Originally Posted by SicemDawgz
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Oh this date in history.. hell freezes over.. I actually agree with AOC on something..
Proof that a blind squirrel finds a nut now and then...Oh this date in history.. hell freezes over.. I actually agree with AOC on something..
January 17, 1781 The Battle of Cowpens
The turning point in the American Revolutionary War, fought in the remote backwoods of South Carolina. This battle was the focal point of the ending of Mel Gibson's movie The Patriot, even though the movie took many historical liberties.
The true story was no less dramatic, or important, as American forces led by General Daniel Morgan surprised the British, led by the impetuous Colonel Banastre Tarleton. It was a complete victory which wrecked the British calvary and mounted troops, like a regiment of Dragoons, and then denied British commander General Cornwallis his "eyes" for the rest of the campaign. That led the British to stumble into another ambush a month later near Greensboro, North Carolina. The Americans were led in that fight by the gallant General Nathanial Greene. The Brits continued to stumble around, making their way north through the Carolinas eventually taking refuge at Yorktown, Virginia.
At The Cowpens on January 17, 1781, General Morgan correctly played the arrogance of the Brits, led by Tarleton, against them. He established three separate lines of riflemen, each larger and more formidable than the previous, and the British took the bait and pressed the attack straight ahead, mistaking the first line's "collapse" as evidence the Americans were whipped. It was a trap. The British suffered 810 casualties versus just 72 on the American side.
Groundhog's Day! Today is 2/2/22
Phil predicts 6 more weeks of winter. Ugh!
On this day in history.. the Marines landed on Iwo Jima..
Time to share the story of "Big Bat" Johnson, my wife's cousin, or something or other. My wife's family is complicated for me to keep straight. But, she is related to him.On this day in history.. the Marines landed on Iwo Jima..
"Bat", as many called him, enlisted at the age of 17 in the Marines. He was a sergeant in command of a Sherman tank. His patrol of 3 Shermans was protecting the left flank of a column of tanks, trucks and infantry moving along a valley road. This was after the famous flag-planting on Mt. Suribachi, but the fight for Iwo Jima was far from over. Hidden anti-tank Jap guns suddenly opened on the exposed column. Bat's three Shermans went into action. They advanced but soon found there were other hidden Jap guns, two of the Shermans were hit and knocked out of action. Bat took his own tank and was able to destroy those guns and then commenced firing on the guns shelling the column. His Sherman was perfectly positioned to deliver fire on the enemy guns and was shielded by hill. The Japs then sent infantry, armed with hand-held anti-tank bazookas, to attack Bat's tank. His tank was hit in the tracks making it immobile. Bat ordered his crew to abandon the tank, save for his loader, and make their way back to the American lines. Twice Bat and his loader ran back to the other two tanks, a half-mile back to retrieve more rounds. They knocked out the last of the Jap guns, but now were in serious trouble with Jap infantry all around. Bat ordered his loader to retire while he used his tank's machineguns to hold off the Japs, but the fellow came back reporting there were 5 or 6 wounded Marines close by. Bat dismounted the .30-caliber machinegun, grabbed as much ammo as he could carry, and took up a position to cover the medics attending the wounded soldiers. After all of them were safely removed, Bat retired himself.
Sergeant Bat Johnson was awarded a Bronze Star for his action that day.
At Bat's funeral, in Alexandria, La. I met two old timers who had traveled far to attend his funeral and pay their respects. I learned they were 2 of those Marines who had been wounded and wouldn't be alive that day if not for Bat Johnson's valor.
BTW, Bat was very humble and somewhat embarrassed by the medal. He said, "Why do I deserve a medal for simply doing my duty?"
THE GREATEST GENERATION
I only found this out a year or so ago, but I had no idea that the D-Day invasion plans were first discussed with Eisenhower and his other generals at the Hotel Bentley in Alexandria Louisiana. Very cool..
Also one of my favorite threads. In keeping with the Iwo Jima theme.
February 23, 1945: During the bloody Battle for Iwo Jima, U.S. Marines from the 3rd Platoon, E Company, 2nd Battalion, 28th Regiment of the 5th Division take the crest of Mount Suribachi, the island’s highest peak and most strategic position, and raise the U.S. flag. Marine photographer Louis Lowery was with them and recorded the event. Americans fighting for control of Suribachi’s slopes cheered the raising of the flag, and several hours later more Marines headed up to the crest with a larger flag. Joe Rosenthal, a photographer with the Associated Press, met them along the way and recorded the raising of the second flag along with a Marine still photographer and a motion-picture cameraman.
Rosenthal took three photographs atop Suribachi. The first, which showed five Marines and one Navy corpsman struggling to hoist the heavy flagpole, became the most reproduced photograph in history and won him a Pulitzer Prize. The accompanying motion-picture footage attests to the fact that the picture was not posed. Of the other two photos, the second was similar to the first but less affecting, and the third was a group picture of 18 Marines smiling and waving for the camera. Many of these men, including three of the Marines seen raising the flag in the famous Rosenthal photo, were killed before the conclusion of the Battle for Iwo Jima in late March.
Taken from History.com.
Iwo Jima is a special case in WWII. First, we suffered 28,000 casualties (6,000 KIA 22,000 wounded) while the Japs lost their entire garrison of 21,000 (18,000 killed 3,000 wounded and captured). Only battle in the Pacific where we suffered more total casualties than the Japs. Second, the fight for Iwo Jima was really not necessary, as it turned out. The original intention was to capture the island with its 3 airfields such that American fighters, namely P-51 Mustangs, could escort the B29s to Japan's mainland and back. But we soon learned the Japs had lost the bulk of the air defenses and the B29s were in no danger making their attacks unescorted. In fact, the fire-bombing of Tokyo took place before Iwo Jima had been completely captured.
The war bonds campaign centered on the flag-raisers (only one of which was actually there), the 7th bond drive, raised $26 billion, the most successful of the seven campaigns.
And, the stubborn defense of Iwo Jima, which was actually Japanese home soil, demonstrated how costly the invasion of the mainland would be. It was precisely the high casualty rate we suffered that convinced American planners that using the atom bomb was necessary.
Something closer to home:
February 24, 1873
Lincoln Parish was created by the legislature today in 1873, with Vienna as its parish seat. With the news that the Vicksburg, Shreveport & Pacific Railroad would be built in the vicinity, prominent local landowner and former sheriff Robert Edwin Russ was persuaded to donate six hundred acres of his land for a town to be built around a new depot. "Russ Town" opened in 1883, with lots selling for $375 each. So many people flocked to the new town that a year later, in 1884, the parish seat was moved to that town that was now coming to be known as “Ruston”.
And then about 10 years later the finest college in the state was founded there!
The most important day of the year....March 17th! St. Patrick's Day. Wear your green, everyone is Irish today.
Patrick died March 17, 461 (the year 461, 5th Century). he was born in 386 with the name of Succat, the son of wealthy merchants in what was Roman held Britain. He was kidnapped by pirates at the age of 16 and sold into slavery in what is now Northern Ireland. According to his auto-biography "Confessio" an angel appeared to him and led him to Christianity. He escaped to France, joined the Catholic Church eventually ordained a bishop with the name of Patricus, later to become Patrick. He returned to Ireland in 432 determined to bring Christianity to the pagan country and to end the institution of slavery. He accomplished both.
Wear your green!
Red River Campaign of 1864
Yanks had several objectives:
1) Lincoln wanted to bring Louisiana back into the Union and do so by offering generous terms hoping the other Southern states would want the same deal, thus ending the war.
2) Union objectives included capturing Shreveport, the Confederate capital of Louisiana
3) Capture Marshall and Jefferson Texas and the Confederate munitions plants and warehouses located there
4) Establish a foothold in Texas with an eye on bringing it back into the Union
5) Confiscate cotton and send it to the idle textile mills in New England
6) Place Union loyalists in local political offices, such as mayors of towns
7) Facilitate the freeing of slaves in the region
As you can see the whole military aspect of the campaign was not a high priority. The Confederate Trans-Mississippi Department, HQ in Shreveport, encompassed Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas and the Indian Territory (Oklahoma today). General Edmund Kirby-Smith was in overall command, and he had about 52,000 total Confederate troops at his disposal. But, due to his incompetence, he failed to concentrate enough to totally defeat the invading Union army. The latter was a combination of the Army of the Gulf and parts of three corps, the 13th, 16th, and 17th, on loan from General William T. Sherman's Army of the West. The Army of the Gulf provided two divisions of the 19th Corps, and a division of cavalry, as well as two brigades of the Corps de Africa, black troops who served mostly as teamsters. In total General Nathaniel Banks, in command of the Union forces, had about 35,000 troops, which he did concentrate.
The Union Navy, under the command of Admiral David Porter, had 52 ships which included 7 ironclads and 13 other gunboats, as well as troop transports, supply ships, etc..On board the 20 armed vessels were Marines.
March 12 The campaign began when elements of the 16th Corps captured the river town of Simmesport.
March 14 Union troops, the 16th Corps, joined by Union gunboats and a battalion of Marines, captured Fort DeRussy, near Marksville, Louisiana.
March 16-20 The Union army gathered in Alexandria, Louisiana.
More to come...
March 21-22, 1864
Battle of Henderson Hill
Near modern day Boyce, Louisiana Union forces conducted a rare night attack and captured the road junction atop a hill overlooking Bayou Rapides Valley and James' Station. Confederate forces consisted of a company of free-blacks, Rachal's Rangers (also called the Isle Brevelle Rangers) and the 3rd Louisiana Cavalry, under the command of Colonel Vincent, new to command. It was a stormy night and Confederate videttes (posted guards) had retired to the comfort of their campfires. Most of the Confederate cavalry escaped by taking to the swamps and woods, and Rachal's troopers almost all escaped. One captured Confederate trooper, referring to a sneak attack on a stormy night, said "that sure wasn't sporting of you Yanks." Confederate commander General Richard Taylor admitted later "My cavalry was too ill-disciplined for such close work."
This placed the important road junction, and the high ground in the area, in Union control.
But the huge Union army bivouacked in Alexandria, did not move, as General Banks was too busy, confiscating cotton, holding elections, and attending gala balls thrown by Union loyalists.
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