The FReeper Foxhole Remembers The Five Forks Campaign(3/29-4/1/1865)

The Battle of Dinwiddie Court House (March 31, 1865)

Sheridan reached Dinwiddie Court House late on the 29th. The events of the day had been so favorable to the Federal operation that Grant told Sheridan that the railroad raid option was no longer in play; the Federal cavalry, with V Corps as support, would swing around Lee's line and finish the job of enclosing Petersburg. Sheridan was to strike north for the vital road junction known as Five Forks, from which position he could easily reach Sutherland Station on the Southside Railroad. Accordingly Sheridan sent one division (Devin) to occupy Five Forks that night, but upon approaching the intersection it was discovered that the Rebels were present and a position was taken up astride the road leading south from Five Forks to Dinwiddie.

Although the Confederates did not know the details of the Federal operation, they knew that possession of Five Forks would give Sheridan a clear road in any of three important directions: east, to the rear of Lee's trench lines along the Boydton Plank Road; north, to the vital Southside Railroad; and, west, to the equally vital Richmond and Danville Railroad. Lee simply could not allow Sheridan to reach Five Forks; the Union cavalry had to be defeated.

Maj. Gen. Phil Sheridan

A heavy rain on March 30th turned the roads into mud and brought a brief halt to the Union advance. On the 31st, Sheridan was to take Five Forks and Warren was to envelop the White Oak Road line on its right, to prevent Lee from using that road to send more troops to oppose Sheridan.

Maj. Gen. George Pickett

However, Pickett and Fitz Lee launched their attack on Sheridan first. The Federal troopers were widely dispersed and had no infantry support, and were forced to give ground, albeit grudgingly. The first attacks came from the west, where Pickett's infantry, reinforced by some of the same troops that had opposed Warren on the 29th, forced a crossing of a stream known as "Chamberlain's Bed" and drove back the single Yankee horse brigade defending the crossing. A similar effort further south was repulsed, but Pickett's success forced the blue troopers to fall back on Dinwiddie Court House. The attack on Five Forks would have to be postponed to deal with the enemy attack. In fact, the force that was supposed to take the vital road junction had to be pulled back in order to delay the advancing Rebel infantry. By early evening, Pickett had swung his force to the right and pushed south, almost to Dinwiddie Court House itself.

Maj. Gen. Fitz Lee

Although this part of the day had been a success for Confederate arms, it needs to be said that Sheridan had fought Pickett for the most part with only four cavalry brigades, parts of two divisions under Thomas Devin and George Crook. Custer's division, which had been in the rear guarding the Cavalry Corps wagon train, rendered support at the end of the day.

Sheridan's immediate comments on the battle were interesting and contrasting. At one point he told Grant that Pickett's force was "too strong for us. I will hold on to Dinwiddie Court-House until I am compelled to leave." Yet in another (later) message he made the cogent observation that the enemy force "is in more danger than I am in --- if I am cut off from the Army of the Potomac, it is cut off from Lee's army, and not a man in it should ever be allowed to get back to Lee. We at last have the enemy's infantry out of its fortifications, and this is our chance to kill it." Whatever the extent of Sheridan's worries for his own position, he clearly was thinking more in terms of doing damage to the enemy than simply saving his own force. But he needed infantry support to accomplish that goal, and that would have to await the next day.

Brig. Gen. Joshua L. Chamberlain

The Battle of Dinwiddie Court House gets little attention in most studies of the siege of Petersburg, no doubt because of the momentous events of the next day. But to ignore this fight is to ignore much of the motivation and context for what happened at Five Forks. Pickett had indeed won something of a victory by pushing Sheridan back, although it is not clear how hard the Federals tried to maintain their position. However, Pickett's advance, while threatening to cut Sheridan off from the Federal main body, also threatened to cut Pickett off from Lee. It was the presence of Pickett and Warren in each other's rear that precipitated much of the controversy about the Battle of Five Forks.

The Battle of White Oak Road (March 31, 1865)

Based on the results of the fighting of March 29th, Grant modified and firmed up the objectives of the operation. Phil Sheridan's cavalry force on the left flank would advance through Five Forks and Sutherland Station to turn Lee's right flank and complete the investment of Petersburg. If Lee was not able to stop Sheridan, his army would be trapped and forced to surrender. To support Sheridan's effort, an infantry corps would be needed; Sheridan asked for the VI Corps, which had served with him in the Shenandoah Valley, but it was too far away to reach him in time. The nearest infantry was V Corps, under the problematical Gouvernor K. Warren.

Accordingly, Warren was assigned to Sheridan and ordered to turn the White Oak Road line on its right (the Federal left). Humphreys with the II Corps would be on Warren's right. The movement was supposed to occur on March 30th, but heavy rains forced a day's delay.

Brig. Gen. Eppa Hunton

After waiting out the rains of March 30th, Warren continued his advance on the morning of the 31st, probing cautiously forward towards the White Oak Road position to turn it on its right. As with almost all of his advances during the siege, it was poorly handled. The corps was deployed in a column of divisions, with Ayres leading, followed by Crawford; Griffin, who had borne the brunt of the fighting on the 29th, was held in reserve. Despite Grant's comment of the night before, that "Warren should get himself strong tonight," neither advancing division had any flank supports, and the force was advancing on a narrow front. In other words, V Corps was a tempting target for just the kind of counterpunch that Robert E. Lee had made his reputation with --- and Lee himself was on the scene to administer the blow. The Rebel commander could no more allow Warren to turn Anderson's flank than he could allow Sheridan to reach Five Forks.

The blow was delivered shortly after 10:30 in the morning, by a motley collection of four Confederate brigades from three different corps (McGowan's Brigade, of Heth's Division in Hill's Third Corps, Hunton's Brigade, in Pickett's Division of Longstreet's First Corps, and Moody's and Wise's Brigades of Bushrod Johnson's Division from Anderson's Fourth Corps), which struck Ayres in front and flank and crumpled his entire division. The fleeing Federals disordered Crawford behind them, who was therefore unable to withstand the continuing attack. In a sad scene indicative of Warren's leadership of the entire last year of the war (one of Meade's staff said of Warren that he was incapable of spreading himself over as much as three divisions), a brief combat of 30 minutes had allowed a force of three Confederate brigades to rout two-thirds of V Corps. (Wise's brigade participated in the advance but was not seriously engaged.) The Federals had advanced almost to the White Oak Road itself when the counterattack was launched, and they were driven back almost to the low ridge where Griffin's division and the Corps artillery had been posted in reserve.

Lt. Gen. Richard H. Anderson

Lee was able to quickly ascertain that his force was not strong enough to follow up the initial success, and so the victorious Rebels were instructed to halt their advance at a small line of entrenchments that Warren had built the previous day. Reversing and strengthening this line, and connecting it to the rest of the Confederate trenches, might be enough to protect the White Oak Road and foil the Federal advance.

William Johnston Pegram

The battle thus settled down into a lull. The Rebels were occupied with improving and consolidating their gains, while the Yankees were rallying their routed brigades. Meanwhile, requests for help had gone to II Corps on Warren's right, and Humphreys accordingly prepared to attack with his left division, under Miles.

Brig. Gen. Samuel McGowan

By about 2:30 Warren was ready to try again. Griffin's division led the way, with Chamberlain's brigade once again in the van of the attack. Crawford's reformed troops were on Griffin's right and Miles was on Crawford's right. Ayres supported Griffin on the left. The initial advance was against only skirmisher opposition, until the new line of Rebel works was reached. Although Chamberlain's line wavered slightly under some telling artillery fire, the Rebels were not able to disrupt the advance and were not able to hold their own position, and retired to their main line of works.

The Federals were not done, however. Chamberlain continued forward and to the left, crossing the White Oak Road in strength (this was about 3:40 p.m.) beyond the Rebel works and then taking up a position in front of the main Rebel line. One Confederate regiment, the 56th Virginia, was trapped outside the works and captured almost entire. Warren was able to see enough of the enemy works to convince himself that an attack on the main White Oak Road line was not a practical idea, but he had broken the connection between Pickett and Lee.

The Battle of Five Forks (April 1, 1865)

To understand Five Forks one must understand the confused positions of the several detachments confronting one another southwest of Petersburg, starting on the evening of March 31st. Sheridan's cavalry was holding on at Dinwiddie Court House, but just barely so, along a line that ran east-west and faced north. Pickett, with around 10,000 or so infantry and cavalry, was facing him. However, Warren's V Corps was about three miles north and east, in Pickett's rear. While Pickett's success of the day had indeed threatened to cut Sheridan off from the Union main body, it had likewise (coupled with Warren's success along the White Oak Road) threatened to cut Pickett off from Lee.

The controversies of April 1st all have their roots in the attempts by the Yankees to take maximum advantage of the opportunities presented by these postions, and at the same time protect themselves from the opportunities presented to the enemy. Muddying the waters to no small extent was the fact that no commander on either side was entirely aware of the precise situation in time to take complete advantage of it. Both Grant and Lee were sufficiently far from the scene that communication delays often resulted in orders being based on out-of-date information.

V Corps attacks at Five Forks

Grant and Sheridan both appear to have understood the basic situation, that Warren was well-placed to trap Pickett's force and force its destruction. Unfortunately, the precise means by which this would be accomplished was unclear. On the evening and night of March 31-April 1, Warren received a baffling series of orders about sending help to Sheridan, some very specific, some vaguely general, all of them acting at cross-purposes, and some arriving out of sequence. Some troops were sent directly from Warren's advanced position along the White Oak Road to press up against Pickett's left rear, while others were ordered to withdraw to the Boydton Plank Road for a direct march to Dinwiddie Court House and Sheridan's lines. In a crucial but often overlooked message, Grant told Sheridan that he could expect V Corps to arrive at around midnight. While this was a reasonable estimate of the marching time, it did not take into account the time required to reassemble the Federal divisions and disengage from the enemy, nor was this estimate modified in the light of the delays in eventually deciding what Warren should do and how he should do it, nor was Grant aware that a bridge over Gravelly Run would have to be rebuilt.

As Federal divisions marched to-and-fro that night, some contact was made with elements of Pickett's command. This alerted the Confederate commander to the unpleasant fact that Yankees were in his rear and caused him to order a night-time withdrawal. Pickett's intent was to pull back as far north as Hatcher's Run, where it is crossed by the Ford Road leading from Five Forks, but a message from Lee ordering him to "hold Five Forks at all costs" and expressing "regret" that Pickett had been forced to fall back caused Pickett to take up the fateful position at Five Forks along the White Oak Road. His left did not connect with the rest of the Confederate army and so the entrenchments were refused northwards about one mile east of Five Forks. The gap between Pickett's left and Anderson's right (along White Oak Road) was supposed to be covered by an understrength North Carolina cavalry brigade under William P. Roberts, the youngest general in the Confederate army. Pickett compounded his weak position by poorly positioning the few guns at his disposal; after the war one gunner commented that Pickett "knew more about brands of whiskey than he did about the uses of artillery."

Fire Your Canister Low
The Gallant Pegram gives his final command before his fatal wound at Five Forks, Virginia.

For his part, Sheridan spent an anxious and infuriating night. The supporting infantry that he needed to strike a strong blow at the enemy did not arrive until the morning of April 1st. To compound the problem, Warren had decided that withdrawing from close contact with the Confederates along White Oak Road required the corps commander's personal attention, and so he he was at the rear of the column of march, decidedly not where Sheridan thought he should be. Warren exacerbated this bad impression when he took over three hours after he did arrive to report to Sheridan for orders.

It took most of the morning of April 1st for Sheridan's cavalry to advance and develop Pickett's lines. Meanwhile, V Corps assembled near the J. Boisseau farm. At about 1 p.m., the infantry was ordered forward to the vicinity of the Gravelly Run Methodist Episcopal Church, where they would form for battle. At about this time Sheridan and Warren held a brief conference, at which the plan of battle was decided upon. While the cavalry demonstrated against the Confederate front, V Corps would march forward on a diagonal course to the northwest and strike the "knuckle" where the Rebel line was refused, thus caving in the enemy defenses. Sheridan was greatly upset at what he thought were the continuing delays in Warren getting his troops formed.

Brig. Gen. Romeyn B. Ayres

There were two tragic problems with this plan. First, the knuckle was not where Sheridan and Warren thought it was, it being some distance to the west. Thus V Corps, if undisturbed, would march forward into empty space behind Pickett's lines. Secondly, Sheridan had received a note from Grant authorizing him to replace Warren if he (Sheridan) felt that V Corps would perform better under one of the division commanders. This order was sent primarily as a result of a courier's report from late that morning, to the effect that V Corps was hung up crossing Gravelly Run. While there had been a delay at that crossing it had been brief and did not contribute substantially to subsequent events, the courier's report did not reach Grant's headquarters until much later, and it created the impression that V Corps was still delayed in its march to support Sheridan. Thus Grant thought that Warren had dallied too much in crossing a small creek.

The Federal attack finally stepped off at 4:15 p.m. on April 1st. While Sheridan's troopers skirmished with Pickett's main line, Warren's infantry marched off into the gap beyond Pickett's left. Warren had deployed his men with Crawford on the right and Ayres on the left of the front line, and Griffin behind Crawford in a second line. The first contact that V Corps had with Rebel troops was infantry and artillery fire directed at the left flank of Ayres, coming as the blue troops crossed the White Oak Road. Ayres was a competant division commander, and he quickly figured out the problem and wheeled his division to the left to attack the Confederate line. However, since Crawford was still moving forward, this opened a large gap in Warren's line, which was promptly filled by Griffin's First Divison from the second line.

Brig. Gen. Samuel W. Crawford

From Sheridan's perspective, however, things were going badly wrong, since his supporting infantry was not engaging the enemy. To compound the error, Warren --- who understood at least part of the problem, and had ridden off to correct Crawford's direction of march --- could not be found to rectify the situation.

Lt. Col. Horace Porter

It was at about 5:00 p.m. that the weight of the Federal infantry began to quickly overwhelm Pickett's left flank. Ayres's attack overlapped the two thin brigades (Wallace's South Carolininas and Ransom's North Carolinians) holding the refused line and nearby front. While this success did disorganize Ayres's troops somewhat, Griffin's division was immediately at hand to follow up the initial success. Unable to hold the onslaught, Confederate resistence collapsed.

Pickett himself, and several of his senior subordinates --- including Fitz Lee --- were blissfully unaware that a battle had even opened, having repaired northward along the Ford Road to Hatcher's Run for the infamous shad bake.

Col. Thomas Munford

The Confederates tried to make a stand at several points along their line as Ayres and Griffin rolled up the flank, but it was to no avail, and most of the Confederate force was pushed westwards. Warren finally got Crawford's division re-oriented, and it was these troops that swung in far behind Pickett's line to take the last Rebel resistance in the rear, and cut off the northward retreat of many of the Confederates. Ironically, Crawford's error in continuing northward had ultimately made the Federal victory greater than it probably would have been, by scooping up large numbers of prisoners and forcing the remnants of Pickett's force to the west, away from the rest of Lee's army.

Sheridan at Five Forks. April 1, 1865
Original Ogden chromolithograph.
Copyright 1897 by Knight & Brown.

Sheridan did not see it that way. All he knew was that V Corps had not attacked when he wanted them to, where he wanted them to, and when he had tried to find the V Corps commander to prod him into action, Warren was not to be found. It was this combination of circumstances that led Sheridan to exercise the authority given to him by Grant. Warren was relieved of his command and Griffin took over V Corps.

The length of the combat is difficult to determine. One source places Ayres's attack on the Confederate flank as occuring at 5:00, and other sources note that Lee ordered Anderson to send reinforcements to succor Pickett at 5:45, making the entire battle something less than an hour in duration.

Maj. Gen. Thomas L. Rosser

Losses at Five Forks are estimated at 830 Federals and around 3,000 Confederate, mostly captured. Among the Confederate dead was William Johnston Pegram, the youthful but veteran artillerist whose older brother had been killed two months previously, while commanding an infantry division under Gordon.

Battle at Five Forks

Horace Porter carried the news of Sheridan's success to Grant's headquarters, arriving at around 9 p.m. After listening to Porter's report, Grant walked into his tent, wrote out some orders and came back out, handing the paper copies to an orderly to be taken to the field telegraph. "I have ordered an immediate assault along the lines," he announced.

Additional Sources:

www.philaprintshop.com
www.horseshoe.cc
johnsmilitaryhistory.tripod.com
civilwarstudies.org
www.mosocco.com
www.oldgloryprints.com
www.ggw.org/~u140th
www.dioramic.com
www.ewolfs.com
www.pen.k12.va.us
www.nps.gov
asa.aip.org/Echoes/Vol9No1

The scene - On April 1, 1865, Confederate forces under Major General George Pickett held the far western flank of General Robert E. Lee's Petersburg defenses. Pickett's forces were at Five Forks, the intersection of five country roads, located about 12 miles from Petersburg. Lee's forces were stretched thin, and protecting this right flank was crucial to maintaining the integrity of the Confederate position and the safety of the capital in Richmond. Holding the position also offered Lee the possibility of slipping away to the southwest and joining up with forces under General Joseph E. Johnston in North Carolina.

Wary of the threat of losing Lee after having had him clamped down around Petersburg for almost a year, Union General Ulysses S. Grant sent cavalry under Major General Philip Sheridan to probe the position at Five Forks. After being repulsed on March 3 1, Sheridan informed Grant that he could turn the Confederate right if he had support from an infantry corps. Accordingly, by the morning of April 1, the Union V Corps under G. K. Warren was arriving on the scene.

What happened - The Confederates were entrenched at Five Forks, with cavalry units dug in on the flanks, Pickett's infantry in the center, and reserves under Brigadier Thomas Rosser behind Pickett's men. On the morning of April 1, Rosser invited Pickett and Major General Fitzhugh Lee (in command of the cavalry) to his position (on a stream a mile behind the lines to a "shad bake" or fish roast. Despite the imminent danger from the enemy, both generals inexplicably accepted the offer. When Sheridan and Warren began their attack in mid-afternoon, the Confederate commanders were blissfully unaware, of their impending doom. In between the front lines and Rosser's position was a dense pine forest which completely absorbed the sound of small arms fire. In the crucial opening minutes of the battle, the leaderless Confederates were overwhelmed by Union forces on their left. The battle of Five Forks quickly turned into a rout and signaled the beginning of the end for Lee's army. With his flank turned, Lee was forced to abandon Petersburg and Richmond and flee to the west. Eight days later, Grant and Sheridan caught the Confederates at Appomattox Court House, where Lee surrendered.

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Lots of folks don't like my point of view, but I clearly see Grant as extremely competent and brilliant on occasion, at Vicksburg, for instance. He had Chattanooga in hand in only a few days while Rosecrans had been licked. Grant picked aggressive, efficient, and obedient subordinates (not while he was President, though!)

Lee allowed incompetent commanders, Bragg and Pickett amongst others. Bragg, of course, was Davis' boy. Gettysburg was Lee's fault, just like he said. Pickett's charge probably lost the war. J.E.B. Stuart was not in position to do the vital reconnaissance, because of Lee's orders. At Petersburg Lee should have made a fighting withdrawal six months previously, maybe.

The southern training was poor, also. Discipline was close to nonexistent.

Davis was a disaster. Unmitigated disaster. Every responsibility botched, every opportunity ignored.

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On This Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on April 08:
0563 -BC- Gautama Buddha (as celebrated in Japan-Kambutsue)
1460 Ponce de León San Tervas de Campos Spain, Spanish conqueror/explorer, searched for fountain of youth, found Florida
1605 Philip IV king of Spain & Portugal (1621-65)
1614 El Greco [Domenikos Theotokopoulos] Iráklion Crete Greece, painter (View of Toledo)
1692 Giuseppe Tartini Italy, violinist/composer (Trillo del Diavolo)
1726 Lewis Morris Bronx NY, US farmer (signed Declaration of Independence)
1731 William Williams Lebanon CT, US merchant (signed Declaration of Independence)
1828 George Baird Hodge Brigadier General (Confederate Army)
1850 William Henry Welch US, pathologist, founded John Hopkins
1859 Edmund Husserl Germany, philosopher (founded Phenomenology)
1869 Harvey Cushing US, neurosurgeon (blood pressure studies)
1889 Sir Adrian Boult Chester England, conductor (BBC Symphony Orchestra)
1893 Mary Pickford [Gladys Louise Smith] Toronto Ontario Canada, actress (Poor Little Rich Girl, Daddy Long Legs)
1895 Bert I[ra] Gordon Kenosha WI, diector/producer (Empire of the Ants, Magic Sword, Amazing Colossal Man)
1905 George Baxter Paris France, actor (Flying Saucer, Lili, Caged)
1911 Melvin Calvin US chemist (photosynthesis, Nobel 1961)
1912 Sonja Henie Oslo Norway, ice skater/actress (Olympics-gold-1928,32,36)
1912 Josef Gabcík Czechoslovakia, resistance fighter (attacked Heydrich)
1919 [Douglas] Ian Smith premier of Rhodesia (1964-..)
1920 Carmen [Mercedes] McRae New York NY, US jazz singer/pianist (Downbeat's New Star of 1954)
1921 Betty [Bloomer] Ford 1st lady (1975-76)/namesake for Betty Ford Clinic
1923 Edward Mulhare Cork Ireland, actor (Daniel Gregg-Ghost & Mrs Muir)
1925 Shecky Greene Chicago IL, comedian/actor (Love Machine, Combat)
1935 Albert G Bustamante (Representative-Democrat-TX, 1985- )
1937 Seymour Hersh award winning investigative reporter (New York Times)
1944 Anthony Farrar Hockley military historian
1946 Jim "Catfish" Hunter major-league pitcher (A's, Yankees)
1947 Steve Howe London England, rock guitarist (Asia, Yes-Roundabout)
1947 Gerald McRaney Collins MS, actor (Rick-Simon & Simon, Major Dad)
1947 Thomas D Delay (Representative-Republican-TX, 1985- )
1948 Richard Alan Litchfield Massachusetts, bank robber (FBI most wanted)
1963 Julian Lennon Liverpool England, John's son/singer (Too Late for Goodbyes)/subject of Beatles' "Hey Jude"
1966 Robin [Virginia] Wright Penn Dallas TX, actress (Jenny-Forrest Gump, Kelly-Santa Barbara, Princess Bride)

Deaths which occurred on April 08:
0217 Caracalla [Marcus Aurelius Antoniius] Roman emperor (198-217), murdered at 29
1143 John II Comnenus Emperor of Byzantium (1118-43), dies in an accident
1364 Jan II the Good, King of France (1350-64), dies at 44
1492 Lorenzo I de' Medici"il Magnifico" ruler of Florence (1469-92), dies
1498 Charles VIII King of France (1483-98), beheaded at 27
1794 Marie-Jean-Antoine-Nicholas-Caritat mathematician dies
1853 Jan W Pieneman historical painter (Battle at Waterloo), dies at 73
1861 Elisha G Otis US elevator builder (Otis), dies at 50
1902 Sipyagain Russian minister of interior/headed Secret Service, assassinated
1947 Henry Ford US industrialist (Ford cars), dies
1969 Denton Cooley got 1st fully artificial heart, dies at 48
1973 Pablo (Ruiz y) Picasso Spanish/French painter (Guernica), dies near Mougins France at 91
1976 Phil Ochs rock producer (Joe Hill), dies at 35
1981 General Omar Bradley last 5-star General, dies in New York at 88
1987 Francis C Denebrink US Naval officer (WWI, WWII, Korea) dies at 90
1990 Ryan White hemophiliac aids sufferer, dies at 18 - The Ryan White Foundation was founded later in 1991 by Jeanne White and Phil Donahue
1996 Ben Johnson cowboy actor (Tex, Dillinger), dies of heart attack at 77
1997 Laura Nyro singer, dies of ovarian cancer at 49

Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1962 GROOM GEORGE E.---STEWARTSVILLE MO.
[05/01/62 RELEASED]
1962 GABRIEL JAMES JR---HONOLULU HI.
[04/62 REMAINS RECOVERED]
1962 MARCHAND WAYNE ELLSWORTH---OMAHA NE.
[04/68 REMAINS RECOVERED]
1962 QUINN FRANCIS---BUFFALO NY.
[05/01/62 RELEASED]
1970 BELLENDORF DIETER---GERMANY
[REFNO 1589 SP BALLINDORF?]
1970 GENSLUCKNER GEORG---AUSTRIA
1970 YIENG UNG LING---CAMBODIA
[REFNO 1589]
1972 RAY JOHNNIE L.---PAULS VALLEY OK.
[02/12/73 RELEASED BY PRG]
1972 WANAT GEORGE K. JR.---WATERFFORD CN.
[02/12/73 RELEASED BY PRG]

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

On this day...
1195 Alexius III Angelus drives out brother Isaäk II as Byzantine emperor
1378 Bartolomeo Prignano elected as Pope Urban VI
1455 Alfonso de Borgia elected as Pope Callistus III
1500 Battle at Novara King Louis XII beats duke Ludovico Sforza
1730 1st Jewish congregation in US consecrates synagogue, "Shearith Israel, NYC"
1766 1st fire escape patented, wicker basket on a pulley & chain
1781 Premiere of Mozart's violin sonata K379
1783 Catharina II of Russia annexes the Krim
1789 House of Representives 1st meeting
1801 Soldiers riot in Bucharest, kill 128 Jews
1802 French Protestant church becomes state-supported & -controlled
1838 Steamship "Great Western" maiden voyage (Bristol England to New York NY)
1848 Battle at Xaquixaguana, Peru Pedro de la Gasca beats Gonzalo Pizarro
1861 US mint at Dahlonega GA seized by confederacy
1862 John D Lynde patents aerosol dispenser
1865 General Robert E Lee surrenders at Appomattox Court House in Virginia
1869 American Museum of Natural History opens (New York NY)
1879 Khedive Ismael of Egypt fires French/British ministers
1879 Milk is sold in glass bottles for 1st time
1893 The Critic reports that the ice cream soda is our national drink
1898 Battle of Atbara River, Anglo-Egyptian forces crush 6,000 Sudanese
1904 Great Britain & France sign Cordial Entente concerning colonial matter
1913 17th amendment, requiring direct election of senators, ratified
1913 Opening of China's 1st parliament takes place in Peking (now Beijing)
1914 US & Colombia sign a treaty concerning the Panamá Canal Zone
1916 Norway approves active & passive female suffrage
1931 Dmitri Shostakovich's ballet "The Arrow", premieres
1933 Manchester Guardian warns of unknown nazi terror
1935 Works Progress Administration approved by Congress
1939 King Zog I of Albania, flees
1940 Germany battle cruisers sink British aircraft carrier Glorious
1941 Joe Louis TKOs Tony Musto in 9 for heavyweight boxing title
1943 Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya convicted of involvement with Mau Mau
1945 Nazi occupiers executed, Nazi General Christiansen flees Netherlands
1946 League of Nations assembles for last time
1947 Largest recorded sunspot (7,000) observed
1952 President Harry Truman seizes the steel mills to prevent a strike
1953 Dag Hammarskjöld chosen as Secretary-General of UN
1956 6 marine recruits drown during exercise at Paradise Island SC
1963 Tigers claim young pitcher Denny McLain from the White Sox for $25,000
1964 Unmanned Gemini 1 launched
1966 AFL chooses 36 year old Al Davis as commissioner
1966 Leonid Brezhnev "elected" Secretary-General of communist party
1968 New socialist constitution of East Germany takes effect
1968 Baseball's Opening Day is postponed because of Martin Luther King Jr assassination
1968 Czechoslovakia Cernik government forms
1969 1st Baseball game in Canada - Montréal Expos beats New York Mets 10-9
1969 Expansion teams Royals, Expos, Padres & Pilots win their 1st games
1970 Senate rejects Nixon's nomination of Carswell to Supreme Court
1971 1st legal off-track betting system begins (OTB-New York)
1974 Hammerin' Hank Aaron hits 715th homerun, breaks Babe Ruth's record
1975 Frank Robinson debuts as 1st black baseball manager (Cleveland, beats New York 5-3)
1977 Israel premier Yitzhak Rabin resigns
1985 India files suit against Union Carbide over Bhopal disaster
1985 Amdahl releases UTS/V, 1st mainframe Unix
1986 Clint Eastwood elected mayor of Carmel CA
1988 Televangelist Jimmy Swaggart, 52, was defrocked by the Assemblies of God following the disclosure of his involvement with a prostitute. (Swaggart was ordered to stay off TV for a year, but had returned after only three months.)
1989 1-handed pitcher Jim Abbott debut but lasts only 4 2/3 innings
1990 King Birendra of Nepal lifts 30-year ban on political parties
1991 Oakland A's Stadium becomes 1st outdoor arena to ban smoking
1991 Jockey Bill Shoemaker paralyzed in a car accident
1992 After 151 years Britain's "Punch Magazine" final issue
1993 Indians' Carlos Baerga is 1st to switch hit homeruns in same inning (vs Yankees)
1994 Smoking banned in Pentagon & all US military bases
1997 Microsoft Corp releases Internet Explorer 4.0

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

US : Behave Yourself Day(optional)
US : National Reading a Road Map Week (Day 5)
Dog Appreciation Month

Religious Observances
Buddhist : Kambutsue, Buddha's birthday (Japan, Taiwan, Hawaii, Korea)
Christian : Feast of St Dionysius of Corinth
Christian : Feast of St Perpetuus of Tours
Christian : Feast of St Walter of Pontoise
Roman Catholic : Commemoration of Our Lady of Good Counsel
Roman Catholic : Commemoration of St Julia Billiart, virgin
Anglican : Commemoration of William Augustus Muhlenberg, priest
Christian : Holy Thursday (Maundy Thursday)
Third Day of Passover

Religious History
1546 At its fourth session, the Council of Trent adopted Jerome's "Latin Vulgate" as the official Bible of the Roman Catholic Church. (Included in the Vulgate O.T. were the 15 apocryphal books which Protestants reject in their biblical canon.)
1730 Shearith Israel, first Jewish congregation organized in America, consecrated their synagogue in New York City.
1912 The American Theological Society was organized at Union Theological Seminary, in New York, for the purpose of discussing religious, theological and philosophical problems.
1945 German theologian and martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the night before he was hanged by the Nazis, said: 'This is the end - - for me the beginning' -- his last recorded words.
1988 Televangelist Jimmy Swaggert, 52, was defrocked by the Assemblies of God following the disclosure of his involvement with a prostitute. (Swaggert was ordered to stay off TV for a year, but had returned after only three months.)

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

Thought for the day :
"Behind every argument is someone`s ignorance."

What a Difference 30 Years Makes...
1970: The perfect high.
2000: The perfect high yield mutual fund.

New State Slogans...
Rhode Island: We're Not REALLY An Island

Male Language Patterns...
"We're going to be late," REALLY MEANS,
"Now I have a legitimate excuse to drive like a maniac."

Female Language Patterns...
"I need wedding shoes" REALLY MEANS,
"The other 40 pairs are the wrong shade of white."

At Petersburg Lee should have made a fighting withdrawal six months previously, maybe.

Would Davis allowed him to?

COFFEE!! Did someone mention coffee? IlikecoffeealotbuticanstopanytimeIwantnotlikesomepeoplewhoarehookedonit

LOL! Thanks for the morning laugh to get the day started, Valin.