The FReeper Foxhole Remembers The Siege of Fort Texas(May 3-9, 1846) - Nov 9th, 2003

cr.nps.gov ^ | Sharyn Kane & Richard Keeton

[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.

...................................................................................... ...........................................

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The Siege of Fort Texas

Although small and relatively unknown, Fort Brown in Brownsville, Texas was nonetheless important in the changing tides of history of two neighboring nations, the United States and Mexico. Juan Nepomuceno Cortina, photographed while governor of Tamaulipas, Mexico, led a bandit gang that sacked and burned United States border towns.

The original Fort Brown, shaped from dirt on the banks of the Rio Grande River, was hotly contested in the earliest battles of the Mexican-American War, which began in 1846. Later rebuilt nearby, Fort Brown was the base for soldiers hunting an outlaw many Mexicans considered a folk hero.

Brownsville, Texas, beside the Rio Grande River, is a short walk over the water from Matamoros, Mexico.

United States President James K. Polk, who envisioned a nation stretching to the Pacific Ocean, had been elected the year before. Much of the territory he sought belonged to Mexico, which then encompassed New Mexico, Arizona, and California. Polk hinted that if Mexico wouldn't sell these territories, the United States would seize them. He also championed Texas's claim to a southern border along the Rio Grande. Issues of western expansion and the disputed Texas border became intertwined.

"Manifest Destiny" was a popular slogan of the day, reflecting a view that the United States was destined to control vast territories. Bolstered by such sentiments, Polk sent an emissary to Mexico to buy western lands. When Mexican officials rejected the offer, Polk ordered U.S. troops, led by General Zachary Taylor, to invade the disputed region between Texas and Mexico. The president was knowingly courting war. If bloodshed erupted, however, he wanted Mexico to be perceived as the aggressor. Having United States forces in the disputed region increased the likelihood that Mexican troops would cross the Rio Grande and strike the first blows. Powerful voices in the United States spoke against Polk's provocations, including John Quincy Adams, a former president; John C. Calhoun, a former vice president; and philosopher Henry David Thoreau.



In March 1846, Taylor's army of 3,000 crossed the Nueces River and marched south, passing through today's sprawling King Ranch. At the Rio Grande, the general ordered a halt on a peninsular bluff beside a bend in the river, directly across from Matamoros. Seeing the U.S. soldiers, many of the 20,000 residents fled south, leaving behind a population of about 4,000 and the Mexican army.

Taylor Ignores Demands

United States troops paraded into their new camp with much pomp and ceremony. Drums beat, colorful flags and banners waved, and a band played martial music while Mexicans on the other side of the river quietly watched. The spectators must have been uneasy, wondering what would happen with so many foreign troops stationed a stone's throw away. Also watching were members of the Mexican army, about 5,000 strong, commanded by General Francisco Mejía.


General Zachary Taylor

Mejía quickly sent a message to Taylor, protesting the presence of U.S. troops on Mexican soil. Taylor responded that his army had every right to be there because they were on United States property. In the ensuing weeks, other increasingly insistent notes were sent demanding that Taylor and his men leave. All met the same response.

Taylor's soldiers spent this time building Fort Texas. (Only later, after blood spilled, was the post renamed Fort Brown.) Guided by chief engineer Captain Joseph K.F. Mansfield, they followed a plan calling for an earthen structure with walls 15 feet wide shaped into a six-sided star. Laboriously, the men molded and stamped the dirt. The finished walls would stand nine to 10 feet tall. They dug from ground surrounding the emerging fort walls, purposely hollowing out a ditch about eight feet deep and 15 to 22 feet wide, creating another defense around the fort perimeter. A draw bridge would span the ditch, and a gate would be placed at the only entrance.

When completed, the fort would project out to form palisades at each of the star's six points where soldiers placed cannons with barrels facing every possible approach, including Mexican gun emplacements on the opposite side of the Rio Grande. Sandbags stacked around the weapons gave added protection against incoming shells.


Plans for Fort Brown

From atop the fort walls, soldiers could see across the river into Matamoros. The tall spires of the stately Catholic cathedral, still in existence today facing the Plaza Hidalgo, were clearly visible. At least some of the city's inhabitants were undeterred from daily routines by the troops' close presence. Women continued to bring laundry to wash in the river on the Matamoros side, almost within the shadows of Fort Brown's menacing guns.

Nor were the Mexican forces idle while Fort Texas took shape. They strengthened Matamoros's defenses, its forts and gun emplacements. One of the forts of the era, the Casamata, still stands and is maintained as a museum of Mexican history.

War fever filled the air. Everyone expected shots to be fired, but nobody knew when or where.

Victory Belongs to Mexico

Rumors swirled that the Mexican army was crossing the Rio Grande, justified rumors because the new Mexican commander, General Mariano Arista, was considering just that. He feared that Matamoros could not withstand a siege if, as he expected, U.S. troops attacked. Arista decided to take the initiative.


General Mariano Arista

Meanwhile, Zachary Taylor dispatched a patrol of 63 mounted troops, called dragoons, to survey up river to learn whether the Mexican army was indeed crossing to threaten Fort Texas. On April 25, 1846, the dragoons, led by Captain Seth Thornton, rode through an opening into a field surrounded by thick brush at Ranchos Carricitos. The soldiers were headed toward buildings in the field when some 2,000 Mexican cavalrymen commanded by General Anastasio Torrejon appeared and sealed off the only exit. Shots were fired as the U.S. soldiers mounted a disjointed and futile charge, then galloped frantically in all directions, seeking escape.

The fight ended quickly. Eleven U.S. soldiers died, and most of the remaining force was captured, including Joseph Hardee who later became a Confederate general. But at least one dragoon escaped and slipped back to Fort Texas with word of the military disaster. Now the president had provocation to seek a declaration of war, which the United States Congress soon supplied. The push to complete Fort Texas intensified.

[SAMWolf]

A General's Dilemma

In early May, Texas Ranger Captain Sam Walker, scouting for General Taylor, brought him disturbing intelligence. Thousands of Mexican troops led by General Mariano Arista were crossing the Rio Grande and would soon be in position to block supplies from reaching Fort Texas from the U.S. base, Point Isabel, on the Gulf of Mexico coast. Unless Taylor acted swiftly, his force would be cut off from support by a Mexican army twice the size of his own. There was also another danger: The supply depot at Point Isabel, about 25 miles away, was inadequately protected. In all probability, Arista's men could overrun the guards and capture the army's crucial store of supplies.


Major Jacob Brown, in a plumed hat and carrying a sword, leads defenders of the earthen fort on the banks of the Rio Grande River in a bombardment of Matamoros, Mexico. Brown was mortally wounded in the battle.

Faced with this dilemma, Taylor divided his forces. He marched most of his army out of Fort Texas toward the coast, leaving behind some 500 men with artillery, in hopes they could hold off the expected attack. At first, this high-stakes strategy worked. The Mexican army's crossing of the river was delayed, allowing Taylor's force to skirt them and avoid a confrontation. Moving at night, Taylor safely reached Point Isabel where the soldiers began strengthening fortifications and filling supply wagons for a return to Fort Texas.

The next move was Arista's. The general decided to lay siege to Fort Texas, no doubt thinking that the 500 defenders, along with 100 women, children, injured soldiers, and Mexican captives, could not hold out long. The U.S. troops at Point Isabel would have to attempt a rescue, and when they did, Arista would catch them out in the open and vulnerable.

Sam Walker

On May 3, Mexican soldiers began bombarding Fort Texas. United States forces answered with their own cannons, blowing up two artillery pieces on the other side of the Rio Grande and forcing the Mexican army to relocate several batteries. Fort Texas also rained cannon fire directly into downtown Matamoros. The Mexicans retaliated with more artillery shots. Battle sounds grew so loud that the rumbling was heard miles away at Zachary Taylor's coastal position, unnerving an inexperienced Ulysses S. Grant, who later wrote, "...for myself, a young second lieutenant who had never heard a hostile gun before, I felt very sorry that I had enlisted."

Taylor was torn. He worried whether Fort Texas could withstand the assault and also whether he could take time to bolster Point Isabel fortifications before traveling to the fort's defense. He dispatched several scouts back to Fort Texas to learn how long the troops could hold out. Only one reached the fort, the Texas Ranger, Captain Sam Walker, who learned that Fort Texas's stout dirt walls were standing up well to the early bombardment. Cannon balls that hit the slanted walls tended to bounce harmlessly away, rather than explode. The defenders, led by Major Jacob Brown, were optimistic that they could survive until Taylor's return.

Major Jacob Brown, leader of the defense of Fort Texas, is felled by a fatal cannon shot.

Soldiers continued building the fort during the artillery barrage. They still had the sixth wall to finish, as well as the draw bridge and gated entrance. Sergeant Horace B. Weigert was an early casualty, hit working on the final wall.

The next day, May 4, at four in the morning, the scout, Walker, attempted to return to Point Isabel to report to Taylor, but he was unable to get past Mexican troops and turned back. The Mexican army bombed the fort until late in the night. Fort Texas responded with some artillery fire, taking care to save ammunition. At nightfall, Walker once again rode out. Soldiers inside heard gunfire then quiet.

The Siege Continues

The Mexican bombardment resumed before sunrise on May 5. The noise must have been deafening and unnerving inside the fort. Most of the shells, however, caused little damage, although some landed directly inside the fortifications.

A contemporary map showing the relative distance from Fort Brown in the United States and the Mexican city of Matamoros

Along with the walls, soldiers erected several traverses. These long tunnels were two to three feet wide and provided covered passage from one part of the fort to another. Built with pickle barrels as side frames and wood planks for tops, the traverses were also covered with a foot or so of dirt, creating cave-like interiors.

Soldiers who were not keeping watch on the walls or firing the cannons sought shelter in the traverses and in smaller, similarly constructed bombproofs, according to National Park Service historian Aaron Mahr.

Before the siege, soldiers used tents on the fort grounds because there was no formal housing. Now forced to seek shelter in the cramped earth traverses and bombproofs, they must have felt like moles. Still, they were relatively safe from Mexican cannons. But they had a new worry. About one thousand Mexican troops began crossing the Rio Grande, taking position near the rear of Fort Texas. Commanded by General Pedro Ampudia, the soldiers extended in a line behind a long lagoon, formed by a former channel of the Rio Grande. (The lagoon is now called the Fort Brown Resaca.)

General Pedro de Ampúdia

Several soldiers slipped out of Fort Texas to spy on these Mexican positions, inching close enough to determine that a significant force of cavalry and infantry was perilously close. Clearly, the Mexican army was poised to charge. Efforts to finish the fort's final wall took on even more urgency.

The reconnaissance also established that the Mexican army had stationed artillery near the lagoon. With these weapons fired in concert with their big guns on the other side of the river, the Mexicans would have Fort Texas caught in a crossfire.

That evening Mexican troops began firing rifles at the fort. They were too far away to hit their targets, but the fusillade must have been an added reminder of just how perilous life inside Fort Texas had become.

Ulysses "Sam" Grant

The next day, May 6, the onslaught intensified. The fort was now being pounded by artillery from three sides. Fort commander Major Jacob Brown, in charge of the defense, was overseeing the firing of a cannon when an incoming shell crashed a few feet away and exploded, shattering his leg. Bleeding profusely, he was carried to safety, with concerned officers huddled nearby. Reportedly Brown told them, "Go to your duties. Stand by your posts. I am but one among you." Surgeons decided the only chance to save Brown's life was to amputate his leg.

Ampudia Decides Not To Charge

Meanwhile, General Ampudia tried his own daring tactic. He ordered a group of men, including sharpshooters, to edge closer to the fort. They cloaked their movements by hiding behind a ravine formed by the southern edge of the lagoon. As they crept closer to Fort Texas, they used the banks of the Rio Grande for cover, but fort lookouts spotted them and began firing cannons. They killed one Mexican soldier, and the others quickly pulled back. Watching the precision of his foe’s artillery, Ampudia concluded that charging the fort would be too costly. He would wait and continue the siege.

Braxton Bragg

Lieutenant Braxton Bragg directed the U.S. artillery that fired on Ampudia’s troops. Later, Bragg become a Confederate general, commander at such fierce Civil War battles as Chickamauga, Georgia. In fact, 15 soldiers in the Fort Texas siege were later Civil War officers, including George Thomas, whose stand at Chickamauga staved off destruction of Union forces. Other Fort Texas defenders included John Reynolds, a key figure in the Union defense of Gettysburg, a battle that cost him his life, and Lafayette McClaws, a Confederate commander at Gettysburg.

By the evening of May 7, Fort Texas had withstood five days of heavy bombardment. Neither side showed any intention of abandoning the fight, and there was still no sign of help for the U.S. soldiers. Finally, they finished the fort’s last wall, as the Mexicans continued to blast away with artillery, with sporadic return fire from within the fort.

Crossed sabers toward the center left of this map show where General Zachary Taylor fought the Mexican army, led by Mariano Arista. They met on a muddy battlefield at a place called Palo Alto, as Taylor tried to advance toward Fort Texas.

U.S. officers decided to take the offensive. Chief engineer Mansfield stealthily led a group out of the fort, managing to approach some Mexican fortifications and explode an embankment. Another group left the protection of fort walls to torch houses occupied by Mexican troops.

These forays no doubt bolstered morale, but did nothing to alter the strategic balance. The U.S. Army, with dwindling supplies and ammunition, remained trapped inside the fort.

Walker, the Texas Ranger, had somehow threaded his way around thousands of Mexican soldiers to reach Point Isabel where he reported to General Taylor that fort defenders were holding up well, giving Taylor time to bolster the supply depot’s defenses and to organize a rescue.

By May 8, Taylor was moving toward Fort Texas with an army of 2,300 men and 250 supply wagons. Blocking his path, about eight miles north of the fort, was a Mexican army of about 4,000, commanded by General Mariano Arista.

[SAMWolf]

Armies Clash At Palo Alto

The Mexicans waited at a place called Palo Alto. Their lookouts could see the approaching U.S. troops from some distance crossing the flat salt prairie. Men from the two sides had skirmished the night before, and there was little doubt that a major clash was imminent.

Arista ordered his men into a wide line, about one mile long, across the road leading to Fort Texas. As the U.S. troops moved closer, they halted, filled their canteens, and took up battle formations. Then they advanced to within about 800 yards of the Mexican positions and stopped.

For about two hours the armies eyed each other warily across an open field of tall grasses. The ground was muddy, with small water pools. Commanders on both sides shouted orders. There were few other loud noises as horses and men shifted uneasily under a blistering sun.



Then, about two in the afternoon, loud explosions shattered the quiet as the Mexican cannons spit out artillery shells. The U.S. force retaliated with their own cannons. Taylor prepared to order his troops to charge, but changed his mind as he saw the damage done by his artillery. The Mexican soldiers, hampered by outdated equipment, were at a distinct disadvantage despite their greater number. They fought with old, unreliable guns and gun powder and depended primarily on single-shot cannon balls. These often fell short, and even when they covered the desired distance flew so slowly that the targeted soldiers simply side-stepped them.

U.S. troops had newer weapons firing case projectiles that exploded on impact and canister shells stuffed with multiple shots. The combined effect was devastating. Cannon fire ripped huge gaps in the Mexican lines. Hot shards of flying metal maimed or killed many. Yet, the Mexican forces did not panic and stood their ground. Arista ordered a cavalry charge. Led by General Anastacio Tarrejon, the highly trained cavalry galloped at the U.S. force’s right flank. The usual strategic advantages of cavalry, speed and momentum, however, were reduced by the muddy ground. The waiting U.S. infantry formed into a tight square, bristling with rifles and bayonets, further blunting the Mexican charge. The U.S. soldiers also deployed fast, horse-drawn cannons. Able to move these guns rapidly whenever conditions warranted, they could fire at close range into opposition forces. The Mexican cavalry retreated.


The Battle of Palo Alto

The Mexican army tried two more cavalry charges, with similar results. The “flying artillery” of the U.S. troops, commanded by Samuel Ringgold and James Duncan, proved brutally effective, although Ringgold, who had pioneered light artillery for the army, was fatally wounded.

Cannon sparks ignited grass fires, creating smoke that enveloped the battlefield. When the smoke cleared and the fighting finally ceased, the two armies were in similar positions to those before the battle. The Mexicans still outnumbered U.S. troops and still blocked the way to Fort Texas. The fight, however, had bolstered U.S. spirits and perhaps undercut Mexican confidence.

Forty-three U.S. soldiers were injured and nine died. Mexican casualties were more severe. Some 100 to 400 Mexican fighters suffered wounds, and at least 125 were killed. Official estimates are unreliable, however, and some historians think that perhaps as many as 200 to 300 Mexican soldiers died.


The Death of Major Ringgold at the Battle of Palo Alto.

The armies spent an uneasy night camped on the battlefield. The next day Arista calculated he could reduce his enemy’s artillery impact by pulling back to a place with natural defenses. He stationed men on both sides of a lagoon, the Resaca de la Palma, where the tall banks formed shields. The chaparral of bushes and small trees was dense, providing additional protection, near this former channel of the Rio Grande.

Soldiers Fight In The Chaparral

Arista placed his heavy artillery on the main road leading over the resaca. As U.S. troops approached, Taylor divided his infantry into small units and sent them into the chaparral. Skilled in frontier fighting, these soldiers soon engaged Mexican fighters in fierce hand-to-hand combat. Some of the U.S. troops were able to fight their way across the resaca, then turned and began advancing from the side toward the Mexican center.

At the same time, Taylor ordered a direct assault by mounted troops at the Mexican center. While the two armies’ artillery engaged in another duel, horsemen led by General Charles May rode hard down the main road. The cavalry, in the open, was extremely vulnerable and needed to get out of range quickly of the Mexican cannons.


Lithograph of the Battle of Palo Alto

With his long, black hair whipping in the breeze, May rode straight into intense rifle fire. The air filled with bullets, but the U.S. cavalry managed to push forward and capture the Mexican artillery. Now a flood of troops hammered the Mexican army from two directions. The Mexicans began retreating. Seeking to stem the tide, Arista displayed his own valor, riding at the head of a cavalry charge into the teeth of the oncoming soldiers. Despite his fearlessness, defeat was at hand. The Mexicans began streaming toward the Rio Grande, only to become targets for Fort Texas cannons.

Fort troops soon ceased fire, however, fearing they would hit their comrades pursuing Arista’s men. Mexican forces, now in chaos, tried to swim the Rio Grande to safety. The river, wider and more powerful than today, was swollen by spring rains and swept many soldiers under. The Mexican army reported that 159 troops were missing after the battle. Many likely drowned. The Mexican army also listed an additional 160 soldiers killed and 228 wounded in the battle at the Resaca de la Palma. Forty-five U.S. soldiers died and 97 were wounded.

Major Jacob Brown, who led the fort’s defense, died as a result of his battle wound a few hours before Taylor’s victory and return.

When Taylor arrived, he somberly renamed the bastion to honor the fallen commander. Fort Texas became Fort Brown.


Remnants of the earthen walls of the original Fort Brown are visible in this historic sketch. This first Fort Brown was abandoned at the close of the Mexican-American War and the dirt was later used to build levees along the banks of the Rio Grande River.

There was no further combat at the fort in the following two years of the Mexican-American War. Fort Brown, however, was an important post on Taylor’s supply route as his army trekked deep into Mexico, fighting at Monterey, La Angostura, and Buena Vista against elements of the same army they had battled along the Rio Grande. Other U.S. forces invaded Mexico, including what is now New Mexico, Arizona, and California. At war’s end, Mexico was forced to sell half its territory to the United States.

Lingering bitterness remained between the two nations for years. Those north of the new border recounted war-time excesses and atrocities committed by Santa Anna’s armies during the fight over Texas independence. For their part, residents south of the border fumed about stolen lands and atrocities they had suffered, especially at the hands of the Texas Rangers.

Additional Sources:

www.nps.gov
www.sandiego.edu
www.rice.edu
www.lib.utexas.edu
www.army.mil
www.forttours.com
scouts87_90.tripod.com/the4thusinfantryregiment
www.newgenevacenter.org
users.ev1.net/~gpmoran

[SAMWolf]

The site unofficially referred to as Fort Texas was a fieldwork, taking the rough shape of a six-sided star. Each packed-earth face of the fort extended from 125 to 150 yards. The walls were 9 feet in height, and 15 feet wide, with a moat, 20 feet wide and 8 feet deep circling the exterior. Inside, U.S. troops constructed a number of bomb-proofs and powder magazines to provide shelter from any incoming fire.

Though the confrontation at Fort Texas lasted six days, with periods of heavy cannon fire, casualties were remarkably low. Only two U.S. soldiers died in the bombardment, but that toll included the fort commander Jacob Brown. Major Brown was struck in the leg by a cannon ball on May 6. He survived for several days only to die on May 9, just hours before the siege ended. Despite his wound, Brown had helped maintain troop morale throughout the siege and his men named the liberated post--Fort Brown--in his honor.

Mexican leaders reported two killed and two wounded from U.S. artillery fire during the siege. The effect of artillery fire on the civilian population of Matamoros is unknown.

[SAMWolf]

[SAMWolf]

Veterans Day 2003
PDN News Desk ^ comwatch

November is Here - Veterans Day is right around the corner.

It only takes a few minutes to write a letter to the kids and share a story of why you served.

If you aren't a Veteran then share your thoughts on why it is important to remember our Veterans on Veterans Day. 

It's an opportunity for us to support our troops, our country and show appreciations for our local veterans. It's another way to counter the Anti-Iraq campaign propaganda.  Would you like to help?  Are there any VetsCoR folks on the Left Coast?  We have a school project that everyone can help with too, no matter where you live.  See the end of this post for details.

There is still an event scheduled in Northern California and we need help:

Sunday November 9, 2003 Noon to 3:00 PM Support our Troops & Veterans Rally prior to Youth Symphony Concert

http://www.patriotwatch.com/V-Day2003d.htm

 

The WebPage above has a link to e-mail a confirmation of your interest and desire to volunteer.  This is a family event and everyone is welcome to pitch in.  We'd really appreciate hearing from you directly via each these specific links.  This way, we can keep you posted on only those projects you want to participate in.

---

Veterans in School - How you can help if you're not close enough to participate directly. If you are a veteran, share a story of your own with the children.  If you have family serving in the military, tell them why it's important that we all support them. Everyone can thank them for having this special event.  Keep in mind that there are elementary school kids. 

Help us by passing this message around to other Veteran's groups.  I have introduced VetsCoR and FreeperFoxhole to a number of school teachers.  These living history lessons go a long way to inspire patriotism in our youth.  Lets see if we can rally America and give these youngsters enough to read for may weeks and months ahead.  If we can, we'll help spread it to other schools as well.

  Click this link to send an email to the students.

[SAMWolf]

Bugles Across America
http://www.buglesacrossamerica.org/


Bugles Across America, NFP was founded in 2000 by Tom Day, when Congress passed legislation stating Veterans had a right to at least 2 uniformed military people to fold the flag and play taps on a CD player. Bugles Across America was begun to take this a step further, and in recognition of the service these Veterans provided their country, we felt that every Veteran deserved a live rendition of taps played by a live Bugler. To this end, we are actively seeking volunteers to provide this valuable service to Veterans and their families

Our Organization now has 1500 bugler volunteers located in all 50 states and growing number overseas. Since the Department of Veterans Affairs is expecting more than 1/2 million veterans to pass every year for the next 7 years, Bugles Across America is ALWAYS recruiting new volunteers.

Bugler Volunteers can be male or female. They can play a traditional bugle with no valves, or they can perform the ceremony on a Trumpet, Cornet, Flugelhorn, or a 1, 2 or 3 valved bugle. The bugler can be of any age as long as they can play the 24 notes of Taps with an ease and style that will do honor to both the Veterans, their families, and the burial detail performing the service.

Thanks quietolong

[snippy_about_it]

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

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


If you would like added to our ping list let us know.

[mark502inf]

Another great story. Interestingly, the young Ulysses S. Grant wrote in his memoirs that he was adamantly opposed to this war--saw it as an unjust attack on Mexico. However, he did his duty unhesitatingly and served with distinction throughout the campaign. That little passage from his memoirs has been used for years to instruct young officers on the American professional military ethic. During the Kosovo campaign it was resurrected and passed around among some more senior officers.

[Soaring Feather]

Good morning everyone!

[E.G.C.]

Good morning, Snippy and everyone at the Fepper Foxhole.

Folks, whatever yo do in the next couple of days, if you happen to run across a veteran, thank him or her for the freedoms that you and I are enjoying today.

Tuesday is Veterans Day. We SALUTE you, Veterans!!!!!!

[Darksheare]

Ouch.
Artillery as battlefield tennis.
I cannot imagine watching a cannonball fly slow enough to sidestep.

[aomagrat]

Today's classic warship, USS Mississippi (BB-23)

Mississippi class battleship
displacement. 13,000 t.
length. 382'
beam. 77'
draft. 24'8"
speed. 17 k.
complement. 744
armament. 4 12", 8 8", 8 7", 12 3", 6 3-pdrs., 2 1-pdrs., 6 .30 cal. mg., 2 21 "

The USS Mississippi (BB-23) was laid down 12 May 1904 by William Cramp & Sons, Philadelphia, Pa.; launched 30 September 1905; sponsored by Miss M. C. Money, daughter of Senator H. P. Money of Mississippi; and commissioned at Philadelphia Nary Yard 1 February 1908, Capt. J. C. Fremont in command.

Following shakedown off the coast of Cuba, 15 February to 15 March 1908, the new battleship returned to Philadelphia for final fitting out. Standing out 1 July, she operated along the New England coast, until returning to Philadelphia 10 September. The warship next put to sea 16 January 1909 to represent the United States at the inauguration of the President of Cuba at Havana, 25 to 28 January. Mississippi remained in the Caribbean until 10 February, sailing that day to join the "Great White Fleet" as it returned from its famous world cruise. With the fleet on Washington's Birthday, the battlewagon was reviewed by President Theodore Roosevelt. On 1 March she returned to the Caribbean.

The ship departed Cuban waters 1 May for a cruise up the river which shared her name, the mighty Mississippi. Calling at the major ports of this great inland waterway, she arrived at Natchez 20 May, and then proceeded 5 days later to Horn Island where she received a silver service from the state of Mississippi. Returning to Philadelphia 7 June, the battleship operated off the New England coast until sailing 6 January 1910 for winter exercises and war games out of Guantanamo Bay. The battleship departed 24 March for Norfolk and operated off the east coast until fall, calling at a number of large ports, serving as a training ship for Naval Militia, and engaging in maneuvers and exercises designed to keep the ship and crew in the best possible fighting trim.

She departed Philadelphia 1 November for a fleet rendezvous at Gravesend Bay, England, 16 November, and then sailed 7 December for Brest, France, arriving on the 9th. On 30 December, Mississippi set course for Guantanamo Bay for winter maneuvers until 13 March 1911.

Returning to the United states, the battleship operated off the Atlantic coast, basing alternately out of Philadelphia and Norfolk for the next year and 2 months, serving as a training ship and conducting operational exercises. She cleared Tompkinsville, N.Y., 26 May 1912 with a detachment from the 2d Marine Regiment on board to protect American interests in Cuba. Landing her Marine detachment at El Cuero 19 June, she remained on station in Guantanamo Bay until 5 July, when she sailed for home.

Following exercises with the 4th Battleship Division off New England, she returned to Philadelphia Nary Yard where she was put in the 1st Reserve 1 August 1912.

Mississippi remained in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet at Philadelphia until detached 30 December 1913 for duty as aeronautic station ship at Pensacola, Fla. Departing 6 January 1914, the battleship arrived 21 January, transporting equipment for the establishment of a naval air station. At Pensacola, she stood by while her crew, along with the early naval aviators, rebuilt the old naval base, laying the foundation for the largest and most famous American naval air station.

With the outbreak of fighting in Mexico, Mississippi sailed 21 April to Vera Cruz, arriving on the 24th with the first detachment of naval aviators to go into combat. Serving as a floating base for the fledgling seaplanes and their pilots, the warship launched nine reconnaissance flights over the area during a period of 18 days, making the last flight 12 May. One month later, the battleship departed Vera Cruz for Pensacola. Serving as station ship there from 15 to 28 June, she then sailed north to Hampton Roads where she transferred her aviation gear to armored cruiser North Carolina (CA-12), 3 July.

On the 10th, Mississippi shifted to Newport News to prepare for transfer to the Greek Government. Mississippi decommissioned at Newport News 21 July 1914, and was turned over to the Royal Hellenic Navy the same day. Renamed Lemnos, the battleship served for the next 17 years as a coast defense vessel. She was sunk in an air attack by German bombers on Salamis harbor in April 1941; and, after World War II, her hull was later salvaged as scrap.

The official navy history site "The Naval Historical Center" lists the Mississippi as becoming the Kilkis in the Greek navy. Most other references, including "Jane's Fighting Ships", "American Battleships", and "The Dictionary of American Fighting Ships" have the Mississippi as becoming the Lemnos in the Greek navy. I choose to follow the majority.

[Valin]

On This Day In History


Birthdates which occurred on November 09:
1731 Benjamin Banneker Ellicott MD, black mathematician/surveyor (Wash DC)
1802 Elijah P Lovejoy American newspaper publisher/abolitionist
1818 Ivan Turgenev Russia, novelist/poet/playwright (Fathers & Sons)
1825 Ambrose P Hill Lt General (Commander 3rd Corps, ANV)
1841 Edward VII king of England (1901-10)
1850 Lewis Lewin Germany, toxicologist/father of psychopharmacology
1886 Ed Wynn Philadelphia PA, comedian (Ed Wynn Show)
1891 Clifton Webb actor (Sitting Pretty, Mr Belvedere Goes to College)
1898 Paul Robeson actor/singer/football star (King Solomon's Mines)
1900 Kathy Negrin
1903 Gregory Pincus inventor (birth control pill)
1905 James William Fulbright (Sen-D-Mo)
1907 Burrill Phillips Omaha Nebraska, composer (Play Ball)
1913 Hedy Lamarr actress (Ecstacy, Samson & Delilah)
1915 Sargent Shriver Dem VP candidate (1972)/directed Peace Corp
1918 Florence Chadwick swimmer (Swimming Hall of Fame)
1918 Howard Shanet Brooklyn NY, conductor (Night of the Tropics)
1918 Spiro Theodore Agnew (R) 39th VP (1973-77), crook
1921 Viktor Chukarin USSR, gymnast (Olympic-gold-1952, 56)
1928 Anne Sexton Newton MA, poet (Live or Die)
1930 Charlie Jones Forth Smith Ark, sportscaster (Almost Anything Goes)
1931 Whitey Herzog baseball manager (St Louis Cardinals)
1932 Carl Perkins singer (Blue Suede Shoes)
1932 Marian Christy Ridgefield CT, author (Invasions of Privacy)
1934 Carl Sagan NYC, astronomer/author/professor (Cosmos, Broca's Brain)
1934 Ingvar Carlsson PM of Sweden (1986- )
1935 Bob Gibson Cardinal pitcher (Cy Young/NL MVP 1968)
1936 Mary Travers Louisville KY, folk singer (Peter Paul & Mary)
1936 Mikhail N Tal USSR, world chess champion (1960-61)
1942 Tom Weiskopf Ohio, PGA golfer (British Open 1973)
1945 Roger Lee Jones WV, child molester (FBI Most Wanted List)
1948 Sharon Stouder US, 100m butterfly swimmer (Olympic-gold-1964)
1951 Lou Ferrigno Brooklyn NY, body builder/actor (Incredible Hulk)
1964 John Joseph Thomas Arcadia CA, actor (Young Daniel Boone)
1969 Pepa rocker (Salt 'n' Pepa-Shake Ya Thang)
1974 Dah-ve Chodan actress (Tia-Uncle Buck)

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Deaths which occurred on November 09:
1874 Israel Bak created 1st hebrew printing press, dies
1952 Chaim Weizmann 1st President of Israel, dies at 57
1953 Abdul-Aziz ibn Sa'ud founder of Saudi Arabia, dies (born c 1880)
1953 Dylan Thomas author-poet, dies in NY at 39
1967 Charles Bickford actor (Johnny Belinda, Virginian), dies at 68
1970 Charles DeGaulle French President, dies at 79
1970 William L Dawson (Rep-D-Ill), dies at 84
1976 Billy Halop actor (Bert Munson-All in the Family), dies at 56
1978 Joe Wong actor (Ken Murray Show), dies at 75
1979 Lewis Charles actor (Feather & Father Gang), dies at 59
1980 Carmel Myers actress (Carmel Myers Show), dies at 79
1980 Victor Sen Yung actor (Bonanza, Bachelor Family), dies at 65
1985 Helen Rose costume designer, dies at 81
1985 Mary MacLaren actress, dies at 85 of respiratory problems
1988 John Mitchell former Attorney General, dies of heart attack in Washington
1991 Yves Montand actor, dies at 70 from a heart attack
2000 Hussein Abayat, a West Bank militia commander, was killed by a missile from an Israeli helicopter gunship

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Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1967 ARMSTRONG JOHN W.---DALLAS TX.
1967 BROWER RALPH W.---STOW OH.
1967 CLAY EUGENE L.---ARLINGTON TX.
1967 MAYSEY LARRY W.---CHESTER NJ.
1967 NOLAN MCKINLEY---WASHINGTON TX.
[11/02/73 LAST SEEN]
1967 REHN GARY LEE---PARK RAPIDS MN.
1967 SIJAN LANCE P.---MILWAUKEE WI.
03/17/74 REMAINS RETURNED]

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

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On this day...
0694 Spanish King Egica accuses Jews of aiding Moslems; sentences them to slavery
1526 Jews are expelled from Pressburg Hungary by Maria of Hapsburg
1720 Rabbi Yehuda Hasid synagogue set afire
1799 Napoleon becomes dictator (1st consul) of France
1821 1st US pharmacy college holds 1st classes, Philadelphia
1848 Post office at Clay & Pike opens
1853 Origin of Carrington rotation numbers for rotation of the Sun
1857 Atlantic Monthly magazine 1st published
1858 1st performance of NY Symphony Orchestra
1861 Battle of Piketon, KY
1862 US Grant issues orders to bar Jews from serving under him (quickly rescinded)
1864 Sherman designs his "March to the Sea"
1864 1st export of goods from Burrard Inlet, BC to a foreign country
1865 Conf Gen Lee surrenders to Union Gen Grant at Appomattox
1872 Fire destroys nearly 1,000 buildings in Boston
1877 American Chemical Society chartered in NY
1885 The opera "Ermine" is produced (London)
1904 1st airplane flight to last more than 5 minutes
1906 President Theodore Roosevelt leaves Washington, D.C., for a 17-day trip to Panama and Puerto Rico, becoming the first president to make an official visit outside of the United States
1913 Storm "Freshwater Fury" sinks 8 ore-carriers on Great Lakes
1915 Italian liner Ancona sinks by German torpedoes, killing 272
1918 Bavaria proclaims itself a republic
1918 Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicates after German defeat in WW I
1923 Beer Hall Putsch-NAZIs fail to overthrow government in Germany
1924 Miriam (Ma) Ferguson becomes 1st elected woman governor (of Texas)
1927 Giant Panda discovered, China
1930 1st nonstop airplane flight from NY to Panama
1932 Hurricane storm wave sweeps over Santa Cruz del Sur Cuba kills 2,500
1935 United Mine Workers president John L. Lewis and other labor leaders formed the Committee for Industrial Organization.(CIO)
1938 "Kristallnacht" (Crystal Night)-Nazi stormtroopers attacked Jews
1938 Al Capp, cartoonist of Lil' Abner creates Sadie Hawkins Day
1946 Pres Truman ends wage/price freeze
1950 White Sox release Luke Appling, who had been a Sox since 1930
1953 Cambodia (now Kampuchea) gains independence within French Union
1953 Supreme Court rules Major League baseball exempt from anti-trust laws
1961 PGA eliminates Caucasians only rule
1961 USAF Major Robert M White takes X-15 to 30,970 m
1963 2 high-speed commuter trains collided with a derailed freight
1963 450 die in a coal-dust explosion & 160 die in train crash (Japan)
1965 1st NY Knick game postponed (black-out) vs St Louis
1965 5:16 PM, massive power failure in New Engl, & Ontario (NY blackout)
1965 Willie Mays named NL MVP
1967 1st unmanned Saturn V flight to test Apollo 4 reentry module
1970 Trial of Seattle 8 anti-war protesters begins
1971 John List kills family & moves to Colorado
1973 Fire at Taiyo department store, kills 101 & injures 84 (Kumamoto Japan)
1973 Ringo releases "Ringo" album
1976 UN General Assembly condemns apartheid in South Africa
1978 NASL realigns its 24 teams into 6 divisions
1980 Iraqi President Saddam Hussein declares holy war against Iran
1982 Sugar Ray Leonard retires for the 1st time
1983 Discovery flies from Vandenberg AFB to Kennedy Space Center
1984 Most shots in an Islander game-88-Isles 45, Rangers 43
1984 Vietnam Veterans Memorial ("3 Servicemen") completed
1985 Gary Kasparov (USSR) becomes World Chess Champion at age of 22
1988 MLB All-Star team beat Japan 8-2 in Nishinomya, (Game 4 of 7)
1989 The Berlin Wall is opened after dividing the city for 28 years.
1990 President Bush announces DOUBLING of US forces in Gulf
1993 Serbian army fires on school in Sarajevo, 9 children died

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

Pakistan : Iqbal Day
Tunisia : Arbor Day/Tree Festival Day
Turks & Caicos Island : Peacemaker's Day
England : Lord Mayor's Day (Saturday)
US : Hire A Veteran Week Begins
US : Womens Veterans Recognition Week Begins
Split Pea Soup Week Begins
One Nation Under God Month

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Religious Observances
RC : Dedication of Church of Lateran (Basilica of Our Savior), Rome
RC-Vatican City : Feast of Dedication of Church of Lateran, Rome

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Religious History
1538 German reformer Martin Luther declared: 'It would be a good thing if young people were wise and old people were strong, but God has arranged things better.'
1800 Birth of Asa Mahan, American educator and Congregational clergyman. President of Oberlin College in Ohio from 1835_1850, Mahan was instrumental in establishing interracial college enrollment and in the granting of college degrees to women.
1836 Birth of Christian business traveler Samuel Hill. In 1899 Hill, John Nicholson and W.J. Knights co_founded the Gideons, a Christian organization that ministers through distribution of the Scriptures. To date, the Gideons have placed over 12 million Bibles and 100 million New Testaments.
1837 British philanthropist Moses Montefiore, 52, became the first Jew to be knighted in England. Montefiore was a banking executive who devoted his life to the political and civil emancipation of English Jews.
1938 The worst Jewish pogrom in peacetime Germany took place as Nazi thugs led a "spontaneous" campaign of terror. During the night 267 synagogues were plundered, 7,500 shops were wrecked, 91 Jews were killed and 20,000 others were arrested and sent to concentration camps. It was afterward known as "Kristallnacht" because of the thousands of windows broken.

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

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Thought for the day :
Is't death to fall for Freedom's right?
He's dead alone who lacks her light!

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Question of the day...
Do you find it a bit unnerving doctors call what they do practice?

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Murphys Law of the day...(war laws)
You are not Superman; Marines and fighter pilots take note.

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Amazing fact #598...
Sheriff came from Shire Reeve. During early years of feudal rule in England, each shire had a reeve who was the law for that shire. When the term was brought to the United States it was shortned to Sheriff.

[snippy_about_it]

Good morning SAM. Good read today. I enjoyed the detail of building the fort and and then the strategy on the battle field.

I now have Sam Walker and Ringgold on my list. :)

[snippy_about_it]

During the Kosovo campaign it was resurrected and passed around among some more senior officers.

Good morning mark502inf. Thank you for sharing this information at the Foxhole today.

[snippy_about_it]

Good morning feather.

[snippy_about_it]

Good morning EGC. We salute our veterans every day but it never hurts to shout it from the rooftops!

We'll see you here Tuesday as we come together on the thread to thank our living veterans and remember those who no longer with us.

[snippy_about_it]

I cannot imagine watching a cannonball fly slow enough to sidestep.

Wasn't that something to read? Just stepped aside. Wow.

Good morning Darksheare.

[snippy_about_it]

Good morning aomagrat.

I've lost count now of how many ships we sent to Vera Cruz. It must have been quite a show of the fleet off the coast of Mexico.


Off topic but I just couldn't pass up the Mississippi's sponser, Miss M.C. Money, daughter of Senator H. P. Money of Mississippi. A politician named Money. LOL. Ok. I can just hear the line, "I married money" as a joke among this family.

[snippy_about_it]

1989 The Berlin Wall is opened after dividing the city for 28 years.

Thank you President Reagan.

Remarks at the Brandenburg Gate - West Berlin, Germany - June 12, 1987

This speech was delivered to the people of West Berlin, yet it was also audible on the East side of the Berlin wall.

Excerpt;

"General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall! "