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Posted on 01/29/2005 9:46:14 PM PST by snippy_about_it
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 are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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| Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel free to address their specific circumstances or whatever issues concern them in an atmosphere of peace, understanding, brotherhood and support. The FReeper Foxhole hopes to share with it's readers an open forum where we can learn about and discuss military history, military news and other topics of concern or interest to our readers be they Veteran's, Current Duty or anyone interested in what we have to offer. If the Foxhole makes someone appreciate, even a little, what others have sacrificed for us, then it has accomplished one of it's missions. We hope the Foxhole in some small way helps us to remember and honor those who came before us.
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 Of course regular Foxhole readers probably know it all. ;-) What follows are a few little known facts about the American Revolutionary War era. Most Americans think they know all about the Revolution simply because they are Americans. In fact, the real story -- not the one in most textbooks -- is crammed with little known facts. Information has been drawn from multiple sources for this report. The main source being information compiled by Mr. Thomas Fleming, a noted historian. The Americans of 1776 had the highest standard of living and the lowest taxes in the Western World! Farmers, lawyers and business owners in the Colonies were thriving, with some plantation owners and merchants making the equivalent of $500,000 a year. Times were good for many others too. The British wanted a slice of the cash flow and tried to tax the Colonists. They resisted violently, convinced that their prosperity and their liberty were at stake. Virginia's Patrick Henry summed up their stance with his cry: "Give me liberty or give me death!" There were two Boston tea parties! Everyone knows how 50 or 60 "Sons of Liberty," disguised as Mohawks, protested the 3 cents per pound British tax on tea by dumping chests of the popular drink into Boston Harbor on December 16, 1773. Fewer know that the improper Bostonians repeated the performance on March 7, 1774. The two tea parties cost the British around $3 million in modern money. Benjamin Franklin wrote the first Declaration of Independence! In 1775, Franklin, disgusted with the arrogance of the British and appalled by the bloodshed at Lexington and Concord, wrote a Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson was enthusiastic. But, he noted, many other delegates to the Continental Congress were "revolted at it." It would take another year of bitter conflict to persuade the Congress to vote for the Declaration of Independence written by Jefferson -- with some astute editorial suggestions by Franklin. John Adams defended the British Soldiers after the Boston Massacre! Captain Thomas Preston led some British Soldiers to aid another British Soldier who was having things thrown at him and was also hit several times with a board. After their arrival, the people continued to pelt the soldiers and finally shots were fired and the infamous "Boston Massacre" was over. Captain Thomas Preston and eight soldiers were charged with murder. Future President John Adams took up the defense of the soldiers. He, along with Joshua Quincy, was able to get all but two acquitted by a local jury. Those two were found guilty of manslaughter, but claimed benefit of clergy. This means that they were allowed to make penance instead of being executed. To insure that they never could use benefit of clergy again they were both branded on the thumbs. History's first submarine attack took place in New York Harbor in 1776! The Connecticut inventor David Bushnell called his submarine the Turtle because it resembled two large tortoise shells of equal size joined together. The watertight hull was made of 6-inch-thick oak timbers coated with tar. On September 6, 1776, the Turtle targeted the HMS Eagle, flagship of the British fleet. The submarine was supposed to secure a cask of gunpowder to the hull of the Eagle and sneak away before it exploded. Unfortunately, the Turtle got entangled with the Eagle's rudder bar, lost ballast and surfaced before the gunpowder could be planted. Benedict Arnold was the best general in the Continental Army! "Without Benedict Arnold in the first three years of the war," says the historian George Neumann, "we would probably have lost the Revolution." In 1775, the future traitor came within a whisker of conquering Canada. In 1776, he built a fleet and fought a bigger British fleet to a standstill on Lake Champlain. At Saratoga in 1777, his brilliant battlefield leadership forced the British army to surrender. The victory persuaded the French to join the war on the American side. Ironically, Arnold switched sides in 1780 partly because he disapproved of the French alliance. By 1779, as many as one in seven Americans in Washington's army was black! At first Washington was hesitant about enlisting blacks. But when he heard they had fought well at Bunker Hill, he changed his mind. The all-black First Rhode Island Regiment -- composed of 33 freedmen and 92 slaves who were promised freedom if they served until the end of the war -- distinguished itself in the Battle of Newport. Later, they were all but wiped out in a British attack. There were women in the Continental Army, even a few who saw combat! Probably the best known is Mary Ludwig Hays, nicknamed "Molly Pitcher." She replaced her wounded husband at his cannon during the Battle of Monmouth in 1778. Another wife of an artilleryman, Margaret Corbin, was badly wounded serving in her husband's gun crew at the Battle of Harlem Heights in 1776. Thousands of other women served in Washington's army as cooks and nurses. George Washington was the best spymaster in American History! He ran dozens of espionage rings in British-held New York and Philadelphia, and the man who supposedly could not tell a lie was a genius at disinformation. He constantly befuddled the British by leaking, through double agents, inflated reports on the strength of his army. By 1779, there were more Americans fighting with the British than with Washington! There were no less than 21 regiments (estimated to total 6,500 to 8,000 men) of loyalists in the British army. Washington reported a field army of 3,468. About a third of Americans opposed the Revolution. At Yorktown, the victory that won the war, Frenchman outnumbered Americans almost three to one! Washington had 11,000 men engaged in the battle, while the French had at least 29,000 soldiers and sailors. The 37 French ships-of-the-line played a crucial role in trapping the 8,700 strong British army and winning the engagement. King George almost abdicated the throne when the British lost! After Yorktown, George III vowed to keep fighting. When parliament demurred, the King wrote a letter of abdication -- then withdrew it. He tried to console himself with the thought that Washington would become a dictator and make the Americans long for royal rule. When he was told that Washington planned to resign his commission, the monarch gasped: "If he does that, sir, he will be the greatest man in the world."      |
Thought I'd stop by the FOXHOLE and snag a cold one from your cooler, put my feet up on the table and watch the goings on over in Iraq on this historic day for them. May God protect the brave people who will go out to vote today, despite the threats of death and destruction by the Islamofascists. And may God protect the brave Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines who will be providing security at the polling places today.
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"The Era of Osama lasted about an hour, from the time the first plane hit the tower to the moment the General Militia of Flight 93 reported for duty." 
Toward FREEDOM
Good morning, everyone! Another neat thread!!!
They either moved to Canada or their decendants became modern day Liberals. ;-)
Evening Neil.
You're always welcome to grab a mug and kick back.
Evening Brad's Gramma.
Good evening to you, too! I'm reading on another thread, all of the reports about the bombings by the creeps in Iraq trying to upset these elections.
Prayers all around are needed...(Like I needed to say that...).
William Casey made a long speech on George Washington's intelligence gathering and disinformation. I can't find it in my stuff, forget the book it is in, but the following is interesting, perhaps:
No slacking for me today bump for the Freeper Foxhole
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
Good morning, snippy and everyone at the Foxhole.
Good morning, we are promised MORE rain. I'm off to church shortly.
On This Day In History
Birthdates which occurred on January 30:
1616 William Sancroft Archbishop (Canterbury)
1797 Edwin Vose Sumner Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1863
1816 Nathaniel Prentiss Banks Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1894
1822 John Basil Turchin [Ivan Turchinoff], Brigadier General (Union volunteers)
1829 Alfred Cummings Georgia, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1910
1841 Alfred Townsend George Civil War journalist, died in 1914
1882 Franklin Delano Roosevelt New Hyde Park NY, 32nd President (D) (1933-1945)
1885 John Henry Towers aviator/naval hero
1892 Charles Trowbridge Haubiel composer
1894 Boris III tsar of Bulgaria (1918-43)
1902 Sir Nikolaus Pevsner England, art historian (The Buildings of England)
1909 Saul David Alinsky Chicago IL, radical writer (John L Lewis)
1912 Barbara Tuchman US, historian/author (Pulitzer, Guns of August)
1914 David Wayne Traverse City MI, actor (Andromeda Strain, Adams Rib)
1914 John Ireland Vancouver BC, actor (Rawhide, Gunfight at OK Corral)
1915 John D Profumo England, politician (C)
1920 George Skibine Russian/US dancer/choreographer (Tragedy in Verona)
1922 Dick Martin Detroit MI, actor/comedian (Laugh-In, Carbon Copy)
1925 Dorothy Malone Chicago IL, actress (At Gunpoint, Night & Day, Peyton Place)
1927 Olof Palme Stockholm, PM of Sweden (1969-76, 1982-86) assassinated
1931 Gene Hackman California, actor (Bonnie & Clyde, Under Fire, Superman)
1933 Louis Rukeyser financial whiz (Wall Street Week, Channel 13)
1935 Richard Brautigan Tacoma WA, novelist/poet (Trout Fishing...)
1937 Boris Spassky USSR, world chess champion (1969-72)
1937 Vanessa Redgrave London, actress (Blow-Up, Julia, Orient Express)
1939 Eleanor Smeal femanazi/president (NOW)
1941 Dick Cheney (Representative-R-WY/George Bush's secretary of defense 1989-93/Vice President 2001- )
1942 Marty Balin Cincinnati OH, singer (Jefferson Starship-Miracles)
1951 Phil Collins England, singer/drummer (Genesis-Against All Odds)
1955 Judith Tarr US, sci-fi author (Isle of Glass, Ars Magica)
1973 Holly Noelle Roehl Miss Indiana-USA (1996)
Read: Romans 8:31-39
Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! —1 John 3:1
Bible In One Year: Exodus 8-10
I can recall when in grade school my eyes first met those of a brown-eyed girl seated a couple of rows away from me. It's hard to put into words, but something happened. It was my first case of "puppy love." Those were the days when we'd take a daisy and pluck off its petals one by one, all the while saying with a certain person in mind, "She loves me, she loves me not." Oh, how it hurt when the daisy's last petal was "she loves me not."
This reminds me of a little girl who came running into the house one morning, sobbing. "What's wrong, dear?" her mother asked. Throwing herself into her mother's arms, she cried, "God doesn't love me anymore." "Of course He does," the mother said reassuringly. "No, He doesn't," the child sobbed. "I know He doesn't because I tried Him with a daisy."
The only reliable way to know that God loves us is to consider everything He does for us each day. And if there's still any doubt, think of what He did to save us! The Bible says, "God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).
We can be confident of God's unfailing love because He has proven it beyond all question. Yes, His love is a sure thing. —Richard De Haan
Intelligence gathering, something the Liberals need to learn about.
Morning Aeronaut
Morning alfa6.
More "rearranging" the store today for us.
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