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'Bravest of the Brave'

The Black Horse Cavalry was part of Williams Carter Wickam's 4th Virginia cavalry, Fitz Lee's Division, JEB Stuart's Cavalry Corps, Army of Northern Virginia.

Mustered in Fauquier County, Virginia
Escorts to Gen. Stonewall Jackson

Description of the Black Horse Cavalry:

In their care was placed the fate of a new nation. They composed a single company of the 4th Virginia Cavalry - but they were better known as the Confederate "Black Horse Cavalry." Raised in Virginia's Fauquier County, they had answered the Southern call to arms in 1861, and had immediately distinguished themselves in combat.

At the Battle of First Manassas, their hammer-like strike against Federal troops at Cub Run had helped turn the Northern retreat into a panicky rout. Their calm courage under fire eventually earned them a unique post of honor: scouts to protective escorts for the commander of the Army of Northern Virginia, General Robert E. Lee, and his irreplaceable "right arm," General Stonewall Jackson.

In the winter of 1862-63, their wartime duty had become personal: the war had come to their homes. A mammoth Northern army had poured into their native counties in a campaign to destroy Lee's army. Now, as the scouts of Lee's army, the Black Horse Cavalry did double duty, mounting repeated reconnaissance patrols, pinpointing Federal positions - and thus defending their homeland. Deep snows and winter downpours left the roads in the Warrenton region almost impassable at times, but the Black horse Cavalry always found a way through.

When high waters flooded the region's waterways, they found a way across. When food and forage were dangerously low, they kept going. The troops of the Black Horse Cavalry, said their admirers, were "the bravest of the brave." In the winter of 1863, they kept Lee posted on the movements of the enemy, conducted countless bold raids - and captured hundreds of Northern troops.

They defended their homes, served their commander - and did their duty. On February 28, 1863, General Lee officially cited them for their efforts and sacrifices. The "bravest of the brave" - the Black Horse Cavalry - had lived up to their name.

Today's Educational Sources and suggestions for further reading:
Article By Lewis Helm, Special to the Washington Times

www.washtimes.com/civilwar/
http://blackhorsecavalry.org/
http://blackhorsetroop.org/

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This Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on March 19:
1503 Benedetto Varchi Italy, humanist/historian (Storia Fiorentina)
1589 William Bradford Governor of Plymouth colony for 30 years (baptized)
1601 Alonzo Cano Spanish painter/sculptor (Cathedral Granada)
1604 Johan IV composer/king of Portugal (1640-56)
1629 Aleksei M Romanov 1st Romanov tsar of Russia
1734 Thomas McKean US attorney (signed Declaration of Independence)
1813 David Livingstone Scotland, explorer (found by Stanley in Africa)
1817 Lewis Henry Little Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1862
1819 David Henry Williams Brigadier General (Union volunteers), died in 1891
1821 Francis Barretto Spinola Brigadier General (Union volunteers)
1821 Sir Richard Burton explorer/translator (Arabian Nights)
1827 Alexander Shaler Brevet Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1911
1837 Robert Daniel Johnston Brigadier General (Confederate Army),died in 1919
1848 Wyatt Earp Monmouth IL, marshall/con man/gambler-fought in Gunfight at the OK Corral
1860 William Jennings Bryan "The Great Commoner" orator/statesman
1883 Joseph W Stilwell US General (China)
1888 Josef Albers German/US graphic artist/painter/writer (Bauhaus)
1891 Earl Warren California, (Governor-Republican-CA)/14th supreme court chief justice (1953-69)
1894 Jackie "Moms" Mabley Brevard SC, comedienne
1900 [Jean] Frédéric Joliot-Curie French physicist (Nobel 1935)
1904 John J Sirica US federal judge (Watergate hearings)
1905 Albert Speer German architect/minister of Armament (NSDAP)
1906 Adolf Eichmann Ruhr Germany, Nazi Gestapo officer
1912 Adolf Galland fighter Pilot
1916 Irving Wallace author (People's Almanac, The Man)
1923 Tige Andrews Brooklyn NY, actor (Captain Adam Greer-Mod Squad)
1925 Brent Scowcroft Ogden UT, Lieutenant General (USAF)/National Security Council
1928 Patrick McGoohan Astoria NY, actor (#6-Prisoner, Secret Agent)
1930 Ornette Coleman jazz composer (Downbeat Musician of Year 1966)
1933 Philip Roth Newark NJ, novelist (Goodbye Columbus, Portnoy's Complaint)
1936 Ursula Andress Berne Switzerland, actress (Dr No, She, Sensuous Nurse)
1937 Clarence "Frogman" Henry musician (You Always Hurt the One You Love)
1939 Joe Kapp NFL QB (Minnesota Vikings, Boston Patriots, Houston Oilers)
1944 Lynda Bird Johnson Robb LBJ's daughter
1946 Ruth Pointer singer (Pointer Sisters-I'm So Exicted)
1947 Glenn Close Greenwich CT, actress (The Big Chill, Fatal Attraction)
1955 [Walter] Bruce Willis PennsGrove NJ, actor (Moonlighting, Die Hard)

Deaths which occurred on March 19:
1263 Hugo of St-Cher/a S Caro French cardinal, dies
1644 Si Sang last Ming-emperor of China, commits suicide
1687 Rene-Robert Cavelier La Salle French explorer (Louisiana), murdered in what is now Texas at 43
1721 Clement XI [Giovanni F Albani], Italian Pope (1700-21), dies at 71
1884 Alfonse Charles Renaud de Vilback composer, dies at 54
1897 Antoine T d'Abbadie French explorer (Ethiopia), dies at 87
1907 Thomas Bailey Aldrich US writer (Stillwater Tragedy), dies at 70
1930 Arthur J Balfour British theologist/premier (1902-05), dies at 81
1945 Fritz Fromm German supreme commander of Reserve army, executed
1946 Amir Hamzah Indonesian poet (Buah Rindu), dies at 35
1950 Edgar Rice Burroughs sci-fi author (Tarzan of the Apes), dies at 74
1974 Edward Platt actor (Chief-Get Smart), dies at 58
1979 Al Hodge actor (Captain Video), dies at 65

Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1967 AUSTIN JOSEPH C.---MOUNDSVILLE WV.
1968 BLAIR CHARLES E.---CHATHAM VA.
[REMAINS RETURNED 04/06/88]
1968 ROMERO VICTOR---SAN FRANCISCO CA.
1970 AYERS DARRELL EUGENE---ALDERWOOD MANOR WA.
1970 PUGH DENNIS G.---SALINA KS.
1971 CRISTMAN FREDERICK L.---SALISBURY NC.
1971 GARCIA RICARDO M.---DRISCOLL TX.
1971 SPARKS JON M.---CAREY ID.

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

On this day...
0721 -BC- 1st recorded lunar eclipse; Location, Babylon
1227 Count Ugolino of Segna elected Pope Gregory IX
1452 Frederick III of Hapsburg crowned Roman German Emperor
1524 Giovanni de Varrazano of France sights land around area of Carolinas
1563 Peace of Amboise; Rights for Huguenots
1571 Spanish troops occupy Manila
1628 Massachusetts colony founded by Englishmen
1644 200 members of Peking imperial family/court commit suicide
1702 James II's daughter Anne Stuart becomes queen of England
1748 English Naturalization Act passes granting Jews right to colonize US
1775 4 people buried by avalanche for 37 days, 3 survive (Italy)
1822 Boston MA incorporated as a city
1831 1st US bank robbery (City Bank, New York/$245,000)
1865 Battle of Bentonville-Confederates retreat from Greenville NC
1883 Jan Matzeliger invents 1st machine to manufacture entire shoes
1885 Louis Riel returns to Canada, proclaims provisional government, Saskatchewan
1915 Pluto photographed for 1st time (although unknown at the time)
1917 US Supreme Court upheld 8-hour work day for railroad employees (Adamson Act)
1918 Congress authorizes time zones & approves daylight saving time
1918 S Potter becomes 1st US pilot to shoot down a German seaplane
1920 US Senate rejects Treaty of Versailles for 2nd time refusing to ratify League of Nations' covenant (maintaining isolation policy)
1925 Angelo G Roncalli (Pope John XXIII) becomes a bishop
1927 Bloody battles between communists & Nazis in Berlin
1928 "Amos & Andy" debuts on radio (NBC Blue Network-WMAQ Chicago)
1931 Nevada legalizes gambling
1937 Pope Pius XI publishes encyclical Divini redemptoris against communism
1940 French government of Daladier, falls
1942 FDR orders men between 45 & 64 to register for non military duty
1942 Thoroughbred Racing Association of US formed in Chicago
1945 800 killed as Kamikaze attacked USS Franklin off Japan
1945 Adolf Hitler issues Nero Decree: destruction of German facilities
1946 French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique & Réunion become overseas departments
1946 Nicolai Schwernik succeeds Kalinin as President of USSR
1947 Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek conquers Jenan
1948 Lee Savold KOs Gino Buonvino in 54 seconds at Madison Square Garden, New York NY
1949 1st museum devoted exclusively to atomic energy, Oak Ridge TN
1950 5th US Women's Open Golf Championship won by Babe Didrikson-Zaharias
1951 Herman Wouk's "Caine Mutiny" is published
1954 1st color telecast of a prize fight, Giardello vs Troy in Madison Square Garden, New York NY
1954 1st rocket-driven sled on rails was tested in Alamogordo NM
1956 Biggest NBA margin of victory: Minnesota Lakers-133, St Louis Hawks-75
1965 Chivu Stoica becomes President of the Council of Romanian People's Republic & Nicolae Ceausescu appointed 1st Secretary of Romanian communist party
1965 Indonesia nationalizes all foreign oil companies
1968 Howard University students seize administration building
1969 Chicago 8 indicted in aftermath of Chicago Democratic convention
1972 India & Bangladesh sign friendship treaty
1973 Dean tells Nixon, "There is a cancer growing on the Presidency"
1974 Jefferson Starship begins their 1st tour
1975 Pennsylvania is 1st state to allow girls to compete with boys in High School sports
1977 France performs nuclear test at Muruora Island
1978 50,000 demonstrate in Amsterdam against neutron bomb
1979 House of Representatives begins live TV broadcasts via C-SPAN
1984 John J O'Connor named 8th archbishop of New York
1984 Pitcher Denny McLain, indicted on various charges of racketeering
1985 Senate votes 55-45, to authorize production of the MX missile
1987 Bonnie Blair skates ladies world record 500 meter (39.43 seconds)
1987 Hassanali inaugurated as President of Trinidad & Tobago
1987 PTL leader Jim Bakker resigns after sex scandal with Jessica Hahn
1988 2 British soldiers lynched in Belfast North Ireland
1989 Boeing V-22 Osprey VTOL aircraft makes maiden flight
1990 1st world ice hockey tournament for women held (Ottawa)
1991 NFL owners strip Phoenix of 1993 Super Bowl game due to Arizona not recognizing Martin Luther King Day
1994 Largest omelet (1,383² ft) made with 160,000 eggs in Yokohama Japan
1995 5 die by poison gas in Japanese subway
1995 Michael Jordan rejoins Chicago Bulls after 17 months, beats Pacers
1996 Winnie Mandela divorces Nelson after 38 years of marrage
1997 A federal judge in Phoenix, Az., began sentencing 10 members of a paramilitary group to prison after they pleaded guilty to various counts, including conspiracy to make and possess destructive devices.
2001 California officials declared a power alert, ordering the first of two days of rolling blackouts.

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

Australia : Canberra Day
Italy, Spain, Canary Island : St Joseph Day
California : The day the swallows return to San Juan Capistrano Mission
US : Daffodil Days (Day 6)
US : Straw Hat Week (Day 6)
National Frozen Food Month

Religious Observances
Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican : Solemnity of St Joseph, stepfather of Jesus
Ancient Rome : Quinquatrus (Feast of Minerva)

Religious History
1563 The Edict of Amboise granted a limited amount of freedom to French Protestants, thereby ending the First Huguenot War.
1641 A General Court ended which declared the Colony of Rhode Island a democracy. The Court also adopted a constitution granting religious freedom to all its citizens.
1937 Pius XI declared in the encyclical "Divini redemptoris": 'There would be neither Socialism nor Communism today if the rulers of the nations had not scorned the teachings and material warnings of the Church.'
1944 German Lutheran pastor and Nazi martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote in a letter: 'We can have abundant life, even though many wishes remain unfulfilled.'
1987 Jim Bakker, 48, stepped down as head of the PTL ministry amid disclosures of a 1980 sexual liaison with church secretary Jessica Hahn.

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

Thought for the day :
"History: gossip well told."

Hallmark cards that never made it...
I must admit, You brought religion into my life
(inside card)
I never believed in Hell...
Until I met you.

New State Slogans...
Missouri: Your Federal Flood Relief Tax Dollars At Work

Male Language Patterns...
"It's a guy thing," REALLY MEANS, "There is no rational thought pattern connected with it, and you have no chance at all of making it logical."

Female Language Patterns...
CAN'T WE JUST BE FRIENDS?
There is no way I'm going to let any part of your body
touch any part of mine, ever again.