This Day in History

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1951  Operation Summit, the first helicopter-borne landing of a combat unit is performed when Marines are landed by Marine helicopter squadron (HMR 161) in dense fog in Korea.

I refuse to believe the Marines were really the first ones to do this.  I mean, they would've been bragging about it non-stop since then, right?!

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1452. Born.   Girolamo Savonarola, Florentine monk, preacher, radical, BBQed 1498.

1797. The Bloody Hermione mutiny.  Most mutineers were over food and pay.  The trigger for the mutiny that occurred on the Hermione in 1797 was the brutal and cruel punishments inflicted on the sailors by captain Hugh Pigot. During the eighteenth-century, the typical punishment for crimes at sea was flogging. Typically, captains were restricted to only inflicting twelve lashes, unless they requested a court martial. Pigot ignored these rules. One of the last straws for the crew was when Pigot humiliated a well-liked officer, David Casey. Pigot attempted to have Casey grovel on his knees in front of the entire crew for an oversight during his watch but he refused to be subjected to such humiliation. As a result, Casey faced twelve lashes, the normal punishment for a sailor, but not a junior officer. This was the primary trigger for the mutiny.

1956. An F11F Tiger aircraft shoots itself down while conducting firing tests over eastern Long Island, N.Y. The plane runs into 20-mm projectiles, which were fired seconds before at a higher altitude.

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66   The legio I Italica, formed by Nero.

1776. some time or other during American Rev eleven states supported their own maritime forces, only New Jersey and Delaware failing to send some ships to sea.
The most famous of the state navy vessels was the Katy, a 70-foot merchant sloop built before the outbreak of the Revolution.  She was chartered by the Rhode Island Committee of Safety in June of 1775, armed with ten 4-pounder cannon and sent to sea under Abraham Whipple, later the senior-most American naval officer during the Revolution, to patrol local waters in order to prevent depredations by British warships.  Purchased by the state in October of that year,  the following month she ferried volunteers for the new Continental Navy to Philadelphia.  In December, she was taken into Continental service under the name Providence; and was technically the first ship to join the Continental Navy.   In February of 1776, "up-armed" to 12 guns and commanded by John Hazard, Providence joined Commodore Esek Hopkins’ squadron to raid the Bahamas, helping capture Nassau on March 4th, in the Navy’s first overseas amphibious campaign.  Returning with the squadron to New England waters, over the following months Providence assisted in the capture of several British ships.  On May 10, 1776, Capt. John Paul Jones assumed command.
Under Jones’ command, Providence engaged in escort and transportation duties, supporting George Washington’s army in the New York City area.  In mid-August Jones took Providence on an independent cruise.  In a voyage that ended in Narragansett Bay in early October, Providence took or sank nearly a dozen British vessels, worth thousands in prize money, while eluding superior enemy frigates on several occasions.  Jones was then transferred to the larger Alfred, and Providence was entrusted to Capt. Hoysted Hacker.  In a week’s voyage (November 11-19), Alfred and Providence took three valuable prizes, before the latter, troubled by leaks, returned to Newport.  That December Providence joined other American vessels in retreating up the Providence River, after the British seized Newport.
During her short career, Providence seems to have engaged in about forty actions.

1797. HMS Hermione (32) handed over to the Spanish by her mutinous crew at La Guira.

1943  Wilhelm Kube, 55, SS-Commissar of Belarus blown up by a bomb in a hot water bottle placed in his bed by his mistress.

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Celebrated frigate duel between John Paul Jones' 'Bonhomme Richard' & HMS 'Serapis'.  The Bonhomme Richard was an old East Indiaman, many of it's guns were old, at least three burst from firing, killing many of their crews. 
according to the later recollection of First Lieutenant Richard Dale, Bonhomme Richard’s bow ran into Serapis’ stern and, with neither side able to take advantage of the situation, Captain Pearson cheekily asked the punning question, "Has your ship struck?". Dale reports Jones's reply as, very simply, "I have not yet begun to fight!".
Shortly afterwards, John Paul Jones got the opportunity he had been striving for—not a moment too soon, as his ship had been holed below the waterline and was becoming increasingly unresponsive. Serapis’ jib-boom caught in the rigging of Bonhomme Richard’s mizzen mast, and Jones immediately led his crew in attaching the two ships together as strongly as they could. Seeing the danger, Pearson dropped anchor. Because both ships were under sail, when Serapis came to an abrupt halt, Bonhomme Richard would keep going, and with luck, tear free. Jones’ men had been very efficient, so what actually happened was that Bonhomme Richard’s motion was turned into a rotation, and the two ships, still firmly attached, ended up side-by-side, facing in opposite directions, their great guns touching each other’s hull planks. Better still for Jones, Serapis’ spare anchor caught in the woodwork of Bonhomme Richard’s stern, locking the two ships in that extraordinary position. Making a virtue of necessity, Pearson’s crew fired broadsides straight into Bonhomme Richard’s hull, tearing huge holes in its side, and doing terrible damage to the gun-decks.
After that, Bonhomme Richard started definitively losing the battle. Still, efforts to make the situation too hot for the British, both figuratively and literally, continued. Just after 9:30 pm, one of these attempts succeeded in spectacular fashion. According to Jones's published campaign report, grenade-thrower William Hamilton ventured right out along a yard-arm until he could look almost straight down on the deck of Serapis (by this time, almost cleared of men), and began trying to drop grenades, not onto the deck but down the hatches. By good fortune, one of these ignited a charge of gunpowder placed in readiness (contrary to standard fire safety practice, but Captain Pearson had encouraged his men to "fire briskly") for loading into one of Serapis’ 18-pound guns. The problem with this version of the story is that the 18-pounders were on the lower deck, so it would take a very lucky drop to reach them from high above. Captain Pearson speculated that either a grenade had been thrown through a hole in the hull, from Bonhomme Richard’s gun deck, or that the charge had been ignited by accident. Whatever the cause, the effect was devastating. As the ignited charge blew up, it scattered burning gunpowder, setting off other charges nearby, and ultimately the chain reaction covered the entire rear half of Serapis’ lower gun-deck, killing or severely burning many of the gunnery crewmen, forcing some to leap into the sea to extinguish their burning clothes, and putting five guns out of action. In the confusion, some of the crew clambering back on board after jumping into the sea were nearly mistaken for American boarders.[12]

1780. Maj. John Andre is captured, revealing Benedict Arnold's treason

1921   Pertab Singh (1845-1922), one of the most notable Indian princes during the height of British Raj, was quite a character.  During the course of his long and faithful service to the British Empire, Sir Pertab became a personal friend to Queen Victoria, her son Edward VII, and the latter’s son George V. So when, in 1921, the Prince of Wales (later Edward VIII), toured India, he quite naturally looked up the old family friend.
Sir Pertab took the young prince pig sticking, a favorite sport among the Indian horsey set, and one at which he was quite adept. The prince, although an accomplished polo player, was much less experienced in the pig sticking business, and made a careless mistake; He dismounted during the hunt, before the pig had been killed, which could have cost him dearly.
At that, Sir Pertab told him, “I know you are the Prince of Wales, and you know that you are the Prince of Wales, but the pig doesn’t know you are the Prince of Wales.”

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1846. Zachary Taylor captured Monterey, Mexio, after a three day battle -- Taylor had about 3,000 regulars plus 9,000 militiamen and volunteers at Matamoros.  With his regulars and 3,000 volunteers, Taylor marched on Monterey, 200 miles to the west of Matamoros.  Although defended by some 10,000 Mexican troops, Taylor took Monterey. He faked an attack against the northeastern side of the city, while slipping a division around to attack from the west and south.  He then pressed on to occupy Saltillo against light resistance, while the Mexican army fell back more than 300 miles to San Luis Potosi, ending operations for the year.  His success won Taylor a promotion to major general.
 Taylor was an uncommon soldier.  His nickname was “Old Rough and Ready” because of the casualness of his attire.  To put it bluntly, Taylor dressed like a slob.  One soldier described him as wearing “an old oil cloth cap, a dusty green coat, a frightful pair of trousers,” while another saw him wearing “a loose, unbuttoned blue coat, a check shirt and black tie, broad brimmed planter’s black felt hat with a low crown, boots that slipped down about his calves, and trousers that were never quite stuffed in.”  Taylor’s carelessness about appearances even extended to his “war horse”; unlike most generals, who would ride large, handsome horses, Taylor's favorite mount, "Old Whitey" was a nag, and the general just as  often went into battle riding a mule, which was just as well, since he was a poor horseman, once being described as looking “like a toad” when on horseback.

1852  First Powered Flight: Henri Giffard flies 17 miles from Paris to Trappes in his coke-fired steam powered semi-rigid airship.

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1066. King Harold II Haardrada of Norway (c. 50), & Tostig Godwinson (c. 40), brother of Harold of England, traitor, kia, Stamford Bridge

1675  The officially authorized ransom for a French general was 50,000 livres, for which sum one could also ransom 7,142.9 privates, who only cost 7 livres each.

1701. The most adept embezzler in military history was almost certainly Tomas Lopez de Ulloa, the paymaster of the Spanish "Army of Flanders" from 1642 to 1651, a thief so capable that it required 50 years of meticulous investigation and auditing before the Spanish government was able to determine that his estate owed the Crown 309,325 florins, enough money to pay an army of 30,000 men for one day.

1789. As late as the eighteenth century, military engineers selecting sites for fortresses were wont to "consult the auspices" by examining the livers of domestic animals, not for reasons of superstition, but rather because a healthy liver was generally an indication of a healthy site with safe water.

1864. Col. George S. Patton III, 33, of wounds leading the 22nd Virginia at Winchester

1945. Although the VD rate in the U.S. armed forces in 1939-1945 was only about a 1/30th that of 1917-1918, on average 606 servicemen were diagnosed with venereal infections every day during World War II.

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1918       Probably most people would name the Battle of the Bulge in late 1944 and early 1945 as America’s greatest battle.  The Bulge, however, is only the second biggest battle in American history.  America’s biggest battle occurred a generation earlier, only about 60 miles southeast of where the Bulge unfolded, the Battle of the Meuse-Argonne.

Battles Compared
Meuse-Argonne           The Bulge
Sep 26-Nov 11, ‘18   Dec 16, ‘44-Jan 16, ‘45
Days   47                   32
US *   1.26 million   1.0 million
Enemy   0.47 million   0.5 million
US Loses       
   Dead   26,277  (559/day)   c. 10,275 (321/day)
   Wound   95,786       c. 47,500
   Missing   c. 5,000**   c. 23,000***
* Figures exclude Allied troops.
** Some captured, most later declared kia.
*** Mostly captured, some later declared kia.
During the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, the average daily number of American battle deaths, 559, exceeded the daily average of battle deaths suffered by the French Army during the 302 day Battle of Verdun (Feb. 21-Dec. 19, 1916), about 530.
The primacy of the Meuse-Argonne extends even to materiél expended; nearly 2,500 American and French artillery pieces expended four million rounds in support of the offensive. This came to nearly 50,000 a day, the greatest barrage in American history.

1863. At one point during the Napoleon III’s “adventure” in Mexico (1861-1867), a French officer was wounded in the thigh in action against the Mexican patriots.  Taken to a hospital for treatment, he was examined by several surgeons, who despaired of saving his limb unless they could find and remove the ball.
But the Mexican musket ball proved elusive.  For four or five days the surgeons kept trying to locate it, but failed.  Meanwhile, of course, the young officer was in excruciating pain as they poked and probed for the errant ball.  Finally, unable to bear the pain any longer, the man cried out, "Gentlemen, in heaven's name, what are you about?"
"We are looking for the ball."
"Mon Dieu! why didn't you say so at first? It is in my waistcoat pocket!"
The round had gone through the man’s thigh, and he had found it in his clothing as he was being carried to the rear.  As none of the surgeons thought to confer with their patient, they assumed the ball was still lodged somewhere in his leg.
Amazingly, despite the inept medical care, the officer survived.

 

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1061  Roger de Hauteville, backed by his brother, the remarkably wily Robert, aptly nicknamed “Guiscard– the Weasel”, took an army of 700 knights and some infantry and landed at Messina, in Sicily, to begin the liberation the great island from the Arabs, who had been in control for some two centuries. A long and complex war ensued, lasting 30 years, before Sicily was finally free of the Arabs.
Soon after securing Messina, Roger had captured the citadel of Troina, to the south. There he was besieged by a Moslem host for four months.
It seems that while foraging for food, some of the Arab troops had discovered a large wine cellar. Perhaps it was hunger that made them defy their religious strictures against the consumption of alcohol, or perhaps they weren’t very religious in the first place. In any case, in short order virtually the entire besieging Arab army was soon roaring drunk, enabling Count Robert and his men to break out.
Of course, given the reputation of the de Hauteville clan for wily dealings, it’s not at all impossible that Robert arranged for his enemies to find the wine that confused them.

1815. When, on June 14, 1815, Napoleon began what would become known as the Waterloo Campaign, his Armee du Nord had at least 47,000 horses. There were about 25,000 in the cavalry, a further 12,000 for the artillery, and some 10,000 more for the infantry and supply columns. This amounted to about one horse for every 2.6 men in the army. Since the Anglo-Allied and Prussian armies probably had a smaller proportion of horses than Napoleon's army, because they both had much smaller artillery contingents, it is probable that the total number of horses "engaged" in the Waterloo Campaign was something around 140,000. This was a lot of horseflesh, and procuring horses for both riding and traction was a major headache in all armies. Napoleon's repeated disasters from 1812 onwards had virtually denuded France of horses by the time of his first abdication in 1814. Indeed, were it not for the fact that the year between his first abdication and his return from Elba had permitted a lot of importation of new stock, often from France's former enemies, Napoleon would not have been able to field so well balanced an army as he did for the Waterloo Campaign.

For cavalry, most armies preferred animals of about 15 hands 2 inches at the shoulder (c. 1.6 meters) and of about 450-500 kilograms, although heavier mounts (up to 550 kg) were useful for cuirassiers. In 1812-1814, Napoleon had experimented to some good effect with horses that were shorter (14 hands/1.4 meters) and lighter (c. 400 kg), due to the terrible drain on horseflesh that he suffered, but cavalrymen riding such lighter mounts were mostly suitable only for scouting and raiding, like the Cossacks on whom they were modeled. Horses for cavalry service were best procured at about five years of age, and were good for ten or twelve years of service. For hauling artillery pieces and supply wagons, big, sturdy "cold blooded" horses like Percherons were preferred. Usually, only mares or geldings were used by armies, as stallions easily became uncontrollable around mares in season.

Active service was even more punishing to horses than to men. This was partially because horses are relatively more delicate than men. For example, after a day's march (of about eight hours, broken in two segments, for a total of 16 miles), their hooves and shoes had to be carefully examined, and cleaned and repaired as necessary. In addition, their backs and throats were supposed to be examined for galls and sores, and their necks and legs carefully wiped down. If the weather was wet (as it was on the nights of June 16-17 and 17-18), every effort had to be made to provide dry footing, lest their hooves become water logged. These were all things which were likely to be difficult, if not impossible to do even during a short campaign, such as that of Waterloo, which saw the armies marching and fighting for five full days. As a result, losses of 30-40 percent during a campaign were not uncommon, and they could easily be worse, particularly if it was a protracted campaign in the winter.
Battle was tough on chargers. Marshal Ney lost seven during the campaign (two at Quatre Bras on June 16th and five at Waterloo on the 18th), and his experience was by no means a record.  Napoleon, his health being poor, spent a great deal of the campaign in his traveling coach. However, when he did ride he seems to have preferred a mare named Desire. And as for Blucher, he was so drunk for most of the campaign he probably didn't know what horse he was riding anyway.

1840. HMS Imogene (28) burnt while in ordinary in the covered South Dock at Plymouth. The fire started in HMS Talavera (74) and spread through the dockyard sheds and stacked timber. The fire also reached HMS Minden (74), but she was saved, and the Adelaide Gallery, where many important relics and trophies were lost.

1915. During the early part of World War I Germany had considerable success smuggling arms to Turkey by concealing them inside beer barrels which could then be shipped across neutral Romania, until one day when a thirsty Romanian railroad employee attempted to wet his whistle

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48 BC. Pompey the Great, was murdered in Egypt, one day short of his 58th birthday, causing his rival, Caesar, to weep

1186. Measured by the number of ships engaged, the Battle of Dan-no-ura, near Shimonoseki in Japan, was probably the greatest naval battle of all time, with some 700 vessels of the Minamoto clan defeated about 500 ships of the Taira clan.

1850. Congress outlawed flogging in the Navy and Merchant Marine, Congress abolished flogging in the Navy and Merchant Marine, with many abstaining or absent, and most Slave State members voting against, including Jefferson Davis.

1914. On the outbreak of the war, Italy remained neutral, reminding the Germans and Austro-Hungarians that their alliance was supposed to be a defensive one.  Nevertheless, there was an Italian war plan in place.  Although the strains of the Italo-Turkish War (1911-1912) had caused the Italians to inform the Germans and Austro-Hungarians that they would be unable to meet their existing treaty obligations for some time, in late 1913 they resumed their commitment.  If Italy entered the war, she would:

Send three army corps and two cavalry divisions (c. 150,000 troops) to arrive on the Rhine by M+17, to undertake operations in support of the German Army in Alsace by M+20
Undertake an offensive in the Alps designed to pin as many French troops there as possible.
Form a joint naval task force with Austria-Hungary and Germany to disrupt the movement of French forces from North Africa to Europe, and then undertake joint amphibious operations against Corsica and the South of France.
On August 6, 1914 the Germans and Austro-Hungarians informed newly appointed Italian chief-of-staff Luigi Cadorna (1850-1926) that all arrangements were in order for the movement of the Third Army by rail through Austria and southern Germany.  By then, however, Italy had already exercised its options under the terms of the alliance to remain neutral.  Nevertheless, the rail lines  remained open through the middle of August, waiting for the army which never came.
Despite being neutral, the Italian Army undertook a partial mobilization, positioning troops in the Po Valley, to be able to respond to any future political decision to join the Central Powers or to fight against them.  That decision did not come until May of the following year.

 

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480 BC  Salamis.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UlCUFGBJNMQ&pp=ygURYmF0dGxlIG9mIHNhbGFtaXM%3D

If you look at the channel, it is just amazing that two fleets could fit in it.  It's quite claustrophobic.
There is one memorial to a Greek captain for sinking, or capturing, seven Persian ships.  Since this was not contested, or defaced, it must be.  Taking out seven ships just seems impossible.

1925. During the Riff War, which pitted Spain against some particularly capable Moroccan rebels, some Spanish troops once again proved that even in the amid the horrors of war it was possible to turn a tidy profit. And not because everyone in the combat zone received a 50-percent pay boost, since pay, even for officers, was not precisely lavish. The way to serious profits was through graft.
This involved a group of Intendance Corps officers based in the town of  Larache. Intendants were the army's auditors, so they were in a particularly good position to juggle the books and take a little off the top. They were soon embezzling on a truly heroic scale. Upwards of 3,000,000 pesetas  were involved in 1921 alone, perhaps $5 million today. This they shared among each other. But then they got greedy.
It seems that one of their number, Captain Manuel Jordan, went on leave. After several months, he returned. When he asked for his share of the past few months take, Jordan was told that since he hadn't been around he didn't deserve any of the loot. Rather than get mad, Jordan decided to get even. After careful preparations, he managed to swipe the entire take for August of 1922, an enormous haul of over  a million pesetas. 
The righteous indignation of Jordan's erstwhile accomplices knew no bounds. They cajoled, threatened, pleaded with him for a more equitable division of the August take. But Jordan remained unmoved. So they decided to wreck his career. They laid various trumped up charges against Jordan. These sparked an investigation. And that ultimately led to jail time for all involved

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1835. Prior to the mid-nineteenth century, few armies had provision for senior officers to retire. This resulted in a lot of generals and colonels being in their 70’s, 80’s, and even 90’s. For example, John de Barth Walbach was born in Germany around 1764. As a young man he served 14 years in the French Army before migrating to the United States during the French Revolution. In 1799 Walbach received a commission as a lieutenant in the Regular Army. By 1850 he was a colonel, commanding the 4th Artillery, with a brevet for brigadier general. Walbach died, still on active duty, in 1857, at the age of 93.
The glut of superannuated officers in the senior ranks, necessarily resulted in a lot of officers of lower rank serving for many years without hope of promotion. Further complicating matters was the fact that in most armies promotion was usually in the regiment. So if you were unlucky enough to serve in a regiment with a couple of old farts in the senior slots you could look forward to many years in grade; it was not unusual for lieutenants to be in their 40’s in some armies, and captains in their 50’s.
An outstanding example of what could happen when someone finally died can be found when Lt. Col. George Gordon of the 42nd Highlanders, the famous “Black Watch,” crossed the river, on September 30, 1835. Gordon’s death allowed a major with 32 years in the service to rise to lieutenant colonel, a captain of 26 years service to become major, and a lieutenant of 20 years service became a captain.
This was one reason why at gala events, officers often offered toasts to, “A long war and a glorious one,” in the hope that promotions might improve, should casualties occur.

1891. Georges Ernest Jean-Marie Boulanger, 54, French general, frustrated putchist, suicide on the grave of his mistress

1951   USS 'Monitor', sunk Dec 31, 1862, formally declared "out of commission"

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1748   Battle of Havana. British Caribbean squadron under Charles Knowles engaged a Spanish squadron Don Andres Reggio near Havana. After a number of aborted attacks, the British succeeded in driving the Spanish back to their harbour after capturing the Conquistador and running the vice-admiral's ship Africa on shore where she was blown up by her own crew after being totally dismasted and made helpless. Both commanders were reprimanded by their respective commands for their conduct during the engagement.

1800         Spain ceded Louisiana to France in return for Tuscany, but retains the right of first refusal should Napoleon chose to dispose of the place.

1862. French Line, which operated luxury liners – Normandie, France – on the Atlantic for over a century, was founded for the purpose of transporting troops to take part in the French conquest of Mexico

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 1795, Lieutenant John Poo Beresford, just 28, was acting commander of HMS Hussar, a 28-gun frigate, which took part in an action in the Caribbean during which two French frigates were captured. In view of his gallantry, he was given command of one of the prizes, Prevoyante, and shortly afterwards a promotion to post captain.  Although Prevoyante was rated as a 40 gun ship, at the time she was only carrying 24 guns. To remedy this problem, Beresford took hers to Halifax, and had her fitted with a full 40 guns, at his own expense (he was the bastard son of the Marquis of Waterford).  He then took her back to sea, intending to recoup his investment by capturing French merchantmen for the prize money.
While Beresford was pursuing this goal, back in London the Admiralty learned of his initiative in refitting the ship.  Now although Beresford had already served as acting commander of a light frigate, the Admiralty decided that a 40-gun ship was much to distinguished a command to entrust to so junior a captain.  Soon orders arrived transferring Beresford to the second ship captured back in May, Raison, which was only a 24-gunner.
Adding insult to injury, Raison also needed a refit, and Beresford ended up footing the bill for her as well.

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1865   Self-Proclaimed "Emperor" Maximilian of Mexico issues the "Black Decree" - anyone found fighting against him shall be executed.

1896. Wilhelm Lorenz Sigismund von Schlichting, German soldier and military reformer, sacked by Kaiser Bill for criticizing military ability of his"Supreme War Lord".

Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany was fond of ending the army’s annual maneuvers by leading a grand charge, usually of cavalry, but occasionally by infantry. For example, during the maneuvers of 1888 he led two divisions of cavalry to “rout” the “enemy.” Of course, being a bulb of notably low wattage, he did occasionally cause problems. For example, in 1893 he became disoriented during the “battle” and led his cavalry against his own infantry. But the following year he was again in proper form, and led his side to victory at the head of 60 squadrons of cavalry.
His successes were occasionally helped along by having the “enemy” troops switch sides – indicated by arm bands of different colors – in the midst of one of his attacks.
In any case, in September of 1904, Wilhelm decided to close the annual maneuvers with a grand assault by the Guard Corps. With sword in hand mounted on his steed, the Kaiser led the packed infantry of the Guard in an unsupported assault against the entrenched troops of the IX Army Corps, driving them from their positions at the point of the bayonet, without a shot being fired.
As one major “captured” during the grand assault observed, “Why do you Guardsmen bother carrying weapons, since you don’t need them?”
Of course, this was hardly the proper way to prepare the Imperial Army for war. And while his antics say much about Wilhelm, they say even more about the alleged professionalism of Alfred von Schlieffen, the Chief of the Great General Staff. Although he privately expressed reservations about the Kaiser’s games, Schlieffen, another supposed military genius, made no effort to put an end to them. Surprisingly, it was the allegedly inept Helmuth von Moltke the Younger who managed to get the Kaiser him to stop meddling in maneuvers.
It seems that one day Moltke quietly approached his Supreme War Lord and resolved the whole matter. Apparently he said something like, “Although Your Majesty and I both know you really can command the troops brilliantly, there are some small minded-people who might claim we’ve rigged the game to make you look good.” This argument seems to have convinced the Supreme War Lord to lay off meddling in the maneuvers..

1921         The Unknown Soldier sails from France aboard USS 'Olympia' (C-6)

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1789. The annual manpower loss through disease and desertion in the French Royal Army on the eve of the Revolution was approximately 11.5%, roughly 20,000 men out of 173,000.

1813. At one point during the War of 1812 Brig. Gen. James Winchester, who had served with some distinction during the Revolutionary War, was placed in command of a brigade of Kentucky militiamen. This created some problems, since the general was from Tennessee.
Aside from mistrusting Winchester because he was "a stranger," as Pvt. Elias Darnall observed, the Kentuckians considered the general supercilious, officious, and conceited. In short, he was "generally disliked."
While the brigade was camped in the wilderness, Winchester reserved for himself a certain log which he preferred to use when relieving himself. One particular night some of the Kentuckians covered the general's favorite log with a porcupine skin, which caused him some discomfort for a time. But worse was to come.
One night some of the militiamen carefully sawed the general's log almost through. As Pvt. Darnall put it, when the general "went to use it in the night, it broke in two and let his generalship, uniform and all, fall backwards in no very decent place."

1780.  HMS Thunderer (74),  HMS Phoenix (44), HMS Barbadoes (14)  foundered in the West Indies. 13 Royal Navy ships foundered in the great hurricane over 8 days.

1890.   Desertion among American troops on the frontier during the late nineteenth century was so common that one Secretary of War suggested it might be the best way to populate the West.

1822 Rutherford Hayes, general and President born.  Having been through about 50 engagements during the war, Hayes resigned from the Army on June 8th.   U.S. Grant, who knew something about soldiering, said that Hayes’, “conduct on the field was marked by conspicuous gallantry as well as the display of qualities of a higher order than mere personal daring.” Among the presidents, only George Washington and Zachary Taylor saw more combat service than Hayes, and he was wounded more often than any other president, at least five times, once nearly fatally; in the course of the war four horses were killed by enemy fire while he was riding them.
The ranks of the 23rd Ohio provided the nation with a number of notable soldiers and public servants.  Its first commander was William S. Rosecrans, who later led the Army of the Cumberland with considerable distinction.  The regiment’s first deputy commander was Eliakim P. Scammon, later a noted diplomat.  Joining the regiment as enlisted men, and later rising to become officers were James M. Comfy, later a prominent ambassador, Stanley Matthews, later a justice of the United States Supreme Court, and William McKinley, who later became president.
One of the most colorful characters to come out of the 23rd Ohio was Hayes’ orderly, Pvt. Billy Crump.  Perhaps the most skilled forager in the war, Crump once returned from a 20-mile excursion having “recruited” 50 chickens, two turkeys, a goose, some two dozen eggs, and nearly 30 pounds of butter for the general’s mess, all of which were rather untidily draped about his horse.