This Day in History

[bayonetbrant]

that would've made for some interesting family reunions!

there's a campaign for Corvinus in this FOG II:M DLC
https://www.matrixgames.com/game/field-of-glory-ii-medieval-sublime-porte

[besilarius]

1617 the Italian nobleman Diomede Carrara raised a company of cavalry to support a Habsburg army in Lombardy, but was unable to accompany the troops because his mother refused to let him go, he being at the time only 15.
1645 The Massachusetts Council orders a third of the men in each militia company "be ready on half an hour's warning for any service" - the first "Minute Men".
1944, while they were in Quebec for the Octagon Conference, the Allied Combined Chiefs of Staff decided to tour the historic Plains of Abraham, where, 185 years earlier, the British under Sir John Wolfe had wrested control of Canada from the French, in the culminating victory of "the year of miracles" that decided the Seven Years War.
Unfortunately, the guide provided was more accustomed to civilian tourists than the generals and admirals with whom he had to cope on this occasion. He soon proved unable to respond to their many technical questions. Nor were any of the officers present sufficiently knowledgeable about the battle to lend a hand. So the brass wandered the field keeping their questions to themselves.
Then, by chance, the party encountered a traditionally cassocked Quebecois priest. Falling into conversation with him, they quickly discovered that the elderly clergyman was an expert on the battle and on the conduct of war in the mid-eighteenth century. And soon he was steering the combined military brains of Britain and America on a detailed tour of the historic battlefield, responding cogently to their many questions about tactics and personalities.
Clearly, an early Armchair Dragoon.

1944. the US 5th Armored Division of the US XV Corps advanced 35 mi (56 km) and reached positions overlooking Argentan.  On 13 August, Bradley over-ruled orders by Patton for a further push northwards towards Falaise by the 5th Armored Division.  Bradley instead ordered the XV Corps to "concentrate for operations in another direction".  The US troops near Argentan were ordered to withdraw, which ended the pincer movement by the XV Corps. Patton objected but complied, which left an exit for the German forces in the Falaise pocket.
 

[besilarius]

1941. Oliver Wiswell is a novel by Kenneth Roberts s (1885-1957), who had served as an intelligence officer during World War I, rising to captain (which earned him a plot in Arlington), was for many years a staffer on the Saturday Evening Post and the author of a number of very popular historical novels. Published in 1940, Oliver Wiswell tells of the adventures of a Yale student who sides with the British during the American Revolution. It's full of battles on land and sea, daring escapes, slaughter, romance, and skullduggery, as Wiswell serves as an undercover agent for the British, in England and France as well as America, and puts himin contact with such figures as Sir William Howe and Benedict Arnold, the latter a perennial Roberts hero. The seventh best selling novel of 1940,* like all of Roberts' works set during the Revolution, Oliver Wiswell is staunchly Tory, part of a "debunking" trend in American historical fiction that prevailed during the 1920s and 1930s.
So, you ask, what does a novel about a Tory during the American Revolution have to do with Pearl Harbor?

Well, that’s an interesting story.
In early 1941 the Commanding General of the Hawaiian Department was Major General Charles D. Herron (1877-1977). Having been in the post since October of 1937, Herron was scheduled to be relieved by Maj. Gen. Walter Short on February 7, 1941.
When arrangements had been made for General Short to relieve me as Commanding General, Hawaiian Department . . . I desired to acquaint him as fully as I could with my experience and knowledge of affairs pertaining thereto. Since he was to arrive and I was to depart on the same ship, there was only a limited time in which to do this by personal conferences, namely, two and one-half days. Accordingly, in order that he might be prepared for his conferences with me, I sent to San Francisco for delivery to him there certain papers and material relating to the command, for his preliminary review on the ship's journey of five days. These papers and material comprised in effect an agenda and exhibits. Upon my meeting General Short when he arrived at Hawaii, I asked him whether he had received the data at San Francisco and whether he had read the papers and material. He replied that they had been received by him at San Francisco but that he had not given them much time while en route.
When Herron inquired as to what had prevented Short from reading the “papers and materials” – actually several hundred pages of intelligence reports, planning documents, and position papers – that had sent for his perusal, Short replied that he had instead read Oliver Wiswell.

[besilarius]

1479 Venice and Ottoman Sultan Mehmet II (r. 1451-1481) agreed to end a long war over control of various territories in Greece and the Aegean.  Rather than "peace," what followed was a "cold war" between the Serenissima and the wily Ottoman emperor, who not only wanted to acquire Venice's eastern territories, but was widely known to be interested in some Italian real estate as well.  So when Mehmet expressed a very un-Islamic interest in having his portrait painted by one of Italy's revolutionary new painters, the Venetians readily agreed.  In a move that would foreshadow the "confidence building measures" and "cultural exchanges" of the twentieth century's Cold War, the Venetians dispatched the artist Gentile Bellini (c. 1429-1507) to Constantinople, who would not only paint the Grand Turk's portrait, but also serve as a sort-of "cultural ambassador," and a spy as well.
Now Bellini's arrival in Constantinople in late 1479 greatly pleased Mehmet.  So naturally, Bellini prospered at the Sultan's court, securing numerous commissions.  The portrait of Mehmet, then about 48, that now hangs in the National Gallery in London is believed to be one of these.
Among the other the works that Bellini painted while in Constantinople was one that depicted John the Baptist, after his beheading.
Now Bellini had probably never seen an actual beheading, and apparently got it wrong.  In contrast, the Sultan was an old hand at the practice, having had occasion to indulge in it on an industrial scale.  Indeed, on August 14th of 1480, while Bellini was still at his court, Mehmet had beheaded hundreds, perhaps thousands, of residents of Otranto, on the heel of Italy, which he had just captured, for refusing to convert to Islam; he did spare the bishop this penalty, preferring to have the old guy sawn in half instead.  So in the interests of artistic realism, Mehmet pointed out that the depiction of the Baptist's injuries was incorrect.

Bellini asked what was wrong.
Rather than explain Bellini's error, Mehmet called over one of his body guards and a slave, and had the former demonstrate the process and its results on the latter.
It's not known how carefully Bellini studied the results of Mehmet’s little demonstration.  Nevertheless, despite the fact that he was making rather good money in Constantinople, by the end of the year Bellini had departed for home, surely happy that the Grand Turk had not chosen to demonstrate the consequences of decapitation on his person. .

1900. Daniel Joseph Daly (1873-1937), known as “Dan”, was a one of those unique characters that the U.S. Marines seem to produce from time to time
Only about 5'6" tall and weighing in at 132 pounds, Daly, a lightweight boxer in his youth, joined the Marine Corps early in 1899.  He earned a Medal of Honor during the Boxer Rebellion on August 14, 1900, single-handedly holding an isolated position in the Legation Quarter at Peking overnight against enormous odds, while inflicting hundreds of casualties on the enemy.  In 1915, Daly won a second Medal of Honor  for helping to lead 35 marines to safety when they were ambushed by about 400 insurgents near Ft. Dipitie, Haiti, on October 24, 1915.  During the fight for Belleau Wood, in France (June 5-10, 1918), Daly again turned in such an outstanding performance that he was nominated for a third Medal of Honor, which was disapproved in favor of the Navy Cross and the offer of a commission.  Daly declined the commission, saying "To be a sergeant, you have to know your stuff.  I'd rather be an outstanding sergeant than just another officer."
Now during the fighting for Belleau Wood, Gunnery Sergeant Daniel Daly is famous for supposedly leading an attack with the cry, "Come on, you sons of bitches -- do you want to live forever?", or, perhaps, "Come on you crazy sons-of-bitches, do you want to live forever?"
Often asked about this, Daly denied having uttered any such vulgarity, telling one reporter "You know a non-com would never use hard language.  I said, 'For goodness sake, you chaps, let us advance against the foe'." 

1944 the Second Canadian Corps, LGen Guy Simmonds, drives on Falaise to link up with US Third army in Operation Tractable.
This would likely have bagged most of Army Group B.    On the night of 13/14 August, a Canadian officer lost his way while moving between divisional headquarters. He drove into German lines and was promptly killed. The Germans discovered a copy of Simonds' orders on his body. As a result, the 12th SS Panzer Division placed the bulk of its remaining strength—500 grenadiers and 15 tanks, along with twelve 8.8 cm PaK 43 anti-tank guns—along the AIsne.

[Sir Slash]

Great stuff Besilarius. 

[besilarius]

1939.  learning that a midshipman’s cruise planned for his ship was to include training in the use of the .50-caliber anti-aircraft machinegun, the skipper of the USS Arkansas (BB-33) wrote to the Navy Department, to note that he would be happy to comply, but “ . . . it is felt that .50-caliber anti-aircraft machine guns should be installed.”

1944. 1,654  men (among them 168 captured Allied airmen), and 546 women, all political prisoners, were sent to the concentration camps of Buchenwald (men) and Ravensbrück (women), on what was to be the last convoy to Germany out of Paris
The same day, employees of the Paris Métro, the Gendarmerie and Police went on strike; postal workers followed the next day.

[besilarius]

480 BC King Leonidas reached Thermopylae with 300 Spartans and 700 Allies

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480 BC King Leonidas reached Thermopylae with 300 Spartans and 700 Allies

and left with 2!

[Sir Slash]

That's because they didn't have Chuck Norris with them. 

[besilarius]

1944 the Falaise pocket.  The 4th Armoured Division captured Soulangy against determined German resistance and several German counter-attacks, which prevented a breakthrough to Trun. the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division entered Falaise against minor opposition from Waffen SS units and scattered pockets of German infantry, and by secured the town.[51]
on 16 August, Kluge had refused an order from Hitler for another counter-attack, and in the afternoon Hitler agreed to a withdrawal but became suspicious that Kluge intended to surrender to the Allies.Late on 17 August, Hitler sacked Kluge and recalled him to Germany; Kluge then either killed himself or was executed by SS-officer Jürgen Stroop for his involvement in the 20 July plot. Kluge was succeeded by Field Marshal Walter Model, whose first act was to order the immediate retreat of the 7th Army and Fifth Panzer Army, while the II SS Panzer Corps—with the remnants of four Panzer divisions—held the north face of the escape route against the British/Canadians, and the XLVII Panzer Corps—with what was left of two Panzer divisions—held the southern face against the Third US Army.

In Paris 35 young FFI members were betrayed by an agent of the Gestapo. They had gone to a secret meeting near the Grande Cascade in the Bois de Boulogne and were gunned down there.
Concerned that the Germans were placing explosives at strategic points around the city, Pierre Taittinger, the chairman of the municipal council, met Dietrich von Choltitz, the military governor of Paris. When Choltitz told them that he intended to slow the Allied advance as much as possible, Taittinger and Swedish Consul Raoul Nordling attempted to persuade Choltitz not to destroy Paris.

[besilarius]

522   BC   the annual recitation of the Iliad & Odyssey began at the Great Panathenaea Festival, initiating the codification of the Homeric epics
1812. One of the most celebrated actions in the age of fighting sail took place on August 19, 1812, in the North Atlantic about 500 miles southeast of Halifax, Nova Scotia, when the 38 gun British frigate Guerriere dueled with the 44 gun American frigate Constitution.
After maneuvering against each other for about three hours, at about 5:00 pm the ships began to close and the fight began, ending up slugging it out at about “half pistol shot” distance (i.e., 10-15 yards). Some 90 minutes later, the Guerriere was heavily damaged and the Constitution’s skipper, Capt. Isaac Hull, ceased firing. Hull sent a boat over to the Guerriere under a flag of truce. An officer asked the Guerriere’s skipper, Capt. James R. Dacres, if he was prepared to surrender. Dacres seemed to mulled the question over, “Well, Sir, I don't know,” then said, “Our mizzen mast is gone, our fore and main masts are gone – I think on the whole you might say we have struck our flag."
Before dispatching a party to torch the Guerriere, Hull asked Dacres if there was anything aboard her that he wished to rescue. Dacres replied, “Yes, my’s mother Bible, which I have carried with me for years.” Hull ordered an officer to secure the Bible, which was returned to Dacres, initiating a lifelong friendship between the two men.

1944 Part of the First Polish armored division made contact with the 359th regiment of the American 90 infantry division.    The other half of the division took a long ridge, called the Mace,  it was steep and dominated the escape routes of the Germans.
They were completely isolated and supply columns could not reach them.  At 1PM the road from Chambois to Vimoutiers, below them, began filling with troops and equipment.  The Poles had become the cork in the bottle.  The attached Canadian artillery observer organized a regimental shoot by the 4th Medium regiment.  Salvoes of 5.5 inch shells devastated the column.
The enemy was too numerous and too hard pressed to be deterred by indirect fire.  They prepared a deliberate assault on the Mace.
Colonel Koszutski addressed the officers.  "Our brigade is completely cut off. The enemy is still fighting. No one else can stop them.  No question of surrender.  I speak as a Pole."

[besilarius]

480 BC. BC   Battle of Thermopylae -- "O, Traveller, if you pass by our homes, do tell the Spartans that here we lie.  Faithful, even unto death."
1781. For most of the American Revolution George Washington spent his time within about 100 miles of New York City. This was because the Big Apple (which wasn't very big in those days) was the principal British base in the colonies from the time they captured it in mid-1776.  Washington had made it clear he wanted to retake New York  In fact, only a year or so earlier, he concentrated upwards of 12,000 Continentals and militiamen in anticipation of such an attempt. However, upon closer examination of the British defenses, Washington had thought better of the venture, and sent many of the troops home. Even with Rochambeau's aid the place seemed too strong. So Washington decided to use the fact that the British knew he cherished the thought of an offensive against New York to mask an even more daring operation.
Soon troops began to move, some 4,000 Frenchmen from Rhode Island marched westwards towards New York, while Washington drilled his Continentals harder than ever and ordered the militia to turn out in great numbers, equipped for several weeks' service. With these additional forces he was able to increase the number of troops in the lines around New York City. Harassment of isolated British posts around New York was intensified, and some small places in what is now the Bronx and along the New Jersey side of the Hudson were seized from the enemy, while raids across the Long Island Sound were intensified. Meanwhile, orders were given to collect supplies and boats and to expand the number of army bakeries. All seemed in readiness for a major assault on the city. But on August 21st, leaving behind some 3,000 regulars plus thousands of militiamen, Washington and Rochambeau began a rapid march south from West Point, the main American base, with about 7,000 troops, while a French naval squadron sailed from Rhode Island with Rochambeau's heavy artillery. As Washington's army marched south, the British in New York prepared to meet a major offensive, one which never came. For the three Franco-American forces (the army and the two fleets) rendezvoused in the Chesapeake Bay. On September 18th Washington debarked in Virginia and promptly went to Lafayette's aid before Yorktown.
Washington's cover plan for the Yorktown operation is a classic example of deception. Not only was an assault on New York City a plausible operation, indeed it was one in which Washington had several times expressed an interest, but it provided a convenient mask for the concentration of Rochambeau's army on his own. The skirmishes and raids tended to alert the British to possibility of such an attack, as did the gathering of supplies, the building of additional bread ovens in the principal American camps, and the collection of boats. Perhaps the finishing touch was when Washington called out the militia, for the militia was notoriously unwilling to serve for very long, and the move suggested that action was imminent. Altogether a neat, tidy, and highly successful deception.
1792. A confederation of the Miami, Shawnee, and Delaware nations under the inspired leadership of the war chiefs Little Turtle, Blue Jacket, and Buckongahelas, inflicted two devastating defeats on the United States,.  These two humiliating disasters prompted President Washington to turn to the best commander he could find, Maj. Gen. Anthony Wayne, who had earned the nickname "Mad Anthony" for his exploits during the Revolutionary War.
 The army that Wayne took command of in early 1792 was a pitiful one.  Numbers were low, desertion rife, there were few trained troops, and morale was abysmal.  Wayne promptly began kicking these men into shape, as they would have to become the cadre around which to build a new army.
Among the problems that Wayne noticed when he assumed command was the large number of troops who were claiming exemption from duty due to illness.  Clearly, if this "illness" was not cleared up, there would be little hope of building a disciplined force.  Wayne promptly hit upon an excellent "cure."  He ordered that anyone on the sick list was to have his daily whiskey ration replaced by an additional serving of vegetables.  Almost instantly, virtually all of the ailing men reported themselves much improved, and returned to duty.Wayne's Legion crushed the confederation at Fallen Timbers.
1944.  The Polish brigade holding out, overwatching the German retreat on the Vimoutiers road were under constant assault.  The weather fogged up so no air support and a supply drop fell into German lines.  "Every combination of tactics was used: conventional infantry assaults, combined pander and grenadier, unsupported Panther attacks, savage bombardment".
Behind this day long effort, the Poles were forced back a little.  With them sky clear of allied aircraft, thousands of men still inside the pocket managed to ford the Dives river and get away to open country

Not wishing to become embroiled in a vicious, lengthy city fight, Eisenhower issued orders not to take Paris " until it is a sound military proposition. ".   Inside the city, the various factions argued about beginning an insurrection. The disaster of the siege in 1871 weighed heavily.
While the politicians argued, to everyone's surprise - the police acted!  Policemen, it is a cliche, ate survivors of all political change.  I the Paris police had solidly done their duty and cooperated with the German authorities when necessary.  All three police resistance groups had agreed on direct action and 3,000 entered the Prefecture de Police and hoisted the tricolor - not flown in the city since 1940 - over the roof.. The head of the communist FFI, colonel Rol, who happened to be passing shocked to see it and then surprised to be denied admission.

[besilarius]

1708   Following their victory in the Battle of Oudenarde (Jul 11, 1708), in the eighth year of the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714), the Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene of Savoy, commanding a combined British, Dutch, and Holy Roman Empire army, advanced on Lille, capital of northern France, to lay it under siege.  The French commander during this campaign was James FitzJames, the Duke of Berwick, who was the illegitimate son of the late King James II of England and Arabella Churchill.  Ms. Churchill later married Col. Charles Godfrey, and bore him Francis Godfrey who was thus the half-brother of the French commander.  And, since Ms. Churchill's brother was John Churchill, the Duke of Marlborough, Francis was also the nephew of his own commander, which may help explain why he eventually rose to brigadier general

1914         the Russian 10th Cavalry Division clashes with the Austro-Hungarian 4th Cavalry Division at Jaroslavice/Wolczkowce (Galicia), in the largest mounted combat of the Great War

[besilarius]

1485   Battle of Bosworth Field: Richard III retires from public life to be a parking lot attendant.


1962. Charles De Gaulle evades an assassination attempt from dissatisfaction about abandoning Algeria and Tunis.  Senior plotters were members of the WWII French 2nd Armored division.

[bayonetbrant]

1485   Battle of Bosworth Field: Richard III retires from public life to be a parking lot attendant.

well-played, good sir