The FReeper Foxhole Remembers The Battle of Prairie Grove (12/7/1862) - Mar 18th, 2004

Rugged and Sublime: The Civil War in Arkansas ^

[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 Battle of Prairie Grove

Since the beginning of 1862, the Confederates had only reacted to Federal moves, but Hindman was greatly encouraged by what he saw as his success in forcing Curtis away from Little Rock. He convinced Holmes to allow him to seize the strategic initiative in northwestern Arkansas and southwestern Missouri. At Fort Smith Hindman struggled to train and equip the recruits and unwilling conscripts that made up the First Corps. Progress was excruciatingly slow because arms, ammunition, clothing, equipment, wagons, draft animals, and food were in short supply. Hindman grew impatient and led a small force into southwestern Missouri. He had barely established his headquarters in Pineville, Missouri, before Holmes called him to Little Rock for a conference. In mid-September Hindman reluctantly returned to Arkansas and left Brig. Gen. James S. Rains in command in Missouri.

As luck would have it, Holmes recalled Hindman at the worst possible moment. On September 19 Curtis, now a major general, succeeded Halleck as commander of the Department of the Missouri; Steele in turn succeeded Curtis as commander of the Federal garrison at Helena. In surveying the situation from his new headquarters in St. Louis, Curtis immediately noted Hindman's presence in the state. Curtis had swept Price's army out of southwestern Missouri eight months earlier, and he was absolutely determined to prevent the Confederates from reestablishing themselves in that region. He directed his principal subordinate, Brig. Gen. John M. Schofield, to clean the Rebels out of Missouri once and for all. In effect, Curtis gave Schofield the same task Halleck had assigned Curtis the previous December. The primary difference was that after Pea Ridge the focus of the war in the TransMississippi had shifted eastward to the banks of the Mississippi River, where the titanic struggle for Vicksburg was underway. The resources available to both sides to carry out major military operations on the frontier were smaller than at the beginning of the year. Another difference was that Schofield had much less military ability than Curtis.

Schofield hastily gathered together a composite force that he called the Army of the Frontier. After several weeks of confused campaigning during which both Schofield and Rains demonstrated their incapacity for independent command, the Federals finally pushed the scattered Confederate detachments back into Arkansas and the Indian Territory. The Army of the Frontier entered northwestern Arkansas on October 18 and briefly occupied Fayetteville, Bentonville, and Cross Hollows. The only engagement of note in or near Arkansas occurred just west of Maysville on October 22 when Brig. Gen. James G. Blunt's Federal division attacked and routed a small force of Confederate Indians commanded by Col. Douglas H. Cooper.



Early in November Schofield fell back to Springfield with two of his three divisions, but left Blunt's division in the northwestern corner of Arkansas. On November 20 Schofield became ill and returned to St. Louis. Command of the scattered Army of the Frontier passed to Blunt, a self-confident and aggressive amateur soldier from Kansas. Emboldened by his success at Maysville, Blunt led his division south down the Military Road that ran along the border between Arkansas and the Indian Territory. The other two Federal divisions, commanded by Brig. Gen. Francis J. Herron of Pea Ridge fame, remained near Springfield. By the end of November, the main components of the Army of the Frontier were dangerously far apart.

Hindman returned to Fort Smith and learned of the inviting disposition of the Army of the Frontier. He decided to try to cross the Boston Mountains undetected and overwhelm Blunt's isolated division before Herron could react. If everything turned out as he hoped, the road to Missouri would be open once again. Back in Little Rock, Holmes continued to be extremely concerned about the danger of a Federal offensive from the east. His anxiety mounted when Confederate authorities in Richmond urged him to send ten thousand men to Vicksburg at once. Then he learned of Hindman's bold plan to march north. It was all too much for Holmes; he refused to allow any of his troops to leave Arkansas. "The invasion of Missouri is interdicted," he told Hindman, "so make your arrangements to give up that darling project." Hindman assured Holmes that the planned attack on Blunt was a limited offensive that did not presage an invasion of Missouri and that regardless of the outcome of the operation he would return to Fort Smith. Considering Hindman's nature, and his disdain for the ineffectual Holmes, Hindman may not have been entirely honest.


Gen. Thomas C. Hindman

The initial phase of the Confederate offensive did not go as planned. Brig. Gen. John S. Marmaduke led a cavalry force of about two thousand men across the Boston Mountains to distract Blunt and to screen Hindman's advance. To Marmaduke's surprise, Blunt rushed forward to meet him with a force of five thousand men and thirty cannons. The two unequal columns collided on November 28 at Cane Hill. The Federals used flanking maneuvers and superior artillery to drive the Confederates from one position after another. The nine-hour running fight swept across twelve miles of forested ridges and valleys. As was often the case in the Civil War when mobile mounted forces were engaged, casualties were light: the Federals lost nine killed, thirty-two wounded, and a small number missing; Confederate losses were slightly higher.



Marmaduke was pushed back across the Boston Mountains to Dripping Springs before Hindman could ferry the main body of his army across the Arkansas River from Fort Smith to Van Buren. Hindman was not particularly upset, however, because he realized that the engagement at Cane Hill had drawn the aggressive Blunt thirty-five miles deeper into Arkansas. Blunt's division now was located at the northern edge of the Boston Mountains, nearly one hundred miles from Herron's two divisions near Springfield, but only thirty miles from Hindman's army at Van Buren. Blunt was more vulnerable than ever and Hindman believed it was imperative that the Confederates take advantage of this extraordinary opportunity.



On December 3, Hindman led the eleven thousand men and twenty-two cannons of the First Corps of the Army of the Trans-Mississippi north toward the Boston Mountains. The ragged Rebels who tramped out of Van Buren exemplified Van Dorn's crippling legacy to the Trans-Mississippi: the First Corps was a makeshift army thrown together and rushed into battle without adequate training and equipment. Many men were conscripts of dubious reliability. They were armed with a reasonably effective mix of rifles, smoothbores, and shotguns, but they carried only enough ammunition for a single day of combat. The artillery was unimpressive even by Confederate standards. Draft animals were emaciated due to a lack of forage, and the small number of rickety wagons that composed the train could not support the army in the field for more than a few days.

Hindman was optimistic despite the obvious weaknesses in his command. His plan was simple: Marmaduke would advance across the Boston Mountains once again and create a diversion by threatening Cane Hill from the south. With Blunt's attention fixed on Marmaduke, Hindman and the main body of the First Corps would swing around Blunt's left flank and strike him from the east. The Federals would be overwhelmed on the spot or be driven into the wilderness of the Indian Territory, where they would be without hope of supply or succor. It was a sound plan on paper, but it demanded a great deal of inexperienced officers and men and relied heavily on an extremely fragile logistical system. Thus began the final Confederate offensive in northwestern Arkansas.



Blunt was headstrong and belligerent, but he was no fool. He realized that his advanced position practically invited an attack, so he kept a close watch on Confederate activity in western Arkansas. On December 2, the day before the First Corps marched out of Van Buren, Blunt concluded that something was afoot. He telegraphed Herron to march immediately to his support. Despite the gravity of the situation, Blunt did not fall back toward Missouri. Instead, he placed his troops in defensive positions around Cane Hill and prepared for a fight. Three days passed as the anxious Federals waited for the slow-moving Confederate column to cross the Boston Mountains.

On December 6, Marmaduke's cavalry finally emerged from Cove Creek Valley and clashed with Federal cavalry near Reed's Mountain. While this noisy diversion was in progress, Hindman led his infantry and artillery around to the east of Cane Hill. The Confederates inched forward at an agonizingly slow pace, hampered by fatigue, confusion, primitive roads, failing draft animals, and disintegrating wagons and artillery vehicles. Nevertheless, events generally were unfolding according to plan, if not on schedule. Then, during the night of December 6-7, Hindman learned that Herron had left Springfield with his entire force and was hastening to Blunt's relief on Telegraph Road. Hindman realized he could not attack Blunt from the east and expose his rear to Herron. He decided instead to move around Blunt's left as originally planned, but to continue north and intercept Herron before he could reach Cane Hill. He intended to defeat Herron somewhere near Fayetteville, then turn back and deal with Blunt.


Gen. John S. Marmaduke

The hastily revised plan required Hindman's Confederates to march farther and faster than originally anticipated. It also ignored the fact that they did not have enough ammunition to fight two battles. Finally, it meant that most of Marmaduke's cavalry would have to accompany the main body, leaving only a small force near Reed's Mountain to keep Blunt occupied. Hindman was not averse to taking risks. Now, as so often before in his civilian and military career, he would attempt to accomplish much with little.

[SAMWolf]

Early the next morning, December 7, the Confederates struck out across the rolling terrain north of the Boston Mountains, giving a wide berth to Blunt's position at Cane Hill. The troops moved so slowly even Hindman reported that it was painful to observe the exhaustion of the men. Straggling became epidemic, and the train fell far behind. Shortly after sunrise Marmaduke's cavalry division, riding several miles ahead of the sluggish infantry, encountered a small Federal cavalry force near the Illinois River (west of present-day Farmington). The Federals were the vanguard of Herron's column. They were easily routed and retreated in disorder to the outskirts of Fayetteville, where they reached the safety of Herron's main body.



The presence of Herron's two divisions at Fayetteville at that day and hour was nothing short of miraculous. Herron received Blunt's message late on December 3 and placed his troops in motion on Telegraph Road early the next morning. During the next three days, the Federals marched a hundred and ten miles-an average of almost thirty-five miles per day. Some units covered the final sixty-six miles in only thirty hours. The march was one of the extraordinary events of the war and an epic of human endurance. Not every one of Herron's men was able to maintain the furious pace, however. About seven thousand Federal soldiers set out at the beginning of the march but only half that number were on their feet at the end. Hundreds of those feet were bare, for many men either wore out their shoes along the way or found it more comfortable to do without them. Fortunately for both sides, the weather throughout the campaign was unseasonably mild for December. Herron's attenuated column reached Fayetteville during the night of December 6-7, halted for a brief rest, then moved on at sunrise and encountered Marmaduke's cavalry.



Marmaduke fell back before the inexorable advance of Herron' s weary, footsore infantry. Ten miles west of Fayetteville the Confederate cavalry retired across the Illinois River and ascended a low wooded hill surrounded by rolling grasslands. Atop the hill was a modest structure known as Prairie Grove Presbyterian Church. Marmaduke halted to await the arrival of the rest of the First Corps, which slowly came up from the south and deployed along the hill facing north. By this stage of the campaign, the Confederates had suffered considerable attrition as well, and the First Corps probably consisted of fewer than nine thousand men. Hindman reached Prairie Grove at mid-morning with the intention of attacking Herron's force, but his men trickled in so slowly it would be afternoon before he had sufficient strength to do the job. Then his scouts reported that Blunt was stirring at Cane Hill and preparing to march. The Confederate commander was almost as worn out as his soldiers, and this latest information seemed to deflate him. Afraid that if he went after Herron, Blunt would strike him in the rear, Hindman simply stopped at Prairie Grove, unable to decide upon an appropriate course of action in this crisis.


Brig. Gen. Francis J. Herron

Hindman first attempted to attack Blunt at Cane Hill before Herron arrived in support, then he attempted to attack Herron at Fayetteville before Blunt realized what was happening. Both efforts failed because of Herron's alacrity and Hindman's unrealistic expectations of what his army could accomplish. Now the tired, hungry, and poorly equipped Confederates were between two converging Federal forces whose combined strength was roughly equal to their own. And those Federal forces were led by two of the most combative officers in the Department of the Missouri. The coming battle would determine whether the First Corps of the Army of the Trans-Mississippi would survive to return to Van Buren.



During the morning of December 7, Herron and his two shrunken divisions forded the Illinois River and deployed on Crawford's Prairie opposite the Confederate right. Herron was outnumbered better than two to one and his line was less than half as long as the Confederate line. Moreover, his men-the thirty-five hundred or so who were still with him-were hardly in the best condition for a grueling fight. Undaunted, Herron ordered his twenty-four rifled cannons into action against the lighter Confederate artillery planted on the forward slope of the hill. Around ten o'clock the Federal artillery roared to life and began "Spitting Fire and Smoke Shell and Shot in to the Secesh Ranks." The bombardment lasted two hours. By noon all of the Confederate guns on Hindman's right had been disabled or abandoned, and most of the Confederate infantry and dismounted cavalry had taken cover on the reverse slope of the hill. The devastating bombardment was another stunning demonstration of the superiority of Federal artillery in the Trans-Mississippi.



When the Confederate batteries fell silent and the infantry disappeared from sight, Herron mistakenly assumed that the Confederates had retreated. He ordered four small regiments forward. The Federals advanced across Crawford's Prairie and up the wooded slope, easily overrunning an abandoned Rebel battery. They continued on past Archibald Borden's house and reached an orchard on the crest of the hill. There they were met by a furious counterattack and "a perfect hail storm of bullets" from two divisions of Confederate troops commanded by Marmaduke and Brig. Gen. Francis A. Shoup. Half of the Federals were killed or wounded within minutes. The Rebels then advanced from three sides and drove the surviving Federals back down the hill in disarray. "As we came off the field the bullets were flying seemingly as thick as hail and nearly every one was struck either in his person or clothing," wrote an Indiana soldier. "I was one of three in my company who did not receive a mark of a bullet." Wildly yelling Confederates, barely under the control of their officers, swept down the slope and across the prairie after the fleeing Federals, only to be cut down in heaps by Herron's artillery.



Despite the bloody repulse of the spontaneous Confederate counterattack on Crawford's Prairie, Hindman saw his chance. With the Federal infantry decimated by the slaughter around the Borden house on the Confederate right, he had only to wheel forward his center and left and overwhelm Herron's command. A quick decisive victory might be possible after all. It was mid-afternoon, however, before the Confederates advanced down the slope toward the prairie. As they commenced the maneuvers required to swing around to approach Herron's position, they were struck by artillery fire from the northwest. Blunt's division was on the field.



Blunt passed most of the morning at Cane Hill wondering why Hindman did not attack. When he heard the roar of artillery in the direction of Fayetteville, he belatedly realized that Hindman had gotten around his flank and intercepted Herron. Furious at having been fooled, Blunt immediately marched toward the sound of the guns. It was fortunate for the Union cause in the Trans-Mississippi that he did so, for he arrived on the battlefield in the nick of time. Blunt's division deployed opposite Brig. Gen. Daniel M. Frost's division on the Confederate left, which was just beginning to move toward Herron. Blunt unleashed his artillery against the surprised Confederates and drove them back to the hill. He then sent his fresh infantry forward. Severe fighting raged around the William Morton house at the base of the hill, but the Federals were unable to dislodge the numerically superior Confederates and eventually fell back. Frost's men sensed victory and pursued the Federals onto the prairie, but were "mowed down like grass with canister and grape" from Blunt's massed artillery. The bloody repulse of the Confederate counterattack was a reprise of what had occurred a few hours earlier on Herron's part of the battlefield. Confederate survivors retreated back up the wooded slope and remained there for the duration of the battle. Late in the afternoon, Blunt and Herron made contact and thereafter presented a continuous front to the enemy. Neither army was able to dislodge the other and there were no more major assaults, though artillery fire and volleys of musketry raged along the line until dark.



During the night of December 7-8, Blunt ordered up three thousand cavalrymen whom he had held in reserve at Rhea's Mill to guard his train. Hundreds of footsore but determined Federal stragglers, barefoot or otherwise, limped in from Missouri and rejoined Herron. Hindman had no reserves to call upon, and his stragglers either deserted or drifted back to Van Buren. Moreover, his artillery had been devastated, his train was miles to the rear, and his men were low on ammunition and out of food. There was nothing to do but withdraw under cover of darkness. The weary soldiers of the battered First Corps quietly slipped away from the battlefield, leaving behind their dead and most of their wounded. They trudged back across the Boston Mountains and reached Van Buren on December 10, a pathetic remnant of a ragtag army.

[SAMWolf]

If Pea Ridge was an extended boxing match in which the combatants weaved and jabbed, Prairie Grove was a short, brutal, slugging match in which the two sides traded direct frontal assaults until both were exhausted. "For the forces engaged, there was no more stubborn fight and no greater casualties in any battle of the war than at Prairie Grove, Arkansas," declared a Federal officer. He was correct. The toll for both sides was severe. The Federals went into battle with fewer than 8,000 men and suffered 1,261 casualties: 175 killed, 813 wounded, and 263 missing. Most of the losses occurred in the terrible fighting around the Borden house. Confederate numbers are problematic, as always. The Confederates had no more than 9,000 men on the battlefield and suffered at least 1,317 casualties: 164 killed, 817 wounded, and 336 missing. Actual Rebel losses almost certainly were higher. A reasonable conclusion is that each army lost over 15 percent of the troops engaged. In addition to men struck down in the battle, the Confederates experienced serious desertion of conscripts during the campaign. Several hundred of these deserters, mostly northern Arkansans who opposed secession, changed sides after the battle and enrolled in Arkansas Union regiments.



In late December Blunt learned that Schofield had recovered his health and was on his way to resume command of the Army of the Frontier. For several weeks Blunt had toyed with the idea of a raid to the Arkansas River. He believed that such an operation would disrupt the Confederate logistical base at Fort Smith and Van Buren and make it impossible for Hindman to launch another campaign into northwestern Arkansas or southwestern Missouri in the foreseeable future. Blunt feared that the ambitious but inept Schofield would shoulder him aside and fritter away this opportunity. After conferring with Herron, who enthusiastically supported the plan, Blunt decided to act while he still commanded the Army of the Frontier.


Jesse James

On December 27 Blunt and Herron led eight thousand men and thirty cannons on a rapid march across the Boston Mountains. The Federals made surprisingly good time on the primitive roads that had caused the Confederates so much grief. They stormed into Van Buren the next day, capturing over one hundred surprised Rebels and scattering hundreds more in all directions. The Federals looted the town, destroyed three steamboats and a ferry, and burned a large amount of food and military stores. Hindman had only about five thousand troops in the vicinity, most of them just across the river in Fort Smith. He now regarded Blunt and Herron as formidable opponents and had no desire to tangle with them again so soon after Prairie Grove. He burned two Steamboats at Fort Smith and hastened down the south bank of the Arkansas River toward Clarksville with what remained of the First Corps. The Confederate exodus was so abrupt that between three and four thousand Rebels were left behind in Fort Smith hospitals. As it turned out, Blunt made no attempt to cross the river and reach Fort Smith. He withdrew from Van Buren on December 29, his objective achieved. The Army of the Frontier recrossed the Boston Mountains and returned to its camps in northwestern Arkansas two days later. The Prairie Grove campaign was over.



The course of events in northwestern Arkansas during the fall of 1862 was another unmitigated disaster for the Trans-Mississippi Confederacy. Hindman's First Corps fought Blunt's Army of the Frontier to a costly tactical draw at Prairie Grove, but the purpose of Hindman's offensive was to destroy Blunt's isolated division and recover northwestern Arkansas and southwestern Missouri. None of these strategic objectives was achieved. The First Corps, assembled at such enormous cost in time, energy, and resources, was devastated and its men dispirited. Prairie Grove also cost the Federals dearly, but they succeeded in turning back the Confederates and defending the strategic gains made earlier in the year.

Additional Sources:

skyways.lib.ks.us
www.swcivilwar.com
stellar-one.com
www.usgennet.org
freepages.military.rootsweb.com
www.oldgloryprints.com
www.cnn.com
www.cwea.net
www.geocities.com/civil_war_anderson
www.carrollscorner.net
rubengusman.tripod.com
www.sacramentocwrt.com

[SAMWolf]

Memorable Incidents.

The first units engaged were a new regiment of Arkansas Unionists and a blueclad rebel force of Missouri partisans that included Frank and Jesse James.

By some accounts, the conscripted ranks of entire Confederate regiments disappeared into the woods during this battle.

At the height of the battle, Confederates charged almost literally into the cannon's mouth as Blunt's artillery concentrated to the front of his line.

Union burial parties reported that many of the Confederate dead upon the field still carried their musket balls in their pockets, indicating that they had chosen to load only their powder rather than to assist the secessionist cause.

Significance.

The Confederate counteroffensive not only failed to turn back the Union advances but cost troops sorely needed for the relief of Vicksburg.

The Song of Prairie Grove
By John N. Wyatt, 19th Iowa Infantry

Come all you sons of Ioway and listen to my song.
If you will pay attention, I'll not detain you long.
It was of a gallant charge that we made at Prairie Grove
Against the Southern forces, where every member strove.

Our officers being brave, they led us with good will.
And though we were outnumbered, we charged them up the hill.
And volley after volley we made our shots to tell,
Till our brave Lieutenant Colonel and Sergeant Major fell.

Through fields of blood we waded, then cannon loud did roar.
And many a brave commander lay bleeding in his gore.
And heaps of mangled soldiers lay o'er the field that day
That were the killed or wounded, of the 19th Ioway.

They had us so outnumbered that we thought they'd gain the day;
But then old Blunt's artillery over them began to play,
Which caused such dreadful horror, it put them all to flight,
And they withdrew their forces under cover of the night.

Next morning we were sorry to see the Rebels' wives
Hunting their dead husbands, with melancholy cries,
And sisters finding brothers, they wrung their hands and cried,
Saying, “Dear dead bloody brothers, for Southern rights you died.”

Now the battle is all over and our soldiers rest from toil.
So carefully we placed our dead beneath the Southern soil.
We placed them all in order, as formed on dress parade,
And placed a board at each man's head to mark where he was laid

[SAMWolf]

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[snippy_about_it]

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Good Thursday Morning Everyone

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

[E.G.C.]

Good morning, Snippy and everyone at the Freeper Foxhole.

Congradulations to OU on their win over LSU at the NIT. Good luck to OSU in the NCAA first round.

[Aeronaut]

Good morning Snippy.

Brunelli "Carisi" (1915)

[snippy_about_it]

Thanks Sam for todays thread.

Next morning we were sorry to see the Rebels' wives
Hunting their dead husbands, with melancholy cries,
And sisters finding brothers, they wrung their hands and cried,
Saying, “Dear dead bloody brothers, for Southern rights you died.”

Good poem by the Iowa soldier.

Every wbts battle is a sad one, imo.

[The Mayor]

Oh, that you would be silent, and it would be your wisdom! —Job 13:5

Listening may be the most loving thing you do today.

[snippy_about_it]

Good morning EGC. Rain and low 40's here today.

[snippy_about_it]

Good morning Aeronaut. I think the back half of that plane is missing. ;-)

[snippy_about_it]

Good morning Mayor. We thought about you when we heard about all that snow. Do you expect a quick melt?

[The Mayor]

14 inches, sometimes it seems winter will never end.

It is snowing again now. Quick melt?
according to the forecast it is only suppose to be in the
20's today and low 30 for the next 5 days.

I saw alot of this..Roads were really dangerous..

[Valin]

On This Day In History


Birthdates which occurred on March 18:
1483 Raphael painter (Sistine Madonna)
1609 Frederick III king of Denmark & Norway (1648-70), absolutist
1765 David H Chassé Dutch baron/General (fought Napoleon at Waterloo)
1782 John Caldwell Calhoun Abbeville SC, Andrew Jackson's Vice President (1829-37)
1829 William Robertson Boggs Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1911
1837 [Stephen] Grover Cleveland Caldwell NJ, 22nd & 24th President (1885-1889, 1893-1897)
1839 Francis Fessenden Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1906
1844 Nicolai Andreevich Rimski-Korsakov Tikhvin Russia, composer (Flight of the Bumble Bee, Scheherazade)
1858 Rudolph C K Diesel German engineer (Diesel motor)
1869 [Arthur] Neville Chamberlain British Prime Minister (C, 1937-40)
1886 Edward Everett Horton Brooklyn NY, actor/narrator (Bullwinkle Show)
1893 Wilfred Owen England, anti-war poet (Anthem for Doomed Youth)
1899 Lavrenti Beria chief of Soviet secret police under Stalin
1906 Roy L Johnson US Admiral (WWII-Pacific Ocean)
1911 Smiley Burnette Summum IL, cowboy (Charlie-Petticoat Junction)

1920 John Paul II [Karol Wojtyla], Poland, Pope (1978- )

1925 Peter Graves Minneapolis MN, actor (James Phelps-Mission Impossible, Airplane)
1927 George Plimpton New York NY, sports writer (Paper Lion)
1928 Fidel V Ramos President (Philippines)
1932 F[rederik] W[illem] de Klerk President South Africa (1989-94)
1932 John Updike Shillington PA, poet/novelist (A Month of Sundays, Brazil, The Centaur, Rabbit Run)
1933 Unita Blackwell 1st black mayor in Mississippi
1937 Mark Donohue auto racer (1972 Indianapolis 500)
1938 Charley Pride Sledge MS, country singer (Just Between You And Me, Sweet Country)
1941 Wilson Pickett Prattville AL, R&B singer (Funky Broadway)
1943 Kevin Dobson Jackson Heights NY, actor (Kojak, Knots Landing, Shannon)
1946 Michael Reagan talk show host, Ronald's son
1949 Alex "Hurricane" Higgins Irish snooker player (2X world-champion)
1950 John Hartman Falls Church VA, rock drummer (Doobie Brothers-Taking it to the Streets)
1953 Margaret L Augustine Buffalo NY, project manager (Biosphere 2)
1954 James F Reilly II Mount Home AFB ID, PhD/astronaut (STS 89)
1956 "The Model" Rick Martel [Richard Vignault], wrestler (WWF/AWA)
1963 Vanessa L Williams Tarrytown NY, 1st black Miss America (1984)/singer (Colors of the Wind)/actress (Eraser)
1964 Bonnie Blair Champaign IL, speed skater (Olympics-5 gold/bronze-88, 92, 94)
1970 Queen Latifah [Dana Owens] Newark NJ, rap singer/actress (Khadijah James-Living Single)

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Deaths which occurred on March 18:
978 St Edward the Martyr king of Anglo-Saxons (975-78) dies
0235 Marcus Aurelius Alexander Syrian emperor of Rome (222-235), murdered
1227 Honorius III [Cencio Savelli], Pope (1216-27), dies
1314 Jacques De Molay the last grand master of Order of Knights, dies
1582 Jean Jaurequi Basque murderer of Willem of Orange, lynched
1584 Ivan IV the terrible, Russian tsar (1547-84), dies at 53
1745 Robert Walpole 1st English premier (1722-42), dies at 68
1882 Morgan Earp brother of Wyatt Earp, shot and killed while playing billiards in Tombstone
1913 George I king of Greece (1861-1913), assassinated by Schinas at 67
1964 Norbert Wiener US mathematician (cybernetics), dies at 69
1965 Farouk I last King of Egypt (1936-52), dies at 45
1980 Erich Fromm German/US psychoanalyst, dies at 79
1983 Umberto of Piemonte King Umberto II of Italy (1946), dies
1984 Charlie Lau White Sox coach/renowned hitting instructor, dies at 50
1986 Bernard Malamud US writer (Fixer, Natural), dies at 71
1987 Bil Baird puppeteer (Jack Paar Show), dies at 82
1995 Frederic Ramsey Jr folklorist/author, dies at 80
1995 Heinrich Sutermeister Swiss composer (Raskolnikov), dies at 84
1997 Willem de Kooning (abstract artist) dead Alzheimer's at 92

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Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1966 DAVIS BRENT E.---SANTA CLARA CA.
[REMAINS RETURNED 12/30/97]
1966 MC PHERSON EVERETT A.---NORFOLK VA.
1967 MORRILL DAVID WHITTIER---SAN CARLOS CA.
1967 PARKER MAXIM CHARLES---ROLLINGS HILLS CA.
1968 DUNN JOHN G.
[02/12/73 RELEASED BY PRG,ALIVE IN 98]
1968 RAY JAMES M.---WOONSOCKET RI.
1968 SWITZER JERROLD A.---PARIS IL.
1968 WILLIAMS HOWARD KEITH---STUBENVILLE OH.
[REMAINS IDENTIFIED 26 FEB 92]
1969 MURPHY BARRY D.---CUTLER RIDGE FL.
1971 BOFFMAN ALAN B.---NORFOLK VA.
[REMAINS RETURNED 1/90, ID 7/90]
1971 BRANDT KEITH A.---BELLINGHAM WA.
[REMAINS RETURNED 1/90, ID 7/90]

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

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On this day...
0417 St Zosimus begins his reign as Catholic Pope
0731 St Gregory III begins his reign as Catholic Pope
1123 1st Latern Council (9th ecumenical council) opens in Rome
1167 Battle of El-Babein, Egypt: Franks under Amalrik vs Syrians
1190 Crusaders kill 57 Jews in Bury St Edmonds England
1229 German emperor Frederick II crowns himself king of Jerusalem
1532 English parliament bans payments by English church to Rome
1543 Hernan de Soto observes 1st recorded flood in America (Mississippi River)
1673 Lord Berkley sells his half of New Jersey to the Quakers
1766 British Parliament reinstitutes the Stamp Act
1773 Oliver Goldsmith' "She Stoops to Conquer" premieres in London
1813 David Melville, Newport RI, patents apparatus for making coal gas
1818 Congress approves 1st pensions for government service
1834 1st railroad tunnel in US completed, in Pennsylvania (275 meter long)
1850 Henry Wells & William Fargo forms American Express in Buffalo
1865 Battle of Wilson's raid to Selma AL
1865 Congress of Confederate States of American adjourns for last time
1870 1st US National Wildlife Preserve (Lake Meritt in Oakland CA)
1877 President Hayes appoints Frederick Douglass marshal of Washington DC
1881 [PT] Barnum & [James A] Bailey's Greatest Show on Earth opens (Madison Square Garden)
1890 1st US state naval militia organized (Massachusetts)
1891 Britain is linked to the continent by Telephone
1892 Lord Stanley proposes silver challenge cup for hockey (Stanley Cup)
1895 200 blacks leave Savannah GA for Liberia
1899 Phoebe, a moon of Saturn is discovered by Pickering
1902 Enrico Caruso becomes 1st well-known performer to make a record
1911 North Dakota enacts a hail insurance law
1915 Failed British attack in Dardanelles
1915 French battleship Bouvet explodes, 640 killed
1915 Turkey's Canakkale (Trojan) Sea Victory against allied powers(USA, Australia, England, Italy) during First World War
1919 Order of DeMolay is established in Kansas City
1920 Greece adopts the Gregorian calendar
1922 1st intercollegiate indoor polo championship (Princeton vs Yale)
1922 British magistrates in India sentence Mohandas K Gandhi to 6 years for disobedience
1925 (8) 60-MPH tornadoes speed through Missouri, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, & Tennessee killing 689
1930 Pluto discovered by Clyde Tombaugh (US)
1931 1st electric shavers go on sale in US (Schick)
1937 Gas explosion in school in New London TX; 296 die
1938 New York 1st requires serological blood tests of pregnant women
1938 President Cardena of Mexico nationalizes US & British oil companies
1940 Mussolini joins Hitler in Germany's war against France & Britain
1942 2 black players, Jackie Robinson & Nate Moreland, request a tryout with the Chicago White Sox, they are allowed to work out
1943 Red Army evacuates Belgorod
1944 2,500 women trample guards & floorwalkers to purchase 1,500 alarm clocks announced for sale in a Chicago IL department store
1944 Nazi Germany occupies Hungary
1945 1,250 US bombers attacks Berlin
1945 Maurice "Rocket" Richard becomes the 1st NHLer to score 50 goals
1948 France & Great Britain & Benelux sign Treaty of Brussels
1948 Philips begin experimental TV broadcasting
1949 NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) ratified
1949 WGAL TV channel 8 in Lancaster PA (NBC) begins broadcasting
1952 1st plastic lens for cataract patients fitted (Philadelphia)
1952 Communist offensive in Korea
1953 Earthquake strikes West Turkey, 250 die
1953 KGNC (now KAMR) TV channel 4 in Amarillo TX (NBC) begins broadcasting
1953 National League approves Boston Braves move to Milwaukee (1st shift since 1903)
1959 President Dwight D Eisenhower signs Hawaii statehood bill
1961 Poppin' Fresh Pillsbury Dough Boy introduced
1962 Algerian War ends after 7½ years of fighting (250,000 die), Ben Bella flees
1963 Supreme Court's Miranda Decision: defendants must have lawyers
1965 Rolling Stones fined £5 each for public urination
1965 USSR launches Voshkod 2; Alexei Leonov makes 1st spacewalk (20 minutes)
1966 General Suharto forms government in Indonesia
1966 Scott Paper begins selling paper dresses for $1
1967 Beatles' "Penny Lane" single goes #1
1967 Oil tanker Torrey Canyon hits a rock off the Isles of Scilly Cornwall UK & spills oil
1968 Congress repeals requirement for a gold reserve
1970 Cambodia military coup under General Lon Nol, prince Sihanuk flees
1970 Mail service paralyzed by 1st major postal strike
1970 NFL selects Wilson as official football & scoreboard as official time
1972 People's Rebublic of China performs nuclear test at Lop Nor People's Rebublic of China
1974 Most Arab oil producing nations end embargo against US
1975 Kurds end fight against Iraqi army
1977 US restricts citizens from visiting Cuba, Vietnam, N Korea & Cambodia
1977 Vietnam hands over MIA to US
1978 250,000 attend rock concert California Jam II in Ontario CA
1978 Pakistani former premier Ali Bhutto sentenced to death
1979 Battles between Kurds & Iranians break in Sananday Iran
1980 Vostok rocket exploded on launch pad while being refueled, killing 50
1985 Baseball Commissioner Peter Ueberroth reinstates Willie Mays & Mickey Mantle
1985 Capital Cities Communications Inc acquires ABC
1986 Treasury Department announces plans to alter paper money
1987 Gerber survey find most popular names for newborns (Jessica & Matthew)
1989 Dino Ciccarelli sets Washington Capital record of 7 points in a game
1989 Investor group led by George W Bush & Edward W Rose purchases controlling interest of Texas Rangers
1990 1st free elections in German Democratic Republic, Conservatives beat Communists
1990 32-day lockout by baseball owners ends
1990 Largest Art robbery in the history (Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston), where 12 paintings valued at $100 million are stolen
1990 Loyola Marymount beats Michigan Wolverines 149-115, highest NCAA score
1991 Philadelphia '76ers retire Wilt Chamberlain's #13 jersey
1992 Leona Helmsley sentence to 4 years for tax evasion
1994 Space shuttle STS-62 (Columbia 16), lands
1994 Zsa Zsa Gabor files for bankruptcy
1995 Michael Jordan announces he is ending his 17 month NBA retirement
1995 STS 67 (Endeavour 8) lands after 16½ days
1996 50,000 swimmers raise 15 million for charity during BT's Swimathon '96

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

Aruba, Haiti : Flag Day/National Holiday
Haiti : University Day
Ireland : Sheelah's Day
Wilmington NC : Peanut Festival
Masons : De Molay Day (1314)
US : Take Our Sons To Work Day
US : Postal Workers Stress Syndrome Day
US : Daffodil Days (Day 5)
National Furniture Refinishing Month

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Religious Observances
Christian : St Anselm
Roman Catholic, Anglican : Memorial of St Cyril of Jerusalem, bishop & doctor (optional)

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Religious History
1123 The First Lateran Council opened in Rome. It was the Ninth Ecumenical Council, and the first one to be held in the West. Lateran I settled the right of investiture (i.e., the right to choose replacement clergy) by a treaty between Pope Calixtus II and Holy Roman Emperor Henry V.
1314 39 French Knights Templars were burned at the stake. Most church history experts agree that these and other hostilities shown against the Knights Templars were caused by the greed and cunning of Philip the Fair, who sought the great wealth this medieval military religious order had amassed in the enturies following the Crusades.
1673 Lord Berkeley of England sold his half of the American colony of New Jersey to the Quakers.
1767 Anglican clergyman and hymn writer John Newton wrote in a letter: 'The more you know him, the better you will trust him; the more you trust him, the better you will love him; the more you love him, the better you will serve him.'
1861 The Metropolitan Tabernacle first opened in London. It was the church at which famed English Baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon pastored.

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

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Thought for the day :
"It may be that all games are silly. But then, so are humans."

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Hallmark cards that never made it...
Your friends and I wanted to do something really special
for your birthday....
(inside card)
So we're having you put to sleep.

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New State Slogans...
Florida: Ask Us About Our Grandkids

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Male Language Patterns...
"That's interesting, dear," REALLY MEANS, "Are you still talking?"

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Female Language Patterns...
"Oh"
This word -- followed by any statement -- is trouble. Example;
"Oh, let me get that". Or, "Oh, I talked to him about what you were doing last night."
If she says "Oh" before a statement,RUN, do not walk, to the nearest exit.
"Oh as the lead to a sentence usually signifies that you are caught in a lie. Do not try to lie more to get out of it, or you will get a raised eyebrows "Go ahead," sometimes followed by acts so unspeakable that I can't bring myself to write about them.

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I'm Valin and I approve of this posting.

[snippy_about_it]

Be careful out there.

[snippy_about_it]

Female Language Patterns...

Oh, so now you're giving away our secrets, go ahead....

:-)

[Johnny Gage]

Got a good dusting again last night, and it's misting/drizzling this morning.

If it was 5 degress cooler, we'd have a bunch more snow too.

[Soaring Feather]

Good morning everyone in The FOXHOLE!!

[Professional Engineer]

Hiya Sam, thanks for the account.

[Professional Engineer]

Howdy ma'am. How're the travels?