Bill's Life

The Epitome of ME

2009-06-21T01:06:00.002-04:00

If you've ever shared a meal with me I know you'll agree that this cartoon epitomizes ME.

This day in History - November 1st

2008-11-17T18:13:00.002-05:00

November 1, 1914 Naval Battle of Coronel

Battle of Coronel, November 1, 1914, World War I naval battle off Coronel, Chile, South America, in which Germany defeated Britain. When the war began in August 1914, Germany's East Asiatic squadron, under Count Maximilian von Spee, was visiting the Caroline Islands. Eluding British and Japanese pursuers, von Spee sailed east across the Pacific with six vessels: the heavy cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau and the light cruisers Enden, Leipzig, and Nürnberg, as well as the cruiser Dresden. As he approached the west coast of South America, the British sent the cruisers Good Hope and Monmouth, the battleship Canopus, the light cruiser Glasgow, and the armored liner Otranto to intercept him. On November 1 the British squadron, commanded by Admiral Sir Christopher Cradock, met and engaged von Spee off Coronel. The Germans sank the Good Hope (Cradock's flagship) and the Monmouth, with all hands lost, and drove off the other British vessels. Britain avenged this defeat a month later at the Battle of the Falkland Islands.

HMS Good Hope

This day in History - October 29th

2008-11-17T18:06:00.001-05:00

October 29, 1956 2nd Arab-Israeli War begins

The 1956 War

From 1949 to 1956 the armed truce between Israel and the Arabs, enforced in part by the UN forces, was punctuated by raids and reprisals. Among the world powers, the United States, Great Britain, and France sided with Israel, while the Soviet Union supported Arab demands. Tensions mounted during 1956 as Israel became convinced that the Arabs were preparing for war. The nationalization of the Suez Canal by Egypt's Gamal Abdal Nasser in July, 1956, resulted in the further alienation of Great Britain and France, which made new agreements with Israel.

On Oct. 29, 1956, Israeli forces, directed by Moshe Dayan, launched a combined air and ground assault into Egypt's Sinai peninsula. Early Israeli successes were reinforced by an Anglo-French invasion along the canal. Although the action against Egypt was severely condemned by the nations of the world, the cease-fire of Nov. 6, which was promoted by the United Nations with U.S. and Soviet support, came only after Israel had captured several key objectives, including the Gaza strip and Sharm el Sheikh, which commanded the approaches to the Gulf of Aqaba. Israel withdrew from these positions in 1957, turning them over to the UN emergency force after access to the Gulf of Aqaba, without which Israel was cut off from the Indian Ocean, had been guaranteed.

Israeli troops preparing for combat in the Sinai peninsula.

This day in History - October 28th

2008-11-17T17:53:00.002-05:00

October 28, 1776 Colonists defeated at White Plains

At the end of September 1776, Washington's army held only a small position on the northern tip of Manhattan Island. Howe was determined to outflank the American positions with a landing at Throgs Neck. ^[1]

In order to prevent himself from being surrounded, Washington withdrew his main army to White Plains when the British landing began.^[3] A garrison of 1,200 men was left to defend Fort Washington.^[4] Howe's army followed Washington via New Rochelle and up the Bronx River.

Washington halted his army and chose a position near White Plains that he fortified with two lines of entrenchments.^[5] The trenches were situated on raised terrain, protected on the right by the swampy ground near the Bronx River. The American defenses were 3 miles (4.8 km) long. Beyond that, on the right, was Chatterton's Hill, which commanded the plain over which the British would have to advance. The hill was occupied by John Haslet's 1st Delaware Regiment, with two cannon, and supported by another brigade, in total about 1,600 men.

While Washington was inspecting the terrain, seeing where it was best to station his troops, he ran into several light horsemen who told him that the British were advancing.^[6] Washington rode back to camp to prepare his men. He quickly stationed a couple hundred Continentals and a couple of artillery pieces onto Chatterton Hill to support the militia.^[7] The skirmishers, who had the job of slowing the British advance, retired soon after Washington reinforced Chatterton Hill.^[8]

Although the British outnumbered the Americans, Howe did not think it was wise to launch an attack on the main American position until they had taken Chatterton Hill.^[5] Howe sent two columns to attack it. One was a brigade of Germans led by Johan Rall, and the other was the German Lossberg Regiment.^[9] In total, the force numbered about 4,000 men.

The Germans under Rall's command attacked the militia on the crest of the hill, which fled in retreat.^[10] The Lossberg Regiment were stopped by heavy fire from the Americans.^[11] Two British regiments came in support of the Germans, and charged up the hill, but the Americans counter-attacked, driving them back down.^[12] The British once again assaulted, this time wielding their bayonets, and the Continentals, deserted by the Militia, retreated.^[13]

Aftermath

While the battle was a victory for the British, Howe refused to interfere with the American withdrawal, letting slip yet another opportunity to capture Washington and much of the Continental army and in the process suffering heavier casualties than the Americans.

The engagement on the White Plains, the 28th of October 1776 : between the American & British Forces

This day in History - October 26th

2008-11-17T16:52:00.002-05:00

October 26, 1881 The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral

On 25th October, Ike Clanton and Tom McLaury arrived in Tombstone. Later that day Doc Holliday got into a fight with Ike Clanton in the Alhambra Saloon. Holliday wanted a gunfight with Clanton, but he declined the offer and walked off.

The following day Ike Clanton and Tom McLaury were arrested by Virgil Earp and charged with carrying firearms within the city limits. After they were disarmed and released, the two men joined Billy Clanton and Frank McLaury, who had just arrived in town. The men gathered at a place called the OK Corral in Fremont Street.

Virgil Earp now decided to disarm Billy Clanton and Frank McLaury and recruited Wyatt Earp, Morgan Earp and Doc Holliday to help him in this dangerous task. Sheriff John Behan was in town and when he heard what was happening he raced to Fremont Street and urged Billy Clanton and Frank McLaury to hand over their guns to him. They replied: "Not unless you first disarm the Earps".

Behan now headed towards the advancing group of men. He pleaded for Virgil Earp not to get involved in a shoot-out but he was brushed aside as the four men carried on walking towards the OK Corral. When they reached the four men, Virgil Earp said: "I want your guns". Billy Clanton responded by firing at Wyatt Earp. He missed and Morgan Earp successfully fired two bullets at Billy Clanton and he fell back against a wall. Meanwhile Wyatt Earp fired at Frank McLaury. The bullet hit him in the stomach and he fell to the ground.

Ike Clanton and Tom McLaury were both unarmed and tried to run away. Clanton was successful but Doc Holliday shot McLaury in the back. Billy Clanton and Frank McLaury, although seriously wounded, continued to fire their guns and in the next couple of seconds Virgil Earp, Morgan Earp and Doc Holliday were all wounded. Wyatt Earp was unscathed and he managed to finish off Billy Clanton and Frank McLaury.

Sheriff John Behan arrested Virgil Earp, Wyatt Earp, Morgan Earp and Doc Holliday for the murder of Billy Clanton, Tom McLaury and Frank McLaury. However, after a 30 day trial Judge Wells Spicer, who was related to the Earps, decided that the defendants had been justified in their actions.

Over the next few months the Earp brothers struggled to retain hold control over Tombstone. Virgil Earp was seriously wounded by an assassination attempt and Morgan Earp was killed when he was playing billiards with Wyatt Earp on 18th March, 1882. Eyewitnesses claimed that Frank Stilwell was seen running from the scene of the crime. Three days later Stilwell's was found dead. A Mexican who was also implicated in the crime was also found murdered in a lumber camp. It is believed that Wyatt Earp was responsible for killing both men.

October 26, 1917 Passchendaele Offensive is begun

two divisions of the Canadian Corps were moved into the line to replace the badly depleted ANZAC forces. After their successes at Vimy Ridge and the Battle of Hill 70. Upon his arrival, the Canadian Commander-in-Chief General Sir Arthur Currie expressed the view that the cost of the objective would be sixteen thousand casualties. While Currie viewed this figure as inordinately high in relation to the value of the objective, Haig had estimated that the casualties from remaining in place would be worse if this objective was not taken.

The Canadians moved into the line during mid-October, and on 26 October 1917, the Second Battle of Passchendaele began with twenty thousand men of the Third and Fourth Canadian Divisions advancing up the hills of the salient. It cost the Allies twelve thousand casualties for a gain of a few hundred yards.

Reinforced with the addition of two British divisions, a second offensive on 30 October resulted in the capture of the town in heavy rains. For the next five days the force held the town in the face of repeated German shelling and counterattacks, and by the time a second group of reinforcements arrived on 6 November, four-fifths of the infantrymen in two Canadian divisions had been lost.

Their replacements were the First and Second Canadian Divisions. German troops still ringed the area, so a limited attack on the 6th by the remaining troops of the Third Division allowed the First Division to make major advances and gain strong points throughout the area.

One such action on the First Division front was at Hill 52; the Tenth Battalion, CEF were called out of reserve to assist an attack on Hill 52, part of the same low rise where Passchendaele was situated. The Battalion was not scheduled to attack, but the Commanding Officer of the Tenth had wisely prepared his soldiers as if they would be making the main assault – a decision that paid dividends when the unit was called out of reserve. On 10 November 1917, the Tenth Battalion took the feature with light casualties.

A further attack by the Second Division the same day pushed the Germans from the slopes to the east of the town. The high ground was now firmly under Allied control.

After all was said and done, General Currie's casualty estimations sadly proved to be remarkably accurate. The battle of Passchendaele cost the Canadian Corps 15 654 casualties with over 4 000 dead to take roughly 6.25 square kilometres of German held territory in 16 days of fighting.[1].

Canadian soldiers won a remarkable 9 Victoria Crosses in the fighting at Passchendale.

Aftermath

Passchendaele could be regarded, by some, as a re-play of the Somme; an offensive mounted by the British and French Forces designed to make large gains in terms of territory. However, given the importance of the Ypres salient — the campaign to clear the high ground east and south of the much battered city was important, but once it began, it had to be completed.

After months of fighting, the Allies had crawled forward 5 miles (8 kilometres) but had gained the high ground that dominated the salient. The price had been almost half a million men of which around 140,000 had been killed. Also reminiscent of the Somme were the colossal artillery barrages which failed to destroy German defenses, but which did inflict enormous losses that the Germans couldn't afford. Ultimately, as a battle of attrition, that captured some important assets, the campaign can be said to be a lean Allied victory.

More than any other battle, Passchendaele has come to symbolise the horrific nature of the great battles of the First World War. In terms of the dead, the Germans lost approximately 260,000 men, while the British Empire forces lost about 300,000, including approximately 36,500 Australians, 3,596 New Zealanders and some 16,000 Canadians from 1915 to 1917. 90,000 British and Dominion bodies were never identified, and 42,000 never recovered. Aerial photography showed 1,000,000 shell holes in 1 square mile (2.56 km²).

Canadian Passchendaele Memorial

This Day in History October 25th

2008-10-26T18:06:00.001-04:00

October 25, 1415 The Battle of Agincourt

Henry V and his troops were marching to Calais to embark for England when he was intercepted by French forces which outnumbered his. English effectiveness and readiness was questionable as a result of their prior maneuvers consisting of an 18 day march across 250 miles of hostile territory under constant harassment. They suffered from dysentery and exhaustion, and were further hampered by inclement weather.

The battle was fought in the narrow strip of open land formed between the woods of Tramecourt and Agincourt (close to the modern village of Azincourt). The French army was positioned by d'Albret at the northern exit so as to bar the way to Calais. The night of 24 October was spent by the two armies on open ground.

Early on the 25th, Henry deployed his army (approximately 900 men-at-arms and 5,000 longbowmen, the latter commanded by Thomas Erpingham) across a 750 yard part of the defile. (It has been argued that fresh men were brought in after the siege of Harfleur; however, other historians argue that this is wrong, and that although 9,200 English left Harfleur, after a 250 mile march and more sickness had set in, they were down to roughly 5,900 by the time of the battle.) It is likely that the English adopted their usual battle line of longbowmen on either flank, men-at-arms and knights in the centre, and at the very centre roughly 200 archers. The English men-at-arms in plate and mail were placed shoulder to shoulder four deep. The English archers on the flanks drove pointed wooden stakes called palings into the ground at an angle to force cavalry to veer off.

On the morning of the 25th the French were still waiting for additional troops to arrive. The Duke of Brabant, the Duke of Anjou and the Duke of Brittany, each commanding 1,000–2,000 fighting men, were all marching to join the army. This left the French with a question of whether or not to advance towards the English.

For three hours after sunrise there was no fighting. The French, knowing that the English were trapped, and perhaps aware of their previous failures attacking English prepared positions, would not attack. Henry would have known as well as the French did that his army would perform better in a defensive battle, but he was eventually forced to take a calculated risk, and move his army further forward. This entailed pulling out the palings (long stakes pointed outwards toward the enemy) which protected the longbowmen, and abandoning his chosen position. (The use of palings was an innovation: during the battles of Crécy and Poitiers, two similar engagements between the French and the English, the archers did not use them.) If the French cavalry had charged before the palings had been hammered back in, the result would probably have been disastrous for the English, as it was at the Battle of Patay. However the French seem to have been caught off guard by the English advance. The tightness of the terrain also seems to have restricted the planned deployment of their forces. A battle plan had originally been drawn up which had archers and crossbowmen in front of the men-at-arms, with a cavalry force at the rear specifically designed to "fall upon the archers, and use their force to break them".^[22] However in the event the archers and crossbowmen were deployed behind and to the sides of the men-at-arms, where they seem to have played almost no part in the battle, except possibly for an initial volley of arrows at the start of the battle. The cavalry force, which could have devastated the English line if it had attacked while they moved their position, only seems to have charged after the initial volley of arrows from the English. It is unclear if this is because the French were still hoping the English would launch a frontal assault themselves, or because they simply did not expect the English to advance at the exact moment they did. French chroniclers agree that when the mounted charge did come, it did not contain as many men as it should; Gilles le Bouvier states that some had wandered off to warm themselves and others were walking or feeding their horses.^[23]

In any case, within extreme bowshot from the French line (approximately 300 yards), the longbowmen dug in their palings, and then opened the engagement with a barrage of arrows.

The French cavalry, despite being somewhat disorganised and not at full numbers, charged the longbowmen, but it was a disaster, with the French knights unable to outflank the longbowmen (because of the encroaching woodland) and unable to charge through the palings that protected the archers. Keegan (1976) argues that the longbows' main influence on the battle was at this point: only armoured on the head, many horses would have become dangerously out of control when struck in the back or flank from the high-elevation shots used as the charge started. The effect of the mounted charge and then retreat was to further churn up the mud the French had to cross to reach the English. Barker (2005) quotes a contemporary account by a monk of St. Denis who reports how the panicking horses also galloped back through the advancing infantry, scattering them and trampling them down in their headlong flight. The Burgundian sources similarly say that the mounted men-at-arms retreated back into the advancing French vanguard, "causing great disarray and breaking the line in many places".^[24]

The constable himself led the attack of the dismounted French men-at-arms. French accounts describe their vanguard alone as containing about 5,000 men-at-arms, which would have outnumbered the English men-at-arms by about 5–1, but before they could engage in hand-to-hand fighting they had to cross the muddy field under a bombardment of arrows. The armour of the French men-at-arms is described by the Burgundian sources Le Fevre and Waurin as follows:

In addition, the French were so weighed down by armour that they could hardly move forward. First, they were armed with long coats of armour, stretching beyond their knees and being very heavy. Below these they had 'harnois de jambes' (leg armour) and above 'blans harnois ' (white i.e. polished armour). In addition they had 'bascinets de carvail'. So heavy were their arms that as the ground was so soft they could scarcely lift their weapons.^[25]

Such heavy armour allowed them to close the 300 yards or so to the English lines while being under what the French monk of Saint Denis described as "a terrifying hail of arrow shot".^[26] However they had to lower their visors and bend their heads to avoid being shot in the face (the eye and airholes in their helmets were some of the weakest points in the armour), which restricted both their breathing and their vision, and then they had to walk a few hundred yards through thick mud, wearing armour which weighed 50–60 pounds.^[27]

The French men-at-arms reached the English line and actually pushed it back, with the longbowmen continuing to fire until they ran out of arrows and then dropping their bows and joining the melee (which lasted about three hours), implying that the French were able to walk through the fire of tens of thousands of arrows while taking comparatively few casualties. The physical pounding even from non-penetrating arrows, combined with the slog in heavy armour through the mud, the heat and lack of oxygen in plate armour with the visor down, and the crush of their numbers, meant they could "scarcely lift their weapons" when they finally engaged the English line however.

When the English archers, using hatchets, swords and other weapons, attacked the now disordered and fatigued French, the French could not cope with their unarmoured assailants (who were much less hindered by the mud). The exhausted French men-at-arms are described as being knocked to the ground and then unable to get back up. As the mêlée developed, the French second line also joined the attack, but they too were swallowed up, with the narrow terrain meaning the extra numbers could not be used effectively, and French men-at-arms were taken prisoner or killed in their thousands. The fighting lasted about three hours, but eventually the leaders of the second line were killed or captured, as those of the first line had been. The English Gesta Henrici describes three great heaps of the slain "which had risen above a man's height" around the three main English standards.^[28]

One of the best anecdotes of the battle involves Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, Henry V's youngest brother. According to the story, Henry, upon hearing that his brother had been wounded in the abdomen, took his household guard and cut a path through the French, standing over his brother and beating back waves of soldiers until Humphrey could be dragged to safety.

[edit] The assault on the baggage train and the killing of the prisoners

The only French success was a sally from Agincourt Castle behind the lines attacking the lightly protected English baggage train, with Ysembart d'Azincourt (leading a small number of men-at-arms and about 600 peasants) seizing some of Henry's personal treasures, including a crown. In some accounts this happened towards the end of the battle, and led the English to think they were being attacked from the rear. Barker (2005) prefers the Gesta Henrici however, believed to have been written by an English chaplain who was actually in the baggage train, who says that the attack happened at the start of the battle.

Regardless, there was definitely a point after the initial English victory where Henry became alarmed that the French were regrouping for another attack. The Gesta Henrici puts this after the English had overcome the onslaught of the French men-at-arms, and the weary English troops were eyeing the French rearguard ("in incomparable number and still fresh"). The Burgundian sources Le Fevre and Waurin similarly say that it was signs of the French rearguard regrouping and "marching forward in battle order" which made the English think they were still in danger.

In any event, Henry ordered the slaughter of what was perhaps several thousand French prisoners, with only the most illustrious being spared. His fear was that they would rearm themselves with the weapons strewn upon the field, and the exhausted English (who had been fighting for about three hours) would be overwhelmed. This was certainly ruthless, but arguably justifiable given the situation of the battle; perhaps surprisingly, even the French chroniclers do not criticise him for this.^[29] This marked the end of the battle, as the French rearguard, having seen so many of the French nobility captured and killed, fled the battlefield.

[edit] Aftermath

Due to a lack of reliable sources it is impossible to give a precise figure for the French and English casualties. However, it is clear that though the English were considerably outnumbered, their losses were far lower than those of the French. The French sources all give 4,000–10,000 French dead, with up to 1,600 English dead. The lowest ratio in these French sources has the French losing six times more dead than the English. The English sources vary between about 1,500 and 11,000 for the French dead, with English dead put at no more than 100. The lowest ratio in the English sources has the French losing more than fifty times more dead than the English.^[30]

Barker identifies from the available records "at least" 112 Englishmen who died in the fighting (including Edward of Norwich, 2nd Duke of York, a grandson of Edward III), but this excludes the wounded. One fairly widely used estimate puts the English casualties at 450, not an insignificant number in an army of 6,000, but far less than the thousands the French lost, nearly all of whom were killed or captured. Using the lowest French estimate of their own dead of 4,000 would imply a ratio of nearly 9–1 in favour of the English, or over 10–1 if the prisoners are included.

The French suffered heavily. The constable, three dukes, five counts and 90 barons all died. Estimates of the number of prisoners vary between 700 and 2,200, amongst them the Duke of Orléans (the famous poet Charles d'Orléans) and Jean Le Maingre, Marshal of France.

The Battle of Agincourt, 15th century miniature

October 25,1813 - Battle of Chateauguay (25th & 26th) War of 1812

In October of 1813, American Major General Wade Hampton marched his army from Lake Champlain down the Chateauguay River towards the St. Lawrence. This would serve as a feint in support of General Wilkinson’s main thrust against Kingston or, should Wilkinson switch his objective to Montreal, it would allow the two armies to combine on the shores of the St. Lawrence River.

On October 25, Hampton found his way blocked near Spears’ Farm by breastworks of abatis - a tangle of fresh-felled trees. This was the work of Canadian Voltigeurs under Lieutenant-Colonel Charles-Michel de Salaberry. From behind these primitive fortifications, de Salaberry hoped to stop Hampton’s advance.

Hampton judged the abatis too heavily defended to be taken by frontal assault. He grossly overestimated his opponents’ numbers at twice his own; in fact, he outnumbered them by about eight to one. He sent Colonel Robert Purdy with 1500 men on a sixteen mile overnight trek through the forest across the river to flank the Canadians.

After stumbling through the woods until after midnight, Purdy decided to wait for daylight before proceeding. In the morning, de Salaberry’s scouts detected his presence. Lieutenant Colonel “Red George” Macdonell, who’d been charged with guarding the Canadian rear, sent two companies of select embodied militia, including the Glengarry Light Infantry, to stop them. Purdy’s advance guard was just emerging from a cedar swamp when they stumbled into each other. Both sides opened fire. The Americans turned and ran. Several of them were then killed by the main body of Americans who mistook them for charging Canadians.

At two o’clock, Hampton’s main force attacked the abatis. Some of De Salaberry’s men spread out and sounded bugles simultaneously at different points in the forest, further fooling the Americans with regards to the size of their force. Mohawk warriors from Kahnawake, concealed among the trees, fired muskets and whooped loudly. The Americans, believing the bulk of the enemy were coming at them from that direction, fired volley after volley at nothing more than tree branches.

By then, Red George’s militiamen had made contact with Purdy’s detachment. The Americans fired a series of deadly volleys at them, but in the forest gloom, they failed to see that the Canadians were firing from a kneeling position. The American flew harmlessly over the Canadians. Meanwhile, Canadian muskets took a considerable toll on their enemy.

Purdy tried to outflank Red George’s men by skirting along the riverbank, but de Salaberry had anticipated that move and placed a detachment, muskets at the ready on the far bank of the narrow river. One volley was enough to send the Americans back inside the trees. Tired, wet, and believing themselves vastly outnumbered, the Americans had had enough. General Hampton ordered a general withdrawal.

For want of a decisive leader, the Americans had squandered another opportunity to win significant British territory. De Salaberry complained bitterly that Sir George Prevost and General de Watteville, who never came near the action, took most of the credit for themselves.

Bataille de la Chateauguay by Henri Julien. Lithograph from Le Journal de Dimanche, 1884.

October 25, 1854 Battle of Balaklava in the Crimean War

The battle started with a successful Russian attack on Ottoman positions. After holding out against the Russians, the Turks were either killed or were forced to retreat from their redoubts.This allowed the Russians to break through into the valley of Balaclava, where British forces were encamped. The port of Balaclava, a short distance to the south, was the site of a key British supply base. The Russian advance was intended to disrupt the British base and attack British positions near Sevastopol from the rear.

An initial Russian advance south of the southern line of hills was repulsed by the British. A large attacking force of Russian cavalry advanced over the ridgeline, and split into two portions. One of these columns drove south towards the town of Balaclava itself, threatening the main supply of the entire British army. That drive was repulsed by the muskets of the 93rd (Highland) Regiment and the now-reformed Turks. Forming a lone line of two rows by its commander,Sir Colin Campbell, they were able to deceisively halt the Russian advance. This action became known in history as "The Thin Red Line".

The second column of Russian cavalry was then met by the British Heavy Brigade, in an uphill charge that defied conventional military logic. This action by the British cavalry forced the Russians to retreat to their artillery, which was strategically positioned along the ridges above the valley. At this point, Raglan ordered the Light Brigade to "prevent the enemy carrying away the guns", in a written order delivered by Captain Nolan. Though the following events are somewhat unclear, it is generally accepted that Nolan was aware that Lord Raglan had intended for the Light Brigade to charge the captured British guns that were being carried off the redoubt by the Russians. According to contemporary accounts, Nolan delivered the written order in haste while verbally indicating to Lord Cardigan that he should direct an assault upon the Russian gun battery that was down the valley. This action resulted in what would come to be known as the Charge of the Light Brigade. After its initial charge was repulsed, the Light Brigade was saved from further casualties by a supporting attack from the French 4th Chasseurs d'Afrique.

The battle ended inconclusively, with both sides retaining their starting positions. Aleksandr Sergeyevich Menshikov, the Russian commander, later claimed success, saying the attack was only a probe to gauge allied defence.

This Day in History October 24th

2008-10-26T17:50:00.002-04:00

October 24, 1917 German Caporetto Offensive Begins

One of the more spectacular successes of the war, the Battle of Caporetto (also referred to as the Twelfth Battle of the Isonzo) saw combined Austro-Hungarian and German forces decisively break through the Italian line along the northern Isonzo, catching the Italian defenders entirely by surprise. The scale of the Italian defeat at Caporetto led to both a change in government and Luigi Cadorna's dismissal as Chief of Staff.

Caporetto marked the first occasion on which the Germans had determined to provide assistance to their Austro-Hungarian allies on the Italian front. Although Cadorna's policy of launching successive breakthrough attacks along the Isonzo was proving highly costly in terms of Italian casualties, it was nevertheless succeeding in dangerously weakening Austro-Hungarian resources.

With the Austro-Hungarian front around Gorizia in danger of collapse (following Cadorna's Eleventh Battle of the Isonzo), the German Third Supreme Command, under Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff, accepted the advice of Austro-Hungarian Commander in Chief Arz von Straussenberg to launch a combined operation, intended for September 1917.

Cadorna, who had long feared German intervention at the Isonzo, began to received reports - from deserters and via aerial reconnaissance - of German activity. He therefore called off his own attacks on the Isonzo in mid-September, preferring instead to adopt a defensive posture.

There is little doubt that Cadorna was unaware of the actual strength of the Austro-Hungarian/German forces massing against him. The Austro-Hungarian high command was initially in favour of repeating their 1916 Trentino offensive against the Italians. Overruled however by the Germans, a 25 km line was carefully selected in front of Caporetto, north of Gorizia and along the Isonzo, as the preferred point of attack.

The Third Supreme Command's intention in launching the Caporetto offensive was chiefly to provide the Austro-Hungarian army with the opportunity for recuperation. Hindenburg and Ludendorff assuredly did not anticipate the spectacular success of the actual operation.

Nine Austrian divisions were supplemented by six German divisions (supplied by General von Hutier from Riga) and placed under Otto von Below's command as the Fourteenth Army in October 1917. Although the Italians retained overall numerical supremacy along the Isonzo front (by some 41 divisions to 35), they were notably weaker at the point selected by the German army for the combined offensive.

The local Italian commander at Caporetto, Capello, was ordered to prepare a defensive line: he chose instead to adopt an aggressive posture, massing his troops for an attack upon the southern flank of von Below's army to the east of Gorizia.

Launched at 2am on 24 October 1917 from a salient at Tolmino and much aided by prevalent misty conditions, the Austro-Hungarian/German attack took the Italians by complete surprise.

Initiated with a heavy artillery barrage of high explosives, gas and smoke, the combined force broke through the Italian Second Army's lines almost immediately. They progressed a remarkable 25 km by the close of the day, adopting infiltration tactics and exploiting breaches in the Italian line with the use of grenades and flamethrowers.

Below's secondary attacks either side of the main offensive were however more competently staved off by the Italians. Similarly, the Austro-Hungarian Fifth Army under Boroevic made little progress at the southern coast. Nevertheless, Below's sweeping success in the centre endangered the bulk of the Italian forces at the River Tagliamento.

Once his lines were rapidly broken on that first morning, Capello recommended a withdrawal to the Tagliamento. He was overruled by Cadorna who harboured hopes of repairing the damage for almost a week until, on 30 October, the majority of Italian forces were instructed to cross the river, a process that took some four days.

Meanwhile a German division had established a bridgehead further north at the Tagliamento on 2 November. Ironically, the success of the combined Austro-Hungarian/German forces in moving forward so rapidly began to work against them, with supply lines at full stretch and starting to fail.

Cadorna took advantage of the Austro-Hungarian/German inability to launch a fresh offensive by ordering a withdrawal to the River Piave, a mere 30 km north of Venice - a process that lasted until approximately 10 November.

The scale of the Italian setback - some 300,000 casualties had been incurred (90% of which were as prisoners), with virtually all artillery lost - had already produced sizeable shockwaves among the Allied governments. At home Cadorna was dismissed and replaced by Armando Diaz; a new Prime Minister, Vittorio Orlando, similarly took office, replacing Boselli. He promptly received assurances of increased military support from Allied governments.

Until Caporetto the Italians had been left to fight the Austro-Hungarian army alone on the Italian front. With the advent of German support and the disaster at Caporetto however this policy was revoked, with substantial Allied aid promised thenceforth. Six French Army divisions (under Fayolle) were supplemented by five British divisions (under Plumer), both boosted by large air contingents.

Italian public opinion, shocked by the events at Caporetto, rallied behind Orlando's government, with popular pacifist sentiment effectively silenced. The Austro-Hungarians attempted to follow-up the success at Caporetto with an attack at the Trentino on 12 November, but finding themselves short of reserves the attack petered out five days later, although sporadic fighting continued into December.

Battle of Caporetto and Italian retreat.

This Day in History October 23rd

2008-10-26T17:23:00.004-04:00

October 23, 1942, The Battle of El Alamein Begins

In July 1942, General Erwin Rommel and the Italo-German Panzer Armee Afrika, (part of the Deutsches Afrika Korps) were only 113km (70 miles) from Alexandria. The situation was so serious that Winston Churchill made the long journey to Egypt to discover for himself what needed to be done. Churchill decided to make changes to the command structure. General Harold Alexander was placed in charge of British land forces in the Middle East and Bernard Montgomery became commander of the Eighth Army.

On 30th August, 1942, Erwin Rommel attacked at Alam el Halfa but was repulsed by the Eighth Army. Montgomery responded to this attack by ordering his troops to reinforce the defensive line from the coast to the impassable Qattara Depression. Montgomery was now able to make sure that Rommel and the German Army was unable to make any further advances into Egypt.

Over the next six weeks Montgomery began to stockpile vast quantities of weapons and ammunition to make sure that by the time he attacked he possessed overwhelming firepower. By the middle of October the Eighth Army totalled 195,000 men, 1,351 tanks and 1,900 pieces of artillery. This included large numbers of recently delivered Sherman M4 and Grant M3 tanks.

On 23rd October Montgomery launched Operation Lightfoot with the largest artillery bombardment since the First World War. The attack came at the worst time for the Deutsches Afrika Korps as Erwin Rommel was on sick leave in Austria. His replacement, General George Stumme, died of a heart-attack the day after the 900 gun bombardment of the German lines. Stume was replaced by General Ritter von Thoma and Adolf Hitler phoned Rommel to order him to return to Egypt immediately.

The Germans defended their positions well and after two days the Eighth Army had made little progress and Bernard Montgomery ordered an end to the attack. When Erwin Rommel returned he launched a counterattack at Kidney Depression (27th October). Montgomery now returned to the offensive and the 9th Australian Division created a salient in the enemy positions.

Winston Churchill was disappointed by the Eighth Army's lack of success and accused Montgomery of fighting a "half-hearted" battle. Montgomery ignored these criticisms and instead made plans for a new offensive, Operation Supercharge.

On 1st November 1942, Montgomery launched an attack on the Deutsches Afrika Korps at Kidney Ridge. After initially resisting the attack, Rommel decided he no longer had the resources to hold his line and on the 3rd November he ordered his troops to withdraw. However, Adolf Hitler overruled his commander and the Germans were forced to stand and fight.

The next day Montgomery ordered his men forward. The Eighth Army broke through the German lines and Erwin Rommel, in danger of being surrounded, was forced to retreat. Those soldiers on foot, including large numbers of Italian soldiers, were unable to move fast enough and were taken prisoner.

For a while it looked like the the British would cut off Rommel's army but a sudden rain storm on 6th November turned the desert into a quagmire and the chasing army was slowed down. Rommel, now with only twenty tanks left, managed to get to Sollum on the Egypt-Libya border.

On 8th November Erwin Rommel learned of the Allied invasion of Morocco and Algeria that was under the command of General Dwight D. Eisenhower. His depleted army now faced a war on two front.

The British Army recaptured Tobruk on 12th November, 1942. During the El Alamein campaign half of Rommel's 100,000 man army was killed, wounded or taken prisoner. He also lost over 450 tanks and 1,000 guns. The British and Commonwealth forces suffered 13,500 casualties and 500 of their tanks were damaged. However, of these, 350 were repaired and were able to take part in future battles.

Winston Churchill was convinced that the battle of El Alamein marked the turning point in the war and ordered the ringing of church bells all over Britain. As he said later: "Before Alamein we never had a victory, after Alamein we never had a defeat."

October 23, 1944 The Naval Battle of Leyte Gulf

The first Japanese force to be located by American forces was Kurita's Centre Force, encountered in the Palawan Passage early on 23 October by two US submarines, Darter and Dace.

Kurita had unaccountably failed to deploy destroyers in an anti-submarine screen ahead of his heavy ships. Darter torpedoed and sank the heavy cruiser Atago, Admiral Kurita's flagship, and Dace torpedoed two heavy cruisers, sinking one - the Takao - and severely damaging the Maya, which was forced to withdraw.

The next day Third Fleet aircraft located the Centre Force. Despite its enormous strength Halsey's fleet was much less well placed to deal with the threat than it should have been. On 22 October Halsey had detached two of his groups to the fleet base at Ulithi to provision and rearm. When the Darter's contact report came in Halsey recalled Davison's group but allowed McCain, with much the strongest of Task Force 38's carrier groups, to continue towards Ulithi. Halsey finally recalled McCain's group on 24 October - but the delay meant that the most powerful group played little part in the coming battle, and Third Fleet was therefore effectively deprived of nearly 40% of its air strength. On the morning of 24 October only three groups were available to hit the Japanese Centre Force, and the one best positioned to do so - Bogan's - was, unfortunately for the US forces, the weakest, containing only one large carrier - Intrepid - and two light carriers.

Moreover, while they were preparing their first strikes against Kurita's force the northernmost of the three carrier groups - Sherman's - came under heavy air attack from aircraft based on Luzon. Three separate raids, each of50-60 aircraft, were repelled - with very heavy losses - by Sherman's fighters and AA fire, but one Japanese dive-bomber got through and hit the light carrier Princeton with a bomb which started fires. Later there was a hugeexplosion in her torpedo stowage which meant that she had to be abandoned. The explosion also damaged the cruiser Birmingham, which was alongside the carrier giving assistance. Terrible casualties were inflicted aboard the cruiser.

Despite all these difficulties Third Fleet - in what is known as the Battle of the Sibuyan Sea - attacked the Centre Force repeatedly during the day, making a total of 259 sorties against Kurita's ships. This force should, according to the Japanese plan, have had considerable land-based fighter cover during its approach to the Philippines, but in fact Kurita was never provided with more than than a token combat air patrol, and, even though his fleet had a large number of anti-aircraft guns (each battleship had 120 or more) their fire proved to be largely ineffective, probably because the gun crews had had very little combat experience. (It was noted that Kurita's AA crews seemed to be more effective towards the end of the Battle off Samar the following day - despite the fact that they must by this stage have been in a state of near-exhaustion).

Eighteen US aircraft were lost in these attacks. The carrier air groups concentrated on the enormous battleship Musashi. A succession of torpedo hits slowed her down and she fell behind Kurita's formation, but the attacks continued relentlessly and at 1935 she capsized and sank, having been hit by at least 10 bombs and the remarkable total of 19 torpedoes.

However, the relatively small number of aircraft attacking (compared with the total air strength of the Third Fleet), their concentration on sinking Musashi at the expense of crippling a large number of Japanese ships, and the inherent difficulty of hitting fast warships free to manoeuvre in the open seas meant that these attacks did not stop Kurita's fleet. The heavy cruiser Myoko was damaged by a torpedo and had to retire, and several other Centre Force ships received bomb hits which caused damage but did not substantially affect their fighting efficiency.

Although Kurita turned his ships away at 1500 he at 1714 resumed his course towards San Bernadino Strait - with a still very powerful force consisting of 4 battleships, 6 heavy cruisers, 2 light cruisers and a dozen destroyers - a force still fully operational and ready to fight.

An hour later he received a signal from Admiral Toyoda, Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet -

"All forces will dash to the attack, trusting in divine assistance."

The Japanese Southern force consisted of two independent groups, Nishimura's group including its two elderly battleships, and a smaller group under Admiral Shima. Both of these were sighted by American aircraft on the morning of the 24th., and Admiral Kinkaid, correctly surmising that these groups would attempt to attack the Leyte anchorage through Surigao Strait, was preparing to repel them. The Seventh Fleet had more than enough strength, in its battleships, cruisers and destroyers, to deal with the Southern Force.

The Japanese decoy force (the Northern Force) had remained undiscovered by the Americans until late on the 24th, but one of its search aircraft had located Sherman's Task Group Three at 0820. At 1145 Ozawa's carriers launched a strike consisting of 76 aircraft which failed to inflict any damage on Sherman's group. The Japanese pilots were so poorly trained that they could not return to their carriers but had to make for airfields
on Luzon after conducting their attack.

Halsey suspected that Japanese carriers were nearby, partly because the aircraft which had attacked Group Three in the morning were of carrier type (although these aircraft were in fact land-based). Air searches were conducted to the north and north-east but did not find Ozawa's battleships until 1540, and did not find the enemy carriers until an hour later.

Having located the Japanese carriers - which he regarded as both the main threat and the main prize - Halsey decided to concentrate his three available carrier groups, with all their accompanying vessels - including the six fast battleships - steam northwards with all this huge force, and annihilate Ozawa's ships during daylight on 25 October.

Halsey took no steps to protect Seventh Fleet from the Centre Force. Third Fleet left San Bernadino Strait entirely unguarded.

As C. Vann Woodward writes "Everything was pulled out from San Bernadino Strait. Not so much as a picket destroyer was left."

Moreover Halsey did not even inform Kinkaid that the Strait was NOT now being covered by the Third Fleet - instead the Seventh Fleet commander had to rely on an intercepted signal, timed 2022, from Halsey to his task group commanders, which indicated that the Third Fleet commander was going north with the three carrier groups to strike the enemy Northern Force.

Seventh Fleet had intercepted an earlier radio signal from Halsey which outlined a plan to form Task Force 34 - a very powerful surface force built around the Third Fleet's fast battleships, which was to be commanded by Vice Admiral Willis Lee.

When Halsey's 2022 message was received, Kinkaid and his staff, in the light of the intercepted "Task Force 34 will be formed . . ." signal, and not envisaging for a moment that the Third Fleet commander would allow the Japanese Centre Force to emerge from San Bernadino Strait entirely unopposed, assumed that the "three groups" referred to were the carrier groups of Third Fleet, and that Task Force 34 had been left behind to guard San Bernadino Strait.

In fact Task Force 34 had not yet been formed, and all the ships which it was expected to contain were heading northwards with the American carriers. Meanwhile the Seventh Fleet, unconcerned about any threat from its northern quarter, and feeling fully confident that the Centre Force would be dealt with by Halsey and the Third Fleet, continued with its preparations to meet the Japanese Southern Force in Surigao Strait.

The Battle of Surigao Strait 2300 October 24 - 0721 October 25

Rear Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorf, with 6 old slow battleships (five of which had been sunk or damaged at Pearl Harbor), 4 heavy and 4 light cruisers, and 26 destroyers, was charged with the task of stopping the Japanese Southern Force in Surigao Strait.

In addition 39 PT boats (motor torpedo-boats) were deployed beyond the Strait. At 2236 one of these, PT-131, made the first contact with the advancing Japanese ships. Over more than three-and-a-half hours the PT boats made repeated attacks on Nishimura's force, but without making any torpedo hits. Nonetheless they made contact reports which were of great assistance to Oldendorf's forces.

As Nishimura's ships entered Surigao Strait they came under devastating torpedo attack from American destroyers disposed on both sides of their line of advance. Both Japanese battleships were hit. The Yamashiro was able to steam onwards, but the Fuso blew up and sank. Three of the Van Force's four destroyers were also hit. Two of these sank, but the third, the Asagumo, was able to retire.

The American destroyer attacks were so successful that when the Japanese force came within range of the batteships and cruisers disposed across the Strait all it consisted of was the battleshipYamashiro, one heavy cruiser and one destroyer. The overwhelming gunfire of the Allied ships sank the Yamashiro and reduced the cruiser - Mogami - to a blazing wreck, but the destroyer, the Shigure, miraculously survived.

The rear of the Southern Force, the "Second Striking Force" commanded by Vice Admiral Shima, had approached Surigao Strait about 40 miles astern of Nishimura. It too came under attack from the PT boats, and one of these hit the light cruiser Abukuma with a torpedo which crippled her and caused her to fall out of formation. Shima next encountered remnants of Nishimura's force, including what he took to be the burning Fuso and Yamashiro but what were in fact the broken halves of the torpedoed Fuso. Shima, much discouraged, decided to withdraw, after which his flagship Nachi collided with the burning Mogami and was badly damaged. Mogami was later sunk by aircraft from the Seventh Fleet's escort carriers.

Oldendorf's force and the PT boats then harried the retreating Japanese. The last shots of the Surigao Strait battle were fired at 0721 when US cruisers and destroyers sank the destroyer Asagumo, torpedoed and damaged earlier in the battle.

At 0723 Oldendorf recalled his light forces from the pursuit.

Less than ten minutes later he received the astounding report that the Seventh Fleet's escort carriers had been surprised by the Japanese main force off Samar and were under heavy attack, a report which meant that the invasion shipping in Leyte Gulf - and the entire Leyte operation itself - was now in great danger.

The Battle off Samar - the Main Action

Seventh Fleet contained a large task group of eighteen escort carriers, divided into three task units of six carriers each.

The main duties of these ships were the provision of combat air patrol over the Leyte beachhead and the invasion shipping, ground attack on Leyte, and anti-submarine patrol. They and their air groups were not trained or equipped to fight an enemy fleet.

At dawn on the 25 October the Seventh Fleet's three escort carrier units were operating off the east coast of Samar. In accounts of the battle these units are generally referred to by their radio call-signs "Taffy One", "Taffy Two" and (the most northerly of the three - Task Unit 77.4.3) "Taffy Three." This last unit, under the command of Rear Admiral Clifton Sprague, had by shortly after 0600 launched 12 fighters and also an anti-
submarine patrol of 6 aircraft to cover the ships in Leyte Gulf, as well as aircraft for Taffy Three's own protection.

It was therefore a very routine morning so far for Taffy Three. The threat from the Japanese Southern Force had been eliminated by Oldendorf's force during the previous night, and Halsey's Third Fleet with its immense strength lay to the north between the escort carriers and the Japanese Central and Northern forces. Or so Clifton Sprague and the men of Taffy Three believed.

But at 0645 AA fire was seen to the north-west, and a minute later the carrier Fanshaw Bay picked up a surface contact on radar.

At 0647 Ensign Jensen - the pilot of a plane from carrier Kadashan Bay - sighted, and then attacked, Japanese ships which he with remarkable accuracy identified as 4 battleships and 8 cruisers accompanied by destroyers.

Then, just before 7am, lookouts on the escort carriers saw the masts and fighting-tops of Japanese battleships and cruisers appear above the northern horizon. A minute later heavy shells began falling near Taffy Three.

The surprise was complete. Taffy Three was in a desperate situation, facing an exceptionally powerful force which also had a great superiority in speed over the escort carriers, while the only ships which Clifton Sprague had available to protect his flattops were the three destroyers and four destroyer escorts of his screen.

At 0657 Sprague had turned his carriers due east, begun working them up to their maximum speed of seventeen-and-a-half knots, ordered all his ships to lay smoke, and started to launch every available aircraft. At 0701 he issued a contact report and a call for assistance from anyone able to give it.

Japanese lookouts had sighted the escort carriers at 0644 when Kurita's ships were deploying from column into a circular anti-aircraft disposition.

Admiral Kurita then ordered "General Attack," permitting his ships' commanding officers to deploy against the US ships on their own inititative and without referring to the flagship. This was to mean that he lost control of the battle, and his giving such an order when his force was already engaged in redeployment caused immense confusion within the Japanese formation.

Shortly after the battle began Taffy Three's carriers entered a rain squall which protected them for about fifteen minutes and enabled Sprague to bring them around to the south-west - i.e. towards Leyte Gulf and the rest of Seventh Fleet.

At 0716 Sprague ordered his three Fletcher-class destroyers - Hoel, Heermann and Johnston - to counter-attack the Japanese formation. This they did with remarkable heroism and tenacity. They unflinchingly took on the battleships and cruisers, engaging these heavy ships with their 5-inch guns as well as their torpedoes.

At about 0750 the American destroyer escorts with equal heroism joined the counter-attack. At 0754 the vast battleship Yamato, now serving as Kurita's flagship after the sinking of Atago on 23 October, was forced to turn away for ten minutes by torpedoes from the American destroyers and was never able to get back into the action.

A very confused struggle by the DDs and DEs against the Japanese force continued for over two hours. By 0945 the Hoel and Johnston, and the destroyer escort Samuel B. Roberts, had been sunk by Japanese gunfire. At least one torpedo hit was made on Kurita's ships, and probably more, but what was of much greater importance was that the Japanese heavy ships had been forced into repeated evasive action and that this had slowed their advance, caused increasing confusion in the already badly disorganised Japanese formation, and deprived Kurita of any chance of regaining effective control of his force.

While the small ships of Clifton Sprague's screen were conducting these desperate counter-attacks the Japanese ships were also subjected to incessant assaults by aircraft from the three Taffies. Many of these attacks were carried out by aircraft armed with weapons intended for ground support and quite unsuited for attack on large warships, and many others were dummy attacks by unarmed aircraft.

Nonetheless, with the weapons available to them, the aircraft succeeded in sinking three heavy cruisers and damaging several other ships. These air attacks also played a vital role in support of the destroyers and DEs in distracting the enemy ships from the escort carriers, forcing them into evasive manoevres, and disorganizing the Japanese formation.

Despite all these heroic efforts the escort carrier Gambier Bay was eventually hit repeatedly by 8-inch gunfire, was crippled, and sank at 0907.

But then, entirely unexpectedly, and although his cruisers and destroyers were now on the verge of annihilating Taffy Three, Kurita at 0911 ordered his ships to break off action.

As Clifton Sprague later recalled -

"At 0925 my mind was occupied with dodging torpedoes when I heard one of the signalmen yell 'Goddamit, boys, they're getting away!' I could not believe my eyes, but it looked as if the whole Japanese fleet was indeed retiring. However, it took a whole series of reports from circling planes to convince me. And still I could not get the fact to soak into my battle-numbed brain. At best, I had expected to be swimming by this time."

While Taffy Three was fighting Kurita's ships, Taffy One was being subjected to the first organized kamikaze attack of the war. Later that morning Taffy Three itself was attacked by kamikazes. At about 1100 the escort carrier St. Lo was crashed by a Zero which caused a series of explosions, and she sank at 1125. Four more of the Seventh Fleet's escort carriers were damaged by kamikaze attack during 25 October.

Meanwhile, far to the north, Third Fleet was attacking the Japanese decoy force in the Battle off Cape Engano.

The Battle of Cape Engano

Shortly before midnight 24 October Halsey's three available carrier groups made rendezvous off Luzon and began a high-speed run northwards to strike the Japanese Northern Force at daybreak. Halsey now passed tactical command of Task Force 38 to Vice Admiral Mitscher.

During the run northward the ships which were to make up Task Force 34 were detached from the carrier groups and Task Force 34 was officially formed at 0240 October 25, with Vice Admiral Lee as Officer in Tactical Command. This force swept northwards in the van of the carrier groups. Halsey's intention was that they would follow up with gunfire the carriers' attacks on Ozawa's ships.

At 0430 Mitscher ordered his carriers to begin arming their first deckloads and to be ready to launch aircraft at first light. He in fact launched his first attack groups, 180 aircraft in all, before the Northern Force had been located, and had them orbitting ahead of his carrier force while he was waiting for the first contact reports to come in from his search aircraft.

The first contact came at 0710. At 0800 Third Fleet's attacks on Ozawa began, meeting little opposition. Task Force 38's air strikes continued until the evening, by which time Mitscher's aircraft had flown 527 sorties against the Northern Force, had sunk Ozawa's flagship Zuikaku (last survivor of the six carriers which had launched the attack on Pearl Harbor) and two of the three light carriers, crippled the remaining light carrier, and sunk a destroyer, aswell as damaging other ships.

Meanwhile, at 0822 when Mitscher's second strike was approaching the Northern Force Halsey in New Jersey received an urgent signal in plain language from Kinkaid saying that the Seventh Fleet escort carriers were under attack off Samar and that assistance from Third Fleet's heavy ships was desperately needed. This was the first of a succession of pleas for help received by Halsey, which he ignored and continued to ignore for nearly three hours, despite their including an alarming report that the Seventh Fleet battleships were low on ammunition. Halsey continued to have Task Force 34 race to the north, while the men of Taffy Three were fighting for their lives and the Leyte invasion itself was being placed in jeopardy.

At 1000 the Third Fleet Commander received a message from Admiral Nimitz, Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Fleet and Halsey's immediate superior. The message, as handed to Admiral Halsey, read -

"WHERE IS REPEAT WHERE IS TASK FORCE THIRTY-FOUR . . . THE WORLD WONDERS"

This message, indicating that Nimitz was alarmed about the safety of the Seventh Fleet and considered that the Third Fleet battleships should be in action off Samar, eventually persuaded Halsey to turn Task Force 34 around and send it south again. Rear Admiral Bogan's carrier group was also pulled out of the attack on Ozawa's force and sent south to provide air cover and support for Lee's force.

When Lee's battleships were pulled out at 1115 they were almost within gunfire range of the Japanese Northern Force.

Ironically it was by this time too late - if Halsey had turned Lee's force around when he first received Kinkaid's call for assistance the battleships and the cruisers (although not the destroyers which were low on fuel, but might in the circumstances have been left behind) could have arrived off San Bernadino Strait in time to cut off Kurita's withdrawal. As it was, Kurita's force, still containing four battleships and five heavy cruisers, had escaped through the Strait before the Third Fleet's heavy ships arrived there. All Task Force 34 could then accomplish was to sink the straggling Japanese destroyer Nowaki.

In any event, even if Task Force 34 had been turned southwards immediately after 0822, it would have arrived too late to have given any assistance to the ships of Taffy Three, other than in picking up survivors.

When the bulk of Task Force 34 was pulled out of the attack on Ozawa four of its cruisers and nine destroyers were detached under the command of Rear Admiral DuBose to proceed northward with the carriers. At 1415 Mitscher ordered DuBose to pursue Ozawa's ships. His cruisers sank the carrier Chiyoda at around 1700 and the American surface force at 2059 sank the destroyer Hatsuzuki after a stubborn fight.

At about 2310 the US submarine Jallao torpedoed and sank the light cruiser Tama of Ozawa's force. This was the end of the Battle off Cape Engano, and - apart from some final air strikes on the retreating Japanese forces on 26 October - the end of the Battle for Leyte Gulf.

The US had lost one light carrier and two escort carriers, two destroyers and a destroyer escort.

Between 23 and 26 October the Imperial Navy had lost one large carrier (the Zuikaku), three light carriers, three battleships including the giant Musashi, six heavy cruisers, four light cruisers, and twelve destroyers.

Major-General J.F.C. Fuller, in his book "The Decisive Battles of the Western World," writes of this outcome -

"The Japanese fleet had [effectively] ceased to exist, and, except by land-based aircraft, their opponents had won undisputed command of the sea. When Admiral Ozawa was questioned on the battle after the war he replied 'After this battle the surface forces became strictly auxiliary, so that we relied on land forces, special [Kamikaze] attack, and air power . . there was no further use assigned to surface vessels, with the exception of some special ships.' And Admiral Yonai, the Navy Minister, said that he realised that the defeat at Leyte 'was tantamount to the loss of the Philippines.'

As for the larger significance of the battle, he said 'I felt that it was the end.' "

Today in History - October 21st

2008-10-21T23:40:00.002-04:00

October 21, 1805, Naval Battle of Trafalgar

The Battle of Trafalgar (21 October 1805) was a historic sea battle fought between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French Navy and Spanish Navy, during the War of the Third Coalition (August-December 1805) of the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815). The battle was the most decisive British victory of the war and was a pivotal naval battle of the 19th century. Twenty-seven British ships of the line led by Admiral Lord Nelson aboard HMS Victory defeated thirty-three French and Spanish ships of the line under French Admiral Pierre Villeneuve off the south-west coast of Spain, just west of Cape Trafalgar. The Franco-Spanish fleet lost twenty-two ships, without a single British vessel being lost.

The British victory spectacularly confirmed the naval supremacy that Britain had established during the 18th century and was achieved in part due to Nelson's departure from the prevailing naval tactical orthodoxy, which involved engaging an enemy fleet in a single line of battle parallel to the enemy to facilitate signalling in battle and disengagement, and to maximize fields of fire and target areas. Nelson instead divided his smaller force into two columns directed perpendicularly against the larger enemy fleet, with decisive results.

Nelson was mortally wounded during the battle, becoming and remaining Britain's greatest naval war hero. The commander of the joint French and Spanish forces, Admiral Pierre de Villeneuve, was captured along with his ship Bucentaure. Spanish Admiral Federico Gravina escaped with the remnant of the fleet, and succumbed months later to wounds he sustained during the battle.

Nelson is shot on the quarterdeck of Victory

October 21, 1876, Souix defeated at Cedar Creek

Battle of Cedar Creek (also called Big Dry Creek or Big Dry River) occurred on October 21, 1876, in the Montana Territory between the United States Army and a force of Lakota Sioux Native Americans during the Black Hills War.

Col. Nelson A. Miles led the 5th infantry in the summer of 1876 from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, up the Missouri river via a paddlewheeler from Yankton (South Dakota) to the Yellowstone river to help subdue the Sioux and Cheyenne, who had claimed a major victory in the summer at the Battle of Little Bighorn. Miles joined General Terry on the Rosebud in autumn and marched with him up the Rosebud river to join with General Crook. The two commanders together moved east and crossed Tongue river and reached the mouth of the Powder River. Here the two commands separated, with General Crook moving south and east toward the Black Hills and a detachment under Captain Anson Mills engaged and defeated a force of Indians in September at the Battle of Slim Buttes. Mills had been sent by Crook to obtain supplies from the Black Hills because their supplies were running perilously low, and at times, the men had to resort to eating horseflesh to survive.

After separating from General Crook, General Terry with Col. Miles moved north up Dry Creek, east and then south again to evenually reached Glendive, Montana Territory, on the Yellowstone river where the troops established winter headquarters. Col. Miles equipped his troops with winter gear and established a temporary base at the mouth of the Tongue River.

Troops under Col. Elwell S. Otis escorted a train of more than 100 supply wagons that had been dispatched from a post on Glendive Creek, Montana Territory, to supply Miles's troops. On October 11, Sioux warriors ambushed the slow moving wagon train near Spring Creek, killing several mules and temporarily driving off the wagons. Undaunted, the wagon train tried again to reach Miles, but the Indians again attacked it along Spring Creek on October 15. This time, the wagon crews and their escort managed to fend off their attackers and continue their passage.

Soon afterwards, two Indian emissaries approached Colonel Otis and suggested that Miles meet with Sitting Bull, the long revered spiritual leader of the Hunkpapa Sioux. Miles accepted the offer, and set out for Cedar Creek, Montana Territory, north of the Yellowstone River. On October 20, Miles met with the Indian leader to parley between the lines of the Indians and the soldiers, at Sitting Bull's request. Sitting Bull offered to trade for ammunition so his followers could hunt buffalo. He would not bother the soldiers, if they did not bother him. Miles informed Sitting Bull of the government's demands for a surrender. While neither leader was pleased, both agreed to meet on the morrow after consulting with their subordinates.

Some of Sitting Bull's minor chiefs wanted to leave the warpath and return to the reservations, but many others wanted to fight. On October 21, the conference resumed. Sitting Bull again demanded that Miles and his soldiers leave, and that no more wagon trains be allowed in Sioux territory. He threatened to kill any chief who still wanted to lead his band back to the reservations. The talks quickly broke down, and the leaders returned to their forces. Soon, gunfire erupted. After a sharp skirmish, Sitting Bull withdrew. The army claimed to have chased the Lakotas for up to 42 miles, collecting large quantities of dried meat, lodge poles, camp equipage, ponies and broken down cavalry horses, and arms along the way. On October 27, over 400 lodges (with 2,000 men, women, and children) formally surrendered to Miles and peacefully returned to their reservations. However, some of Sitting Bull's more ardent followers headed northward for Canada, and Miles made preparations to pursue them throughout the winter.

First Sergeant Henry Hogan of Company G of the 5th U.S. Infantry received the Medal of Honor for his actions at Cedar Creek, one of two such medals he would be awarded.

October 21, 1899, Battle of Elanslaagte, during the Boer War

When the Boers invaded Natal, a force under General Kock (comprised mainly of men of the Johannesburg Commando, with detachments of German volunteers)^[2] occupied the railway station at Elandslaagte on October 19, 1899, thus cutting the communications between the main British force at Ladysmith and a detachment at Dundee. Learning that the telegraph had been cut, General Sir George White sent his cavalry commander, Major General John French to recapture the station.

Arriving shortly after dawn on October 21, French found the Boers present in strength, with two field guns. He telegraphed to Ladysmith for reinforcements, which shortly afterwards arrived by train.

While three batteries of British field guns bombarded the Boer position, and the 1st Battalion, the Devonshire Regiment advanced frontally in open order, the main attack commanded by Colonel Ian Hamilton (1st Battalion, the Manchester Regiment, 2nd Battalion, the Gordon Highlanders and the dismounted Imperial Light Horse) moved around the Boers' left flank. The sky had steadily been growing dark with thunderclouds, and as the British made their assault, the storm burst. In the poor visibility and pouring rain, the British infantry had to face a barbed wire farm fence, in which several men were entangled and shot. Nevertheless, they cut the wire or broke it down, and occupied the main part of the Boer position.

Some small parties of Boers were already showing white flags when General Kock led a counterattack, dressed in his top hat and Sunday best.^[3] He drove back the British infantry in confusion, but they rallied, inspired by Hamilton (and reportedly, a bugler of the Manchesters and a Pipe-major of the Gordons) and charged again. Kock and his companions were killed.

As the remaining Boers mounted their ponies and tried to retreat, two squadrons of British cavalry (from the 5th Lancers and the 5th Dragoon Guards) got among them with lances and sabres, cutting down many. This was almost the only time during the Boer war that a British cavalry charge made contact.

General Kok and his personal staff

Today in History - October 20th

2008-10-21T17:10:00.001-04:00

October 20, 1899 - Battle of Talana Hill, Boer War

The Battle of Talana Hill was the first major clash of the Second Boer War. A hasty frontal attack by British infantry drove Boers from a hilltop position, but they suffered heavy casualties including their commanding general in the process.

Major General Penn Symons commanded a brigade (four infantry battalions, part of a cavalry regiment and some mounted infantry, three field artillery batteries) which occupied the coal mining town of Dundee. He disdained to fall back on the major British force at Ladysmith. On the evening of October 19, two Boer forces each of 4000 men under General Erasmus and Lukas Meyer were closing in on Dundee.

Talana Hill

Battle of Talana Hill

Before dawn on October 20, Erasmus's force occupied Impati Mountain north of Dundee at Meyer's men occupied the low Talana Hill east of the town at (Talana Hill), and dragged several Krupp field guns to the top. As dawn broke and the British spotted the Boers on Talana Hill, these guns opened fire, ineffectually.

The British field batteries galloped to within range and opened fire, causing about 1000 Boers to run away. The British infantry rushed forward to make a frontal attack, and reached the foot of the hill, but were pinned down in a eucalyptus plantation by heavy rifle fire. Symons went forward to urge them on, and was mortally wounded. Under Symon's successor, Colonel Yule, the British infantry charged up the hill with the bayonet, suffering casualties from their own artillery as they reached the top.

Lukas Meyer's forces mounted their ponies and made off. The British mounted troops tried to cut off their retreat, but most of the British horsemen strayed onto the slopes of Impati. Erasmus had so far played no part in the battle (partly because Impati was still shrouded in fog), but his men surrounded the British mounted detachment and forced them to surrender.

The British had won a tactical victory at high cost. They could have suffered a disastrous defeat had Meyer and Erasmus in particular not been cautious and indecisive commanders.

Yule's men were unable to contemplate attacking Impati Mountain, which held Dundee's water supply. They marched and countermarched beneath the hill for two days under intermittent shellfire. Other Boer forces had cut the British line of supply and retreat. Finally, despairing of help, the British force retreated across country at night. After a four-day march of 64 miles, they reached the temporary safety of Ladysmith.

October 20, 1914, Battle of the Yser, WWI

The entire Belgian Army was deployed to defend the front. The troops were exhausted and low on ammunition after two months of fighting and retreat. France reinforced the Belgians with 6,000 Marines and an infantry division.

The first skirmishes started on 16 October 1914. The town of Diksmuide was attacked but the Germans were repelled by French marines and Belgian artillery. The following day German troops (consisting of trained conscripts, reservists and untrained students) moved southwards from Bruges and Ostend in the direction of the Yser river. It became clear that the German Fourth Army was to take the line from Nieuwpoort to Ypres.

Admiral Hood of the Royal Navy commanded three monitors, Severn, Humber and Mersey, which bombarded the German army in Lombardsijde from the sea the following day.

On 18 October the German offensive started. It initially overran the frontal defense positions of the Belgian, British and French armies along a line stretching from Nieuwpoort down to Arras in France. The objective was to defeat the Belgian and French armies and to deprive the British of access to the harbours of Calais, Boulogne and Dunkerque.

It took four days of heavy fighting for the German troops to drive the allies back and reach the borders of the river Yser. On 21 October, the Germans were able to establish a small bridgehead on the other side of the river. The last bridge over the Yser was blown up on 23 October. Diksmuide bore the brunt of repeated German offensives and bombardments yet the town was still not taken.

Course of the "Race to the Sea" showing dates of encounters and highlighting the significant battles.

The French high command planned to inundate large parts of their territory with water as a defensive measure. This would have made that the Belgian Army would have been between the water and the Germans or to abandon the last part of, unoccupied, Belgium. This plan was postponed since the Belgian has started to prepare themselves inundations between the river Yser and the canals. On 25 October the pressure upon the Belgian army had grown so large that the decision was made to inundate the entire Belgian front line. After an earlier failed experiment on 21 October during the nights of 26 October to 29 October the Belgian army managed to open the Nieuwpoort drainage channels to sea water, steadily raising the water level until an impassable flooded marshland up to a mile wide as far south as Diksmuide was created. Karel Cogge and Hendrik Geeraerts became (Belgian) national heroes for their decisive role in the inundations (see reference book "In Flanders Flooded Fields"). On 29 October Diksmuide finally fell into German hands. For 30 October, the Germans had planned another decisive attack. The attack broke through the Belgian second defense line but faced with Belgian and French counterattacks in front and the flooding in their backs, the attack was called off and the front stabilized

October 20, 1944 - D-Day at Leyte Island

The Leyte invasion was the largest amphibious operation mounted by American and Allied forces to date in the Pacific theater. Gen. MacArthur was designated as supreme commander of sea, air, and land forces drawn from both the Southwest and Central Pacific theaters of operation. Allied naval and air support forces consisted primarily of the U.S. Seventh Fleet under Vice Adm. Thomas C. Kinkaid. With 701 ships, including 157 warships, Kinkaid's fleet would transport and put ashore the landing force. The Royal Australian Navy forces seconded to the Seventh Fleet included five warships, three landing ships and five auxiliary vessels.

The U.S. Sixth Army under Lt. Gen. Walter Krueger was the main combat force, which consisted of two corps of two divisions each. Maj. Gen. Franklin C. Sibert's X Corps included the 1st Cavalry Division and the 24th Infantry Division, minus the 21st RCT. Maj. Gen. John R. Hodge's XXIV Corps included the 7th Infantry Division and the untested 96th Infantry Division. The 32nd and 77th Infantry Divisions and the 381st RCT (of the 96th) were the reserve forces. Supplementary units included the 6th Ranger Battalion, tasked to secure outlying islands and guide naval forces to the landing beaches. The new 6th Army Service Command under Maj. Gen. Hugh J. Casey was responsible for organizing the beachhead, supplying units ashore, and constructing or improving roads and airfields. In all, Gen. Krueger had under his command 202,500 ground troops. On Leyte, some 3,000 Filipino guerrillas under Lt. Col. Ruperto Kangleon awaited the landing forces.

The Sixth Army mission of securing Leyte was to be accomplished in three phases. The first would begin on 17 October, three days before and some fifty miles (80 km) east of the landing beaches, with the seizure of three islands commanding the eastern approaches to Leyte Gulf. On A-Day, 20 October, the X and XXIV Corps would land at separate beaches on the east coast of Leyte, the former on the right (north), the latter fifteen miles (24 km) south. The X Corps would take Tacloban City and its airfield north of the corps beachhead, secure the strait between Leyte and Samar Islands, then push through Leyte Valley to the north coast. The XXIV Corps was to secure southern Leyte Valley for airfield and logistical development. Meanwhile, the 21st RCT would come ashore to secure the strait between Leyte and Panaon Islands. In the third phase, the two corps would take separate routes through the mountains to clear the enemy from Ormoc Valley and the west coast of the island, at the same time placing an outpost on the island of Samar some thirty-five miles (56 km) north of Tacloban.

[edit] Battle

[edit] Landings

Preliminary operations for the Leyte invasion began at dawn on 17 October with minesweeping operations and the movement of the 6th Rangers toward three small islands in Leyte Gulf. Although delayed by a storm, the Rangers were on Suluan and Dinagat islands by 12:30. On Suluan, they dispersed a small group of Japanese defenders and destroyed a radio station, while they found Dinagat unoccupied. On both, the Rangers proceeded to erect navigation lights for the amphibious transports to follow three days later. The next day, the third island Homonhon, was taken without opposition. Meanwhile reconnaissance by underwater demolition teams revealed clear landing beaches for assault troops on Leyte.

U.S. 1st Cavalry troops wade through a swamp in Leyte

Following four hours of heavy naval gunfire on A-day, 20 October, Sixth Army forces landed on assigned beaches at 10:00. The X Corps pushed across a four-mile (6.5 km) stretch of beach between Tacloban airfield and the Palo River. Fifteen miles (24 km) to the south, XXIV Corps units came ashore across a three-mile (5 km) strand between San José and the Daguitan River. Troops found as much resistance from swampy terrain as from Japanese fire. Within an hour of landing, units in most sectors had secured beachheads deep enough to receive heavy vehicles and large amounts of supplies. Only in the 24th Division sector did enemy fire force a diversion of follow-up landing craft. But even that sector was secure enough by 13:30 to allow Gen. MacArthur to make a dramatic entrance through the surf and announce to the populace the beginning of their liberation: "People of the Philippines, I have returned! By the grace of Almighty God, our forces stand again on Philippine soil."

By the end of A-day, the Sixth Army had moved two miles (3 km) inland and controlled Panaon Strait at the southern end of Leyte. In the X Corps sector, the 1st Cavalry Division held Tacloban airfield, and the 24th Infantry Division had taken the high ground commanding its beachheads Hill 522. In the XXIV Corps sector, the 96th Infantry Division held the approaches to Catmon Hill. The 7th Infantry Division took the town of Dulag, which forced Gen. Makino to move his command post ten miles (16 km) inland to the town of Dagami. The initial fighting was won at a cost of 49 killed, 192 wounded, and 6 missing.

Today in History - October 19th

2008-10-19T23:22:00.002-04:00

October 19, 1781 - Cornwallis surrenders to Washington at Yorktown

In the summer of 1781, after six years of war, the American Army was struggling. The British occupied New York City. A second British army lead by General Lord Cornwallis ravaged the South - capturing Charleston, Richmond, and apparently was heading for the Chesapeake Bay. Mutiny plagued the American army in New York and New Jersey.

There was a glimmer of hope, however. The French, allied with the Americans since 1778, had landed six thousand troops in Rhode Island while the French fleet gathered in the Caribbean preparing to do battle with the British. General George Washington and the French commander, Comte de Rochambeau, met in May 1781 to plan their strategy. Washington wanted to attack the British in New York City. Rochambeau, fearful of attacking such a well fortified position and lacking confidence in the Continental Army's abilities, recommended marching south to battle Cornwallis in Virginia.

Washington finally acquiesced to the French position and on August 22, the two armies began their march from White Plains, New York to Virginia arriving in early September. As the combined American and French armies marched south, a battle between the French and British fleets in the Chesapeake Bay sealed the fate of General Cornwallis and his British troops at Yorktown. In the period from September 5 - 9, the French surprised the British fleet at the mouth of the Chesapeake forcing the British navy to retreat to New York, leaving General Cornwallis stranded.

After a five-day bombardment, the combined American and French forces attacked and overwhelmed Cornwallis's fortified position on the night of October 14. The British commander was left with no choice but to surrender, which he did on October 19. News of the surrender reached England on November 25 sending shock waves through the British government. Although King George III wanted to continue the battle, the surrender forced Prime Minister Lord North to resign in March 1782. His replacement began the peace process that culminated in the signing of the Treaty of Paris in September 1783 granting independence to the American colonies.

Surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown

October 19, 1864 The Battle of Cedar Creek, Virgiinia

Early deployed his men in three columns in an audacious night march, lighted only by the moon. Maj. Gen. John B. Gordon's division started at 8:00 p.m. and followed a "pig's path" along the base of Massanutten Mountain and across the river. Just before sunrise, operating under a cover of dense fog, Gordon struck. The surprise was complete, and the first Union corps (Maj. Gen. George Crook's VIII) fought momentarily, then broke. Hundreds of prisoners were taken, many of them still in their bedclothes.

The XIX Corps under Maj. Gen. William Emory was next to be hit, by Gordon and the division of Maj. Gen. Joseph B. Kershaw, who joined the attack from the west, and Emory's soldiers broke, too. The Confederate assault moved so swiftly that they had little time to prepare. Retreating soldiers from Emory's corps caused confusion and damaged the morale of the defenders. And since their hasty battle line faced south rather than west, Confederate guns across the creek were able to shell the open Union flank.

Wright's VI Corps, last in the line, fought a strong defensive battle, withdrawing slowly under heavy pressure. He attempted to advance his lines southward to meet Early's initial assault, but the attack moved too quickly for him to get them moving. Early did not keep up his pressure, however, so pleased was he with his victory, including the capture of over a thousand prisoners and eighteen guns. He mistakenly assumed that Wright would retreat from the battlefield. He told Gordon, "This is glory enough for one day." The Union troops had withdrawn past Middletown. His failure to pursue them is considered his fatal mistake in the battle and caused lasting enmity between him and Gordon.

Sheridan was away at Winchester, Virginia, at the time the battle started. Hearing the distant sounds of artillery, he rode aggressively to his command. (A famous poem, Sheridan's Ride, was written by Thomas Buchanan Read to commemorate this event.) He reached the battlefield about 10:30 a.m. and began to rally his men. Fortunately for Sheridan, Early's men were too occupied to take notice; they were hungry and exhausted and fell out of their ranks to pillage the Union camps.

General Sheridan wrote in his official report an account of the famous ride:

[I] was unconscious of the true condition of affairs until about 9 o'clock, when having ridden through the town of Winchester, the sound of the artillery made a battle unmistakable, and on reaching Mill Creek, half a mile south of Winchester, the head of the fugitives appeared in sight, trains and men coming to the rear with appalling rapidity. I immediately gave directions to halt and park the trains at Mill Creek, and ordered the brigade at Winchester to stretch across the country and stop all stragglers. Taking twenty men from my escort, I pushed on to the front, leaving the balance under General Forsyth and Colonels Thom and Alexander to do what they could in stemming the torrent of fugitives. I am happy to say that hundreds of the men, when of reflection found they had not done themselves justice, came back with cheers. ... still none behaved more gallantly or exhibited greater courage than those who returned from the rear determined to reoccupy their lost camp. ...

– Philip H. Sheridan, Report of Maj. Gen. Philip H. Sheridan, U.S. Army, commanding Middle Military Division, including operations August 4, 1864 – February 27, 1865: The War of the Rebellion, Vol. 43, Part I, pages 52–54.

At 3:00 p.m. Early resumed his offensive with a minor attack that might have succeeded in the morning, but was easily repulsed. At 4:00 p.m., Emory's corps counterattacked. Early's three divisions were stretched out on a line about three miles long, with the flanks unprotected. Emory was reinforced by George A. Custer's cavalry division, which exploited the open left flank and broke the Confederate line. Other cavalry units destroyed a bridge in the Confederate rear, cutting off their escape route. Many of the veteran Southern troops surrendered, certain they could not fight their way out of the debacle. The Union took hundreds of prisoners, 43 guns (18 of which were their own guns from the morning), and supplies that the Confederacy could not replace.

The battle resulted in a crushing defeat for the Confederacy. They were never again able to threaten Washington, D.C., through the Shenandoah Valley, nor protect the economic base in the Valley. The reelection of Abraham Lincoln was materially aided by this victory and Phil Sheridan received lasting fame. Jubal Early's command was effectively ended and his surviving units returned to assist Robert E. Lee in Petersburg that December.

Sheridan at Cedar Creek, Oct. 19, 1864

Today in History - October 18th

2008-10-18T17:11:00.002-04:00

October 18, 1915 - Italians begin 3rd Isonzo Offensive (10/18 - 11/4)

After the Italian entrance into World War I in late May 1915, Chief of Staff Luigi Cadorna determined that his troops could most effectively strike in the eastern section of the Isonzo region, aiming to capture points on the line from Gorizia to Trieste. For this reason, he poured an immense amount of resources into this area, launching no fewer than 11 offensive operations against the Austrians from June 1915 to September 1917. Like the two attacks that preceded it, the Third Battle of the Isonzo, begun on October 18, 1915, proved disappointing for the Italians. Despite their numerical superiority—19 divisions of troops versus 11 Austrian divisions—Cadorna’s forces failed over two weeks of fighting to capture the two objectives of the attack, Mount Sabotino and Mount San Michele, suffering heavy casualties along the way. All the same, Cadorna waited just one week to begin his next offensive, the Fourth Battle of the Isonzo, effectively an extension of the third.

Italian troops entrenched along the Isonzo river.

Today in History - October 17th

2008-10-18T16:57:00.002-04:00

October 17, 1777 - Gen. Burgoyne surrenders at Saratoga

Burgoyne, already outnumbered 3 to 1, had lost 1,000 men total including the casualties sustained during the Battle of Freeman's Farm, while American losses came to about 500 killed and wounded. He had lost several of his most effective leaders. The maneuver had failed, and his forward line was now breached. That night he lit fires at his remaining forward positions and withdrew under the cover of darkness. So on the morning of October 8, he was back in the fortified positions he had held on September 16.

Again under cover of darkness, the British forces retreated north, but their attempted retreat to Fort Ticonderoga was blocked by American forces under the command of General Gates. The British were attempting to cross back over to the east side of the Hudson at Saratoga, the same point they had crossed in August, but by then they were surrounded and badly outnumbered. Forty miles (60 km) south of Fort Ticonderoga, with supplies dwindling and winter not far off, Burgoyne had little option. He set up camp at Saratoga and decided to open discussions with the Americans.

At first Gates demanded unconditional surrender, which the British general flatly turned down, declaring he would sooner fight to the death. Gates eventually agreed to a "treaty of convention," whereby the British would technically not surrender nor be taken as prisoners but be marched to Boston and returned to England on the condition that they were not to serve again in America. Gates was concerned that a fight to the death with Burgoyne could still prove costly, and he was also concerned about reports of General Sir Henry Clinton advancing from New York to relieve his compatriots stranded at Saratoga. Resplendent in full ceremonial uniform, General Burgoyne led his troops out from his camp on October 17, 1777, and was greeted with formal cordiality by General Gates. Others lay wounded or were helping the large contingent of officers' wives prepare for captivity.

In the grounding of arms at Saratoga, 5,791 men were surrendered. Riedesel had stated that not more than 4,000 of these were fit for duty. The number of Germans surrendering is set down by Eelking at 2,431 men, and of Germans killed, wounded, captured or missing down to October 6, at 1,122 including the losses at Bennington. The total loss of the British and their German auxiliaries, in killed, wounded, prisoners, and deserters, during the campaign, was 9,000 men.

Painting of the surrender that hangs in the United States Capitol Rotunda.

October 17, 1859 - John Brown's Raid on Harper's Ferry

On October 16, 1859, Brown (leaving three men behind as a rear guard) led 19 men in an attack on the Harpers Ferry Armory. He had received 200 Beecher's Bibles -- breechloading .52 caliber Sharps carbines -- and pikes from northern abolitionist societies in preparation for the raid. The armory was a large complex of buildings that contained 100,000 muskets and rifles, which Brown planned to seize and use to arm local slaves. They would then head south, drawing off more and more slaves from plantations, and fighting only in self-defense. As Frederick Douglass and Brown's family testified, his strategy was essentially to deplete Virginia of its slaves, causing the institution to collapse in one county after another, until the movement spread into the South, essentially wreaking havoc on the economic viability of the pro-slavery states. Thus, while violence was essential to self-defense and advancement of the movement, Brown's hope was to limit and minimize bloodshed, not ignite a slave insurrection as many have charged. From the Southern point of view, of course, any effort to arm the enslaved was perceived as a definitive threat.

Initially, the raid went well, and they met no resistance entering the town. They cut the telegraph wires and easily captured the armory, which was being defended by a single watchman. They next rounded up hostages from nearby farms, including Colonel Lewis Washington, great-grand-nephew of George Washington. They also spread the news to the local slaves that their liberation was at hand. Things started to go wrong when an eastbound Baltimore & Ohio train approached the town. The train's baggage master tried to warn the passengers. Brown's men yelled for him to halt and then opened fire. The baggage master, Hayward Shepherd, became the first casualty of John Brown's war against slavery. Ironically, Shepherd was a free black man. Two of the hostages' slaves also died in the raid.^[13] For some reason, after the shooting of Shepherd, Brown allowed the train to continue on its way. News of the raid reached Washington by late morning.

In the meantime, local farmers, shopkeepers, and militia pinned down the raiders in the armory by firing from the heights behind the town. Some of the local men were shot by Brown's men. At noon, a company of militia seized the bridge, blocking the only escape route. Brown then moved his prisoners and remaining raiders into the engine house, a small brick building at the entrance to the armory. He had the doors and windows barred and loopholes were cut through the brick walls. The surrounding forces barraged the engine house, and the men inside fired back with occasional fury. Brown sent his son Watson and another supporter out under a white flag, but the angry crowd shot them. Intermittent shooting then broke out, and Brown's son Oliver was wounded. His son begged his father to kill him and end his suffering, but Brown said "If you must die, die like a man." A few minutes later he was dead. The exchanges lasted throughout the day.

Illustration of the interior of the Fort immediately before the door is broken down

By the morning of (October 18) the engine house, later known as John Brown's Fort, was surrounded by a company of U.S. Marines under the command of Colonel Robert E. Lee of the United States Army. A young Army lieutenant, J.E.B. Stuart, approached under a white flag and told the raiders that their lives would be spared if they surrendered. Brown refused, saying, "No, I prefer to die here." Stuart then gave a signal. The Marines used sledge hammers and a make-shift battering-ram to break down the engine room door. Lieutenant Israel Greene cornered Brown and struck him several times, wounding his head. In three minutes Brown and the survivors were captives. Altogether Brown's men killed four people, and wounded nine. Ten of Brown's men were killed (including his sons Watson and Oliver). Five of Brown's men escaped (including his son Owen), and seven were captured along with Brown. Among the killed raiders were John Henry Kagi; Lewis Sheridan Leary and Dangerfield Newby; those hanged besides Brown were John Anthony Copeland, Jr. and Shields Green (ironically, USMC Lt. Greene, although a Northerner, would serve in the Confederate Marines

Today in History - October 16th

2008-10-16T14:21:00.002-04:00

October 16-18, 1813 - Napoleon defeated at Leipzig

The Battle of Leipzig (October 16-19, 1813), also called the Battle of the Nations, was the largest conflict in the Napoleonic Wars and one of the worst defeats suffered by Napoleon Bonaparte.

Following the disastrous campaign in Russia and defeats in the Peninsular War, the anti_French forces had cautiously regrouped as the Sixth Coalition, comprising Britain, Russia, Spain, Portugal, Prussia, Sweden and certain smaller German states.

Napoleon sought to re_establish his hold in Germany, winning two hard_fought victories at L�tzen, on May 2 and Bautzen, on May 20-21 over Russo-Prussian forces. The victories led to a brief armistice but this lasted even less time than usual. The Allies rejoined the conflict under the command of Gebhard von Bl�cher, Crown Prince Charles of Sweden (Bernadotte) and Karl Schwarzenberg. The Allies' tactics were to avoid clashes with Napoleon but to seek meetings with his marshals, which led to victories at Grossbeeren, Kulm, Katzbach and at Dennewitz.

Napoleon failed to capture Berlin before withdrawing westwards, crossing the Elbe in late September and organizing his forces around Leipzig to protect his supply lines and meet the Allies. Napoleon arranged his army around Leipzig, but concentrating his force from Taucha through St�tteritz (where Napoleon placed his command) and then curving south_west to Lindenau. The Prussians advanced from Wartenburg, the Austrians and Russians from Dresden and the Swedish force from the north. In total, the French had around 190,000 soldiers and the Allies almost 330,000 with both sides having significant artillery.

The battle began on the 16th with an attack by 78,000 Allied troops from the south and 54,000 from the north, they achieved little and were soon forced back. The following day both forces merely skirmished as reinforcements arrived and were organized. On the 18th the Allies launched a huge assault from all sides, in over nine hours of fighting the French were slowly forced back towards Leipzig, both sides suffered heavy casualties and only the bravery of the French troops prevented a breakthrough. Napoleon saw that the battle could only end in defeat and on the night of the 18th_19th began to withdraw the majority of his army across the river Elster. The retreat went well until early afternoon when the single bridge was mistakenly destroyed, leaving the French rearguard to be caught by the Allies or to drown trying to swim the river.

Total casualties are uncertain, estimates range from 80,000 to 110,000 killed or wounded from both sides. Taking an estimate of 95,000 total, the Allies lost 55,000 and the French 40,000, with around 30,000 French taken prisoner. The battle ended the French Empire east of the Rhine and brought a number of German states over to the Allies.

Napoleon and Poniatowski at Leipzig

Today in History - October 14th

2008-10-15T00:57:00.004-04:00

October 14, 1892 - French defeat Dohomens at Kotopa

By October 14, the French columns had reached the town of Kotopa near the Koto River. On the far side of the river lay the sacred city of Cana, a place that the witch doctors had assured Behanzin would never fall to the white man. After reconnaissance, Dodds had decided that the three lines of Dahomean defenses in front of Kotopa were too strong to be taken by storm. Leaving the artillery to bombard the town, he then took most of his infantry upriver where he thought he might be able to ford the Koto and outflank those positions. His guides did not find a ford, but the Dahomean artillery did find the French column and began lobbing shells across the river. Temporarily stymied by the impassable jungle in front of him, Dodds drew his force back from Kotopa, called a halt and took stock of the situation.

The French expeditionary corps was now down to little more than 1,500 fighting men. Almost all the marines were out of commission from fatigue or wounds, a large number of the porters had melted into the forest, and dysentery and thirst were wearing down many of the infantrymen. Time was needed for rest and to bring up supplies and reinforcements, so Dodds set up a fortified camp a day’s march from the Koto, which the legionnaires christened the Camp of Thirst.

Behanzin, not realizing the difference between a tactical withdrawal and a retreat, ordered full-scale attacks against what he assumed was a beaten foe–attacks that turned into the same type of systematic slaughter that had occurred at Dogba and Grede. His warriors now had a graphic description for these strange adversaries who fought in square formations. They are like a great and evil bird, they said, who defends itself with its beak in front, with its wings to the sides, and with its claws behind.

October 14, 1899 Kimberly Besieged by the Boers

On 14 October 1899, Kimberley was besieged at the beginning of the Second Boer War. The British forces trying to relieve the siege suffered heavy losses. The siege was only lifted on 15 February 1900, but the war continued until May 1902. By that time, the British had built a concentration camp at Kimberley to house Boer women and children.^[9]

October 14, 1943, Allied Bomber Raid on Schweinfurt

8th Air Force again attacked Schweinfurt on 14 October 1943, a day that would go down in history as "Black Thursday." 291 B-17s left England, 229 bombed the target, and 60 bombers were lost. Crew casualties amounted to 639 men ... a loss the 8th Air Force could not afford, and which put a halt, for the time being, to unescorted deep strikes. The bombing was more accurate this time, but hindsight shows that it was not a crippling blow to the bearing industry.

Today in History - October 13th

2008-10-15T00:41:00.002-04:00

October 13, 1812 - Battle of Queenston Heights during the War of 1812

The Battle for Queenston Heights

On October 13th 1812, War came to the Niagara Frontier. American troops lead by General Stephan Van Rensselaer, crossed the river at Queenston in a surprise attack and captured the Redan battery. It was a large cannon located on the Heights, which was perceived to be a threat to the village of Lewiston New York.
General Brock was in Niagara, in it's present day Niagara-on-the-Lake when he heard of the American Invasion. On his horse Alfred he rode quickly to find part of the American Force pinned down on the rivers edge.
Some of the Americans lead by Captain Wool had gone along the river bank where they found a way up the steep gorge, they climbed to the top and captured the Redan battery by attacking from the rear. The Americans turned the cannon so it was directed at Queenston.
Brock gathered his British troops and Canadian militia and attempted to charge up the Heights against fierce American musket fire. He was forced to order a retreat, but ordered another charge almost immediately. He was leading his men with his sword held high when an American sniper took aim and shot him. The musket ball penetrated his heart and he fell to the ground mortally wounded. He died almost instantly. The counterattack faltered, then retreated down the slope. An aide to Brock, Colonel John Macdonell, arrived with two more companies, renewed the attack, and reached the abandoned gun postion on the heights. Macdonell was killed at about this point.
The Americans on the Heights began to fortify their postition against a British Frontal attack up the escarpment.
British General Roger Hale Sheaffe was leading a British column from Fort George along the river road, and he made a detour back off the river road to remain out of the Americans site. And to bring his troops up the escarpment by a little used path a mile or so west of Queenston arriving at the top of the Heights out flanking the American forces.
By mid-afternoon when British Major General Sheaffe arrived with a relief force there were more than one thousand American troops on the Heights.
Sheaffe found that a small detatchment of British troops and Indians from Chippawa were harassing the Americans with sparatic attacks during which the Indians filled the air with war cries.
The Americans were in a culdasack with the gorge and escarpment on two sides and in their rear and the British in front of them. After more troops and militia arrived from Fort Erie and the forces were about even with about one thosand men each, Sheaffe ordered an attack. After a single volley the British troops moved forward with two hundred Indians who filled the air once more with their piercing war cries. The American Line was shattered. Colonel Winfield Scott tried to organize an orderly retreat to Queenston Landing, but his army was getting cut to pieces. After one half hour or so he called for surrender and the fighting gradually stopped.
The British won the day at Queenston Heights by Sheaffe's prompt counter attack.
The Americans were unable to persuade the thousands of their militia at Lewiston to cross the river.

American Losses:
958 killed, wounded or missing of which 450 were regular army.
Colonel Winfield Scott was taken Prisoner and later paroled on the condition that he not take part again in active Military service.
British Losses:
112 killed, wounded or missing and the British Indian losses were 13 of which 3 all chiefs were killed.

"Push on, brave York Volunteers!" A mortally wounded Brock urges the Canadian militia forward. Apocryphal reconstruction, oil on canvas.

Today in History - October 11th

2008-10-11T16:34:00.002-04:00

October 11, 1746 The Battle of Rocaux

The Battle of Rocoux (11 October 1746) was a French victory over an allied Austrian, British, Hanoveran and Dutch army outside Liege during War of the Austrian Succession.
The French main attack went against the Dutch portion on the left of the allied line between Liege and Rocoux, heavily defeating it on the third assault.^[7] In the face of a general French advance the allied line began to give way. The Austrians on the allied right were not engaged and made no attempt to take the iniative and advance against the exposed French left flank. Lingonier's cavalry and some British infantry formed a rear guard that held off the French as the army withdrew. The French were victorious, immediately capturing Liege and breaking Austrian control over the Netherlands.

The Battle of Roucoux, 1746

October 11, 1776 Battle of Valcour Island
The naval Battle of Valcour Island, also known as the Battle of Valcour Bay, took place on 11 October 1776, on Lake Champlain in a narrow strait between the New York mainland and Valcour Island during the American Revolutionary War. It is generally regarded as the first naval battle fought by the United States Navy. Although the American ships under the command of Benedict Arnold were mostly destroyed, the campaign delayed by one year the British attempt to cut the colonies in half and eventually led to the British military disaster at Saratoga in 1777.

Arnold came from a seafaring Connecticut family. He shrewdly chose to force the British to attack his inferior forces in a narrow, rocky body of water between the coast and Valcour Island, where the British fleet would have difficulty bringing its superior firepower to bear, and where the inferior seamanship of his unskilled sailors would have a minimal effect.

The British fleet took up positions at noon around 300 yards (c.300 m) in front of the American battle line with the small gunboats forward, and the five main ships around 50-100 yards behind the gunboats. The British then opened fire with a heavy broadside against the American ships, which continued for the next five hours. During the exchange of cannon fire, Revenge was heavily hit; Philadelphia was also heavily hit and sank later at around 6:30 p.m. Royal Savage commanded by Captain David Hawley ran aground and was set on fire by the crew to prevent the ship from falling in British hands. Congress and Washington were heavily damaged; Jersey and New York were also badly hit. On the British side, casualties began mounting, as well. HMS Carleton was heavily hit as it tried to land a boarding party on the grounded Royal Savage and was forced to withdraw under heavy fire. One small gunboat, commanded by Lieutenant Dufais, blew up and sank from a direct hit. Most of the other small gunboats were also hit, forcing them to withdraw and reform their battle line 700 yards from the American line. Two of the gunboats were so heavily damaged that their crews were forced to scuttle them after the action.

Nonetheless, the battle had gone against the Americans when the sun set on 11 October. Most of the American ships were damaged or sinking, and the crews reported around 60 casualties. The British reported around 40 casualties on their ships. Aware that he could not defeat the British fleet, Arnold decided to withdraw. Arnold managed to sneak his fleet past (and through) the British fleet during the night and attempted to run for the cover of the shore batteries situated at the American-held fort at Crown Point at the south end of the lake. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate, and the Americans were caught short of their goal. As the British pursued, Colonel Guy Carleton mistakenly fired upon a small rocky island, thinking it was an American ship. The small island was later named Carleton's prize.

Position of American ships on Lake Champlain

This day in History = October 10th

2008-10-10T14:38:00.002-04:00

October 10, 1914 - Antwerp surrenders to the Germans during WWI.

When the Belgian field army retreated from Liege in August 1914, it fell back on the fortified camp of Antwerp, the Belgian National Redoubt, to await assistance from either France or Great Britain. Antwerp, with its triple ring of fortifications spanning a circumference of more than 100 kms was at the time considered an impregnable position. But the Belgian Field Army and Antwerp garrison of altogether some 120 000 to 150 000 men was not strong enough to hold the forts in face of a determined assault, especially when the assaulting forces were backed by mobile heavy siege aritillery, at the time a technological marvel weapon. Antwerp was the third largest port in the world, but as per treaty with the Netherlands, in time of war the river Scheldt was blocked to all military traffic at Dutch discretion. The river was closed in early August and no British reinforcements could be expected via that route without provoking Dutch entry into the war on the German side. And in any case, neither of the two Entente Powers were able to spare forces until early October, after the Battles of the Marne and the Aisne. By then the British forces sent to Antwerp, some 8000 Naval Brigade troops, were insufficient to hold the line.

Meanwhile, from mid-August onwards, the Belgian field army, government and King remained in the Antwerp fortified camp, conducting several large scale sorties against German positions to the south. This so unmoved the German command that at critical points during the Battle of the Marne, German units were sent north to reinforce the line against Belgian attacks.

By September it was decided to definitively remove the threat posed by the Belgian army. Albert I, King of the Belgians refused German diplomatic offers to take no further part in the fighting in Europe. German forces besieging the line of forts protecting the city were reinforced and heavy German and Austrian siege artillery was brought up. The intention was to take Antwerp and force Belgium out of the war by either capturing or decisively defeating the Belgian army. This had to be done before British and French reinforcements arrived at the besieged city.

The main battle for Antwerp started on September 27. The last fort surrendered on October 10, one day after German forces took possesion of the city. On the whole, the Belgian Army and British forces were able to escape the city to make their way to the Belgian coast. Later events during the Great War far eclipsed the siege and capture of Antwerp in terms of manpower, duration, destruction, loss of life and misery : but at the time the fall of the fortified camp of Antwerp was considered a dramatic event and a grave loss to the cause of the Entente Powers. The Germans made much of the fall of Antwerp, regarding it as a consolation prize for having failed to take Paris the month before; but as military river traffic was forbidden by the Netherlands authorities who held control over the river mouthing, and as other maritime transport was blockaded by the Royal Navy, in the end Antwerp was never turned into the proverbial 'pistol aimed at the heart of England.' Nor did the city play a part in German defensive strategy as planned during the final months of the war in 1918. Plans to turn the great fortress into the northern lynchpin of a German line of defense running along the Nethe and Meuse rivers, were never carried out due to the sudden cessation of hostilities in November 1918.

Today in History - October 8th

2008-10-08T22:26:00.002-04:00

October 8th, 1862, Battle of Perryville, during the American Civil War

Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg’s autumn 1862 invasion of Kentucky had reached the outskirts of Louisville and Cincinnati, but he was forced to retreat and regroup. On October 7, the Federal army of Maj. Gen. Don Carlos Buell, numbering nearly 55,000, converged on the small crossroads town of Perryville, Kentucky, in three columns. Union forces first skirmished with Rebel cavalry on the Springfield Pike before the fighting became more general, on Peters Hill, as the grayclad infantry arrived. The next day, at dawn, fighting began again around Peters Hill as a Union division advanced up the pike, halting just before the Confederate line. The fighting then stopped for a time. After noon, a Confederate division struck the Union left flank and forced it to fall back. When more Confederate divisions joined the fray, the Union line made a stubborn stand, counterattacked, but finally fell back with some troops routed. Buell did not know of the happenings on the field, or he would have sent forward some reserves. Even so, the Union troops on the left flank, reinforced by two brigades, stabilized their line, and the Rebel attack sputtered to a halt. Later, a Rebel brigade assaulted the Union division on the Springfield Pike but was repulsed and fell back into Perryville. The Yankees pursued, and skirmishing occurred in the streets in the evening before dark. Union reinforcements were threatening the Rebel left flank by now. Bragg, short of men and supplies, withdrew during the night, and, after pausing at Harrodsburg, continued the Confederate retrograde by way of Cumberland Gap into East Tennessee. The Confederate offensive was over, and the Union controlled Kentucky.

Result(s): Union strategic victory

Battle of Perryville – the extreme left – Starkweather's brigade

This day in History - October 7th

2008-10-08T16:45:00.002-04:00

October 7, 1571, Naval Battle of Lepanto

Lepanto, battle of (lipăn'tō) [key], Oct. 7, 1571, naval battle between the Christians and Ottomans fought in the strait between the gulfs of Pátrai and Corinth, off Lepanto (Návpaktos), Greece. The fleet of the Holy League commanded by John of Austria (d. 1578) opposed the Ottoman fleet under Uluç Ali Pasha. The allied fleet (about 200 galleys, not counting smaller ships) consisted mainly of Spanish, Venetian, and papal ships and of vessels sent by a number of Italian states. It carried approximately 30,000 fighting men and was about evenly matched with the Ottoman fleet. The battle ended with the virtual destruction of the Ottoman navy (except 40 galleys, with which Uluç Ali escaped). Approximately 15,000 Turks were slain or captured, some 10,000 Christian galley slaves were liberated, and much booty was taken. The victors, however, lost over 7,000 men. Among the allied wounded was Cervantes, who lost the use of his left arm. Lepanto was the first major Ottoman defeat by the Christian powers, and it ended the myth of Ottoman naval invincibility. It did not, however, affect Ottoman supremacy on the land, and a new Turkish fleet was speedily built by Sokollu, grand vizier of Selim II. Nevertheless, the battle was decisive in the sense that an Ottoman victory probably would have made the Ottoman Empire supreme in the Mediterranean.

The Battle of Lepanto

October 7,1777 Battle of Bemis Heights during the American Revolution

On October 7, Burgoyne determined to launch the delayed attack on the American positions on Bemis Heights.
He initiated this plan with an advance divided into 3 columns and 10 guns, commanded by Brig. Gen. Simon Fraser: Maj. Lord Balcarres commanded light infantry on the right column, von Riedsel's Hessians and Brunswick infantry in the center column, and British grenadiers commanded by Maj. John Dyke Acland on the left column. Maj. ?? Fraser's rangers and 600 Tories and Indians would lead the main force in a wide arc to the west and south. (They would wind up marching too far west and not play a major role in the battle). Burgoyne decided to manuever his columns depending on how the Americans were deployed and how Gates reacted to this movement.

Fraser led his 3 columns out of the entrenchments and advanced about 3/4 mile to the edge of Barber's wheatfield, where they deployed. The American pickets sent word to Gates that the British had advanced and were forming up in the wheatfield. Gates ordered Lincoln's division to move forward and meet the British.

The battle bagan when Acland's artillery and grenadiers on the British left spotted Brig. Gen. Enoch Poor's 800-man brigade in the woods below them and opened fire. Poor's men had formed at the base of a slight elevation. Firing downhill, the artillery fire flew over the heads of Poor's troops. Acland then ordered a bayonet charge, but before they could get started, Poor's men fired a deadly volley at them and launched their own attack. Acland's men were cut to pieces, with Acland being shot in both legs and being captured. At the same time that Poor and Acland were fighting each other, Morgan and Dearborn advanced through the woods and attacked Balcarre's column's flank and rear. One of Burgoyne's couriers was sent to Balcarre with an order to retreat but was killed. Balcarre never received the order to fall back. Balcarre's command quickly collapsed and fled to the rear. Both of the British flanks gave way, exposing Riedesel's column to the advance of Brig. Gen. Ebenezer Learned's brigade.

Hearing the sounds of battle, Arnold rode onto the battlefield just as Learned's brigade began its assault. Arnold took over command and led the men in their assault. Riedelsel's flanks were exposed and eventually had to fall back. Fraser tried to rally his men and form a second line of defense. At a critical moment in the battle, Timothy Murphy (one of Morgan's sharpshooters) was ordered to shoot and kill Fraser. Murphy's first two shots missed but his third shot found its target, mortally wounding Fraser. The pressure from both sides and the front forced the British and Hessian troops to move back to the rear at Freeman's Farm. At Freeman's Farm, they reorganized at two entrenchments known as Balcarre's Redoubt and Breymann's Redoubt, and two fortified cabins in between. The fight near Mill's Creek had lasted about 1 hour. Arnold realized that an opportunity now existed to follow up the British defeat with a decisive battlefield victory.

The second part of the battle began with Arnold leading his troops to the British breastworks. At Balcarres' Redoubt, the Americans made their way through the abatis but was driven back. At this time, Learned's brigade arrived on the scene and Arnold them to clear the reinforced cabins between the redoubts. This exposed the southern (left) flank of Breymann's Redoubt. They soon worked their way around the British flanks and took the fort from the rear. Next, they headed to Breymann's Redoubt.

As Arnold was organizing an assault, he was shot in the leg. The Hessians held out as long as they could. The redoubt was not built to withstand repeated and overpowering assaults from several directions. The Hessians was finally forced to surrender as darkness was falling. Burgoyne withdrew his force, leaving the sick and wounded on the field.

Neilson Farm on Bemis Heights

October 7, 1780, Battle of King's Mountain, during the American Revolution

The Over Mountain Men moved south in search of Major Patrick Ferguson. On October 6, while camped at Cowpens, South Carolina, the Over Mountain Men were joined by Colonel James Williams and 400 South Carolinians. From a Rebel spy they now learned that Ferguson was thirty miles to the north, camped at King's Mountain. The colonels wanted to catch up with Ferguson before he reached Charlotte and Lt. General Charles Cornwallis' protection, so they chose 900 of the best men and horses and quickly made their way north overnight.

The combined force of Over Mountain Men under the temporary command of Colonel William Campbell arrived at King's Mountain on the afternoon of October 7, 1780. Major Ferguson had chosen the position because he felt that no enemy could fire upon his position without showing themselves. The Patriot force deliberated and decided to surround the mountain and using continuous fire to slowly close in like an inescapable noose.

The force was divided into four columns. Colonel Isaac Shelby and Colonel Campbell led the interior columns, with Shelby on the left and Campbell on the right. The right flanking column was led by Colonel John Sevier. The left flanking column was led by Colonel Benjamin Cleveland. They moved into their respective positions and began moving toward the summit and Major Ferguson's position. The battle commenced at 3 o'clock with the middle two columns exchanging fire with Major Ferguson for fifteen minutes while the flanking columns moved into position. Ferguson used his Provincial Corps to drive back Colonels Shelby and Campbell with a bayonet charge, but then the Corps had to fall back under sharpshooter fire. Another bayonet charge repelled Shelby and Campbell.

Because of their exposed position, Major Ferguson's men were being overwhelmed. The sharpshooters were picking them off from behind the trees and brush that surrounded the summit, while their own aim was high as they shot downhill. The Over Mountain Men then gained a foothold on the summit, driving back the Loyalists. The net was now quickly closing in. Major Ferguson finally attempted to cut a path through the Patriot line so that his forces could escape, but this failed as Ferguson fell from his horse, riddled with bullets. Ferguson's second-in-command quickly raised the white flag of surrender. Following the request of surrender, it took a while for the firing to dissipate, with cries of 'Remember Waxhaws' and 'Buford's Quarter' spurring some men to continue for a time.

Today in History - October 6th

2008-10-06T20:22:00.004-04:00

October 6, 1863 - Battle of Baxter Springs in the American Civil War

The Battle of Baxter Springs, sometimes called the Baxter Springs Massacre, was a minor battle of the American Civil War, fought on October 6, 1863, near the modern-day town of Baxter Springs, Kansas.

In late 1863, the guerrilla band of Quantrill's Raiders travelled south from Kansas along the Texas Road to winter in Texas. Numbering about 400, this group captured and killed two Union teamsters who had come from small Federal Army post called Fort Blair.

Quantrill decided to attack Fort Blair and divided his force into two columns, one under him and the other commanded by a subordinate, David Poole. Poole and his men proceeded down the Texas Road, where they encountered Union soldiers, most of whom were African Americans. They chased and attacked the Union troops, killing some of them before they reached the earth and log fort.

Poole's column then attacked Fort Blair, but the garrison fought them off with the aid of a howitzer. Quantrill's column moved on the post from another direction and happened to encounter a Union detachment escorting Maj. Gen. James G. Blunt as he was in the process of moving his command headquarters from Fort Scott to Fort Smith.

Most of this detachment, including the military band, Maj. Henry Z. Curtis (son of Maj. Gen. Samuel R. Curtis), and Johnny Fry (first official westbound rider of the Pony Express) was killed, but Blunt and a few mounted men escaped and returned to Fort Scott. Blunt was removed from command for failing to protect his column, but he was soon restored. Touted as a massacre by some, Baxter Springs was another of the events that characterized the vicious Kansas-Missouri border warfare.

Battle of Baxter Springs painting

October 6, 1973 Yom Kippur War begins

The Yom Kippur War, Ramadan War or October War (Hebrew: מלחמת יום הכיפורים‎; transliterated: Milkhemet Yom HaKipurim or מלחמת יום כיפור, Milkhemet Yom Kipur; Arabic: حرب أكتوبر‎; transliterated: ħarb October or حرب تشرين, ħarb Tishrin), also known as the 1973 Arab-Israeli War and the Fourth Arab-Israeli War, was fought from October 6 to October 26, 1973 by a coalition of Arab states led by Egypt and Syria against Israel. The war began with a surprise joint attack by Egypt and Syria on Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of atonement. Egypt and Syria crossed the cease-fire lines in the Sinai and Golan Heights, respectively, which had been captured by Israel in 1967 during the Six-Day War.^[5]

The Egyptians and Syrians advanced during the first 24–48 hours, after which momentum began to swing in Israel's favor. By the second week of the war, the Syrians had been pushed out of the Golan Heights. In the Sinai to the south, the Israelis struck at the seam between two invading Egyptian armies, crossed the Suez Canal (where the old ceasefire line had been), and cut off the Egyptian Third Army just as a United Nations cease-fire came into effect.

The war had far-reaching implications for many nations. The Arab World, which had been humiliated by the lopsided defeat of the Egyptian-Syrian-Jordanian alliance during the Six-Day War, felt psychologically vindicated by its string of victories early in the conflict. This vindication paved the way for the peace process that followed, as well as liberalizations such as Egypt's infitah policy. The Camp David Accords, which came soon after, led to normalized relations between Egypt and Israel—the first time any Arab country had recognized the Israeli state. Egypt, which had already been drifting away from the Soviet Union, then left the Soviet sphere of influence entirely.

The 1973 War in the Sinai, October 6–15.

Today in History - October 5th

2008-10-05T21:53:00.002-04:00

October 5, 1813 - Battle of the Thames, War of 1812

On October 5, after ordering his troops to abandon their half-cooked breakfast and retreat a further two miles, Procter formed the British regulars in line of battle at Moraviantown and planned to trap Harrison on the banks of the Thames, driving the Americans off the road with cannon fire. Tecumseh's warriors took up positions in a swamp on the British right to flank the Americans. General Harrison surveyed the battlefield and ordered James Johnson (brother of Richard Mentor Johnson) to make a frontal attack against the British regulars with his mounted Kentucky riflemen. Despite the Indians' flanking fire, Johnson broke through, the British cannon having failed to fire. The exhausted, dispirited and half-starved British troops fired only one ragged fusillade before giving way. Immediately Procter and about 250 of his men fled from the field. The rest surrendered.

Tecumseh and his followers remained and carried on fighting. Richard Johnson was at the head of about 20 horsemen and charged into the Indian position to draw attention away from the main American force, but Tecumseh and his warriors answered with a volley of musket fire that stopped the cavalry charge. Fifteen of Johnson's men were killed or wounded, and Johnson was himself hit five times. Johnson's main force became bogged down in the mud of the swamp. Tecumseh was killed in this fighting. Colonel Johnson may have been the one who shot Tecumseh, though the evidence is unclear. William Whitley, a Revolutionary War veteran, is another credited with the killing of Tecumseh. Whitley, of Crab Orchard, Kentucky, volunteered for the raid on Tecumseh's camp. He requested that General Harrison have his scalp removed when his body was found and sent to his wife. The main force finally made its way through the swamp, and James Johnson's troops were freed from their attack on the British. With the American reinforcements converging and news of the death of Tecumseh spreading quickly, Indian resistance quickly dissolved. Mounted troops then moved on and burned Moraviantown, a peaceful settlement of Christian Munsee Indians, who had no involvement in the conflict.

The British had 12 killed, 35 wounded, and 442 others taken prisoner. The Indians left the bodies of 33 warriors on the field, although they removed several others (including that of Tecumseh).

[edit] Results

Replica of a cabin at Morviantown

The Battle of the Thames was a decisive victory for the Americans that led to the re-establishment of American control over the Northwest frontier for the remainder of the war. However, Harrison failed to exploit this success (chiefly because the militia component of his army deserted to their homes after the battle) and retired to Detroit after burning Moraviantown. Other than skirmishes between raiding parties or other detachments (such as the Battle of Longwoods), the front remained comparatively quiet for the rest of the war.

The death of Tecumseh was a crushing blow to the Indian alliance he had created, and it effectively dissolved following the battle. Shortly after the battle, Harrison signed an armistice at Detroit with the chiefs or representatives of several tribes.^[6] He then transferred most of his regulars eastward to the Niagara River and went himself to Washington where he was acclaimed a hero. However, a comparatively petty dispute with President James Madison and Secretary of War John Armstrong, Jr., resulted in his resigning his commission as Major General.^[7]

Harrison's popularity grew, and he was eventually elected President of the United States. Richard Mentor Johnson eventually became Vice President based partly on the belief that he had killed Tecumseh.

October 5, 1864 - Sherman Victorious at Altoona

Stinging from the loss of Atlanta, Hood decides to attack William Tecumseh Sherman's supply line, the Western and Atlantic Railroad. Afraid that the Confederate army is moving toward Rome Sherman orders Brig. General John Corse to defend the city. After Hood crosses the Chattahoochee River and tears up track from Big Shanty to Acworth Sherman realizes the Rebels intend an attack on the railway pass at Allatoona. The stores at the pass are filled with much needed rations and Sherman has left minimal support at the site because he knew the pass could be easily held. When advancing on Atlanta in the spring of 1864, Sherman avoided this battle by swinging to the west, fighting at Dallas, New Hope Church, and Pickett's Mill.

Using a complex signaling system, Sherman orders Corse to move troops from Rome to Allatoona. By the time Hood's men arrive Corse has reworked three lines of entrenchments, two sets of breastworks on the outer ridge of the mountain, built by Confederates earlier in the year, the other a star fort at the top of the mountain above the pass, built by occupying Union forces in June. The mission of re-capturing Allatoona Pass falls upon CSA Gen. Samuel French. Ironically, French foretells the outcome of the battle in his demand for surrender, referring to it as "...a needless effusion of blood...". In the initial attack, the rebels overrun the outer entrenchments that had been softened up by two hours of artillery bombardment. Corse withdraws to the star fort and the battle continues. In spite of losing a third of his men and having been shot in the face, Corse holds the fort. Repeated assaults by the Rebel forces prove fruitless. French, short on ammunition and fearing Union reinforcements, withdraws and continues northward. Sherman, who during the fighting had signaled "Hold the fort, for we are coming." had done so as a ruse. No men leave his stronghold at Kennesaw Mountain during the battle. With just over 5,300 men engaging in battle, and 1,505 casualties, this is the bloodiest battlefield for numbers engaged, according to General Sherman.

Allatoona Pass, shortly after the battle.

This Day in History - October 4th

2008-10-04T22:21:00.002-04:00

October 4, 1777, George Washington defeated at Germantown.

In the early fall of 1777, events did not fare well for George Washington’s army in Pennsylvania. Defeats at Brandywine and Paoli enabled William Howe’s forces to occupy Philadelphia unopposed on September 26. To regain the initiative, Washington and his lieutenants plotted a bold strike against the primary British camp at Germantown, about five miles north of Philadelphia.

In the early hours of October 4, the Americans moved toward their target in four columns with the intent to strike as one at 5 a.m. Not all columns were in place at the appointed hour and others were spotted by British sentries who fired warning shots to awaken the camp.

American advancement was slowed for more than an hour on one front when several dozen British soldiers took refuge in a private mansion, Cliveden, owned by the Pennsylvania chief justice. The mansion's stout stone walls enabled the defenders to hold out against an artillery barrage delivered by Henry Knox's forces. The British were reluctant to surrender, fearing reprisals from the Americans for the recent “massacre” at Paoli.

A heavy fog, combined with smoke on the battlefield, caused confusion among the American ranks, including incidents when soldiers fired on their own with deadly effect. Small numbers of Patriot troops managed to fight their way into Germantown, but the others' failure to join them necessitated a pullback.

Once again, Nathanael Greene provided distinguished service by organizing the overall retreat. As the Americans pushed northward, they were harassed by British snipers who continued to take a heavy toll. Nevertheless, Howe once again failed to seek a knockout blow by pursuing his enemy in force.

The Americans suffered more than 700 casualties at Germantown, in addition to 400 soldiers captured. The British lost more than 530 men.

The British 40th Foot occupying the Chew House from which they resisted all efforts to dislodge them during the Battle of Germantown

Today in History - October 3rd

2008-10-04T21:57:00.002-04:00

October 3 & 4, 1862 - Union forces are victorious at the battle of Corinth, Mississippi.

After the Battle of Iuka, Maj. Gen. Sterling Price’s Confederate Army of the West marched from Baldwyn to Ripley where it joined Maj. Gen. Earl Van Dorn’s Army of West Tennessee. Van Dorn was senior officer and took command of the combined force numbering about 22,000 men. The Rebels marched to Pocahontas on October 1, and then moved southeast toward Corinth. They hoped to seize Corinth and then sweep into Middle Tennessee. Since the Siege of Corinth, in the spring, Union forces had erected various fortifications, an inner and intermediate line, to protect Corinth, an important transportation center. With the Confederate approach, the Federals, numbering about 23,000, occupied the outer line of fortifications and placed men in front of them. Van Dorn arrived within three miles of Corinth at 10:00 am on October 3, and moved into some fieldworks that the Confederates had erected for the siege of Corinth. The fighting began, and the Confederates steadily pushed the Yankees rearward. A gap occurred between two Union brigades which the Confederates exploited around 1:00 pm. The Union troops moved back in a futile effort to close the gap. Price then attacked and drove the Federals back further to their inner line. By evening, Van Dorn was sure that he could finish the Federals off during the next day. This confidence--combined with the heat, fatigue, and water shortages--persuaded him to cancel any further operations that day. Rosecrans regrouped his men in the fortifications to be ready for the attack to come the next morning. Van Dorn had planned to attack at daybreak, but Brig. Gen. Louis Hébert’s sickness postponed it till 9:00 am. As the Confederates moved forward, Union artillery swept the field causing heavy casualties, but the Rebels continued on. They stormed Battery Powell and closed on Battery Robinett, where desperate hand-to-hand fighting ensued. A few Rebels fought their way into Corinth, but the Federals quickly drove them out. The Federals continued on, recapturing Battery Powell, and forcing Van Dorn into a general retreat. Rosecrans postponed any pursuit until the next day. As a result, Van Dorn was defeated, but not destroyed or captured, at Hatchie Bridge, Tennessee, on October 5.

Battle of Corinth

October 3, 1935, The Italian Army invades Ethiopia.

At precisely 5:00 am on 3 October 1935, General Emilio De Bono crossed the Mareb River and advanced into Ethiopia from Eritrea without a declaration of war.^[14] In response to the Italian invasion, Ethiopia declared war on Italy.^[15] At this point in the campaign, roadways represented a serious drawback for the Italians as they crossed into Ethiopia. On the Italian side, roads had been constructed right up to the border. On the Ethiopian side, these roads often transitioned into vaguely defined paths.^[14]

De Bono was the Commander-in-Chief of the Italian armed forces on the northern front. He had under his command a force of nine divisions in three Army Corps: The Italian I Corps, the Italian II Corps, and the Eritrean Corps.

General Rodolfo Graziani, the Commander-in-Chief on the southern front, was forming up his forces in Italian Somaliland. Graziani initially had two divisions and a variety of smaller units under his command. Soon after De Bono advanced from Eritrea, Graziani would advance into Ethiopia with a force of Italians, Somalis, Eritreans, and Libyans.

The Second Italo–Abyssinian War (also referred to as the Second Italo-Ethiopian War) was a brief colonial war that started in October 1935 and ended in May 1936. The war was fought between the armed forces of the Kingdom of Italy (Regno d'Italia) and the armed forces of the Ethiopian Empire (also known as Abyssinia). The war resulted in the military occupation of Ethiopia and its annexation into the newly created colony of Italian East Africa (Africa Orientale Italiana, or AOI). However, Ethiopia never capitulated or surrendered.

Today in History, October 1st

2008-10-01T21:36:00.002-04:00

October 1, 1756 - Battle of Lobositz

The Battle of Lobositz or Lovosice on 1 October 1756 was the opening land battle of the Seven Years' War. Frederick the Great's 29,000 Prussians prevented Field Marshal Maximilian Ulysses Count Browne 34,500 Austrians from relieving their besieged Saxon allies, who surrendered two weeks later.

Prelude

Being a believer in the pre-emptive strike, on 29 August 1756 Frederick invaded Saxony with the bulk of the Prussian army, against the advice of his British allies. Neither the Saxon nor the Austrian army was ready for war. The Saxon army took up a strong defensive position near Pirna, and Frederick had no option but to isolate and starve them.

An Austrian army raced to the aid of Saxony, but was intercepted by Frederick's forces near the town of Lobositz (Czech Lovosice), along the Elbe river, in present-day Czech Republic. Von Browne, the Austrian general, had ordered a small force on the opposite bank of the Elbe to move to the beleaguered Saxon army at Pirna, but recalled it when he heard the news of Frederick's advance.

Battle

The Austrian army took up a defensive stance on a hill, the Lobosch (Lovoš), along the Elbe River (opposite another mountain, the Homolka), straddling a small brook, the Morellenbach (Modla). Although this was not deep, and could be forded by infantry, crossing it would break up formations.

In heavy fog, Frederick's Prussians approached. A detachment of Croats opened fire on them and Frederick, believing he was up against a small rearguard of the Austrian army, ordered a few infantry battalions to advance.

The infantry cleared the lower slopes of the Homolka, while the Prussian artillery was brought forward into position. From a terrace they had a good field of fire over the valley and the Austrian cavalry.

As the mist slowly lifted, infantry in the Prussian centre were targeted by the Austrian main battery. Frederick soon realised that the force he faced was not the Austrian rearguard, but a full field army. In order to find out more, he ordered his cavalry to advance and reconnoitre.

As they neared Sullowitz, they came under fire and veered leftwards. This provoked an Austrian cavalry charge from the left. In an attempt to outflank the Austrians, Colonel Hans von Blumenthal led his Garde du Corps, who were closest to Sullowitz, in a counter-charge which brought them back into musket-range from the village. Von Blumenthal had his horse shot down and received a crippling sabre-blow in the neck.

Twice Prussian cavalry assaulted the Austrian position, but in vain. Already believing the battle to be lost, Frederick wanted to leave the battlefield, saying "These are no longer the same Austrians".

But the Duke of Brunswick-Bevern, in command of the Prussian left wing, then succeeded in storming the Austrian right flank with infantry. The Prussians charged at bayonet-point, many having run out of ammunition. Bevern's men chased the Austrians through the burning town of Lobositz. The Austrian army retreated, leaving the Prussians in command of the battlefield.

Results

The Prussians and the Austrians lost about 2,900 men each. The Austrian army retreated intact, and von Browne even managed to slip a force around the Prussians towards the besieged Saxons, but it was too little too late. The Saxon army at Pirna surrendered on 14 October before the relief force arrived, and Saxony surrendered the next day. Both Prussian and Austrian armies then retreated into their winter quarters.

Map of the Battle of Lobositz. Red is Prussian, blue Austrian army.