The FReeper Foxhole Remembers The Battle of Lundy's Lane (7/25/1814) - Sep. 7th, 2003

http://www.galafilm.com/1812/e/events/lundy2.html ^

[SAMWolf]

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.

God Bless America
...................................................................................... ...........................................

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The Battle of Lundy's Lane

In the early evening of July 25, word reached Major General Jacob Brown that the British were on the move. Rumour had it that his enemy was staging a two-pronged advance; some of the British troops at Queenston were advancing toward them while others were crossing the Niagara in an attempt to take over the American supply depot at Fort Schlosser, to then threaten the American rear. Without confirming these accounts, Brown sent forward a brigade under the ever-eager Winfield Scott in order to harass the enemy near Queenston and get an idea of their numbers.

This battle is more commonly known as the battle of Lundy's Lane. The British and Americans fought to a bloody stalemate that resulted in hundreds of dead and wounded. The confrontation devastated both sides but it caused the Americans to lose momentum in their invasion of the Niagara peninsula. Within weeks they would cross back to the U.S. for the last time.

Three miles into his outing Scott’s men discovered just how inaccurate those rumours were when they marched right into the army of Phineas Riall perched on a hill by Lundy’s Lane. Riall’s men looked down upon the Americans from beside the little church on the high knoll where they had placed an impressive number of cannon.

The rest of Riall’s line stretched down both sides of the hill forming a crescent shape in the center of which Scott’s men were standing. They could hear the British bugles calling, as the first arrivals of Lieutenant General Gordon Drummond’s 800 troops formed up. Scott knew that not only the lives of his men, but the reputation of his brigade hung in the balance. A prudent commander would likely fall back. Within moments, Scott made his decision and a dispatch was sent to Brown: "Brig.-Gen. Scott will engage the British - send reinforcements."


Major General Phineas Riall,
British Army

Scott’s defiant stand opened the bloodiest battle of the war so far. These cannon on the high ground devastated the lone American brigade who could only respond with musket fire. Many of the battalion’s commanders were killed or wounded early on. Brown arrived on the field but did not realize the size of the opposing force and engaged his army piecemeal, sending only Eleazar Ripley’s brigade forward to help Scott’s battered men. These officers soon concluded that they had to take the guns if they were to control the battle. James Miller, a young colonel under Ripley’s command, was asked to make a frontal assault on the guns. His understated response was, “I’ll try, sir”, which would earn him a place in American history.

Darkness would become the common enemy of both armies and it would become difficult to distinguish friend from foe. Throughout this long night, the darkness led to numerous blunders: General Phineas Riall unwittingly delivered himself into the hands of American troops; British regulars on the knoll opened fire on their fellow Glengarry Fencibles, and troops mistakenly beat and bayoneted comrades while wandering about blindly searching for their ranks.


General Winfield Scott

The only light amidst the darkness and smoke was provided by cannon fire and musket blasts. It was enough to give Miller’s men glimpses of the heaps of bodies accumulating on the hillside. Darkness surrounded the base of the hill so that British gunners did not see Miller’s men until they had emptied their muskets on them. After a fierce hand-to-hand struggle Miller drove the British from the hill. Brown’s entire army now fought furiously to hold on to the guns.

Over the next two hours, both armies struggled for the guns on the high ground with what one American called “a desperation bordering on madness.” Despite a neck wound, Drummond stood up front and ordered his men to hold fast on the hillside. Everyone, including the British soldiers who had arrived from the European war, were shaken by the ferocity of the battle.



In the series of British counter-attacks to retake the guns, the Americans were often less than twenty yards away. In some instances, the range was so close that the enemies touched bayonets before their muskets opened fire. Many soldiers would later remember how, at the height of the horror, their musket flashes lit up the blackened faces of their enemies causing their gritted teeth to resemble macabre grins.

Both armies had trouble keeping order in their forces. The cannons had claimed many senior officers and others could not be rallied in the darkness. The British could not dislodge the Americans from the hill. After each unsuccessful attempt, with its deafening chorus of discharging musketry and cannon, an eerie calm descended as the British fell back to regroup. The only sounds breaking this silence were the moans of the wounded, and the roar of the falls on the river. Both had their effects on the men.



After fighting fiercely for hours and with no water left on the battlefield, some men were half-crazed with thirst. With the parched and weary Americans losing men and ammunition at an alarming rate, an injured Jacob Brown was finally convinced that keeping the hill was an exercise in futility. The Americans withdrew slowly toward Chippawa hoping to recoup some of their energy for another assault in the morning.

With the British back in possession of the hill, they dragged dozens of dead horses into a makeshift barricade bracing for a counter-attack that would never come. Both armies were so exhausted and dehydrated that even by morning neither side would have the energy to continue. All night, groans for water, or for a quick end to wounded men’s misery, carried over the battlefield. When morning broke, it revealed a scene of devastation amidst the usually tranquil fields and orchards. Each side counted over 800 killed, wounded and missing. Another sight struck the survivors; too tired to drag them along in their withdrawal, the Americans had left behind all but one of the guns over which so many men perished.

[SAMWolf]

The Americans at Lundy's Lane

Winfield Scott's messenger reported to Jacob Brown that the fighting is "close and desperate". Brown did not know the half of it. Scott knew a frontal assault against the well-positioned British would be suicide, but he was unwilling to entertain the thought of a retreat. All he could do was order his men to stand fast, as they were pounded by the British guns. Viewing it from the British line, Iroquois chief John Norton remembered how Winfield Scott “remained firm in the position which he had first assumed, exposed to a galling fire in front and flank - dread seemed to forbid his advance and shame to restrain his flight.”

General Jacob Brown

Scott could do little more than wait for help, hoping that his stand would convince the British that the entire American army had to be just out of sight. In an auspicious move, Scott sent Major Thomas Jesup's 25th Regiment into the woods to assess the British left flank. Swinging wide of their enemy's main line, this regiment was mistaken for British regulars and left untouched until they captured the wounded Major General Phineas Riall and his entourage. The return of the American 25th with their trophies, and the arrival of Brown's reinforcements, provided Scott's men with some relief.

The Americans soon realized that the British were more than willing to stay put and wait for a frontal assault. They had nothing to gain by breaking their well-established lines crowned by the gun battery on the high ground. Jacob Brown's immediate assessment was that this position had to be taken and held. After a quick consultation of the officers, a plan was agreed upon involving Eleazar Ripley's fresh troops and young Colonel James Miller of the 21st Regiment.


James Miller, U.S. Army
His famous reply, "I'll try sir," to Brown's order to capture the British artillery on the hill at Lundy's Lane became the stuff of legend.

Ripley's regiment relieved Scott's battered men on the front line of the galling British fire, and they prepared for a direct attack up the south side of the hill. Militia private Alexander McMullen remembers marching to the front passing over "the dead and dying, who were literally in heaps." For the moment, the enemy guns could only guess at where Ripley's men were since night has fallen on the battlefield and all was dark, except a moonlit section of the hilltop.

Miller had led a smaller force around to the left of the British and was waiting for Ripley's men to storm the hill. Creeping within musket range, Miller watched the British swallow the bait as they turned their attention to stopping the American frontal attack. A whispered order to fix bayonets and take aim was passed down Miller's line. A moment later, they opened fire on the unsuspecting British gunners many of whom fell dead. Within seconds Miller's group was around the guns putting bayonets to any left standing. Some nearby British infantry scrambled to dislodge the Americans, but another deadly volley from Miller sent them tumbling downhill.



Despite a nasty leg wound, Brown did well fortifying the hill position with more guns and strengthening the surrounding lines. One advantage was that British command was temporarily in chaos. Hundreds of fresh British troops come marching toward the rise unaware that it had been occupied by Americans; scores of them were cut down by the U.S. guns and the rest scattered. Not only the British were deceived by the darkness.

Ripley's men were holding off British counter-attacks, but the musket exchanges from only yards apart caused heavy casualties. Ripley sent word to Brown begging for forces to harass the enemy line before the British became totally desperate and launched a bayonet charge; Ripley did not think his men could withstand it. Winfield Scott, who had already been badly bruised, had made his own plans to break the British line. He gathered what men he could. Only 100 or so of the 800 who followed him out that afternoon were able to stand and fight. As Scott's men pierced one of the British front lines, Ripley's men fired down on them, not being able to distinguish American from British silhouettes cutting across their front.



Brown's force barely managed to repel a third British attack on the guns. The American commander was groggy from loss of blood, and understandably, the strength to continue fighting was ebbing out of the American ranks. Most of their experienced gunners were no longer standing. It was nearing midnight and both ammunition and supplies were critically low. The men wished their throats were coated with water rather than the gunpowder and dirt, which was choking them. Winfield Scott's rallying presence on the battlefield was lost when he was carried to the rear after a bullet tore apart his shoulder. In fact, seven of ten regimental commanders had been killed or wounded, leaving little order amongst the remaining men.

Obstinate under most circumstances, Brown's resolve dissolved. Word had it that only 700 of the over 2000 he had led into battle were still standing, and just barely. Before he collapsed from his wounds, Brown relented declaring that the men had done all they could, and placed Ripley in charge of withdrawing the troops to Chippawa. They would try again in the morning and attempt to gather more of their wounded then.



Reluctantly, Ripley carried out the order, trying to do so without drawing the enemy into attacking. The British were equally exhausted and could not pursue, taking the hill only after most Americans were well clear of the battlefield. The Vermont drummerboy, Jarvis Hanks, who was lucky to escape the battle unscathed remembered that, "This memorable battle closed, by apparent consent, and desire of both armies. They retreated from the scene at the same time, weary and exhausted."

[SAMWolf]

The British at Lundy's Lane

Phineas Riall is overseeing the last pieces of his artillery being rolled into place when his scouts ride up to report that a large body of U.S. troops are within a mile of their line. He believes his position, on a rise surrounded by farm fields and lush orchards, is the best in the area if a skirmish occurs. But his orders from Major General Gordon Drummond are explicit: Riall is to take no offensive measures until Drummond meets him with reinforcements. In the meantime, Riall tries to make light of the fact that some of his 1000 troops forming up are doing so in front of a graveyard.


Gordon Drummond

Within minutes, the first columns of Americans appear to the south. At a glance Riall estimates that the opposing troops are equal in number to his own, but this could be just the advance party of a much larger force. No sooner do the Americans form up than do they fire a volley of muskets at the British forward line. Riall mulls over Drummond's orders. The Americans appear confident and the last thing he wants is a repeat of Chippawa. As he gives the order to withdraw, the first of Drummond's troops arrive from the north and an order from the commander reaches the hill: engage the enemy. If the Americans are looking for a fight, General Drummond is prepared to give them one.



The cannon on the hill open up and begin to hit the American lines with deadly accuracy, but they maintain their ground and continue to fire into the British front. Young lieutenant John Le Couteur remembers his march onto the field in the ranks of Drummond's troops:

"It was near 8 o'clock and getting dark as we reached the battlefield. I made my usual prayers to God to grant me his protection and my life, ready though I was to lay that down for my country, at his pleasure, but hoping that no worse than a wound might befall me - nor a fall into the hands of the Savages - death we thought preferable."

As the last traces of daylight vanish from the scene, Jacob Brown's American reinforcements take to the field and the battle intensifies. It quickly becomes apparent that this will be an engagement for well-trained soldiers. The Canadian militia are ordered to hand over their ammunition to the regulars and fall back. They will be extremely busy for the rest of the night carrying hundreds of wounded to the makeshift hospitals at nearby farmhouses. Drummond now hopes that Colonel Hercules Scott has received his earlier order to march toward the Niagara River with his 1600 men from Twelve Mile Creek.



Using the darkness to mask their advance, the Americans make a direct assault on Drummond's position on the hill. The fighting is close and fierce, and the British soldiers around the guns must move forward to stop the advance. The chief British gunner, Maclachlane, fires into the first attack wave just as a number of men around him fall in a hail of bullets. Seconds later, Americans emerge from the darkness on their left, driving the remaining British from the hilltop. General Drummond has lost his position and his guns.

As Drummond moves about the field trying to organize a counter-attack, he is shot through the cheek and the bullet lodges in the base of his neck. But the general, every bit as determined as his adversary Brown, wraps his wound with a handkerchief and continues to try to direct the battle. But with the darkness and the deteriorating organization of troops, no one alerts the newly arrived battalion under Hercules Scott about the turn of events. It marches right up the hill and into a withering American fire.



For two hours the British try to regain their guns with direct assaults on the hilltop position. Each successive attempt becomes increasingly difficult to organize; the pool of intact men diminishes while the corpses ringing the hill multiply. Rallying the troops out at the front of the fighting, Drummond's horse is shot out from under him for the second time that evening. On their second drive up the slope, the British succeed in taking out the Americans manning the guns before being driven down again. Brown has no experienced men to replace them, and ammunition is dwindling fast.

Using almost every available man on the field, Drummond organizes a third assault. This final push is desperate. Again, the men come within meters of the Americans as infantry battles infantry with bayonet, sword and musket-butt. One British regular described the clash as "obstinate beyond description." But Drummond calls on his men to fall back once again and is on the point of giving up. His men catch their breath and undoubtedly contemplate whether they will live through another attempt. Word reaches Drummond that the Americans appear to be leaving the hilltop and the battlefield altogether. Drummond waits for confirmation before cautiously moving his troops toward the hilltop.


............US Dragoon -- Canadian Dragoon

Drummond surveys the scene as best he can. A couple of his guns remain on the slope, and he figures the Americans have made off with the rest. Perhaps they are getting these into position elsewhere to mount an attack. To be on the safe side, Drummond orders his men to defend the hill and to create a makeshift barricade using the bodies of several dead horses scattered nearby. They wait with muskets steadied on the carcasses, but the American army is well on its way toward Chippawa. The British are left with nothing but the devastation.

Additional Sources:

members.tripod.com/~war1812
www.battleoflundyslane.com
www.dmna.state.ny.us
www.lundyslanemuseum.com
c22inf.bravepages.com
www.canadianheritage.org
www.hpedsb.on.ca

[SAMWolf]

'The poor fellows...could not have anticipated such a dreadful slaughter as they have since awfully witnessed'

US Representative Samuel Sherwood on Lundy’s aftermath

Jarvis Hanks was a 14 year-old American drummer when he marched into battle at Lundy’s Lane shortly after Winfield Scott attacked the British army:

'Musicians are placed in the rear of the colors, in the center of the regiment or battalion, and as the aim of enemies respectively is mainly to shoot down the flags, and as the falling or striking of a flag is a signal of surrender; it seems to me that musicians thus situated are in equal danger with any other portion of the army. I remember, a trumpeter was riding back, furiously, wounded, with the blood streaming, profusely down his temples & cheeks. As I was also a musician, I felt much alarmed for my own safety, not knowing but I should be in as bad or a worse situation in a few minutes. There was no stopping, nor escape, into battle we must go.'

In a letter to a friend written in the days following the battle, British Lieutenant John Le Couteur remembers the aftermath of the fighting at Lundy’s Lane:

'I assure you, I never passed so awful a night as that of the action. The stillness of the evening after the firing ceased, the Groans of the dying and wounded, I went to several of them and got a Captain taken away. I could not sleep tho' I was quite fatigued and weak from 36 hours marching, fasting and Fighting. I was cold and wretched, what must not have been the misery of those Unfortunates who remained on the Field. A Soldier's life is very horrid sometimes....The scene of the morning was not more pleasant that the night's horrors. We had to wait on our slaughterhouse till 11 before we got a mouthful - when a great Camp Kettle full of thick chocolate revived us surprisingly, though we devoured it among dead bodies in all directions.'

[Soaring Feather]

Here I am Sam.

[SAMWolf]

[SAMWolf]

HI Feather!

[snippy_about_it]

.......FALL IN to the FReeper Foxhole!

.......Good Sunday Morning Everyone!


If you would like added or removed from our ping list let me know.

[snippy_about_it]

Hey feather, what are you doing sneaking in here so early. LOL! At this rate I should be able to beat you in once morning arrives!

[Soaring Feather]

ha ha snippy!! Got your attention huh! LOL

[Soaring Feather]

awwwwwwww, gee whizzers!

[EternalVigilance]

Great post, SAM.

This was not a battle I was familiar with. But now, thanks to you, I am.

Have a great Sunday!

[EternalVigilance]

Great post, SAM.

This was not a battle I was familiar with. But now, thanks to you, I am.

Have a great Sunday!


America

Land of the free
Home of the brave
This home that we love
Is it worth fighting to save?

Crazy Islamists
Are just one threat
You can think of several others
Just like I can, I bet

There are many fronts
In this ongoing war
And more will open yet
There is more trouble in store

So be prepared
Do all that you can
If you love America
You must take a stand

EV

[SAMWolf]

Good Morning EV. I have to admit until I didi the research I never heard of this one either. Looks like Canada kicked our butt in this one.

Thanks for the poem, I love the patriotic themes you do.

[E.G.C.]

God morning, Snippy and everyone at the Freeper Foxhole.

It's the very first Sunday of the 2003 NFL season. The weatrher is sure nice here today.

[jriemer]

Free Republic's 9-11 100 Hours of Remembrance
Click on Link Above

[Valin]

On This Day In History


Birthdates which occurred on September 07:
1533 Queen Elizabeth I England, (1558-1603) daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn
1707 George-Louis Leclerc comte de Buffon, writer on natural history
1726 Fran‡ois-Andr‚ Philidor France, chess champion/musician
1829 August Kekule von Stradonitz discovered structure of benzene ring
1829 Ferdinand Vandiveer Hayden US, geologist (Geograph Survey 1859-86)
1836 Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman British PM (L) (1905-08)
1860 Grandma (Anna Maria) Moses NY, primitive painter (Old Oaken Bucket)
1900 "Janet" Taylor Caldwell England, novelist (Melissa)
1908 Dr Michael E DeBakey artificial heart pioneer
1908 Paul Brown Norwalk Ohio, NFL hall of famer (Browns, Bengals)
1909 Elia Kazan Canstaninople Turkey, director (Streetcar Named Desire)
1910 John Shea US, 500m/1500m speed skater (Olympic-gold-1932)
1913 Anthony Quayle England, actor (Anne of 1000 Days, Lawrence of Arabia)
1914 James Van Allen discovered Van Allen radiation belts
1922 Art Ferrante pianist (Ferrante & Tachere-Exodus)
1923 Peter Lawford London England, actor (Mrs Miniver, The Thin Man)
1924 Daniel Inouye (Sen-D-Hi), chair of Iran-Contra hearings
1924 Leonard Rosenman Bkln NY, TV composer (Marcus Welby MD)
1929 John Milford Johnstown NY, actor (Lieutenant, Legend of Jesse James)
1929 T(homas) P(atrick) McKenna Ireland, actor (Rivals, Holocaust)
1930 Baudouin I king of Belgium (1951- )
1930 Sonny Rollins NYC, jazz saxophonist (Blue Room)
1934 Bill Giles Rochester NY, baseball owner (Phila Phillies)
1936 Buddy Holly singer (Peggy Sue, That'll Be the Day)
1937 John Phillip Law Hollywood, actor (Barbarella, Love Machine)
1939 S David Griggs Portland Oregon, astronaut (STS 51D, STS 33)
1942 Garrison Keillor humorist (Praire Home Companion)
1942 Richard Roundtree actor (Shaft, Earthquake)
1948 Susan Blakely Frankfurt Germany, actress (Rich Man Poor Man)
1949 Gloria Gaynor Newark NJ, disco singer (I Will Survive)
1950 Adriano Panatta Rome, tennis star (French 1976, Italian 1976)
1950 Chrissie Hynde Akron Oh, rocker (Pretenders-Mystery Achievement)
1950 Peggy Noonan author (What I Saw at the Revolution)
1951 Julie Kavner LA Calif, actress (Brenda-Rhoda, Tracy Ullman Show)
1953 Linda G Miller actress (Mississippi)
1954 Corbin Bernsen North Hollywood Calif, actor (Arnie Becker-LA Law)
1956 Michael J Feinstein pianist (Isn't It Romantic)
1957 Margot Chapman Hawaii, vocals (Starland Vocal Band-Afternoon Delight)
1957 Melvin Edward Mays one of FBI's most wanted
1960 David Steele rocker (Fine Young Cannibals-Drive Me Crazy)
1968 Kyle Stevens NJ, rock guitarist (Bang Tango-Dancin' on Coals)
1971 Henry Thomas actor (ET)
1985 Tatia Jayne Starkey Ringo's 1st grandchild

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Deaths which occurred on September 07:
1151 Geoffrey Plantagenet conquered Normandy, dies at 38
1655 Tristan l'Hermite French dramatist/poet, dies (birth date unknown)
1909 Eugene Lefebvre dies test piloting a Wright A aircraft
1951 Maria Montez actress, dies at 31
1966 Al Kelly double talk comedian (Ernie Kovacs Show), dies at 67
1969 Everett McKinley Dirksen ("The Wizard of Ooze")(Sen-IL.R), dies at 73
1971 Spring Byington actress (Lily Ruskin-December Bride), dies at 84
1978 Keith Moon, rock drummer (Who), dies of drug OD at 31

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Reported: MISSING in ACTION
( Expanded with full Bios, history, & MIA report )

HIP HIP HOORAY!!! No one missing in action Today!!!!

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

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On this day...
3114 BC Presumed origin of Mayan "long count" calendar system
70 Roman army under Titus occupies & plunders Jerusalem
1571 At the Battle of Lepanto in the Mediterranean Sea, the Christian galley fleet destroys the Turkish galley fleet.
1599 Earl of Essex & Irish rebel Tyrone signs treaty
1630 The town of Trimontaine, in Massachusetts, is renamed Boston, and becomes the state capital.
1664 Peter Stuyvesant surrenders New Amsterdam to English fleet
1714 Treaty of Baden-French retain Alsace, Austria gets right bank of Rhine
1776 American submersible craft Turtle attacks British Admiral Richard Howe's flagship Eagle in the first use of a submarine in warfare.
1800 Zion AME Church dedicated (NYC)
1813 "Uncle Sam" 1st used to refer to US (Troy Post of NY)
1822 Brazil declares independence from Portugal (National Day)
1825 The Marquis de Lafayette, the French hero of the American Revolution, bade farewell to President John Quincy Adams at the White House.
1860 Excursion steamer "Lady Elgin" drowns 340 in Lake Michigan
1864 Union General Phil Sheridan's troops skirmish with the Confederates under Jubal Early outside Winchester, Virginia
1876 The James-Younger gang botches an attempt to rob the First National Bank of Northfield, Minnesota.
1880 Geo Ligowsky patents device to throw clay pigeons for trapshooters
1889 Start of Sherlock Holmes "Adventure of The Engineer's Thumb" (BG)
1892 James J Corbett kayos John L Sullivan in round 21 at New Orleans
1896 1st closed-circuit auto race, at Cranston, RI
1896 A. H. Whiting won 1st closed-circuit auto race held
1903 Federation of American Motorcyclists organized in NY
1907 Sutro's ornate Cliff House in SF destroyed by fire
1914 New York Post Office Building opens to the public
1915 St Louis Dave Davenport no-hits Chicago (Federal League), 3-0
1916 Workmen's Compensation Act passed by Congress
1923 Boston Red Sox Howard Ehmke no-hits Phila A's, 4-0
1927 Philo Farnsworth demonstrates 1st use of TV in SF
1934 Luxury liner "Morro Castle" burns off NJ, killing 134
1936 Boulder Dam (now Hoover Dam) begins operation
1939 Radio NY Worldwide-WRUL begins radio transmision
1940 German Air Force blitz London for 1st of 57 consecutive nights
1943 Fire in decrepit old Gulf Hotel kills 45 (Houston Texas)
1948 1st use of synthetic rubber in asphaltic concrete, Akron Oh
1952 Outfielder Don Grate throws a baseball a record 434'1" (Tenn)
1952 Whitey Ford becomes the 5th pitcher to hurl consecutive 1 hitters
1954 Integration begins in Wash DC & Balt MD public schools
1956 Bell X-2 sets Unofficial manned aircraft altitude record 126,000'+
1963 1st US TV appearance of the Beatles (Big Night Out-ABC)
1963 Pro Football Hall of Fame dedicated in Canton Ohio
1970 Donald Boyles sets record for highest paracute jump from a bridge, by leaping off of the 1,053' Royal George Bridge in Colorado
1973 Mike Storen becomes the American Basketball Assn's 4th commissioner
1976 US courts find George Harrison guilty of plagarism (He's So Fine)
1977 Convicted Watergate conspirator G. Gordon Liddy was released from prison after more than four years.
1978 1st game of the Boston Massacre, Yanks beat Red Sox 15-3
1979 The Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (ESPN) made its cable television debut.
1979 5 day MUSE concert against nuclear energy opens at MSG, NY
1980 32nd Emmy Awards shown despite boycott
1980 Earnest Gray becomes 2nd NY Giant to score 4 TDs (vs St Louis)
1981 Judge Wapner & the People's Court premier on TV
1983 Drury Gallagher sets fastest swim around Manhattan (6h41m35s)
1986 Desmond Tutu installed to lead south African Anglican Church
1988 Guy Lafleur, Tony Esposito & Brad Park inducted in NHL Hall of Fame
1988 NY Daily News reports boxer Mike Tyson is seeing a psychatrist
1988 Security & Exchange Comm accuses Drexel of violating security laws
1991 Monica Seles wins the US Open
1993 - President Clinton and Vice President Gore announced a broad program to streamline the government.(ROTFLMAO)
1995 Sen Bob Packwoord (R-Ore) resigns rather than face expulsion.
2000 A jury in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho, awarded $6.3 million to a woman and her son who were attacked by Aryan Nations guards outside the white supremacist group's north Idaho headquarters.

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

Brazil : Independence Day (1822)
US : National Grandparents' Day (Sunday)
Namibia, South Africa : Settlers' Day (Monday)
US, Canada, Guam, Virgin Islands : Labor Day (1894) (Monday)
Wall-to-Wall Sports Television Day
Kiss a Bald Head Week Begins
National Bourbon Month

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Religious Observances
Feast of St. Regina, virgin and martyr.

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Religious History
1724 The first American congregation of Dunkards (German Baptists) gathered in Philadelphia, PA.
1785 The Sunday School Society was formed in London, under the leadership of Robert Raikes. It provided weekly Christian tutoring for the poor. Eventually 3,730 schools were formed, and their success ultimately inspired the founding in 1824 of the American Sunday School Union.
1807 Protestant Christianity first came to China when English missionary Robert Morrison, 25, arrived on this date. (Catholic missions had first penetrated China in the 16th century with the arrival of Jesuit Matteo Ricci in 1582.)
1845 St. Louis, Missouri, became the site of the first Hebrew synagogue to be built in the Mississippi Valley.
1958 The first cathedral of the Syrian Orthodox Church in the U.S. and Canada was dedicated in Hackensack, NJ. The American archdiocese for this branch of Orthodoxy was created the previous year by Syrian Orthodox Patriarch Ignatius Yacoub III.

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

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Thought for the day :
"One man tells a falsehood, a hundred repeat it as true."

---

You might be a packrat if...
you think those Mork and Mindy trading cards will be worth something some day.

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Murphys Law Of The Day....(Forsyth's Second Corollary to Murphy's Laws)
Just when you see the light at the end of the tunnel, the roof caves in.

---

Cliff Clavin says, It's a lttle known fact that...
American inventor Peter Carl Goldmark invented the long-playing (LP) record in 1948.

[snippy_about_it]

Good morning EV, it's great to see you again. Haven't seen your wonderful poems for quite awhile.

[snippy_about_it]

Good morning EGC. I'm still in Oregon with SAM so the weather is WONDERFUL where I'm at!

[snippy_about_it]

Thanks for the link!

[SAMWolf]

Good Morning E.G.C.

Looks like we'll finally get some rain today. Not a lot but it is a change.