The FReeper Foxhole Profiles General George Meade - Oct. 11th, 2004

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[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.
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FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer
for all those serving their country at this time.

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General George Gordon Meade
(1815-1872)

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Meade was born in Cadiz, Spain to an American family. At the time, his father had run into financial and legal difficulties due in part to the Napoleonic Wars. Meade graduated from the United States Military Academy (West Point) in 1835. For a year, he served with the 3rd Artillery in Florida, fighting against the Seminole Native Americans, before resigning to become a civil engineer. He was also a railroad constructor, and worked for the Department of War for some time. However, after finding civilian employment difficult, he reentered the army in 1842. He was commissioned a second lieutenant, and assigned to the corps of topographical engineers.

Captain George Meade

He was assigned to Mexico during the Mexican War, assigned to the staffs of Generals Zachary Taylor, William J. Worth, and Robert Patterson, and was brevetted for gallant conduct at the Monterey. His military career was uneventful, mainly as an engineer associated with lighthouses, until 1861, when the Civil War erupted.


Photo at Wallack's House

His Civil War assignments included:

• Captain, Topographical Engineers (since May 19, 1856);
• Brigadier General, USV (August 31, 1861);
  • commanding 2nd Brigade, McCall's Division, Army of the Potomac (October 3, 1861 - March 13, 1862);
  • commanding 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, 1st Corps, Army of the Potomac (March 13 - April 4, 1862);
  • commanding 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, Department of the Rappahannock (April 4 - June 12, 1862);
  • commanding 2nd Brigade, 3rd Division, 5th Corps, Army of the Potomac June 18-30, 1862);
• Major, Topographical Engineers June 18, 1862);
  • commanding lst Brigade, 3rd Division, 3rd Corps, Army of Virginia (August 26 - September 12, 1862);
  • commanding 3rd Division, lst Corps, Army of the Potomac (September 12-17 and September 29-December 25, 1862);
  • commanding the corps (September 17-29, 1862);
• Major General, USV (November 29, 1862);
  • commanding 5th Corps, Army of the Potomac (December 25, 1862 - January 26, 1863 and February 5-16 and February 28-June 28, 1863);
  • commanding Center Grand Division, Army of the Potomac January 1863);
  • commanding Army of the Potomac June 28, 1863 - December 30, 1864 and January 11 - June 27, 1865);
• Brigadier General, USA July 3, 1863);
• Major General, USA (August 18, 1864).

Meade was appointed a brigadier general of Volunteers a few months after the start of the Civil War. He was assigned command of a brigade of Pennsylvania Reserves, which he led competently. During the Seven Days' Battles, Meade received a severe wound (specifically at the Battle of Fraziers' Farm). He recovered in time for the Second Battle of Bull Run, after which he received a divisional command. Meade distinguished himself during the Battle of Antietam and its precursor, South Mountain. In the former, he replaced the wounded Major General Joseph Hooker in command of I Corps, performing well.


General Meade and staff July 2.
Artist unknown.
From the W. H. Tipton Collection, Gettysburg National Military Park.

During the Battle of Fredericksburg, Meade's division made the only breakthrough of the Confederate lines, spearheading through a weak portion of General "Stonewall" Jackson's lines. For this action, Meade was promoted to major general of Volunteers. However, he was unsupported, losing much of his division. After the battle, he received command of V Corps, and during the short tenure of the system of Grand Divisions after Fredericksburg, Meade commanded the Centre Grand Division. General Hooker, like one of Meade's previous superiors, Major General George B. McClellan, was too timid in his force deployment, leaving Meade's effective division in reserve for most of the Union defeat at the Battle of Chancellorsville.



After Hooker resigned from command of the Army of the Potomac, Meade replaced him three days before the Battle of Gettysburg, where he succeeded in driving General Robert E. Lee's army back into Virginia, but was criticized for not actively pursuing the Confederates during their retreat (at one point, they were extremely vulnerable with their backs to the almost uncrossable Potomac River). Nonetheless, he received the Thanks of Congress and a belated promotion to brigadier general of Regulars (which was separate from his promotions in the Volunteer army).


"General Meade and Pennsylvania Troops in Camp before Gettysburg"
A panel from Violet Oakley's cycle "The Creation and Preservation of the Union"

When General Ulysses S. Grant was appointed commander of the Union forces, Meade became subordinate to him. During the Battle of Bristoe Station and the Mine Run Campaign, Meade performed unspectacularly. Interestingly, after Grant made his headquarters in 1864 with Meade, there was an arrangement to mention Meade only in setbacks, because of his well-known fiery temper, especially toward reporters. Most certainly, Meade knew nothing of this arrangement, and the reporters apparently giving all of the credit to Grant angered Meade. He fought effectively during the Overland Campaign (including the Battle of the Wilderness), and the Battle of Petersburg, after which Grant requested that he be promoted to major general of the Regular Army. Although he fought during the Appomattox Campaign, he felt slighted that Grant and cavalry commander Major General Philip Sheridan received most of the credit. He commanded the Army of the Potomac until the Union victory in 1865.


Margaretta Meade

General Meade was the commissioner of Fairmount Park in Pennsylvania from 1866 until his death. He also held various military commands, including the Military Division of the Atlantic, the Department of the East, the 3rd Military District (including Georgia and Alabama), and the Department of the South. He received an honorary doctorate in law (LL.D.) from Harvard University, and his scientific achivements were recognized by various institutions, including the American Philosophical Society and the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences.

Meade died in Philadelphia on November 6, 1872, due to complications from his old wounds, combined with pneumonia. There are various statues of him throughout Pennsylvania, including a few in Gettysburg. Also, the US Army installation Fort George G. Meade in Fort Meade, Maryland is named for him.

[SAMWolf]

General Meade and the Defense of Emmitsburg

Shortly after the Gettysburg Campaign in the summer of 1863. General Daniel Sickles, commander of the Third Corp, tried to bring General Meade up on charges. The charges were related to General Meade’s plan for the Pipe Creek Defense Line. After a short hearing on the charges, General Daniel Sickles was removed from field command. General Sickles however remained in the military until after the Civil War.

Major General Daniel Sickles, U.S. Third Corps

General Daniel Sickles was born in 1819 in New York. As grown man, Daniel Sickles went into the law practice. Three times he was indited for legal improprieties. He was known to be as womanizer, and married a young beautiful girl who was 15 years younger than him. In 1857 Daniel Sickles was elected to Congress. In those days when you went into politics you spent a lot of time away from home. It was acceptable for a man to have affairs with other women, but it was unlady like for a married woman to have an affair with a man. Daniel Sickles had asked his friend Philip Barton Key, the son of Francis Scott Key (who is a relative of mine), to escort his wife to the balls and dinners that were always held in Washington, D.C. Philip Key was caught having an affair with Daniel Sickles’s wife and in an act of rage Daniel Sickles shot and killed Philip. He stood trial and became the first American to be acquitted on a murder charge pleading temporary insanity. Daniel Sickles moved back to New York until the out break of the Civil War.



During the Gettysburg Campaign, General Hooker was relieved of command and General Meade was appointed the new commander of the Army of the Potomac. General Meade and General Sickles could never mask their ill feeling for each other. During the Chancellorsville battle, which was held in the spring of 1863, General Hooker gave the order to Daniel Sickles to surrender the high ground. The Confederate Army subsequently took possession and began to shell the federal lines. General Sickles vowed never take an order like that again. That was a promise which, General Sickles kept even here in Emmitsburg. On June 30th General Meade had made his headquarters near Taneytown, located about seven miles east of Emmitsburg on Route 194. While General Sickles' made his headquarters at Bridgeport which was part of a series of entrenchments made by the Federal army known as the Pipe Creek Defense Line. Bridgeport is situated five miles east of Emmitsburg on the Frederick and Carroll County border.


Meade's Proposed Position on Pipe Creek
On June 30, Gen. Meade, the new commander of the Army of the Potomac, still regarded his mission as being to protect Washington and Baltimore. He had a defensive line reconnoitered along Pipe Creek from Manchester to Middleburg, shown on this map as a heavy broken line. In notifying Halleck of this plan, Meade pointed out that the position afforded a good reserve line along Parr's Ridge-Dug Hill Ridge, and that it was oriented to protect not only Baltimore but also his base of supplies at Westminster. Halleck in his reply generally approved Meade's plan, but suggested that perhaps Meade was too far east. He said that vast quantities of supplies along the Potomac canal were being captured by the Confederates, and that Meade ought to give thought to protecting that area rather than Westminster.

The Pipe Creek Defense Line ran from Middleburg, Maryland to Union Mills, Maryland. The Pipe Creek Defense Line included the major roads that led to Baltimore and Washington. D.C. Routes 30, 97, 140, and Bull Frog Road were the major arteries to Baltimore. The reserves that were held in Middletown and Frederick were protecting the road to Washington, D.C. The Western Wing under the command of General Reynolds was ordered to advance to Emmitsburg in response to the Confederate cavalry engagements at Fairfield and Fountaindale.


Bivouac-Meade at Gettysburg

It was then that Meade spotted portions of the enemy. The intentions of the Confederates were uncertain. General Meade did not want to take a chance to prevent Washington or Baltimore from being targeted. Meade created the Pipe Creek Defense Line and deployed it on July 1st. General Sickles criticized General Meade for this defensive line for the reason that it predicted a Union defeat. (However at that time, General Meade did not know that the whole western wing of his army was already being deployed at Gettysburg.) If this was true, then Gettysburg would have never happened.


General Meade's Headquarters - Gettysburg, PA, 1863

Some people surmise that the battle of Gettysburg should have happened near Taneytown, Maryland because of the Pipe Creek Defense Line. Some guess that General Meade took the wrong road and met the Confederates by accident. However if this was the case, General Buford would have never engaged the Confederate at Gettysburg. To prove this point, if the Pipe Creek Defense Line was created in case of a Union defeat then why was the order given to General Reynolds to advance to Emmitsburg. This order supports the idea there would be a major battle preparing to be fought in Emmitsburg and not Taneytown.


The High Tide
Gettysburg
July 3, 1863

The Confederates were outside of Gettysburg from the directions of Cashtown, Carlisle, and York. A.P. Hill’s Corp came down Chambersburg Pike toward Gettysburg. Generals Early and Ewell moved down from the north and east on the York and Harrisburg Turnpikes. If General Buford had never engaged the Confederate at Gettysburg, the main parts of the Confederate Army would have moved toward Emmitsburg. Since General Reynolds received a message from General Buford that the Confederates were spotted in the direction of Fairfield, General Reynolds had the First Corp move north of Emmitsburg to Marsh Creek leaving behind the Eleventh Corp and a reserve of artillery at Emmitsburg. This was the protection of the town of Emmitsburg.


High Water Mark of the Confederacy
Gettysburg
July 3, 1863

On the evening of June 30th through the morning hours of July 1st, The Third Corp under General Daniel Sickles was at Bridgeport, Maryland just east of Emmitsburg. It is here that the controversy begins with General Meade and General Sickles while the Third Corps was encamped at Bridgeport, Maryland. General Sickles was ordered by General Reynolds (his wing commander) to advance onto Cat Tail Branch facing Gettysburg, however due to General Meade's orders a series of events would follow when General Sickles disobeys orders directed to him while he was at Emmitsburg on July 2nd. The following Union correspondences state the specific orders given to General Sickles from General Meade and General Reynolds.

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HEADQUARTERS LEFT WING, At Moritz Tavern, June 30, 1863.

Major-General Sickles, Commanding Third Corps:

General: Major-General Reynolds directs me to say he wishes you to camp upon Cat Tail Branch with your command, and for you to also send a staff officer to these headquarters.

I am, general, very respectfully, your obedient servant, Edward C. Baird, Captain, and Assistant Adjutant-General

[P. S.]-General Reynolds wishes, when you take up your position upon Cat Tail Branch, to face toward Gettysburg, and cover the roads leading from Gettysburg.

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HEADQUARTERS THIRD CORPS, Bridgeport, on the Monocacy, June 30, 1863-7. 45 p. m.

Captain E. C. Baird, Aide-de-Camp, Headquarters Left Wing:

Captain: By direction of the general commanding, I have gone into camp here, countermanding a previous order to go to Emmitsburg, and I am to await here further orders from headquarters Army of the Potomac. When these orders were received, I sent Captain Crocker, of my staff, to communicate them to Major-General Reynolds, and to inform him of my position. My First Division and two batteries are farther toward Emmitsburg (across Middle Creek).

D. E. Sickles, Major General

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HEADQUARTERS THIRD ARMY CORPS, Bridgeport, on the Monocacy, June 30, 1863.

Brigadier General S. Williams, Assistant Adjutant-General, Army of the Potomac:

General: Enclosed please find communication from Major-General Reynolds. It is in accordance with my written orders, received from headquarters Army of the Potomac at 1 p. m., but in conflict with the verbal order given me by the general commanding while on the march. Shall I move forward? My First Division is about a mile this side of Emmitsburg.

I am, general, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

D. E. Sickles, Major General, Commanding

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Headquarters Army of the Potomac, June 30, 1863

Commanding Officer Third Corps (General Sickles):

Major-General Reynolds reports that the enemy has appeared at Fairfield, on the road between Chambersburg and Emmitsburg. I am, therefore, instructed by the commanding general to say that it is of the utmost importance that you should move with your infantry and artillery to Emmitsburg with all possible dispatch.

Very respectfully, S. Williams, Assistant Adjutant-General

[SAMWolf]

Upon reaching Emmitsburg on July 1st, General Sickles received an order to hold Emmitsburg in case of a Confederate break through. Subsequently another order came for the Third Corp to move forward to Gettysburg. Once the Third Corp began to break camp, yet another order was issued to disregard the order, to march to Gettysburg, hold Emmitsburg at all cost.


Detail of Meade's Pipe Creek Line

General Meade must have felt that if a Confederate breakthrough occurred, the Confederate army would try to out flank the Union army, by way of Emmitsburg. General Sickles pressed forward to Gettysburg. Completely disregarding the order of holding Emmitsburg. This was also General Sickles’ testimony when he tried to bring General Meade up on charges. General Sickles felt that the order of holding Emmitsburg, was preparing the Army of the Potomac to retreat back toward Emmitsburg.


General Meade's Headquarters - Culpeper, VA, 1863

General Sickles arrived at Gettysburg and took action in the Wheat Field. Here, another order given by General Meade was disobeyed. General Sickles was ordered to retreat back toward his original position giving up the ground gained by the Federals. General Sickles disregard for that order resulted in him being carried off the field, his leg shattered by a Confederate bullet. He was carried off the field smoking his cigar. His Third Corp holding of its position may have been significant in the Union victory at Gettysburg.



On July 7th, after the battle of Gettysburg, General Meade rode through Emmitsburg and briefly stopped to visit the town. The residents hailed him, thanking him for all that he had done to protect the town from the main Confederate Army. Since General Meade drew up the Pipe Creek Defense Line the Confederate Army really never had a chance of attacking Washington, D.C., considering that the Western Wing of the Army of the Potomac heavily protected Emmitsburg.


General Meade And His Staff

General Meade rode out of town heading down Old Frederick Road. The commander crossed Loyds Station-Covered Bridge and made his headquarters in the small community of Creagerstown. This cleared Emmitsburg of the hell and gore of the American Civil War to begin the healing and rebuilding.


General Meade's Council of War at Gettysburg

General Sickles could have been court marshaled for disobeying orders given by a superior officer. Instead he was responsible for saving the Union on July 2nd at Gettysburg. General Sickles was awarded a medal of honor three decades after his actions at Gettysburg. The famous leg that was amputated at Gettysburg is still preserved today in Washington, D.C. Daniel Sickles returned to Washington to visit his leg whenever the opportunity existed. After the Civil War, he went to Gettysburg annually to pay his respects for all those who died there. Daniel Sickles is noted responsible for the preservation of those fields in Gettysburg, spending his own money to see it become a memorial. People in Emmitsburg today are reminded of his dedication to Civil War memorials and preservation work by the signs placed next to the U.S. Post Office.

John Allen Miller

Additional Sources:

www.emmitsburg.net
www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk
www.army.mil
www.ferenzi.com
webpages.marshall.edu
www.nps.gov
www.legis.state.pa.us
www.cr.nps.gov
www.civilwarphotos.net
www.globalclassroom.org
pre1900prints.com
www.mortkunstler.com
www.swcivilwar.com
www.bigcountry.de
www15.brinkster.com
www.generalmeadesociety.org
www.gdg.org

[SAMWolf]

General George G. Meade's Monument on Cemetery Ridge.

'Meade was brave and conscientious, and commanded the respect of all who knew him. He was unfortunately of a temper that would get beyond his control at times. No one saw this better than he himself, and no one regretted it more. This made it unpleasant at times, even in battle, for those around him to approach him even with information.'

-- Ulysses S. Grant,
Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant (1885)

'I had known Meade before the war, having met him and traveled with him on our northern lakes when he was on engineering duty in that region, and I had seen him frequently after the outbreak of hostilities. As I entered his tent, he extended his hand, and said: "How are you, Howard?" He demurred at any congratulation. He looked tall and spare, weary, and a little flushed, but I knew him to be a good, honest soldier, and gathered confidence and hope from his thoughtful face. To him I appeared but a lad, for he had graduated in 1835 at the Military Academy, nineteen years before me. He won me over by his thoroughness and fidelity than by any show of sympathy or companionship. To me, of course, he stood in the light of an esteemed, experienced regular officer, old enough to be my father, but like a father that one can trust without his showing him any special regard. So we respected and trusted Meade from the beginning.'

-- General Oliver Howard
in his autobiography published in 1907.

'General Meade has more than met my most sanguine expectations. He and Sherman are the fittest officers for large commands I have come in contact with. In their services can be rewarded by promotion to the rank of Major-Generals in the regular army the honor would be worthily bestowed, and I would feel personally gratified. I would not like to see one of these promotions at this time without seeing both.'

-- Ulysses Grant,
letter to Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War (13th May, 1864)

[SAMWolf]

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[snippy_about_it]

Upon reaching Emmitsburg on July 1st, General Sickles received an order to hold Emmitsburg in case of a Confederate break through. Subsequently another order came for the Third Corp to move forward to Gettysburg. Once the Third Corp began to break camp, yet another order was issued to disregard the order, to march to Gettysburg, hold Emmitsburg at all cost.

My goodness. Did the left hand know what the right hand was doing?

[SAMWolf]

Just think, it could have been the "Battle of Emmittsburg".

Good night Snippy

[snippy_about_it]

Good night Sam.

[Aeronaut]

Good morning Snippy.

[E.G.C.]

Good morning, Snippy and everyone at the Freeper Foxhole.

[Valin]

On this Day In History


Birthdates which occurred on October 11:
1671 Frederik IV king of Denmark/Norway (1699-1730)
1759 Mason Locke Weems, preacher (Episcopalian clergyman). Noted seller of books where he would fictionalize history. invented the story of George Washington and the cherry tree
1820 Alfred Washington Ellet Brig General (Union volunteers), died in 1895
1821 Sir George Williams England, founder YMCA
1825 Elkanah Brackin Greer Brig General (Confederate Army), died in 1877
1835 Hunter Holmes McGuire Med Director (Confederate Army), died in 1900
1844 Henry John Heinz founded prepared-foods company (57 varieties)
1872 Harlan Fiske Stone NH, Supreme Court (1925-41) Chief Justice (41-46)
1884 Eleanor Roosevelt 1st lady/crusader
1896 Roman Jakobson linguist/Slavic scholar (Fundamentals of Language)
1902 Leon Belasco Odessa Russia, actor (Lucky Partners, My Sister Eileen)
1906 Earl "Dutch" Clark Colo, NFL hall of fame QB (Spartans, Detroit)
1910 Joseph Alsop political newspaper columnist (Men Around the President)
1914 Edward J Day US Postmaster General (1961)
1918 Jerome Robbins choreographer/composer (Tony-West Side Story)
1919 Art Blakey Pitts Pa, drummer (Billy Eckstine Band)
1925 Elmore Leonard American writer (Glitz, Mr Majestyk)
1932 Dottie West Tenn, country singer (Here Comes My Baby)
1936 Charles Gordon Fullerton Roch, USAF/ast (STS T-1, T-3, T-5, 3, 51F)
1937 Ron Leibman NYC, actor (Norma Rae, Where's Poppa?, Beauty & Beast)
1943 Gene Watson country singer (Heartaches, Love & Stuff)
1948 Daryl Hall rocker/songwriter (Hall & Oates-Sara Smile)
1953 David Morse Beverly Mass, actor (St Elsewhere, House, Inside Moves)
1962 Joan Cusack Evanston Ill, comedienne (SNL)
1962 Leslie Landon LA Calif, actress (Etta Plum-Little House on Prairie)
1971 Luke Perry Mansfield Ohio, actor (Dillon-Beverly Hill 90210)
1975 Kellie Martin actress (Life Goes On)

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Deaths which occurred on October 11:
0732 Abd ar-Rahman Yemenite general strategist (Bordeaux occupier), dies
1303 Boniface VIII, [Benedetto Gaetani], lawyer/pope (1294-1303), dies
1424 Jan Zizka, Czech (army)leader (Hussite), dies of plague at 46
1531 Huldrych Zwingli, Swiss church reformer (Zwinglian), dies
1779 General Casimir Pulaski dies
1809 Meriwether Lewis capt of Lewis & Clark Expedition, dies at 35
1891 Charles Stewart Parnells remains, buried in Ireland
1961 Leonard "Chico" Marx (Marx Brothers), dies at 74
1985 Orson Welles dies at 70 of a heart attack
1985 Tex Williams country-western singer, dies at 68 of cancer
1988 Waylon Flowers puppeteer, dies at 48
1990 Douglas Edwards WW II correspondant, dies of cancer at 73
1991 Redd Foxx comedian, dies at 68 from a heart attack

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Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1968 FERGUSON WILLIE C. JR.---OKLAHOMA CITY OK.
[02/73 REMAINS RECOVERED]
1968 HELLER IVAN LOUIS---GENESEO IL.
[03/73 REMAINS RECOVERED]

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

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On this day...
0732 Battle at Tours: Franks under Charles (the hammer) Martel beat Moors
1492 Columbus' ships sight land on the horizon (Bahamas)
1521 Pope Leo X titles King Henry VIII of England "Defender of the Faith"
1531 The Catholics defeat the Protestants at Kappel during Switzerland's second civil war.
1643 battle at Wincebt: English New Model-army beats royalists
1737 Earthquake kills 300,000 & destroys much of Calcutta India
1776 Brig Gen Arnold's Lake Champlain fleet defeated by British
1779 Polish nobleman Casimir Pulaski was killed while fighting for American independence during the Revolutionary War Battle of Savannah, Ga.
1811 The Juliana, the 1st steam-powered ferryboat, begins operation
1861 Battle of Dumfries, VA (Quantico Creek)
1862 The Confederate Congress in Richmond passes a draft law allowing anyone owning 20 or more slaves to be exempt from military service.
1863 Skirmish at Rheatown/Henderson's Mill, Tennessee
1864 Slavery abolished in Maryland
1865 Pres Johnson paroles CSA VP Alexander Stephens
1868 Thomas Alva Edison filed papers for his first invention: an Electrical Vote Recorder, to rapidly tabulate floor votes in Congress. Members of Congress rejected it.
1877 Outlaw Wild Bill Longley, who killed at least a dozen men, is hanged, but it took two tries; on the first try, the rope slipped and his knees drug the ground.
1890 1st 100 yard dash under 10 seconds (John Owens 9-4/5 secs, Wash DC)
1890 Daughters of the American Revolution founded
1913 Phila A's beat NY Giants, 4 games to 1 in 10th World Series
1914 German troops occupy Gent
1915 Bulgarian anti Serbian offensive begins
1919 1st transcontinental air race ends
1922 1st woman FBI "special investigator" appointed (Alaska Davidson)
1923 German mark falls to 10 billion per œ, 4 billion per $
1925 NY Giants play 1st NFL game, lose to Providence 14-0
1927 Lou Gehrig elected MVP
1931 100,000 extreme-right Germans form "Harzburger Front"
1932 1st political telecast (Democratic National Committee) at CBS, NYC
1936 "Professor Quiz", 1st radio quiz show premieres
1945 Chinese civil war begins, Chiang Kai-Shek vs Mao Tse-Tung
1948 Cleve Indians beat Boston Braves, 4 games to 2 in 45th World Series
1961 USAF Major Robert M White takes X-15 to 66,100 m
1962 1st appearance of a Gabor sister on the Merv Griffin Show
1962 2nd Vatican Council (21st ecumenical) convened by Pope John XXIII
1967 Yoko Plus Me art exhibit opens in London (the me is John Lennon)
1968 Apollo 7 the first manned Apollo mission, was launched with astronauts Wally Schirra, Donn Fulton Eisele and R. Walter Cunningham aboard,made 163 orbits in 260 hours
1968 Billy Martin named manager of Twins
1968 Panama revolts
1969 Soyuz 6 launched; Soyuz 7 & 8 follow in next 2 days
1971 Frank McGee becomes news anchor of the Today Show
1972 Prison uprising at Washington DC jail
1975 "Saturday Night Live" premieres with guest host George Carlin
1975 Bill Clinton marries Hillary Rodham
1976 Mao TseTung widow Jiang Qing & "Gang of Four," arrested & charged with plotting a coup
1975 Islander's Bryan Trottier's 1st career hat trick
1977 Soyuz 25 returns to Earth
1978 Aristides Royo elected president of Panama
1979 Allan McLeod Cormack & Godfrey Newbold Hounsfield win Nobel Prize for medicine for developing the CAT scan
1980 Cosmonauts Popov & Ryumin set space endurance record of 184 days
1981 LeRoy Irvin sets yards gained on punt returns record (207 yds)
1981 Unknown rocker Prince opens for Rolling Stones at LA Coliseum
1982 English ship Mary Rose, which sank during an engagement with France in 1545, raised at Portsmouth, England
1983 Last hand-cranked telephones US went out of service as 440 telephone customers in Bryant Pond, Maine, were switched over to direct-dial
1984 NASA launches space vehicle S-208
1984 VP candidate debate-Geraldine Ferraro (D) & George Bush (R)
1985 Pres Reagan bans importation of South African Krugerrands
1986 Reagan & Gorbachev open talks at a summit in Reykjavik, Iceland
1987 200,000 gays march for civil rights in Washington
1990 Center for Urban archaeology opens in NYC South Street Seaport Museum
1990 Oil hits a record $40.42 per barrel
1991 Anita Hill testifies Clarence Thomas sexually harrassed her
1991 Chip Beck ties PGA lowest 18 hole score of 59
1996 Roman Catholic Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo and Jose Ramos-Horta of East Timor won the Nobel Peace Prize for their pro-democracy efforts in troubled East Timor where famine and repression had killed one-third of the entire population.
1998 Pope John Paul II decreed the first Jewish-born saint of the modern era: Edith Stein, a nun killed in the gas chambers of Auschwitz.
2000 Texas Governor George W. Bush and Vice President Al Gore met in their second debate, in which they spent the first half politely discussing foreign policy, and the second half clashing over domestic issues.

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

Panama, Panama Canal Zone : Revolution Day (1968)
Sri Lanka : Deepavali
US : General Pulaski Memorial Day (1779)
Western Samoa : National Day
Canada : Thanksgiving Day
Florida : Farmers' Day (1915)
Hawaii : Discoverer's Day
US : Columbus Day (1492)
Virgin Is & Puerto Rico : Friendship Day
Get Organized Week Ends
Mental Illness Awareness Week Ends
Kiss Your Car Day
Value of Play Month
National Sarcastics' Awareness Month

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Religious Observances
RC : Commemoration of the Motherhood of Mary
RC : Commemoration of St Mary Soledad, foundress of Handmaidens of Mary
Jewish : Sukkot

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Religious History
1521 Leo X conferred the title "Fidei Defensor" (Defender of the Faith) upon England's Henry VIII. Three popes and 13 years later, Henry severed all ties with Rome to establish the Church of England.
1551 The 13th Session of the Council of Trent opened, during which major decisions were reached regarding the Catholic doctrine of the Eucharist.
1895 Birth of Avis B. Christiansen, devotional author. One of the most prolific hymnwriters of the 20th century, two of her most enduring hymns today are "Up Calvary's Mountain" and "Precious Hiding Place."
1914 During World War I, the Cathedral of Notre Dame suffered minor damage during an air raid on Paris. (Notre Dame, the most famous of the Gothic cathedrals of the Middle Ages, is distinguished for both its size and antiquity.)
1954 Presbyterian apologist Francis Schaeffer wrote in a letter: 'Doctrinal rightness and rightness of ecclesiastical position are important, but only as a starting point to go on into a living relationship -- and not as ends in themselves.

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

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Thought for the day :
"Sex on television can't hurt you....unless you fall off."

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Gender Dictionary...
ENTERTAINMENT (en-ter-tayn-ment) n.

A. Female...A good movie, concert, play or book.

B. Male...Anything that can be done while drinking.

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Lesser Known Breeds of Dogs - Cross Breeds...
Deerhound + Terrier = Derriere, a dog that's true to the end

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The Ultimate Scientific Dictionary...
Quantum Mechanics:
The crew kept on the payroll to repair quantums, which decay frequently to the ground state.

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Things you would like to say at work, but won't...
I thought I wanted a career, turns out I just wanted paychecks

[Valin]

Did the left hand know what the right hand was doing?

Not so you'd notice it.

Part of the problem was so many of the senior commanders in the Army of the Potomac were scared of Bobby Lee.

[Professional Engineer]

Good morning ladies. Flag-o-gram.

[Samwise]

Your trying to make our hearts flutter this morning.

[Samwise]

YourYou're trying to make our hearts flutter this morning.

Where is my proofreader when I need her? I swear those typos pop up between Preview and Post. I think it's some sort of Internet virus.

[Professional Engineer]

Ya' think Snippy will recruit them for her BicycleSpankenTruppen squad?

[Samwise]

I was for the BicycleSpankenTruppen squad before I was against it.

[aomagrat]

Today's classic warship, USS Grayson (DD-435)

Gleaves class destroyer

Displacement. 2,525 t.
Lenght. 348'4"
Beam. 36'1"
Draft. 13'6"
Speed.37.4 k.
Complement. 276
Armament. 4 5", 6 .50cal mg, 10 21" tt.

USS Grayson (DD-435) was laid down 17 July 1939 by the Charleston Navy Yard, S.C., Iaunched 7 August 1940; sponsored by Mrs. Alice Gertrude Gordon Grayson Harrison (Mrs. George Leslie Harrison), widow of Rear Admiral Grayson; and commissioned 14 February 1941, Lt. Comdr. Thomas M. Stokes in command.

After shakedown along the New England coast and in Chesapeake Bay, Grayson joined Destroyer Division 22 of the Atlantic Fleet. On 28 August the new destroyer be became flagship of DesRon 11 operating in the Caribbean out of Guantanamo Bay. She reported for neutrality patrol in the North Atlantic waters between Newfoundland and Iceland 26 October.

After 10 months patrolling and protecting convoys in the icy North Atlantic Grayson was ordered to the Pacific to join an American fleet battered but resolutely carrying the war to the enemy. She sailed from San Diego 2 April 1942 as part of Hornet's escort and rendezvoused at sea 13 April with Enterprise under Admiral William "Bull" Halsey. From this fast carrier force, steaming less than 800 miles from the Japanese home islands, General "Jimmy" Doolittle launched his famed B-25 raid on Tokyo 18 April, bringing war to the enemy's own land.

The task group sailed into Pearl Harbor 25 April. Grayson departed almost immediately for repairs in California, but soon returned to the Pacific war.

Grayson again found herself with a fast carrier force as she sailed from Pearl Harbor 15 July to escort Enterprise and Hornet. Reaching Guadalcanal via Tongatabu 7 August 1942, the carriers launched their planes to cover Marine landings there, America's first major blow of the war on the road to Japan; and then operated in the area to block Japanese reinforcements. As they maneuvered off Guadalcanal, Enterprise was hit by Japanese bombs 24 August in an action filled half-hour which saw Grayson down two planes and damage a third. The task group dispersed, Enterprise returning to Pearl Harbor for repairs, and Grayson joined TF 11, built around Saratoga under Admiral Fletcher. Action soon followed. Sighting a Japanese submarine on the surface the next day, 25 August, Grayson closed for the kill. After expending 46 depth charges, her entire supply, in a series of five attacks, the destroyer finally had the satisfaction of seeing a huge air bubble and oil slick rise to the surface indicating the death of another Imperial submarine.

The battle-proven ship and crew remained in the bitterly contested waters around Guadalcanal for nearly 8 months in a variety of duties. The versatile Grayson convoyed troop transports loaded with reinforcements from Noumea and other staging areas to Guadalcanal, patrolled in "The Slot", served as a radar picket ship, and performed valuable rescue work. On 18 October she picked up 75 survivors from DD Meredith, sunk by aerial torpedo 16 October, and helped escort the barge Vireo, loaded with desperately needed fuel and ammunition, to Guadalcanal.

Returning to Pearl Harbor 15 April 1943 for overhaul, Grayson continued on to the States for further repairs and finally sailed to New Caledonia, arriving 24 September. She accounted for at least four and possible two more Japanese barges loaded with evacuees from Kolombangara during three nights of action, 30 September-3 October, with DesRon 21 under Commander A. D. Chandler. After 3 months of patrol duty, Grayson sailed for Puget Sound Navy Yard 16 December for overhaul.

Grayson soon returned to the Pacific, putting in at Majuro Atoll, Marshall Islands, 10 February 1944. Patrol duty in the Solomons, Carolines, and Marshalls occupied her the following 6 months. On 30 March Grayson supported initial assault landings on Pityiliu Island Admiralties, from 22 to 24 April she was fighter-director ship for the landings at Tanahmerah Bay, Dutch New Guinea. She bombarded Biak Island 27 May and Noemfoor Island 2 July prior to invasion landings.

On 1 September 1944 Grayson joined TG 38, for carrier strikes against the enemy in the Palau Islands, scene of the next major invasion. She returned to Seeadler Harbor 31 September. She again sailed 2 October for a major strike against Okinawa and the Philippines. Japanese planes harassed the withdrawal, and on 15 October Grayson rescued 194 men from the torpedoed light cruiser Houston, who was towed safely to Ulithi.

Prom Ulithi, Grayson sailed straight to Saipan, where on 3 November she took up radar picket and lifeguard duty. Finally Grayson was ordered home, reaching Seattle 9 June 1945 for her first real rest since the war began.

Grayson returned to Pearl Harbor 1 September 1945, the day of the signing of the Articles of Surrender in Tokyo Bay. After brief training she sailed for the United States. transiting the Panama Canal 8 October, she put in at Charleston, S.C., 16 October. Eleven days later the battle-scarred "tin can" hosted over 5,000 visitors as a grateful and jubilant public paid tribute on Navy Day.

Grayson remained at Charleston until decommissioned, 4 February 1947, and was placed in reserve. She was in the Reserve Fleet for more than two decades. USS Grayson was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register in February 1971 and was sold for scrapping in November 1972.

Grayson received 13 battle stars for World War II service.

[SAMWolf]

Good Mornig Aeronaut.

[SAMWolf]

Morning E.G.C.

Yesterday turned out to be a beautiful Fall day. We have fog again this morning and are hoping for a repeat of yesterday.