December 8th, 1944. Gen. George Patton, commander of the 3rd Army fighting the Nazis in Europe, ordered the Chaplain of the 3rd Army, James H O’Neill, to compose a prayer asking Almighty God to alleviate the harsh weather that had plagued the army in its advance towards Germany. Chaplain O’Neill composed this prayer:
“Almighty and most merciful Father, we humbly beseech Thee, of Thy great goodness, to restrain these immoderate rains with which have had to contend. Grant us fair weather for Battle. Graciously hearken to us as soldiers who call upon Thee that, armed with Thy power, we may advance from victory to victory, and crush the oppression of wickedness of our enemies and establish Thy justice among men and nations”
The weather cleared the following morning and remained clear for a full week, allowing the 3rd Army to advance and allowing the Air Force to cover the troops on the ground. General Patton awarded Chaplain O’Neill a Bronze Star and had 250,000 copies of the prayer printed and distributed to all of the soldiers in the 3rd Army.
A copy of the prayer distributed to the soldiers of the 3rd Army. Photo Courtesy of The-American-Catholic.com
October 19th, 1781. Lord Cornwallis surrenders his army to George Washington at Yorktown, Virginia, effectively ending the American Revolution.
The British, after suffering a disastrous defeat at Saratoga in 1777, and a disheartening tactical loss at Monmouth in 1778, retreated to New York City. With Washington’s powerful army in New Jersey, and a combined French/American force in New England, the British were unable to mount a northern offensive, so they decided to shift the focus of the war to the southern states hoping to attract loyalists to their cause while simultaneously seizing the lucrative American port cities from Virginia to Georgia.
Initially, the British strategy was very successful. They scored major victories at Charlestown and Camden, decimating the Southern Continental Army. The infamous Banastre Tarleton and his dragoons ruthlessly pursued the scattered remnants of the American Army across the Carolinas, winning battle after battle. The Continentals were down to 2000 regulars, along with pockets of militia. Supplies were low, morale was even lower, and all hope seemed lost.General Washington, desperate to turn the tide, sent General Nathanael Greene to take command of the southern forces.
Greene was widely considered one of the American’s best tacticians, and at a time when supplies could not be ordered and delivered at a moments notice, he was a highly skilled quartermaster. He immediately split his depleted force into two groups, with General Dan Morgan, another gifted tactician, taking command of one of the small armies. Most European trained commanders at the time wouldn’t have dared to divide an already small army, considering that the army was already extremely vulnerable, but Nathanael Greene was not a conventional commander. Greene’s strategy was simple on paper: force the British to divide their army and wear them down in constant pursuit of the smaller, and by default faster American troops. Cornwallis took the bait, dispatching Tarleton and his legion to deal with Morgan while he personally took care of Greene. Greene summed up his strategy in these words, “We fight, get beat, rise, and fight again.”
The first British setback was at King’s Mountain in October of 1780. The British command gathered a large force of loyalists which they hoped could harass the flanks of the American Army. A smaller patriot militia force known as the Overmountain Men rallied to take them on. The Overmountain Men were a ragtag group of farmers, frontiersmen, and homesteaders battle-hardened after years of conflict with natives, the British, and each other. Reports that Tarleton’s legion had massacred hundreds of militia even after they had surrendered at the Battle of Waxhaws galvanized the force. Crying “no quarter!”, they marched to King’s Mountain with payback on their minds.
The loyalist force, led by veteran British Captain Patrick Ferguson, fortified the mountaintop counting on the traditional notion that the army holding the high ground held the advantage. The Overmountain Men, however, were not traditional. Their guerilla style tactics and superb marksmanship were perfectly suited to the wilderness terrain. The British relied on bayonet charges rather than the inaccurate musket to win battles, but the steep hills and thick woods would not support such formations. In just over an hour, half the loyalist force was dead or dying, including their captain; the remainder surrendered. The Overmountain men marched the prisoners to the nearest Continental Army unit and promptly returned to their frontier homesteads.
But the beginning of the end of British dominion in North America came in January of 1781 at the Battle of Cowpens. Lord Cornwallis had received reports that Dan Morgan and his men were foraging for supplies within striking distance of his army. He dispatched Tarleton and his dragoons along with a detachment of British regulars to destroy Morgan’s forces, who were protecting Nathanael Greene’s vulnerable flank.
Dan Morgan was a veteran commander, having served with the Continentals since the war began. A debilitating back injury had forced him to return home, but when the British threatened to overrun the south he once again answered the call to arms.Morgan led Tarleton’s legion on a wild chase, using the infamous Brit’s well-known aggressive tactics against him. Morgan decided to make his stand at a lightly wooded pasture known locally as Cowpens. Morgan’s force was bolstered with a sizeable force of militia. The British considered the militia unreliable and often concentrated their attacks on militia formations to break up the American lines. Morgan understood this, and placed his militia lines at the center of his formation and ordered his militia to fire two volleys and retreat to the next militia line. Morgan was hoping that this “feigned retreat” strategy would bait Tarleton into focusing his aggressive troops to the center of the American lines…It did.
The British, who had been marching nearly all night to catch up with Morgan, arrived at Cowpens just after dawn. Upon coming out of the woods they spotted the first American skirmish line of militia, who fired a volley and retreated. The British cavalry quickly pursued and came upon the second line of militia, which poured a volley into the dragoons, killing nearly two dozen of them, and once again retreated. Tarleton, seeing the Americans retreating, ordered his entire infantry to charge headlong into them. Meanwhile, the Continental Regulars formed on the right flank, and the Continental Calvary formed up on the left with another militia line. The British infantry charged into the open field only to receive a nasty shock when the retreating militia suddenly came to a halt, turned, and poured devastating musket fire into their ranks. The Redcoats quickly halted and tried to reform hoping that the dragoon force would cover their retreat. Instead, they now found Continental regulars on either side, with American cavalry attacking their rear and wreaking havoc among their dragoons. Reeling, exhausted, and suffering heavy losses, the British infantry immediately surrendered. Tarleton, witnessing the disaster unfold, ordered the rest of his dragoon reserves into the fray; they promptly retreated into the countryside unwilling to be massacred. Tarleton tried to rally the remainder of his troops but there were too few; they were quickly overcome and Tarleton raced to the main British lines with American cavalry in close pursuit.
Tarleton’s legion, the finest British troops in the southern command, effectively ceased to exist as a fighting unit, having suffered more than 90% casualties.
The nail in the British coffin came at Guilford Courthouse in March of 1781. Lord Cornwallis hoped to destroy Nathanael Greene’s army before the war of attrition destroyed his. Just as Morgan’s forces had done, Greene led Cornwallis on a cat and mouse pursuit through North Carolina. Like Tarleton, Lord Cornwallis sacrificed his troops for speed, burning their supplies to allow his army to keep up with the speedy American force.
Greene encamped at Guilford, his force nearly doubled with the addition of several thousand militia, and employed similar tactics to Morgan’s at Cowpens. Once again the aggressive British charged the American center and once again they were slowly enveloped. Cornwallis, recognizing that his army could be crushed, ordered his artillery to fire into the center ranks, which indeed pushed the Americans back, but also killed and injured many of his own men. The battle was over in 90 minutes, and while the British did drive the Americans from the field, in doing so they lost more than a quarter of their army in the process, with the Americans suffering comparatively light casualties.
Having lost many troops that were irreplaceable, Cornwallis began the slow retreat into Virginia, with American regulars and militia harassing his army the entire way. In the north, General Washington and his war council were considering an attack on the now vulnerable British forces in New York City. Upon hearing the news of Cornwallis’ withdrawal, the decision was made to send 7000 additional troops in the hopes of entrapping the British in the south. After dozens of skirmishes, Cornwallis was eventually ordered to Yorktown, Virginia, where the British command hoped he could be relieved by sea, but the relief never came.
A French fleet under Comte DeGrasse defeated the British fleet and then blockaded the port of Yorktown. By the beginning of October the British were surrounded and unable to mount an offensive. For more than a week the British troops were under constant cannon fire. Alexander Hamilton led the attack on the last two outer line defenses of the British. When those forts were taken the British position was untenable. Additional artillery batteries were brought forward and continued to bombard the British at near point blank range. On the morning of October 17th the British asked for terms, and on October 19th they formally surrendered.
Cornwallis refused to present his sword to Washington, claiming that he was ill. But it was said that he was too ashamed to face the American General in the presence of his officers, and instead had his second in command, General O’Hara, surrender in his stead. Not to be outdone, Washington had O’Hara present his sword to his second, General Benjamin Lincoln. Washington also refused the British request to allow Cornwallis’ troops to parade with their arms, as the British lord refused the Americans such honor when they surrendered at Charlestown.
The Yorktown Siege was the last true battle of the American Revolution. The British Parliament, when hearing of the defeat, immediately pursued a peace treaty. On September 3rd, 1783 the Treaty of Paris was finally ratified, with the British ceding control of the original 13 colonies and lands west to the newly formed United States of America, as well as formally recognizing them as a sovereign nation.
October 11th, 1779 Brigadier General Casimir Pulaski, Polish volunteer serving the United States of America in the Continental Army, died of wounds sustained at the Battle of Savannah in Georgia.
Pulaski, despite his wealth and status in his native country of Poland, was stirred by the American cause and volunteered to fight for the fledgling nation. Like several prominent European officers, Pulaski was recruited in France by Benjamin Franklin with the help of the Marquis de Lafayette. In a letter written to George Washington, Pulaski wrote, “I came here, where freedom is being defended, to serve it, and to live or die for it.”
Though without rank, Pulaski fought at the Battle of Brandywine in 1777, serving as an Aide to General Washington. When the tide of the battle turned against the Americans, Pulaski, an expert horseman, rallied the mounted troops in the area and led a charge that stopped the British advance and allowed the Continental Army to retreat intact, directly saving the life of George Washington. His actions on the field brought him immediate fame, and he was commissioned as a Brigadier General tasked with creating the first official American Cavalry units.
During the Winter of 1777/1778, as the Continentals camped and trained at Valley Forge, Pulaski removed to Trenton, New Jersey to recruit and train cavalry officers and enlisted men. Pulaski, a fiery leader who spoke no English, struggled to train men despite the help of American General Anthony Wayne. He returned to Valley Forge in the Spring of 1778, but soon went south to Virginia to recruit and train more cavalry.
Pulaski found more success in the south, and soon had a highly capable force of more than 300, their training and equipment financed by Pulaski’s own money. Pulaski’s forceful personality and tough training at first rubbed many the wrong way, but soon his unit was the pride of the Southern Command, earning Pulaski the title of “Father of the American Cavalry”.
Pulaski’s unit fought in several small actions around Virginia, but he was ordered to South Carolina in 1779 to serve under General Benjamin Lincoln and command the entire American Cavalry. Soon they marched into Georgia to retake the city of Savannah, which had been captured by the British the year before. Pulaski’s unit, at the vanguard of the army, took heavy casualties and was forced to retreat. The Americans, bolstered by a force of French soldiers, attempted to lay siege to the city. But days of bombardment had little effect, so a direct assault was ordered by French commander Charles Henri Hector d’Estaing. The attack was thrown back suffering heavy losses. With both American and French ground troops and cavalry in full retreat, Pulaski attempted to rally the men and was hit by cannon fire. He was taken from the battlefield, but his wounds were too great to overcome and he died two days later.
Pulaski’s bravery was legendary even while he lived, and he was highly respected among his piers. He is considered a national hero in both his native Poland, and in the United States of America, where many counties and towns are named in his honor. There are also hundreds of memorials and statues of the brave General, and many celebrations are still held in his honor, including Pulaski Day parades held in New York City and Chicago. Several US Navy ships have borne Pulaski’s name, along with many roads, bridges, and town squares. In Poland, Pulaski’s legacy is equally as great, and his bravery and sacrifice is rightfully remembered with pride by Polish-Americans to this very day, forever bonding the two nations by his courage and utmost devotion to the cause of Freedom.
September 22nd, 1776, American Patriot, Captain Nathan Hale, was hanged as a spy by the British in New York City.
Born in Connecticut in June of 1755, Nathan Hale was a bright young man and a voracious reader. At the age of 14 he was admitted to the prestigious Yale College. He excelled in his studies and graduated with honors in 1771 at the age of 16, beginning his career as a school teacher.
During the Spring of 1775 tensions in New England between the colonists and the British stationed in Massachusetts erupted into full scale war. Hale joined the Connecticut militia with a commission as a Lieutenant, but he was initially reticent to join the newly formed Continental Army as it lay siege to the city of Boston, instead choosing to continue his career as a school teacher. A letter from his friend and classmate at Yale, Benjamin Tallmadge, stirred Hale’s patriotism, and in July of 1775 he joined the Continental Army and was commissioned as an officer in Knowlton’s Rangers, the first American unit officially dedicated to gathering military intelligence.
After the British were driven from Boston in March of 1776, the Continental Army moved to Manhattan to defend the now vulnerable New York City from attack. Forts and posts were established, but the British managed to maneuver outside of Manhattan by both land and sea. Many small skirmishes occurred around the city, but the Americans were still unaware of the location where the main British force would strike. In August of 1776 the British invaded Long Island, reinforced by thousands of Hessian mercenaries, and handily defeated the Continental Army, sending them into a full retreat.
As the Continental Army was beaten back across Long Island and the Redcoats threatened to completely occupy Manhattan, Gen. George Washington was desperate for any information he could obtain regarding the size, strength, and movements of the British army and navy. Volunteers were needed to spy on the British from behind the lines, which was an act punishable by death if captured. Only Nathan Hale answered the call.
Hale entered Long Island by sea on September 12th, posing as a school teacher in need of work. By September 15th, portions of Manhattan had already fallen to the British. The British push was gaining ground so quickly that little useful information could be obtained and sent. Hale spent his time mainly in the open, trying to gather any information he could on the size and potential movements of the British forces. He was unaware that his actions were drawing the attention of loyalists in the area, who reported what they had seen to the British command.
On September 20th Hale entered a Tavern often frequented by British officers in an attempt to possibly pick up any loose information. Soon enough, he was recognized by a British officer who had seen him on several occasions taking notes around encampments and along the coast. The officer, wary of spies, posed as a Continental who was trapped behind the lines and had dinner with Hale, tricking him into revealing his mission. The following evening Hale returned to the Tavern for another meeting. When he entered the building it was surrounded by Redcoats, and Hale was arrested as a spy.
Hale was taken to the British headquarters and questioned by General William Howe, the commander-in-chief of the British forces in North America. Now with clear evidence that Hale was indeed spying for the Americans, he was sentenced to death without a trial. Hale asked for a bible and to speak to a clergyman but was denied both requests. He was then granted permission to write a letter to each his brother and to his commanding officer, but in an act meant to demoralize him, the letters were immediately torn up. He spent his last night at the British Headquarters.
The following morning, Hale was marched to the artillery park near the Dove Tavern in New York City. British Captain, John Montressor, requested that Hale be allowed to stay in his tent before the sentence was carried out, and the request was granted. Due to Montressor’s compassion, Hale was able to write letters to his mother and a fellow officer. Moments after, Hale was marched to the Gallows, and after a short speech he was hanged. He was 21 years old.
No official records were kept of the speech Hale made. Thankfully, John Montressor, who was profoundly affected by the bravery of Nathan Hale, met with an American officer under a flag of truce on the morning after the young Captain’s death and gave this account of his last moments on Earth:
“On the morning of his execution, my station was near the fatal spot, and I requested the Provost Marshal to permit the prisoner to sit in my marquee, while he was making the necessary preparations. Captain Hale entered: he was calm, and bore himself with gentle dignity, in the consciousness of rectitude and high intentions. He asked for writing materials, which I furnished him: he wrote two letters, one to his mother and one to a brother officer. He was shortly after summoned to the gallows. But few persons were around him, yet his characteristic dying words were remembered. He said, ‘I only regret, that I have but one life to lose for my country.’”
Hale’s death affected the officers of the Continental Army greatly, in particular George Washington, whose resolve was hardened by the loss of the brave young patriot. Washington understood that only highly trained professional spies would be able to outwit the British, and authorized the formation of the famed Culper Spy Ring, led by Hale’s friend and former Yale classmate, Benjamin Tallmadge.
Later in the war, Tallmadge would gain some measure of revenge when British spymaster Major John Andre was captured and hanged as a spy for his conspiring with the traitor Benedict Arnold to turn over West Point to the British. Benjamin Tallmadge transported Andre to his trial, a courtesy that Hale did not receive, and personally told him that if found guilty, he would meet the same fate as his friend.
Nathan Hale’s legacy lives on in dozens of songs, stories, poems, statues, and monuments created in his honor, as well as in the namesake of many schools, military buildings and naval vessels. The Nathan Hale Homestead, his birthplace, is located in Coventry, Connecticut and serves as a museum dedicated to his memory.
Nathan Hale’s final words are remembered to this day as a hallmark of patriotism and sacrifice, and stand as a testament to his steadfast courage, even in the face of death.
Thirty-five years ago on this date, seven astronauts, seven heroes, seven Americans, lost their lives in service to their country when the Space Shuttle Challenger was destroyed shortly after take-off. Like many shuttle launches, this one was broadcast on live television. Millions of Americans, many of them school students, witnessed the destruction of the shuttle as it unfolded, and millions of Americans witnessed first-hand the inherent dangers of space exploration.
Dick Scobee, Michael Smith, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Judith Resnik, Gregory Jarvis, and Christa McAuliffe were all volunteers, men and women who gave their full measure of devotion to the endeavors of knowledge and discovery. It was once said that “Nothing is stronger than the heart of a volunteer.”, and never were those words truer when it came to describing the men and women of the Astronaut Corps. It is difficult for many people to fathom the courage and devotion and strength of character needed to be an astronaut. These brave men and women exemplified those virtues to the utmost degree.
Though the loss of the Challenger was indeed a disaster, and though in the weeks and months that followed many difficult decisions were made, America still remained committed to exploring the heavens and discovering the unknown. Through those dark times, when things were at their worst, America, as is often the case, was at its very best. The sense of wonder and pride in our space program did not diminish; it only grew in strength. Rather than shrink from the challenges that lay ahead, our best and bravest met them head on without fear or trepidation.
We all cannot be astronauts, but we can still honor the legacy of Dick, Mike, Ron, Elly, Judy, Greg, and Christa. It is rather for us to live our lives undaunted, to meet every challenge -great or small- head-on, to move forward with that very same spirit of wonder and discovery in all of our endeavors. By living our lives to the fullest, by embracing the spirit of the volunteer, by striving to reach what is thought to be unattainable, by remembering that “the future does not belong to the faint of heart, it belongs to the bold”, we can ensure that the sacrifice of these courageous explorers was not in vain.
Though the time for mourning may be past, it is nonetheless fitting to look back upon that day with sadness, and pride, as for many it will forever be in our memories as a reminder that sometimes we lose the best of us too soon; that sometimes, the intrepid spirit of our bravest cannot be restrained.
We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, that morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye, and slipped the surly bonds of Earth, to touch the face of God.
The first shots of the American Revolutionary War were fired in and around the towns of Lexington and Concord Massachusetts.
The seeds of insurrection and independence were sown in the colony of Massachusetts in the mid 1760’s. The end of the French and Indian War in 1763 had left the British Government deeply in debt, and in efforts to recoup their losses they decided to impose taxes on their colonies. The North American colonies had been virtually self-governing for nearly a century, with little to no interference from the “Mother Country” of Great Britain. Taxation did not sit well with the colonists, in particular when they had no representation in the British Parliament. They argued that only citizens of the British Empire could vote to have taxes be imposed upon them, and if they were not allowed representation in Parliament then they legally could not be taxed.
Regardless of the American’s displeasure, a series of unpopular taxes were imposed upon the colonies, among them the Sugar Act, which imposed taxes on all molasses imported into North America; the Stamp Act, which put a tax on nearly every document and piece of paper used in the colonies, from real estate deeds to playing cards; and the Townshend Acts, which among other things allowed the British Government to quarter British troops in any building, public or private, in North America.
Opposition to these measures always seemed to stem from the New England port city of Boston in Massachusetts. Many British troops were stationed in the city and British warships were always around the busy harbor. A resistance group known as the Sons of Liberty formed in Boston, with known members including Sam Adams, John Hancock, Dr. Joseph Warren, and Paul Revere. Meetings were held at the famed “Liberty Tree”, a large Elm tree located in Boston Common, to plan a strategy to thwart the growing British presence in New England.
In 1770, several thousand British troops were stationed in Boston, and the tension on the streets of the city was palpable. On March 5th of that year, a British sentry was harassed by a mob of several hundred protesters, who were hurling at him chunks of ice, planks, and heavy bats used to make rope in the Boston shipbuilding industry. A squadron of British Regulars, led by Capt. Thomas Preston, came to his aid. A large scuffle ensued and shots were fired into the crowd. When the smoke cleared, five colonists were dead or dying, and several others badly injured. Riots broke out across the city, and did not stop until the soldiers were arrested and put on trial for murder.
The British soldiers were defended by well-known attorney and Patriot, John Adams, who would later become a leading advocate of Revolution, and eventually the 2nd President of the United States. The Soldiers were acquitted of the most serious charges. John Adams’ famous closing argument: “Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.” became a hallmark of fairness, due process, and impartiality in the American Justice System.
Though the soldiers were acquitted, Parliament and King George reacted swiftly to the civil unrest, sending thousands more soldiers and additional warships to Boston. The city was put under martial law and more taxes were imposed, among them the infamous Tea Act, which forced Americans to purchase tea only from the British East India Company, a key contributor to the British economy which was facing bankruptcy due to large overstocks. The Tea Act gave the British company a monopoly on all tea sold in North America. Not only did this monopoly hurt other importers in the colonies, the Act was being enforced by British troops. The Sons of Liberty took matters into their own hands, and on the night of Dec 16th, 1773, they stormed several import ships docked at Boston Harbor, confiscated all of the tea in the cargo holds, and dumped it into Boston Harbor in an act of defiance now known as the Boston Tea Party.
Retribution was swift.
The British Parliament created the Coercive Acts, known in North America as the Intolerable Acts, which closed the port of Boston, shut down the colonial government in Massachusetts, and put British General Thomas Gage in command of the city of Boston. The other colonies, already keeping a watchful eye on the situation in Boston, realized that the events in Massachusetts could just as easily occur elsewhere. Committees of Correspondence were set-up, and the leaders of each colony communicated with each other through letters and occasional meetings to discuss plans detailing a course of action to deal with the growing British threat on their sovereign rights. A colony-wide meeting was planned for Sept 1774, known as the First Continental Congress. Held in Philadelphia, the largest city in the colonies, this meeting would include delegates from all Thirteen Colonies, with a goal to put measures in place which would end the Coercive Acts and restore Massachusetts to its place as a chartered colony under its own governance. Unfortunately the first meeting of Congress accomplished little, as many were unwilling to take the drastic steps that the Sons of Liberty had taken in Boston. However, a resolve to boycott all British goods was enacted, giving rise to the term “homespun”, and a petition to King George was sent pleading with him to end the coercive acts and restore the status quo.
Meanwhile in Massachusetts, General Gage began confiscating arms and ammunition from local armories. Each town in New England had a militia which required the service most men between the ages of 17-59. These militia were not only social groups, they were generally the only line of defense in case of attack. Nearly every town had two armories, one belonging to the militia, and the other being a “Royal Armory”, belonging to the King and British Government. At first, Gage’s troops only confiscated materials from the Royal Armories, which was legally the property of Great Britain. When a rumor got out that Gage’s troops were also confiscating munitions from colonial armories, the local militias sprung into action. Thousands of militia formed throughout Middlesex County, blocking roads and guarding stores. Though the rumors were false, and Gage had not, as of yet, planned to confiscate arms from the colonial militias, their rapid response shook him, and he ordered the city of Boston completely locked down and fortified. The Massachusetts colonials responded by moving their now illegal government to the town of Concord, and began training a new, elite force of militia known as the Minutemen, ready and expected to form at a moments notice to meet any British threat in the county.
The Sons of Liberty also formed a spy ring to keep tabs on the comings and goings of British troops out of Boston as well as forming a network of riders ready to speedily pass on information and to call to arms all of the Patriots in the small towns and villages spread throughout the New England countryside. Soon, each expedition Gen. Gage sent out to confiscate arms and ammunition was met by a company of militia, sometimes shadowing their movements, sometimes hindering them completely. Though these tense interactions had always ended peacefully, Gen. Gage understood that it was only a matter of time before shots would be fired, and when the local militias began confiscating not just muskets, but cannon and artillery, Gage knew that they were preparing for open war.
In early Spring of 1775 New England was ready to erupt. Gen. Gage had received direct orders from Parliament to not only confiscate all arms in the region, but to arrest any known leaders of the outlaw Massachusetts government and crush the rebellion once and for all. In April Gage planned a large expedition of 700 troops to raid the stores of Concord, Massachusetts where the colonials had set up their new government. Gage had received word that not only were there thousands of weapons held in Concord, but it was also the location of Samuel Adams and John Hancock, two of the most influential members of the Sons of Liberty.
On the night of April 18th, 1775, Gage’s expedition set out for the road to Concord. Though the British had made every effort to conceal their intent, the spy network of the Sons of Liberty had easily discovered their plans, and their network of riders was dispatched to warn the countryside, among them William Dawes and Paul Revere. Revere had been in Boston as the British were departing during the dead of night, and in a prearranged signal, two lanterns were lit n the tower of the Old North Church to warn of the British departure, who left Boston by boat in the hope that it would conceal their movements. He then quickly left the city, along with several other riders, and made his famous dash immortalized by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem, ‘Paul Revere’s Ride’… “One if by land, two if by sea..’ Meanwhile, the British Regulars, the Redcoats, marched through the night, finding the countryside bustling with highly unusual activity before the sun even rose. The officers of the expedition understood that their “surprise” march was hardly a secret, and confirmed this by capturing several riders, including Paul Revere. But they continued on nonetheless, even as warning shots went off at every road juncture. At the town of Lexington, along the road to Concord, Militia Capt John Parker assembled his small company at the town square when he received word that the British were coming. Capt Parker was a veteran of the French and Indian War, but his company of militia had little training. He ordered his company to assemble at Lexington Common, but to not hinder the British columns, “Stand your ground; don’t fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here.” A company of British troops approached Parker’s men and the Redcoat officer called out, “lay down your arms, you damned rebels!”. The Patriot Militia held firm…..and then a shot rang out. Nobody knows who fired the shot or where it came from, but it had not been fired by any of Parker’s men or the British troops facing them. Regardless, the British let loose with a volley and charged with bayonets. In a matter of seconds eight militiamen were killed and ten wounded as their families watched from their nearby homes, the rest of the militia were ordered by Parker to flee. The British then continued on their march to Concord.
At Concord, several miles away, news came that the Redcoat column had passed through Lexington, and there were unconfirmed reports that shots had been fired. 250 militia were sent marching to Lexington, and a few miles down the road saw the large column of British troops approaching. Outnumbered, the militia column turned and marched back to Concord, staying within sight of the advancing British.
Around the town of Concord, which was surrounded by hills, more Patriot Militia had gathered. Their leader, Col. John Barrett, had ordered his men to keep their distance by remaining on the hilltops. The British troops crossed the North Bridge into Concord, set a guard, and proceeded to search the town for hidden weapons. They found several cannon and a sizable store of musket balls, but most of the weapons had already been moved outside of the town when the messengers had warned of the British march during the overnight hours. Over the course of a few hours British troops raided several barns and discovered many old wooden cannon mounts. They dragged them to the town common and proceeded to burn them. The militia, now including several companies of Minutemen, were ordered to march into the town as it appeared from their vantage point that the British were setting Concord ablaze. By this point a single company of Redcoats remained in the town itself, as the rest were guarding the nearby roads and woods. When this company saw the approaching Minutemen marching at them “in a military manner”, they retreated to the North Bridge. Col. Barrett gave nearly the same order that Capt. Parker had given in Lexington: Don’t fire unless fired upon.
As the colonials continued to march, the British at the bridge began to panic, and one British soldier fired his musket, then another, and then the entire British company fired a scattered volley. Several militia were instantly killed, but the disciplined Minutemen did not retreat as the militia had in Lexington, “For God’s sake fire!” came the order, and the Americans let loose a devastating volley…The Shot Heard Round the World…and the for the first time in history, American Soldiers, led by American officers, attacked and fired upon an enemy force. Four British officers fell, with another 12 privates dead or badly wounded. The Redcoats ran wildly down the road, but the militia did not pursue.
The Redcoats regrouped and decided to march back to Boston. As the morning progressed, thousands more militia from the neighboring towns had come, many drawn by the sound of the fighting. The British companies were now forced to remain together on the road, and would find themselves marching through an 8 mile long gauntlet of musket fire. And in the woods, or behind the numerous stone walls of New England, companies of militia would gather and fire into the British column. Scores of British troops fell, killed or wounded by the unrelenting fire. At Lexington, Capt Parker reformed his militiamen, who were eager for payback, and they soon had it, killing more than a dozen of the enemy.
The British situation was critical. They had been marching since before midnight the day before; they were exhausted, and critically low on ammunition. The musket fire would not let up, and more troops fell. Their famed discipline now gone, the Redcoats began running for their lives along the “Battle Road’. With more and more men falling, the British commander considered surrendering.
Thankfully for the remaining Redcoats, Gen. Gage had received news of his men’s plight, and dispatched more than 1000 troops along with artillery pieces to relieve them. The relief force met the retreating column and soon they were under fire as well with some of the bloodiest fighting yet to occur. British troops, frustrated and enraged by their losses, began burning houses along the road and killing the inhabitants if they had any suspicion that militia lived there. At the small village of Menotomy, individual homeowners, fearful for their lives and the lives of their families, began firing at the British from their doors and windows; door to door fighting ensued, and more than 10 British soldiers were shot dead as they tried to forcibly enter the homes of private citizens. The bulk of the militia, still shadowing the British force, renewed their attacks, and dozens more of the Redcoats fell along the roadside.
By late afternoon, as the sun was beginning to set, an even larger force of militia had arrived, and the British force could very well have been surrounded and slaughtered. Caution prevailed, and the Redcoats were finally allowed to limp back into Boston. But the damage had been done: 80 British killed, with more than 50 missing and presumed dead, and nearly 200 wounded, many of whom had been left bleeding along the roadside. Almost half of Gage’s initial expedition were casualties. Boston, which was the British base of operations for dozens of raids conducted throughout the region, found itself under siege, as the hunters became the hunted. Blood had been shed, Massachusetts blood, American blood, and by the following morning more than 15,000 militiamen had the city surrounded. Soon, the Continental Congress would vote to adopt that militia as the newly formed Continental Army….the American Revolution had begun.
1. Every form of government, rightfully founded, originates from the Consent of the People.
2. The boundaries set by the People, in all Constitutions, are only the limits which any government official can lawfully exercise authority.
3. That whenever those boundaries are exceeded, the People have the Right to reassume the exercise of that authority which by Nature they had, before it was delegated to any individual.
These resolves were posted in New England by the Connecticut Sons of Liberty, Dec 10th, 1765…
June 4-7th 1942, The Battle of Midway is fought between the United States Navy and the forces of the Imperial Japanese Navy.
The Japanese surprise attack of Dec 7th, 1941 had severely damaged the American Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, but it was not the crippling blow they had hoped it would be. Regardless, Japanese forces seemed unstoppable as they steamrolled from victory to victory, defeating the Americans at Wake Island, and in the Philippines, which to this day is the largest surrender in American history. Thousands of American soldiers were captured and brutally marched through the jungle of the Bataan Peninsula to Japanese POW camps. Thousands of GI’s would be cruelly tortured and murdered by the sadistic Japanese guards. American fighter planes were constantly out maneuvered by the faster and more nimble Japanese Zero. The Empire of Japan seemed unstoppable.
Though Japan had achieved several overwhelming victories, their top commanders understood that the United States would be difficult to defeat outright unless they could keep the Pacific Fleet trapped at Hawaii. The Japanese plan was to establish a network of air and naval bases on the numerous islands spread throughout the vast Pacific Ocean to serve as a barrier between Japan and America. The Japanese had succeeded in capturing several of these islands, and the next one on their list was Midway.
Midway was a lonely island located almost exactly halfway between North America and Asia. It served as an air strip as well as a supply depot for ships operating in the middle of the Pacific. Though Japan did not necessarily want to occupy the island, they nonetheless wanted the American presence there removed. More importantly, they had hope to draw America’s last remaining Aircraft Carriers into a battle that would hopefully destroy them once and for all.
While Japan was working on its plan to trap the American fleet, something unexpected happened. On April 17th of 1942, Col James Doolittle led a daring assault on the Japanese home island using sixteen B-25 bombers launched from Aircraft Carriers that had managed to sneak just 600 miles from the coast of Japan. Though the small squadron caused a relatively light damage, the Americans had done what the Japanese thought impossible: Bomb their Capital City of Tokyo.
The Japanese were outraged.
Believing that Midway island was the base of operations, they immediately stepped up their plans to remove the troublesome thorn in their side once and for all.
Back in Hawaii, American code breakers knew that a massive attack was being planned, but they couldn’t settle on where it would take place. Several large battles had taken place in the South Pacific, and Japan was expected to establish bases there to possibly bomb Australia and her naval bases. But lead code-breaker, Joe Rochefort, a brilliant officer in charge of the cryptography department at Pearl Harbor, suspected that Midway would be the target. His code-breaking team had deciphered much of the Japanese communications, but they still could not learn the location of “AF”, the Japanese code letters for the location of the upcoming attack. Rocheford then had a stroke of genius. Among the hundreds of standard, un-coded messages that American forces radioed back and forth every day, he had the base at Midway send a simple message reporting that their desalinization equipment was damaged and they were running low on fresh water. Japan took the bait, and sent a message to the fleet: “AF” was running low on water. Not only did the Americans know where the attack would be, they knew date and time, and the size of the approaching Japanese armada.
Japan’s attack fleet, commanded by the cautious but respected Admiral Nagumo, consisted of dozens of cruisers, destroyers, and battleships, as well as 4 fleet carriers, with 300 bombers and fighter planes, all of which had attacked Pearl Harbor six months before. The American Fleet, commanded by Admirals Jack Fletcher and Raymond Spruance, countered with 16 submarines, several destroyers and cruisers, the air wing stationed at Midway, and most importantly, the three remaining fleet carriers in the Pacific, among them the USS Yorktown. The Yorktown had been so heavily damaged at the Battle of the Coral Sea earlier in May that Japan thought she had sunk. She somehow made it back to Pearl Harbor. Though the plan was to send the Yorktown to Seattle for a 3 month long repair, she was desperately needed, and in a Herculean effort, American repair crews worked around the clock for 72 hours straight to make her seaworthy once more. She was a welcome sight at Midway, and her air wing would prove vital to the outcome of the battle.
Japan’s plan was to attack Midway and destroy it’s airfield. Then wait in ambush for the American fleet to rush to its defense. What Japan didn’t know was the American Fleet was already stationed 160 miles north of Midway, lying in wait.
American patrols spotted the Japanese first. Heavy bombers and torpedo planes launched from Midway were sent to attack them. But the bombers were too inaccurate, and the slow torpedo planes were no match for the Japanese defenses. Squadron after squadron was shot down as the pilots heroically attempted to hit the Japanese carriers. Though they failed to do any damage, the attacks did force the Japanese carriers to maneuver wildly, which delayed their own attack plans.
The American carrier force sat in wait, and when Japan sent its bombers to attack Midway, they began their attack. Led by pilots Wade McClusky and Dick Best of the USS Enterprise, SBD Dauntless dive bomber squadrons set off to hit the Japanese carriers.
Back at Midway, the Japanese found the American defenses much stiffer than they had anticipated. There were far more anti-aircraft emplacements than suspected, and American fighter planes were more numerous than thought. Japan lost many planes, and Admiral Nagumo decided to launch a second wave to finish the job that the first wave couldn’t. Meanwhile, the USS Nautilus attack submarine was maneuvering secretly among the Japanese fleet. When she spotted Nagumo’s carrier and flagship, her captain attacked. The torpedoes missed, but once again the Japanese carriers were forced to break formation and maneuver sharply, which further delayed flight operations. As the Japanese planes were being rearmed to attack Midway, a Japanese scout spotted the American carriers north of the island. After a brief debate, the decision was made to switch the plane’s bomb loads to attack warships instead of land targets. Refitting the planes was time consuming, but Admiral Nagumo felt it a risk worth taking. He then sent a destroyer to keep the Nautilus at bay while his fleet steamed towards Midway and the American carriers. This seemingly harmless order would be the turning point of the battle.
In the air, McClusky and Best led their squadrons on a wide search for the Japanese. They knew roughly where the fleet should have been, but the Pacific is a big place, and the Japanese ships had been moving at full speed and changing course often. Fuel was becoming a factor, and the dive bomber squadrons would soon be nearing the point where they would not have enough fuel to attack the Japanese fleet and return to base if they could not locate the ships soon. Finally, the Americans caught a break.
Following a hunch, Wade McClusky ordered his attack group to one last search grid. Scanning the water, he spotted the Japanese destroyer that had been sent to hunt down the Nautilus steaming at flank speed to catch up with the rest of the fleet. The American bombers followed the destroyer, and soon came upon the enemy armada. They caught the Japanese just as they were rearming their planes. They were sitting ducks.
“HELL DIVERS!” cried out the Japanese gunners. The SBD’s sped in furiously, attacking from a steep angle, they were difficult to shoot down from the moving ships. Within minutes, 3 of the Japanese Fleet carriers were raging infernos, with Dick Best delivering the coup de grace. The SBD’s sped away, leaving destruction and chaos in their wake.
The remaining Japanese carrier then sent its planes to counter-attack the American fleet. The USS Yorktown, was the first ship spotted, and the Japanese threw everything at her, hitting her with three bombs and two torpedoes, but the Yorktown would not go down, and dozens of Japanese planes were shot down during the attack. Somehow the Yorktown crew got her back underway and she was able to send her planes to Midway. Yet another Japanese attack came, and hit her hard again, causing the ship to list to the side, but she would not sink. For a brief moment, the Japanese thought that they had regained the upper hand, thinking that the Yorktown was still in Hawaii, they thought that it was the USS Enterprise that had been hit. Believing that the American’s had only one carrier left, they put everything they had into finding it.
On the Enterprise, Dick Best was preparing to lead another attack on the remaining Japanese carrier. Yet again, the Yorktown proved invaluable. One of her scout planes, launched before she had been last attacked, spotted the remaining Japanese carrier. Best set out one more time, and soon found the Japanese ship just as its planes were landing after their attack on the Yorktown. It was over quickly, with Best yet again delivering the fatal blow. He became the only pilot to ever sink two aircraft carriers in one day. Japanese planes returning from their fruitless search had nowhere to land, and the pilots ditched their planes into the ocean.
The following day, the Yorktown was somehow still afloat and being towed back to port. She was spotted by a Japanese submarine and torpedoed. She still remained afloat, but the salvage crews could not save her. After several hours she finally sank peacefully into the Pacific, with all of the ships in the area paying their final respects to the mighty carrier.
Several Japanese cruisers and destroyers approached Midway and attempted to bomb it, but the were viciously attacked by American planes, which sank one ship and heavily damaged several others. At nightfall both fleets withdrew, with the Japanese fleet setting sail back to their home island.
For Japan, the loss was devastating, and the turning point of the War in the Pacific. Four of their largest carriers and hundreds of their best pilots were lost, along with any imperial dreams they may have been entertaining. Before the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, the overall commander of their Navy, Admiral Yamamoto, predicted that for 6 months he would be unstoppable, but afterward he had no confidence of victory. Exactly 6 months to the day of the Pearl Harbor attacks the battle of Midway officially ended. Japan would not launch another seaborne offensive for the remainder of the war, they had lost too many ships, too many pilots, and too many trained crew to be replaced. Unfortunately for Japan the American war machine was just getting started. In less than a year the American Pacific fleet would become the largest and most powerful navy the world had ever seen. Dozens of fleet carriers, tens of thousands of planes, hundreds of cruisers, destroyers, and submarines, and attack groups of mighty battleships like the Missouri and the Iowa would dominate the ocean. American fighter planes and bombers would soon outclass anything the Japanese could throw at them, and superior American training, logistics, and intelligence would keep the fleet supplied with the best pilots, sailors, and maintenance crews in the world.
The American Army and Marine Corp would chase the Japanese army from island to island, winning victory after victory. By August of 1945 almost the entire Japanese fleet would be at the bottom of the Pacific, and the Japanese islands in ruins. They would surrender unconditionally on Sept 2nd, 1945, officially ending the Second World War.
Patriot Militiamen fortify Breed’s Hill and Bunker Hill in Charlestown, Massachusetts overlooking Boston Harbor. News that the British Army was planning to occupy Bunker Hill, which would give them a commanding hold of the high ground above the city of Boston, sent the newly formed Continental Army to the region to construct hasty works of defense. A redoubt was constructed at the top of Breed’s Hill, and the Continentals also established a picket line along the beaches below the hill top to keep the powerful British Army from flanking their position. The Americans had few cannon and were short on ammunition and gunpowder before the fighting had even started, but they continued the fortification nonetheless. The British officers, referring to the Continentals as “rabble”, had little regard for their ability to withstand an assault.
At dawn, British warships in the harbor bombarded the hilltop with intense cannon and mortar fire. The redoubt withstood the barrage, and the Continentals continued their fortification during the bombardment. The British command then made the decision to burn nearby Charlestown to the ground to keep American snipers from harassing their positions. Both sides called for reinforcements.
Joseph Warren, a young physician, military scholar, one of the leaders at the battles of Lexington and Concord and a recently commissioned Major General of the Massachusetts Militia, went immediately to the redoubt despite his rank, knowing that fighting there would be heaviest. Colonel John Stark, a veteran of the French and Indian Wars and a fiery militia leader, took command of the troops along the picket line, famously ordering his troops to not fire “until you see the whites of their eyes”.
By mid-afternoon the British assault began in earnest. General Howe, the British commander, made the decision to attack Stark’s position first, knowing that they had far less cover and numbers than the hill top fortifications. British light infantry and Grenadiers, the shock troops of the royal army, led the way. Three times the red coats assaulted the picket line, and three times they were stopped, cold.
The assault on the redoubt fared no better, as the British were forced to retreat twice due to the withering and accurate fire of the Continentals. But the American situation at the redoubt was far from secure. The ammunition shortage, already a concern before the battle had commenced, had now become perilous. Most of the troops in the redoubt had run out of ammunition, and the few left with gunpowder had barely enough to fire one or two shots. Worse, because the bulk of the Continental Army were not professional soldiers but farmers and tradesmen, nearly all of them were not equipped with the swords and bayonets needed for close-quarters fighting. As the British third assault began the decision was made to retreat.
General Warren personally commanded the rear guard remaining in the redoubt. John Stark’s troops along the beach at the base of the hill continued to show their worth, pouring fire into the flanks of the assault on the redoubt and providing the wounded on the hill top with much needed time to fall back. Stark’s men then proceeded to conduct a fighting withdrawal, impressing the British commanders so much with their bravery and discipline that they dare not press the attack on his position for fear of being massacred. For the few remaining in the redoubt, the fighting had been reduced to hand to hand. Joseph Warren, while standing atop a parapet urging the defenders on, was spotted by a British officer who immediately shot him through the head, killing him instantly. As the redoubt was occupied, several of the British officers who had been defeated by Warren at Lexington and Concord, took turns mutilating his body with sword, bayonet, and musket. The General was then thrown into a shallow grave. The following morning the desecration of Warren’s corpse continued, as British officers removed his body from the grave and cut off his head to take turns spitting into his face.
Before the battle, Joseph Warren’s mother, knowing that her son’s steadfast courage and fierce resolve would put him at the forefront of the fighting, begged him not to go. He famously said to her, “Where danger is, dear mother, there must your son be. Now is no time for any of America’s children to shrink from any hazard, for I will set her free or die trying.”
On the morning of June 18th, 1775 the British Union Jack flew atop Bunker Hill. More than 100 American patriots were killed and more than 300 wounded, but they took with them more than 1000 British soldiers and officers, and by the following spring the British would be driven completely out of Boston, never to return.
‘The death of General Warren at the Battle of Bunker Hill’ by John Trumbull
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