On March 13th in American history: 1639 — New College was renamed Harvard College for clergyman John Harvard. 1733 — Joseph Priestley, supporter of the American Revolution and leader of the Unitarian Church in Britain and America, was born in Birstall, Yorkshire, England. 1776 — In anticipation of the departure of the British from Boston, the general order for the day in Cambridge read: If upon the retreat of the enemy any person whatsoever, is detected in pillaging, . . . the severest punishment will be his lot—The unhappy Inhabitants of that distressd town have already sufferd too heavily from the Iron hand of Oppression!—their Countrymen surely will not be base enough to add to their misfortunes. 1777 — Congress issued a call for qualified foreign military experts through its agents in Europe. 1777 — WILLIAMSBURG. On Tuesday the 15th instant 500 men attacked the Hessian picket guard near Brunswick, drove them in, took 11 milch cows, 2 horses, and brought off 15 or 20 loads of hay, which those mercenaries had stacked up within their lines. After the Hessians ran, a number of the light horse came out, drew their swords, and cut a few capers, but did not choose to disturb our men, whom they saw very leisurely take away the hay. — Virginia Gazette [After Washington established hs winter headquarters at Morristown, New Jersey, he sent units of his Continental army to attack units of the British army around Brunswick in a successful effort to deny the British feed for their horses. This forage war (from January 1777 into the spring) included dozens of engagements both large and small.] 1778 — The French ambassador informd the British that France now recognized the United States. This was a virtual declaration of war but hostilities did not commence immediately. ---------- 1780 — The Battle of Fort Charlotte ended when Spanish Governor of Louisiana and General Bernardo de Galvez took the city of Mobile, Alabama, which was then part of British West Florida. Mobile was originally a French settlement and Fort Charlotte was built in 1723 to guard the city. Britain gained control of West Florida in 1763 after the French and Indian War. When Spain officially allied with the United States against Great Britain in 1779, Spanish Governor of Louisiana, Bernardo de Galvez, set about driving the British out of the Gulf Coast. He quickly took control of the southern Mississippi River and then set his sights on Mobile before attempting to take Pensacola, the capital of West Florida. He sailed from New Orleans in January of 1780 and arrived at Mobile Bay on February 13. Captain Elias Durnford was in charge of the British garrison at Mobile with about 300 men. He had already been strengthening Fort Charlottes defenses after hearing of Galvezs campaign in Louisiana. On the arrival of Galvezs fleet, Durnford quickly sent word to Pensacola requesting reinforcements. Durnford also burned down the entire town of Mobile, causing great distress to the inhabitants, in order to prevent the Spanish foes from using the houses and shops of Mobile for cover or as a base of operation. A large British force from Pensacola was sent overland to help, but they got bogged down in the swampy bayou. It soon became apparent that no reinforcements would arrive. Meanwhile, Galvez built entrenchments around the fort and began a cannon siege on March 10. With no reinforcements, Captain Durnford knew his 300 men would not be able to stand long against Galvez, whose force was more than twice the size of his own. Within a few days, the walls of Fort Charlotte were breached. Captain Durnford surrendered the garrison on March 13, ending British rule in Mobile, forever. Governor de Galvez renamed Fort Charlotte Fort Carlotta and began making plans to conquer Pensacola, the last British stronghold in West Florida. The British made an attempt to retake Mobile the following January when Galvez was gathering together his Pensacola invasion force in Havana, but this attempt was quickly repulsed. Pensacola fell to Galvez March 9, 1781 bringing British rule in West Florida to an end forever. The foundations of Fort Charlotte were discovered in downtown Mobile and about one third of it was reconstructed in the 1970s. Today, the site goes by the name of Fort Conde, which was the French name for the fort, and houses the official welcome center for the city of Mobile. ---------- 1794 — Westborough, Massachusetts, native Eli Whitney applied for a patent on the cotton gin. Raised on a farm in Massachusetts, he invented a machine that made growing cotton so profitable that the South became a cotton kingdom where millions of Africans toiled in slavery. After nearly a decade in the South, Whitney returned to New England and developed what became known as the American System of manufacture. He designed machines that turned out standardized, interchangeable parts. These machines made mass production possible and were critical to the coming Industrial Revolution. Eli Whitneys innovations transformed the economy first of the American South and later of the North. 1815 — Gen. Andrew Jackson declared the end of martial law in New Orleans at the finish of War of 1812 . ---------- 1836 — Less than a week after the disastrous defeat of Texas rebels at the Alamo, the newly commissioned Texan General Sam Houston began a series of strategic retreats to buy time to train his ill-prepared army. Revolutionary Texans had only formally announced their independence from Mexico 11 days earlier. On March 6, 1836, the separatists chose Virginia native Sam Houston to be the commander-in-chief of the revolutionary army. Houston immediately departed for Gonzales, Texas, where the main force of the revolutionary army was stationed. When he arrived, he found that the Texan army consisted of 374 poorly dressed and ill-equipped men. Most had no guns or military experience, and they had only two days of rations. Houston had little time to dwell on the situation, because he learned that the Mexican general Santa Anna was staging a siege of the Alamo in San Antonio. Before Houston could prepare his troops to rush to aid the defenders, however, word arrived that Santa Anna had wiped them out on March 6. Scouts reported that Santa Annas troops were heading east toward Gonzales. Unprepared to confront the Mexican army with his poorly trained force, Houston began a series of strategic retreats designed to give him enough time to whip his army into fighting shape. Houstons decision to retreat won him little but scorn from the Texas rebels. His troops and officers were eager to engage the Mexicans, and they chafed at Houstons insistence on learning proper field maneuvers. Houston wisely continued to organize, train, and equip his troops so they would be prepared to meet Santa Annas army. Finally, after nearly a month of falling back, Houston ordered his men to turn around and head south to meet Santa Annas forces. On April 21, Houston led his 783 troops in an attack on Santa Annas force of nearly twice that number near the confluence of Buffalo Bayou and the San Jacinto River. With the famous cry, Remember the Alamo, the Texans stormed the surprised Mexican forces. After a brief attempt at defense, the Mexican soldiers broke into a disorganized retreat, allowing the Texans to isolate and slaughter them. In a stunning victory, Houstons army succeeded in killing or capturing nearly the entire Mexican force, including General Santa Anna, who was taken prisoner. Only two Texans were killed and 30 wounded. Fearful of execution, Santa Anna signed an order calling for the immediate withdrawal of all Mexican troops from Texas soil. The Mexicans never again seriously threatened the independence of the Lone Star State. ---------- 1852 — Uncle Sam made his debut as a cartoon character in the New York Lantern. 1855 — Percival Lowell, the American astronomer who helped discover Pluto and believed that there was life on Mars, was born. He died November 12, 1916. 1861 — The Confederate States of America attempted a peaceful adjustment of issues arising from separation (Forsyth and Crawford). Secretary of State William Seward, under the direction of the President, refused. 1862 — Confederate President Jefferson Davis ordered General Robert E. Lee to ...conduct military operations of the armies of the Confederacy. 1862 — The U.S. federal government forbade all Union army officers from returning fugitive slaves, thus effectively annulling the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 and setting the stage for the Emancipation Proclamation. 1862 — Union Gen. George McClellan held today his first full meeting with his newly-appointed commanders of the various corps of the Army of the Potomac. The corps structure was a replacement for the previous method of organization of the army into just three Grand Divisions. These had proved extremely difficult to maneuver on account of their size. It was hoped that the smaller corps would turn out to be more manageable. Lincoln was pressuring hard for some sort of action in the east, preferably an attack on Richmond, barely 90 miles away. The debate was whether to move to Urbanna, Virginia, at the mouth of the Rappahannock, and attack from there, or to move via the Peninsula. In a fateful decision, the latter was chosen. 1863 — An explosion in the Confederate Ordinance Laboratory on Browns Island in the James River near Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond killed 69 people, 62 of them women and young girls. A friction primer exploded. 1863 — The fort built of dirt and cotton bales, named Fort Pemberton, was the target of a second day’s worth of shelling by Federal troops and gunboats. Constructed in just a few days by W. W. Loring at Pemberton’s orders on the Yalobusha River near Greenwood, Mississippi, and armed with just a few cannon, it had the added difficulty of being on partly flooded ground. Despite these disadvantages, it was well-placed to fire on the Federal vessels, and difficult to hit in return. As long as the cannon could be kept from sinking into the swamp, that is. 1864 — The Red River Expedition got seriously underway as the ships of Admiral D. D. Porter landed Union troops at Simmesport. With the sun barely up, they began to sweep Confederate defenders before them. Simultaneously, gunboats under Phelps got as far up the Red River as the obstructions laid in the water so as to render the waterway impassable. The Union sailors cleared it that same day, and proceeded to bomb Fort DeRussy. 1865 — Gen. Robert E. Lee had been lobbying for the measure for quite some time. Other Confederate generals had likewise supported it as the manpower shortage became ever more severe. Inexplicably, President Davis and the Confederate Congress were disinclined to support it until now. However, on this day the plan was adopted, and these newly recruited troops were soon seen in the streets of Richmond. Their army uniforms were grey—but the troopers were black. Negroes were never quite accepted into the Confederate Army. On the other hand, despite the tremendous bravery of such units as the 54th Massachusetts, blacks were never wholeheartedly accepted into the Union Army either, being required to serve under white officers for the duration of the Civil War. 1868 — The U.S. Senate continued to hear impeachment charges against President Andrew Johnson. The trial, convened by the Senate on March 5, focused on issues surrounding Johnsons post-Civil War Reconstruction policy and, more specifically, his firing of Secretary of War Edwin Stanton. 1884 — Standard Time was adopted throughout the United States. 1897 — San Diego State University was founded. 1901 — Benjamin Harrison, the 23rd president of the United States, died in Indianaoplis at age 67. 1930 — The news of the discovery of Pluto was telegraphed to the Harvard College Observatory. 1933 — Banks began to re-open after a holiday declared by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. 1938 — The famous Snopes trial defense attorney Clarence S. Darrow died at age 80. ---------- 1942 — The Quartermaster Corps (QMC) of the United States Army began training dogs for the newly established War Dog Program, or K-9 Corps. Well over a million dogs served on both sides during World War I, carrying messages along the complex network of trenches and providing some measure of psychological comfort to the soldiers. The most famous dog to emerge from the war was Rin Tin Tin, an abandoned puppy of German war dogs found in France in 1918 and taken to the United States, where he made his film debut in the 1922 silent film The Man from Hells River. As the first bona fide animal movie star, Rin Tin Tin made the little-known German Shepherd breed famous across the country. In the United States, the practice of training dogs for military purposes was largely abandoned after World War I. When the country entered World War II in December 1941, the American Kennel Association and a group called Dogs for Defense began a movement to mobilize dog owners to donate healthy and capable animals to the Quartermaster Corps of the U.S. Army. Training began in March 1942, and that fall the QMC was given the task of training dogs for the U.S. Navy, Marines and Coast Guard as well. The K-9 Corps initially accepted over 30 breeds of dogs, but the list was soon narrowed to seven: German Shepherds, Belgian sheep dogs, Doberman Pinschers, Collies, Siberian Huskies, Malumutes and Eskimo dogs. Members of the K-9 Corps were trained for a total of 8 to 12 weeks. After basic obedience training, they were sent through one of four specialized programs to prepare them for work as sentry dogs, scout or patrol dogs, messenger dogs or mine-detection dogs. In active combat duty, scout dogs proved especially essential by alerting patrols to the approach of the enemy and preventing surprise attacks. The top canine hero of World War II was Chips, a German Shepherd who served with the Armys 3rd Infantry Division. Trained as a sentry dog, Chips broke away from his handlers and attacked an enemy machine gun nest in Italy, forcing the entire crew to surrender. The wounded Chips was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, Silver Star and the Purple Heart—all of which were later revoked due to an Army policy preventing official commendation of animals. ---------- 1954 — A force of 40,000 Viet Minh with heavy artillery surrounded 15,000 French troops at Dien Bien Phu. French General Henri Navarre had positioned these forces 200 miles behind enemy lines in a remote area adjacent to the Laotian border. He hoped to draw the communists into a set-piece battle in which he hoped superior French firepower would destroy the enemy. He underestimated the enemy. 1963 — President John F. Kennedy proposed a 10-year, multibillion-dollar aid program for Latin America. The program came to be known as the Alliance for Progress and was designed to improve U.S. relations with Latin America, which had been severely damaged in recent years. 1969 — Apollo 9 returned safely to Earth after a mission to test the lunar module. 1975 — Ban Me Thuot, capital of Darlac Province in the Central Highlands, fell to North Vietnamese troops. 1986 — Microsoft had its initial public offering. 1989 — Cult leader Adolpho de Jesus Constanzo sacrificed another human victim at his remote Mexican desert compound Rancho Santa Elena. When the victim didnt beg for mercy before dying, Constanzo sent his people out to find another subject for torture and death. When they abducted American college student Mark Kilroy outside a bar in Matamoros, Mexico, Constanzo inadvertently set in motion the downfall of his bizarre cult. 1991 — The United States Department of Justice announced that Exxon had agreed to pay $1 billion for the clean-up of the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska. 1997 — The Phoenix lights were seen over Phoenix, Arizona by hundreds of people, and by millions on television. 2003 — The journal Nature reported that 350,000-year-old footprints of an upright-walking human had been found in Italy. 2005 — Terry Ratzmann shot and killed six members of the Living Church of God and the minister before killing himself. 2008 — Gold prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange hit $1,000 per ounce for the first time.
Posted on: Sat, 15 Mar 2014 16:55:31 +0000
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