Today in the history of mounted warfare

[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.

[Trooper]

June 27

1497 Cornish rebels Michael An Gof and Thomas Flamank are executed at Tyburn, London, England.

1709 Peter the Great defeats Charles XII of Sweden at the Battle of Poltava.

1743 – At the Battle of Dettingen George II personally leads troops into battle, the last time that a British monarch would command troops in the field.

1759 General James Wolfe begins the siege of Quebec.

1776 Thomas Hickey, who plotted to hand George Washington over to British, was hanged.

1778 The Liberty Bell came home to Philadelphia after the British left.

1806 British forces take Buenos Aires during the first British invasions of the Río de la Plata.

June 27

1829 - In Genoa, Italy, English scientist James Smithson dies after a long illness, leaving behind a will with a peculiar footnote. In the event that his only nephew died without any heirs, Smithson decreed that the whole of his estate would go to "the United States of America, to found at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an Establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge."

1862 Battle of Gaines’ Mill on the third day of the Seven Days Battle in Virginia.

1863 Skirmish at Fairfax Courthouse in Virginia.

1864 Battle of Kennesaw Mountain

1874 - Using new high-powered rifles to devastating effect, 28 buffalo hunters repulse a much larger force of attacking Indians at an old trading post in the Texas panhandle called Adobe Walls. The hunters .50 caliber Sharps rifles represented the latest technology in long-range, rapid firing weaponry. Already skilled marksmen, the buffalo hunters used the rifles to deadly effect, decimating the warriors before they came close enough even to return effective fire. On the second day of the siege, one hunter reportedly hit an Indian warrior at a distance of eight-tenths of a mile. Despite their overwhelmingly superior numbers, after three days the Indians concluded that Adobe Walls could not be taken and withdrew.

The extreme longshot was taken by Willie Dixon. Dixon always stated that hitting the Indian was an accident, and he really hadn't expected to hit him.

Re the 1874 entry above, it's interesting to note that this is one of a series of battles that were fought with the then new big black powder cartridge. That type of cartridge turned the tide in 1867 at the Wagon Box Fight, and it may very well have made the difference at Adobe Walls.

It'd be easy to say that it didn't turn the tide in the 1876 event noted above, but perhaps defensively it did. Those of the 7th under Reno and Benteen who made it back up into the hills did manage to hold off a much more numerous opponent until that opponent withdrew.

Billy Dixon:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Dixon

1898 Lewis "Chesty" Puller, Marine, born.

1905 The Potemkin Mutiny occurs.

1916 The 4th Marine Regiment defeated Dominican rebels in a stand-up bayonet attack..

1918 First use of parachutes to escape an aircraft in combat by two German airmen.

1923 Capt. Lowell H. Smith and Lt. John P. Richter perform the first ever aerial refueling in a DH-4B biplane.

1927 The U.S.M.C. adopted the English bulldog as their mascot.

1929 Scientists at Bell Laboratories in New York revealed a system for transmitting television pictures.

1940 Francisco Franco sacks Air Minister Maj. Gen Juan Yagüe, for plotting a pro-Axis coup.

1941 The Germans capture Bialystock.

1941 The Romanian governmental forces, allies of Nazi Germany, launch one of the most violent pogroms in Jewish history in the city of Iaşi, resulting in the murder of at least 13,266 Jews.

1942 FBI captures 8 Nazi saboteurs, landed by u-boat on Long Island

1944 American forces completed their capture of the French port of Cherbourg.

1945 Victory parade in Moscow.

1945 The FCC allocates airwaves for 13 TV stations.

1950 North Korean troops reach Seoul.

1950 US sends 35 military advisers to South Vietnam.

1976 First women cadets enter the Air Force Academy

1980 President Jimmy Carter signed legislation reviving draft registration.

1980 Canadian Parliament passes National Anthem Act, declaring Calixa Lavallée's 'O Canada' the national anthem replacing God Save the Queen.

1985 Route 66 decertified as a U.S. highway.

1995 Royal Canadian Mounted Police grants an exclusive marketing license to its likeness and image to the Walt Disney Company, who will pay the force royalties and control copyright infringement.

Congressional Medals of Honor for action on this day:

BUTTERFIELD, DANIEL: Brigadier General, U.S. Volunteers. Place and date: At Gaines Mill, Va., 27 June 1862. Entered service at: Washington, D.C. Born: 31 October 1831, Utica, N.Y. Date of issue: 26 September 1892. Citation: Seized the colors of the 83d Pennsylvania Volunteers at a critical moment and, under a galling fire of the enemy, encouraged the depleted ranks to renewed exertion.

DAVIS, CHARLES C.: Major, 7th Pennsylvania Cavalry. Place and date: At Shelbyville, Tenn., 27 June 1863. Entered service at: Harrisburg, Pa. Born: 15 August 1830, Harrisburg, Pa. Date of issue: 14 June 1894. Citation: Led one of the most desperate and successful charges of the war.

HALL, HENRY SEYMOUR: Second Lieutenant, Company G, 27th New York Infantry; and Captain, Company F, 121st New York Infantry. Place and date. At Gaines Mill, Va., 27 June 1862. At Rappallannock Station, Va., 7 November 1863. Entered service at: New York. Birth: New York. Date of issue: 17 August 1891. Citation: Although wounded at Gaines Mill, Va., he remained on duty and participated in the battle with his company. At Rappahannock Station, Va., while acting as aide, rendered gallant and prompt assistance in reforming the regiments inside the enemy's works.

HOPKINS, CHARLES F.: Corporal, Company I, 1st New Jersey Infantry. Place and date: At Gaines Mill, Va., 27 June 1862. Entered service at:------. Birth: Warren County, N.J. Date of issue: 9 July 1892. Citation: Voluntarily carried a wounded comrade, under heavy fire, to a place of safety; though twice wounded in the act, he continued in action until again severely wounded.

KAISER, JOHN: Sergeant, Company E, 2d U.S. Artillery. Place and date: At Richmond, Va., 27 June 1862. Entered service at: ------. Birth: Germany. Date of issue: 2 April 1878. Citation: Gallant and meritorious service during the 7 days' battles before Richmond, Va.

MOFFITT, JOHN H.: Corporal, Company C, 16th New York Infantry. Place and date: At Gaines Mill, Va., 27 June 1862. Entered service at: Plattsburg, N.Y. Born. 8 January 1843, Chazy, Clinton County, N.Y. Date of issue: 3 March 1891. Citation: Voluntarily took up the regimental colors after several color bearers had been shot down and carried them until himself wounded.

SIDMAN, GEORGE E.: Private, Company C, 16th Michigan Infantry. Place and date: At Gaines Mill, Va., 27 June 1862. Entered service at: Owosso, Mich. Born: 25 November 1844, Rochester, N.Y. Date of issue: 6 April 1892. Citation: Distinguished bravery in battle. Rallied his comrades to charge vastly superior force until wounded in the hip. He was a 16_year_old drummer.

VON VEGESACK, ERNEST: Major and Aide_de_Camp, U.S. Volunteers. Place and date: At Gaines Mill, Va., 27 June 1862. Entered service at: New York, N.Y. Birth: Sweden. Date of issue: 23 August 1893. Citation: While voluntarily serving as aide_de_camp, successfully and advantageously charged the position of troops under fire.

WEBBER, ALASON P.: Musician, 86th Illinois Infantry. Place and date: At Kenesaw Mountain, Ga., 27 June 1864. Entered service at: Illinois. Birth: Greene County, N.Y. Date of issue: 22 June 1896. Citation: Voluntarily joined in a charge against the enemy, which was repulsed, and by his rapid firing in the face of the enemy enabled many of the wounded to return to the Federal lines; with others, held the advance of the enemy while temporary works were being constructed.

WILLIAMS, GEORGE C.: Quartermaster Sergeant, 1st Battalion, 14th U.S. Infantry. Place and date: At Gaines Mill, Va., 27 June 1862. Entered service at:------. Birth: England. Date of issue: 28 August 1897. Citation: While on duty with the wagon train as quartermaster sergeant he voluntarily left his place of safety in the rear, joined a company, and fought with distinguished gallantry through the action.

THOMPSON, HENRY: Seaman, U.S. Navy. Biography not available. Citation: For rescuing a man from drowning at Mare Island, Calif., 27 June 1878.

BOWEN, HAMMETT L., JR.: Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company C, 2d Battalion, 14th Infantry, 25th Infantry Division. Place and date: Binh Duong Province, Republic of Vietnam, 27 June 1969. Entered service at: Jacksonville, Fla. Born: 30 November 1947, Lagrange, Ga. Citation: S/Sgt. Bowen distinguished himself while serving as a platoon sergeant during combat operations in Binh Duong Province, Republic of Vietnam. S/Sgt. Bowen's platoon was advancing on a reconnaissance mission into enemy controlled terrain when it came under the withering crossfire of small arms and grenades from an enemy ambush force. S/Sgt. Bowen placed heavy suppressive fire on the enemy positions and ordered his men to fall back. As the platoon was moving back, an enemy grenade was thrown amid S/Sgt. Bowen and 3 of his men. Sensing the danger to his comrades, S/Sgt. Bowen shouted a warning to his men and hurled himself on the grenade, absorbing the explosion with his body while saving the lives of his fellow soldiers. S/Sgt. Bowen's extraordinary courage and concern for his men at the cost of his life served as an inspiration to his comrades and are in the highest traditions of the military service and the U.S. Army.

MURPHY, MICHAEL P.: Lieutenant, U.S. Navy, SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team 1, Naval Special Warfare Task Unit. Place and Date: Asadabad, Konar Province, Afghanistan, 27 - 28 June 2005. Entered Service at: Patchogue, New York. Born: 7 May 1976, Smithtown, New York Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as the leader of a special reconnaissance element with Naval Special Warfare Task Unit Afghanistan on 27 and 28 June 2005. While leading a mission to locate a high-level anti-coalition militia leader, Lieutenant Murphy demonstrated extraordinary heroism in the face of grave danger in the vicinity of Asadabad, Konar Province, Afghanistan. On 28 June 2005, operating in an extremely rugged enemy-controlled area, Lieutenant Murphy’s team was discovered by anti-coalition militia sympathizers, who revealed their position to Taliban fighters. As a result, between 30 and 40 enemy fighters besieged his four-member team. Demonstrating exceptional resolve, Lieutenant Murphy valiantly led his men in engaging the large enemy force. The ensuing fierce firefight resulted in numerous enemy casualties, as well as the wounding of all four members of the team. Ignoring his own wounds and demonstrating exceptional composure, Lieutenant Murphy continued to lead and encourage his men. When the primary communicator fell mortally wounded, Lieutenant Murphy repeatedly attempted to call for assistance for his beleaguered teammates. Realizing the impossibility of communicating in the extreme terrain, and in the face of almost certain death, he fought his way into open terrain to gain a better position to transmit a call. This deliberate, heroic act deprived him of cover, exposing him to direct enemy fire. Finally achieving contact with his headquarters, Lieutenant Murphy maintained his exposed position while he provided his location and requested immediate support for his team. In his final act of bravery, he continued to engage the enemy until he was mortally wounded, gallantly giving his life for his country and for the cause of freedom. By his selfless leadership, courageous actions, and extraordinary devotion to duty, Lieutenant Murphy reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.

Victoria Crosses awarded for action on this day:

WAKENSHAW Adam Herbert: Private, 9th Battalion, The Durham Light Infantry, British Army. On the 27th June, 1942, south of Mersa Matruh, Private Wakenshaw was a member of the crew of a 2-pounder anti-tank gun. An enemy tracked vehicle towing a light gun came within short range. The gun crew opened fire and succeeded in immobilising the enemy vehicle. Another mobile gun came into action, killed or seriously wounded the crew manning the 2-pounder, including Private Wakenshaw, and silenced the 2-pounder. Under intense fire, Private Wakenshaw crawled back to his gun. Although his left arm was blown off, he loaded the gun with one arm and fired five more rounds, setting the tractor on fire and damaging the light gun. A direct hit on the ammunition finally killed him and destroyed the gun. This act of conspicuous gallantry prevented the enemy from using their light gun on the infantry Company which was only 200 yards away. It was through the self sacrifice and courageous devotion to duty of this infantry anti-tank gunner that the Company was enabled to withdraw and to embus in safety.

[Trooper]

June 28

June 28, 1491 Henry VIII of England born. Henry's character stands out in the public imagination for his dissolution and solution to marital strife much to the distraction from the valuable accomplishments of his long and able reign. Pertinent to this forum: following the lead of his father he made great strides in improving and increasing the cavalry; promoted racing; and enacted laws encouraging selective breeding by restricting grazing rights for inferior stock, gelding, and the importation of Mediterranean breeds. He is also credited with improving the artillery by devices of his own invention, and built a navy which on his passing left to his daughter a country on the ascendent. True, his reputation is tarnished by his weaknesses, but nobody's perfect. He was an expert horseman, archer and, by many accounts, an all around good guy.

Regarding Henry VIII being "by many accounts, an all around good guy". I suppose your opinion on that depends on whether your name is Boleyn or not.

Like many tyrants, it also would depend on whether a person agreed with him or not. Those in his favor, were in his favor. Those who fell out of it, for whatever reason, including their own personal integrity, did not always fare well, such as Thomas More.

1776 - Jefferson's document was placed before the Congress after some minor changes by Adams and Franklin. This event was immortalized in the painting by John Trumball.

1778. Battle of Monmouth occurs in the Revolution, giving us the enduring legend of Molly Pitcher.

1902 - Congress passed the Spooner bill, authorizing a canal to be built across the isthmus of Panama. The US purchased a concession to build Panama canal from French for $40 million. (I'll bet the French were tickled to get the 40 Million)

1914 - "Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in Sarajevo, Bosnia, while riding in an Austro-Daimler that was chauffeured by Otto Merz, a Mercedes team driver. The assassination resulted in the outbreak of World War I. The archduke and his wife, Sophie, rode into Sarajevo in a motorcade consisting of four cars; the royals occupied the second. On the way to the City Hall as they crossed the Milijacka River at Cumuria Bridge, Serbian nationalist Nedjelko Cabrinovic threw a bomb at the Daimler carrying the archduke and his wife. Franz Ferdinand managed to deflect the bomb onto the street. About a dozen people, including Sophie, who was hit in the face with shrapnel, suffered injuries, but no one was killed. The assassin swallowed a cyanide pill and jumped off the bridge. Unfortunately, he coughed up the pill and landed in only a foot of water. He was taken into custody. The first two cars of the motorcade continued on their way to the Sarajevo City Hall. Upon his arrival at the welcome ceremony, Franz Ferdinand interrupted the mayor's speech, seizing him by the arm and crying, "One comes here to visit and is received with bombs. Mr. Mayor, what do you say?" He later calmed down and finished his own speech with a reaffirming pledge of his regard for the people of Sarajevo. After the speech, Franz Ferdinand ordered his chauffeur to carry him to the hospital to visit the victims of the bomb; Sophie accompanied him. Their driver took a wrong turn after crossing the Imperial Bridge and the car ended up on a street named after Franz Ferdinand's father, Franz Josef. Noticing his mistake, the driver applied the brakes and the car came to a halt a foot short of another Serbian nationalist, Gavrilo Princip. Princip fired his pistol into the car, striking the archduke in the neck and his wife in the stomach. In shock and unaware that she had been wounded, Sophie cried to her husband, "For heaven's sake, what's happened to you?" Franz Ferdinand keeled over whispering "Es ist nichts, Es ist nichts..." A lengthy investigation into the conspiracy failed to prove any complicity in the plot on the part of the Serbian government. Nevertheless, the Austrians sent their army into Serbia and World War I was born".

Quote from Today in U.S. Military History.

1919 (Ironically, the same day 5 years later) At the Palace of Versailles outside Paris, Germany signs the Treaty of Versailles with the Allies, officially ending World War I.

1935 - FDR ordered a federal gold vault to be built at Fort Knox, Kentucky.

1976 - The first women entered the U.S. Air Force Academy.

1996 - The Citadel voted to admit women, ending a 153-year-old men-only policy at the South Carolina military school.

[Trooper]

Re: June 29:
I'm afraid the calendar has let us down today as there are no entries
Feel free to add those of military horse interest if you are aware of any for today's date.

[Trooper]

June 30

1834 - Congress placed the Marine Corps under Navy jurisdiction.

1876 - "After a slow two-day march, the wounded soldiers from the Battle of the Little Big Horn reach the steamboat Far West. The Far West had been leased by the U.S. Army for the duration of the 1876 campaign against the hostile Sioux and Cheyenne Indians of the Northern Plains. Under the command of the skilled civilian Captain Grant Marsh, the 190-foot vessel was ideal for navigating the shallow waters of the Upper Missouri River system. The boat drew only 20 inches of water when fully laden and Marsh managed to steam up the shallow Big Horn River in southern Montana in June 1876. There, the boat became a headquarters for the army's planned attack on a village of Sioux and Cheyenne they believed were camping on the nearby Little Big Horn River. On June 28, Captain Grant and several other men were fishing about a mile from the boat when a young Indian on horseback approached. "He wore an exceedingly dejected countenance," one man later wrote. By signing and drawing on the ground, the Indian managed to convey that there had been a battle but the men did not understand its outcome. In fact, the Indian was Curley, one of Lieutenant Colonel George Custer's Crow scouts. Three days earlier, he had been the last man to see Custer and his 7th Cavalry battalion before they were wiped out during the Battle of the Little Big Horn. The following day, Grant received a dispatch from General Terry, who had found Custer's destroyed battalion and the surviving soldiers of the 7th Cavalry. Terry ordered Grant to prepare to evacuate the wounded soldiers. Slowed by the burden of carrying the wounded men, Terry's force did not arrive until June 30. Grant immediately received the 54 wounded soldiers and sped downstream as quickly as possible. With the Far West draped in black and flying her flag at half-mast, Grant delivered the wounded to Fort Abraham Lincoln near Bismarck, North Dakota, at 11:00 p.m. on July 5. The fast and relatively comfortable transport of the wounded by steam power undoubtedly saved numerous lives. Yet, Grant was also the bearer of bad news. From Fort Abraham Lincoln, General Terry's report of the disaster was telegraphed all over the country. Soon the entire nation learned that General Custer and more than 200 men had been massacred along the Little Big Horn River".

1882 - Charles Guiteau the assassin of President Garfield was hanged in a Washington jail.


Congressional Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day

BELL, DENNIS
Rank and organization: Private, Troop H, 10th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Tayabacoa, Cuba, 30 June 1898. Entered service at: Washington, D.C. Birth: Washington, D.C. Date of issue: 23 June 1899. Citation: Voluntarily went ashore in the face of the enemy and aided in the rescue of his wounded comrades; this after several previous attempts at rescue had been frustrated.

LEE, FITZ
Rank and organization: Private, Troop M, 10th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Tayabacoa, Cuba, 30 June 1898. Entered service at: Dinwiddie County, Va. Birth: Dinwiddie County, Va. Date of issue: 23 June 1899. Citation: Voluntarily went ashore in the face of the enemy and aided in the rescue of his wounded comrades; this after several previous attempts had been frustrated.

THOMPKINS, WILLIAM H.
Rank and organization: Private, Troop G, 10th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Tayabacoa, Cuba, 30 June 1898. Entered service at: Paterson, N.J. Birth: Paterson, N.J. Date of issue: 23 June 1899. Citation. Voluntarily went ashore in the face of the enemy and aided in the rescue of his wounded comrades; this after several previous attempts at rescue had been frustrated.

WANTON, GEORGE H. (First black man to receive Medal of Honor )
Rank and organization: Private, Troop M, 10th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Tayabacoa, Cuba, 30 June 1898. Entered service at: Paterson, N.J. Birth: Paterson, N.J. Date of issue: 23 June 1899. Citation: Voluntarily went ashore in the face of the enemy and aided in the rescue of his wounded comrades; this after several previous attempts at rescue had been frustrated.

1815 USS Peacock takes HMS Nautilus, last action of the War of 1812.

1863 Union and Confederate cavalries clashed at Hanover, Pennsylvania

1864. Abraham Lincoln signed the Yosemite Valley Grant Act. The legislation gave California the Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Big Tree Grove "upon the express conditions that the premises shall be held for public use, resort, and recreation."



1908 An asteroid exploded above Tunguska in Siberia, leaving 800 square miles of scorched or flattened trees.

1917 Jazz singer Lena Horne was born in Brooklyn, N.Y.

1921 Warren G. Harding appointed former President William Howard Taft chief justice of the United States.

1934 Adolf Hitler began his "blood purge" of political and military leaders in Germany in "The Night of the Long Knives."

1936 The novel "Gone with the Wind" by Margaret Mitchell was published.

1940 German forces occupy the Channel Islands.

1941 The German Second Panzer Group captures Bobryusk, Russia.

1941 Soviet western front commander, General Dmitri Pavlov, and his leading officers are executed for incompetence.

1941 Vichy severs diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union.

1941 The German 163.Infanterie-Division was allowed to cross neutral Sweden, without it's arms, from Norway to Finland to became part of Mannerheim's Finnish Karelian Corps by 30 June, 1941.

1941 An Australian squadron flying American-model aircraft, shot down a formation of 6 Vichy-French Glenn Martin bombers in aerial combat over North Africa.

1941 The Biritsh Maud Committee concludes that it is possible to build a bomb based on nuclear fission. Such a bomb containing 25 pounds of active material would produce an effect equivalent to 1,800 tons of TNT, as well as large quantities of radioactive substances. The material for the first bomb could be ready by 1944 in the committee's view.

1942 British newspapers report that the Nazis have killed over a million Jews in occupied Europe.

1943 Operation Cartwheel launched at Pacific, which featured a multi-pronged assault on Rabaul and several islands in the Solomon Sea.

1943 The French West Indies decide to dump Vichy and throw in with the Free French.

1943 A force composed of Australians and Americans, known as the McKechine Force lands at Nassau Bay near Salamaua, New Guinea. As part of this, the USN's Task Force 76 lands the 112th Cavalry Regiment and the 158th Infantry Regiment, on Woodlark and Kiriwina Islands in Nassau Bay. The action was principally American, but Australians participated in the landings.

1944 The United States breaks diplomatic relations with Finland.

1944 Finland and the Soviet Union fight the Battle of Tali-Ihantala, with the Finns largely prevailing in the defense.

1950 Three days after the United Nations Security Council voted to provide military assistance to South Korea, President Truman orders U.S. armed forces to assist in defending that nation from invading North Korean armies.

1955 The U.S. began funding West Germany’s rearmament.

1957 The American occupation headquarters in Japan was dissolved

1971 The 26th Amendment to the Constitution, lowering the minimum voting age to 18, was ratified as Ohio became the 38th state to approve it.

1971 The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the release of the Pentagon Papers.

1997 The Union Jack was lowered for the last time over Government House in Hong Kong.

[Pat Holscher]

Re: June 29:
I'm afraid the calendar has let us down today as there are no entries
Feel free to add those of military horse interest if you are aware of any for today's date.

That darned lazy calendar! Not only is it taking the summer off, it's slacking off!

Well, here's one:

1969 The Jimi Hendrix Experience, fronted of course by former paratrooper James Marshall Hendricks, played their last concert on the last day of the Denver Pop Festival. After this, Hendrix would play with The Band of Gypsies, whom he felt more kinship with, being composed of personal musical fellows with a similar blues background, and whom he'd met in the Army.

[Pat Holscher]

June 30

1868 Fort Fred Steele established where the Union Pacific Railroad crossed the North Platte River.

1955 The United States began funding West German rearmament.

[selewis]

June 28, 1872 d. Ronald, survivor of Balaclava (the Earl of Cardigan's horse)

[Calendar]

July 1

One of those really big days in history.

Today in Canada Day

776 BC The First Olympiad begins.

1520 Conquistadors led by Hernán Cortés fight their way out of Tenochtitlan.

1559 King Henry II of France mortally wounded in a jousting match against Gabriel de Montgomery.

1656 The first Quakers, Mary Fisher and Ann Austin, arrived in Boston and were arrested.

1690 Battle of the Boyne. William III defeats James II.

1759 Brigadier General Robert Monckton captures Point Lévis.

1776 The Continental Congress, sitting as a committee, met to debate a resolution submitted by Virginia delegate Richard Henry Lee which stated that the United Colonies "are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States." The committee voted for the motion.

1777 John Burgoyne reaches Fort Ticonderoga and starts a week-long siege.

1782 American privateers raid Lunenburg, Nova Scotia.

1794 Blue Jacket attacks Fort Recovery.

1802 Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy, born.

1812 Upper Canada gives US citizens fourteen days to leave the province.

1823 United Provinces of Central America gain independence from Mexico. They did not remain united.

1833 Alfred Thomas Archimedes Torbert, Brig Gen, U.S., born.

1837 William Lyon Mackenzie helps found the Committee of Vigilance of Upper Canada in order to form a provisional revolutionary government for Upper Canada.

1850 Naval School at Annapolis renamed Naval Academy.

1851 The Naval Academy adopts a four year course of study.

1861 Skirmish at Falling Waters/Martinsburg, Maryland sees the Union prevail.

1861 The US War Department ordered that Kansas and Tennessee be canvassed for volunteers.

1861 The first stagecoaches to use the Northern (Central) Route via Forts Kearny, Laramie and Bridger began to use that route, which was no doubt rather dangerous at the time.

1862 The US outlawed polygamy by way of the Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act which also granted large tracts of public land to the states with the directive to sell for the support of institutions teaching the mechanical and agricultural arts. It also obligated state male university students to military training. The education initiative resulted in 68 land-grant colleges.

1862 Day 7 of the 7 Day's Battle.

1862 Battle of Holly Spring, Massachusetts.

1862 US initiates income tax of incomes of $600 or more to help finance the Civil War.

1862 Battle of Booneville Massachusetts sees Gen. Beauregard evacuates Corinth.

1863 Day one of the epic battle of Gettysburg sees Lee's Confederate Army of Virginia largely gain the upper hand.


Gettysburg in 1913.

1864 Battle of Petersburg commences.

1867 The Dominion of Canada formed.

1870 James W Smith becomes the first black man to enter West Point.

1872 Louis Bleriot, first to fly an airplane across English Channel, born.

1873 Henry Flipper of Georgia becomes the second black man to enter West Point.

1898 - "As part of their campaign to capture Spanish-held Santiago de Cuba on the southern coast of Cuba, the U.S. Army Fifth Corps engages Spanish forces at El Caney and San Juan Hill. In May 1898, one month after the outbreak of the Spanish-American War, a Spanish fleet docked in the Santiago de Cuba harbor after racing across the Atlantic from Spain. A superior U.S. naval force arrived soon after and blockaded the harbor entrance. In June, the U.S. Army Fifth Corps landed on Cuba with the aim of marching to Santiago and launching a coordinated land and sea assault on the Spanish stronghold. Included among the U.S. ground troops were the Theodore Roosevelt-led "Rough Riders," a collection of Western cowboys and Eastern blue bloods officially known as the First U.S. Voluntary Cavalry. The U.S. Army Fifth Corps fought its way to Santiago's outer defenses, and on July 1 U.S. General William Shafter ordered an attack on the village of El Caney and San Juan Hill. Shafter hoped to capture El Caney before besieging the fortified heights of San Juan Hill, but the 500 Spanish defenders of the village put up a fierce resistance and held off 10 times their number for most of the day. Although El Caney was not secure, some 8,000 Americans pressed forward toward San Juan Hill. Hundreds fell under Spanish gunfire before reaching the base of the heights, where the force split up into two flanks to take San Juan Hill and Kettle Hill. The Rough Riders were among the troops in the right flank attacking Kettle Hill. When the order was given by Lieutenant John Miley that "the heights must be taken at all hazards," the Rough Riders, who had been forced to leave their horses behind because of transportation difficulties, led the charge up the hills. The Rough Riders and the black soldiers of the 9th and 10th Cavalry regiments were the first up Kettle Hill, and San Juan Hill was taken soon after. From the crest, the Americans found themselves overlooking Santiago, and the next day they began a siege of the city. On July 3, the Spanish fleet was destroyed off Santiago by U.S. warships under Admiral William Sampson, and on July 17 the Spanish surrendered the city--and thus Cuba--to the Americans".

Quote from: http://tdiumh.blogspot.com/2005/07/july-1.html

1st U.S. Volunteer Cavalry, immediately post battle.

1903 Amy Johnson, first woman to fly England to Australia, born.

1903 Geronimo is baptized in the Methodist Church.

1911 The trial of first Navy aircraft, Curtiss A-1, occurs.

1913 Serbia and Greece declare war on Bulgaria.

1915 Canadian Army sets up Hospital Commission.

1916 - British, Commonwealth and French troops launch the battle of the Somme. In the costliest day of fighting in its history the British army suffers approximately 60,000 casualties in the first 24 hours. Around 20,000 of those are KIAs.

I saw an interview with a Canadian veteran of the Somme. He was in his nineties at the time. The first wave of the Canadian first division had gone over the top. Most of them made less than 30 yards from the trench. This gentleman was in the second wave. It was said that when the second wave went over the top the machine gun fire was so heavy that men instinctively ducked their heads, chin down against their chests as you do when stepping into a driving rain. The interviewer asked the old man, "When you had seen what happened to the first wave, why did you go?" The old man stopped and thought for several moments then replied, "I'm damned if I know, I suppose I didn't want to let my mates down."

1919. Prohibition went into effect. This is partially related to a military event, as the final push for prohibition really came about due to World War One. There was a fear that the returning troops, exposed to the joys of French wine, might return to the US to booze it up and engage in vices. Prohibition was passed partially as an effort to counter that.

I can't help but note that Prohibition went into effect immediately prior to the big 4th of July Holiday.

1940 German troops occupy the Channel Islands.

1942 The Germans capture Sevastopol.

1943 Marine 4th Raider Bn captures Viru Harbor on New Georgia.

1943 "Pay-as-you-go" income tax withholding began.

1945 Australians land at Balikpapan, Borneo.

1946 US atomic bomb test at Bikini Atoll sees the world's 4th nuclear explosion.

1950 First US ground troops arrive in Korea.

1956 The Highway Revenue Act of 1956 was put into effect by Congress with the goal of creating a fund for the construction of over 42,500 miles of Interstate Highways 13 years.

1960 The Congo gains independence from Belgium.

1961 British troops land in Kuwait to prevent an Iraqi invasion. Hmmm. . . . seems like that might have happened twice.

1962 Belgian "Trust Territories" of Burundi and Rwanda became independent.

1968 The United States, UK, USSR and 58 other nations signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty

1969 Prince Charles is invested as the Prince of Wales.

1997 The UK turns Hong Kong over to the PRC.

Congressional Medals of Honor awarded for action on this day:

BRONNER, AUGUST F.: Civil War. Private, Company C, 1st New York Artillery. Place and date: At White Oak Swamp, Va., 30 June 1862. At Malvern Hill, Va., 1 July 1862. Citation: Continued to fight after being severely wounded.

COATES, JEFFERSON: Civil War. Sergeant, Company H, 7th Wisconsin Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 1 July 1863. Citation: Unsurpassed courage in battle, where he had both eyes shot out.

GILLIGAN, EDWARD L.: Civil War. First Sergeant, Company E, 88th Pennsylvania Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 1 July 1863. Citation: Assisted in the capture of a Confederate flag by knocking down the color sergeant.

HUIDEKOPER, HENRY S.: Civil War. Lieutenant Colonel, 150th Pennsylvania Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 1 July 1863. Citation: While engaged in repelling an attack of the enemy, received a severe wound of the right arm, but instead of retiring remained at the front in command of the regiment.

IRSCH, FRANCIS: Civil War. Captain, Company D, 45th New York Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 1 July 1863. Citation: Gallantry in flanking the enemy and capturing a number of prisoners and in holding a part of the town against heavy odds while the Army was rallying on Cemetery Hill.

OSBORNE, WILLIAM H.: Civil War. Private, Company C, 29th Massachusetts Infantry. Place and date: At Malvern Hill, Va., 1 July 1862. Citation: Although wounded and carried to the rear, he secured a rifle and voluntarily returned to the front, where, failing to find his own regiment, he joined another and fought with it until again severely wounded and taken prisoner.

RAFFERTY, PETER: Civil War. : Private, Company B, 69th New York Infantry. Place and date: At Malvern Hill, Va., 1 July 1862. Citation: Having been wounded and directed to the rear, declined to go, but continued in action, receiving several additional wounds, which resulted in his capture by the enemy and his total disability for military service.

REISINGER, J. MONROE: Civil War. Corporal, Company H, 150th Pennsylvania Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 1 July 1863. Citation: Specially brave and meritorious conduct in the face of the enemy. Awarded under Act of Congress, January 25, 1907.

RIPLEY, WILLIAM Y. W.: Civil War. : Lieutenant Colonel, 1st U.S. Sharpshooters. Place and date: At Malvern Hill, Va., 1 July 1862. Citation: At a critical moment brought up two regiments, which he led against the enemy himself, being severely wounded.

RUTTER, JAMES M.: Civil War. Sergeant, Company C, 143d Pennsylvania Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 1 July 1863. Citation: At great risk of his life went to the assistance of a wounded comrade, and while under fire removed him to a place of safety.

SELLERS, ALFRED J.: Civil War. Major, 90th Pennsylvania Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 1 July 1863. Citation: Voluntarily led the regiment under a withering fire to a position from which the enemy was repulsed.

TOBIN, JOHN M.: Civil War. First Lieutenant and Adjutant, 9th Massachusetts Infantry. Place and date: At Malvern Hill, Va., 1 July 1862. Citation: Voluntarily took command of the 9th Massachusetts while adjutant, bravely fighting from 3 p.m. until dusk, rallying and re_forming the regiment under fire; twice picked up the regimental flag, the color bearer having been shot down, and placed it in worthy hands.

WALLER, FRANCIS A.: Civil War. Corporal, Company I, 6th Wisconsin Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 1 July 1863. Citation: Capture of flag of 2d Mississippi Infantry (C.S.A.).

AHERN, WILLIAM: Peacetime award. Watertender, U.S. Navy. Citation: On board the U.S.S. Puritan at the time of the collapse of one of the crown sheets of boiler E of that vessel, 1 July 1897. Wrapped in wet cloths to protect his face and arms, Ahern entered the fireroom, crawled over the tops of the boilers and closed the auxiliary stop valve, disconnecting boiler E and removing the danger of disabling the other boilers.

WILSON, AUGUST: Peacetime award. Boilermaker, U.S. Navy. Citation: For gallant conduct while serving on board the U.S.S. Puritan and at the time of the collapse of one of the crown sheets of boiler E on that vessel, 1 July 1897. Wrapping wet cloths about his face and arms, Wilson entered the fireroom and opened the safety valve, thus removing the danger of disabling the other boilers.

BAKER, EDWARD L., JR. Spanish American War. : Sergeant Major, 10th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Santiago, Cuba, 1 July 1898. Birth: Laramie County, Wyo. Date of issue: 3 July 1902. Citation: Left cover and, under fire, rescued a wounded comrade from drowning.


Baker is a very unusual example of a black soldier in the segregated Army as he was promoted to the rank of Captain following the Spanish American War and retired at that rank in 1902. He was in a command position, at that rank, in the 49th Infantry.

BERG, GEORGE: Spanish American War. Private, Company C, 17th U.S. Infantry. Place and date: At El Caney, Cuba, 1 July 1898. Gallantly assisted in the rescue of the wounded from in front of the lines and while under heavy fire of the enemy.

BROOKIN, OSCAR: Spanish American War. Private, Company C, 17th U.S. Infantry. Place and date: At El Caney, Cuba, 1 July 1898. ECitation: Gallantly assisted in the rescue of the wounded from in front of the lines and under heavy fire from the enemy.

BUZZARD, ULYSSES G.: Spanish American War. Corporal, Company C, 17th U.S. Infantry. Place and date: At El Caney, Cuba, 1 July 1898. Citation: Gallantly assisted in the rescue of the wounded from in front of the lines and under heavy fire from the enemy.

CANTRELL, CHARLES P.: Spanish American War. Private, Company F, 10th U.S. Infantry. Place and date: At Santiago, Cuba, 1 July 1898. Citation: Gallantly assisted in the rescue of the wounded from in front of the lines and under heavy fire from the enemy.

CUMMINS, ANDREW J.: Spanish American War. Sergeant, Company F, 10th U.S. Infantry. Place and date: At Santiago, Cuba, 1 July 1898. Citation: Gallantly assisted in the rescue of the wounded from in front of the lines and under heavy fire of the enemy.

DE SWAN, JOHN F.: Spanish American War. Private, Company H, 21st U.S. Infantry. Place and date: At Santiago, Cuba, 1 July 1898. Entered service at: Philadelphia, Pa. Birth: Philadelphia, Pa. Date of issue: 22 June 1899. Citation: Gallantly assisted in the rescue of the wounded from in front of the lines and under heavy fire from the enemy.

DOHERTY, THOMAS M.: Spanish American War. Corporal, Company H, 21st U.S. Infantry. Place and date: At Santiago, Cuba, 1 July 1898. Citation: Gallantly assisted in the rescue of the wounded from in front of the lines and while under heavy fire from the enemy.

FOURNIA, FRANK O.: Spanish American War. Private, Company H, 21st U.S. Infantry. Place and date: At Santiago, Cuba, 1 July 1898. Citation: Gallantly assisted in the rescue of the wounded from in front of the lines and while under heavy fire of the enemy.

GRAVES, THOMAS J.: Spanish American War. Private, Company C, 17th U.S. Infantry. Place and date: At El Caney, Cuba, 1 July 1898. Citation: Gallantly assisted in the rescue of the wounded from in front of the lines and under heavy fire from the enemy.

HARDAWAY, BENJAMIN F.: Spanish American War. First Lieutenant, 17th U .S. Infantry. Place and date: At El Caney, Cuba, 1 July 1898. Citation: Gallantly assisted in the rescue of the wounded from in front of the lines and under heavy fire from the enemy.

KELLER, WILLIAM: Spanish American War. Private, Company F, 10th U.S. Infantry. Place and date: At Santiago de Cuba, 1 July 1898. Citation: Gallantly assisted in the rescue of the wounded from in front of the lines and under heavy fire of the enemy.

KELLY, THOMAS: Spanish American War. Private, Company H, 21st U.S. Infantry. Place and date: At Santiago de Cuba, 1 July 1898. Citation: Gallantly assisted in the rescue of the wounded from in front of the lines and while under heavy fire from the enemy.

MILLS, ALBERT L.: Spanish American War. Captain and Assistant Adjutant General, U.S. Volunteers. Place and date: Near Santiago, Cuba, 1 July 1898. Citation: Distinguished gallantry in encouraging those near him by his bravery and coolness after being shot through the head and entirely without sight.

NASH, JAMES J.: Spanish American War. Private, Company F, 10th U.S. Infantry. Place and date: At Santiago, Cuba, 1 July 1898.Citation: Gallantly assisted in the rescue of the wounded from in front of the lines and under heavy fire from the enemy.

NEE, GEORGE H.: Spanish American War. Private, Company H, 21st U.S. Infantry. Place and date: At Santiago, Cuba, 1 July 1898. Citation: Gallantly assisted in the rescue of the wounded from in front of the lines and under heavy fire from the enemy.

PFISTERER, HERMAN: Spanish American War. Musician, Company H, 21st U.S. Infantry. Place and date: At Santiago, Cuba, 1 July 1898. Gallantly assisted in the rescue of the wounded from in front of the lines and under heavy fire from the enemy.

POLOND, ALFRED: Spanish American War. Private, Company F, 10th U.S. Infantry. Place and date: At Santiago, Cuba, 1 July 1898. Citation: Gallantly assisted in the rescue of the wounded from in front of the lines and while under heavy fire of the enemy.

QUINN, ALEXANDER M.: Spanish American War. Sergeant, Company A, 13th U.S. Infantry. Place and date: At Santiago, Cuba, 1 July 1898. Citation: Gallantly assisted in the rescue of the wounded from in front of the lines and under heavy fire from the enemy.

RESSLER, NORMAN W.: Spanish American War. Corporal, Company D, 17th U.S. Infantry. Place and date: At El Caney, Cuba, 1 July 1898. Citation: Gallantly assisted in the rescue of the wounded from in front of the lines and under heavy fire of the enemy.

ROBERTS, CHARLES D.: Spanish American War. Second Lieutenant, U.S. Army, 17th U.S. Infantry. Place and date: At El Caney, Cuba, 1 July 1898. Entered service at: Fort D. A. Russell, Wyo. Birth: Fort D. A. Russell, Wyo. Date of issue: 21 June 1899. Citation: Gallantly assisted in the rescue of the wounded from in front of the lines under heavy fire of the enemy.

ROOSEVELT, THEODORE: Spanish American War. Lt. Col. 1st U.S. Volunteer Cavalry. 1 July 1898. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty:
Lieutenant Colonel Theodore Roosevelt distinguished himself by acts of bravery on 1 July, 1898, near Santiago de Cuba, Republic of Cuba, while leading a daring charge up San Juan Hill. Lieutenant Colonel Roosevelt, in total disregard for his personal safety, and accompanied by only four or five men, led a desperate and gallant charge up San Juan Hill, encouraging his troops to continue the assault through withering enemy fire over open countryside. Facing the enemy's heavy fire, he displayed extraordinary bravery throughout the charge, and was the frst to reach the enemy trenches, where he quickly killed one of the enemy with his pistol, allowing his men to continue the assault. His leadership and valor turned the tide in the Battle for San Juan Hill. Lieutenant Colonel Roosevelt's extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect greet credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.

SHEPHERD, WARREN J.: Spanish American War. Corporal, Company D, 17th U.S. Infantry. Place and date: At El Caney, Cuba, 1 July 1898.Citation. Gallantly assisted in the rescue of the wounded from in front of the lines under heavy fire from the enemy.

WENDE, BRUNO: Spanish American War. Private, Company C, 17th U.S. Infantry. Place and date: At El Caney, Cuba, 1 July 1898. Citation: Gallantly assisted in the rescue of the wounded from in front of the lines and under heavy fire from the enemy.

Last supplemented on Sunday, July 1, 2012.

[Couvi]

1862 Battle of Holly Spring, Massachusetts.

Rebels raid Union supply depot at Holly Springs, Mississippi

On this day in 1862, Confederate General Earl Van Dorn thwarts Union General Ulysses S. Grant's first attempt to capture Vicksburg, Mississippi, when Van Dorn attacks Grant's supplies at Holly Springs, Mississippi.

Grant planned a two-pronged attack on the last Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi River. He would take a force from western Tennessee to approach Vicksburg from the interior of Mississippi. Meanwhile, Union General William T. Sherman would lead an army down the Mississippi River for an attack from the north. Grant said, "We can go as far as supplies can go."

The plan started on a good note for the Yankees when Grant's army pushed aside Confederates in northern Mississippi. In response, Confederate cavalry colonel John Griffith suggested attacking Grant's supply line at Holly Springs, and recommended Van Dorn for the mission. Up to that point, Van Dorn had done little to build his reputation. He lost the Battle of Pea Ridge in Arkansas and the Battle of Corinth, Mississippi, earlier in 1862, and was known for his drunkenness and tendency to cavort with prostitutes.

Van Dorn gathered three cavalry brigades and left Grenada, Mississippi, on December 17. On December 20, his forces fell on the Union supply depot at Holly Springs, driving the Yankee defenders away and capturing materials. What could not be carried was destroyed. Van Dorn remained in the area a few more days, cutting rail and telegraph lines, before fleeing in the face of pursuing Union cavalry. The Confederates rode 500 miles in two weeks, returning on December 28 after successfully disrupting Grant's campaign. The raid was the highlight of Van Dorn's military career. He was murdered five months later by the husband of a woman with whom he was having an affair.

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-hist ... ississippi

[Calendar]

July 2

626 Li Shimin, the future Emperor Taizong of Tang, Emperor of China, ambushes and kills his rival brothers Li Yuanji and Li Jiancheng in the Incident at Xuanwu Gate.

963 Roman army proclaims Nicephorus Phocas Emperor of the Romans on the plains outside Cappadocian Caesarea.

1613 The first English expedition from Massachusetts against Acadia led by Samuel Argall takes place.

1644 In the English Civil War the Battle of Marston Moor occurs. Cromwell's forces prevail over Royalist forces.

1679 Daniel Greysolon de Du Luth makes treaty with local tribes and plants arms of France at Sioux village of Izatys on Lake Michigan.

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

1698 Thomas Savery patents the first steam engine.

July 2

1775 - George Washington arrived in Boston and took over as commander-in-chief of the new Continental Army.

1776 The Continental Congress passed a resolution that "these United Colonies are, and of right, ought to be, Free and Independent States."

1777 Vermont became the first American colony to abolish slavery.

1798 Irish Rebels defeat small force of Yeomanry at Ballraheen Hill and then move to camp at Croghan.

1800 The British Act of Union is passed

1809 - Alarmed by the growing encroachment of whites squatting on Native American lands, the Shawnee Chief Tecumseh calls on all Indians to unite and resist.

1862 Lincoln signed an act granting land for state agricultural colleges. In its own way, this act would be as significant as the Homestead Acts in its impact upon American society. Many state colleges and universities today owe their existence to this act, although the practical origins of these schools is often forgotten.

1862 Flag Officer L. M. Goldsborough's fleet covered the withdrawal of General McClellan's army after a battle with Confederate forces under General Robert E. Lee at Malvern Hill.

1863 - General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia attacks General George G. Meade's Army of the Potomac at both Culp's Hill and Little Round Top, but fails to move the Yankees from their positions.

1865 Sioux and/or Cheyenne raid the telegraph line near Platte Bridge Station, Wyoming, wounding Sgt. Holding of the 11th Kansas. Sgt. Holding's attacker was killed by Pvt. Hammond, and the body was thought to be that of a European American, not an Indian.

1881 - Only four months into his administration, President James A. Garfield is shot as he walks through a railroad waiting room in Washington, D.C.

1885 Big Bear surrenders to General Strange at Fort Carlton Saskatchewan after his men run out of food and ammunition. He was sentenced with Poundmaker to three years in Stony Mountain Penitentiary.

1890 Congress passed the Sherman Antitrust Act.

1900 The first flight of a zeppelin made by its inventor Count von Zeppelin, took place at a field outside Berlin, Germany.

1901 The 6th Cavalry was engaged in action at Patian Island, Philippines (see CMH citations for today).

1922 Heavy fighting took place in Dublin during the Irish Rebellion.

1926 The U.S. Army Air Corps was created.

1926 An Act of Congress established the Soldier’s Medal for acts of heroism not involving actual conflict with an enemy.

1932 Democrats nominated New York Gov. Franklin D. Roosevelt for president at their convention in Chicago.

1937 Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan disappeared over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to make the first round-the-world flight at the equator. The CGC Itasca, while conducting re-supply operations in the Central Pacific, made the last-known radio contact with the plane.

1940 OKW issues a directive for the invasion of the UK.

1941 An Imperial Conference is held in Japan in which the crown ratifies a decision to attempt to take bases in French Indochina even at the risk of war. Japan also determines to conscript 1,000,000 men in preparation for war and to recall its ships from the Atlantic.

1926 - The Distinguished Flying Cross was established in the Air Corps Act (Act of Congress, Public Law No. 446, 69th Congress).

1941 - The US authorities very soon know of a Japanese determination to attempt to seize bases in Indonesia even if it should precipitate war through their code-breaking service which has managed to work out the key to the major Japanese diplomatic code and some other minor operational codes.

1944 The first elements of the Brazilian Expeditionary Force sail from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for Italy.

1947 - An object crashed near Roswell, N.M. The Army Air Force later insisted it was a weather balloon, but eyewitness accounts gave rise to speculation it might have been an alien spacecraft.

36 Medal of Honor citations at Gettysburg today.

1950 USS Juneau and two British ships sink 5 of 6 attacking North Korean torpedo boats and gunboats in the only significant naval engagement of the Korean War.

1950 The Royal Australian Air Force 77 Squadron began flying F-51 Mustang missions in Korea.

1951 The U.S. 3rd Infantry Division launched Operation DOUGHNUT, a series of attacks directed against hills in the Iron Triangle.

1957 The Seawolf, the first submarine powered by liquid metal cooled reactor, was completed.

1957 Grayback, the first submarine designed to fire guided missiles, was launched.

1964 Civil Rights Act of 1964 signed into law.

1966 First French nuclear explosion takes place on the Mururoa atoll.

1980 US Draft registration for 18 year old men resumes.

Congressional Medals of Honor for action on this day:

ALLEN, NATHANIEL M.: Corporal, Company B, 1st Massachusetts Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 2 July 1863. Entered service at: Boston, Mass. Birth: Boston, Mass. Date of issue: 29 March 1899. Citation: When his regiment was falling back, this soldier, bearing the national color, returned in the face of the enemy's fire, pulled the regimental flag from under the body of its bearer, who had fallen, saved the flag from capture, and brought both colors off the field.

CAREY, HUGH: Sergeant, Company E, 82d New York Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 2 July 1863. Entered service at: ------. Birth: Ireland. Date of issue: 6 February 1888. Citation: Captured the flag of the 7th Virginia Infantry (C.S.A.), being twice wounded in the effort.

CARLISLE, CASPER R.: Private, Company F, Independent Pennsylvania Light Artillery. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 2 July 1863. Entered service at: Allegheny County, Pa. Birth: Allegheny County, Pa. Date of issue: 21 December 1892. Citation: Saved a gun of his battery under heavy musketry fire, most of the horses being killed and the drivers wounded.

CHAMBERLAIN, JOSHUA L.: Colonel, 20th Maine Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 2 July 1863. Entered service at: Brunswick, Maine. Born: 8 September 1828, Brewer Maine. Date of issue: 11 August 1893. Citation: Daring heroism and great tenacity in holding his position on the Little Round Top against repeated assaults, and carrying the advance position on the Great Round Top.

CLARK, HARRISON: Corporal, Company E, 125th New York Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 2 July 1863. Entered service at: Chatham, N.Y. Birth: Chatham, N.Y. Date of issue: 11 June 1895. Citation: Seized the colors and advanced with them after the color bearer had been shot.

FASSETT, JOHN B.: Captain, Company F, 23d Pennsylvania Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 2 July 1863. Entered service at: Philadelphia, Pa. Birth: Philadelphia, Pa. Date of issue: 29 December 1894. Citation: While acting as an aide, voluntarily led a regiment to the relief of a battery and recaptured its guns from the enemy.

FORCE, MANNING F.: Brigadier General, U.S. Volunteers. Place and date: At Atlanta, Ga., 22 July 1864. Entered service at: Cincinnati, Ohio. Born: Washington, D.C. 17 December 1824. Date of issue: 31 March 1892. Citation: Charged upon the enemy's works, and after their capture defended his position against assaults of the enemy until he was severely wounded.

FURMAN, CHESTER S.: Corporal, Company A, 6th Pennsylvania Reserves. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 2 July 1863. Entered service at: ------. Birth: Columbia, Pa. Date of issue: 3 August 1897. Citation: Was 1 of 6 volunteers who charged upon a log house near Devil's Den, where a squad of the enemy's sharpshooters were sheltered, and compelled their surrender.

GAGE, RICHARD J.: Private, Company D, 104th Illinois Infantry Place and date: Elk River, Tenn., 2 July 1863. Entered service at. Ottawa, Ill. Birth: Grafton County, N.H. Date of issue: 30 October 1897. Citation: Voluntarily joined a small party that, under a heavy fire, captured a stockade and saved the bridge.

HART, JOHN W.: Sergeant, Company D, 6th Pennsylvania Reserves. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 2 July 1863. Entered service at: Cumberland, Md. Birth: Germany. Date of issue: 3 August 1897. Citation: Was one of six volunteers who charged upon a log house near the Devil's Den, where a squad of the enemy's sharpshooters were sheltered, and compelled their surrender.

HOLLAND, LEMUEL F.: Corporal, Company D, 104th Illinois Infantry. Place and date: At Elk River, Tenn., 2 July 1863. Entered service at: La Salle County, Ill. Birth. Burlington, Ohio. Date of issue: 30 October 1897. Citation: Voluntarily joined a small party that, under a heavy fire, captured a stockade and saved the bridge.

HORAN, THOMAS
Rank and organization. Sergeant, Company E, 72d New York Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 2 July 1863. Entered service at: Dunkirk, N.Y. Birth:------. Date of issue: 5 April 1898. Citation: In a charge of his regiment this soldier captured the regimental flag of the 8th Florlda Infantry (C.S.A.).

HOUGHTON, GEORGE L.: Private, Company D, 104th Illinois Infantry. Place and date: At Elk River, Tenn., 2 July 1863. Entered service at: Brookfield, Cook County, Ill. Birth: Canada. Date of issue: 27 March 1900. Citation: Voluntarily joined a small party that, under a heavy fire, captured a stockade and saved the bridge.

JOHNSON, WALLACE W.: Sergeant, Company G, 6th Pennsylvania Reserves. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 2 July 1863. Entered service at: Waverly, N.Y. Birth: Newfield, N.Y. Date of issue: 8 August 1900. Citation: With five other volunteers gallantly charged on a number of the enemy's sharpshooters concealed in a log house, captured them, and brought them into the Union lines.

KNOX, EDWARD M.: Second Lieutenant, 15th New York Battery. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 2 July 1863. Entered service at: New York, N.Y. Birth: New York, N.Y. Date of issue: 18 October 1892. Citation: Held his ground with the battery after the other batteries had fallen back until compelled to draw his piece off by hand; he was severely wounded.

LONERGAN, JOHN: Captain, Company A, 13th Vermont Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 2 July 1863. Entered service at: Burlington, Vt. Birth: Ireland. Date of issue: 28 October 1893. Citation: Gallantry in the recapture of 4 guns and the capture of 2 additional guns from the enemy; also the capture of a number of prisoners.

MARSH, GEORGE: Sergeant, Company D, 104th Illinois Infantry. Place and date: At Elk River, Tenn., 2 July 1863. Entered service at: Brookfield, La Salle County, Ill. Birth: Brookfield, La Salle County, Ill. Date of issue: 17 September 1897. Citation: Voluntarily led a small party and, under a heavy fire, captured a stockade and saved the bridge.

MEARS, GEORGE W.: Sergeant, Company A, 6th Pennsylvania Reserves. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 2 July 1863. Entered service at: Bloomsburgh, Pa. Birth: Bloomsburgh, Pa. Date of issue: 16 February 1897. Citation: With five volunteers he gallantly charged on a number of the enemy's sharpshooters concealed in a log house, captured them, and brought them into the Union lines.

PIPES, JAMES: Captain, Company A, 140th Pennsylvania Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 2 July 1863; At Reams Station, Va., 25 August 1864. Entered service at: ------. Birth: Green County, Pa. Date of issue: 5 April 1898. Citation: While a sergeant and retiring with his company before the rapid advance of the enemy at Gettysburg, he and a companion stopped and carried to a place of safety a wounded and helpless comrade; in this act both he and his companion were severely wounded. A year later, at Reams Station, Va., while commanding a skirmish line, voluntarily assisted in checking a flank movement of the enemy, and while so doing was severely wounded, suffering the loss of an arm.

POSTLES, JAMES PARKE: Captain, Company A, 1st Delaware Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 2 July 1863. Entered service at: Wilmington, Del. Born: 28 September 1840, Camden, Del. Date of issue: 22 July 1892. Citation: Voluntarily delivered an order in the face of heavy fire of the enemy.

PURMAN, JAMES J.: Lieutenant, Company A, 140th Pennsylvania Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 2 July 1863. Entered service at: Greene County, Pa. Birth: ------. Dare of issue: 30 October 1896. Citation: Voluntarily assisted a wounded comrade to a place of apparent safety while the enemy were in close proximity; he received the fire of the enemy and a wound which resulted in the amputation of his left leg.

REED, CHARLES W.: Bugler, 9th Independent Battery, Massachusetts Light Artillery. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 2 July 1863. Entered service at: ------. Birth: Charlestown, Mass. Date of issue: 16 August 1895. Citation: Rescued his wounded captain from between the lines.

ROOSEVELT, GEORGE W.: First Sergeant, Company K. 26th Pennsylvania Infantry. Place and date: At Bull Run, Va., 30 August 1862. At Gettysburg, Pa., 2 July 1863. Entered service at: Chester Pa. Birth: Chester, Pa. Date of issue: 2 July 1887. Citation: At Bull Run, Va., recaptured the colors, which had been seized by the enemy. At Gettysburg captured a Confederate color bearer and color, in which effort he was severely wounded.

ROUSH, J. LEVI: Corporal, Company D, 6th Pennsylvania Reserves. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 2 July 1863. Entered service at: ------. Birth: Bedford County, Pa. Date of issue: 3 August 1897. Citation: Was 1 of 6 volunteers who charged upon a log house near the Devil's Den, where a squad of the enemy's sharpshooters were sheltered, and compelled their surrender.

SHAPLAND, JOHN: Private, Company D, 104th Illinois Infantry. Place and date: At Elk River, Tenn., 2 July 1863. Entered service at: Ottawa, Ill. Birth: England. Date of issue: 30 October 1897. Citation: Voluntarily joined a small party that, under a heavy fire, captured a stockade and saved the bridge.

SICKLES, DANIEL E.: Major General, U.S. Volunteers. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 2 July 1863. Entered service at: New York, N.Y. Birth: New York, N.Y. Date of issue: 30 October 1897. Citation: Displayed most conspicuous gallantry on the field vigorously contesting the advance of the enemy and continuing to encourage his troops after being himself severely wounded.

SLAGLE, OSCAR: Private, Company D, 104th Illinois Infantry. Place and date: At Elk River, Tenn., 2 July 1863. Entered service at: Manlius, Ill. Birth: Fulton County, Ohio. Date of issue: 30 October 1897. Citation: Voluntarily joined a small party that, under a heavy fire, captured a stockade and saved the bridge.

SMALLEY, REUBEN S.: Private, Company D, 104th Illinois Infantry. Place and date: At Elk River, Tenn., 2 July 1863. Entered service at: Brookfield, La Salle County, Ill. Birth: Washington County, Pa. Date of issue: 30 October 1897. Citation: Voluntarily joined a small party that, under a heavy fire, captured a stockade and saved the bridge.

SMITH, THADDEUS S.. Corporal, Company E, 6th Pennsylvania Reserve Infantry. Place and date. At Gettysburg, Pa., 2 July 1863. Entered service at: ------. Birth: Franklin County, Pa. Date of issue: 5 May 1900. Citation: Was 1 of 6 volunteers who charged upon a log house near the Devil's Den, where a squad of the enemy's sharpshooters were sheltered, and compelled their surrender.

STACEY, CHARLES: Private, Company D, 55th Ohio Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 2 July 1863. Entered service at: ------. Birth: England. Date of issue: 23 June 1896. Citation: Voluntarily took an advanced position on the skirmish line for the purpose of ascertaining the location of Confederate sharpshooters, and under heavy fire held the position thus taken until the company of which he was a member went back to the main line.

TOZIER, ANDREW J.: Sergeant, Company I, 20th Maine Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 2 July 1863. Entered service at: Plymouth, Maine. Birth: Monmouth, Maine. Date of issue: 13 August 1898. Citation: At the crisis of the engagement this soldier, a color bearer, stood alone in an advanced position, the regiment having been borne back, and defended his colors with musket and ammunition picked up at his feet.

WELBORN, IRA C.: Second Lieutenant, 9th U.S. Infantry. Place and date: At Santiago, Cuba, 2 July 1898. Entered service at: Mico, Miss. Birth: Mico, Miss. Date of issue: 21 June 1899. Citation: Voluntarily left shelter and went, under fire, to the aid of a private of his company who was wounded.

GREER, ALLEN J.: Second Lieutenant, U.S. Army, 4th U.S. Infantry. Place and date: Near Majada, Laguna Province, Philippine Islands, 2 July 1901. Entered service at: Memphis, Tenn. Birth: Memphis, Tenn. Date of issue: 10 March 1902. Citation: Charged alone an insurgent outpost with his pistol, killing 1, wounding 2, and capturing 3 insurgents with their rifles and equipment.

HENDERSON, JOSEPH: Sergeant, Troop B, 6th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Patian Island, Philippine Islands, 2 July 1909. Entered service at: Leavenworth, Kans. Birth: Leavenworth, Kans. Date of issue: Unknown. Citation: While in action against hostile Moros, voluntarily advanced alone, in the face of a heavy fire, to within about 15 yards of the hostile position and refastened to a tree a block and tackle used in checking the recoil of a mountain gun.

MILLER, ARCHIE: First Lieutenant, 6th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Patian Island, Philippine Islands, 2 July 1909. Entered service at: St. Louis, Mo. Birth: Fort Sheridan, Ill. Date of issue: Unknown. Citation: While in action against hostile Moros, when the machinegun detachment, having been driven from its position by a heavy fire, 1 member being killed, did, with the assistance of an enlisted man, place the machinegun in advance of its former position at a distance of about 20 yards from the enemy, in accomplishing which he was obliged to splice a piece of timber to one leg of the gun tripod, all the while being under a heavy fire, and the gun tripod being several times struck by bullets.

Victoria Crosses awarded for action on this day:

O'SULLIVAN Gerald Robert: Captain. 1st Battalion, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, British Army. On 1 July/2 July 1915 south-west of Krithia, Gallipoli, Turkey, Captain O'Sullivan volunteered to lead a party of bomb throwers to recapture a vital trench. He advanced in the open under very heavy fire and in order to throw his bombs with greater effect, got up on the parapet, completely exposed to the enemy occupying the position. He was finally wounded, but his example led his men to make further efforts which resulted in the recapture of the trench. Previously, on 18 June/19 June he had saved a critical situation by his gallantry and leadership.

SOMERS James: Sergeant. 1st Battalion, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, British Army. On 1/2 July 1915, in Gallipoli, Turkey, when, owing to hostile bombing, some of his troops had retired from a sap, Sergeant Somers remained alone there until a party brought up bombs. He then climbed over into the Turkish trench and bombed the Turks with great effect. Later on, he advanced into the open under heavy fire and held back the enemy by throwing bombs into their flank until a barricade had been established. During this period, he frequently ran to and from his trenches to obtain fresh supplies of bombs.

[Couvi]

1865 Sioux and/or Cheyenne raid the telegraph line near Platte Bridge Station, Wyoming, wounding Sgt. Holding of the 11th Kansas. Sgt. Holding's attacker was killed by Pvt. Hammond, and the body was thought to be that of a European American, not an Indian.

In looking for information about Sgt. Holding's attacker who killed by Pvt. Hammond, and whose body was thought to be that of a European American, not an Indian, I discovered this bit on Lt. Caspar Collins:

Lieutenant Caspar Collins: Fighting the Odds at Platte Bridge: http://www.historynet.com/lieutenant-casper-collins-fighting-the-odds-at-platte-bridge.htm Apparently he was a brave young man.

One has to wonder who the European was.

[Calendar]

July 3

987 Hugh Capet crowned King of France.

1187 Saladin's forces destroy Jerusalem's crusader army at the Horns of Hattin, Palestine.

1608 The city of Quebec was founded by Samuel de Champlain.

1775 - On Cambridge common in Massachusetts, George Washington rides out in front of the American troops gathered there, draws his sword, and formally takes command of the Continental Army.

1778 The Wyoming Massacre occurred during the American Revolution in the Wyoming Valley of Pennsylvania. Up to 360 Americans, including women and children, die in the event which had shades of the French Indian War in some ways.
http://www.archive.org/stream/massacreo ... h_djvu.txt

1863 - Troops under Confederate General George Pickett begin a massive attack against the center of the Union lines at Gettysburg on the climactic third day of the Battle of Gettysburg, the largest engagement of the war.After a long Confederate artillery bombardment, the Rebel force moved through the open field and up the slight rise of Cemetery Ridge. But by the time they reached the Union line, the attack had been broken into many small units, and they were unable to penetrate the Yankee center. The failed attack effectively ended the battle of Gettysburg. On July 4, Lee began to withdraw his forces to Virginia. The casualties for both armies were staggering. Lee lost 28,000 of his 75,000 soldiers, and Union losses stood at over 22,000.

1863 Lewis A. Armistead, 46, Brig Gen, C.S.A., killed in action at Gettysburg.

1863 Alonzo Cushing, 1st Lt, U.S.A., killed in action at age 22 at Gettysburg. Approval of an award of the Congressional Medal of Honor has been authorized by the Army, but apparently Congress has not yet authorized the medal. Congressional approval is all that is required in order for this heroic artilleryman to receive the medal that he certainly met the criteria for in 1863.

1863 Richard B Garnett, 46, Brig Gen, C.S.A., killed in action at Gettysburg.

1868 The Wind River Reservation created in Wyoming. Originally the reservation was a reservation for the Shoshone tribe, whose leader, Washakie, had requested that the government set aside a reservation for his people. The Arapahos would come to call the reservation home some years thereafter.

1869 Sioux raid Wind River valley but are driven off by soldiers.

1886 Raymond A Spruance, Admiral, U.S., born.

1890 - Idaho, the last of the 50 states to be explored by whites, is admitted to the union.

1898 The U.S. Navy defeated a Spanish fleet in the harbor at Santiago, Cuba, during the Spanish-American War.

1930 Congress created the Veterans Administration.

1940 British warships destroy the French fleet at Mers-el-Kebir, Algeria, to prevent Germany seizing it.

1943 The Pole Mountain military reservation, formerly used for the training of Wyoming National Guard cavalrymen and cavalrymen from various posts around the region, is opened to civilian picnickers. That this would occur in 1943 says something about the direction the Army was headed in at the time.

1962 Algeria became independent after 132 years of French rule.

1988 The USS Vincennes shot down an Iran Air jetliner over the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 people aboard.

2001 Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic refused to enter a plea on war crimes charges in his first appearance before a U.N. tribunal at The Hague.

Congressional Medals of Honor awarded for action on this day:

There were 38 MOH citations at Gettysburg this day. The following are cavalry at Gettysburg and elsewhere.

WELLS, WILLIAM
Rank and organization: Major, 1st Vermont Cavalry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 3 July 1863. Entered service at: Waterbury, Vt. Born: 14 December 1837, Waterbury, Vt. Date of issue: 8 September 1891. Citation: Led the second battalion of his regiment in a daring charge.

WILEY, JAMES
Rank and organization. Sergeant, Company B, 59th New York Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 3 July 1863. Entered service at: ------. Birth: Ohio. Date of issue: 1 December 1864. Citation: Capture of flag of a Georgia regiment.

WILSON, CHARLES E.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company A, 1st New Jersey Cavalry. Place and date: At Sailors Creek, Va., 6 April 1865. Entered service at: ------. Birth: Bucks County, Pa. Date of issue: 3 July 1865. Citation: Charged the enemy's works, colors in hand, and had 2 horses shot from under him.

BACON, ELIJAH W.

BENEDICT, GEORGE G.

BROWN, MORRIS, JR.

CLOPP, JOHN E.

DE CASTRO, JOSEPH H.

DORE, GEORGE H.

ENDERLIN, RICHARD

FALLS, BENJAMIN F.

FLYNN, CHRISTOPHER

FUGER, FREDERICK

HINCKS, WILLIAM B.

JELLISON, BENJAMIN H.

MAYBERRY, JOHN B.

McCARREN, BERNARD

MILLER, JOHN

MILLER, WILLIAM E. Captain, Company H, 3d Pennsylvania Cavalry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 3 July 1863. Citation: Without orders, led a charge of his squadron upon the flank of the enemy, checked his attack, and cut off and dispersed the rear of his column.

MUNSELL, HARVEY M.

O'BRIEN, HENRY D.

PLATT, GEORGE C. Private, Troop H, 6th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Fairfield, Pa., 3 July 63. Citation: Seized the regimental flag upon the death of the standard bearer in a hand_to_hand fight and prevented it from falling into the hands of the enemy.

RAYMOND, WILLIAM H.

RICE, EDMUND

RICHMOND, JAMES

ROBINSON, JOHN H.

ROOD, OLIVER P.

SHERMAN, MARSHALL

SOUTHARD, DAVID. Sergeant, Company C, 1st New Jersey Cavalry. Place and date. At Sailors Creek, Va., 6 April 1865. Citation: Capture of flag; and was the first man over the works in the charge.

THOMPSON, JAMES B.

VEAZEY, WHEELOCK G.

WALL, JERRY

WEBB, ALEXANDER S.

WILEY, JAMES

WILSON, CHARLES E.

BRADBURY, SANFORD
Rank and organization: First Sergeant, Company L, 8th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Hell Canyon, Ariz., 3 July 1869. Citation: Conspicuous gallantry in action.

HAUPT, PAUL
Rank and organization: Corporal, Company L, 8th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Hell Canyon, Ariz., 3 July 1869. Citation: Gallantry in action.

MITCHELL, JOHN J.
Rank and organization: Corporal, Company L, 8th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Hell Canyon, Ariz., 3 July 1869. Citation: Gallantry in action.

HOLT, GEORGE: Peacetime award. Quarter Gunner, U.S. Navy. Born: 1840, Kentucky. Accredited to: Kentucky. G.O. No.: 180, 10 October 1872. Citation: On board the U.S.S. Plymouth, Hamburg Harbor, 3 July 1871. Jumping overboard at the imminent risk of his life, Holt, with a comrade, rescued from drowning one of a party who was thrown from a shore boat into a 4-knot, running tide while the boat was coming alongside the ship.

TOBIN, PAUL: Peacetime award. Landsman, U.S. Navy. Birth: Plybin, France. Citation: On board the U.S.S. Plymouth, Hamburg Harbor, 3 July 1871. Jumping overboard at the imminent risk of his life, Tobin, with a comrade, rescued from drowning one of a party who was thrown from a shore boat into a 4-knot running tide while the boat was coming alongside the ship.

MAcNEAL, HARRY LEWIS: Spanish American War. Private, U.S. Marine Corps. Citation: On board the U.S.S. Brooklyn during action at the Battle of Santiago de Cuba, 3 July 1898. Braving the fire of the enemy, MacNeal displayed gallantry throughout this action.

GLOWIN, JOSEPH ANTHONY: Dominican Republic. Corporal, U .S. Marine Corps. Citation: During an engagement at Guayacanas on 3 July 1916, Cpl. Glowin participated in action against a considerable force of rebels on the line of march.

WINANS, ROSWELL: Dominican Republic. First Sergeant. U.S. Marine Corps. Place and date: Guayacanas, Dominican Republic, 3 July 1916. Entered service at: Washington. Born. 9 December 1887, Brookville, Ind. G.O. No.: 244, 30 October 1916. Citation: During an engagement at Guavacanas on 3 July 1916, 1st Sgt. Winans participated in action against a considerable force of rebels on the line of march. During a running fight of 1,200 yards, our forces reached the enemy entrenchments and Cpl. Joseph A. Gowin, U.S.M.C., placed the machinegun, of which he had charge, behind a large log across the road and immediately opened fire on the trenches. He was struck once but continued firing his gun, but a moment later he was again struck and had to be dragged out of the position into cover. 1st Sgt. Winans, U.S.M.C., then arrived with a Colt's gun which he placed in a most exposed position, coolly opened fire on the trenches and when the gun jammed, stood up and repaired it under fire. All the time Glowin and Winans were handling their guns they were exposed to a very heavy fire which was striking into the logs and around the men, 7 men being wounded and 1 killed within 20 feet. 1st Sgt. Winans continued flring his gun until the enemy had abandoned the trenches.

Winans rose to the rank of Brigadier General.

KOELSCH, JOHN KELVIN. Korean War. Posthumous award. Lieutenant (J.G.), U.S. Navy, Navy helicopter rescue unit. Place and date: North Korea, 3 July 1951. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving with a Navy helicopter rescue unit. Although darkness was rapidly approaching when information was received that a marine aviator had been shot down and was trapped by the enemy in mountainous terrain deep in hostile territory, Lt. (J.G.) Koelsch voluntarily flew a helicopter to the reported position of the downed airman in an attempt to effect a rescue. With an almost solid overcast concealing everything below the mountain peaks, he descended in his unarmed and vulnerable aircraft without the accompanying fighter escort to an extremely low altitude beneath the cloud level and began a systematic search. Despite the increasingly intense enemy fire, which struck his helicopter on 1 occasion, he persisted in his mission until he succeeded in locating the downed pilot, who was suffering from serious burns on the arms and legs. While the victim was being hoisted into the aircraft, it was struck again by an accurate burst of hostile fire and crashed on the side of the mountain. Quickly extricating his crewmen and the aviator from the wreckage, Lt. (J.G.) Koelsch led them from the vicinity in an effort to escape from hostile troops, evading the enemy forces for 9 days and rendering such medical attention as possible to his severely burned companion until all were captured. Up to the time of his death while still a captive of the enemy, Lt. (J.G.) Koelsch steadfastly refused to aid his captors in any manner and served to inspire his fellow prisoners by his fortitude and consideration for others. His great personal valor and heroic spirit of self-sacrifice throughout sustain and enhance the finest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service.

SHUCK, WILLIAM E., JR.: Korean War. Posthumous award. Staff Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps, Company G, 3d Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division (Rein.). Place and date: Korea, 3 July 1952. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a squad leader of Company G, in action against enemy aggressor forces. When his platoon was subjected to a devastating barrage of enemy small-arms, grenade, artillery, and mortar fire during an assault against strongly fortified hill positions well forward of the main line of resistance, S/Sgt. Shuck, although painfully wounded, refused medical attention and continued to lead his machine gun squad in the attack. Unhesitatingly assuming command of a rifle squad when the leader became a casualty, he skillfully organized the 2 squads into an attacking force and led 2 more daring assaults upon the hostile positions. Wounded a second time, he steadfastly refused evacuation and remained in the foremost position under heavy fire until assured that all dead and wounded were evacuated. Mortally wounded by an enemy sniper bullet while voluntarily assisting in the removal of the last casualty, S/Sgt. Shuck, by his fortitude and great personal valor in the face of overwhelming odds, served to inspire all who observed him. His unyielding courage throughout reflects the highest credit upon himself and the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.

BLANCHFIELD, MICHAEL R.: Vietnam War. Posthumous award. Specialist Fourth Class, U.S. Army, Company A, 4th Battalion, 503d Infantry, 173d Airborne Brigade. Place and date: Binh Dinh Province, Republic of Vietnam, 3 July 1969. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Sp4c. Blanchfield distinguished himself while serving as a rifleman in Company A on a combat patrol. The patrol surrounded a group of houses to search for suspects. During the search of 1 of the huts, a man suddenly ran out toward a nearby tree line. Sp4c. Blanchfield, who was on guard outside the hut, saw the man, shouted for him to halt, and began firing at him as the man ignored the warning and continued to run. The suspect suddenly threw a grenade toward the hut and its occupants. Although the exploding grenade severely wounded Sp4c. Blanchfield and several others, he regained his feet to continue the pursuit of the enemy. The fleeing enemy threw a second grenade which landed near Sp4c. Blanchfield and several members of his patrol. Instantly realizing the danger, he shouted a warning to his comrades. Sp4c. Blanchfield unhesitatingly and with complete disregard for his safety, threw himself on the grenade, absorbing the full and fatal impact of the explosion. By his gallant action and self-sacrifice, he was able to save the lives and prevent injury to 4 members of the patrol and several Vietnamese civilians in the immediate area. Sp4c. Blanchfield's extraordinary courage and gallantry at the cost of his life above and beyond the call of duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the U.S. Army.

FOLLAND, MICHAEL FLEMING: Vietnam War. Posthumous award. Corporal, U.S. Army, Company D, 2d Battalion, 3d Infantry, 199th Infantry Brigade. Place and date: Long Khanh, Providence, Republic of Vietnam, 3 July 1969. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Cpl. Folland distinguished himself while serving as an ammunition bearer with the weapons platoon of Company D, during a reconnaissance patrol mission. As the patrol was moving through a dense jungle area, it was caught in an intense crossfire from heavily fortified and concealed enemy ambush positions. As the patrol reacted to neutralize the ambush, it became evident that the heavy weapons could not be used in the cramped fighting area. Cpl. Folland dropped his recoilless rifle ammunition, and ran forward to join his commander in an assault on the enemy bunkers. The assaulting force moved forward until it was pinned down directly in front of the heavily fortified bunkers by machine gun fire. Cpl. Folland stood up to draw enemy fire on himself and to place suppressive fire on the enemy positions while his commander attempted to destroy the machine gun positions with grenades. Before the officer could throw a grenade, an enemy grenade landed in the position. Cpl. Folland alerted his comrades and his commander hurled the grenade from the position. When a second enemy grenade landed in the position, Cpl. Folland again shouted a warning to his fellow soldiers. Seeing that no one could reach the grenade and realizing that it was about to explode, Cpl. Folland, with complete disregard for his safety, threw himself on the grenade. By his dauntless courage, Cpl. Folland saved the lives of his comrades although he was mortally wounded by the explosion. Cpl. Folland's extraordinary heroism, at the cost of his life, was in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflects great credit upon himself, his unit, and the U.S. Army.

Victoria Crosses awarded for action on this day:

TREWAVAS Joseph: Crimean War. Seaman. Royal Navy. Citation: On 3 July 1855 in the Straits of Genitchi, Sea of Azov in the Crimea, Seaman Trewavas of HMS Beagle was sent in a 4-oared gig to destroy a bridge, and so cut the Russians' main supply route. This was the third attempt, the first two having failed. As the gig ground against the bridge, Seaman Trewavas leapt out with an axe and began to hew away at the hawsers holding the pontoons together, and although the enemy kept up a heavy fire, particularly on Trewavas himself, he continued until his task was completed, and the two severed ends of the pontoon began to drift apart. He was wounded as he got back into the gig.

BERESFORD Lord William Leslie de la Poer: Zulu Wars Captain. 9th Queen's Royal Lancers, British Army. Citation: On 3 July 1879 at Ulundi, Zululand, South Africa, during the retirement of a reconnoitring party, Captain Lord William Beresford went to the assistance of Sergeant Fitzmaurice of the 24th Regiment, whose horse had fallen and rolled on him. The Zulus were coming in great numbers, but Lord William, with help from Sergeant Edmund O'Toole of the Frontier Light Horse.,managed to mount the injured man behind him. He was, however, so dizzy that Sergeant O'Toole, who had been keeping back the advancing Zulus, gave up his carbine and, riding alongside, helped to hold him on until they reached safety.

O'TOOLE Edmund: Zulu War. Sergeant, Frontier Light Horse, British Colonial forces. Citation: On 3 July 1879 at Ulundi, Zululand, South Africa, during the retirement of a reconnoitering party, a captain (Lord William Leslie de la Poer Beresford) of the 9th Lancers went to the assistance of Sergeant Fitzmaurice of the 24th Regiment whose horse had fallen and rolled on him. The Zulus were coming up quickly in great numbers, but the officer, with help from Sergeant O'Toole, managed to mount the injured man behind him. He was, however, so dizzy that the sergeant, who had been keeping back the enemy, gave up his carbine and rode alongside to hold him on. They all finally reached safety.

ENGLISH William John: Second Boer War. Lieutenant. 2nd The Scottish Horse. Citation: This Officer with five men was holding the right of a position at Vlakfontein on the 3rd July, 1901, during an attack by the Boers. Two of his men were killed and two wounded, but the position was still held, largely owing to Lieutenant English's personal pluck. When the ammunition ran short he went over to the next party and obtained more; to do this he had to cross some 15 yards of open ground under a heavy fire at a range of from 20 to 30 yards.

CARTON de WIART Adrian: World War One. Lieutenant-colonel. 4th Dragoon Guards (Royal Irish), British Army. Citation: For most conspicuous bravery, coolness and determination during severe operations of a prolonged nature. It was owing in a great measure to his dauntless courage and inspiring example that a serious reverse was averted. He displayed the utmost energy and courage in forcing our attack home. After three other battalion Commanders had become casualties, he controlled their commands, and ensured that the ground won was maintained at all costs. He frequently exposed himself in the organisation of positions and of supplies, passing unflinchingly through fire barrage of the most intense nature. His gallantry was inspiring to all.

TURRALL Thomas George: World War One. Private. 10th Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment, British Army. Citation: On 3 July 1916 at La Boiselle, France, during a bombing attack by a small party against the enemy, the officer in charge was badly wounded and the party was compelled eventually to retire. Private Turrall remained with the wounded officer for three hours under continuous and heavy fire from machine-guns and bombs. Notwithstanding that both he and the officer were at one time completely cut off from the British troops, he held his ground with determination and finally carried the officer to the British lines after a counter-attack had made this possible.

Last supplemented on Wednesday July 3, 2012.

[Pat Holscher]

1865 Sioux and/or Cheyenne raid the telegraph line near Platte Bridge Station, Wyoming, wounding Sgt. Holding of the 11th Kansas. Sgt. Holding's attacker was killed by Pvt. Hammond, and the body was thought to be that of a European American, not an Indian.

In looking for information about Sgt. Holding's attacker who killed by Pvt. Hammond, and whose body was thought to be that of a European American, not an Indian, I discovered this bit on Lt. Caspar Collins:

Lieutenant Caspar Collins: Fighting the Odds at Platte Bridge: http://www.historynet.com/lieutenant-casper-collins-fighting-the-odds-at-platte-bridge.htm Apparently he was a brave young man.

One has to wonder who the European was.

Nice account of the Battle of Platte Bridge Station.

[Calendar]

July 4

Today in Independence Day in the United States.


And a day unusually packed with interesting historical events.

1054 A supernova is seen by Chinese, Arab, and possibly Amerindian observers near the star Zeta Tauri. For several months it remains bright enough to be seen during the day.

1187 In the Battle of Hattin Saladin defeats the Crusaders under King Guy of Jerusalem.

1301 In the Battle of Breukelen Holland defeats Lichtenberg.

1636 City of Providence, Rhode Island, was formed.

1690 James II flees to France for assistance after his defeat by William of Orange.

1754 Lieutenant Colonel George Washington is compelled to surrender “Fort Necessity” to a French task force from Fort Duquesne.

1763 Ojibwa and Sauk Indians capture Ft. Michilimackinac from the British.

For July 4.

On this date in 1776 the Continental Congress acted to pass The Declaration of Independence.

By this act, the Continental Congress radically altered the nature of the ongoing war against the United Kingdom, no matter what prospective the war is viewed from. The American colonies had been at war with the United Kingdom since 1774, when militiamen and British troops first engaged each other in combat at Lexington and Concord.

While it seems difficult to understand it now, the war was not at first for the stated war aim of achieving a complete separation from the United Kingdom. The various Colonial governments viewed their association with the United Kingdom in different ways, some of which would seem quite foreign to Americans today. At first the concept of completely severing a political association with the United Kingdom seemed so extremely radical as to be beyond consideration for many. However, by the second year of the war, the section of the population which wished for Congress to declare the colonies to be independent from the United Kingdom (which was a concept that some Colonist had before the war, and already believed to be a type of reality) had grown to the point where a majority in Congress favored it. On this day, Congress declared the separation to be a permanent and self evident fact.

The text of the Declaration reads:

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">
IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Pat

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by HawkHero</i>
<br />Pat;

Lexington and Concord were on April 19th, 1775. The battle is quite amazing in that the British essentially ran from Concord almost to Boston before running into the British relief column. While history often shows militiamen taking aimed shots from behind walls, the evidence shows that only about one in 1,000 shots fired hit another person. In the end, there were 273 British casualties compared to about 93 American casualties.



Brian S Colonna
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Quite correct, and, moreover thanks for correcting the date.

Pat

I'm linking in an archived thread, given the interesting debate on the nature of the American Revolution it contains:

topic.asp?ARCHIVE=true&TOPIC_ID=3604

A large part of what made this stirring, intelligent, and civil debate so interesting was the learned participation of the late Rev. Kevin Fox in it. I note that as it should be noted that Rev. Fox, as those were participating in the forum at that time will recall, sadly lost his battle with cancer, so we cannot renew the debate with his participation. Rev. Fox was quite knowledgeable and interested in the American Revolution and on the Northwest Mounted Police. He was also a fox hunter. His passing leaves a sad void here.

Pat

1776. The United States declares its independence from the United Kingdom. Notable in this is that the Continental Congress, representing the American colonies, but excluding Quebec, had been waging war against the United Kingdom for a period of several months prior to this without having sought to sever their relationship with Great Britain, showing how close the bonds between the colonies and the UK really were.

[/quote]

1777 John Paul Jones hoists first Stars and Stripes flag on Ranger at Portsmouth, NH.

1785 The first Fourth of July parade was held in Bristol, Rhode Island.

1796 The First Independence Day celebration was held.

1800 The Marine Band played at Tun Tavern, Philadelphia, in their first public appearance.

1801 First Presidential Review of U.S. Marine Band and Marines at the White House.

1802 The U.S. Military Academy opened at West Point, N.Y.

1803 The Louisiana Purchase is announced to the American people.

1804 Author Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in Salem, Mass.

Not really a mounted warfare item, but today (July 4th), in addition to the other significant events in US history, also marks the first celebration of July 4th west of the Miss., in 1804. This was by Lewis & Clark's Corps of Discovery which, after all, was an expedition lead by military officers. I'll justify its entry here by noting that this expedition relied heavily on horse transportation, although they'd hoped to rely upon water transportation to a much greater extent than they did.

Pat

1804 In the first Fourth of July celebration west of the Mississippi River, Lewis and Clark fire the expedition cannon and order an extra ration of whiskey for the men.

1804 Nathaniel Hawthorne, militiaman, novelist born.

1807 Giuseppe Garibaldi born.

1826 John Adams died at age 90 in Braintree, Mass., while Thomas Jefferson died at 83 at Monticello.

1826 Green Clay Smith, Brig Gen, U.S. born.

1828 James Johnston Pettigrew, Brig Gen, C.S.A., born.

1830 William Sublette names "Rock Independence" as his Wind River bound party spent the 4th of July there. The name would shortly be changed to Independence Rock.

1831 James Monroe, the fifth president of the United States, died at age 73 in New York City.

1845 Henry David Thoreau began a two-year experiment in simple living at Walden Pond near Concord, Mass.

1848 Marx and Engels published the Communist Manifesto. In Marx's treatise he proclaimed the inevitability of his theory of communism, although the book itself was weak on actual economics, just as Marx was fairly weak on actually working. Not surprisingly, folks like Marx met with a poor reception by the regimes that actually attempted his theories.

1848 The Cornerstone of the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C. was laid by President Polk.

1850 - President Zachary Taylor stood hatless in the sun for hours listening to speeches. He returned to the White House and attempted to cool off by eating cherries, cucumbers and drinking iced milk. Severe stomach cramps followed and it is likely that Taylor's own physicians inadvertently killed him with a whole series of debilitating treatments. He died on died July 9. So, put on your hat and be careful with your July 4 celebrations.

1861 Union and Confederate forces skirmished at Harpers Ferry, West Virginia.

1862 Battle at Green River, Ky took place in part of Morgan's Raid.

1863 General Lee’s army limped toward Virginia after defeat at Gettysburg. 28,063 of 75,000 confederate soldiers were lost. General Meade’s army suffered 23,049 soldiers killed, wounded and missing.

1863 Dramatic midnight cavalry charge by the 1st West Virginia Cav, at Monterey Mountain, Pa. See CMH citations.

1863 Paul Joseph Revere, US grandson of Paul Revere, Union died from wounds at Gettysburg.

1863 Failed Confederate assault on Helena, Arkansas.

1863 Skirmish at Smithburg, TN.

1863 Vicksburg surrenders.

1864 U.S.S. Hastings engaged Confederate sharpshooters on the White River above St. Charles, Arkansas.

1872 Calvin Coolidge, the 30th president of the United States, was born in Plymouth, Vt.

1878 George M. Cohan born in Providence, Rhode Island

1878 Thoroughbred horses Ten Broeck and Mollie McCarty run a match race and are immortalized in the song Molly and Tenbrooks.

1879 The Zululand capital of Ulundi is captured by British troops and burnt to the ground ending the Anglo-Zulu War.

1883 Field Marshal Sir Alan Brooke, Chief of the Imperial General Staff, born.

1884 France gives the United States the Statue of Liberty.

1886 First train from Montreal arrives in Port Moody, British Columbia.

1894 The Provisional Government under Judge Stanford B. Dole declared Hawaii a republic.

1898 A US flag was hoisted over Wake Island during the Spanish-American War.

1901 William H. Taft became the American territorial governor of the Philippines.

1902 President Theodore Roosevelt officially ended the Philippine-American War. It really wasn't, but he saw the value in declaring it to be so.

1909 6th U.S. Cav engaged at Patian Island, Philippine Islands. See CMH citations.

1910 African-American boxer Jack Johnson knocks out white boxer Jim Jeffries in a heavyweight boxing match sparking race riots across the United States.

1913 Woodrow Wilson addresses American Civil War veterans at the Great Reunion of 1913.

1916 Tokyo Rose, Iva Toguri D'Aquino, was born in Los Angeles.

1917 German Gotha bombers conduct air raids on the Felixstowe Naval Air Station at Harwich, United Kingdom.

1917:

1921 Eamon De Valera orders the American flag flown in Dublin to "emphasize the principle for which we are fighting".

1926 The Nazi party formed in Weimar, Germany.

1933 Heinrich Brüning agrees under pressure to dissolve the German Center Party ending effective political resistance against Hitler.

1939 Baseball player Lou Gehrig, afflicted with a fatal illness, bid a tearful farewell at Yankee Stadium in New York.

1940 British Force H returns to Mers-el-Kébir, Algeria, to finish off the French battleships Provence and Dunkerque.
posting.php?mode=edit&f=3&p=102881

1941 Germans murder Polish scientists and writers in the captured Ukrainian city of Lviv.

1942 Irving Berlin’s musical review "This Is the Army" opened at the Broadway Theater in New York.

1942 The first American bombing mission over enemy-occupied Europe took place on airfields in Holland.

1942 Japanese DD Nehoni is sunk in the Aleutians by U.S. submarine Triton.

1942 The American Volunteer Group ("Flying Tigers") becomes the Fourteenth Air Force.

1943 US 37th Infantry Div land at Bairoko, on Kula Gulf

1944 1,100 US guns fired 4th of July salute at German lines in Normandy.

1944 Canadians take village of Carpiquet.

1946 The Philippines became independent.

1946 Forty-two returning Jewish survivors of Nazi genocide are killed in Kielce, Poland in the worst of the post war genocides of this type.

1950 CVs USS Valley Forge and HMS Triumph make first UN air strikes of the Korean War.

1958 Karol Wojtyla, the future Pope John Paul II, was appointed auxiliary bishop of Krakow.

1966 President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Freedom of Information Act into law.

1976 Israeli commandos raided Entebbe airport in Uganda.

1987 Klaus Barbie, the former Gestapo chief known as the "Butcher of Lyon," was convicted by a French court of crimes against humanity and sentenced to life in prison.

2004 The cornerstone of the Freedom Tower was laid at the World Trade Center site.

2009 The Statue of Liberty's crown was reopened to tourists for the first time since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Congressional Medals of Honor for action on this day:

CAPEHART, CHARLES E.: Major, 1st West Virginia Cavalry. Place and date: At Monterey Mountain, Pa., 4 July 1863. Entered service at: Washington, D.C. Born: 1883, Conemaugh Township, Cambria County, Pa. Date of issue: 7 April 1898. Citation: While commanding the regiment, charged down the mountain side at midnight, in a heavy rain, upon the enemy's fleeing wagon train. Many wagons were captured and destroyed and many prisoners taken.

HANNA, MARCUS A.: Sergeant, Company B, 50th Massachusetts Infantry. Place and date: At Port Hudson, La., 4 July 1863. Entered service at: Rockport, Mass. Born: 3 November 1842, Bristol, Maine. Date of issue: 2 November 1895. Citation: Voluntarily exposed himself to a heavy fire to get water for comrades in rifle pits.

KENNEDY, JOHN T.: Second Lieutenant, U.S. Army, 6th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Patian Island, Philippine Islands, 4 July 1909. Entered service at: Orangeburg, S.C. Birth: Hendersonville, S.C. Date of issue: Unknown. Citation: While in action against hostile Moros, he entered with a few enlisted men the mouth of a cave occupied by a desperate enemy, this act having been ordered after he had volunteered several times. In this action 2d Lt. Kennedy was severely wounded.

WILSON, ARTHUR H.: Second Lieutenant, 6th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Patian Island, Philippine Islands, 4 July 1909. Entered service at: Springfield, Ill. Birth: Springfield, Ill. Date of issue: Unknown. Citation: While in action against hostile Moros, when, it being necessary to secure a mountain gun in position by rope and tackle, voluntarily with the assistance of an enlisted man, carried the rope forward and fastened it, being all the time under heavy fire of the enemy at short range.

NAKAMURA, WILLIAM K.: Private First Class William K. Nakamura distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism in action on 4 July 1944, near Castellina, Italy. During a fierce firefight, Private First Class Nakamura’s platoon became pinned down by enemy machine gun fire from a concealed position. On his own initiative, Private First Class Nakamura crawled 20 yards toward the hostile nest with fire from the enemy machine gun barely missing him. Reaching a point 15 yards from the position, he quickly raised himself to a kneeling position and threw four hand grenades, killing or wounding at least three of the enemy soldiers. The enemy weapon silenced, Private First Class Nakamura crawled back to his platoon, which was able to continue its advance as a result of his courageous action. Later, his company was ordered to withdraw from the crest of a hill so that a mortar barrage could be placed on the ridge. On his own initiative, Private First Class Nakamura remained in position to cover his comrades’ withdrawal. While moving toward the safety of a wooded draw, his platoon became pinned down by deadly machine gun fire. Crawling to a point from which he could fire on the enemy position, Private First Class Nakamura quickly and accurately fired his weapon to pin down the enemy machine gunners. His platoon was then able to withdraw to safety without further casualties. Private First Class Nakamura was killed during this heroic stand. Private First Class Nakamura’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.

ONO, FRANK H.: Private First Class Frank H. Ono distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism in action on 4 July 1944, near Castellina, Italy. In attacking a heavily defended hill, Private First Class Ono’s squad was caught in a hail of formidable fire from the well-entrenched enemy. Private First Class Ono opened fire with his automatic rifle and silenced one machine gun 300 hundred yards to the right front. Advancing through incessant fire, he killed a sniper with another burst of fire, and while his squad leader reorganized the rest of the platoon in the rear, he alone defended the critical position. His weapon was then wrenched from his grasp by a burst of enemy machine pistol fire as enemy troops attempted to close in on him. Hurling hand grenades, Private First Class Ono forced the enemy to abandon the attempt, resolutely defending the newly won ground until the rest of the platoon moved forward. Taking a wounded comrade's rifle, Private First Class Ono again joined in the assault. After killing two more enemy soldiers, he boldly ran through withering automatic, small arms, and mortar fire to render first aid to his platoon leader and a seriously wounded rifleman. In danger of being encircled, the platoon was ordered to withdraw. Volunteering to cover the platoon, Private First Class Ono occupied virtually unprotected positions near the crest of the hill, engaging an enemy machine gun emplaced on an adjoining ridge and exchanging fire with snipers armed with machine pistols. Completely disregarding his own safety, he made himself the constant target of concentrated enemy fire until the platoon reached the comparative safety of a draw. He then descended the hill in stages, firing his rifle, until he rejoined the platoon. Private First Class Ono’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.

MENDONCA, LEROY A.: Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company B, 7th Infantry Regiment, 3d Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Chich-on, Korea, 4 July 1951. Entered service at: Honolulu, T.H. Birth: Honolulu, T.H. G.O. No.: 83, 3 September 1952. Citation: Sgt. LeRoy A. Mendonca, distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry above and beyond the call of duty in action against the enemy. After his platoon, in an exhaustive fight, had captured Hill 586, the newly won positions were assaulted during the night by a numerically superior enemy force. When the 1st Platoon positions were outflanked and under great pressure and the platoon was ordered to withdraw to a secondary line of defense, Sgt. Mendonca voluntarily remained in an exposed position and covered the platoon's withdrawal. Although under murderous enemy fire, he fired his weapon and hurled grenades at the onrushing enemy until his supply of ammunition was exhausted. He fought on, clubbing with his rifle and using his bayonet until he was mortally wounded. After the action it was estimated that Sgt. Mendonca had accounted for 37 enemy casualties. His daring actions stalled the crushing assault, protecting the platoon's withdrawal to secondary positions, and enabling the entire unit to repel the enemy attack and retain possession of the vital hilltop position. Sgt. Mendonca's extraordinary gallantry and exemplary valor are in keeping with the highest traditions of the U.S. Army.

NEWLIN, MELVIN EARL: Private First Class, U.S. Marine Corps, 2d Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division (Rein), FMF. Place and date: Quang Nam Province, Republic of Vietnam, 4 July 1967. Entered service at: Cleveland, Ohio. Born: 27 September 1948, Wellsville, Ohio. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a machine gunner attached to the 1st Platoon, Company F, 2d Battalion, on 3 and 4 July 1967. Pfc. Newlin, with 4 other marines, was manning a key position on the perimeter of the Nong Son outpost when the enemy launched a savage and well coordinated mortar and infantry assault, seriously wounding him and killing his 4 comrades. Propping himself against his machinegun, he poured a deadly accurate stream of fire into the charging ranks of the Viet Cong. Though repeatedly hit by small-arms fire, he twice repelled enemy attempts to overrun his position. During the third attempt, a grenade explosion wounded him again and knocked him to the ground unconscious. The Viet Cong guerrillas, believing him dead, bypassed him and continued their assault on the main force. Meanwhile, Pfc. Newlin regained consciousness, crawled back to his weapon, and brought it to bear on the rear of the enemy, causing havoc and confusion among them. Spotting the enemy attempting to bring a captured 106 recoilless weapon to bear on other marine positions, he shifted his fire, inflicting heavy casualties on the enemy and preventing them from firing the captured weapon. He then shifted his fire back to the primary enemy force, causing the enemy to stop their assault on the marine bunkers and to once again attack his machinegun position. Valiantly fighting off 2 more enemy assaults, he firmly held his ground until mortally wounded. Pfc. Newlin had single-handedly broken up and disorganized the entire enemy assault force, causing them to lose momentum and delaying them long enough for his fellow marines to organize a defense and beat off their secondary attack. His indomitable courage, fortitude, and unwavering devotion to duty in the face of almost certain death reflect great credit upon himself and the Marine Corps and upheld the highest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service.

Last supplemented on Wednesday, July 4, 2012.