrested, after two of them were reported to have confessed. ...

"Before starting on the raids the raiders, it is said, entered into a death compact, whereby, if any member of the gang divulged what happened, he was to be killed by the others."

One of the confessors "was offered bail, but preferred to remain in jail for fear his pals would kill him. ... (B)oth went back on the confessions. ...

"The outcome marks a big victory for flockmasters who have been patient sufferers for years, but who demand enforcement of laws, and will prosecute raiders, backed by the state association of woolgrowers."

Pat,

Was there any validity to the presumed incompatibility of sheep and cattle on the same range, or was this just a land grab?

There's no truth to that myth at all, but like a lot of things during the range war period, the basic nature of the conflict was more complicated than generally recalled.

They myth was genuinely believed, even though there were always a few cattlemen who kept sheep. And surprisingly, there were some individuals who crossed back and forth from cattlemen to sheepmen, and vice versa, and who became caught up on one, or both sides, of the conflict. Sometimes innocently, sometimes not so much.

Anyhow, what I think really contributed to the conflict is that there were enormous bands of migratory sheep that came into the cattle ranges in the 1890s. It wasn't so much the sheep as an animal that caused the conflict as it was the sheep ranching practices that came in at that time that poisoned things. All of this was prior to the Taylor Grazing Act, so the Federal domain was open. The open nature of it had never really been well suited to ranching of any kind after the first cattle herds came in, so the practice quite rapidly became to recognize the range controlled by ranches based on their grazing, and to organize various ranges into districts. This was an imperfect system, and the practice of the state and Federal governments in encouraging it, while the Federal government also encouraged continued homesteading lead to the early "big" v "small" cattle wars.

In the case of the cattle v. sheep wars that followed, what occurred is that enormous bands of sheep owned by remote ranchers in Idaho came into the country under the control of sheep herders. The herders and the sheep ranches did not recognize any ranges or districts, and they covered enormous ranges. Sheep coming out of Idaho literally wondered hundreds of miles, maybe up to a 1,000 or more, over the course of a year. Sheep bands of this type were extremely destructive, as they were able to basically graze an area down to dirt and move on. As the herders and owners did not recognize the authority of grazing organizations or districts, they were not subject to any of the practices the cattlemen had organized to police themselves. This lead to heated conflicts, and also lead to the belief that cattle and sheep could not exist on the same range. Of course, nothing could really exist on a range grazed by sheep in this fashion for some time thereafter.

In order to combat the huge migratory herds, cattlemen began to create and enforce districts restricting sheep, which were not recognized by the sheepmen. In the more extreme examples, the cattlemen imposed "deadlines", which were literally what they proclaimed themselves to be. If the sheepmen crossed them, they might be killed. During the summer, I frequently drive or ride over a ridge in this area which is still called "The Deadline" as this is what it was.

By the early 20th Century the huge migratory bands were gone, but they had been replaced by smaller local bands of sheep. By this point, there was really no reason for the sheep wars to continue on, but a type of guerrilla war had broken out and it continued on. The warfare consisted of "sheep raids", which involved attacking a herder's camp and scattering the sheep. On more than one occasion the herders were killed. Again, I cross a spring repeatedly during the summer months which is called "Grave Springs" as a sheepherder's grave is nearby, the victim of a sheep raid.

By around 1905 law enforcement was making an effort to stop the sheep raids, but convicting raiders proved to be impossible up until the Spring Creek Raid in 1909. In that instance the nature of the raid proved to be shocking, and public opinion was turned. As a result, the raiders were convicted, to their surprise. An interesting aspect of the case was that one of the raiders was armed with a Remington Model 8 in .25 Remington which made him quite identifiable as it was the only one in area. The Spring Creek Raid brought an end to the range wars in Wyoming.

On that, it might be worth noting that the cattlemen v. sheepmen range wars had continued on in the Big Horns and Big Horn Basin several years past their end everywhere else. This did not reflect that there more sheep in this area than elsewhere, although there were a lot of them (Arminto Wyoming became the largest sheep shipping point in the United States in the 20th Century), but rather than this area was more lawless than other areas of the state, and always had been. Sheep were already dominating the livestock industry around Rawlins Wyoming and the Red Desert, even though those areas had been the first locations where problems had developed. In southern Wyoming the last flicker of any sort of this thing might be regarded as the Willie Nickell killing for which Tom Horn was convicted. I wouldn't say that this was part of the cattlemen v. sheepmen war, although the Nickells were sheepmen, but that did mark the end of private war far in southern Wyoming.

Pat,

Very informative.

Am I correct in the statement that some cattlemen homesteaded 160 acres controlling a water source, and then commenced to control a significant area they didn’t own, preventing its use by sheep men and other cattle men?

Was the military ever used to break up these problems, or was this strictly a law enforcement arena?

IIRC under Spanish law water was, more less, a community resource. The owner of riparian rights could not arbitrarily exclude others from use of streams, springs, etc. Under English law if you owned a spring it was yours; if you owned the banks of a stream you could exclude others from using your land to water their stock (even though you might not actually own the flow of the river or even the stream bed).

The Salt Wars that erupted around El Paso in the latter 1800s may be illustrative of the disparate approaches and their use by men seeking weath and political power.

Western novels are full of stories of ranchers having their cowboys file homesteads around water sites, proving up, then secretly selling them back to their bosses (usually with violent results). I'm not sure how much history lies behind the stories, but the practice makes sense in a area of limited water resources.

Pat,

Very informative.

Thanks. The range wars are sort of a favorite topic of mine (while largely off the focus of the site), as it's local history, and also because I think that they're very poorly understood. They were fictionalized as they were occuring, and the fictionalization of them has really impacted how we view them. The Virginian, for example, includes a fictionalized account of Wyoming's range wars of the 1890s within it. That portrayal, but reversed as to the "good" and "bad" sides has been the basis for many, many, later works.

Am I correct in the statement that some cattlemen homesteaded 160 acres controlling a water source, and then commenced to control a significant area they didn’t own, preventing its use by sheep men and other cattle men?

Yes and no. And that story itself is a lot more complicated than generally portrayed.

There were actually a whole series of Homestead Acts, starting off with the original one passed during the Civil War. The hallmark of all of them was that none of them granted enough land to make a living off of, in the West. They were of adequate size for East of the Miss, where the people who drafted the laws lived, but they were inadequate, for the most part, for the arid West. Over time the land allotments granted under the homestead laws was increased, and the mineral rights were withdrawn from the grants, but they never achieved a size that would actually support anything other than a bare bones agricultural unit.

That fact has often been noted, but what's often omitted from the discussion is that a homestead entrant could purchase additional lands. On the other hand, most couldn't afford to.

Given all this, a system developed which accommodate the law to the conditions, and which was recognized by all the participants, including the State governments. Generally, homestead entrants did homestead a water resource. After they did that, they then grazed the area associated with the water course, a range much greater than what they'd homesteaded. During the summer, the cattle herds were pooled and grazed on the public domain. Brandings were often done after the herds had been pooled.

The practice of running herds from various ranches in one common region during the summer was recognized by the State, which recognized various grazing associations or organizations as the administering body for this practice. In Wyoming, the Wyoming Stockgrowers Association occupied this position, and even though it was a private corporate body, it received state sanction for this. Livestock detectives, who had the power of arrest, were actually employees of the WSGA. The WSGA was so big that it actually extended up into Montana, but most regions of the West had similiar organizations. Theodore Roosevelt, if I recall correctly, was a founding member of one such organization on the Little Missouri.

A person had to cooperate with the organization to effectively graze in most regions, and a person's role in it was assigned according to the number of cattle they had. This naturally created a lot of resentment on the part of very small operators, who felt that they were not treated fairly, and who sometimes chose to operate outside the organizations. This created tensions in and of itself, as the organizations tended to feel that people who operated without their sanction were probably operating illegally in other ways. Sometimes they really were, as rustling was very easy to engage in at the time. Controlling it was difficult due to the wide open nature of things, but it was also made more difficult by the fact that most top hands took part of their pay in cattle. Almost all really top hands hoped to build up a herd that way, and when they had enough, they often started their own operations. FWIW, this practice was still common as recently as 15 or so years ago, although with land prices being what they are, I don't think that it's continuing on.

That system had a fatal flaw in that the Federal government continued to view all public domain as open to entry by homesteaders and mining claimants. So what older operations regarded as their range, a belief encouraged by the State, could be carved up by new entrants. In popular literature, post Virginian, the new entrants are always sort of benevolent common men, but the practice was extremely disruptive. As time went on, the lands that new entrants claimed tended to be poor, as prior entrants had claimed or purchased the water resources. So some resentment was natural.

The cattle v cattle wars broke out over these problems. The legendary Johnson County War really amounted to an extra-legal effort by members of the WSGA to address what they regarded as a rustling problem in Natrona County and Johnson County, Wyoming. The problem there was that the small holders they were after also tended to be later entrants, so there was a contest, to some degree, as to whose rights were superior.

Was the military ever used to break up these problems, or was this strictly a law enforcement arena?

The Army was in fact used in at least two occasions I'm aware of.

The Army and militia had a role in the Johnson County War.

Prior to bringing up the Texas invaders, in the Johnson County War, the WSGA side had arranged for the governor to call up the militia so that it could not be called up to go to Johnson and Natrona Counties to suppress the invaders. So the militia had a negative role, in essence.

That actually worked too well, as the invaders were delayed by an April snowstorm, and their first action at the the Champion cabin took much longer than they had anticipated. This allowed ample time for the residents of Johnson County to rally and the invaders were besieged in a ranch house. At that point, therefore, they were hoping that the state would send them some help.

The governor, for his part, informed the Federal government, letting President Harrison know that a "state of insurrection" existed in Johnson County. As a result, President Harrison ordered troops from Ft. Mckinney at Sheridan Wyoming to go to the site of the siege and stop it. This took quite a bit of time, as invaders had ripped down the telegraph lines on their path of advancement to keep their targets from seeking help. That rapidly grew out of control, and the defending side took it up as well, meaning that it was difficult for the invaders' allies to wire for help. Cavalry from McKinney did arrive, however, after a time. At that point ,the commanding officer very wisely assessed the situation, which was very bad for the invaders, and refused to take a side. He did, however, inform the invaders that they were about to be overrun, which they knew, as the defending side, under the command of the Johnson County Sheriff, had constructed a moving breastworks and was edging up on firebombing range. He suggested to them that if they surrendered to him, he'd make sure they were taken to Ft. Fetterman under escorted arrest. They wisely chose that option. From there, they were taken by train to Ft. D. A. Russel, where they were held for trial, at the expense of Johnson County. The trial proved to be a disaster, with some critical witnesses going elsewhere (probably with encouragement), and there were no convictions. Johnson County was left with a big bill.

The other instance I'm aware of is the Lincoln County War in New Mexico. I'm very unfamiliar with the details of that conflict, but I do know that the Army was called out for a siege during it. The siege is well known, as Billy the Kid was a participant in it. In that instance, it's generally held that the commander sided with the besiegers improperly.

IIRC under Spanish law water was, more less, a community resource. The owner of riparian rights could not arbitrarily exclude others from use of streams, springs, etc. Under English law if you owned a spring it was yours; if you owned the banks of a stream you could exclude others from using your land to water their stock (even though you might not actually own the flow of the river or even the stream bed).

The Salt Wars that erupted around El Paso in the latter 1800s may be illustrative of the disparate approaches and their use by men seeking weath and political power.

Western novels are full of stories of ranchers having their cowboys file homesteads around water sites, proving up, then secretly selling them back to their bosses (usually with violent results). I'm not sure how much history lies behind the stories, but the practice makes sense in a area of limited water resources.

In almost all of the Western states, water law departs from English Common law, and oddly enough stems from mining law. Western mining law was developed by the miners themselves. If a person wants to get a good, if satiric, grasp of mining law, the movie "Paint Your Wagon" does a good job of explaining it.

The essence of western water law (and mining law) is First in Time, First in Right. The first person to come along and appropriate a water resource for a lawful purpose, owns it. The use need not be near source of appropriation, which came about originally due to mining water devices, but ultimately came to apply to irrigation conveyances. So there's a lot of instances in which the owner of a water right has the legal right to have the water cross another's property. This is a special type of easement. There's a great quote on this in a very old Wyoming case I'll dig up when I have a chance.

On the public domain, cattle can drink from anything they might run across. On your own land, however, you can exclude cattle from the banks, even if you don't own the water right. Cattle are free to drink from any stream, if the cattle have the right to be on the property. The right to apply the water out of the stream (including to impound it in ponds) is what the right ultimately addresses. Of course, having a prior right is very significant, as you can keep upstream users from using if you have a prior right, including a prior right simply to water cattle, and you can also use water over the right of any junior appropriator who seeks to "call" a junior right downstream.[/quote]

There's a great quote on this in a very old Wyoming case I'll dig up when I have a chance.

If this means that [the owner of the unified property] himself, or any one claiming the water right under him by deed executed by him after he parted with the land, could deprive the parties of the use of the water, it is a startling proposition. We cannot ignore, as judges, what we know, as men, of the general condition of the country. As residents of the arid region, interested in its business conditions, we know - and as lawyers and judges, deriving our knowledge from reported cases, we know - that there are vast quantities of agricultural land cultivated in the arid region, and made valuable by the use of water, the right to which depends upon a conveyance of the land without mentioning water, water right, or irrigating ditch. Land and water together are of great value. The value of the land without the use of the water is trivial. And the conditions are such, in many instances, that, if the owner of the land is deprived of the use of the water to which he has been accustomed, he cannot procure other water. In other instances it can be done only at great expense.

From Frank v. Hicks, 1894.

Western novels are full of stories of ranchers having their cowboys file homesteads around water sites, proving up, then secretly selling them back to their bosses (usually with violent results). I'm not sure how much history lies behind the stories, but the practice makes sense in a area of limited water resources.

Still following up on this, I've noted that too, but I'm skeptical of these stories. One thing they fail to acknowledge is that a lot of top hands took part of their pay in cattle. After a few years, they often married and then homesteaded themselves. In that fashion, paying a hand in cattle was somewhat self defeating, but it would have been particularly so if that hand had taken out a homestead.

I would believe, however, that homesteads may very well have been taken out by family members. I believe that the author of "Letters of a Woman Homesteader" did that. Her husband was a Scottish born rancher, but she had taken out her own homestead nearby. This has been portrayed as her independent desire, which it may very well have been, but the advantage of having a spouse or child add to the ranch cost free likely did occur to some. I have seen the remnants of homesteads taken out by neighboring brothers who had originally apparently operated as one unit, but whom ultimately divided their operations for some reason.[/quote]

1909 Representatives from England, Australia and South Africa meet at Lord's to form the Imperial Cricket Conference.

1913 The Battle of Bud Bagsak, part of the Moro uprising, ends.

1916 President Wilson signs the act incorporating the Boy Scouts, the only Federally incorporated youth organization.

1917 The Espionage Act signed into law in the US.

1918 The U.S. Post Office began regularly scheduled airmail service between Washington and New York through Philadelphia.

1919 British Army Captain John Alcock and Royal Flying Corps Lt. Arthur Brown plow in nose-down landing in a peat bog in their Vickers Vimy bomber at Clifden, County Galway, Ireland, thereby making a somewhat ungraceful completion the first nonstop transatlantic flight. They won the £10,000 prize offered by the London Daily Mail and were knighted.

1940 Allied withdrawal from France begins, following French surrender.

1944 First RCAF fighter wings move into France after D-Day.

1944 U.S. commences landings on Saipan.

1944 Socialist (Co-operative Commonwealth Federation) come to power in Saskatchewan, forming the first Socialist government in North America.

1944 First B29 raid on Japan.

1945 Wyoming Governor Leslie Hunt proclaimed to day Infantry Day.

1973 Ottawa restricts export of gasoline and heating oil to slow down increase in export of these products.

Congressional Medals of Honor awarded for action on this day:

APPLETON, WILLIAM H.
Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, Company H, 4th U.S. Colored Troops. Place and date: At Petersburg, Va., 15 June 1864; At New Market Heights, Va., 29 September 1864. Citation: The first man of the Eighteenth Corps to enter the enemy's works at Petersburg, Va., 15 June 1864. Valiant service in a desperate assault at New Market Heights, Va., inspiring the Union troops by his example of steady courage.

FALLON, THOMAS T.: Civil War. Private, Company K, 37th New York Infantry. Place and date: At Williamsburg, Va., 5 May 1862. At Fair Oaks, Va., 30-31 May 1862. At Big Shanty, Ga., 14-15 June 1864. Citation: At Williamsburg, Va., assisted in driving rebel skirmishers to their main line. Participated in action, at Fair Oaks, Va., though excused from duty because of disability. In a charge with his company at Big Shanty, Ga., was the first man on the enemy's works.

HALLOCK, NATHAN M.: Civil War. Private, Company K, 124th New York Infantry. Place and date: At Bristoe Station, Va., 15 June 1863. Citation: At imminent peril saved from death or capture a disabled officer of his company by carrying him under a hot musketry fire, to a place of safety.

HERINGTON, PITT B.: Civil War. Private, Company E, 11th lowa Infantry. Place and date: Near Kenesaw Mountain, Ga., 15 June 1864. Citation: With one companion and under a fierce fire of the enemy at close range, went to the rescue of a wounded comrade who had fallen between the lines and carried him to a place of safety.

MAYES, WILLIAM B.: Civil War. :Private, Company K, 11th lowa Infantry. Place and date: Near Kenesaw Mountain, Ga., 15 June 1864. Citation: With one companion and under a fierce fire from the enemy at short range went to the rescue of a wounded comrade who had fallen between the lines and carried him to a place of safety.

NUGENT, CHRISTOPHER: Civil War. Orderly Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps. Citation: Serving on board the U.S.S. Fort Henry, Crystal River, Fla., 15 June 1863. Reconnoitering on the Crystal River on this date and in charge of a boat from the Fort Henry, Orderly Sgt. Nugent ordered an assault upon a rebel breastwork fortification. In this assault, the orderly sergeant and his comrades drove a guard of 11 rebels into the swamp, capturing their arms and destroying their camp equipage while gallantly withholding fire to prevent harm to a woman among the fugitives. On 30 July 1863, he further proved his courage by capturing a boat off Depot Key, Fla., containing 2 men and a woman with their baggage.

STURGEON, JAMES K.: Civil War. Private, Company F, 46th Ohio Infantry. Place and date: At Kenesaw Mountain, Ga., 15 June 1864. Citation: Advanced beyond the lines, and in an encounter with 3 Confederates shot 2 and took the other prisoner.

O'CONNER, JAMES F.: Peace time award. Landsman, Engineer's Force, U.S. Navy. Citation: For jumping overboard from the U.S.S. Jean Sands, opposite the Norfolk Navy Yard, on the night of 15 June 1880, and rescuing from drowning a young girl who had fallen overboard.

SWEENEY, WILLIAM: Peace time award. Landsman, Engineer's Force, U.S. Navy. Citation: For jumping overboard from the U.S.S. Jean Sands, opposite the Navy Yard, Norfolk, Va., on the night of 15 June 1880, and rescuing from drowning a young girl who had fallen overboard.

Note the last two citations. These are the first I've run across for the rescuing of a civilian from a life threatening situation.

KELLEY, THOMAS G.: Vietnam War. Lieutenant Commander, U.S. Navy, River Assault Division 152. place and date: Ong Muong Canal, Kien Hoa province, Republic of Vietnam, 15 June 1969. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty in the afternoon while serving as commander of River Assault Division 152 during combat operations against enemy aggressor forces. Lt. Comdr. (then Lt.) Kelley was in charge of a column of 8 river assault craft which were extracting 1 company of U.S. Army infantry troops on the east bank of the Ong Muong Canal in Kien Hoa province, when 1 of the armored troop carriers reported a mechanical failure of a loading ramp. At approximately the same time, Viet Cong forces opened fire from the opposite bank of the canal. After issuing orders for the crippled troop carrier to raise its ramp manually, and for the remaining boats to form a protective cordon around the disabled craft, Lt. Comdr. Kelley realizing the extreme danger to his column and its inability to clear the ambush site until the crippled unit was repaired, boldly maneuvered the monitor in which he was embarked to the exposed side of the protective cordon in direct line with the enemy's fire, and ordered the monitor to commence firing. Suddenly, an enemy rocket scored a direct hit on the coxswain's flat, the shell penetrating the thick armor plate, and the explosion spraying shrapnel in all directions. Sustaining serious head wounds from the blast, which hurled him to the deck of the monitor, Lt. Cmdr. Kelley disregarded his severe injuries and attempted to continue directing the other boats. Although unable to move from the deck or to speak clearly into the radio, he succeeded in relaying his commands through 1 of his men until the enemy attack was silenced and the boats were able to move to an area of safety. Lt. Comdr. Kelley's brilliant leadership, bold initiative, and resolute determination served to inspire his men and provide the impetus needed to carry out the mission after he was medically evacuated by helicopter. His extraordinary courage under fire, and his selfless devotion to duty sustain and enhance the finest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service.

Victoria Crosses awarded for action on this day:

ROGERS James: Second Boer War. Sergeant. South African Constabulary, South African Forces. Citation: On 15 June 1901, at Thaba 'Nchu, South Africa, during a skirmish, a party of the rearguard, consisting of a lieutenant, Sergeant Rogers and six men, was attacked by about 60 Boers. When the lieutenant's horse was shot, Sergeant Rogers rode back, took the lieutenant up behind and carried him for half a mile on his own horse. The sergeant then returned to within 400 yards of the enemy and rescued two other men who had lost their horses. Afterwards, he caught two horses and helped their owners to remount. This was done under heavy fire. The Boers were near enough to Sergeant Rogers to call upon him to surrender; his only answer was to continue firing.

CAMPBELL Frederick William World War One. Posthumous award. Lieutenant. 1st Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force. Citation: For most conspicuous bravery on 15th June, 1915, during the action at Givenchy. Lt. Campbell took two machine-guns over the parapet, arrived at the German first line with one gun, and maintained his position there, under very heavy rifle, machine-gun and bomb fire, notwithstanding the fact that almost the whole of his detachment had then been killed or wounded. When our supply of bombs had become exhausted, this Officer advanced his gun still further to an exposed position, and, by firing about 1,000 rounds, succeeded in holding back the enemy's counter-attack. This very gallant Officer was subsequently wounded, and has since died.

HUDSON Charles Edward: World War One. Lieutenant Colonel. Sherwood Foresters. British Army. Citation: Heroism in action near Asiago, Italy.

FOOTE Henry Robert Bowreman: World War Two. Lieutenant colonel. 7th Royal Tank Regiment, British Army. Citation: During the period 27 May/15 June 1942 in Libya, Lieutenant Colonel Foote commanded his battalion with outstanding courage and leadership, always being at the crucial point at the right time. On 6 June, although wounded, he continued to lead his battalion from an exposed position on the outside of a tank, and succeeded in defeating the enemy's attempt to encircle two Allied divisions. On 13 June, when a number of Allied tanks had been destroyed, he went on foot, "from one tank to another, to encourage the crews under intense artillery and anti-tank fire". By "his magnificent example the corridor was kept open and the Brigade was able to march through".

Last supplemented on 15 June 2012.

[Pat Holscher]

So are all you Brits breaking out the kegs of Newcastle Brown Ale and the like for big Magna Carta sealing parties?

[Calendar]

June 16

2686 BC King Hammurabi of Babylon died at about age 45.

363 Emperor Julian marches back up the Tigris and burns his fleet of supply ships.

1487 Battle of Stoke Field, the final engagement of the Wars of the Roses.

1567 Mary Queen of Scots imprisoned in Lochleven Castle.

1654 Abdication of Queen Christina of Sweden.

1744 French make unsuccessful assault on Annapolis Royal.

1745 English fleet occupied Cape Breton on St. Lawrence River.

1755 British capture Fort Beausojour, Nova Scotia, and initiate the expulsion of the Acadians.

1775 - Continental Congress authority for a "Chief Engineer for the Army" was passed. A corps of Engineers for the United States was authorized by the Congress on March 11, 1779. The Corps of Engineers as it is known today came into being on March 16, 1802, when the President was authorized to "organize and establish a Corps of Engineers ... that the said Corps ... shall be stationed at West Point in the State of New York and shall constitute a Military Academy." A Corps of Topographical Engineers, authorized on July 4, 1838, was merged with the Corps of Engineers on March 1863.

1775 - The Quartermaster Corps, originally designated the Quartermaster Department, was established on June 16, 1775. While numerous additions, deletions, and changes of function have occurred, its basic supply and service support functions have continued in existence.

The battle of Quatre Brass and Ligny on 16 june 1815,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Quatre_Bras

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ligny

Jan

1833 John Wilson kills 19 year old Robert Lyon in the last duel in Upper Canada. Wilson was acquitted of murder and later became a judge of the Ontario Supreme Court.

1836 Wesley Merritt, Maj. Gen, US, born.

1837 Eli Long, Brig Gen, U.S., born.

1858 King Gustav V of Sweden born.

1890 A significant figure in the exploration of Alaska, Fred Fickett, retired from the military due to ailments he developed during the arduous exploration of the region. Flickett, and enlisted man, had a scientific mind and was a member of the Signal Corps at the time he was specifically to be assigned to a scientific exploration by Lieutenant Henry T. Allen. Illnesses acquired there forced his retirement. In civilian life, he became a lawyer in Arizona, where he also managed mining operations. He published a book on his experiences entitled: Narratives of Explorations in Alaska. While he lived to age 70, he never recovered his health.

1897 - The US government signed a treaty of annexation with Hawaii.

1898 U.S. squadron bombards Santiago, Cuba.

1911 IBM founded as the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company in Endicott, New York.

1940 Marshal Henri Philippe Pétain becomes Chief of State of Vichy France.

1940 USSR occupies Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia

1944 US 5th Army take Grosseto, Italy.

1944 US 1st Army crosses the Douvre River and capture St. Saveur in the Cotentin Peninsula.

1945 Sugar once allowed, on a restricted basis, for home canning in the US.

1947 Pravda denounced the Marshall Plan.

1958 Imre Nagy, Pál Maléter and other leaders of the 1956 Hungarian Uprising are executed.

1961 - Following a meeting between President John F. Kennedy and South Vietnam envoy Nguyen Dinh Thuan, an agreement is reached for direct training and combat supervision of Vietnamese troops by U.S. instructors.

[/quote]

1967 Neil Young and Buffalo Springfield, Jimi Hendrix , Janis Joplin , The Who , Otis Redding , the Mamas and the Papas , The Grateful Dead , The Byrds , Jefferson Airplane and Hugh Masekela appear at the Monterey Pop Festival.

1989 Imre Nagy reburied in Budapest.

Congressional Medals of Honor awarded for action on this day:

GREGG, JOSEPH O.: Civil War. Private, Company F, 133d Ohio Infantry. Place and date: Near the Richmond & Petersburg Ry., Va., 16 June 1864. Citation: Voluntarily returned to the breastworks which his regiment had been forced to abandon to notify 3 missing companies that the regiment was falling back; found the enemy already in the works, refused a demand to surrender, returning to his command under a concentrated fire, several bullets passing through his hat and clothing.

JACKSON, FREDERICK R.: Civil War. First Sergeant, Company F, 7th Connecticut Infantry. Place and date: At James Island, S.C., 16 June 1862. Citation: Having his left arm shot away in a charge on the enemy, he continued on duty, taking part in a second and a third charge until he fell exhausted from the loss of blood.

LEWIS, DEWITT CLINTON: Civil War. Captain, Company F, 97th Pennsylvania Infantry. Place and date: At Secessionville, S.C., 16 June 1862. Citation: While retiring with his men before a heavy fire of can1ster shot at short range, returned in the face of the enemy's fire and rescued an exhausted private of his company who but for this timely action would have lost his life by drowning in the morass through which the troops were retiring.

McCARD, ROBERT HOWARD: World War Two. Posthumous award. Gunnery Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps. Born: 25 November 1918, Syracuse, N.Y. Accredited to: New York. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as platoon sergeant of Company A, 4th Tank Battalion, 4th Marine Division, during the battle for enemy Japanese-held Saipan, Marianas Islands, on 16 June 1944. Cut off from the other units of his platoon when his tank was put out of action by a battery of enemy 77mm. guns, G/Sgt. McCard carried on resolutely, bringing all the tank's weapons to bear on the enemy, until the severity of hostile fire caused him to order his crew out of the escape hatch while he courageously exposed himself to enemy guns by hurling hand grenades, in order to cover the evacuation of his men. Seriously wounded during this action and with his supply of grenades exhausted, G/Sgt. McCard then dismantled one of the tank's machineguns and faced the Japanese for the second time to deliver vigorous fire into their positions, destroying 16 of the enemy but sacrificing himself to insure the safety of his crew. His valiant fighting spirit and supreme loyalty in the face of almost certain death reflect the highest credit upon G/Sgt. McCard and the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.

SARNOSKI, JOSEPH R.: World War Two. Posthumous award. Second Lieutenant, U.S. Army Air Corps, 43rd Bomber Group, Place and date: Over Buka Area, Solomon Islands, 16 June 1943. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action above and beyond the call of duty. On 16 June 1943, 2d Lt. Sarnoski volunteered as bombardier of a crew on an important photographic mapping mission covering the heavily defended Buka area, Solomon Islands. When the mission was nearly completed, about 20 enemy fighters intercepted. At the nose guns, 2d Lt. Sarnoski fought off the first attackers, making it possible for the pilot to finish the plotted course. When a coordinated frontal attack by the enemy extensively damaged his bomber, and seriously injured 5 of the crew, 2d Lt. Sarnoski, though wounded, continued firing and shot down 2 enemy planes. A 20-millimeter shell which burst in the nose of the bomber knocked him into the catwalk under the cockpit. With indomitable fighting spirit, he crawled back to his post and kept on firing until he collapsed on his guns. 2d Lt. Sarnoski by resolute defense of his aircraft at the price of his life, made possible the completion of a vitally important mission.

ZEAMER, JAY JR.: World War Two. Major, U.S. Army Air Corps. Place and date: Over Buka area, Solomon Islands, 16 June 1943. Citation: On 16 June 1943, Maj. Zeamer (then Capt.) volunteered as pilot of a bomber on an important photographic mapping mission covering the formidably defended area in the vicinity of Buka, Solomon Islands. While photographing the Buka airdrome. his crew observed about 20 enemy fighters on the field, many of them taking off. Despite the certainty of a dangerous attack by this strong force, Maj. Zeamer proceeded with his mapping run, even after the enemy attack began. In the ensuing engagement, Maj. Zeamer sustained gunshot wounds in both arms and legs, 1 leg being broken. Despite his injuries, he maneuvered the damaged plane so skillfully that his gunners were able to fight off the enemy during a running fight which lasted 40 minutes. The crew destroyed at least 5 hostile planes, of which Maj. Zeamer himself shot down 1. Although weak from loss of blood, he refused medical aid until the enemy had broken combat. He then turned over the controls, but continued to exercise command despite lapses into unconsciousness, and directed the flight to a base 580 miles away. In this voluntary action, Maj. Zeamer, with superb skill, resolution, and courage, accomplished a mission of great value.

HOWARD, JIMMIE E.: Vietnam War. Gunnery Sergeant (then S/Sgt.) U.S. Marine Corps, Company C, 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division. Place and date: Republic of Vietnam, 16 June 1966. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his own life above and beyond the call of duty. G/Sgt. Howard and his 18-man platoon were occupying an observation post deep within enemy-controlled territory. Shortly after midnight a Viet Cong force of estimated battalion size approached the marines' position and launched a vicious attack with small arms, automatic weapons, and mortar fire. Reacting swiftly and fearlessly in the face of the overwhelming odds, G/Sgt. Howard skillfully organized his small but determined force into a tight perimeter defense and calmly moved from position to position to direct his men's fire. Throughout the night, during assault after assault, his courageous example and firm leadership inspired and motivated his men to withstand the unrelenting fury of the hostile fire in the seemingly hopeless situation. He constantly shouted encouragement to his men and exhibited imagination and resourcefulness in directing their return fire. When fragments of an exploding enemy grenade wounded him severely and prevented him from moving his legs, he distributed his ammunition to the remaining members of his platoon and proceeded to maintain radio communications and direct air strikes on the enemy with uncanny accuracy. At dawn, despite the fact that 5 men were killed and all but 1 wounded, his beleaguered platoon was still in command of its position. When evacuation helicopters approached his position, G/Sgt. Howard warned them away and called for additional air strikes and directed devastating small-arms fire and air strikes against enemy automatic weapons positions in order to make the landing zone as secure as possible. Through his extraordinary courage and resolute fighting spirit, G/Sgt. Howard was largely responsible for preventing the loss of his entire platoon. His valiant leadership and courageous fighting spirit served to inspire the men of his platoon to heroic endeavor in the face of overwhelming odds, and reflect the highest credit upon G/Sgt. Howard, the Marine Corps, and the U.S. Naval Service.

Victoria Crosses awarded for action on this day:

PROSSER Joseph Hunter: Crimean War. Private. 2nd Battalion, 1st Regiment, British Army. Citation: On 16 June 1855 at Sevastopol, Crimea, when on duty in the trenches, Private Prosser pursued and apprehended (while exposed to enemy cross-fire) a soldier in the act of deserting to the enemy. On 11 August he left the most advanced trench and helped to carry to safety a severely wounded soldier of the 95th Regiment who was unable to move. This act was performed under very heavy fire from the enemy.

RODGERS George: Indian Mutiny. Private. 71st Regiment, British Army. Citation: For daring conduct at Marar, Gwalior, on the 16th of June, 1858, in attacking by himself a party of seven Rebels, one of whom he killed. This was remarked as a valuable service, the party of Rebels being well armed and strongly posted in the line of advance of a detachment of the 71st Regiment.

TOMBS Joseph Harcourt: World War One. Lance-Corporal. 1st Battalion, The King's Regiment, British Army. Citation: On 16 June 1915 near Rue du Bois, France, Lance-Corporal Tombs, on his own initiative, crawled out repeatedly under very heavy shell and machine-gun fire to bring in wounded men who were lying about 100 yards in front of our trenches. He rescued four men, one of whom he dragged back by means of a rifle sling placed round his own neck and the man's body.

YOULL John (Jack) Scott: World War One. Second Lieutenant. 1st Battalion, The Northumberland Fusiliers. Citation: On 15 June 1918 south west of Asiago, Italy, Second Lieutenant Youll was commanding a patrol which came under heavy enemy fire. Sending his men back to safety he remained to watch the situation and then, unable to rejoin his company, he reported to a neighbouring unit where he took command of a party of men from different units, holding his position against enemy attack until a machine-gun opened fire behind him. He rushed and captured the gun, killing most of the team and opened fire, inflicting heavy casualties. He then carried out three separate counterattacks, driving the enemy back each time.

He was killed in action in October, 1918.

Last supplemented on June 16, 2012.

[Calendar]

June 17

For 2012, Father's Day falls on this day in the United Stations.

Today is National Day in Iceland, commemorating Icelandic Independence.
Today is Bunker Hill Day in Suffolk County, Massachusetts.
Today is Soviet Occupation Day in Latvia.
Today is World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought.


656 Uthman ibn Affan, the Third Caliph killed by rebels at age 77 at Medina.

827 Arab conquest of Sicily begins when Asad ibn al-Furat lands with 15,000 troops.

1462 Vlad III the Impaler attempts to assassinate Mehmed II forcing him to retreat from Wallachia.

1497 Battle of Deptford Bridge in which forces under King Henry VII defeat troops led by Michael An Gof.

Deptford Bridge:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornish_Re ... ord_Bridge

http://www.fantompowa.net/Flame/cornish ... _1497.html

Lack of cavalry and artillery undid the rebels.

1565 Matsunaga Hisahide assassinates the 13th Ashikaga shogun, Ashikaga Yoshiteru.

1579 Francis Drake anchors in a harbor just north of present-day San Francisco, California, and claims the territory for Queen Elizabeth I, hence explaining the media's fascination with British Royal weddings.

1631 Mumtaz Mahal dies during childbirth. Her husband, Mughal emperor Shah Jahan I, will spend the next 17 years building her mausoleum, the Taj Mahal.

1682 King Charles XII of Sweden born.

1687 Jacques-René de Brisay de Denonville sets out on an expedition against the Iroquois with Pierre de Troyes.

1745 American colonial forces capture Louisburg, Cape Breton I, from French.

Late entry for June 17th:

1775: Battle of Bunker Hill. Isreal Putnam led the Colonial Forces against British Major General William Howe. While technically a victory for the British, the losses were tremendous: 226 Dead and 828 Wounded. Colonial losses were far less: 140 Killed, 310 wounded and 30 taken prisoner.

--Brian

1789 The Third Estate in France declared itself a national assembly and undertook to frame a constitution.

1797 Shah Aga Muhammad Khan Qajar of Persia, the first Qajar, executed, after being castrated, at age 56.

1815 Rais Hammida, decapitated by a 32-pounder shot from the USS 'Torch' while commanding the Algerian frigate Mashouda.

1817 Thomas Maley Harris, Brig Gen, U.S., born.

1823 John Henry Hobart Ward, Brig Gen, U.S., born.

1830 Richard Montgomery Gano, Brig Gen, C.S.A., born.

1849 The United States flag raised over Ft. Laramie, now a military post.

1863 Cavalry action at Aldie, Virginia. Confederates fail to drive back Union forces.

1864 General John B. Hood replaced General Johnston as head of CSA troops around Atlanta.

1866 Colonel Henry B. Carrington's column left Fort Laramie and started up the Bozeman Trail.The command arrived at Fort Reno on June 28.

1870 USS Mohican destroys the Mexican pirate ship Forward.

June 17

1876 - Sioux and Cheyenne Indians score a tactical victory over General Crook's forces at the [b]Battle of the Rosebud, foreshadowing the disaster of the Battle of Little Big Horn eight days later. General George Crook was in command of one of three columns of soldiers converging on the Big Horn country of southern Montana that June. A large band of Sioux and Cheyenne Indians under the direction of Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, and several other chiefs had congregated in the area in defiance of U.S. demands that the Indians confine themselves to reservations. The army viewed the Indians' refusal as an opportunity to dispatch a massive three-pronged attack and win a decisive victory over the "hostile" Indians. Crook's column, marching north from Fort Fetterman in Wyoming Territory, was to join with two others: General Gibbon's column coming east from Fort Ellis in Montana Territory, and General Terry's force coming west from Fort Abraham Lincoln in Dakota Territory. Terry's force included the soon-to-be-famous 7th Cavalry under the command of George Custer. The vast distances and lack of reliable communications made it difficult to coordinate, but the three armies planned to converge on the valley of the Big Horn River and stage an assault on an enemy whose location and size was only vaguely known. The plan quickly ran into trouble. As Crook approached the Big Horn, his Indian scouts informed him they had found signs of a major Sioux force that must still be nearby. Crook was convinced that the Sioux were encamped in a large village somewhere along the Rosebud Creek just east of the Big Horn. Like most of his fellow officers, Crook believed that Indians were more likely to flee than stand and fight, and he was determined to find the village and attack before the Sioux could escape into the wilderness. Crook's Indian allies--262 Crow and Shoshone warriors--were less certain. They suspected the Sioux force was under the command of Crazy Horse, thee brilliant war chief. Crazy Horse, they warned, was too shrewd to give Crook an opportunity to attack a stationary village. Crook soon learned that his allies were right. Around 8 a.m. on this day in 1876, Crook halted his force of about 1,300 men in the bowl of a small valley along the Rosebud Creek in order to allow the rear of the column to catch up. Crook's soldiers unsaddled and let their horses graze while they relaxed in the grass and enjoyed the cool morning air. The American soldiers were out in the open, divided, and unprepared. Suddenly, several Indian scouts rode into the camp at a full gallop. "Sioux! Sioux!" they shouted. "Many Sioux!" Within minutes, a mass of Sioux warriors began to converge on the army. A force of at least 1,500 mounted Sioux warriors caught Crook's soldiers by surprise. Crazy Horse had kept an additional 2,500 warriors in reserve to finish the attack. Fortunately for Crook, one segment of his army was not caught unprepared. His 262 Crow and Shoshone allies had taken up advanced positions about 500 yards from the main body of soldiers. With astonishing courage, the Indian warriors boldly countercharged the much larger invading force. They managed to blunt the initial attack long enough for Crook to regroup his men and send soldiers forward to support his Indian allies. The fighting continued until noon, when the Sioux-perhaps hoping to draw Crook's army into an ambush-retreated from the field. The combined force of 4,000 Sioux warriors had outnumbered Crook's divided and unprepared army by more than three to one. Had it not been for the wisdom and courage of Crook's Indian allies, Americans today might well remember the Battle of the Rosebud as they do the subsequent Battle of the Little Big Horn. As it was, Crook's team was badly bloodied--28 men were killed and 56 were seriously wounded. Crook had no choice but to withdraw and regroup. Crazy Horse had lost only 13 men and his warriors were emboldened by their successful attack on the American soldiers. Eight days later, they would join with their tribesmen in the Battle of the Little Big Horn, which would wipe out George Custer and his 7th Cavalry.[/b]

From: http://tdiumh.blogspot.com/2005/06/june-17.html

It's interesting to note that Crook withdrew his command all the way to the Big Horns, where it spent the balance of the summer. Amongst other things, it spent a lot of time fishing and hunting the rest of that summer.

1877 The Battle of White Bird Canyon Idaho occurs in which the Nez Perce repulsed cavalry under Gen. O. O. Howard.

White Bird Canyon - not a great day for elements of the First Cavalry:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_ ... ird_Canyon

http://www.historynet.com/the-battle-of ... -perce.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:White ... tantin.jpg

1900 British forces under COL Robert Baden-Powell, who had been under siege by Boer forces in Mafeking, South Africa, were relieved by a flying column of British infantry and cavalry. Baden Powell later founded the British Boy Scout movement, and, with his wife Agnes, the Girl Guides in 1909.

1913 U.S. Marines set sail from San Diego to protect American interests in Mexico.

1916 Additional American troops under the command of Gen. Pershing enter Mexico in an effort to track down Pancho Villa. On the same day, various National Guard units, including the Wyoming National Guard, were Federalized for border service.

1928 Amelia Earhart embarked on the first trans-Atlantic flight by a woman.

1932 The U.S. Senate defeated the bonus bill as 10,000 veterans massed around the Capitol.

1933 Union Station Massacre in Kansas City, Missouri. Four FBI agents and captured fugitive Frank Nash are gunned down by gangsters attempting to free Nash.

1938 Japan declared war on China.

1940 France asked Germany for terms of surrender in World War II.

1940 The British Army's 11th Hussars assault and take Fort Capuzzo in Libya, Africa from Italian forces.

1940 Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania fall under the occupation of the Soviet Union.

1940 German dive bombers sink the liner Lancastria off St. Nazaire. 4,000 British and French troops and civilians perish in the sinking.

1943 British Wing Commander Guy Gibson, RAF, "Dam Buster" air raids on the Mohne and Eder River dams in Germany's Ruhr Valley.

1944 Iceland declares independence; King Christian X of Denmark expresses his regrets but offers his congratulations.

1945 Final Japanese defensive line on Okinawa breached.

1953 The Soviet Union orders an entire armored division of its troops into East Berlin to crush a rebellion by East German workers and protesters.

1965 First B-52 raid of Vietnam War 50 km north of Saigon.

1967 China becomes world's fourth thermonuclear power, detonating a thermonuclear device.

1972 Five are arrested in the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office and apartment complex in Washington, D.C.

Congressional Medals of Honor Awarded for action on this day:

BROSNAN, JOHN: Sergeant, Company E, 164th New York Infantry. Place and date: At Petersburg, Va., 17 June 1864. ECitation: Rescued a wounded comrade who lay exposed to the enemy's fire, receiving a severe wound in the effort.

CHANDLER, HENRY F.: Sergeant, Company E, 59th Massachusetts Infantry. Place and date: At Petersburg, Va., 17 June 1864. Citation: Though seriously wounded in a bayonet charge and directed to go to the rear he declined to do so, but remained with his regiment and helped to carry the breastworks.

DI CESNOLA, LOUIS P.: Colonel, 4th New York Cavalry. Place and date: At Aldie, Va., 17 June 1863. Citation: Was present, in arrest, when, seeing his regiment fall back, he rallied his men, accompanied them, without arms, in a second charge, and in recognition of his gallantry was released from arrest. He continued in the action at the head of his regiment until he was desperately wounded and taken prisoner.

DICKEY, WILLIAM D.: Captain, Battery M, 15th New York Heavy Artillery. Place and date: At Petersburg, Va., 17 June 1864. Citation: Refused to leave the field, remaining in command after being wounded by a piece of shell, and led his command in the assault on the enemy's works on the following day.

HARBOURNE, JOHN H.: Private, Company K, 29th Massachusetts Infantry. Place and date: At Petersburg, Va., 17 June 1864. Citation: Capture of flag along with 3 enemy men.

MEYER, HENRY C.: Captain, Company D, 24th New York Cavalry. Place and date: At Petersburg, Va., 17 June 1864. Citation: During an assault and in the face of a heavy fire rendered heroic assistance to a wounded and helpless officer, thereby saving his life and in the performance of this gallant act sustained a severe wound.

MONAGHAN, PATRICK: Corporal, Company F, 48th Pennsylvania Infantry. Place and date: At Petersburg, Va., 17 June 1864. Citation: Recapture of colors of 7th New York Heavy Artillery.

MORRISON, FRANCIS: Private, Company H, 85th Pennsylvania Infantry. Place and date: At Bermuda Hundred, Va., 17 June 1864. Citation: Voluntarily exposed himself to a heavy fire to bring off a wounded comrade.

PLOWMAN, GEORGE H.: Sergeant Major, 3d Maryland Infantry. Place and date: At Petersburg, Va., 17 June 1864. Citation: Recaptured the colors of the 2d Pennsylvania Provisional Artillery.

REID, ROBERT: Private, Company G, 48th Pennsylvania Infantry. Place and date: At Petersburg, Va., 17 June 1864. Citation: Capture of flag of 44th Tennessee Infantry (C.S.A.).

ROWE, HENRY W.: Private, Company I, 11th New Hampshire Infantry. Place and date: At Petersburg, Va., 17 June 1864. Citation: With 2 companions, he rushed and disarmed 27 enemy pickets, capturing a stand of flags.

STRAUSBAUGH, BERNARD A.: First Sergeant, Company A, 3d Maryland Infantry. Place and date: At Petersburg, Va., 17 June 1864. Citation: Recaptured the colors of 2d Pennsylvania Provisional Artillery.

WAGEMAN, JOHN H.: Private, Company I, 60th Ohio Infantry. Place and date: At Petersburg, Va., 17 June 1864. Citation: Remained with the command after being severely wounded until he had fired all the cartridges in his possession, when he had to be carried from the field.

YOUNG, BENJAMIN F.: Corporal, Company I, 1st Michigan Sharpshooters. Place and date: At Petersburg, Va., 17 June 1864. Citation: Capture of flag of 35th North Carolina Infantry (C.S.A.).

McGANN, MICHAEL A.: First Sergeant, Company F, 3d U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Rosebud River, Mont., 17 June 1876. Citation: Gallantry in action.

PARNELL, WILLIAM R.: First Lieutenant, 1st U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At White Bird Canyon, Idaho, 17 June 1877. Citation: With a few men, in the face of a heavy fire from pursuing Indians and at imminent peril, returned and rescued a soldier whose horse had been killed and who had been left behind in the retreat.

ROBINSON, JOSEPH: First Sergeant, Company D, 3d U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Rosebud River, Mont., 17 June 1876. Citation: Discharged his duties while in charge of the skirmish line under fire with judgment and great coolness and brought up the lead horses at a critical moment.

SHINGLE, JOHN H.: First Sergeant, Troop 1, 3d U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Rosebud River, Mont., 17 June 1876. Citation: Gallantry in action.

SNOW, ELMER A.: Trumpeter, Company M, 3d U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Rosebud Creek, Mont., 17 June 1876. Citation. Bravery in action; was wounded in both arms.

[b]Victoria Crosses awarded for action on this day:

HENEAGE Clement Walker: Indian Mutiny: Citation: 8th Hussars, Captain (now Brevet-Major) Clement Walker Heneage. Selected for the Victoria Cross by their companions in the gallant charge made by a squadron of the Regiment at Gwalior, on the 17th of June, 1858, when, supported by a division of the Bombay Horse Artillery, and Her Majesty's 95th Regiment, they routed the enemy, who were advancing against Brigadier Smith's position, charged through the rebel camp into two batteries, capturing and bringing into their camp two of the enemy's guns, under a heavy and converging fire from the Fort and Town.

HOLLIS George: Indian Mutiny: Farrier. 8th Hussars. British Army Citation: Selected for the Victoria Cross by their companions in the gallant charge made by a squadron of the Regiment at Gwalior, on the 17th of June, 1858, when, supported by a division of the Bombay Horse Artillery, and Her Majesty's 95th Regiment, they routed the enemy, who were advancing against Brigadier Smith's position, charged through the rebel camp into two batteries, capturing and bringing into their camp two of the enemy's guns, under a heavy and converging fire from the Fort and Towa.

PEARSON John: Indian Mutiny: Private. 8th Hussars. British Army. Citation: Selected for the Victoria Cross by their companions in the gallant charge made by a squadron of the Regiment at Gwalior, on the 17th of June, 1858, when, supported by a division of the Bombay Horse Artillery, and Her Majesty's 95th Regiment, they routed the enemy, who were advancing against Brigadier Smith's position, charged through the rebel camp into two batteries, capturing and bringing into their camp two of the enemy's guns, under a heavy and converging fire from the Fort and Town.

WARD Joseph: Indian Mutiny: Sergeant. 8th Hussars. British Army. Citation: Selected for the Victoria Cross by their companions in the gallant charge made by a squadron of the Regiment at Gwalior, on the 17th of June, 1858, when, supported by a division of the Bombay Horse Artillery, and Her Majesty's 95th Regiment, they routed the enemy, who were advancing against Brigadier Smith's position, charged through the rebel camp into two batteries, capturing and bringing into their camp two of the enemy's guns, under a heavy and converging fire from the Fort and Towa.

AGAR Augustine William Shelton British mission to Russia. Citation: I have no citation for this, but this VC is referred to as The Secret VC. At the time of this award Agar was in command of a secret base establsihed at Terrioki Finland for the purpose of supporting agents operating in Bolshevik territory in Russia. On 17 June 1919, Agar took a more aggressive course of action, mounting a torpedo attack on the Bolshevik cruiser Oleg in Kronstadt harbor and sinking her. Agar was awarded the VC for his part in this action, receiving the DSO for a second, large-scale attack on Kronstadt in August, 1919.

Last supplemented on Father's Day, Sunday, June 17, 2012.

[Calendar]

June 18

618 Li Yuan becomes Emperor Gaozu of Tang, initiating three centuries of Tang Dynasty rule over China.

806 Charlemagne mobilizes an army against the Sorbs from his location in Alsatia. The Sorbs remained as a identifiable ethnic group in Germany even today, although they are small in numbers.

1155 Frederick I Barbarossa crowned Holy Roman Emperor.

1178 Five Canterbury monks see what is possibly the Giordano Bruno crater being formed. It is believed that the current oscillations of the Moon's distance from the Earth are a result of this collision.

1264 The Parliament of Ireland meets at Castledermot in County Kildare, the first known meeting of this Irish legislature.

1291 King Jaime II of Sicily ascends the throne of Aragon.

1429 French forces under the leadership of Joan d'Arc defeat the English army under sir John Fastolf at the Battle of Patay.

1603 Samuel de Champlain leaves Quebec with Grave du Pont to go on an exploring trip up the 'River of Canada' - the St. Lawrence and finds that the Algonkians have taken over from the Iroquois as the dominant tribe since the arrival of Jacques Cartier 80 years earlier.

1778 British evacuate Philadelphia

1812 The United States declared war against Britain.


Image courtesy of Wikipedia Commons

June 18, 1815 Waterloo

And because sartorial matters always generate a lot of interest with members:

On the 18th of June 1823, the British infantry soldier first appeared in trousers, in lieu of other nether garments. The changes in military costume had been very gradual, marking the slowness with which novelties are sanctioned at head-quarters. When the regiments of the line first began to be formed, about two centuries ago, the dress of the officers and men partook somewhat of the general character of civil costume in the reign of Charles II. We have now before us a series of coloured engravings, showing the chief changes in uniform from that time to the beginning of the present century. Under the year 1685, the 11th foot are represented in full breeches, coloured stockings, and high shoes. Under date 1688, the 7th and 5th foot appear in green breeches of somewhat less amplitude, white stockings, and high shoes. Under 1692, the 1st royals and the 10th foot are shewn in red breeches and stockings; while another regiment appears in high boots coming up over blue breeches. In 1742, various regiments appear in purple, blue, and red breeches, white leggings or gaiters up to the thigh, and a purple garter under the knee. This dress is shewn very frequently in Hogarth's pictures. In 1759, the foot-soldiers shewn in the 'Death of General Wolfe' have a sort of knee-cap covering the breeches and gaiters. In 1793, the 87th foot are represented in tight green pantaloons and Hessian boots. During the great wars in the early part of the present century, pantaloons were sometimes worn, breeches at others, but gaiters or leggings in almost every instance.
The reform which took place in 1823 was announced in a Horse Guards' order, when the Duke of York was commander-in-chief. The order stated that 'His Majesty has been pleased to approve of the discontinuance of breeches, leggings, and shoes, as part of the clothing of the infantry soldiers; and of blue grey cloth trousers and half-boots being substituted.' After adverting to the deposit of patterns and the issue of supplies, the order makes provision for the very curious anomaly that used to mark the clothing system of the British army. 'In order to indemnify the colonels for the additional expense they will in consequence incur, the waistcoat hitherto provided with the clothing will be considered as an article of necessaries to be provided by the soldier; who, being relieved from the long and short gaiters, and also from the stoppage hitherto made in aid of the extra expense of the trousers (in all cases where such have been allowed to be furnished as part of the clothing of regiments), and being moreover supplied with articles of a description calculated to last longer than the breeches and shoes now used, cannot fail to be benefited by the above arrangement.' Non-professional readers may well be puzzled by the complexity of this announcement.
The truth is, that until Lord Herbert of Lea (better known as Mr. Sidney Herbert) became Secretary of State for War, a double deception was practised on the rank and file of the British army, little creditable to the nation. The legislature voted annually, for the clothing of the troops, a sum much larger than was actually applied to that purpose; and the same legislature, by a similarly animal vote, gave about a shilling a day to each private soldier as pay, the greater part of which was anything but pay to him. In the first place, the colonel of each regiment had an annual allowance for clothing his men, with a well-understood agreement that he was to be permitted to purchase the clothing at a much lower rate, and put the balance in his own pocket.
This balance usually varied from £600 to £1000 per annum, and was one of the prizes that made the 'clothing colonels' of regiments so much envied by their less fortunate brother-officers. In the second place, although the soldiers received their shilling a day, or thereabouts, as pay, so many deductions were made for the minor articles of sustenance and clothing, that only about fourpence remained at the actual disposal of each man. The two anomalies are brought into conjunction in a singular way in the above-quoted order, in reference to the soldier's waist-coat; the colonel was to be relieved from buying that said garment, and the poor soldier was to add the waistcoat to the number of 'necessaries' which he was to provide out of his slender pay. The miseries attendant on the Crimean war, by awaking public attention to the condition of the soldiers, led to the abandonment of the 'clothing colonel' system.
(thanks to Chambers' Book of Days)

"...It's cheap to mock the uniforms that guard you whilst you sleep.
It's cheaper than them uniforms, and they're starvation cheap..."
From memory, with apologies to Kipling - and Tommy.

Waterloo's remained an enduring memory in Western culture, showing how significant it really was. So much so, that it's been incorporated into the venacular, and at least when I was a kid you'd still hear about people "meeting their Waterloo". I haven't heard that phrase for quite a while now, but the phrase was common enough that Waterloo itself showed up in at least three popular songs.

Waterloo, by Stonewall Jackson

Every puppy has his day everybody has to pay everybody has to meet his Waterloo

Now ol' Adam was the first in history with an apple he was tempted and deceived
Just for spite the devil made him take a bite
And that's where ol' Adam met his Waterloo
Waterloo Waterloo...Every puppy has his day everybody has to pay everybody has to meet his Waterloo


Now a feller who's darling proved untrue took her life but he lost his too
Now he swings where the little birdie sings
And that's where Tom Dooley met his Waterloo
Waterloo Waterloo...Every puppy has his day everybody has to pay everybody has to meet his Waterloo


Little General Napoleon of France tried to conquer the world but lost his pants
Met defeat known as Bonaparte's retreat and that's where Napoleon met his Waterloo
Waterloo Waterloo...Every puppy has his day everybody has to pay everybody has to meet his Waterloo

That song refers to Bonaparte's Retreat, which is another old country song.

Met the man I love
In a town way down in Dixie
'Neath the stars above
He was the sweetest man you ever did see
When he held me in his arms
And told me of my many charms
He kissed me while the fiddles played
The Bonaparte's Retreat

All the world was bright
When he held me on that night
And I heard him say
"Please don't ever go away"
When he held me in his arms
And told me of my many charms
He kissed me while the fiddles played
The Bonaparte's Retreat

[Musical Interlude]

When he held me in his arms
And told me of my many charms
He kissed me while the fiddles played
The Bonaparte's Retreat

All the world was bright
When he held me on that night
And I heard him say
"Please don't you go away"

He's gone and I'll admit I knew
That I had met my Waterloo
I knew that he would say ado
With Bonaparte's Retreat

Good-bye little boy
Good-bye little joy
Good-bye little boy
So long little joy

Waterloo was revived more recently as a musical theme by the Swedish pop band ABBA.

Waterloo, by ABBA:

My my, at Waterloo Napoleon did surrender
Oh yeah, and I have met my destiny in quite a similar way
The history book on the shelf
Is always repeating itself

Waterloo - I was defeated, you won the war
Waterloo - promise to love you for ever more
Waterloo - couldn't escape if I wanted to
Waterloo - knowing my fate is to be with you
Waterloo - finally facing my waterloo

My my, I tried to hold you back but you were stronger
Oh yeah, and now it seems my only chance is giving up the fight
And how could I ever refuse
I feel like I win when I lose

Waterloo - I was defeated, you won the war
Waterloo - promise to love you for ever more
Waterloo - couldn't escape if I wanted to
Waterloo - knowing my fate is to be with you

And how could I ever refuse
I feel like I win when I lose

Waterloo - I was defeated, you won the war
Waterloo - promise to love you for ever more
Waterloo - couldn't escape if I wanted to
Waterloo - knowing my fate is to be with you
Waterloo - finally facing my Waterloo

Finally, there's a Waterloo Sunset by the Kinks, but I think it refers to a railroad station.

Dirty old river, must you keep rolling
Flowing into the night
People so busy, makes me feel dizzy
Taxi light shines so bright
But I don't need no friends
As long as I gaze on Waterloo sunset
I am in paradise

Every day I look at the world from my window
But chilly, chilly is the evening time
Waterloo sunsets fine

Terry meets Julie, Waterloo station
Every Friday night
But I am so lazy, don't want to wander
I stay at home at night
But I don't feel afraid
As long as I gaze on Waterloo sunset
I am in paradise

Every day I look at the world from my window
But chilly, chilly is the evening time
Waterloo sunsets fine

Millions of people swarming like flies round Waterloo underground
But terry and Julie cross over the river
Where they feel safe and sound
And the don't need no friends
As long as they gaze on Waterloo sunset
They are in paradise

I will depart this afternoon to the plateau of Mont-St.Jean/Waterloo to visit the cermonie of the battle.

The Belgian 8th Hussars counterattacking French cavalry during the cavalry charges in the afternoon, from a new book over the Dutch/Belgian cavalry at Waterloo.
http://www.dutch-belgian-cavalry-waterloo.nl/index.htm




Jan

I will depart this afternoon to the plateau of Mont-St.Jean/Waterloo to visit the cermonie of the battle.

If you take some photos, please share!

[/quote]

1817 Waterloo Bridge over the Thames in London opens.

1823 The British Army adopts trousers for infantry, in lieu of breeches.

1830 French invade Algeria.

1839 William Henry Seward Jr, Brig Gen, U.S., born.

1859 Captain W. F. Raynolds' expedition set out from Fort Pierre, SD, to explore the upper Yellowstone, Gallatin, and Madison Rivers.

1873 Suffragist Susan B. Anthony was fined $100 for attempting to vote in the 1872 presidential election.

1877 James Montgomery Flagg, illustrator ("Uncle Sam wants you!"), born.



1900 Empress Tsu-tse orders the Boxers to expel foreigners from China.

1910 Ticker tape parade on Broadway for Theodore Roosevelt, on his return from Africa.

1918 Allied forces on the Western Front began large counter-attack against the German army.

1928 Aviator Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean.

1940 Canada announces compulsory military training for home defense.

1940 RAF's 242 'Canadian' Squadron withdraws from France.

1942 Dr. Bernard Whitfield Robinson becomes the first black officer in the U. S. Navy.

1944 Battle of Monte Cassino in Central Italy ended.

1945 Lt Gen Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr, Commander, Tenth Army, Killed in Action onOkinawa at age 58.

1948 The United Nations Commission on Human Rights adopted the International Declaration of Human Rights.

1948 Columbia Records unveiled its new long-playing, 33 1/3 rpm phonograph record.

1979 President Jimmy Carter and Soviet President Leonid I. Brezhnev signed the SALT II strategic arms limitation treaty in Vienna.

1980 The Chinese successfully launched their first test ICBM, which traveled 6200 miles.
.
2004 European Union leaders agreed on the first constitution for the bloc's 25 members.

[b]Congressional Medals of Honor for action on this day:

CLARK, JAMES G.: Private, Company F, 88th Pennsylvania Infantry. Place and date: At Petersburg, Va., 18 June 1864. Citation: Distinguished bravery in action; was severely wounded.

LEONARD, EDWIN: Sergeant, Company I, 37th Massachusetts Infantry. Place and date: Near Petersburg, Va., 18 June 1864. Citation: Voluntarily exposed himself to the fire of a Union brigade to stop their firing on the Union skirmish line.

LUDWIG, CARL: Private, 34th New York Battery. Place and date: At Petersburg, Va., 18 June 1864. tation: As gunner of his piece, inflicted singly a great loss upon the enemy and distinguished himself in the removal of the piece while under a heavy fire.

MOSTOLLER, JOHN W.: Private, Company B, 54th Pennsylvania Infantry. Place and date: At Lynchburg, Va., 18 June 1864. Citation: Voluntarily led a charge on a Confederate battery (the officers of the company being disabled) and compelled its hasty removal.

Last Supplemented on Monday, June 18, 2012.

[Calendar]

June 19

Today is Juneteenth in some US localities, a day commemorating the arrival of the news of emancipation.

325 Promulgation of the "Nicene Creed" during the Council of Nicaea.

1179 The Norwegian Battle of Kalvskinnet outside Nidaros. Earl Erling Skakke is killed, and the battle changes the tide of the civil wars.

1586 English colonists sailed from Roanoke Island, N.C. after failing to establish England's first permanent settlement in America.

1610 Samuel de Champlain defeats the Iroquois in a battle near the mouth of the Richelieu River.

1647 James, Duke of Ormond, agrees to surrender Dublin to English Parliament.

1776 Guy Carleton, Baron Dorchester gives Sir John Johnson a Royal Warrant to raise a regiment of American loyalists in Canada.

1778 Washington's troops leave Valley Forge.

1786 Gen. Nathanael Greene died of sunstroke at his Georgia plantation.

1816 Rupert's Land Governor Robert Semple intercepts Cuthbert Grant and Metis party transporting pemmican. The Metis kill Semple and 19 of his men in the ensuing Seven Oaks Massacre on the Frog Plain near Fort Douglas.

1829 In London the Metropolitan Police Act receives royal assent, establishing a paid, uniformed police for London.

1841 Sir George Arthur French organizer of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, born in Roscommon Ireland.

1862 Slavery was outlawed in U.S. territories.

1867 Maximillian, Emperor of Mexico, assassinated in Queretaro, Mexico.

June 19

1868 - Attempting to convince hostile Indians to make peace with the United States, the Jesuit missionary Pierre-Jean De Smet meets with the great Sioux Chief Sitting Bull in present-day Montana. A native of Belgium, De Smet came to the United States in 1821 at the age of 20. He became a novitiate of the Jesuit order in Maryland and was subsequently ordained in St. Louis. As a priest, De Smet's ambition was to be a missionary to the Native Americans of the Far West. In 1838, he was sent to proselytize among the Potawatomi villages near today's Council Bluffs, Iowa. There, he met a delegation of Flathead Indians who had come east seeking a "black robe" whom they hoped might be able to bring the power of the Christian god to aid their tribe. During the 1840s, De Smet made several trips to work with the Flathead in present-day western Montana. He established a thriving mission and eventually secured a peace treaty with the Flathead's previously irreconcilable enemy, the Blackfeet. A genuine friend to the Native Americans, De Smet earned a reputation as a white man who could be trusted to fairly negotiate disputes between Indians and the American government. During the 1860s, such disputes became increasingly common in the West, where Plains Indians like the Sioux and Cheyenne resisted the growing flood of white settlers invading their territories. The U.S. government began to demand that all the Plains Indians relocate to reservations. Leaders in the American government and military hoped the relocation could be achieved through negotiations, but they were also perfectly willing to use violence to force the Indians to comply. One of the principal leaders of the so-called "hostile" Indians that resisted relocation was the great Chief of the Teton Sioux, Sitting Bull. In May 1868, the federal government asked De Smet to meet with Sitting Bull to negotiate a peace treaty. The 67-year-old De Smet agreed to try, and on this day in 1868, he met with Sitting Bull at his camp along the Powder River in present-day Montana. Although tensions were high, Sitting Bull had promised to meet De Smet with "arms stretched out, ready to embrace him." Lest any hotheaded young brave do something foolish, Sitting Bull first talked with De Smet in his own lodge in order to ensure the priest's safety. The next day, De Smet met with a council that included other chiefs. De Smet was not able to convince Sitting Bull personally to sign a peace treaty. However, the chief did agree to send one of his lesser chiefs to Fort Laramie, Wyoming, to sign a treaty in which the Sioux agreed to allow white travel and settlement in specified areas. Although Sitting Bull himself had not agreed to the treaty, the negotiations were a triumph for De Smet. As one historian later noted, "No White Man has ever come close to equaling his universal appeal to the Indian." De Smet spent the remaining five years of his life continuing to work for peace with the Plains Indians. Through his books and speaking tours, he also attempted to bring a sympathetic portrait of the Indians to an American public that tended to think of Indians as bloodthirsty savages. Ultimately, however, De Smet was unable to stop the tragic Plains Indian War that eventually forced Sitting Bull and other Indians to leave their homes and move to government-controlled reservations. De Smet died in St. Louis in 1873, three years before Sitting Bull won his greatest victory in his war with the United States at the Battle of the Little Big Horn.

Quoted from: http://tdiumh.blogspot.com/2005/06/june-19.html

Nice synopsis.

Father DeSmet is recalled today in Wyoming, one of the areas in which he traveled, by way of a popular lake bearing his name, Lake DeSmet.

1886 Cornerstone laid for the Union Pacific Depot in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
http://patsrailhead.blogspot.com/2012/0 ... depot.html

1888 Marines landed in Korea and marched 25 miles to protect the Seoul Legation.

1890 Ho Chi Minh born in French Indo China.

1903 Baseball Hall of Famer Lou Gehrig was born in New York City.

1910 Father's Day was celebrated for the first time, in Spokane, Wash.

1916 Orders were received in Wyoming from the War Department to mobilize two battalions of the Wyoming National Guard for border service. On September 28th, the troops departed for the Mexican border.

1917 King George V changed the British royal family's German-sounding surname, Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, to Windsor.

1918 Canadian airman and former cavalryman Billy Bishop shoots down five German planes in his last dogfight, bringing his total enemy kills to 72.

1933 Austrian Premier Dollfuss bans Nazi-organizations.

1934 The Federal Communications Commission was created.

1936 Max Schmeling knocks out Joe Louis in New York.

1937 Spanish Nationalists capture Bilbao from the Republicans.

1940 Reichmarshall Goring orders seizure of Dutch horses, cars, buses, and ships.

1942 U.S. submarine S-27 lost by grounding in the Aleutians.

1944 Battle of the Philippine Sea commences.

1944 French troops free Elba from the Germans.

1947 An F-80 becomes the first plane to exceed 600 mph.

1948 USSR blocks access to West-Berlin.

1953 Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are put to death in the electric chair.

1961 Kuwait declares independence from the United Kingdom.

1964 The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was approved after an 83-day filibuster in the U.S. Senate.

1967 Muhammad Ali is convicted of refusing induction into the Army.

Congressional Medals of Honor for action on this day:

AHEAM, MICHAEL: Paymaster's Steward, U.S. Navy. Citation: Served on board the U.S.S. Kearsarge when she destroyed the Alabama off Cherbourg, France, 19 June 1864. Carrying out his duties courageously, PmS. Aheam exhibited marked coolness and good conduct and was highly recommended by his divisional officer for gallantry under enemy fire.

BICKFORD, JOHN F.: Captain of the Top, U.S. Navy. Citation: Served on board the U.S.S. Kearsarge when she destroyed the Alabama off Cherbourg, France, 19 June 1864. Acting as the first loader of the pivot gun during this bitter engagement Bickford exhibited marked coolness and good conduct and was highly recommended for his gallantry under fire by his divisional officer.

BOND, WILLIAM: Boatswain's Mate, U.S. Navy. Citation: Served on board the U.S.S. Kearsarge when she destroyed the Alabama off Cherbourg, France, 19 June 1864. Carrying out his duties courageously, Bond exhibited marked coolness and good conduct and was highly recommended for his gallantry under fire by his divisional officer.

HALEY, JAMES. Captain of the Forecastle, U.S. Navy. Born: 1824, Ireland. Accredited to. Ohio. G.O. No.: 45, 31 December 1864. Citation: Served as captain of the forecastle on board the U.S.S. Kearsarge when she destroyed the Alabama off Cherbourg, France, 19 June 1864. Acting as captain of a gun during the bitter engagement, Haley exhibited marked coolness and good conduct and was highly commended by his division officer for his gallantry and meritorious achievement under enemy fire.

HAM, MARK G.: Carpenter's Mate, U.S. Navy. Born: 1820, Portsmouth, N.H. Accredited to: New Hampshire. G.O. No.: 45, 31 December 1864. Citation: Served on board the U.S.S. Kearsarge when she destroyed the Alabama off Cherbourg, France, 19 June 1864. Performing his duties intelligently and faithfully, Ham distinguished himself in the face of the bitter enemy fire and was highly commended by his divisional officer.

HARRISON, GEORGE H.: Seaman, U.S. Navy. Born: 1842, Massachusetts. Accredited to: Massachusetts. G.O. No. 45, 31 December 1864. Citation: Served on board the U.S.S. Kearsarge when she destroyed the Alabama off Cherbourg, France, 19 June 1864. Acting as sponger and loader of the 11-inch pivot gun during the bitter engagement, Harrison exhibited marked coolness and good conduct and was highly recommended for his gallantry under fire by the divisional officer.

HAYES, JOHN: Coxswain, U.S. Navy. Born: 1831, Philadelphia, Pa. Accredited to: Pennsylvania. G.O. No.: 45, 31 December 1864. Citation: Served on board the U.S.S. Kearsarge when she destroyed the Alabama off Cherbourg, France, 19 June 1864. Acting as second captain of the No. 2 gun during this bitter engagement, Hayes exhibited marked coolness and good conduct and was highly recommended for his gallantry under fire by the divisional officer.

LEE, JAMES H.: Seaman, U.S. Navy. Born: 1840, New York. Accredited to: New York. G.O. No.: 45, 31 December 1864. Citation: Served as seaman on board the U.S.S. Kearsarge when she destroyed the Alabama off Cherbourg, France, 19 June 1864. Acting as sponger of the No. 1 gun during this bitter engagement, Lee exhibited marked coolness and good conduct and was highly recommended for his gallantry under fire by the divisional officer.

MOORE, CHARLES: Seaman, U.S. Navy. Entered service at: 25 March 1862, Gibraltar, England. G.O. No.: 45, 31 December 1864. Citation: Served as seaman on board the U.S.S. Kearsarge when she destroyed the Alabama off Cherbourg, France, 19 June 1864. Acting as sponger and loader of the 1 l_inch pivot gun of the second division during this bitter engagement, Moore exhibited marked coolness and good conduct and was highly recommended for his gallantry under fire by the divisional officer.

PEASE, JOACHIM: Seaman, U.S. Navy. Born: Long Island, N.Y. Accredited to: New York. G.O. No.: 45, 31 December 1864. Citation: Served as seaman on board the U.S.S. Kearsarge when she destroyed the Alabama off Cherbourg, France, 19 June 1864. Acting as loader on the No. 2 gun during this bitter engagement, Pease exhibited marked coolness and good conduct and was highly recommended by the divisional officer for gallantry under fire.

PERRY, THOMAS: Boatswain's Mate, U.S. Navy. Born: 1836 New York. Accredited to: New York. G.O. No.: 45, 31 December 1864. Citation: Served as boatswain's mate on board the U.S.S. Kearsarge when she destroyed the Alabama off Cherbourg, France, 19 June 1864. Acting as captain of the No. 2 gun during this bitter engagement, Perry exhibited marked coolness and good conduct under the enemy fire and was recommended for gallantry by his divisional officer.

POOLE, WILLIAM B.: Quartermaster, U.S. Navy. Born: 1833 Maine. Accredited to: Maine. G.O. No.: 45, 31 December 1864. Citation: Service as quartermaster on board the U.S.S. Kearsarge when she destroyed the Alabama off Cherbourg, France, 19 June 1864. Stationed at the helm, Poole steered the ship during the engagement in a cool and most creditable manner and was highly commended by his divisional officer for his gallantry under fire.

READ, CHARLES A.: Coxswain, U.S. Navy. Born: 1837, Sweden Accredited to: Ohio. G.O. No.: 45, 31 December 1864. Citation: Served as coxswain on board the U.S.S. Kearsarge when she destroyed the Alabama off Cherbourg, France, 19 June 1864. Acting as the first sponger of the pivot gun during this bitter engagement, Read exhibited marked coolness and good conduct and was highly recommended for his gallantry under fire by his divisional officer.

READ, GEORGE E.: Seaman, U.S. Navy. Born: 1838, Rhode Island. Accredited to: Rhode Island. G.O. No.: 45, 31 December 1864 Citation: Served as seaman on board the U.S.S. Kearsarge when she destroyed the Alabama off Cherbourg, France, 19 June 1864. Acting as the first loader of the No. 2 gun during this bitter engagement, Read exhibited marked coolness and good conduct and was highly recommended for his gallantry under fire by his divisional officer.

SAUNDERS, JAMES: Quartermaster, U.S. Navy. Born: 1809, Massachusetts. Accredited to: Massachusetts. G.O. No.: 59, 22 June 1865. Citation: Served as quartermaster on board the U.S.S. Kearsarge when she destroyed the Alabama off Cherbourg, France, 19 June 1864. Carrying out his duties courageously throughout the bitter engagement, Saunders was prompt in reporting damages done to both ships, and it is testified to by Commodore Winslow that he is deserving of all commendation, both for gallantry and for encouragement of others in his division.

SMITH, WILLIAM: Quartermaster, U.S. Navy. Born: 1838, Ireland. Accredited to: New Hampshire. G.O. No.: 45, 31 December 1864. Citation: Served as second quartermaster on board the U.S.S. Kearsarge when she destroyed the Alabama off Cherbourg, France, 19 June 1864. Acting as captain of the 11-inch pivot gun of the second division, Smith carried out his duties courageously and deserved special notice for the deliberate and cool manner in which he acted throughout the bitter engagement. It is stated by rebel officers that this gun was more destructive and did more damage than any other gun of Kearsarge.

STRAHAN, ROBERT: Captain of the Top, U.S. Navy. Birth: New Jersey. G.O. No.: 45, 31 December 1864. Accredited to: New Jersey. Citation: Served as captain of the top on board the U.S.S. Kearsarge when she destroyed the Alabama off Cherbourg, France, 19 June 1864. Acting as captain of the No. 1 gun, Strahan carried out his duties in the face of heavy enemy fire and exhibited marked coolness and good conduct throughout the engagement. Strahan was highly recommended by his division officer for his gallantry and meritorious achievements.

BAKER, THOMAS A.: Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company A, 105th Infantry, 27th Infantry Division. Place and date: Saipan, Mariana Islands, 19 June to 7 July 1944. Entered service at: Troy, N.Y. Birth: Troy, N.Y. G.O. No.: 35, 9 May 1945. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty at Saipan, Mariana Islands, 19 June to 7 July 1944. When his entire company was held up by fire from automatic weapons and small-arms fire from strongly fortified enemy positions that commanded the view of the company, Sgt. (then Pvt.) Baker voluntarily took a bazooka and dashed alone to within 100 yards of the enemy. Through heavy rifle and machinegun fire that was directed at him by the enemy, he knocked out the strong point, enabling his company to assault the ridge. Some days later while his company advanced across the open field flanked with obstructions and places of concealment for the enemy, Sgt. Baker again voluntarily took up a position in the rear to protect the company against surprise attack and came upon 2 heavily fortified enemy pockets manned by 2 officers and 10 enlisted men which had been bypassed. Without regard for such superior numbers, he unhesitatingly attacked and killed all of them. Five hundred yards farther, he discovered 6 men of the enemy who had concealed themselves behind our lines and destroyed all of them. On 7 July 1944, the perimeter of which Sgt. Baker was a part was attacked from 3 sides by from 3,000 to 5,000 Japanese. During the early stages of this attack, Sgt. Baker was seriously wounded but he insisted on remaining in the line and fired at the enemy at ranges sometimes as close as 5 yards until his ammunition ran out. Without ammunition and with his own weapon battered to uselessness from hand-to-hand combat, he was carried about 50 yards to the rear by a comrade, who was then himself wounded. At this point Sgt. Baker refused to be moved any farther stating that he preferred to be left to die rather than risk the lives of any more of his friends. A short time later, at his request, he was placed in a sitting position against a small tree . Another comrade, withdrawing, offered assistance. Sgt. Baker refused, insisting that he be left alone and be given a soldier's pistol with its remaining 8 rounds of ammunition. When last seen alive, Sgt. Baker was propped against a tree, pistol in hand, calmly facing the foe. Later Sgt. Baker's body was found in the same position, gun empty, with 8 Japanese lying dead before him. His deeds were in keeping with the highest traditions of the U.S. Army.

McCAMPBELL, DAVID: Commander, U.S. Navy, Air Group 15. Place and date: First and second battles of the Philippine Sea, 19 June 1944. Entered service at: Florida. Born: 16 January 1 910, Bessemer, Ala. Other Navy awards: Navy Cross, Silver Star, Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross with 2 Gold Stars, Air Medal. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as commander, Air Group 15, during combat against enemy Japanese aerial forces in the first and second battles of the Philippine Sea. An inspiring leader, fighting boldly in the face of terrific odds, Comdr. McCampbell led his fighter planes against a force of 80 Japanese carrier-based aircraft bearing down on our fleet on 19 June 1944. Striking fiercely in valiant defense of our surface force, he personally destroyed 7 hostile planes during this single engagement in which the outnumbering attack force was utterly routed and virtually annihilated. During a major fleet engagement with the enemy on 24 October, Comdr. McCampbell, assisted by but l plane, intercepted and daringly attacked a formation of 60 hostile land-based craft approaching our forces. Fighting desperately but with superb skill against such overwhelming airpower, he shot down 9 Japanese planes and, completely disorganizing the enemy group, forced the remainder to abandon the attack before a single aircraft could reach the fleet. His great personal valor and indomitable spirit of aggression under extremely perilous combat conditions reflect the highest credit upon Comdr. McCampbell and the U.S. Naval Service.

MEAGHER, JOHN: Technical Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company E, 305th Infantry, 77th Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Ozato, Okinawa, 19 June 1945. Entered service at: Jersey City, N.J. Birth: Jersey City, N.J. G.O. No.: 60, 26 June 1946. Citation: He displayed conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty. In the heat of the fight, he mounted an assault tank, and, with bullets splattering about him, designated targets to the gunner. Seeing an enemy soldier carrying an explosive charge dash for the tank treads, he shouted fire orders to the gunner, leaped from the tank, and bayoneted the charging soldier. Knocked unconscious and his rifle destroyed, he regained consciousness, secured a machinegun from the tank, and began a furious 1-man assault on the enemy. Firing from his hip, moving through vicious crossfire that ripped through his clothing, he charged the nearest pillbox, killing 6. Going on amid the hail of bullets and grenades, he dashed for a second enemy gun, running out of ammunition just as he reached the position. He grasped his empty gun by the barrel and in a violent onslaught killed the crew. By his fearless assaults T/Sgt. Meagher single-handedly broke the enemy resistance, enabling his platoon to take its objective and continue the advance.

LASSEN, CLYDE EVERETT: Lieutenant, U.S. Navy, Helicopter Support Squadron 7, Detachment 104, embarked in U.S.S. Preble (DLG-15). place and date: Republic of Vietnam, 19 June 1968. Entered service at: Jacksonville, Fla. Born: 14 March 1942, Fort Myers, Fla. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as pilot and aircraft commander of a search and rescue helicopter, attached to Helicopter Support Squadron 7, during operations against enemy forces in North Vietnam. Launched shortly after midnight to attempt the rescue of 2 downed aviators, Lt. (then Lt. (J.G.)) Lassen skillfully piloted his aircraft over unknown and hostile terrain to a steep, tree-covered hill on which the survivors had been located. Although enemy fire was being directed at the helicopter, he initially landed in a clear area near the base of the hill, but, due to the dense undergrowth, the survivors could not reach the helicopter. With the aid of flare illumination, Lt. Lassen successfully accomplished a hover between 2 trees at the survivors' position Illumination was abruptly lost as the last of the flares were expended, and the helicopter collided with a tree, commencing a sharp descent. Expertly righting his aircraft and maneuvering clear, Lt. Lassen remained in the area, determined to make another rescue attempt, and encouraged the downed aviators while awaiting resumption of flare illumination. After another unsuccessful, illuminated rescue attempt, and with his fuel dangerously low and his aircraft significantly damaged, he launched again and commenced another approach in the face of the continuing enemy opposition. When flare illumination was again lost, Lt. Lassen, fully aware of the dangers in clearly revealing his position to the enemy, turned on his landing lights and completed the landing. On this attempt, the survivors were able to make their way to the helicopter. En route to the coast he encountered and successfully evaded additional hostile antiaircraft fire and, with fuel for only 5 minutes of flight remaining, landed safely aboard U.S.S. Jouett (DLG-29) .

RAY, RONALD ERIC: Captain (then 1st Lt.), U.S. Army, Company A, 2d Battalion, 35th Infantry, 25th Infantry Division. Place and date: la Drang Valley, Republic of Vietnam, 19 June 1966. Entered service at: Atlanta, Ga. Born: 7 December 1941, Cordelle, Ga. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Capt. Ray distinguished himself while serving as a platoon leader with Company A. When 1 of his ambush patrols was attacked by an estimated reinforced Viet Cong company, Capt. Ray organized a reaction force and quickly moved through 2 kilometers of mountainous jungle terrain to the contact area. After breaking through the hostile lines to reach the beleaguered patrol, Capt. Ray began directing the reinforcement of the site. When an enemy position pinned down 3 of his men with a heavy volume of automatic weapons fire, he silenced the emplacement with a grenade and killed 4 Viet Cong with his rifle fire. As medics were moving a casualty toward a sheltered position, they began receiving intense hostile fire. While directing suppressive fire on the enemy position, Capt. Ray moved close enough to silence the enemy with a grenade. A few moments later Capt. Ray saw an enemy grenade land, unnoticed, near 2 of his men. Without hesitation or regard for his safety he dove between the grenade and the men, thus shielding them from the explosion while receiving wounds in his exposed feet and legs. He immediately sustained additional wounds in his legs from an enemy machinegun, but nevertheless he silenced the emplacement with another grenade. Although suffering great pain from his wounds, Capt. Ray continued to direct his men, providing the outstanding courage and leadership they vitally needed, and prevented their annihilation by successfully leading them from their surrounded position. Only after assuring that his platoon was no longer in immediate danger did he allow himself to be evacuated for medical treatment. By his gallantry at the risk of his life in the highest traditions of the military service, Capt. Ray has reflected great credit on himself, his unit, and the U.S. Army.

[Calendar]

June 20

Today is the First Day of Summer for Leap Years.

Today is Midsummer's Eve;

An Irish poem, for which, in times past young women in Ireland gathered yarrow with this rhyme:

Good morrow, good yarrow, good morrow to thee
Send me this night my true love to see
The clothes he'll wear, the color of his hair
And if he to me, we will marry.

451 In the Battle of Chalons Flavius Aetius' battles Attila the Hun. The battle is inconclusive but Attila withdraws.

1210 King John lands at Waterford.

1214 The University of Oxford receives its charter.

1389 Ottoman sultan Murad I defeats the Serbs at the Battle of Kosovo.

1402 Battle of Angora in which the Mongols defeat the Ottomans.

1605 Czar Feodor II of Russia, age 16, was assassinated.

1631 The Irish village of Baltimore is attacked by Algerian pirates.

1631 The Irish village of Baltimore is attacked by Algerian pirates.

Pat,

I thought you made this up!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sack_of_Baltimore

There's a great historical novel in this story somewhere.

I had never heard of this either. Interesting coincidence to find mention of it only this morning while reading "The Warrior's Path" by Louis L'Amour.

Frank

I've never read a L'Amour book. What does The Warrior's Path portray?

1675 Abenaki, Massachusetts, Mohegan and Wampanoag Indians formed an anti English alliance. Wampanoag warriors attacked livestock and looted farms.

1685 Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville captures Fort Monsipi from the English.

1756 Nawab of Bengal Siraj Ud Daulah imprisons 146 Europeans in the 'Black Hole of Calcutta'. Only 23 survive.

1763 Theobald Wolf Tone born.

1782 Congress adopts the Great Seal of the United States.

1798 Irish rebels retreat to Vinegar Hill. British general's Loftus, Needham and Johnston close in on Vinegar Hill and General Moore defeats rebels at Goffs Bridge

1823 Jesse Lee Reno, Maj Gen, U.S., born.

1824 John Tyler Morgan, Brig Gen, C.S.A., born.

1837 Accession of Queen Victoria, age 18, to the British throne.

1863 West Virginia became the 35th state.

1865 Arapahos attack the eight men of Company G, 11th Ohio Cavalry, and the civilian telegraph operator, ten miles east of Sweetwater Station, Wyoming while they were repairing the telegraph line. The cavalrymen were grossly outnumbered in the assault. Three Arapahos and the telepgraph operator were killed in the engagement.

1867 US buys Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million.

1868 Ft. Fred Steele established in what is now Carbon County, Wyoming.

1881 Sitting Bull surrenders to the U.S. Army.


1898 U.S. Navy cruiser Charleston seized the island of Guam.

1899 Jean Moulin, hero of the French Resistance, executed 1943, born.

1909 Errol Flynn, actor, born.

1924 Audie Murphy born.


1940 Canadian Parliament passes a conscription law providing for service of conscripts in Canada if needed.

1940 France sues for peace in World War Two.

1940 9,000 Polish soldiers are evacuated from Bayonne aboard the Polish ships Batory and Sobieksi.
http://worldwar2daybyday.blogspot.com/2 ... -1940.html

1940 U-30, U-38, U-48 and U-122 each sink 1 merchant vessel around the British Isles and in Bay of Biscay.
http://worldwar2daybyday.blogspot.com/2 ... -1940.html

1941 Reservists under age 45 are called up in Finland.

1941 The US Army Air Corps is reorganized as the US Army Air Forces.

1941 The Ford Motor Company signed its first contract with teh AFL CIO.

1942 Japanese sub I-26 shells Port Estevan, near Vancouver, the only attack on Canadian soil during World War Two.

1942 Kazimierz Piechowski and three others, dressed as members of the SS-Totenkopfverbände, steal an SS staff car and escape from the Auschwitz concentration camp.

1942 The Afrika Korps launched a surprise attack on Tobruk.

1942 The U-67 damages Norwegian tanker MV Nortind with a torpedo but it does not sink.
http://worldwar2daybyday.blogspot.com/2 ... -1942.html

1942 In Operation Pastorius three German saboteurs are arrested in New York City. The FBI was acting on information from fourth saboteur, George Dasch, who turned himself in the day prior in Washington, D.C..
http://worldwar2daybyday.blogspot.com/2 ... -1942.html


1942 RAF raids Emden, Germany.
http://worldwar2daybyday.blogspot.com/2 ... -1942.html

1943 The Detroit Race Riot breaks out and continues for three days. Actual tensions and protest had been building for months, with there being protests in 1942.

Detroit police in 1942.

1944 The Battle of the Philippine Sea concludes.

1944 The Soviet Union demands for an unconditional surrender from Finland. Finnish government declines the demand.

1948 The US reinstitues conscription.

1963 The United States and Soviet Union signed an agreement to set up a hot line communication link.

1964 General William Westmoreland succeeded General Paul Harkins as head of the U.S. forces in Vietnam.

1967 Muhammad Ali was convicted in Houston of violating Selective Service laws by refusing to be drafted. The conviction was overturned by the Supreme Court.

1975 The movie "Jaws" was released.

1982 The Argentine base Corbeta Uruguay on Southern Thule surrenders to Royal Marines.

1991 The German parliament decides to move the capital from Bonn back to Berlin.

1999 NATO declared a formal end to its bombing campaign against Yugoslavia.

2007 Sammy Sosa of the Texas Rangers became the fifth major leaguer to hit 600 career home runs.

Congressional Medals of Honor for action on this day:

BENSON, JAMES: Seaman, U.S. Navy. Born: 1845, Denmark. Enlisted at: Yokohama, Japan. G.O. No.: 180, 10 October 1872. Citation: On board the U.S.S. Ossipee, 20 June 1872. Risking his life, Benson leaped into the sea while the ship was going at a speed of 4 knots and endeavored to save John K. Smith, landsman, of the same vessel, from drowning.

APPLETON, EDWIN NELSON: Corporal, U.S. Marine Corps. Born: 29 August 1876, Brooklyn, N.Y. Accredited to: New York. G.O. No.: 84, 22 March 1902. Citation: In action against the enemy at Tientsin, China, 20 June 1900. Crossing the river in a small boat while under heavy enemy fire, Appleton assisted in destroying buildings occupied by the enemy.

BURNES, JAMES: Private, U.S. Marine Corps. Born: 14 January 1870, Worcester, Mass. Accredited to: California. G.O. No.: 84, 22 March 1902. Citation: In action against the enemy at Tientsin, China, 20 June 1900. Crossing the river in a small boat with 3 other men while under a heavy fire from the enemy, Burnes assisted in destroying buildings occupied by hostile forces.

DAHLGREN, JOHN OLOF: Corporal, U.S. Marine Corps. Born: 14 September 1872, Kahliwar, Sweden. Accredited to: California. G.O. No.: 55, 19 July 1901. Citation: In the presence of the enemy during the battle of Peking, China, 20 June to 16 July 1900, Dahlgren distinguished himself by meritorious conduct.

FISHER, HARRY: Private, U.S. Marine Corps. Born: 20 October 1874, McKeesport, Pa. Accredited to: Pennsylvania. G.O. No.: 55, 19 July 1901. Citation: Served in the presence of the enemy at the battle of Peking, China, 20 June to 16 July 1900. Assisting in the erection of barricades during the action, Fisher was killed by the heavy fire of the enemy.

HEISCH, HENRY WILLIAM: Private, U.S. Marine Corps. Born: 10 June 1872, Latendorf, Germany. Accredited to: California. G.O. No.: 84, 22 March 1902. Citation: In action against the enemy at Tientsin, China, 20 June 1900. Crossing the river in a small boat while under heavy fire, Heisch assisted in destroying buildings occupied by the enemy.

HUNT, MARTIN: Private, U.S. Marine Corps. Born: 9 July 1873, County of Mayo, Ireland. Accredited to: Massachusetts. G.O. No.: 55, 19 July 1901. Citation: In the presence of the enemy during the battle of Peking, China, 20 June to 16 July 1900, Hunt distinguished himself by meritorious conduct.

McALLISTER, SAMUEL: Ordinary Seaman, U.S. Navy. Born: 23 January 1869, Belfast, Ireland. Accredited to: California. G.O. No.: 84, 22 March 1902. Citation: In action against the enemy at Tientsin, China, 20 June 1900. Crossing the river in a small boat while under heavy enemy fire, McAllister assisted in destroying buildings occupied by the enemy.

WALKER, EDWARD ALEXANDER: Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps. Born: 2 October 1864, Huntley, Scotland. Accredited to: New York. G.O. No.: 55, 19 July 1901. Citation: In the presence of the enemy during the battle of Peking, China, 20 June to 16 July 1900. Throughout this period, Walker distinguished himself by meritorious conduct.

O'BRIEN, WILLIAM J.: Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army, 1st Battalion, 105th Infantry, 27th Infantry Division. Place and date: At Saipan, Marianas Islands, 20 June through 7 July 1944. Entered service at: Troy, N.Y. Birth: Troy, N.Y. G.O. No.: 35, 9 May 1945. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty at Saipan, Marianas Islands, from 20 June through 7 July 1944. When assault elements of his platoon were held up by intense enemy fire, Lt. Col. O'Brien ordered 3 tanks to precede the assault companies in an attempt to knock out the strongpoint. Due to direct enemy fire the tanks' turrets were closed, causing the tanks to lose direction and to fire into our own troops. Lt. Col. O'Brien, with complete disregard for his own safety, dashed into full view of the enemy and ran to the leader's tank, and pounded on the tank with his pistol butt to attract 2 of the tank's crew and, mounting the tank fully exposed to enemy fire, Lt. Col. O'Brien personally directed the assault until the enemy strongpoint had been liquidated. On 28 June 1944, while his platoon was attempting to take a bitterly defended high ridge in the vicinity of Donnay, Lt. Col. O'Brien arranged to capture the ridge by a double envelopment movement of 2 large combat battalions. He personally took control of the maneuver. Lt. Col. O'Brien crossed 1,200 yards of sniper-infested underbrush alone to arrive at a point where 1 of his platoons was being held up by the enemy. Leaving some men to contain the enemy he personally led 4 men into a narrow ravine behind, and killed or drove off all the Japanese manning that strongpoint. In this action he captured S machineguns and one 77-mm. fieldpiece. Lt. Col. O'Brien then organized the 2 platoons for night defense and against repeated counterattacks directed them. Meanwhile he managed to hold ground. On 7 July 1944 his battalion and another battalion were attacked by an overwhelming enemy force estimated at between 3,000 and 5,000 Japanese. With bloody hand-to-hand fighting in progress everywhere, their forward positions were finally overrun by the sheer weight of the enemy numbers. With many casualties and ammunition running low, Lt. Col. O'Brien refused to leave the front lines. Striding up and down the lines, he fired at the enemy with a pistol in each hand and his presence there bolstered the spirits of the men, encouraged them in their fight and sustained them in their heroic stand. Even after he was seriously wounded, Lt. Col. O'Brien refused to be evacuated and after his pistol ammunition was exhausted, he manned a .50 caliber machinegun, mounted on a jeep, and continued firing. When last seen alive he was standing upright firing into the Jap hordes that were then enveloping him. Some time later his body was found surrounded by enemy he had killed His valor was consistent with the highest traditions of the service.

Victoria Crosses awarded for action on this day:

WALLER William Francis Frederick: Lieutenant. 25th Bombay Light Infantry. For great gallantry at the capture by storm of the fortress of Qwalior, on the 20th June, 1858. He and Lieutenant Rose, who was killed, were the only Europeans present, and, with a mere handful of men, they attacked the fortress, climbed -on the roof of a house, shot the, gunners opposed to them, carried all before them, and took the fort, killing every man in it.

Last supplemented on Wednesday, June 20, 2012.

[Calendar]

June 21

Today is the Summer Solstice, except for leap years, when it occurs on the day prior.

217 BC Romans, led by Gaius Flaminius, ambushed and defeated by Hannibal at the Battle of Lake Trasimene.

1665 The first of 24 companies of the Le Régiment de Carignan-Salières arrives in New France.

1692 Abenaki Indians raid English settlements in Maine and New Hampshire.

1788 The U.S. Constitution went into effect as New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify it.

1798 The British Army defeats Irish rebels at the Battle of Vinegar Hill.

June 211798 The British Army defeats Irish rebels at the Battle of Vinegar Hill.

In the surprised to learn that category, I just learned that a direct ancestor on my mother's side (ggg-grandfather) participated in this battle.

On the losing side.

And paid for that with his life.

Weird to learn of an unexpected connection with a historical event of some note.

1813 US Col. Charles Boerstler halts at Queenston Ontario for the night and billets his soldiers at the farm of Loyalist James Secord and his wife Laura Secord. The Secords overhear the American plans and Laura sneaks away to warn the British. She succeeds under arduous conditions, and after being captured by the Iroquois, who turned her over to the British.

1834 Cyrus Hall McCormick received a patent for his reaping machine.

1860 The Signal Corps was authorized as a separate branch of the Army by act of Congress on March 3, 1863. It officially dates its existence from June 21, 1860, when Congress authorized the appointment of one signal officer in the Army.

1862 Union and Confederate forces skirmished at the Chickahominy Creek during the Peninsular Campaign.

1863 Confederate cavalry failed to dislodge a Union force at the Battle of LaFourche Crossing in Louisiana.

1880 Confederate cavalry veteran (Missouri) Harry Yount receives word of his appointment as a wildlife officer for Yellowstone National Park, the first person to occupy such a position. He occupied it for only about a year, but is regarded as a pioneer in the field.

1898 Guam became a US territory.

1900 General Arthur MacArthur offered amnesty to Philippinos rebelling against American rule.

1900 After the Empress declared war on all foreign powers, the Chines Boxers began a two-month assault on the legations in Beijing.

1916 Mexican government troops attack U.S. Brigadier General John J. Pershing's force at Carrizal, Mexico.

1919 The Royal Canadian Mounted Police fires a volley into a crowd of unemployed war veterans, killing two, during the Winnipeg General Strike.

1919 Admiral Ludwig von Reuter orders the scuttling of the German fleet in Scapa Flow, Orkney. Nine sailors are killed becoming the last casualties of World War I.

1921 U.S. Army Air Service pilots bombed the captured German battleship Ostfriesland to demonstrate the effectiveness of aerial bombing on warships.

1923 This advertisement ran in the Saturday Evening Post:


1929 An agreement brokered by U.S. Ambassador Dwight Whitney Morrow ends the Cristero War in Mexico. This war is the topic of a film which has just been released.

1940 France signs an armistice with Germany at Compiègne.

1940 Italy invades France. Italy invades France. They are held up, however, by a massive snow storm in the Alps and, on the Riviera by a French NCO and 7 men at Menton. Seems like a bad start for them.
http://worldwar2daybyday.blogspot.com/2 ... -1940.html

1940 U-boat sink the British decoy ship HMS Prunella (X 02).
http://worldwar2daybyday.blogspot.com/2 ... -1940.html

1940 German U-99 attacked and damaged by a German Arado 196 scout aircraft from German battlecruiser Scharnhorst.
http://worldwar2daybyday.blogspot.com/2 ... -1940.html

1941 Free French capture Damascus. 5th Indian Infantry Brigade destroyed in the village of Mezze, Syria. The Vichy French then retreat and the Australians capture the town.
http://worldwar2daybyday.blogspot.com/2 ... -1941.html

1942 Tobruk falls to Italian and German forces.

1942 A Japanese submarine fires 17 shells at nearby Fort Stevens at the mouth of the Columbia.

1942 Canadian minesweeper HMCS Georgian rams the submarine HMS P-514 fearing that it was a German submarine. The unfamiliar looking HMS P-514 was a WWI-era Russian submarine that had been transferred to Royal Navy on March 9 1942. HMS P-514 sinks with all 29 crew.
http://worldwar2daybyday.blogspot.com/2 ... -1942.html

1942 U-128 sinks American SS West Ira.
http://worldwar2daybyday.blogspot.com/2 ... -1942.html

1952 Wilfrid "Wop" May dies while on holiday in Utah.

1963 The French government announced that it was withdrawing its navy from the North Atlantic fleet of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

1963 Cardinal Giovanni Battista Montini was chosen to succeed the late Pope John XXIII as head of the Roman Catholic Church, taking the name Paul VI.

1964 Jim Bunning of the Philadelphia Phillies pitched a perfect game in a 6-0 victory over the New York Mets.

1977 Menachem Begin became Israel's sixth prime minister.

1982 John Hinckley Jr. was found innocent by reason of insanity in the shootings of President Ronald Reagan and three others.

1985 Scientists announced that skeletal remains exhumed in Brazil were those of Nazi war criminal Josef Mengele.

1989 The Supreme Court ruled that burning the American flag as a form of political protest is protected by the First Amendment.

2009 Greenland assumes self-rule.

Congressional Medals of Honor awarded for action on this day:

WOOD, LEONARD: Indian Wars. Assistant Surgeon, U.S. Army. Place and date: In Apache campaign, summer of 1886. Citation: Voluntarily carried dispatches through a region infested with hostile Indians, making a journey of 70 miles in one night and walking 30 miles the next day. Also for several weeks, while in close pursuit of Geronimo's band and constantly expecting an encounter, commanded a detachment of Infantry, which was then without an officer, and to the command of which he was assigned upon his own request.

CAMPBELL, ALBERT RALPH: Boxer Rebellion. Private, U.S. Marine Corps. Citation: In action at Tientsin, China, 21 June 1900. During the advance on Tientsin, Campbell distinguished himself by his conduct.

FRANCIS, CHARLES ROBERT[/b} Boxer Rebellion. Private, U.S. Marine Corps. Citation: In the presence of the enemy during the battle near Tientsin, China, 21 June 1900, Francis distinguished himself by meritorious conduct.

[b]KATES, THOMAS WILBUR: Boxer Rebellion. Private, U.S. Marine Corps. Citation: In the presence of the enemy during the advance on Tientsin, China, 21 June 1900, Kates distinguished himself by meritorious conduct.

HARVEY, CARMEL BERNON, JR.: Vietnam War. Posthumous award. Specialist Fourth Class, U.S. Army, Company B, 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile). Place and date: Binh Dinh Province, Republic of Vietnam, 21 June 1967. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Sp4c. Harvey distinguished himself as a fire team leader with Company B, during combat operations. Ordered to secure a downed helicopter, his platoon established a defensive perimeter around the aircraft, but shortly thereafter a large enemy force attacked the position from 3 sides. Sp4c. Harvey and 2 members of his squad were in a position directly in the path of the enemy onslaught, and their location received the brunt of the fire from an enemy machine gun. In short order, both of his companions were wounded, but Sp4c. Harvey covered this loss by increasing his deliberate rifle fire at the foe. The enemy machine gun seemed to concentrate on him and the bullets struck the ground all around his position. One round hit and armed a grenade attached to his belt. Quickly, he tried to remove the grenade but was unsuccessful. Realizing the danger to his comrades if he remained and despite the hail of enemy fire, he jumped to his feet, shouted a challenge at the enemy, and raced toward the deadly machine gun. He nearly reached the enemy position when the grenade on his belt exploded, mortally wounding Sp4c. Harvey, and stunning the enemy machine gun crew. His final act caused a pause in the enemy fire, and the wounded men were moved from the danger area. Sp4c. Harvey's dedication to duty, high sense of responsibility, and heroic actions inspired the others in his platoon to decisively beat back the enemy attack. His acts are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself and the U.S. Army.

MCWETHY, EDGAR LEE, JR.: Vietnam War. Posthumous award. Specialist Fifth Class, U.S. Army, Company B, 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile). Rank and organization: Binh Dinh province, Republic of Vietnam, 21 June 1967. Entered service at: Denver, Colo. Born: 22 November 1944, Leadville, Colo. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Serving as a medical aidman with Company B, Sp5c. McWethy accompanied his platoon to the site of a downed helicopter. Shortly after the platoon established a defensive perimeter around the aircraft, a large enemy force attacked the position from 3 sides with a heavy volume of automatic weapons fire and grenades. The platoon leader and his radio operator were wounded almost immediately, and Sp5c. McWethy rushed across the fire-swept area to their assistance. Although he could not help the mortally wounded radio operator, Sp5c. McWethy's timely first aid enabled the platoon leader to retain command during this critical period. Hearing a call for aid, Sp5c. McWethy started across the open toward the injured men, but was wounded in the head and knocked to the ground. He regained his feet and continued on but was hit again, this time in the leg. Struggling onward despite his wounds, he gained the side of his comrades and treated their injuries. Observing another fallen rifleman Lying in an exposed position raked by enemy fire, Sp5c. McWethy moved toward him without hesitation. Although the enemy fire wounded him a third time, Sp5c. McWethy reached his fallen companion. Though weakened and in extreme pain, Sp5c. McWethy gave the wounded man artificial respiration but suffered a fourth and fatal wound. Through his indomitable courage, complete disregard for his safety, and demonstrated concern for his fellow soldiers, Sp5c. McWethy inspired the members of his platoon and contributed in great measure to their successful defense of the position and the ultimate rout of the enemy force. Sp5c. McWethy's profound sense of duty, bravery, and his willingness to accept extraordinary risks in order to help the men of his unit are characteristic of the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself and the U.S. Army.

MONTI, JARED C.: Afghanistan. Posthumous award. Staff Sergeant Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 3d Squadron, 71st Cavalry Regiment, 3d Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division. Place and date: Nuristan Province, Afghanistan, on June 21, 2006. Citation: Staff Sergeant Jared C. Monti distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a team leader with , in connection with combat operations against an armed enemy in While Staff Sergeant Monti was leading a mission aimed at gathering intelligence and directing fire against the enemy, his 16-man patrol was attacked by as many as 50 enemy fighters. On the verge of being overrun, Staff Sergeant Monti quickly directed his men to set up a defensive position behind a rock formation. He then called for indirect fire support, accurately targeting the rounds upon the enemy who had closed to within 50 meters of his position. While still directing fire, Staff Sergeant Monti personally engaged the enemy with his rifle and a grenade, successfully disrupting an attempt to flank his patrol. Staff Sergeant Monti then realized that one of his Soldiers was lying wounded in the open ground between the advancing enemy and the patrol’s position. With complete disregard for his own safety, Staff Sergeant Monti twice attempted to move from behind the cover of the rocks into the face of relentless enemy fire to rescue his fallen comrade. Determined not to leave his Soldier, Staff Sergeant Monti made a third attempt to cross open terrain through intense enemy fire. On this final attempt, he was mortally wounded, sacrificing his own life in an effort to save his fellow Soldier. Staff Sergeant Monti’s selfless acts of heroism inspired his patrol to fight off the larger enemy force. Staff Sergeant Monti’s immeasurable courage and uncommon valor are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 3rd Squadron, 71st Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, and the United States Army.

Victoria Crosses awarded for action on this day:

LUCAS Charles Davis: Crimean War. Mate. Royal Navy. Citation: On 21 June 1854 in the Baltic, Hecla, with two other ships, was bombarding Bomarsund, a fort in the Åland Islands off of Finland. The fire was returned from the fort, and at the height of the action a live shell landed on Hecla's upper deck, with its fuse still hissing. All hands were ordered to fling themselves flat on the deck, but Lucas with great presence of mind ran forward and hurled the shell into the sea, where it exploded with a tremendous roar before it hit the water. Thanks to Lucas's action no one was killed or seriously wounded and he was immediately promoted to lieutenant by his commanding officer.

Lucus was the first person to receive the Victoria Cross.

MURRAY John: Waikato-Hauhau Maori War, New Zealand Sergeant 68th (Durham) Regiment of Foot (Light Infantry), British Army 21 June 1864. Citation: For his distinguished conduct during the engagement at Tauranga, on the 21st of June, when the Enemy's position was being stormed, in running up to a Rifle Pit containing from eight to ten of the enemy, and, without any assistance, killing or wounding every one of them. He is stated to have afterwards proceeded up the works, fighting desperately, and still continuing to bayonet the Enemy.

SMITH Frederick Augustus: Waikato-Hauhau Maori War, New Zealand Captain. 43rd (Monmouthshire) Regiment of Foot, British Army. 21 June 1864 Citation: For his distinguished conduct during the engagement at Tauranga, on the 21st of June. He is stated to have led on his Company in the most gallant manner at the attack on the Maories' position, and, although wounded previously to reaching the Rifle Pits, to have jumped down into them, where he commenced a hand to hand encounter with the Enemy, thereby giving his men great encouragement, and setting them a fine example.

Last supplemented on Thursday, June 21, 2012.

[Pat Holscher]

Some interesting odds and ends today.

June 21


1923 This advertisement ran in the Saturday Evening Post:

This advertisement is discussed extensively in the thread on the early gasoline age.

1940 Italy invades France. Italy invades France. They are held up, however, by a massive snow storm in the Alps and, on the Riviera by a French NCO and 7 men at Menton. Seems like a bad start for them.
http://worldwar2daybyday.blogspot.com/2 ... -1940.html

Man, what a bad start to a major war. Getting held up on day one when your opponent has already surrendered to another power.

1941 Free French capture Damascus. 5th Indian Infantry Brigade destroyed in the village of Mezze, Syria. The Vichy French then retreat and the Australians capture the town.
http://worldwar2daybyday.blogspot.com/2 ... -1941.html

Shades of a civil war here. Free French v. Vichy.

1942 Tobruk falls to Italian and German forces.

Victoria Crosses awarded for action on this day:

LUCAS Charles Davis: Crimean War. Mate. Royal Navy. Citation: On 21 June 1854 in the Baltic, Hecla, with two other ships, was bombarding Bomarsund, a fort in the Åland Islands off of Finland. The fire was returned from the fort, and at the height of the action a live shell landed on Hecla's upper deck, with its fuse still hissing. All hands were ordered to fling themselves flat on the deck, but Lucas with great presence of mind ran forward and hurled the shell into the sea, where it exploded with a tremendous roar before it hit the water. Thanks to Lucas's action no one was killed or seriously wounded and he was immediately promoted to lieutenant by his commanding officer.

Lucus was the first person to receive the Victoria Cross.

It's interesting to note that an award that was created during the Crimean War and which uses brass from melted down Russian cannons captured in the Crimea, was very first awarded to an Irish born enlisted sailor of the Royal Navy, for an action of the coast of Finland. Not what I would have expected at all.

[Calendar]

June 22

217 BC Ptolemy IV Philopator of Egypt defeats Antiochus III the Great of the Seleucid kingdom.

168 BC Romans defeat Macedonian King Perseus.

1611 - After spending a winter trapped by ice in present-day Hudson Bay, the starving crew of the Discovery mutinies against its captain, English navigator Henry Hudson, and sets him, his teenage son, and seven supporters adrift in a small, open boat. Hudson and the eight others were never seen again.

Geez, what a bummer. To make it through the whole winter and have them dump you in the Spring.

1774 Parliament passes the Quebec Act.

1775 Congress issued $2,000,000 in bills of credit to fund the Revolution.

1798 John Kelly, “Kelly, the boy from Killane”, lamented in a song by The Dubliners, executed. Little is actually known about him.

1798 Following their defeat at Vinegar Hill, Irish rebel southern column marches through Sculloge Gap, into Co. Carlow. Their northern column marches to camp at Croghan.

1807 British officers of the H.M.S. Leopard boarded the U.S.S. Chesapeake after she had set sail for the Mediterranean, and demanded the right to search the ship for deserters.

1813 A British force attempted to take Craney Island near Norlfolk but lost over two hundred men and were forced to retreat. They attacked Hampton four days later.

1815 Napoleon Bonaparte abdicated for the second time.

1818 Boarding parties from the Revenue cutter Dallas seized the privateer Young Spartan.

1839 Cherokee leaders Major Ridge, John Ridge, and Elias Boudinot assassinated for signing the Treaty of New Echota.

1847 The first doughnut with a hole in it was created.

1857 Company of Royal Canadian Rifles sent to Red River, Manitoba to police trade, train local militia and counter American influence in the region.

1864 U.S.S. Lexington withstood a surprise Confederate strike on White River Station, Arkansas.

1865 Confederate raider Shenandoah fires last shot of Civil War in Bering Strait.

1868 Arkansas was re-admitted to the Union.

1876 - General Alfred Terry sent Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer to the Rosebud and Little Bighorn rivers to search for Indian villages.

1884 - Navy relief expedition under CDR Winfield S. Schley rescues LT A.W. Greely, USA, and 6 others from Ellesmere Island, where they were marooned for 3 years on Arctic island.

1898 - ADM Sampson begins amphibious landing near Santiago, Cuba. Lt. Col. Theodore Roosevelt and Col. Leonard Wood led the Rough Riders, a volunteer cavalry regiment, onto the beach at Daiquiri in the Spanish American War.

1898 The 2nd U.S. Volunteer Cavalry, "Torrey's Rough Riders" left Cheyenne by rail for Camp Cuba Libre,in Jacksonville, FL.

1898 Erich Maria Remarque, the German-born author of "All Quiet on the Western Front", was born.

1911 Britain's King George V was crowned at Westminster Abbey.

1916 Theodore Roosevelt stated, at the Progressive National Committee: "Our own political fortunes, individually and collectively, are of no consequence whatever when compared with the honor and welfare of the people of the United States. Such things do not count when weighed in the balance against our duty to serve well the country in which, after we are dead, our children and our children’s children are to live."

1922 Sir Henry Hughes Wilson.Imperial Chief of Staff in 1918, assassinated in London by Joseph O’Sullivan and Reginald Dunne. This was part of the IRA campaign of the era, but ironies abound regarding the assassination. Wilson was no longer in the Army, but rather was a British Member of Parliament. O'Sullivan and Dunne were veterans of the British Army from World War One, with O'Sullivan having lost a leg in the war. Wilson had been born in Ireland.

1933 Germany banned parties other than the Nazis.

1936 - Congress passed an act to define jurisdiction of Coast Guard. In one of of the most sweeping grants of police authority ever written into U.S. law, Congress designated the Coast Guard as the federal agency for "enforcement of laws generally on the high seas and navigable waters of the United States."

1940 France signed an armistice with Germany eight days after German forces overran Paris. The agreement provides that French POWS in German hands will remain in German hands until the conclusion of hostilities, thereby condemning 1M French soldiers to captivity for years. The agreement fails to address the French navy, which remains in French hands.

1941 Germany invaded the Soviet Union. The operation is the largest military mission in human history, involving 3.5 million German and Romanian troops, 3,350 tanks, 600,000 motor vehicles and 750,000 horses.

1942 The first delivery of V-Mail.

1942 RAF raids Emden, Germany.
http://worldwar2daybyday.blogspot.com/2 ... -1942.html

1942 - A Japanese submarine shelled Fort Stevens, Oregon, at the mouth of the Columbia River.

This event was noted for yesterday as well. The shelling actually commenced almost at mid night so this is a correct entry for both days.

1944 Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the GI Bill of Rights.

1944 British and Indian troops meet at Milestone 110, ending the Japanese sieges of Kohima and Imphal, Burma.

1945 The battle for Okinawa ended.

1947 Heavy snowfall threatened to cancel a Gillette Wyoming to Douglas Wyoming horse race.

1948 The SS 'Empire Windrush' docks at Tilbury, beginning post-war immigration to the UK from the British Commonwealth.

1954 - President Dwight D. Eisenhower authorized the first use of the first official Marine Corps Seal.

1970 - President Nixon signed the 26th amendment, a measure lowering the voting age to 18.

This change came about, in part, because conscription included 18 year olds.

1971 1,500 North Vietnamese attack the 500-man South Vietnamese garrison at Fire Base Fuller on the DMZ.

1982 - The first successful hostage rescue at sea occurred when a combined Coast Guard / FBI boarding party deployed from CGC Alert took control of the 890-foot Liberian-flagged motor tanker Ypapanti.

1989 Opposing factions in Angola agree to a cease-fire to end a fifteen year civil war.

1993 Former first lady Pat Nixon died at age 81.

Congressional Medals of Honor for action on this day:

None.

Victoria Crosses awarded for action on this day:

ERSKINE John MacLaren: World War One. Sergeant. 5th Battalion, The Cameronians, British Army. Citation: For most conspicuous bravery. Whilst the near lip of a crater, caused by the explosion of a large enemy mine, was being consolidated, Actg. Serjt. Erskine rushed out under continuous fire with utter disregard of danger and rescued a wounded serjeant and a private. Later, seeing his officer, who was believed to be dead, show signs of movement, he ran out to him, bandaged his head, and remained with him for fully an hour, though repeatedly fired at, whilst a shallow trench was being dug to them. He then assisted in bringing in his officer, shielding him with his own body in order to lessen the chance of his being hit again.d a serjeant in the 5th Battalion, The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles), British Army.

Sgt. Erskine was killed in action on April 14, 1917.

[Calendar]

June 23

79 Titus succeeds his father Vespasian as the tenth Roman Emperor.

23-24 June, 1314

Battle of Bannockburn, First War of Scottich Independence.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_War_ ... dependence

See paragraph on single combat of Sir Henry de Bohun, nephew of the Earl of Hereford, and King Robert the Bruce.

1683 William Penn signed a friendship treaty with Lenni Lenape Indians in Pennsylvania.

1713 French residents of Acadia given one year to plead allegiance to Britain or leave the country.

1763 Josephine Beauharnais Bonaparte, Empress of the French, born.

June 23

1776 - The final draft of Declaration of Independence was submitted to US Congress.

1780 Battle of Springfield fought in and around Springfield, New Jersey.

1784 - The 1st US balloon flight was made by Edward Warren.

1810 John Jacob Astor forms the Pacific Fur Company.

1812 Marine Lt. John Heath became the first casualty of the War of 1812.

1817 The RC Active forced a South American privateer posing as an armed merchantman to leave the Chesapeake Bay and American waters.

1860 Congress establishes the Government Printing Office.

1865 Confederate General Stand Watie, a Cherokee chief, surrendered the last sizable Confederate army at Fort Towson, in the Oklahoma Territory.

1845 - The congress of the Republic of Texas voted to accept annexation by the US after 10 years as an independent republic.

1868 - Christopher Latham Sholes received a patent for an invention he called a "Type-Writer."

The typewriter, fwiw, is regarded as one of the major modern machines that ultimately resulted in the incorporation of women into the workplace. Scriveners and secretaries had typically been men, prior to the typewriter, although the switch over to the typewriter in the office, and the use of women as typists, would take decades to take place.

1892 The Democratic convention in Chicago nominated former President Grover Cleveland on the first ballot.

1913 The Greeks defeat the Bulgarians in the Battle of Doiran.

1914 Pancho Villa takes Zacatecas from Victoriano Huerta.

1917 Japanese DD Matsu sunk by a German u-boat in the Mediterranean.

1919 In the Estonian War of Independence the decisive defeat of the Baltische Landeswehr in the Battle of Cesis occurs. This day is celebrated as Victory Day in Estonia.

1926 – The College Board administers the first SAT exam.

1931 Aviators Wiley Post and Harold Gatty took off from New York on the first round-the-world flight in a single-engine plane.

1940 Hitler orders preparations for an invasion of Switzerland. It is ultimately determined by the Germans that while they could do it and win, it was too expensive in terms of resources and effort for what they then had on their plate.

1940 RCMP Sgt. Henry A. Larsen leaves on the RCMP schooner St. Roch for Halifax via the Northwest Passage. HIs ship will take southerly route through Arctic islands, and after two winters trapped in the ice, will reach Halifax Oct. 11, 1942;the first ship to make the voyage from west to east, and in both directions, and to circumnavigate North America.

1942 Germans breaks the Gazala Line and drive on Egypt.

1942 Start of Canadian conscription for Second World War home service, in Canada only.

1942 Germany's newest fighter, the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, is captured intact when it mistakenly lands at RAF Pembrey in Wales. Oops.

1943 Japanese sub Ro-103 sinks two transports off Guadalcanal.

1944 Soviets commence huge offensive.

1956 Gamal Abdel Nasser was elected president of Egypt.

1959 After nine years in prison, Klaus Fuchs, the German-born Los Alamos scientist whose espionage helped the USSR build their first atomic and hydrogen bombs, is released from a British prison.

1964 President Lyndon B. Johnson announces that Henry Cabot Lodge has resigned as ambassador to South Vietnam and that Gen. Maxwell Taylor will be his replacement.

1969 Warren E. Burger was sworn in as chief justice of the United States.

1969 Ben Het, a U.S. Special Forces camp located 288 miles northeast of Saigon and six miles from the junction of the Cambodian, Laotian and South Vietnamese borders, is besieged and cut off by 2,000 North Vietnamese troops.

1972 - President Nixon and White House chief of staff H.R. Haldeman discussed a plan to use the CIA to obstruct the FBI's Watergate investigation.

1990 Moldava declares independence from the Soviet Union.

1991 Iraqi troops fire shots to prevent UNSCOM/IAEA inspectors from intercepting Iraqi vehicles carrying nuclear-related equipment.

1998 Iraq admits to experimenting with deadly VX chemical agent, but says it was unable to turn it into a weapon.

1998 President Clinton said the reported discovery of traces of deadly nerve gas on an Iraqi missile warhead gave the United States new reasons to maintain U.N. sanctions against the Baghdad government.

2004 In Iraq Polish forces purchased seventeen rockets for a Soviet made rocket launcher and two mortar rounds containing the nerve agent cyclosarin.

2009 "Tonight Show" sidekick Ed McMahon, WWII Marine Corps veteran, died at 86.

Congressional Medal of Honor Citations for action on today's date.

Of particular note is the third item:

Sergeant James Drury, Company C, 4th Vermont Infantry. Place and date: At Weldon Railroad, Va., 23 June 1864. Saved the colors of his regiment when it was surrounded by a much larger force of the enemy and after the greater part of the regiment had been killed or captured.

Second Lieutenant John E. Butts, U.S. Army, Co. E, 60th Infantry, 9th Infantry Division. Place and date: Normandy, France, 14, 16, and 23 June 1944. Heroically led his platoon against the enemy in Normandy, France, on 14, 16, and 23 June 1944. Although painfully wounded on the 14th near Orglandes and again on the 16th while spearheading an attack to establish a bridgehead across the Douve River, he refused medical aid and remained with his platoon. A week later, near Flottemanville Hague, he led an assault on a tactically important and stubbornly defended hill studded with tanks, antitank guns, pillboxes, and machinegun emplacements, and protected by concentrated artillery and mortar fire. As the attack was launched, 2d Lt. Butts, at the head of his platoon, was critically wounded by German machinegun fire. Although weakened by his injuries, he rallied his men and directed 1 squad to make a flanking movement while he alone made a frontal assault to draw the hostile fire upon himself. Once more he was struck, but by grim determination and sheer courage continued to crawl ahead. When within 10 yards of his objective, he was killed by direct fire. By his superb courage, unflinching valor and inspiring actions, 2d Lt. Butts enabled his platoon to take a formidable strong point and contributed greatly to the success of his battalion's mission.

Second Lieutenant David R. Kingsley, U.S. Army Air Corps, 97th Bombardment Group, 15th Air Force. Place and date: Ploesti Raid, Rumania, 23 June 1944: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty, 23 June 1944 near Ploesti, Rumania, while flying as bombardier of a B17 type aircraft. On the bomb run 2d Lt. Kingsley's aircraft was severely damaged by intense flak and forced to drop out of formation but the pilot proceeded over the target and 2d Lt. Kingsley successfully dropped his bombs, causing severe damage to vital installations. The damaged aircraft, forced to lose altitude and to lag behind the formation, was aggressively attacked by 3 ME-109 aircraft, causing more damage to the aircraft and severely wounding the tail gunner in the upper arm. The radio operator and engineer notified 2d Lt. Kingsley that the tail gunner had been wounded and that assistance was needed to check the bleeding. 2d Lt. Kingsley made his way back to the radio room, skillfully applied first aid to the wound, and succeeded in checking the bleeding. The tail gunner's parachute harness and heavy clothes were removed and he was covered with blankets, making him as comfortable as possible. Eight ME-109 aircraft again aggressively attacked 2d Lt. Kingsley's aircraft and the ball turret gunner was wounded by 20mm. shell fragments. He went forward to the radio room to have 2d Lt. Kingsley administer first aid. A few minutes later when the pilot gave the order to prepare to bail out, 2d Lt. Kingsley immediately began to assist the wounded gunners in putting on their parachute harness. In the confusion the tail gunner's harness, believed to have been damaged, could not be located in the bundle of blankets and flying clothes which had been removed from the wounded men. With utter disregard for his own means of escape, 2d Lt. Kingsley unhesitatingly removed his parachute harness and adjusted it to the wounded tail gunner. Due to the extensive damage caused by the accurate and concentrated 20mm. fire by the enemy aircraft the pilot gave the order to bail out, as it appeared that the aircraft would disintegrate at any moment. 2d Lt. Kingsley aided the wounded men in bailing out and when last seen by the crewmembers he was standing on the bomb bay catwalk. The aircraft continued to fly on automatic pilot for a short distance, then crashed and burned. His body was later found in the wreckage. 2d Lt. Kingsley by his gallant heroic action was directly responsible for saving the life of the wounded gunner.

[Couvi]

1763 Josephine Beauharnais Bonaparte, Empress of the French, born.

Keeping this in the equine theme, her maiden name means "Fine Harness."

[selewis]

June 23

1868 - Christopher Latham Sholes received a patent for an invention he called a "Type-Writer."

The typewriter, fwiw, is regarded as one of the major modern machines that ultimately resulted in the incorporation of women into the workplace. Scriveners and secretaries had typically been men, prior to the typewriter, although the switch over to the typewriter in the office, and the use of women as typists, would take decades to take place.

I'm not convinced. True, the typewriter was a labor saving device; but the effort of writing is slight; also, women generally have better penmanship than men. Without further evidence I would regard this as a coincidental convergence of two trends, women moving into the workplace and invention, related in other ways but indirectly in this instance.

Sandy

[Trooper]

June 24.

A day which seems to be marked by the start of things, or by previews of coming attractions.

1314 The forces of Scotland's King Robert I defeated the English in the Battle of Bannockburn.

1497 The first recorded sighting of North America by a European took place as explorer John Cabot, on a voyage for England, spotted land, probably in present-day Canada.

1509 Henry VIII was crowned king of England.

1664 New Jersey, named after the Isle of Jersey, was founded.

1675 King Philip's War begins when a band of Wampanoag warriors raid the border settlement of Swansee, Massachusetts.

1793 The first republican constitution in France was adopted.

1862 U.S. intervention saved the British and French at the Dagu forts in China.

1863 Lee's army crossed the Potomac.

June 24

1864 - Colorado Governor John Evans warns that all peaceful Indians in the region must report to the Sand Creek reservation or risk being attacked, creating the conditions that will lead to the infamous Sand Creek Massacre. Evans' offer of sanctuary was at best halfhearted. His primary goal in 1864 was to eliminate all Native American activity in eastern Colorado Territory, an accomplishment he hoped would increase his popularity and eventually win him a U.S. Senate seat. Immediately after ordering the peaceful Indians to the reservation, Evans issued a second proclamation that invited white settlers to indiscriminately "kill and destroy all...hostile Indians." At the same time, Evans began creating a temporary 100-day militia force to wage war on the Indians. He placed the new regiment under the command of Colonel John Chivington, another ambitious man who hoped to gain high political office by fighting Indians. The Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapahoe Indians of eastern Colorado were unaware of these duplicitous political maneuverings. Although some bands had violently resisted white settlers in years past, by the autumn of 1864 many Indians were becoming more receptive to Cheyenne Chief Black Kettle's argument that they must make peace. Black Kettle had recently returned from a visit to Washington, D.C., where President Abraham Lincoln had given him a huge American flag of which Black Kettle was very proud. He had seen the vast numbers of the white people and their powerful machines. The Indians, Black Kettle argued, must make peace or be crushed. When word of Governor Evans' June 24 offer of sanctuary reached the Indians, however, most of the Indians remained distrustful and were unwilling to give up the fight. Only Black Kettle and a few lesser chiefs took Evans up on his offer of amnesty. In truth, Evans and Chivington were reluctant to see hostilities further abate before they had won a glorious victory, but they grudgingly promised Black Kettle his people would be safe if they came to Fort Lyon in eastern Colorado. In November 1864, the Indians reported to the fort as requested. Major Edward Wynkoop, the commanding federal officer, told Black Kettle to settle his band about 40 miles away on Sand Creek, where he promised they would be safe. Wynkoop, however, could not control John Chivington. By November, the 100-day enlistment of the soldiers in his Colorado militia was nearly up, and Chivington had seen no action. His political stock was rapidly falling, and he seems to have become almost insane in his desire to kill Indians. "I long to be wading in gore!" he is said to have proclaimed at a dinner party. In this demented state, Chivington apparently concluded that it did not matter whether he killed peaceful or hostile Indians. In his mind, Black Kettle's village on Sand Creek became a legitimate and easy target. At daybreak on November 29, 1864, Chivington led 700 men, many of them drunk, in a savage assault on Black Kettle's peaceful village. Most of the Cheyenne warriors were away hunting. In the awful hours that followed, Chivington and his men brutally slaughtered 105 women and children and killed 28 men. The soldiers scalped and mutilated the corpses, carrying body parts back to display in Denver as trophies. Amazingly, Black Kettle and a number of other Cheyenne managed to escape. In the following months, the nation learned of Chivington's treachery at Sand Creek, and many Americans reacted with horror and disgust. By then, Chivington and his soldiers had left the military and were beyond reach of a court-martial. Chivington's political ambitions, however, were ruined, and he spent the rest of his inconsequential life wandering the West. The scandal over Sand Creek also forced Evans to resign and dashed his hopes of holding political office. Evans did, however, go on to a successful and lucrative career building and operating Colorado railroads.

Quote from: http://tdiumh.blogspot.com/2005/06/june-24.html

Very nice synopsis John.

A few additional comments.

1. John quite correctly makes a distinction between the Colorado Volunteers and the Federal forces here. It's quite significant. Sometimes the Sand Creek Massacre is attributed to "the U.S. Army", which is wholly inaccurate. It was an atrocity committed by Colorado volunteers, and significantly here, this particular unit was mostly recruited out of toughs and bums from Denver. Denver was already as sizable town, and it had enough residents to contribute this cavalry unit. Colorado raised other units during the Civil War, some of notably superior quality. This one had a lot of bums in it.

State units were significant in the West during the Civil War. Some gave notable performance. The 11th Ohio Cavalry and the 11th Kansas Cavalry were notable units on the Oregon Trail during the war, and uniquely occupied block house type forts during the war all through Wyoming along the trail. The 2nd Colorado, on the other hand, were short termers and quite a few of them were reprobates.

The U.S. Army did not undertake the action at Sand Creek, and was not responsible for it. Generally, they were horrified by the Colorado Volunteers' actions at Sand Creeks, and pondered taking legal action against the officers, but it was too late as they were out of the service by the time the Army could have taken action.

2. A small but peculiar oddity of the Battle at Sand Creek is that the Bent family had members on both sides of it. The Bent children were half Cheyenne and half White. George Bent was traveling with a Cheyenne band at the time, and ran into the survivors soon after the battle. One of his sisters was in the camp (perhaps with their mother) when it was attacked. One of their brothers was with Chivington's men when they attacked, serving as some sort of a scout. I don't know that this tells us anything, but it's weird.

3. An uncomfortable thing about Chivington is that he can't really be dismissed as a military incompetent. He acted criminally and barbarically at Sand Creek, but he was sort of a hero for his actions at Glorietta Pass, where he had a significant role. But for Sand Creek, we'd remember him for Glorietta Pass, where he commanded a different unit. Because of Sand Creek, we only remember him for his barbarism there.

I think that perhaps Chivington can be regarded as genuinely unhinged. He attempted a lot of things during his life, and had brief success with several, before his personality seemed to catch up with him. He's one of those Civil War era characters who seem to have risen into prominence by demonstrating some military abilities, combined with fierce hatred. Rather than hating the South, or the North, like some other examples, he hated the Indians. He was irrational about it, and likely more than a little mentally disturbed.

4. I've posted about the Battle of Red Buttes here recently. That was an offshoot of Sand Creek, but occurred in July 1865. Colorado's assault on the Cheyenne spilled very rapidly into Wyoming, where the Cheyenne and the Sioux launched into a retaliatory war. That war itself would spill into Red Cloud's War, which is generally cited as the only successful Plains Indian campaign against the Federal Government. But the earlier war sparked by Chivington's attack was at least partially successful. In July 1865 the Cheyenne and Sioux attacked Platte Bridge Station seeking revenge for Sand Creek. Troops of the 11th Kansas Cavalry, lead by an officer of the 11th Ohio Cavalry, attacked first to try to open back up the Oregon Trail for a wagon train, but were repulsed. Almost immediately thereafter the Army wagon train was attacked and destroyed in the Battle of Red Buttes. A major treaty would be entered into the Indians shortly after the Civil War, but Red Cloud's failure to participate would lead to the second war nearly immediately.

5. Today the Sand Creek Massacre is remembered in Wyoming by the designation of the Sand Creek Massacre Trail. The trail runs along the highway and goes from Sand Creek to the Wind River Indian Reservation. The reservation is a Shoshone and Arapahoe reservation, but the distinction reflects the flight of Cheyennes to the area. The Arapahoe were a people allied to the Cheyenne and Sioux.

Also on this day, in 1876, Albert Curtis was killed by A.W. Chandler on the Little Laramie River for sheep trespass. This 1876 killing is a surprisingly early incident in what would come to be increasing violence between sheepmen and cattlemen, as earlier discussed in this thread. Curtis' father was a judge in Ohio.

1876 Crow and Arikara Scouts with Custer's command report the presence of a large village in the Little Big Horn Valley, which they are able to see from the Wolf Mountains fifteen miles away. They report the pony herd to be "like worms crawling on the grass,". They asked for a soldier to confirm the sighting. Lt. Charles Varnum, Chief of Scouts, did this and subsequently escorted Custer to the same spot, who could not see the village.

Varnum survived the Battle of the Little Big Horn and commanded Co. B, 7th Cav, at Wounded Knee in 1890. He retired under disability while stationed in the Philippines in 1907, where he remained a reserve office. He ultimately retired from that position in 1918 and returned to the United States. When he died in 1936 he was the last surviving officer of the Little Big Horn battle.

1898 American troops drove Spanish forces from La Guasimas, Cuba.

1908 Former President Grover Cleveland died in Princeton, N.J., at age 71.

1940 France signed an armistice with Italy during World War II.

1948 Communist forces cut off all land and water routes between West Germany and West Berlin, prompting the United States to organize a massive airlift.

1955 Soviet aircraft shoot down a U.S. Navy patrol plane over the Bering Strait.

1970 The Senate votes 81 to 10 to repeal the Tonkin Gulf Resolution.

Congressional Medals of Honor awarded for action on this day:

HUGHES, OLIVER: Civil War. Corporal, Company C, 12th Kentucky Infantry. Place and date: At Weldon Railroad, Va., 24 June 1864. Citation: Capture of flag of 11th South Carolina (C.S.A.).

SMITH, CHARLES H.: Civil WAr. Colonel, 1st Maine Cavalry. Place and date: At St. Mary's Church, Va., 24 June 1864. Citation: Remained in the fight to the close, although severely wounded.

WEIR, HENRY C.: Civil War. Captain and Assistant Adjutant General, U.S. Volunteers. Place and date: At St. Mary's Church, Va., 24 June 1864. Citation: The division being hard pressed and falling back, this officer dismounted, gave his horse to a wounded officer, and thus enabled him to escape. Afterwards, on foot, Captain Weir rallied and took command of some stragglers and helped to repel the last charge of the enemy.

CHURCH, JAMES ROBB: Spanish American War. Assistant Surgeon, 1st U.S. Volunteer Cavalry. Place and date: At Las Guasimas, Cuba, 24 June 1898.Citation: In addition to performing gallantly the duties pertaining to his position, voluntarily and unaided carried several seriously wounded men from the firing line to a secure position in the rear, m each instance being subjected to a very heavy fire and great exposure and danger.

BENNETT, EMORY L.: Korean War. Posthumous award. Private First Class, U.S. Army, Company B, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3d Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Sobangsan, Korea, 24 June 1951. Citation: Pfc. Bennett a member of Company B, distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty in action against an armed enemy of the United Nations. At approximately 0200 hours, 2 enemy battalions swarmed up the ridge line in a ferocious banzai charge in an attempt to dislodge Pfc. Bennett's company from its defensive positions. Meeting the challenge, the gallant defenders delivered destructive retaliation, but the enemy pressed the assault with fanatical determination and the integrity of the perimeter was imperiled. Fully aware of the odds against him, Pfc. Bennett unhesitatingly left his foxhole, moved through withering fire, stood within full view of the enemy, and, employing his automatic rifle, poured crippling fire into the ranks of the onrushing assailants, inflicting numerous casualties. Although wounded, Pfc. Bennett gallantly maintained his l-man defense and the attack was momentarily halted. During this lull in battle, the company regrouped for counterattack, but the numerically superior foe soon infiltrated into the position. Upon orders to move back, Pfc. Bennett voluntarily remained to provide covering fire for the withdrawing elements, and, defying the enemy, continued to sweep the charging foe with devastating fire until mortally wounded. His willing self-sacrifice and intrepid actions saved the position from being overrun and enabled the company to effect an orderly withdrawal. Pfc. Bennett's unflinching courage and consummate devotion to duty reflect lasting glory on himself and the military service.[/quote]

[Trooper]

June 25.

524 The Franks defeat the Burgundians in the Battle of Vézeronce.

1647 First horses arrive in Canada as a gift from the King of France to Governor Montmagny. This is the origin of Canadian breed.

1741 Maria Theresa of Austria is crowned Queen of Hungary.

June 25

1798 - US passed the Alien Act allowing president to deport dangerous aliens. (I would not have thought this would have been a problem in 1798)

The act was part of four acts, collectively making up what folks refer to as the Alien and Sedition Act of 1798. The US was fighting an undeclared naval war against revolutionary France at the time, and there was real fear that the war would develop into a full blown declared war. The war sparked a sharp divide in the country between those who looked upon the French Revolution as a radical assault on reason, and those who viewed it as the logical evolution of events set in motion by the American Revolution. The two views might best be characterized by the views of the two successive Presidents who served during the prolonged series of events, those being John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.

That acts were controversial at the time. Federalist believed they were necessary to combat internal disloyalty. Their opponents believed they were Unconstitutional. The most radical of them, the Sedition Act, is generally the one that is most poorly regarded, although similar acts have popped up from time to time in periods of great stress.

1863 George Meade replaces Joe Hooker as Commander of the Army of the Potomac.

1864 Union troops begin a tunnel under Confederate lines at Petersburg.

1867 - The 1st barbed wire was patented by Lucien B. Smith of Ohio.

1868 Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina were readmitted to the Union.

1870 Erskine Childers, British soldier, novelist, member of the Royal Navy, British spy and Irish nationalist, is born in London.

1876 - Alexander Graham Bell demonstrated his telephone at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia.

1876 - Determined to resist the efforts of the U.S. Army to force them onto reservations, Indians under the leadership of Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse wipe out Lieutenant Colonel George Custer and much of his 7th Cavalry at the Battle of the Little Big Horn. The Indians were not allowed to revel in the victory for long, however. The massacre of Custer and his 7th Cavalry outraged many Americans and only confirmed the image of the bloodthirsty Indians in their minds, and the government became more determined to destroy or tame the hostile Indians. The army redoubled its efforts and drove home the war with a vengeful fury. Within five years, almost all of the Sioux and Cheyenne would be confined to reservations. Crazy Horse was killed in 1877 after leaving the reservation without permission. Sitting Bull was shot and killed three years later in 1890 by a Lakota policeman.

Nice synopsis.

Little Big Horn is by far the most famous of American Indian battles, and almost defines them for the average person. It remains one of the most written about of all American historical events. It was a huge shock to the American psyche at the time, and resulted in the Army being expanded by 2,500 men for Plains service.

In terms of actual casualties, the 7th suffered about 52 percent casualties of the force that was deployed, in a battle that saw fighting at widely separated points, several miles distant, including 16 officers and 242 enlisted men killed. One officer and 51 enlisted men survived the battles with wounds. The battle is mostly remembered due to the fact that the every man in Custer's immediate command was killed, which makes up the bulk of the casualties. This may be a bit unfair, as it somewhat discounts the effective defense put up by Reno and Benteen's men in a separate location.

Of interest, 22% of the 7th Cavalry was detached prior to the expedition on other duties, a fairly common occurrence. 166 men and officers therefore were not present on the campaign, and missed the battle.

1876 On this date, in 1876, a large combined group of Cheyennes, Sioux, Arapaho and maybe even a few Metis, defeated an assault by the 7th Cavalry in southern Montana, resulting in the complete elimination of one prong of a split assault, and the retreat and desperate defense by two other elements of the command. The 7th's effort was part of a summer 1875 campaign on the northern plains, which had seen a the defeat of a combined unit of elements of the 2d & 3d Cavalry, 4th and 9th Infantry, and Crow and Shoshone scouts in southern Montana several days earlier. Both Plains Indians victories marked the high water mark, and the rapidly receding tide, of Indian power on the northern plains.

1886 General of the Air Force Henry "Hap" Arnold, born.

1900 Admiral of the Fleet Lord Louis Mountbatten of Burma, born.

1903 Eric Blair [George Orwell], author born.

June 25

1917 - Navy convoy of troopships carrying American Expeditionary Forces arrives in France.

1941: In a somewhat bizarre example of failing to recognize when things are really bad, the Soviet Union bombed Finnish cities. Finland was obligated by arrangements with Germany to enter the war against the USSR in any event, and the Germans had invaded the Soviet Union on June 22. Nonetheless, the Finnish government had not yet acted to join the Germans in the war. With the Soviet bombing of the Finnish cities, the Finnish government recognized that a state of war existed between the Soviet Union and Finland, that being, in their view, the "Continuation War", ie, a revival of the Winter War.

1941 FDR bars racial discrimination in war industries

1943. Eamon de Valera's party, Finanna Fail, suffers electoral defeats thereby making it a minority government. The electoral defeats are at least partially attributable to the Irish electorates disapproval of de Valera's policy of seeking to avoid having Ireland enter the war on the Allied side. In spite of the defeats, Fianna Fail, although in the minority, was still the largest party in the Dail, and therefore de Valera retained power in a minority government.

1944 The Battle of Tali-Ihantala, the largest battle ever fought in the Nordic Countries, begins.

1947 The Dairy of Anne Frank published.

1948 Berlin Airlift' begins.

1950 - Armed forces from communist North Korea smash into South Korea, setting off the Korean War.

Very interesting. I'd forgotten that this was in early summer and had thought, for some reason, that it was in Spring.

1982 Greece abolishes the head shaving of recruits in the military.

1991 The Yugoslav republics of Croatia and Slovenia declared their independence.

Congressional Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day

DILLON, MICHAEL A.: Private, Company G, 2d New Hampshire Infantry. Place and date: At Williamsburg, Va., 5 May 1862. At Oak Grove, Va., 25 June 1862. Entered service at: Wilton, N.H. Birth: Chelmsford, Mass. Date of issue: 10 October 1889. Citation: Bravery in repulsing the enemy's charge on a battery, at Williamsburg, Va. At Oak Grove, Va., crawled outside the lines and brought in important information.

McKEEN, NINEVEH S.: First Lieutenant, Company H, 21st Illinois Infantry. Place and date: At Stone River, Tenn., 30 December 1862. At Liberty Gap, Tenn., 25 June 1863. Entered service at: Marshall, Clark County, Ill. Birth: Marshall, Clark County, Ill. Date of issue: 23 June 1890. Citation: Conspicuous in the charge at Stone River, Tenn., where he was three times wounded. At Liberty Gap, Tenn., captured colors of 8th Arkansas Infantry (C.S.A.).

SULLIVAN, JOHN: Seaman, U.S. Navy. Born: 1839, New York, N.Y. Accredited to: New York. G.O. No.: 45, 31 December 1864. Citation: Served as seaman on board the U.S.S. Monticello during the reconnaissance of the harbor and water defenses of Wilmington, N.C. 23 to 25 June 1864. Taking part in a reconnaissance of enemy defenses which covered a period of 2 days and nights, Sullivan courageously carried out his duties during this action, which resulted in the capture of a mail carrier and mail, the cutting of a telegraph wire, and the capture of a large group of prisoners. Although in immediate danger from the enemy at all times, Sullivan showed gallantry and coolness throughout this action which resulted in the gaining of much vital information of the rebel defenses.

TAYLOR, HENRY H.: Sergeant, Company C, 45th Illinois Infantry. Place and date: At Vicksburg, Miss., 25 June 1863. Entered service at: Galena, Jo Daviess County, Ill. Birth: Jo Daviess County, Ill. Date of issue: 1 September 1893. Citation: Was the first to plant the Union colors upon the enemy's works.

WARD, NELSON W.: Private, Company M, 11th Pennsylvania Cavalry. Place and date: At Staunton River Bridge, Va., 25 June 1864. Entered service at: ------. Birth: Columbiana County, Ohio. Date of issue: 10 September 1897. Citation: Voluntarily took part in a charge; went alone in front of his regiment under a heavy fire to secure the body of his captain, who had been killed in the action.

WARREN, DAVID: Coxswain, U.S. Navy. Born: 1836, Scotland. Accredited to: New York. G.O. No.: 45, 31 December 1864. Citation: Served as coxswain on board the U.S.S. Monticello during the reconnaissance of the harbor and water defenses of Wilmington, N.C., 23 to 25 June 1864. Taking part in a reconnaissance of enemy defenses which lasted 2 days and nights, Warren courageously carried out his duties during this action which resulted in the capture of a mail carrier and mail, the cutting of a telegraph wire, and the capture of a large group of prisoners. Although in immediate danger from the enemy, Warren showed gallantry and coolness throughout this action which resulted in the gaining of much vital information of the rebel defenses.

WRIGHT, WILLIAM: Yoeman, U.S. Navy. Born: 1835, London, England. Accredited to: Maryland. G.O. No.: 45, 31 December 1864. Citation: Served as yeoman on board the U.S.S. Monticello during the reconnaissance of the harbor and water defenses of Wilmington, N.C., 23 to 25 June 1864. Taking part in a reconnaissance of enemy defenses which covered a period of 2 days and nights, Wright courageously carried out his cutting of a telegraph wire and the capture of a large group of prisoners. Although in immediate danger from the enemy at all times, Wright showed gallantry and coolness throughout this action which resulted in the gaining of much vital information of the rebel defenses.

BANCROFT, NEIL
Rank and organization: Private, Company A, 7th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Little Big Horn, Mont., 25 June 1876. Entered service at: Chicago, Ill. Birth: Oswego, N.Y. Date of issue: 5 October 1878. Citation: Brought water for the wounded under a most galling fire.

BRANT, ABRAM B.
Rank and organization: Private, Company D, 7th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Little Big Horn, Mont., 25 June 1876. Entered service at: St. Louis, Mo. Birth: New York, N.Y. Date of issue: 5 October 1878. Citation: Brought water for the wounded under a most galling fire.

CRISWELL, BANJAMIN C.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company B, 7th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Little Big Horn River, Mont., 25 June 1876. Entered service at:------. Birth: Marshall County, W. Va. Date of issue: 5 October 1878. Citation: Rescued the body of Lt. Hodgson from within the enemy's lines; brought up ammunition and encouraged the men in the most exposed positions under heavy fire.

CUNNINGHAM, CHARLES
Rank and organization: Corporal, Company B, 7th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Little Big Horn River, Mont., 25 June 1876. Entered service at: New York, N.Y. Birth: Hudson, N.Y. Date of issue: 5 October 1878. Citation: Declined to leave the line when wounded in the neck during heavy fire and fought bravely all next day.

DEETLINE, FREDERICK
Rank and organization: Private, Company D, 7th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Little Big Horn, Mont., 25 June 1876. Entered service at: Baltimore, Md. Birth: Germany. Date of issue: 15 October 1878. Citation: Voluntarily brought water to the wounded under fire.

GEIGER, GEORGE
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company H, 7th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Little Big Horn River, Mont., 25 June 1876. Entered service at: ------. Birth: Cincinnati, Ohio. Date of issue: S October 1878. Citation: With 3 comrades during the entire engagement courageously held a position that secured water for the command.

HANLEY, RICHARD P.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company C, 7th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Little Big Horn River, Mont., 25 June 1876. Entered service at:------. Birth: Boston, Mass. Date of issue: 5 October 1878. Citation. Recaptured, singlehanded, and without orders, within the enemy's lines and under a galling fire lasting some 20 minutes, a stampeded pack mule loaded with ammunition.

HARRIS, DAVID W.
Rank and organization: Private, Company A, 7th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Little Big Horn River, Mont., 25 June 1876. Entered service at: Cincinnati, Ohio. Birth: Indianapolis, Ind. Date of issue: 5 October 1878. Citation: Brought water to the wounded, at great danger to his life, under a most galling fire from the enemy.

HARRIS, WILLIAM M.
Rank and organization: Private, Company D, 7th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Little Big Horn River, Mont., 25 June 1876. Entered service at: Mt. Vernon, Ky. Birth: Madison County, Ky. Date of issue: 5 October 1878. Citation: Voluntarily brought water to the wounded under fire of the enemy.

HOLDEN, HENRY
Rank and organization: Private, Company D, 7th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Little Big Horn River, Mont., 25 June 1876. Entered service at: ------. Birth: England. Date of issue: 5 October 1878. Citation: Brought up ammunition under a galling fire from the enemy.

HUTCHINSON, RUFUS D.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company B, 7th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Little Big Horn River, Mont., 25 June 1876. Entered service at: Cincinnati, Ohio. Birth: Butlerville, Ohio. Date of issue: 5 October 1878. Citation: Guarded and carried the wounded, brought water for the same, and posted and directed the men in his charge under galling fire from the enemy.

MECHLIN, HENRY W. B.
Rank and organization: Blacksmith, Company H, 7th U.S. Cavalry Place and date: At Little Big Horn, Mont., 25 June 1876. Entered service at: Pittsburgh, Pa. Born: 14 October 1851, Mount Pleasant, Westmoreland County, Pa. Date of issue: 29 August 1878. Citation: With 3 comrades during the entire engagement courageously held a position that secured water for the command.

MURRAY, THOMAS
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company B, 7th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Little Big Horn, Mont., 25 June 1876. Entered service at:------. Birth: Ireland. Date of issue: S October 1878. Citation: Brought up the pack train, and on the second day the rations, under a heavy flre from the enemy.

PYM, JAMES
Rank and organization: Private, Company B, 7th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Little Big Horn River, Mont., 25 June 1876. Entered service at: Boston, Mass. Birth: Oxfordshire, England. Date of issue: S October 1878. Citation: Voluntarily went for water and secured the same under heavy fire.

ROY, STANISLAUS
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company A, 7th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Little Big Horn, Mont., 25 June 1876. Entered service at:------. Birth: France. Date of issue: 5 October 1878. Citation: Brought water to the wounded at great danger to life and under a most galling fire of the enemy.

THOMPSON, PETER
Rank and organization: Private, Company C, 7th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Little Big Horn, Mont., 25 June 1876. Entered service at: Pittsburgh, Pa. Birth: Scotland. Date of issue: 5 October 1878. Citation: After having voluntarily brought water to the wounded, in which effort he was shot through the head, he made two successful trips for the same purpose, notwithstanding remonstrances of his sergeant.

TOLAN, FRANK
Rank and organization: Private, Company D, 7th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Little Big Horn, Mont., 25 June 1876. Entered service at: Boston, Mass. Birth: Malone, N.Y. Date of issue: 5 October 1878. Citation: Voluntarily brought water to the wounded under fire.

VOIT, OTTO
Rank and organization: Saddler, Company H, 7th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Little Big Horn, Mont., 25 June 1876. Entered service at: ------. Birth: Germany. Date of issue: 5 October 1878. Citation: Volunteered with George Geiger, Charles Windolph, and Henry Mechlin to hold an exposed position standing erect on the brow of the hill facing the Little Big Horn River. They fired constantly in this manner for more than 20 minutes diverting fire and attention from another group filling canteens of water that were desperately needed.

SADLER, WILLIAM: Captain of the Top, U.S. Navy. Born: 1854, Boston, Mass. Accredited to: Massachusetts. G.O. No.: 326, 18 October 1884. Citation: For jumping overboard from the U.S.S. Saratoga, off Coasters Harbor Island, R.I., 25 June 1881, and sustaining until picked up by a boat from the ship, Frank Gallagher, second class boy, who had fallen overboard.

EPPERSON, HAROLD GLENN: Private First Class, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve. Born: 14 July 1923, Akron, Ohio. Accredited to: Ohio. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving with the 1st Battalion, 6th Marines, 2d Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on the Island of Saipan in the Marianas, on 25 June 1944. With his machinegun emplacement bearing the full brunt of a fanatic assault initiated by the Japanese under cover of predawn darkness, Pfc. Epperson manned his weapon with determined aggressiveness, fighting furiously in the defense of his battalion's position and maintaining a steady stream of devastating fire against rapidly infiltrating hostile troops to aid materially in annihilating several of the enemy and in breaking the abortive attack. Suddenly a Japanese soldier, assumed to be dead, sprang up and hurled a powerful hand grenade into the emplacement. Determined to save his comrades, Pfc. Epperson unhesitatingly chose to sacrifice himself and, diving upon the deadly missile, absorbed the shattering violence of the exploding charge in his own body. Stouthearted and indomitable in the face of certain death, Pfc. Epperson fearlessly yielded his own life that his able comrades might carry on the relentless battle against a ruthless enemy. His superb valor and unfaltering devotion to duty throughout reflect the highest credit upon himself and upon the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.

KELLY, JOHN D.: Technical Sergeant (then Corporal), U.S. Army, Company E, 314th Infantry, 79th Infantry Division. Place and date: Fort du Roule, Cherbourg, France, 25 June 1944. Entered service at: Cambridge Springs, Pa. Birth: Venango Township, Pa. G.O. No.: 6, 24 January 1945. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. On 25 June 1944, in the vicinity of Fort du Roule, Cherbourg, France, when Cpl. Kelly's unit was pinned down by heavy enemy machinegun fire emanating from a deeply entrenched strongpoint on the slope leading up to the fort, Cpl. Kelly volunteered to attempt to neutralize the strongpoint. Arming himself with a pole charge about 10 feet long and with 15 pounds of explosive affixed, he climbed the slope under a withering blast of machinegun fire and placed the charge at the strongpoint's base. The subsequent blast was ineffective, and again, alone and unhesitatingly, he braved the slope to repeat the operation. This second blast blew off the ends of the enemy guns. Cpl. Kelly then climbed the slope a third time to place a pole charge at the strongpoint's rear entrance. When this had been blown open he hurled hand grenades inside the position, forcing survivors of the enemy guncrews to come out and surrender The gallantry, tenacity of purpose, and utter disregard for personal safety displayed by Cpl. Kelly were an incentive to his comrades and worthy of emulation by all.

OGDEN, CARLOS C.: First Lieutenant, U.S. Army, Company K, 314th Infantry, 79th Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Fort du Roule, France, 25 June 1944. Entered service at: Fairmont, Ill. Born: 19 May 1917, Borton, Ill. G.O. No.: 49, 28 June 1945. Citation: On the morning of 25 June 1944, near Fort du Roule, guarding the approaches to Cherbourg, France, 1st Lt. Ogden's company was pinned down by fire from a German 88-mm. gun and 2 machineguns. Arming himself with an M-1 rifle, a grenade launcher, and a number of rifle and handgrenades, he left his company in position and advanced alone, under fire, up the slope toward the enemy emplacements. Struck on the head and knocked down by a glancing machinegun bullet, 1st Lt. Ogden, in spite of his painful wound and enemy fire from close range, continued up the hill. Reaching a vantage point, he silenced the 88mm. gun with a well-placed rifle grenade and then, with handgrenades, knocked out the 2 machineguns, again being painfully wounded. 1st Lt. Ogden's heroic leadership and indomitable courage in alone silencing these enemy weapons inspired his men to greater effort and cleared the way for the company to continue the advance and reach its objectives.

Victoria Crosses awarded for action on this day:

BATTEN-POOLL Arthur Hugh Henry. Lieutenant. The Royal Munster Fusiliers, British 1st Division, formerly with the Somerset Light Infantry, and formerly of the 5th (Royal Irish) Lancers. On 25 June 1916 near Colonne, France, Lieutenant Henry-Batten-Pooll was in command of a raiding party when, on entering the enemy's lines he was severely wounded by a bomb which broke and mutilated all the fingers of his right hand. In spite of this he continued to direct operations with unflinching courage. Half an hour later during the withdrawal, while personally assisting in the rescue of other wounded men, he received two further wounds, but refusing assistance, he walked to within 100 yards of our lines when he fainted and was carried in by the covering party.

DUNVILLE John Spencer: Lieutenant. 1st Royal Dragoons, British Army. 25 June 1917. For most conspicuous bravery. When in charge of a party consisting of Scouts and Royal Engineers engaged in the demolition of the enemy's wire, this officer displayed great gallantry and disregard of all personal danger. In order to ensure the absolute success of the work entrusted to him, 2nd Lt. Dunville placed himself between the N.C.O. of the Royal Engineers and the enemy's fire, and thus protected, this N.C.O. was enabled to complete a work of great importance. 2nd Lt. Dunville, although severely wounded, continued to direct his men in the wire-cutting and general operations until the raid was successfully completed, thereby setting a magnificent example of courage, determination and devotion to duty, to all ranks under his command. This gallant officer has since succumbed to his wounds.

[Trooper]

June 26

363 Roman Emperor Julian is killed during the retreat from the Sassanid Empire. General Jovian is proclaimed Emperor by the troops on the battlefield.

1242 At the Battle of Kuzadagh the Mongols defeat the Seljuks.

1483 Richard III becomes king of England after declaring his nephews Edward and Richard illegitimate.

1521 Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortez began his attack on the Aztec capital city of Tenochtitlan.

1718 Czarevich Alexei Petrovich of Russia, Peter the Great's son, mysteriously dies after being sentenced to death by his father for plotting against him.

1723 Baku surrenders to the Russians.

June 26

1804 - The Lewis and Clark Expedition reached the mouth of the Kansas River after completing a westward trek of nearly 400 river miles.

1819 Abner Doubleday, Maj. Gen, U.S., born.

1837 Martin Davis Hardin II, Brig Gen, U.S., born.

1837 Victor Jean Baptiste Girardey, Brig Gen, C.S.A., born.

1848 End of the June Days Uprising in Paris.

1857 – The first investiture of the Victoria Cross in Hyde Park, London.

1865 The Civil war ends with the surrender of the last Southern forces, led by Gen Edmund Kirby-Smith, at Shreveport LA.

1865: Co. I, 11th Kansas, attacked by large party of Cheyenne/Sioux while repairing a telegraph line near Red Buttes, Wyoming. The men expended between 36 and 60 rounds of ammunition each, taking two wounded in a hard fought action taking them back to Platte Bridge Station, a distance of six miles.

1870 Christmas is declared a federal holiday in the United States. Today it wouldn't occur, and if it did, it would result in an endless series of lawsuits.

1876 - Following Lieutenant Colonel George Custer's death the previous day in the Battle of the Little Big Horn, Major Marcus Reno takes command of the surviving soldiers of the 7th Cavalry.

1880 Chilean forces defeated a combined Peruvian-Bolivian Army at the Battle of Tacna.

1884 Congress authorizes commissioning of Naval Academy graduates as ensigns.

1891 - The Marine Corps established its first post at Port Royal, South Carolina, later known as Parris Island.

1894 The American Railway Union, led by Eugene Debs, called a general strike in sympathy with Pullman workers.

1900 - The United States announced it would send troops to fight against the Boxer rebellion in China.

1900 - A commission that included Dr. Walter Reed began the fight against the deadly disease yellow fever.

1917 - During World War I, the first 14,000 U.S. infantry troops land in France at the port of Saint Nazaire.

1934 Germany and Poland sign a non-aggression pact.

1934 While Germany was agreeing not to attack Poland, Hitler purged his rivals in the SA, including Ernst Rohm, during the 'Night of the Long Knives'. This consolidated Hitler's power within his party, and placated the German Army, which feared the desire of the SA to become a new radical political army in place of the Heer. Contrary to common assumption, the SA did not disappear, but was decapitated.

1936 First flight of the Focke-Wulf Fw 61, the first practical helicopter.

1940 The Soviet Union presents an ultimatum to Romania requiring it to cede Bessarabia and the northern part of Bukovina.

1941 Soviet planes bomb Kassa, Hungary (now Košice, Slovakia). Hungary declares war the next day.

1941 Nazi-collaborators in Lithuania massacre 2,300 Jews in Kovno.

1942 Australian Kanga Force raids Salamaua.

1942 The first flight of the Grumman F6F.

1944 Japanese capture U.S. airbase at Hengyang, China.

1959 The Saint Lawrence Seaway opens.

1960 British Somaliland gains its independence as Somaliland .

1960 Madagascar gains its independence from France.

1963 President Kennedy' makes his famous "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech in Berlin. The phrase is grammatically incorrect for what he meant to say, but was very warmly received by Berliners.

1975 A firefight occurs on the Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota as FBI agents pursued a robbery suspect.

1991 - A Kentucky medical examiner announced that test results showed President Zachary Taylor had died in 1850 of natural causes—and not arsenic poisoning, as speculated by a writer. Taylor’s remains were exhumed so that tissue samples could be taken.

1996 The Supreme Court ordered the Virginia Military Institute to admit women or forgo state support.

Congressional Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day

WILLIAMS, JOHN: Rank and organization: Captain of the Maintop, U.S. Navy. Born: 1828, New Orleans, La. Accredited to: Louisiana. G.O. No.: 11, 3 April 1863. Citation: Serving as captain of the maintop of the U.S.S. Pawnee in the attack upon Mathias Point, 26 June 1861, Williams told his men, while lying off in the boat, that every man must die on his thwart sooner than leave a man behind. Although wounded by a musket ball in the thigh he retained the charge of his boat; and when the staff was shot away, held the stump in his hand, with the flag, until alongside the Freeborn.

CALLEN, THOMAS J.
Rank and organization: Private, Company B, 7th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date. At Little Big Horn, Mont., 25-26 June 1876. Entered service at: Boston, Mass. Birth: Ireland. Date of issue: 24 October 1896. Citatlon: Volunteered and succeeded in obtaining water for the wounded of the command; also displayed conspicuously good conduct in assistlng to drive away the Indians.

GOLDIN, THEODORE W.
Rank and organization: Private, Troop G, 7th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Little Big Horn, Mont., 26 June 1876. Entered service at: Chicago, Ill. Born: 25 July 1855, Avon, Rock County, Wis. Date of issue: 21 December 1895. Citation: One of a party of volunteers who, under a heavy fire from the Indians, went for and brought water to the wounded .

GREAVES, CLINTON
Rank and organization: Corporal, Company C, 9th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Florida Mountains, N. Mex., 24 January 1877. Entered service at: Prince Georges County, Md. Birth: Madison County, Va. Date of issue: 26 June 1879. Citation: While part of a small detachment to persuade a band of renegade Apache Indians to surrender, his group was surrounded. Cpl. Greaves in the center of the savage hand-to-hand fighting, managed to shoot and bash a gap through the swarming Apaches, permitting his companions to break free .

SCOTT, GEORGE D.
Rank and organization: Private, Company D, 7th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Little Big Horn, Mont., 25-26 June 1876. Entered service at: Mt. Vernon, Ky. Birth: Lancaster County, Ky. Date of issue: 5 October 1878. Citation: Voluntarily brought water to the wounded under fire.

STIVERS, THOMAS W.
Rank and organization: Private, Company D, 7th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Little Big Horn, Mont., 25-26 June 1876. Entered service at: Mt. Vernon, Ky. Birth: Madison County, Ky. Date of issue: 5 October 1878. Citation: Voluntarily brought water to the wounded under fire.

WELCH, CHARLES H.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company D, 7th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Little Big Horn, Mont., 25-26 June 1876. Entered service at: Ft. Snelling, Minn. Birth: New York, N.Y. Date of issue 5 October 1878. Citation: Voluntarily brought water to the wounded under fire.

MURANAGA, KIYOSHI K.: Private First Class Kiyoshi K. Muranaga distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism in action on 26 June 1944, near Suvereto, Italy. Private First Class Muranaga’s company encountered a strong enemy force in commanding positions and with superior firepower. An enemy 88mm self-propelled gun opened direct fire on the company, causing the men to disperse and seek cover. Private First Class Muranaga’s mortar squad was ordered to action, but the terrain made it impossible to set up their weapons. The squad leader, realizing the vulnerability of the mortar position, moved his men away from the gun to positions of relative safety. Because of the heavy casualties being inflicted on his company, Private First Class Muranaga, who served as a gunner, attempted to neutralize the 88mm weapon alone. Voluntarily remaining at his gun position, Private First Class Muranaga manned the mortar himself and opened fire on the enemy gun at a range of approximately 400 yards. With his third round, he was able to correct his fire so that the shell landed directly in front of the enemy gun. Meanwhile, the enemy crew, immediately aware of the source of mortar fire, turned their 88mm weapon directly on Private First Class Muranaga’s position. Before Private First Class Muranaga could fire a fourth round, an 88mm shell scored a direct hit on his position, killing him instantly. Because of the accuracy of Private First Class Muranaga’s previous fire, the enemy soldiers decided not to risk further exposure and immediately abandoned their position. Private First Class Muranaga’s extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit on him, his unit, and the United States Army.

Whilst on the topic of the Seventh, a timely caveat emptor:

http://cgi.ebay.com/2-Rare-7th-Cavalry- ... 286.c0.m14

These are German cartridge boxes.

Whilst on the topic of the Seventh, a timely caveat emptor:

These are German cartridge boxes.

They sure are.

More items are attributed to the 7th Cavalry than even a moderate degree of skepticism would support.

And no battle has been subject to more improbably arm chair generalling that the Battle of the Little Big Horn. I've long felt that anyone who had a slight knowledge of horses, and visited the battlefield would feel ". . . well. . . of course". Not much mystery in it. But it's reinterpreted and reinterpreted.

Victoria Crosses awarded for action on this day:

WARD Charles: Private. The King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, British Army. On the 26th June, 1900, at Lindley, a picquet of the Yorkshire Light Infantry was surrounded on three sides by about 500 Boers, at close quarters. The two Officers were wounded and all but six of their men were killed or wounded. Private Ward then volunteered to take a message asking for reinforcements to the Signalling Station about 150 yards in the rear of the post. His offer was at first refused owing to the practical certainty of his being shot; but, on his insisting, he was allowed to go. He got across untouched through a storm of shots from each flank, and, having delivered his message, he voluntarily returned from a place of absolute safety, and recrossed the fire-swept ground to assure his Commanding Officer that the message had been sent. On this occasion he was severely wounded. But for this gallant action the post would certainly have been captured

JACKSON William. Corporal. Australian forces. 26 June 1916. Heroism in returning to no man's land to rescue a wounded comrade.

AGANSING RAI: Naik in the 2nd Battalion, 5th Royal Gurkha Rifles, Indian Army. 26 June 1944. Under withering fire Agansing Rai and his party charged a machine-gun. Agansing Rai himself killed three of the crew. When the first position had been taken, he then led a dash on a machine-gun firing from the jungle, where he killed three of the crew, his men accounting for the rest. He subsequently tackled an isolated bunker single-handed, killing all four occupants. The enemy were now so demoralised that they fled and the second post was recaptured.

NETRABAHADUR THAPA: Subedar, 5th Roay Gurkah Rifles, Indian Army. 25–26 June 1944. While in command of a small isolated hill post at Bishenpur, Burma when the Japanese army attacked in force, his men, inspired by their leader's example, held their ground and the enemy were beaten off, but casualties were very heavy and reinforcements were requested. When these arrived some hours later they also suffered heavy casualties. Thapa retrieved the reinforcements' ammunition himself and mounted an offensive with grenades and kukris, until he was killed.