The FReeper Foxhole Remembers Rousseau’s Raid (July 10-18, 1864)

The officers and men of the regiment worked all that night mounting, equipping and preparing for the Rousseau raid. All the necessary preparations being completed, on Sunday, July 10, at 2 o'clock P. M., Gen. Rousseau's command left Decatur, Ala., to carry the banner of our country through regions of rebeldom where it had not been since the war commenced. The command of Gen. Rousseau consisted of the Eighth Indiana, Second Kentucky and Ninth Ohio Cavalry, composing the First Brigade, under command of Col. T. J. Harrison, Eighth Indiana Cavalry; the Fifth Iowa and Fourth Tennessee Cavalry and a section of artillery comprising the Second Brigade, under command of Lieut. Col. Patrick, Fifth Iowa Cavalry; Maj. Beard commanding the regiment.

The whole command was well armed, lightly equipped, and carried five days' rations of bread and bacon and-fifteen days' rations of coffee and sugar. No wagons accompanied the expedition, and but one ambulance to each regiment; three pack mules to each company, carrying ammunition, rations, axes, etc.

Blacksmiths Doing Their Best to Equip Horses for the Demands of War

The command of Gen. Rousseau moved out of Decatur quietly, and perfect order and discipline were maintained on the entire march. Company C, Fifth Iowa Cavalry, Capt. Matthews commanding, was detailed as provost guard. No soldier was allowed to enter or take anything from dwelling-houses. When it became necessary to collect provisions, a squad, under the command of a commissioned officer, was detailed to collect them. To these wise precautions of Gen. Rousseau may be attributed much of the successful issue of his raid; for no one cause produces so much demoralization in the army as permitting soldiers to straggle from their commands in order to plunder and maraud. The command marched about seventeen miles and made their bivouac in the town of Somerville, Ala. July 11, broke camp at daylight, and marched and went into camp. July 12, broke camp at daylight, resumed the march, passing through Blountsville about noon, and, crossing the sand mountain, went into camp five miles from Ashville at midnight, except the Fourth Tennessee Cavalry, which moved in and occupied the town of Ashville. July 13, the command broke camp at daylight, and marched into Ashville and went into camp until 2 o'clock P. M., when the command resumed the march in the direction of the Coosa River, where it arrived at Springville about 8 o'clock P. M. About two miles from Springville, the first casualty of the expedition occurred. The Fifth Iowa Cavalry was rear guard of the command, Companies E and D being about 300 yards in rear of the regimental mule train. Capts. Curl and Wilcox were riding along about half way between the rear guard and mule train, when a party of seven bushwhackers, who had been concealed in the thick brush close to the road, hailed them and ordered them to surrender, but, hoping to escape, they put spurs to their horses. The bushwhackers fired on them, killing Capt. Curl instantly and wounding Capt. Wilcox severely, a ball and seven buckshot passing through his right thigh and one buckshot through the calf of his right leg. The command went into camp on the bank of the Coosa River. That night our two Parrott guns, the mule train and four companies of the Eighth Indiana Cavalry were ferried over the river, with orders to move down the south side of the river to cover the crossing of the main column at a ford four miles below, called Ten Islands, or Jackson's Ford, from the fact of Gen. Jackson having crossed there during the Creek war. At daylight, on the morning of the 14th, the artillery and cavalry began to move down on the south side of the river. The enemy, to the number of 500, under Gen. Clanton, collected during the night, to prevent, if possible, our crossing, but the four companies of cavalry being armed with Spencer carbines, drove the enemy steadily before them. At the same time, the main column moved down to the ford, and the advance moved over to the island, but, as they attempted to cross from the island, they were fired upon by the enemy, 500 of whom were posted where they could command the ford.

As the river here was over one-fourth of a mile wide and very rocky and swift, it was deemed impolitic to attempt the crossing under fire of the enemy. Sharpshooters were sent over to the island, and the remaining eight companies of the Eighth Indiana Cavalry were sent back to cures at the ferry, and come down in the enemy's rear. But before they could get around, the four companies of cavalry had driven the enemy down to the ford and formed line in the enemy's rear. When the bugle sounded the charge, the enemy fled in confusion leaving ten killed, many wounded and fifteen prisoners in our hands, our loss being one man (Eighth Indiana Cavalry) wounded. The main column then crossed the ford, among the rocks, many horses falling and their riders having to abandon them and struggle through the rushing waters to the shore. To have crossed this ford in the face of the enemy would have resulted in serious loss to us, but the whole command crossed over safely, resuming the march, the Fifth Iowa in advance. During the afternoon, arrived at an extensive iron works, which it was found had been employed in manufacturing shot and shell for the enemy. The buildings and their contents were burned. The command only halted long enough to prepare a hasty meal and then moved on. Soon after starting, the advance encountered a reconnoitering party of the enemy sent out from Talladega, but the well-directed fire of our advance sent them back to Talladega as fast as their horses could carry them. The march was continued till 2 o'clock in the morning, when the command bivouacked within ten miles of Talladega at daylight. July 15, the command was again moving and marching rapidly forward, reaching Talladega about 9 o'clock A. M. Here Gen. Rousseau burned the depot of the Blue Mountain & Selma Railroad, filled with cotton and supplies for the rebel army. The telegraph was destroyed for some distance, the railroad torn up and a bridge burned.

The command moved out of Talladega about 12 M., and, about two miles from town, encamped long enough to prepare dinner, and then marched until 3 o'clock the next morning, when the command bivouacked, and the weary men, throwing themselves from their horses, slept for an hour. At daylight, the command again moved on till 2 o'clock P. M., when they halted for two hours to feed their horses and get dinner. At 4 o'clock, the command again moved on, reaching Tallapoosa River about 8 o'clock P. M.

At Stone Ferry, where the main command crossed, a very rapid and dangerous ford, several of the men were obliged to swim ashore, leaving their horses in the stream. The artillery and mule train were ferried over, which occupied all night, the ferrying being done by Company H, Fifth Iowa.

The command left the Tallapoosa River about sunrise, July 17, marching rapidly forward; arrived at Lochapoka, on the West Point & Montgomery Railroad, about 8 o'clock P. M. As the destruction of 'this railroad was the main object of this expedition, the work was at once begun by burning the depot. One-half of the command worked all night tearing up and burning the railroad, the other half lying on their arms all night. At daylight, July 18, Maj. Beard, in command of a detachment, consisting of Companies B, F, H, and M, Fifth Iowa, and two companies of the Fourth Tennessee Cavalry, started out for the purpose of destroying some trestle work on the railroad near Chehaw Station. When near the station, the detachment encountered a force of 1,200 of the enemy, who had just arrived on a train from Montgomery A brisk fight ensued for half an hour, but the enemy being in such superior forge, we were obliged to fall back about a mile, when a line of battle was formed and reinforcements sent for. The remaining companies of the Fifth Iowa and the Eighth Indiana Cavalry came up, and, advancing on the enemy dismounted, completely routed and dispersed them, killing thirty and wounding a large number. Our loss was one man in Company H, D. D. Sage, and two men in Company M, killed, and eight wounded, all of the Fifth Iowa Cavalry. Soon after the fight, the entire command left Lochapoka, moving along the railroad in the direction of West Point; marched through Auburn, burning the depot there, and camping on the railroad some three miles from Auburn.

July 18, at daylight, the command resumed the march along the railroad, destroying the track as it went. This railroad was made of strap rail laid on sleepers of pitch pine, which, being very dry, burned freely, consuming the ties. About noon, the command reached the town of Opelika, and halted for the purpose of preparing dinner. About 1 o'clock P. M., the Fifth Iowa was ordered out to destroy a mile of railroad in the direction of West Point. The road running through thick timber and brush, Lieut. Hays, Company H, was ordered to take twenty men, and form a skirmish line and move on the right of the advance of the regiment, to protect the working party and prevent surprise by the enemy. The skirmish line had not advanced more than 300 yards when it was fired on by bushwhackers, concealed in thick brush, and Private James Koonts was instantly killed. Soon after the regiment was ordered back to Opelika, and the whole command started on the return march to our lines; We moved down the railroad toward West Point, thereby inducing the enemy to believe we intended to attack that place. When within fifteen miles of West Point, Gen. Rousseau left the railroad and marched directly to the town of La Fayette, reaching that place at dark. Information was received that the enemy were in force in our immediate front. Preparations were at once made for battle; the mule train was broken up; the pack-saddles burned; all the ammunition distributed among the men, and the march resumed in the direction of Carrollton. Silently the command filed out of La Fayette, and through the dark forest, expecting every moment to encounter the enemy. The march was continued till 3 o'clock in the morning, when Glen. Rousseau halted his command in a dark wood, and in a few moments the wearied men and horses had sunk to rest, and the stillness of death reigned over the entire command. It was subsequently learned, that while we were bivouacked there, the enemy's cavalry, to the number of 4,000, had passed within two miles of us in the direction of West Point, from which point we were only eighteen miles distant, and to the relief of which the enemy's cavalry were hastening, as they expected us to attack that place at daylight in the morning. But the well-executed strategy of Gen. Rousseau threw the enemy entirely off our track; nor did they become aware of our actual route until we were beyond their reach.

July 22, arrived at Marietta at sunset, and went into camp, the men and horses nearly worn out with an almost continuous march of thirteen days and nights, during which time the command marched 380 miles, entirely in the enemy's territory, destroyed thirty-five miles of railroad, five large depots filled with cotton and supplies for the rebel army, one shot and shell manufactory, one locomotive and train of cars and captured many valuable horses and mules, inflicting a loss on the enemy estimated at $20,000,000. Our loss, one Captain and four privates killed, and eight privates wounded. All the above loss was in the Fifth Iowa Cavalry, except one man of the Eighth Indiana Cavalry, wounded, which shows the prominent part the Fifth Iowa bore in what may well be determined the most successful raid of the war.

Captain William Curl
Fifth Iowa Volunteer Cavalry

William Curl was a twenty-nine year old resident of Dakota, Nebraska when he was appointed First Lieutenant of what would become Company D of the Fifth Iowa Cavalry on October 11, 1861. The following year, on November 1, 1862, he was promoted to Captain of his company. It was in this capacity that he embarked on Rousseau's Raid. Sadly, he would not survive the venture, being "killed by guerrillas on July 13, 1864 at Greenport, Alabama. The brief regimental history included in the Official Roster relates the following:

July 22d at daybreak the march was resumed, and at noon the command reached our pickets at Sweet Water Bridge, and arrived at Marietta at sunset and went into camp, the men and horses nearly worn out with the almost continuous march of thirteen days and nights, during which time the command marched 380 miles, entirely in the enemy's territory, destroyed 35 miles of railroad, five large depots filled with cotton and supplies for the rebel army, one shot and shell manufactory, one locomotive and train of cars, and captured many valuable horses and mules, inflicting a loss on the enemy estimated at twenty millions of dollars All this was accomplished with a loss to us of one Captain and four privates killed and eight privates wounded. All the above loss was in the Fifth Iowa Cavalry, except one man of the Eighth Indiana Cavalry, wounded; which shows the prominent part the Fifth Iowa Cavalry bore in what may well be termed the most successful raid of the war. Among the killed was Captain William Curl, of Company D, and among the severely wounded was Captain J. C. Wilcox, of Company H. The entire loss of the two brigades, in killed, wounded and missing, did not exceed thirty men. It will thus be seen that the Fifth Iowa Cavalry sustained nearly one-half the casualties of the entire command, and took the most conspicuous part of any regiment engaged in the expedition.

Unfortunately, Curl's grave went unidentified for the next century until the thorough research of Civil War historian, David Evans, rectified that situation. The following newspaper report reveals the story of this discovery.

Union soldier's grave finally marked after 133 years

MARIETTA -- Abraham Lincoln's post-Civil War call "to bind up the nation's wounds" was remembered over the weekend at a ceremony to place a stone on a Union soldier's grave that had been unmarked for 133 years. About 100 people gathered on a quiet hillside in Marietta National Cemetery where cavalry officer William Curl is buried along with 10,000 soldiers--3,000 of them unknown.

Historian David Evans searched through the records of more than 10,000 Civil War soldiers and fought with government officials to get a new, white marble headstone with black lettering carved into a shield motif for Capt. Curl's grave. Curl, the oldest of three sons born in Princeton, Indiana, enlisted in the Union army at the age of sixteen after he moved west to establish a homestead for his widowed mother and two sisters. He helped organize the Fifth Iowa Cavalry Regiment and sent money back to his mother, Eliza Curl.

He was killed on July 13, 1864, in an ambush near Greensport, Alabama, and was buried in an unmarked grave on the banks of the nearby Coosa River. Mrs. Curl scraped together $300--half of all she had--to bring her son's body back to Indiana, but government officials told her they could not find it. Curl's remains were moved to the suburban Atlanta cemetery after the war. He was reburied in a grave marked only with a 6-inch-square block of marble bearing a plot number.

On Saturday, cemetery Superintendent James H. Wallace read Civil War prayers and recalled Lincoln's words in the benediction. Fife and drum music wafted down the hillside as Civil War reenactors dressed in Union blue raised their rifles and fired into the air. A Union flag billowed in the breeze. "We are here today… because a mother's love has reached across the pages of history to rescue her son, Captain William Curl, from the ranks of the unknown," said Evans, who was unable to find any living relatives.

Additional Sources:

www.kancoll.org/books
www.scriptorum.org
www.thecountrybulletin.com
www.generalsandbrevets.com
www.virginialighthorse.freeservers.com
www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Trails/9401
www.antietam.com

"Cavalry Crossing a Ford":
Walt Whitman’s Alabama Connection

In July of 1864, Walt Whitman was a relatively unknown, under-employed, forty-five year old poet, living in Washington, D.C. With the war on, he supported himself by working part-time copying documents in the army paymaster’s office. He also served as a volunteer nurse to war casualties. His real work, however, was completing his volume of war poetry, Drum-taps, which drew heavily on his experiences caring for the injured and dying. Included in the collection, published in 1865, was "Cavalry Crossing a Ford," a seven-line poem that is widely considered one of Whitman’s best. In the Fall issue of Alabama Heritage, Betty Barrett reveals intriguing evidence that the cavalry in question were Union troops under the command of Gen. Lovell H. Rousseau, and the ford they crossed was at Ten Islands on the Coosa River in St. Clair County, Alabama. In fact, not only does the poem recreate a scene from Rousseau’s July 1864 raid through Alabama, it relies heavily on the language and imagery of an anonymous war correspondent’s report of the events.

Betty Barrett

A line in long array where they wind betwixt green islands,
They take a serpentine course, their arms flash in the sun--
hark to the musical clank,
Behold the silvery river,
in it the splashing horses loitering stop to drink,
Behold the brown-faced men, each group, each person a picture,
the negligent rest on the saddles,
Some emerge on the opposite bank, others are just entering the ford--while,
Scarlet and blue and snowy white,
The guidon flags flutter gayly in the wind.

Walt Whitman

Veterans for Constitution Restoration is a non-profit, non-partisan educational and grassroots activist organization. The primary area of concern to all VetsCoR members is that our national and local educational systems fall short in teaching students and all American citizens the history and underlying principles on which our Constitutional republic-based system of self-government was founded. VetsCoR members are also very concerned that the Federal government long ago over-stepped its limited authority as clearly specified in the United States Constitution, as well as the Founding Fathers' supporting letters, essays, and other public documents.

Tribute to a Generation - The memorial will be dedicated on Saturday, May 29, 2004.

Actively seeking volunteers to provide this valuable service to Veterans and their families.

Iraq Homecoming Tips

~ Thanks to our Veterans still serving, at home and abroad. ~ Freepmail to Ragtime Cowgirl | 2/09/04 | FRiend in the USAF

PDN members and fans. We hope you will consider this simple act of patriotism worth passing on or taking up as a project in your own back yard. In summary:

Who They Are: Operation: Stitches Of Love was started by the Mothers of two United States Marines stationed in Iraq.

What They Are Doing: We are gathering 12.5"x12.5" quilt squares from across the country and assembling the largest quilt ever produced. When completed we will take the quilt from state to state and gather even more squares.

Why They Are Doing This: We are building this quilt to rally support for the Coalition Forces in Iraq and to show the service members that they are not forgotten. We want the world to know Nothing will ever break the stitches that bind us together as a country.

Ideas to start a local project:

Obtain enough Red, White and Blue material (cloth) for a 12.5 x 12.5 quilt square.
If you have someone in your family that sews, make it a weekend project and invite neighbors to join you.

Consider this tribute as a project for your civic group, scouts, church or townhall group.

Locate an elementary school with an after school program in your neighborhood or locate an after school program in your neighborhood not attached to a school and ask if you could volunteer one or two afternoons and create some squares with the kids.

Invite some VFW posts to share your project in honor of their post.

Send us webmaster@patriotwatch.com for digital photos of in progress and finished project for various websites, OIFII.com and the media.

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The FReeper Foxhole. America's History. America's Soul

Click on Hagar for
"The FReeper Foxhole Compiled List of Daily Threads"

FALL IN to the FReeper Foxhole!

Good Thursday Morning Everyone.

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

Good Morning Snippy.

Good night Sam.

First again! Yahoo!

Looks like the Yankees learned something from General Forrest. The tight discipline and subordinate initiative is very Forrest like. Heavy mounted raids on railroads and supply facilities were the real innovation of the war.

Now, if the South had had Forrest as military dictator, in the same sense as a war dictator in the old Roman Republic, or even Thomas Jonathan Jackson, who was much the same sort of man as Forrest, except in being a Christian Gentleman -

Heavy raids into Ohio and Indiana and all the way to Chicago, destroying rail, depots, shipyards, sparing all who would not fight, and killing all who would - start in 1862, no later, burn Chicago in the summer of '64, McClellan would have been president instead of Old Abe. Think of it.

There are a bunch of other ways that would have worked. Lee's letter to Davis right after 2nd Manassas, for example.

Good night, all. Sack time for me.

Good morning, snippy and everyone at the Freeper fxohole.

Still watching the weather with a risk for severe weather in our neck of the woods.

[God] brings out their host by number; He calls them all by name. —Isaiah 40:26

Thou art coming to a King
Large petitions with thee bring;
For His grace and power are such
None can ever ask too much

God is greater than our greatest problem.

On this Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on April 22:
1357 Johan I King of Portugal (1383-1433)
1451 Isabella I of Castile, Queen of Spain (1479-1504), patron of Columbus
1610 Alexander VIII [Pietro Ottoboni] Italy, lawyer/Pope (1689-91)
1690 John Carteret Earl Granville (C), English chief minister (1722-42)
1707 Henry Fielding England, novelist (Joseph Andrews, Tom Jones)
1724 Immanuel Kant Konigsberg Germany, philosopher (Critique of Pure Reason)
1777 Henry Clay the great compromiser
1818 Cadwallader Colden Washburn Major General (Union volunteers)
1823 Alfred Gibbs Major General (Union Army), died in 1868
1827 William Hopkins Morris Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1900
1831 Alexander McDowell McCook Major General (Union volunteers)
1832 Julius Sterling Morton Adams NY, (Governor-NE), started Arbor Day
1866 Hans von Seeckt German General (Future of the Reich)

1870 Nikolai Lenin [Vladimir Ilich Ulyanov] Bolshevik/USSR revolutionist

1876 O E Rölvaag Norwegian-American novelist (Giants in the Earth)
1881 Alexander Kerensky Simbirsk, Russian PM (1917)
1891 Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev Sontsovka Ukraine, composer
1902 Megan Lloyd George English politician
1904 J[ulius] Robert Oppenheimer New York NY, head of Manhattan (A-bomb) Project
1908 Eddie Albert [Heimberger] Rock Island IL, actor (Oliver-Green Acres)
1916 Yehudi Menuhin New York NY, violinist/conductor (Bartok's Sonata)
1918 Robert Wadlow Alton IL, world's tallest man (8'11.1")
1920 Hal March San Francisco CA, actor/TV host ($64,000 Question, Outrage)
1922 Charles Mingus Arizona, jazz musician
1923 Aaron Spelling Dallas TX, TV executive producer (Charlie's Angels, Melrose Place, Dynasty, Love Boat, Starsky and Hutch, Mod Squad)
1923 Betty Page Kingsport TN, playmate (January 1955)/model (Dark Angel)
1933 John A Llewellyn Cardiff Wales, astronaut
1936 Glen Campbell Delight AR, actor/singer (Rhinestone Cowboy, By the Time I get to Phoenix, Galveston, Wichita Lineman)
1937 Jack Nicholson Neptune NJ, actor (As Good As It Gets, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Shining)
1945 Alan Dukes Irish President (Fine Gael
1958 Ken Olandt actor (April Fool's Day, Imposter, Leprechaun)
1967 Sheryl Lee Boulder CO, actress (Twin Peaks, Love Lies & Murder)
1985 Lauri Hendler Fort Belvoir VA, actress (Julie-Gimme a Break)

Deaths which occurred on April 22:
0536 Agapitus I Italian Pope (535-36), dies
1355 Eleonora Plantagenet daughter of King Edward II, dies at 36
1778 James Hargreaves inventor (spinning jenny), dies
1833 Richard Trevithick inventor (steam locomotive), dies at 62
1865 Francis Washburn US Union Colonel/General Major, dies of injuries
1946 Harlan Fiske Stone Chief Justice Supreme Court (1941-46), dies at 73
1946 Lionel Atwill actor (Captain Blood, Great Waltz), dies at 61
1950 Charles H Houston architect of NAACP legal campaign, dies at 54
1978 Will[iam Auge] Geer actor (Grandpa-The Waltons), dies from a respiratory ailment at 75
1980 Jane Froman singer (Jane Froman's USA Canteen), dies at 72
1982 Melville Bell Grosvenor president (National Geographic Society), dies at 80
1983 Earl "Fatha" Hines US, jazz pianist/conductor, dies
1984 Ansel Adams US photographer, dies at 82
1989 Huey Newton US, Black Panther leader, shot dead at 47
1993 Cesar Chavez US farm worker (United Farm Workers), dies at 66

1994 Richard Milhous Nixon 37th US President (1969-74), dies of stroke at 81

1995 Maggie Kuhn activist (Gray Panthers), dies at 89
1996 Erma Bombeck humorist (Grass is Greener over the Septic Tank), dies at 69

Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1961 BALLENGER ORVILLE ROGER---COLUMBUS OH.
[08/17/62 RELEASED]
1961 BIBER GERALD MACK---BENKELMAN NE.
[PROB KIA IN AMBUSH AFT OVRUN SFG CO B 7TH SFG (ABN) 1SF]
1961 BISCHOFF JOHN MALCOM---MOUNTAIN REST SC.
[PROB KIA IN AMBUSH AFT OVRUN]
1961 MOON WALTER H.---RUDY AR.
[07/22/61 KIA IN ESCAPE]
1966 BOYD CHARLES G.---ROCKWELL CITY IA.
[02/12/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE IN 98]
1966 BRUNSTROM ALAN L.---MIAMI FL.
[02/12/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1966 NICKERSON WILLIAM B.---STAMFORD CT.
1966 WEIMORTS ROBERT F.---EIGHT MILE AL.
1968 COOLEY DAVID L.---WARWICK VA.
[RADIO CONTACT LOST]
1968 CHOMYK WILLIAM---HICKSVILLE NY.
1968 PALMGREN EDWIN D.---WINSTON-SALEM NC.
1968 RIGGINS ROBERT P.---CHAMPAIGN IL.
1969 SCOTT VINCENT CALVIN JR---RICHMOND VA.
1969 VAN CLEAVE WALTER SHELBY---DALLAS TX.
1970 ADACHI THOMAS Y.---LOS ANGELES CA.
[GROUP BURIAL 11/08/95]
1970 BROOKS WILLIAM L.---TOLAR TX.
[GROUP BURIAL 11/08/95]
1970 DAVIS CHARLIE B.---DAYSBORO KY.
[REMAINS RETURNED AND IDENTIFIED 09/95]
1970 FISHER DONALD G.---HAZLETON PA.
[GROUP BURIAL 11/08/95]
1970 GOLZ JOHN B.---ROCK ISLAND IL.
1970 HARRIS STEPHEN W.---SPRINGFIELD MO.
[REMAINS RETURNED AND IDENTIFIED 09/95, GROUP BURIAL]
1970 HENSLEY RONNIE L.---RICHWOOD WV.
[REMAINS RETURNED AND IDENTIFIED 09/95, GROUP BURIAL]
1970 IRELAND ROBERT N.---SAN BERNARDINO CA.
[REMAINS RETURNED AND IDENTIFIED 09/95, GROUP BURIAL]
1970 LINT DONALD M.---DES MOINES IA.
[REMAINS RETURNED AND IDENTIFIED 09/95, GROUP BURIAL]
1970 ROWLEY CHARLES S.---RIVERTON CT.
[REMAINS RETURNED AND IDENTIFIED 09/95, GROUP BURIAL, ID DISPUTED
1970 TOWLE JOHN C.---HARRISBURG IL.
[REMAINS RETURNED AND IDENTIFIED 09/95]

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

On this day...
0687 -BC- Chinese record a meteor shower in Lyra
0296 St Gaius ends his reign as Catholic Pope
0536 St Agapitus I ends his reign as Catholic Pope
1056 Supernova Crab nebula last seen by the naked eye
1073 Pope Alexander II buried/Ildebrando chosen as Pope Gregory VII
1145 19th recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet
1164 Raynald of Dassel names Guido di Crema as anti-pope Paschalis III
1370 Bastille begins being built in Paris France
1500 Pedro Alvarez Cabral discovers Brazil & claims it for Portugal
1509 Henry VIII ascends to throne to become King of England
1521 French king François I declares war on Spain
1526 1st slave revolt occurs in South Carolina
1529 Treaty of Saragosa Spain & Portugal divide eastern hemisphere
1659 Lord protector Cromwell disbands English parliament
1662 Royal Society incorporates
1671 King Charles II sits in on English parliament
1692 Edward Bishop is jailed for proposong flogging as cure for witchcraft
1769 Madame du Barry becomes King Louis XV's "official" mistress
1793 President George Washington attends opening of Rickett's, 1st circus in US
1796 Napoleon defeats Piedmontese at Battle of Mondovi
1809 Battle at Eckmühl - Napoleon beats Austria arch duke Karl
1823 R J Tyers patents roller skates
1861 Robert E Lee named commander of Virginia Confederate forces
1864 US mints 2¢ coin (1st appearance of "In God We Trust")
1876 1st National League game, Boston Braves beat Philadelphia Athletics 6-5; Philadelphia Athletics Wes Fisler scores baseball's 1st run
1876 Tchaikovsky completes his "Swan Lake" ballet
1884 Thomas Stevens starts 1st bicycle trip around the world (2 years 9 months)
1889 Oklahoma land rush officially starts; as many as nine out of ten of these settlers had jumped the gun, earning themselves the name "Sooners"
1893 Paul Kruger elected President of Transvaal for 3rd time
1897 NYC Jewish newspaper "Forward" begins publishing (stiil active)
1898 1st Spanish-American War action USS Nashville, takes enemy ship
1898 Congress passes Volunteer Army Act calling for a Volunteer Cavalry
1898 US President William McKinley orders blockade of Cuban harbors
1903 American Power Boat Association forms
1906 Olympic games held in Athens are not accepted by the IOC
1906 New rule puts umpire in sole charge of all game balls
1914 Babe Ruth's 1st professional game (as a pitcher) is a 6-hit 6-0 win
1914 México ends diplomatic relations with US
1915 1st military use of poison gas (chlorine, by Germany) in WWI
1915 2nd Battle of Ypres begins
1915 New York Yankees don pinstripes & hat-in-the-ring logo for 1st time
1916 France battles at Fort Douaumont
1930 US, Britain & Japan sign London Naval Treaty to reduce naval forces
1940 Rear Admiral Joseph Taussig testifies before US Senate Naval Affairs Committee that war with Japan is inevitable 1943 RAF shoots down 14 German transport planes over Mediterranean Sea
1944 Allies land near Hollandia, New-Guinea
1945 Concentration Camp at Sachsenhausen liberated
1951 Ticker-tape parade for General MacArthur in NYC
1952 1st atomic explosion on network news, Nob NV
1954 Senate Army-McCarthy televised hearings began
1955 Congress orders all US coins bear motto "In God We Trust"
1957 All National League teams intergates, John Irwin Kennedy is 1st black on Phillies
1961 Uprising of French parachutist of General Salan/Challe in Algeria
1964 World's Fair (Flushing Meadow, Corona Park, New York) opens
1967 Martial Law goes into effect in Greece
1969 1st human eye transplant performed
1969 Joe Frazier KOs Dave Zyglewick in 1:36 for heavyweight boxing title
1970 1st Earth Day held internationally to conserve natural resources
1971 Soyuz 10 launched
1972 Apollo astronauts John Young & Charles Duke ride on the Moon
1974 Barbara Walters becomes news co-anchor of the Today Show
1976 Director Ingmar Bergman leaves Sweden due to taxation
1977 Simon Peres becomes premier of Israel
1978 'The Blues Brothers' (Dan Akroyd and John Belushi) make their first appearance on Saturday Night Live
1981 Almost 1 million West German metal workers on strike
1981 Dodgers rookie Fernando Valenzuela tosses his 3rd shutout in 4 starts
1983 Stern magazine announces major historical find-discovery of 60 volume personal diaries written by Adolf Hitler (turned out to be a hoax)
1987 Sri Lanka Air Force bomb Tamil, 100s killed
1988 Women are allowed to compete in the Little 500 bicycle race in Bloomington IN, for the 1st time
1989 Nolan Ryan strikes out his 5,000th batter (Rickey Henderson)
1990 Lebanon releases US hostage Robert Polhill after 39 months
1991 Intel releases the 486SX chip
1991 Johnny Carson announces he will retire next year from Tonight Show
1992 6.0 earthquake in California
1992 Gas explodes in sewer, kills 200 in Guadalajara México
1994 7,000 Tutsi's slaughtered in stadium of Kibuye Rwanda
1994 In Denmark the largest lollipop, weighing 3,011 pounds is made
1997 In Peru, government commandos stormed the Japanese ambassador's residence, ending a 126-day hostage crisis; all 14 Tupac Amaru rebels were killed, 71 hostages were rescued.
1997 A jury of seven men and five women was chosen in Denver to hear the Oklahoma City bombing trial of Timothy McVeigh.
2000 In a predawn raid, armed U.S. immigration agents broke into the Miami house where Elian Gonzalez had been staying and took the 6-year-old Cuban refugee by force, flying him to be reunited with his Cuban father outside Washington, D.C.
2001 Leaders of 34 Western Hemisphere nations meeting in Quebec agreed to stick with an ambitious plan to create the world's largest free-trade zone by 2005 and penalize any country that strayed from the path of democracy.

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

Iceland's 1st Day Of Summer.
Brazil : Discovery Day (1500)
Nebraska : Arbor Day, where they created it (1872)
Oklahoma : Oklahoma Day (1889)
Spain, US : Queen Isabella Day
USSR : Lenin's Birthday (1870)
US : Be Careful What You Say Day
US : National Lingerie Week (Day 5)
America's Heartland Development Month

Religious Observances
Roman Catholic : Commemoration of St Soter, pope (166-75), martyr
Roman Catholic : Commemoration of St Caius, pope (283-96), martyr
Saint Theodore of Sykeon Feast Day

Religious History
1776 Pioneer American Methodist bishop Francis Asbury wrote in his journal: 'I found Christ in me the hope of glory; but felt a pleasing, painful sensation of spiritual hunger and thirst for more of God.'
1864 The motto "In God We Trust" first appeared on U.S. coinage, being struck on a bronze two-cent piece, issued during the American Civil War.
1897 In New York City, the world's largest Jewish daily newspaper, "The Forward," was first published. Abraham Cahan, 43, one of its founders, became editor of the paper in 1903, remaining until his death in 1951.
1933 American Bible teacher and author Kenneth E. Hagin traces his conversion to a saving Christian faith back to this date, at age 16.
1960 At a constitutional convention in Minneapolis, three major Lutheran bodies in the U.S. merged to form the American Lutheran Church, with a combined membership of about two million.

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

Thought for the day :
"Some people are so boring that they make you waste an entire day in five minutes."

Martha Stewart's Way vs. The Real Woman's Way...
Martha's Way #3: When a cake mix calls for flouring the baking pan, use a bit of the dry cake mix instead, there won't be any white mess on the outside of the cake.
Real Woman's Way #3: Go to the bakery. They'll even decorate it for you.

New State Slogans...
North Carolina: Home of BARBECUE, the Holy Grub!

Male Language Patterns...
"I was just thinking about you, and got you these roses." REALLY MEANS,
"The girl selling them on the corner was a real babe."

Female Language Patterns...
"Go ask your father." REALLY MEANS,
"I know he doesn't know, so you'll just have to come back and ask me all over again. Then you'll be sorry."

Good morning everyone!

Hey, CG! Get over heah. The Foxhole's got a thread about Sweet Home Alabama.

Snippy, I grew up in Selma, not far from the arsenal and went to college at Auburn.

First again! LOL. You must be burning the night oil.

Good morning EGC. Stay safe.

Good morning Mayor. Were warming up and skies are clear this morning.

Morning Iris7.

It took a while but the North finally learned how to use Cavalry properly.

US : Be Careful What You Say Day

Hi.

Morning E.G.C.

Woke up to a heavy ground fog this morning, but it's mostly burned off now and the sun is shining.