On This Day In History..........

In 1898......On this day American Forces captured Kettle Hill, San Juan Hts. in Cuba. Participating in the assault was the 1st. U.S. Volunteer Cavalry better known as the Rough Riders led by Leonard Wood and Theodore Roosevelt. One of the casualties of this fight was Captain William Owen "Buckey" O'Neill of A Troop. The facts of his death was recorded by Theodore Roosevelt in his book "The Rough Riders"


"The most serious loss that I and the regiment could have suffered
befell just before we charged. Buckey O'Neill was strolling up and
down in front of his men, smoking his cigarette, for he was
inveterately addicted to the habit. He had a theory that an officer
ought never to take cover-a theory which was wrong, though in a
volunteer organization the officers should certainly expose
themselves very fully, simply for the effect on the men; our
regimental toast on the transport running "the officers; may the war
last until each is killed, wounded or promoted." As O'Neill moved to
and fro, his men begged him to lie down, and one of his sergeants
said "Captain, a bullet is sure to hit you." O'Neill took his
cigarette out of his mouth and blowing out a cloud of smoke laughed
and said "Sergeant, the Spanish bullet isn't made that will kill me."
A little later, he discussed for a moment with one of the regular
officers the direction from which the Spanish fire was coming. As he
turned on his heel a bullet stuck him in the mouth and came out the
back of his head; so that even before he fell his wild and gallant
soul had gone out into the darkness"  


"Who would not die for a new star in the flag"
On the tombstone of "Buckey" O' Neill at Arlington

"We may have great men.......but we'll never have better!"
Down by the Glenside




In 1916.... On this day, at 7:30 A.M. local time, the British Army went "Over the Top" in a direct assault on German trenches in the area of the Somme river in France. Before the end of the day, the British Army had suffered 19,000 K.I.A. and as many as 40,000 wounded. It was the greatest loss in the entire history of the British Army. By the time the battle was declared over 4 1/2 months later, the British had suffered 600,000 casualties. The story of a sergeant in the 3rd Tyneside Irish (26th Northumberland Fusiliers) describes best what the soldiers went through:

 "I could see, away to my left and right, long lines of men. Then I heard the "patter, patter" of machine guns in the distance. By the time I'd gone another ten yards there seemed to be only a few men left around me; by the time I had gone twenty yards, I seemed to be on my own. Then I was hit myself"


To this day, the battlefield of the Somme still gives up her secrets willingly. Every spring, Large piles of rusty objects appear on the sides of roads. The Somme area is noted for the large amounts of unexploded shells that are discovered each year. French farmers each year when plowing their fields uncover these still deadly leftovers and place them in piles on the side of the closest road to their fields. The French Army then collects them for disposal. Every now and then, a French Army bomb disposal officer is killed by these almost 100 year old, lethal artifacts.

In memory of the 36th (Ulster Division), B.E.F. 

 

On This Day In History..........

In 1876....... Lt. Col. George A. Custer and 5 companies of the U.S. 7th Cavalry were killed in action, in an engagement with Sioux and Cheyenne warriors, near the Little Bighorn river in the Montana Territory. A total of around 210 men.

On This Day In History................

IN 1916 The British Army began it's pre-assault  artillery bombardment on German trenches and defensive lines near the Somme river in France. The British had lined up 15,000 guns along the 20 mile front and they would fire uninterrupted for 7 days.

On The Road Again.................

Before I get all twisted up and start running around and forget it, I wanted to take the liberty of inviting anyone who happens to be within striking distance of Historic Ft. Frederick in Big Pool, MD this coming weekend (June 23rd - 24th) to please stop by and visit with Ms. Nancy, Sweet Daughter, Shorter Half and of course, your humble correspondent at the Brigade of the American Revolution's Grand Encampment. We will be set up as the Detached Hospital and be discussing with the public, the art and mystery of colonial period medicine, health care and of course surgery. Other folks will be explaining other aspects of life in the 18th century to include warfare and FIREARMS........... All kidding aside, if you have ever had a interest in anything regarding the revolutionary war, this is the event you need to attend. And we would LOVE to see ya'll.

On This Day In History.............

In 1815............

After what was called The Hundred Days, ( The period of time from the escape of Napoleon Bonaparte from the island of Elba to the reorganization  of the French Army and the march to Belgium )The Allied Army, A thrown together army of Prussians, Belgians, Dutch, and British commanded by Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington  met the French Army under Napoleon  at Waterloo, Belgium.

The battle of Waterloo, consistently listed as one of the most important battles in world history, was a relatively short battle, starting at around 10:00 in the morning, (some records state 11:30) and lasted until Wellington and Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher commander of the Prussian Troops. met that night. at around 10:00. The late start was due to the muddy condition of the battlefield. It had rained all the night before adding to the misery of the soldiers in the field. The mud slowed down the movement of the soldiers as well as the artillery. It also interfered with the ability of the armies to use their cannons effectively. The cannons of the time fired solid shot, which they would try to "skip" off the ground to smash through the tightly packed ranks of the soldiers. On muddy fields, the solid shot buries it's self and does not bounce.

The battlefield was also relatively small, only two miles long by 2/3 of a mile wide. It was however highly concentrated, the Allied Forces had 68,000 men, the Prussians 50,000 facing, 72,000 French. When the battle was done, the Allies had lost 17,000 men, (3,500 killed, 10,200 wounded, 3,300 missing) The Prussians 7,000 men, (1,200 killed, 4,400 wounded and 1,400 missing) The French had lost over half of their forces 48,000 men (broken down to 25,000 killed and wounded, 8,000 captured and 15,000 missing) One of the things I find difficult in the study of history is wrapping my head around these kinds of numbers. Stalin was said to have said "One death is a tragedy, one million deaths is a statistic." It's hard to mentally visualize the numbers engaged as well as the casualties involved. So what I try to do is focus on the story of the individual.

I will not bore you with the major facts of the battle since many other writers have done a much, much better job of it than I could. John Keegan in "Faces of Battle" gives a great quick overview as well as David Howarth in his book "Waterloo: Day of Battle". I will share however some interesting, at least to me stories of the men and incidents of the battle.

One of the more important officers in Wellington's staff had roots deep in America. William De Lancey, the British Quartermaster-General was American born, of a Loyalist family. After the American Revolution, The De Lancey family ended up being driven out of America where they start over again. De Lancey died of wounds he received in battle.

The French Heavy Cavalry, called "Cuirassiers" after the heavy armored breast plate and back they wore were prominent in the battle. It was said after the battle, that the British infantry cooked their rations in the brest-plates of the dead Frenchmen. This picture of a Waterloo brest-plate in a museum, probably escaped that fate.

 

 Waterloo has to be one of the most written about battles in history. there are countless journals, diaries, and letters written by every one involved in the fight from common soldiers to the highest ranking general, but my favorite recollection was from a lowly "ranker" who when asked about the great battle, reportedly said: " I'll be hanged if I know anything about the matter," was all he could find to say, "for I was all day trodden into the mud and ridden over by every scoundrel who had a horse"

Some of the wounded laid on the battlefield for up to 5 days without medical attention. Not because of ill will on behalf of the armies, but simply because the medical resources of both sides were overwhelmed with the numbers of wounded men they had to deal with. The wounded also had to deal with looters that would steal over the battlefield, looting and sometime even killing the wounded when they resisted. The injured soldiers continued showing their bravery by undergoing some of the most horrific surgeries without anesthesia. After a French soldier had his leg taken off by a surgeon, he grabbed it, tossed it in the air and shouted "Vive l' Empereur" A British officer, not to be out done, had a leg amputated,then jumped off the surgical table, refusing all aid and hopped to a cart that was waiting to take him to Brussels. And a wooden leg was a life long badge of courage.

Even the dead were used.  At this time dentures were either made from carved ivory or from the teeth of the dead. Shortly after the battle, there were large numbers of people who were searching the battlefield to extract teeth from corpses. There were literally barrels of teeth that were shipped to England to be turned into dentures and "Waterloo Teeth" were something of a conversation piece for many years.

 In 1970 the movie Waterloo was done with a proverbial "cast of thousand:" It wasn't half bad, so to close I 

 have attached a clip of the movie from You Tube. If you like, watch it and remember the fallen........

Happy Father's Day..............

Just wanted to tip my hat to all those gents who happen to hold the second toughest job in the world. (Mom's have the toughest, hands down) The sainted and long suffering Ms. W and myself were never lucky enough to have kids, so I spend my time spoiling other folks young un's. So you dads out there, congratulations and enjoy the blessing that you have today.

Breaking News.............

In Oregon, a man attempted to rescue a mouse from a stray cat.According to health authorities, he was bitten by either the cat or the mouse and ended up with the plague. You know, the Black Death, that took out most of the population of Europe in the middle ages?

Just goes to show that no good deed goes unpunished.............