The FReeper Foxhole Profiles The Little Steamboat That Opened The "Cracker Line" - Nov. 24th, 2003

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Lord,

Keep our Troops forever in Your care

Give them victory over the enemy...

Grant them a safe and swift return...

Bless those who mourn the lost.
.

FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer
for all those serving their country at this time.


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The Little Steamboat That Opened The "Cracker Line"


USS Chattanooga

By William G. Le Duc, Brevet Brigadier-General and Assistant Quartermaster, U.S.V.

In answer to the urgent demand of General William Rosecrans for reinforcements, the Eleventh Corps (Howard's) and the Twelfth Corps (Slocum's) were sent from the east to his assistance under command of General Hooker. Marching orders were received on the 22d of September, and the movement was commenced from the east side of the Rappahannock on the 24th; at Alexandria the troops and artillery and officers' horses were put on cars, and on the 27th started for Nashville. On the 24 of October the advance reached Bridgeport, and on the 3d Hooker established headquarters at Stevenson, and Howard the headquarters of the Eleventh Corps at Bridgeport, then the limit of railroad travel, eight miles east of Stevenson.



General Hooker

The short reach of 26 miles of railroad, or 28 miles of road that ran nearly alongside the railroad, was now all that was necessary for the security of the important position at Chattanooga. But Rosecrans must first secure possession of the route, and then rebuild the long truss-bridge across the Tennessee River, and the trestle, one-quarter of a mile long and 113 feet high, at Whiteside, or Running Water, which would take longer than his stock of provisions and forage would last.



General William Rosecrans

To supply an army of 40,000 or 50,000 men, having several thousand animals, in Chattanooga, by wagons, over country roads 28 miles long, in winter, would be a most difficult, but not an impossible task. Rosecrans determined to build some small, flat bottomed steamers, that could navigate the river from Bridgeport, and transport supplies to Kelley's Ferry or William's Island (either within easy reach from Chattanooga), which would enable him to supply his army with comfort until the railroad could be repaired.



The enemy held Lookout Mountain, commanding both river and railroad above William's Island. This position was then deemed impregnable. The Confederates also had an outpost on Raccoon Mountain, commanding the river completely and also overlooking a road that skirted the river-bank on the north side for a short distance, thus making the long detour over Waldron's Ridge necessary to communication between Stevenson, Bridgeport, and Chattanooga.


CREDIT: Barnard, George N., photographer. "View from the Top of Lookout Mountain, Tennessee. February, 1864." February 1864. Taking the Long View: Panoramic Photographs, 1851-1991, Library of Congress.

The river, where it passes through the Raccoon Range, is very rapid and narrow; the place is known as the Suck, and in navigating up stream the aid of windlass and shore lines is necessary. Kelley's Landing, below the Suck, is the debouchment of a low pass through Raccoon Mountain, from Lookout Valley, and is within eight or ten miles of Chattanooga.

At Bridgeport I found Captain Edwards, Assistant Quartermaster, from Detroit, preparing to build a steamboat to navigate the river, by mounting an engine, boiler, and stern-wheel on a flat bottomed scow, to be used in carrying and towing up supplies until the completion of the railroad.




I quote from my Diary:

Oct. 5, 1863.-General Hooker was over yesterday . . . and examined the little scow. He appreciated the probable importance of the boat, and ordered me to take it in hand personally and see that work was crowded on it as fast as possible. . . . We also looked over the grade of the Jasper Branch Railroad, which is above high-water mark, and must be used if supplies are sent on the north side of the river. He directed me to send him a report in writing, and a copy for General Rosecrans, of my observations and suggestions, and to go ahead and do what I could without waiting for written orders.

I turned my attention to the boat. Captain Edwards has employed a shipbuilder from Lake Erie-Turner, an excellent mechanic, who has built lake vessels and steamers, but who is not so familiar with the construction of flat bottomed, light-draught river steamers. He has a number of ship and other carpenters engaged, with some detailed men from our own troops, making an efficient force. Men who can be serviceable as rough carpenters are abundant; not so with calkers, who will soon be needed, I hope. The frame of the boat is set on blocks, and is only five or six feet above the present water of the river. This mountain stream must be subject to sudden floods, which may make trouble with the boat.


Oct.16.- . . . I found Turner, the master mechanic, in trouble with the hull of the little boat. The planking was nearly all on, and he was getting ready to calk and pitch her bottom when I went to Stevenson. The water had risen so rapidly that it was within sixteen or eighteen inches of her bottom planks when I returned, and Turner was loading her decks with pig-iron that the rebels had left near the bridge-head. He thought he would thus keep the hull down on the blocking, and after the waters went down would then go on and finish.

"But," I said, "Turner, if the planking gets wet, you cannot calk and pitch until it dries." "That's true; and it would take two weeks, and may be four, to dry her after she was submerged, and who knows how high it may rise and when it will abate!" "Then, Turner, what's the use of weighing it down with pig-iron. Rosecrans's army depends on this little boat: he must have supplies before two weeks, or quit Chattanooga.

Can't you cross-timber your blocks, and raise the hull faster than the water rises?" "No; I've thought of that, and believe it would be useless to try it. Captain Edwards and I concluded the only thing we could do was to weigh it down with pig-iron, and try to hold it, but if the water rises very high it will be swept away, pig-iron and all..... . I went rapidly over to Edwards's tent . . . and found him in his bunk, overcome by constant work, anxiety, and despair. . . In answer to my question if nothing better could be done than weigh the hull down with pig-iron he said, "No; I've done all I can. I don't know what the water wants to rise for here.


Twelfth Corps

It never rose this way where I was brought up, and they're expecting this boat to be done inside of two weeks, or they will have to fall back!" I turned from his tent, and stood perplexed, staring vacantly toward the pontoon-bridge. I saw a number of extra pontoons tied to the shore - flat bottomed boats, 10 to 12 feet wide and 30 feet long, the sides 18 inches high. I counted them, and then started double-quick for the boatyard, halloing to Turner, "Throw off that iron, quick! Detail me three carpenters: one to bore with a two-and-half or three-inch anger, and two to make plugs to fill the holes. Send some laborers into all the camps to bring every bucket, and find some careful men who are not afraid to go under the boat and knock out blocks as fast as I bring them down a pontoon."

Turner, who had been standing silent and amazed at my excitement and rapid orders, exclaimed, with a sudden burst of conviction, "That's it! That's it! That'll do! Hurrah! We'll save her yet. Come here with me under the boat, and help knock out a row of blocks." And he jumped into the water up to his arm-pits, leaving me to execute my own orders.


Le Duc, Brevet Brigadier-General

The pontoons were dropped down the river, the holes were bored in the end allowing them partly to fill, and they were then pulled under the boat as fast as the blocks were out. The holes were then plugged. and the water was dipped until they began to lift up on the bottom of the hull, and when all were under that were necessary, then rapid work was resumed with the buckets, till by 2 o'clock in the morning she was safely riding on the top of the rising waters. They are now calking and pitching her as rapidly as possible, and fixing beams for wheel and engines; as many men are at work as can get around on her to do anything.

Afternoon 16th.- General Howard rode out with me to examine the bridge work on Jasper road, let out to some citizens living inside our lines. They are dull to comprehend, slow to execute, and need constant direction and supervision. Showed General Howard the unfinished railroad grade to Jasper, and my estimate of the time in which it can be made passable for (rail) cars if we can get the iron (rails), and if not, of the time in which we can use it for wagons.




On October 19th, under General Rosecrans's orders to General Hooker, I was charged with the work on this road.

20th.- Commenced work on the Jasper branch.

22d.- General Grant and Quartermaster General Meigs arrived on their way to the front with Hooker and staff. I accompanied them as far as Jasper. During the ride I gave Grant what information I had of the country, the streams, roads, the work being done and required to be done on the Jasper branch, also on the steamboat. He saw the impossibility of supplying by the dirt road, and approved the building of the Jasper branch, and extending it if practicable to Kelley's; also appreciated the importance of the little steamboat, which will be ready for launching tomorrow or Saturday. General Meigs . . . approved of the Jasper branch scheme and gave me a message ordering the iron forwarded at once.

23d.- Steamboat ready to launch tomorrow. Railroad work progressing.

24th.- Steamer launched safely.

26th.-Work on boat progressing favorably; as many men are at work on her as can be employed.

Extract from a letter dated Nov. 1st, 1863:

I had urged forward the construction of the little steamer day and night, and started her with only a skeleton of a pilot house, without waiting for a boiler-deck, which was put on afterward as she was being loaded. Her cabin is now being covered with canvas. On the 29th she made her first trip, with two barges, 34,000 rations, to Rankin's Ferry, and returned. I loaded two more barges during the night, and started at 4 o'clock A. M. on the 30th for Kelley's Ferry, forty-five miles distant by river. The day was very stormy, with unfavorable head-winds. We made slow progress against the wind and the rapid current of this tortuous mountain stream.


Eleventh Corps

A hog-chain broke, and we floated down the stream while repairing it with help of block and tackle. I ordered the engineer to give only steam enough to overcome the current and keep crawling up, fearful of breaking some steam-pipe connection, or of starting a leak in the limber half-braced boat. Had another break, and again floated helplessly down while repairing; straightened up once more, and moved on again-barely moved up in some places where the current was unusually strong; and so we kept on, trembling and hoping, under the responsibility of landing safely this important cargo of rations. Night fell upon us--the darkest night possible--with a driving rain, in which, like a blind person, the little boat was feeling her way up an unknown river.

Captain Edwards brought, as captain, a man named Davis, from Detroit, who used to be a mate on a Lake Erie vessel; but, as he was ignorant of river boats or navigation, could not steer, and knew nothing of wheel-house bells or signals, I could not trust him on this important first trip.

The only soldier I could find who claimed any knowledge of the business of a river pilot was a man named Williams, who had steered on a steam-ferry running between Cincinnati and Covington. Him I put into the wheel-house, and as I had once owned a fourth interest in a steamboat, and fooled away considerable money and time with her, I had learned enough of the wheel to know which way to turn it, and of the bell-pulls to signal Stop, Back, and Go ahead. I went with Williams into the wheel-house, and put Davis on the bows, to keep a lookout. As the night grew dark, and finally black, Davis declared he could see nothing, and came back wringing his hands and saying we would "surely be wrecked if we did not land and tie up."

"There's a light ahead now, Davis, on the north shore."

"Yes, and another on the south, I think."

"One or both must be rebels' campfires."

We tried to keep the middle of the river, which is less than musket shot across in any part. After a long struggle against wind and tide we got abreast of the first campfire, and saw the sentry pacing back and forward before it, and hailed:

"Halloo! there. What troops are those!",

Back came the answer in unmistakable Southern patois: "Ninth Tennessee. Run your old tea kittle ashore here, and give us some hot whisky."

The answer was not comforting. I knew of no Tennessee regiment in the Union service except one, or part of one, commanded by Colonel Stokes, and where that was I did not know. So we put the boat over to the other shore as fast as possible, and to gain time I called out:

"Who's in command?"

"Old Stokes, you bet."

"Never mind, Williams, keep her in the middle. We're all right.- How far to Kelley's Ferry?"

"Rite over thar whar you see that fire. They 're sittin' up for ye, I reckon."

"Steady, Williams. Keep around the bend and steer for the light."



And in due time we tied the steamboat and barges safely to shore, with 40,000 rations and 39,000 pounds of forage, within five miles of General Hooker's men, who had half a breakfast ration left in haversacks; and within eight or ten miles of Chattanooga, where four cakes of hard bread and a quarter pound of pork made a three days' ration. In Chattanooga there were but four boxes of hard bread left in the commissary warehouses on the morning of the 30th [October].

About midnight I started an orderly to report to General Hooker the safe arrival of the rations. The orderly returned about sunrise, and reported that the news went through the camps faster than his horse, and the soldiers were jubilant, and cheering "The Cracker line open. Full rations, boys! Three cheers for the Cracker line," as if we had won another victory; and we had.

Extracted from: Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, Vol. III 1884-1888

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FReeper Foxhole Armed Services Links

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Cutting the Distance in Half



Ample supplies in Bridgeport Alabama were waiting to move to the Union troops trapped in Chattanooga after the battle of Chickamauga, but the torturous 60-mile journey made it impossible to bring anything but the most essential items, and at that time the most essential item was food.


Hard Tack (cracker)

When General William Rosecrans was relieved of command of the city [October 16, 1863] he had begun to plan a retreat. George Thomas, the "Rock of Chickamauga," was appointed to fill Rosecrans' position. Grant ordered him to hold the city "at all hazards." Thomas replied tersely, "We shall hold it until we starve."

On October 22 General Ulysses S. Grant began a 2-day journey over the supply route between Bridgeport and Chattanooga. His description, written more than 20 years after his journey, is riveting:


Ulysses S. Grant

"There had been much rain and the roads were almost impassable from mud knee-deep in places, and from washouts on the mountain-sides. I had been on crutches since the time of my fall in New Orleans and had to be carried over places where it was not safe to cross on horseback. The roads were strewn with the debris of broken wagons and the carcasses of thousands of starved mules and horses."

He approved "Baldy" Smith's plan to resupply besieged Chattanooga. Grant arrived in Chattanooga late on October 23, 1863 and after hearing a report from General "Baldy" Smith, Chief Engineer, Grant rode out with him to inspect a proposed route for a new supply line, cutting the distance of the old route in half.


William Farrar "Baldy" Smith

Smith's idea involved a bold amphibious assault on Brown's Ferry combined with the advance of some 15,000 troops in Bridgeport under the command of Henry Slocum and Oliver O. Howard.


Henry Slocum

On October 27, 1863 a beachhead was established on the south side of the Tennessee west of Chattanooga. Smith's engineers then spanned the river. They begin building the bridge about 6:00am; it was in use at noon, although the engineers continued working on the structure until sunset. At about 4:00pm on October 28th, General Howard reached the beachhead at Brown's Ferry. The Cracker Line was open.


General Oliver Howard

The plan was a brilliant success, with both Grant and George Thomas, now commanding the Army of the Cumberland, giving Smith full credit for the idea. On October 29, 1863 the first supplies along the Cracker Line reached Chattanooga. At first, the line transported mostly vegetables and small rations, but the shorter days and cold nights required other supplies such as blankets and firewood. Medicine was also coming into Chattanooga in large quantities.

The outlook from inside the besieged city of Chattanooga changed for the enlisted men. The somber attitude that had prevailed for the previous five weeks was gone overnight, although the men would not receive full rations for a week.

Two riverboats, the Paint Rock and the Chattanooga, kept the Cracker Line going along a water route between Bridgeport and Kelly's Ferry, about twenty miles east of Bridgeport on the Tennessee River. Negotiating the river past Kelly's Ferry to Brown's Ferry was difficult, although it was used sometimes. The current was strong because the river narrowed in the gorge formed by Raccoon Mountain and Walden's Ridge, and recent heavy rains had increased the volume of water.



From Kelly's Ferry supplies made it to Chattanooga by a land route that ran from Kelly's Ferry, over a low pass (Cummings Gap) in Raccoon Mountain, through the north end of Lookout Valley and across the bridge at Brown's Ferry. Other routes supplimented this combined land-water route.

Only once ample supplies were coming to Chattanooga did Grant authorize the transport of additional munitions. He had been deeply concerned since his arrival about the situation, estimating at one point that the city only contained enough ammunition for a day's battle. By the middle of November, 1864, the men had enough ammunition to begin an offensive.

Troop movements to take the mountains surrounding Chattanooga from the Rebels began on November 21, 1863. The following day, as Union soldiers from the city moved into Lookout Valley in preparation for the "Battle Above the Clouds," "Baldy" Smith's bridge collapsed having been in constant use for almost a month. The "Cracker Line" was history.

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Today's Educational Sources and suggestions for further reading:

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Veterans for Constitution Restoration is a non-profit, non-partisan educational and grassroots activist organization. The primary area of concern to all VetsCoR members is that our national and local educational systems fall short in teaching students and all American citizens the history and underlying principles on which our Constitutional republic-based system of self-government was founded. VetsCoR members are also very concerned that the Federal government long ago over-stepped its limited authority as clearly specified in the United States Constitution, as well as the Founding Fathers' supporting letters, essays, and other public documents.

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Tribute to a Generation - The memorial will be dedicated on Saturday, May 29, 2004.

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Actively seeking volunteers to provide this valuable service to Veterans and their families.

[E.G.C.]

Good morning, snippy and everyone at the Freeper Foxhole. It forze in our region this morning. Down to the lower 20's.

[snippy_about_it]

Good morning EGC.

We're in the fifties this morning but it's raining and going to get windy and drop to the low thirties by this afternoon. Brrr.

[The Mayor]

Better to be of a humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud. —Proverbs 16:19

Those who follow the crowd soon become part of the crowd.

[SCDogPapa]

Mornin' Snippy,,Mornin' Sam!

I just snipped a couple of lines out of this story.

Begun as a lark, the all-girl "Rhea County Spartans" soon attracted the attention of unamused Union Officers. The true account of the only all-girl unit of the Civil War.

Finally, their transportation arrived--a crude little steamboat called USS Chattanooga. Their ordeal, however, was far from over.

The aging male veterans, North and South, often met to relive their youth, but the Rhea County Spartans never held a Reunion. That is regrettable, for the Ladies had a fascinating story to tell. In a sense, they, too, had "Seen the Elephant" and done their patriotic duty as they saw fit.

The Rhea County Girl's Company

[manna]

Present!

[Soaring Feather]

Good morning everyone!

[Valin]

On This Day In history


Birthdates which occurred on November 24:
1632 Benedict de "Baruch" Spinoza Amsterdam, rationalist philosopher
1713 Father Junipero Serra had a mission in California
1713 Laurence Sterne Ireland, novelist/satirist (Tristram Shandy)
1784 Zachary Taylor (Whig) 12th President (Mar 5,1849-July 9,1850)
1849 Frances Hodgson Burnett author of children's book (My Secret Garden)
1864 Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec France, painter (At the Moulin Rouge)
1868 Scott Joplin US, entertainer/composer (The Entertainer)
1876 Walter Griffin US architect, city planner; designed Canberra, Austria
1877 Alben W Barkley Graves County KY, (35th Vice President-D-1949-53)
1888 Cathleen Nesbitt Belfast Ireland, actress (Agatha-Farmer's Daughter)
1888 Dale Carnegie author (How to Win Friends & Influence People)
1889 Albert J Sylvester England, ballroom dancer (Alex Moor Award-1977)
1905 Irene Wicker singer/actress (Singing Lady)
1908 Libertad Lamaraque Agentina, actress (Madreselva, Puerta Cerrada)
1908 Ray Carter Chicago IL, orchestra leader (Arthur Murray Dance Party)
1911 Kirby Grant Butte MT, actor (Sky King)
1912 Garson Kanin American playwright/producer (Double Life)
1912 Geraldine Fitzgerald Dublin Ire, actress (Pawnbroker, Easy Money)
1917 Howard Duff Bremerton Wash, actor (Flamingo Road, Knots Landing)
1918 Tom "Stubby" Fouts Carroll County IN, actor (Polka-go-round)
1921 John V Lindsay (Mayor-R/D-NY, 1965-73)
1925 William F Buckley Jr Writer, Publisher/Editor (National Review) (Firing Line)
1927 Alfredo Kraus Las Palmas Canary Islands, tenor (La Scala)
1929 Eileen Barton Brooklyn, singer (Broadway Open House)
1930 Dante Lavelli AAFC/NFL end (Cleveland Browns)
1932 Katalin Juhasz-Nagy Hungary, foils (Olympic-gold-1964)
1934 Alfred Schnittke Russia, composer (St Florian)
1934 Martin Charnin Broadway lyricist (Annie, West Side Story)
1935 Ron (Red) Dellums Oakland CA, (Rep-D-CA)
1939 Yoshinobu Miyake Japan, featherweight (Olympic-gold-1964, 68)
1942 Billy Connolly Scotland, comedian/actor (Blue Money)
1942 Marlin Fitzwater press secretary (George Bush)
1944 Claudia Dreifus
1946 Ted Bundy Burlington VT, serial murderer
1947 Dwight Schultz Baltimore MD, actor (A-Team)
1948 Steve Yeager catcher (Los Angeles Dodger)
1950 Damon Evans Baltimore MD, actor (Lionel-The Jeffersons)
1950 Roscoe Born Topeka KS, actor (Mark-Paper Dolls)
1951 Gaby Landhage Goteborg Sweden, model (Model of the Rear)
1956 Doug Davidson actor (Young & Restless)
1957 Denise Crosby Hollywood CA, actress (Tasha-Star Trek: Next Gen)
1958 Carmel (McCourt) England, rocker (Storm, More More More)
1962 Lesa Ann Pedriana Milwaukee WI, playmate (April, 1984)
1963 Lisa Howard actress (Days of Our Life, Rolling Vengeance)

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Deaths which occurred on November 24:
1572 John Knox Scottish preacher, dies
1959 Dr Lyman Bryson educator (UN Casebook), dies at 71
1962 James J Kilroy tank inspector (Kilroy was here), dies at 60
1963 Lee Harvey Oswald JFK's assassinator shot dead by Jack Ruby
1974 Charles Quinlivan actor (Frank-Mr Garland), dies at 50
1980 George Raft NYC, actor, dies at 85
1991 Eric Carr musician (Kiss-Beth), dies at 41

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Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1963 CAMACHO ISSAC (IKE)---EL PASO TX.
[07/13/65 ESCAPED, ALIVE IN 98]
1963 CODY HOWARD RUDOLPH---GULFPORT MS.
1963 MC CLURE CLAUDE DONALD---CHATTANOOGA TN.
[11/28/65 RELEASED IN CAMBODIA]
1963 RORABACK KENNETH M.---BALDWIN NY.
[09/29/65 EXECUTED ON DIC LIST]
1963 SMITH GEORGE E.---CHESTER WV.
[11/28/65 RELEASED IN CAMBODIA]
1967 FOLEY BRENDAN P.---NEW YORK---NY
[NO RADIO CONTACT SAR NEG]
1967 MAYERCIK RONALD M.---EDISON NJ.
[NO RADIO CONTACT SAR NEG]
1969 BALAMONTI MICHAEL D.---GLEN FALLS NY.
[REMAINS RETURNED 11/93 IDENTIFIED 10/95]
1969 BROWN EARL C.---STANLEY NC.
[REMAINS RETURNED 11/93 - IDENTIFIED 10/95]
1969 COMER HOWARD B. JR.---JACKSONVILLE FL.
1969 DE WISPELAERE REXFORD J.---PENFIELD NY.
[REMAINS RETURNED 11/93 IDENTIFIED 10/95]
1969 FELLENZ CHARLES R.---MARSHFIELD WI.
[REMAINS RETURNED 11/93 IDENTIFIED 10/95]
1969 GANLEY RICHARD O.---KEENE NH.
[REMAINS RETURNED 11/93 IDENTIFIED 10/95]
1969 GREWELL LARRY I.---TACOMA WA.
[REMAINS RETURNED 11/93 IDENTIFIED 10/95]
1969 MATTHES PETER R.---TOLDEO OH.
[REMAINS RETURNED 11/93 IDENTIFIED 10/95]
1969 WHITE JAMES B.---ST PETERSBURG FL.
1969 WRIGHT DONALD L.---MT SAVAGE MD.
[REMAINS RETURNED 11/93 IDENTIFIED 10/95]
1970 MC INTOSH IAN---CANADA

POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

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On this day...
166 -BC- Origin of Era of Maccabees
496 Anastasius II begins his reign as Catholic Pope
642 Theodore I begins his reign as Catholic Pope
1639 1st observation of transit of Venus occurred (only 2, record event)
1642 Abel Janzoon Tasman discovers Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania)
1703 1st Lutheran pastor ordained in America, Justus Falckner at Philadelphia
1759 Destructive eruption of Vesuvius
1832 South Carolina passes Ordinance of Nullification
1859 Charles Darwin publishes "On the Origin of Species"
1863 Civil War battle for Lookout Mountain began in Tennessee
1871 National Rifle Association organized (NYC)
1874 Joseph F Glidden patents barbed wire
1880 Southern University established
1896 1st US absentee voting law enacted by Vermont
1903 Clyde Coleman of NYC patents automobile electric starter
1926 KVI-AM in Seattle WA begins radio transmissions
1930 1st woman pilot on a transcontinental air flight Miss Ruth Nichols (Mineola, NY to CA), in a Lockheed-Vega, took 7 days
1938 National Semi-Pro Basketball Congress authorizes yellow basketball
1944 US bombers based on Saipan, 1st attack Tokyo
1947 John Steinbeck's novel "The Pearl" published
1947 Un-American Activities Committee finds "Hollywood 10" in contempt because of their refusal to reveal whether they were communists
1949 Britain nationalizes its steel & iron industry
1952 Agatha Christie's "The Mousetrap" opens in London
1954 1st US Presidential airplane christened
1958 Mali becomes an autonomous state within French Community
1960 Wilt Chamberlain pulls down 55 rebounds in a game (NBA record)
1963 1st live murder on TV-Jack Ruby shoots Lee Harvey Oswald
1964 Rebellion ends in Zaire
1966 1st TV station in Congo, Kinshasa (Za‹re)
1966 400 die of respiratory failure & heart attack in killer NYC smog
1969 Apollo 12 returns to Earth
1970 Stanford's QB Jim Plunkett wins Heisman Trophy
1971 Dan "DB" Cooper parachutes from a Northwest AL 727 with $200,000
1971 Prison rebellion at Rahway State Prison NJ
1976 NBA Atlanta Hawks end a 28 game road losing streak
1977 Miami Bob Greise passes for 6 touchdowns vs St Louis (55-14)
1979 Kings' Charley Simmer fails on 8th penalty shot against Islanders
1980 Ronald Reagan Jr marries Doria Palmieri
1983 PLO exchanges 6 Israeli prisoners for 4,500 Palestinians & Lebanese
1989 Communist Party resigns in Czechoslovakia
1991 1st international flight from Long Island's MacArthur Airport (to Mexico)
1991 After going 12-0 Washington loses to Dallas 24-21
1991 US 75th manned space mission "STS 44" Atlantis 10 launched
1992 Chinese air crash kills 141
1993 Brady bill passes establishing 5-day waiting period for handgun sales
1993 End of world, according to Ukrainian sect White Brotherhood
1995 Ireland votes to end 70-year-old ban on divorce (50.28% to 49.72%)

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Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Zaire : New Regime Anniversary
Mass : John F Kennedy Day (1963) (Sunday)
Bern Switzerland : Onion Market Day-autumn festival (Monday)
US : Thanksgiving (Thursday)
US : Game and Puzzle Week (Day 2)
National Neurofibromatosis Month

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Religious Observances
Old RC : Commemoration of St John of the Cross, confessor/doctor

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Religious History
1703 In Philadelphia, German_born pastor and hymnwriter Justus Falckner, 31, became the first Lutheran clergyman to be ordained in America.
1713 Birth of Father Junipero Serra, Spanish missionary to western America. From 1769, he established 9 of the first 21 Franciscan missions founded along the Pacific coast, and baptized some 6,000 Indians before his death in 1784.
1838 Canadian Sulpician missionary Franois Blanchet, 43, first arrived in the Oregon Territory. A native of Quebec, he spent 45 years planting churches in the American Northwest, and is remembered today as the "Apostle of Oregon."
1880 In Montgomery, AL, more than 150 delegates from Baptist churches in 11 states met to form the Baptist Foreign Missions Convention of the United States. Liberian missionary William W. Colley was chief organizer, and the Rev. William H. McAlpine was elected the first president.
1941 American Trappist monk Thomas Merton wrote in his "Secular Journal": 'Spiritual dryness is an acute experience of longing therefore of love.'

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

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Thought for the day :
"Toil is most pleasant when done."

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Question of the day...
what happens when you get scared half to death twice?

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Murphys Law of the day...(Oppenheimer's Observation)
The optimist thinks this is the best of all possible worlds, and the pessimist knows it.

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Astounding fact #984,876....
New Jersey has a spoon museum featuring over 5,400 spoons from every state and almost every country.

[snippy_about_it]

Good morning Mayor.

[snippy_about_it]

Wow. I had no idea. Thanks for the link and Good mornin'.

[snippy_about_it]

Good morning manna.

[snippy_about_it]

Good morning feather.

[snippy_about_it]

Good morning Valin. I know it's Monday but try. :)

[HiJinx]

I caught a bit of Fox and Friends this morning...does anyone remember the joint Navy/USMC video that came out last year, the one that looked kinda like a recruiting film?

Well, they've done it again! They showed trailers from it this morning, and it looks awesome! The full 6:37 film will be shown tomorrow morning during the 6 O'Clock segment.

You can also view it by clicking here. The link is top and center on their home page at www.usmc.mil.

[snippy_about_it]

Woo-hoo. I remember. I have to wait til I get home to watch. Thanks for the link jinxy. Good morning.

[SAMWolf]

Morning Snippy.

Thanks for this thread, I've read about the battles around Chattanooga and knew about the supply problems but this is the first time I've read about the details of how they were solved.

I wonder why they named a part of the river after Clinton before he was even born. ;-)

[SAMWolf]

Morning E.G.C. Predicting rain all the way through Thursday.

[SAMWolf]

Good Morning Mayor.