Military Milestones from Blood Stripes to Bloody Ridge

This Week in American Military History (by W. Thomas Smith Jr.):

Sept. 13, 1814:  From the deck of a Royal Navy ship aboard which he has been detained, Washington, D.C. lawyer Francis Scott Key pens his now-famous poem, “The Star Spangled Banner,” on an envelope as he witnesses the British night-bombardment of Fort McHenry, Baltimore during the War of 1812.

It will be more than a century before the U.S. Congress adopts “The Star Spangled Banner” as the official national anthem.

Sept. 13, 1847:  U.S. Army and Marine forces (including lots of future Civil War generals like Robert E. Lee, James Longstreet, George Pickett, Pierre G.T. Beauregard, Thomas J. Jackson, Joseph E. Johnston, Ulysses S. Grant, future Admiral Raphael Semmes, and I’m probably leaving out a few) participate in the storming of Chapultepec Castle during the Mexican War.

Chapultepec defends Mexico City, which will fall on the 14th.

For those of us fortunate enough since to claim the title, “Marine,” the taking of Chapultepec and ultimately Mexico City will give us two things:

First: The first five words of our hymn: “From the halls of Montezuma, to the shores of Tripoli …”

Second: The “blood” red stripe along the seams of our dress-blue uniform trousers (Marines don’t wear pants).

The origin of the blood stripe is more tradition than absolute fact. But we Marines heartily claim it. According to tradition, the blood stripe represents the blood shed by Marines storming Chapultepec. And the reason only corporals and above are authorized to wear the stripe is because there was such a high percentage of NCOs and officers killed in the storming of the castle.

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Military Milestones from the Turtle to 9/11

By W. Thomas Smith, Jr.

Originally published at Human Events

This week in American military history:

Sept. 7, 1776: Just before dawn, an odd-looking barrel-shaped craft silently makes its way down the Hudson River from Manhattan toward a British warship, HMS Eagle, anchored in New York Harbor.

The craft, designed by Yale graduate David Bushnell and christened “Turtle,” is piloted by a Continental Army sergeant who is hand-cranking two screws for propulsion. As the Turtle nears its target, the pilot opens a valve allowing enough water into a small ballast tank, increasing the weight of the craft and causing it to slip beneath the surface. Maneuvering underwater, the pilot positions his craft below the Eagle then attempts to bore a hole through the enemy hull.

If everything goes according to plan, a timed explosive-device will to be placed into the hole. The device will then detonate after the Turtle makes its escape.

The operation, however, will not be successful, as the pilot will be unable to drill through a layer of copper sheathing on the enemy hull. But the bold attempt will go down in history as one of America’s great Naval milestones.

Bushnell’s Turtle is not the first functional submarine in history (Dutch inventor Cornelius Drebbel’s “underwater boat” successfully navigated a portion of England’s Thames River in 1623). But the Turtle is the first-ever submarine to be used as an attack platform in combat.

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Military Milestones from the King’s Proclamation to Richie’s MiG

By W. Thomas Smith, Jr.

Originally published at Human Events

Rear Admiral David Farragut

Rear Admiral David Farragut

This Week in American Military History:

Aug. 23, 1775: Less than two months after the Second Continental Congress issues its “Declaration on the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms [against the British]” in which the Congress resolves “to die free men rather than live as slaves,” King George III issues his own proclamation declaring the American colonies to be in a state of rebellion.

The king adds, “not only all our Officers, civil and military, are obliged to exert their utmost endeavours to suppress such rebellion, and to bring the traitors to justice, but that all our subjects of this Realm, and the dominions thereunto belonging, are bound by law to be aiding and assisting in the suppression of such rebellion, and to disclose and make known all traitorous conspiracies and attempts against us, our crown and dignity.”

Aug. 23, 1864: Union Naval forces under the command of Adm. David Glasgow Farragut — best known for purportedly uttering the command, “Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!” — take Fort Morgan, effectively ending the near-month-long battle of Mobile Bay.

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Navy takes delivery of USS New York

The Navy took delivery of the amphibious transport dock ship USS New York, which contains 7 1/2 tons of steel from the World Trade Center. The AP reports that the New York will sail down the Mississippi River in October.

This is the sixth so-named American vessel. The first USS New York was a gondola built on Lake Champlain in 1776.

The second was built in and also funded by the citizens of New York City. The 36-gun frigate served as the flagship during the First Barbary War before being burned by the British in 1814.

The third was laid in 1820 but never finished. The 74-gun ship of the line was burned in 1861 to prevent it from falling into the hands of the Confederates.

The bow of the fourth USS New York (CA-2) on display at the Intrepid Museum in New York City

The bow of the fourth USS New York (CA-2) on display at the Intrepid Museum in New York City

The fourth was commissioned in 1893 and served as the flagship for Admiral Samson during the Battle of Santiago when the American Squadron destroyed the Spanish fleet in 1898.

The fifth saw service in both World War I, where it was present during the surrender of the German Fleet in 1918, and World War II, where it saw action in the Atlantic.

More info available at Great White Fleet

Military Milestones from the Battle of Camden to Banzai Attacks at Tenaru

Sgt. Clyde Thomason, the first enlisted Marine recipient of the Medal of Honor

Sgt. Clyde Thomason, the first enlisted Marine recipient of the Medal of Honor in World War II

By W. Thomas Smith, Jr.

Originally published at Human Events

Aug. 16, 1780: The Battle of Camden (S.C.) — one of the worst tactical blunders on the part of the Continentals during the American Revolution — opens between British Army forces under the command of Gen. Sir Charles Cornwallis and Continental Army forces under Gen. Horatio Gates.

Though the Americans will be decisively defeated at Camden — thanks to Gates’ improperly positioning inexperienced militia against seasoned regiments of the regular British Army, as well as his complete loss of tactical control — the battle will prove to be something of a highwater mark for British forces in the southern colonies.

Gates himself will break and run, earning him the nickname, “Galloping Gates.” But the heroics of many of the ill-fated Continental officers and men (like Gen. Johann Baron de Kalb) will prove to be exemplary. And Gen. George Washington — always able to recover from strategic setbacks — will choose the exceptionally able Gen. Nathanael Greene as Gates’ replacement.

Aug. 16, 1940: Soldiers with the U.S. Army’s parachute test platoon begin jumping over Fort Benning, Ga. The airborne exercise (actually more of an experiment) is the first for the Army.

In 2001, Pres. George W. Bush will proclaim “August 16” of each year as National Airborne Day.

Aug. 17, 1942: Ahoy Raiders! U.S. Marine Raiders strike Makin Island in the Gilberts.

Sgt. Clyde Thomason, killed during the fighting, will become the first Marine in World War II to receive the Medal of Honor.

Note: Video of the Marine Raiders can be found here.

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Military Milestones from Pickett’s Charge to Roosevelt’s Rough Riders

By W. Thomas Smith, Jr.

Originally published at Human Events

This week in American military history:

Lt. Col. Theodore Roosevelt surrounded by his Rough Riders following the Battle of San Juan Heights

Lt. Col. Theodore Roosevelt surrounded by his Rough Riders following the Battle of San Juan Heights

June 28, 1776: In what has been described as the “first decisive victory of American forces over the British Navy” during the American Revolution, the garrison at Fort Sullivan, S.C. (today Fort Moultrie on Sullivan’s Island in Charleston harbor) under the command of militia Col. William Moultrie repulse Royal Navy forces under the command of Admiral Sir Peter Parker.

The 12-plus hour battle begins around 9 a.m. when Parker’s ships open fire on the fort; many of the British shells sinking harmlessly into the soft palmetto logs of which the fort is constructed. The ships, on the other hand, (some of which run aground on the harbor’s shoals) are constructed of oak, which Moultrie’s artillerists quickly shatter, sending deadly splinters into the unfortunate British crews.

Moultrie is destined to become a Maj. Gen. in the Continental Army and a S.C. governor. And S.C. will forever be known as the “Palmetto State.”

(Incidentally: This author’s five-times great grandfather, Capt. Thomas Woodward — commanding a company of S.C. Rangers on Moultrie’s extreme left — helps thwart an attempt by Royal Marines to land on the island.)

June 28, 1778: The Battle of Monmouth, N.J. is fought between Gen. George Washington’s Continental Army (including the legendary Molly Pitcher) and British forces under Gen. Sir Henry Clinton. Though tactically inconclusive, the battle is a strategic victory for the Americans who prove they can go toe-to-toe with the British Army in a large pitched battle.

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Military Milestones from a Midnight Ride to a Pre-Dawn Airstrike

By W. Thomas Smith, Jr.

Originally published at Human Events

Apr. 12, 1861: Confederate Brig. Gen. Pierre G.T. Beauregard’s artillery forces — strategically positioned around Charleston harbor, S.C. — open fire on Union-held Fort Sumter (constructed atop shoals at the harbor entrance).

Unable to effectively return fire and with his position indefensible, Union Army Maj. Robert Anderson will surrender the fort: The garrison will be evacuated on the 14th.

The firing on Fort Sumter is considered to be the opening engagement of the Civil War. Technically it is; though shots were fired in January by militia batteries — including a battery manned by cadets of the Citadel (the Military College of South Carolina) — on the U.S. commercial paddlesteamer “Star of the West” in Charleston harbor.

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Military Milestones from a Kentucky Raider to ‘a Bulldog of a Fighter’

By W. Thomas Smith, Jr.

Originally published at Human Events

Mar. 15, 1781:  British Army forces under the command of Lt. Gen. Charles Cornwallis march toward a pyrrhic victory over Continental Army and militia forces commanded by Maj. Gen. Nathaniel Greene at Guilford Courthouse (near present-day Greensboro), N.C.

Once engaged, the two armies fight for less than two hours. Tactically, it ends in a victory for Cornwallis, who drives Greene’s forces from the field. But British losses are heavy.

Cornwallis will purportedly say, “I never saw such fighting since God made me. The Americans fought like demons.” When word of Guilford Courthouse reaches London, Parliamentarian Charles James Fox will declare: “Another such victory would ruin the British army!”

Cornwallis’ entire army will surrender to the combined American-French forces of Generals George Washington and Comte de Rochambeau at Yorktown, Virginia, Oct. 19, almost seven months to the day after Guilford Courthouse.

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Military Milestones from the Boston Massacre to a Green Beret Ballad

By W. Thomas Smith, Jr.

Originally published at Human Events

This Week in American Military History:

Mar. 2, 1943: Elements of the U.S. Army Air Forces and Royal Australian Air Force intercept and all-but-destroy an entire Japanese troop-transport convoy in the Battle of the Bismarck Sea. Several enemy ships, scores of enemy aircraft, and thousands of enemy soldiers will be sent to the bottom. Gen. Douglas MacArthur will remark that Bismarck Sea “cannot fail to go down in history as one of the most complete and annihilating combats of all time.” Japanese Navy Capt. Tameichi Hara will refer to the battle as “shocking” and “unbelievable.”

Mar. 3, 1776: A force of 250 Continental Marines and sailors under the command of Marine Capt. (future major) Samuel Nicholas land on New Providence in the British-held Bahamas and quickly seize Fort Montague in the first amphibious operation in American military history. The landing — largely unopposed (the British garrison spiking their own guns and fleeing) — nets for the Americans much-needed powder, shot, nearly 50 serviceable cannon, and a few mortars.

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