The FReeper Foxhole Remembers Admiral Porter's Ironclad Hoax (Feb. 1863)

Queen next rendezvoused with the termite-ridden steamer De Soto, stationed downriver to offer assistance to Queen if needed. Ellet and De Soto proceeded downriver. For the next two weeks, Ellet operated below Vicksburg with the two ships. He had the vessels steaming up the Big Black and Red rivers capturing ships and making a general nuisance of himself. Ellet also outfitted Queen with two Parrott cannons, a 30 pounder and a 20 pounder, armament he obtained from the Union infantry that was in control of Young's Point.

De Soto (American Steamship, 1859)
Watercolor by Erik Heyl, 1947, painted for use in his book "Early American Steamers", Volume I.
This ship served as USS De Soto during 1861-1868.
Courtesy of Erik Heyl.

On February 12, hearing of possible targets on the Atchafalaya River, Ellet cruised down to the Louisiana town of Simmesport. Queen's crew went ashore, destroying all supplies on the wharves and looting the residential area. That evening, Queen went back upriver toward the Mississippi. Local civilians fired their rifles at her along the way, shattering the knee of 1st Mate James Thompson. Angered by the attack, Ellet burned three plantations believed to have been the homes of those who wounded Thompson. As her manor house burned, a planter's daughter defiantly sang "The Bonny Blue Flag" into the face of a startled Ellet.

On February 14, 1863, Queen and De Soto set course up the Red River, overtaking and capturing the steamboat Era No.5 carrying 4,500 bushels of corn to Little Rock. After paroling the ship's crew and passengers, a small crew from Queen transferred to Era to sail the vessel. The wounded Thompson was not among those transferred, a mistake that would come back to haunt Ellet. Era was left behind while Queen and De Soto proceeded toward the earthen Confederate battery at Fort Taylor (later renamed Fort DeRussey), built to defend the upper passages of the Red River.

Warned of Queen's approach, Fort Taylor's commander, Captain John Kelso, carefully targeted his guns at the site where the ram would come into view. De Soto laid anchor behind a bend while Ellet reconnoitered Fort Taylor that evening. The stronghold opened fire, and Ellet ordered Queen about to avoid the shells. Not one of Ellet's men had any knowledge of the Red River, thereby increasing the risk of running aground, especially in darkness. True to the risk, pilot Thomas Garvey ran Queen into a mudbank. Captain Kelso set fire to a nearby warehouse to light up the area where Queen was grounded, which was well within range of Fort Taylor's guns.

U.S. Ram Queen of the West (1862-1863)
Watercolor, initialled "T.C.R.", of the ship operating on the Western Rivers during the Civil War.
Courtesy of the Navy Art Collection, Washington, D.C.

Four 32-pounder cannons poured shells into the hapless ram, fracturing her steam chest. Scalding steam drove the crew out on the decks and over the sides. To prevent steam from entering their lungs, they stuffed shredded pieces of uniform into their mouths. The cotton bale armor was pitched overboard, and men clung to the bulky but buoyant bales as life preservers. Too wounded to move, 1st Mate Thompson had to be left on board. As a result, Queen could not be scuttled, but had to be abandoned to the Fort Taylor garrison. Thompson died in captivity several days later.

The survivors floated down to De Soto and clambered aboard. Departing in a thick fog, De Soto also ran aground, shearing off her rudder in the process. Ellet blamed pilot Garvey, whom he clapped in irons for treasonous behavior. Era No. 5 came to the rescue and took Ellet and his men aboard. No longer able to steer, De Soto was set on fire by spreading hot coals across her decks.

Two days prior to Queen's capture, Admiral Porter had sent Indianola downriver with a load of coal for Queen and De Soto. Lieutenant Commander George Brown lashed two coal barges to either side of Indianola and headed out. He caught the Vicksburg batteries napping around midnight on February 13 and slipped past without any appreciable damage. According to newspaper reporter W.S. Ward, "The fun had actually begun -- shot and shell screamed and burst above and beyond us, and the pilot's orders, now changed from whispered signs to vigorous commands, were heard and answered with no need of intervening messengers."

"The Loss of the 'Queen of the West'"
Line engraving after a sketch by Mr. McCullagh, published in "Harper's Weekly", 21 March 1863, depicting the capture of the U.S. Ram Queen of the West while she was operating on the Red River, Louisiana, 14 February 1863.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Eventually, Era No. 5, battered by driftwood floating in the Red River that had snapped off portions of her starboard paddle wheel, limped into the Mississippi River. Ellet had exhausted his supply of coal, and had also burned his coal barge to prevent its capture. The harried officer was burning the cargo of captured corn as fuel. On February 16, Era made contact with Indianola. "You may be sure that no men ever witnessed a more welcome sight than this same good steamer Indianola," a reporter on Era stated. "It was a miraculous escape; from the depths of despair we were raised to the heights of exaltation."

Ellet explained his fiasco to Brown over coffee. He warned him that Queen had been captured and would certainly be redeployed as a Confederate ram. After loading up on coal, Era set off upriver. Cotton bales, confiscated from plantations along the way, were used to protect her from gunfire. Indianola remained behind to block the mouth of the Red River. The Confederate ram William H. Webb tried to pursue Era No. 5, but after Indianola fired a few shots in her direction, Webb quickly turned upriver to warn Fort Taylor and any vessels she encountered.

The Confederate commander of Louisiana, Maj. Gen. Richard Taylor, was soon aware of Indianola's presence. "We barely had time to congratulate ourselves on the capture of the Queen," he wrote, "before the appearance of the Indianola deprived us again of the navigation of the great river, so vital to our cause." Taylor, a prominent local planter and son of President Zachary Taylor, ordered the captured Queen towed to Alexandria, La., for repairs. "She was an ordinary river steamer, with her bow strengthened for ramming," he observed. "A heavy bulwark for protection against sharp-shooters, and with embrasures for field guns, surrounded her upper deck."

Rear-Admiral David D. Porter, USN

Later Queen of the West, William H. Webb and the steamer Grand Era were assembled to drive off Indianola. At 14 knots against the current, Webb was one of the fastest vessels on the Mississippi. Both rams were loaded with sharpshooters and field artillery. Eager volunteers from the garrison at Fort Taylor served as crew members. Slaves to be used as stokers for the engine boilers were forcibly obtained from nearby plantations. "It was a curious feature," noted Taylor, "that Southern people would cheerfully send their sons to battle, but kept their slaves out of danger." Major Joseph Brent was given command of the expedition. A lawyer before the war, Brent was a master improviser in a theater where supply lines were at a trickle. Short of paper, he once used wallpaper for wrapping rifle cartridges. Brent later recalled, "I doubt whether any commander ever had an expedition of poorer promise against as formidable and well equipped an enemy."

The garrison at Port Hudson got involved in the fray by sending a steamer of its own. The commandeered vessel Dr. Beatty was equipped with a 24-pounder Parrott gun, two fieldpieces and an enthusiastic crew of 250. "A warm send off was given by the fort's garrison," a private recalled, "the deafening acclamations of these and those on board marked this as one of the most memorable incidents of Port Hudson."

After four days, Commander Brown decided to head Indianola back upriver. "My purpose was to communicate with the squadron as soon as possible," Brown later wrote, "thinking that Colonel Ellet had not reached the squadron, or that Admiral Porter would expect me to return when I found that no other boat was sent below." To hasten his return, Brown could have left the coal barges behind. But he felt the coal would be needed if Porter sent another vessel down. Besides, he had a 90-mile lead on any potential pursuers. The loaded-down ship, however, could do only about 2 1/2 knots against the current, and the speedier Confederate rams would soon catch up.

USS Queen Of The West

On the evening of February 24, 1863, on the east bank of the Mississippi, just above Palmyra Island, Brown spied the shadowy outlines of four vessels heading straight toward him. He cleverly brought Indianola about to interpose one of the barges between his ship and the Confederate warships.

Major Brent reported: "We first discovered the Indianola about 1,000 yards distant, hugging the eastern bank of the Mississippi, with his head quartering across and down the river. Not an indication of life was given as we dashed on toward him -- no light, no perceptible motion of his machinery was discernible."

Queen of the West served her new Confederate cause well. She struck first, slicing through the coal barge on Indianola's port side, but doing little damage. Next came Webb. "I stood for her at full speed," recalled Brown. "Both vessels came together bows on, with a tremendous crash, which knocked nearly everyone down aboard both vessels." As the rams plowed into Indianola, the transports poured rifle fire into portholes. Webb rammed the starboard side next, splitting that coal barge in two. Queen followed, shearing off the starboard rudder and caving in the wheel housing. Water began to pour into Indianola's hull, causing her to list dangerously to one side. The 9-inch Dahlgrens fired wildly into the dark, not scoring a single hit. Major Brent recalled, "The moon was partially obscured by a veil of white clouds and permitted just sufficient obscurity to render uncertain the aim of the formidable artillery of the enemy." To make matters worse, cotton bales piled around the pilothouse for added protection significantly reduced pilot visibility.

"Colonel Ellet's Ram Fleet on the Mississippi"
Line engraving after a sketch by Alexander Simplot, published in "Harper's Weekly", 1862.Ships in the foreground are: Monarch (letter "M" between stacks), Queen of the West (with letter "Q") and Lioness(letter "L"). In the left background are: Switzerland (with letter "S" on paddlebox), Samson and Lancaster.
Note cotton bales stacked on deck to protect boilers.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Brown recklessly ran about while trying to coordinate the defense of his ship. "Brown exposed himself everywhere," recalled assistant surgeon H.M. Mixer. "He stood upon the hurricane deck, swept by volleys of musketry, grape and canister shot, looking out for the rams, giving orders to his pilots, and with his revolver firing upon the pilots of the enemy. He stood on his knees on the grating on the main deck to see to it that the engineer correctly understood the orders from the pilots." Realizing his command was sinking fast into the Mississippi, Brown decided to keep Indianola in deep water, hoping she could not be salvaged by the Confederates.

The signal books were tossed overboard to keep them from falling into enemy hands. Aboard Dr. Beatty, Colonel Frederick Brand called out to his men, "Prepare to board!" Brown heard the command and called out that he was sinking. "For God's sake don't shoot anymore, I've surrendered!" he cried. Brown offered his sword to Colonel Brand, who eagerly accepted it. The victorious Confederates took Brown and his men to a Vicksburg jail, and they were later sent to a prison camp in east Texas.

Webb and Dr. Beatty took their prize in tow, only to have her sink over a sandbar off Palmyra Island. Salvage parties worked furiously to patch the hull and raise Indianola. Slaves from Brierfield, the nearby plantation of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, were sent over to assist.

Once again, a significant portion of the Mississippi was still in Confederate hands. Two of Porter's finest vessels, Queen of the West and Indianola, were gone. Along with the December 1862 repulse of Union forces at Chickasaw Bluffs, Vicksburg had reason to rejoice. "Piping and dancing have been the order of the night for every night this week," reported Vicksburg Daily Whig publisher Marmaduke Shannon. "Victory celebrations and relief from tension could be carried too far, by both citizens and soldiers," the newsman warned.

"'Bache's Quaker' Driving the 'Queen of the West,' and Causing the Rebels to Blow Up the 'Indianola'."
Line engraving after a sketch by Theodore R. Davis, published in "Harper's Weekly", 1863, depicting the 25 February 1863 operation in which a dummy ironclad (left) was floated down the Mississippi River by the U.S. Navy, causing the Confederates to destroy the captured ironclad USS Indianola. CSS Queen of the West is depicted at the right.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph

Before Indianola's crew was jailed, the finger pointing began. Still unable to pass Port Hudson, Admiral Farragut blamed his own adoptive brother, Admiral Porter. "Porter has allowed his boats to come down one at a time and they have been captured by the enemy, which compels me to go up and recapture the whole or be sunk in the attempt." Porter blamed Ellet for grounding Queen "under the guns of a battery which she had foolishly engaged. Had Ellet waited patiently he would have been joined in less than 24 hours by Indianola. I can give good orders, but I cannot give officers good judgement." As for Indianola, Porter declared, "she had been indifferently fought. She gave up too soon. She would have gained victory if properly managed!"

Unconcerned with who was to blame, Gideon Welles thundered, "The Indianola is too formidable to be left at large." He demanded that a sufficient squadron be gathered to recapture the ironclad before she was salvaged. Porter, on the other hand, thought that he had too few vessels for a sufficient squadron. Two more Ellet rams, Lancaster and Switzerland, had been sunk or severely damaged by battery fire. None of his remaining vessels could match the speed and maneuverability of Queen or Webb. Not wanting further embarrassment, Porter came up with the idea of using a mock ironclad to frighten away Rebel salvagers.

Starting with an abandoned flatboat, Porter put his command to work constructing his ruse. Tapered logs were added to the sides of the flatboat to give it a hull-like appearance. Canvas and wooden planks were used in the center to form a casemate, pilothouse and paddle-wheel housings. Two unusable lifeboats were bolted to fake davits for further realism. Blackened logs served as the vessel's weaponry. Pork barrel smokestacks were added to either side of the pilothouse. For a dark, sinister appearance, the exterior was blackened with tar. As a final touch, two iron pots filled with tar and oakum were placed at the base of the smokestacks and ignited. Clouds of black smoke curled upward as the ersatz ironclad was set adrift in the Mississippi current. Dubbed Black Terror, she was built in 12 hours for a mere $8.63.

USS Indianola is blown up by her Confederate captors, below Vicksburg, Mississippi, circa 25 February 1863, upon the appearance of Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter's fake monitor "Wooden Dummy".
Taken from a sketch by RAdm. Porter, this print is entitled "Dummy Taking a Shoot".
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

At 11 p.m., on February 25, Black Terror was towed into the Mississippi, cut loose and sent on her journey. After cruising past Vicksburg, the vessel struck the west bank of the Mississippi near Warrenton, but Union soldiers pushed her back into the current, and soon Black Terror was drifting at 5 knots. Confederate crewmen on Queen of the West saw Black Terror approaching and turned about and headed downriver to warn any vessels of the Union's latest threat. Coming upon the wrecked Indianola, Captain McCloskey of Queen warned the salvage party of the ironclad's approach. The frightened salvagers decided to scuttle Indianola to prevent her recapture. The guns were spiked or thrown overboard. What was left was set on fire, burning her down to the waterline. Colonel Wirt Adams, commander of a nearby cavalry regiment, remarked, "With the exception of the wine and liquor stores of the Indianola, nothing was saved. The valuable armament, the large supplies of powder, shot and shell are all lost." Black Terror, her mission completed, drifted on for two more miles, then struck a mudbank. She fired no shots and no crew members appeared on the deck. Curious about the lack of any crew activity, a Confederate party from ashore rowed toward the silent vessel. Upon closer inspection, they realized too late the duplicity.

The Southern press wasted no time in running down the botched Indianola salvage effort. "Laugh and hold your sides lest you die of a surfeit of derision," stated the Richmond Examiner, "blown up because, forsooth, a flat boat or mud scow, with a small house taken from a back garden of a plantation put on top of it, is floated down the river, before the frightened eyes of the Partisan Rangers."

Not only had Indianola been denied to the Confederate Navy, but Webb and Queen skeedaddled up the Red River, never again to emerge on the Mississippi as a threat. "Gunboat panic seized the whole country," reported the Examiner, "and it became a serious question at the Navy Department whether liberty and the Southern Confederacy could exist in the presence of a cannon floating on a piece of wood in the water." The Confederacy would have to rely on the garrisons of Vicksburg and Port Hudson to hold its shrinking portion of the Mississippi. Both key cities would fall the following summer to Union land troops supported by gunboats. Black Terror, however, had also played a small role in clearing the Mississippi of Rebel ships. Porter modestly summed up his piece of naval trickery as "a cheap expedient which worked very well." It was likely the most effective $8.63 spent by the Union's military forces during the entire war.

Additional Sources:

www.history.navy.mil
www.mississippirivermuseum.com
www.bluejacket.com
www.civilweek.com
www.bigcountry.de

USS Indianola (1862-1863)

USS Indianola
Probably photographed while under construction at Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1862. This view was originally captioned "wreck of the Indianola", and may depict salvagers at work on her in 1864-65, but it looks far more like a construction view.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

USS Indianola, a 511-ton ironclad river gunboat, was built at Cincinnati, Ohio. Commissioned in an incomplete state in September 1862 to defend Cincinnati against a threatened Confederate attack, she was ready for active service in January 1863. Sent to join the Mississippi Squadron north of Vicksburg, she ran past the guns of that fortress city on 13 February 1863 in an effort to cut off Confederate supply lines. On 24 February, while near the mouth of the Red River, Indianola was engaged by the enemy rams Queen of the West and Webb. Rammed seven times, the Union ship ran aground and surrendered.

As the Confederates worked to salvage their prize, Federal Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter prepared a raft to resemble an ironclad and drifted it down the Mississippi. As the "Wooden Dummy" approached the salvage site, the Confederates exploded Indianola's magazines to prevent what they thought was her possible recapture. After Vicksburg was taken in July 1863, Federal forces also worked to salvage the Indianola, finally getting her afloat in January 1865. Not worth the effort to return her to service, her hulk was sold in November of that year.

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Good Wednesday morning to everyone. I hope all is well with everyone.

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On This Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on September 14:
1486 Agrippa von Nettesheim German occultist/alchemist/royal astrologer
1742 James Wilson Scot/US judge/signer (Declaration of Independence)
1748 A baby found on an Oregon beach a dead half eaten tiger shark in his mouth. Named Brian "68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub" Marotta. Is reported to tell his mother the lovely & longsuffering Mrs Marotta "I want to go too Viet-Nam and kill me some commies." It has also been rumored that Stalin had a fainting spell. President of the Jihad Jane Fonda fan club.
(Inflation is when you pay fifteen dollars....
for the ten-dollar haircut....
you used to get for five dollars...
when you had hair.
1769 Baron Freidrich von Humbolt, German naturalist and explorer who made the first isothermic and isobaric maps.
1819 Henry Jackson Hunt Bvt Major General (Union Army), died in 1889
1835 Joseph Hayes Bvt Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1912
1838 John Pelham Major (Confederate Army), died in 1863
1849 Ivan Pavlov Russia, physiologist/pioneer in psychology
1864 Lord Cecil of Chelwood UK, help form League of Nations (Nobel 1937)
1867 Charles Dana Gibson illustrator, drew "Gibson Girl"
1879 Margaret Sanger feminist/nurse/birth control proponent/racist/elitist
1887 Stanley "Midnight Assassin" Ketchel HW boxing champ (1908-10)
1899 Hal Wallis movie producer (Maltese Falcon, Barefoot in the Park)
1907 A Cecil Snyder Chief Justice of Puerto Rico
1908 Clayton Moore Chicago Ill, actor (Lone Ranger)
1913 Jacobo Arbenz president of Guatemala (1951-54); overthrown by CIA
1920 Bud Palmer Hollywood Calif, NBAer (NY Knicks)/sportscaster
1921 Hughes Rudd TV newscaster (CBS)
1924 Jerry Coleman 2nd baseman/sportscaster (NY Yankees)
1925 Robert Webber Santa Ana Calif, actor (Nuts, Pvt Benjamin)
1928 Albert Shanker American labor leader (Amer Fed of Teachers)
1933 Zoe Caldwell Australia, actress (Prime of Miss Jean Brodie)
1934 Kate Millett St Paul Minn, feminist/author (Sexual Politics)
1938 Nicol Williamson Scotland, actor (Excalibur, Robin & Marian)
1938 Walter Koenig Chicago Ill, actor (Checkov-Star Trek, Bester-Babylon 5)
1944 Joey Heatherton Rockville Center NY, dancer/actress/worldclass babe (Bluebeard)
1947 Jon "Bowser" Bauman Queens NY, singer (Sha Na Na)
1956 Joe Penny London, actor (Gangster Wars, Riptide, Jake & the Fatman)
1959 Mary Crosby LA Calif, actress (Kristin-Dallas, Ice Pirates)
1963 Antonia Real Spain, 400m freestyle (Olympic-1976)
1964 Faith Ford Louisiana, actress (Another World, Corky-Murphy Brown)
1970 Satoshi Kojima wrestler (NJPW)

Deaths which occurred on September 14:
0258 Thascius C Cyprian, Saint/Bishop of Carthage, dies at 58
0407 Johannes Chrysostomus, patriarch, dies
1146 Imad ad-Din Zengi gov of Basra, murdered
1321 Dante Alighieri dies of malaria just hours after finishing writing Paradiso.
1646 Robert Devereux, 3rd earl of Essex, dies under Queen Elizabeth's headsman
1759 Louis Montcalm French general (Plains of Abraham), dies at 47
1788 John Penn US attorney, signed (Decl of Independence), dies at 47
1836 Aaron Burr 3rd VP, dies
1852 Arthur Wellesley General/Duke of Wellington, dies at 83
1862 Jesse Lee Reno Union general-major (Reno Nevada), dies at 39
1862 Samuel Garland Jr US Confederate brig-gen, dies in battle
1901 Pres William McKinley dies in Buffalo, of gunshot wounds inflicted by an assassin. VP Theodore Roosevelt became president
1927 Isadora Duncan dies as her scarf became entangled in her car's wheel
1966 Gertrude Berg actress (Molly Goldberg-The Goldbergs), dies at 66
1981 [Walter] Furry Lewis father of blues, dies at 88 of a heart attack
1982 Bashir Gemayel Lebanon's president-elect, killed by a bomb
1982 Grace Kelly princess of Monaco, dies at 52 in a car crash
1984 Janet Gaynor actress, dies at 77 from a traffic accident
1996 Juliet Prowse, actress/dancer (Mona McCluskey), dies at 59

Take A Moment To Remember
GWOT Casualties

Iraq
14-Sep-2003 1 | US: 1 | UK: 0 | Other: 0
US Sergeant Trevor A. Blumberg Fallujah - Anbar Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack

14-Sep-2004 3 | US: 3 | UK: 0 | Other: 0
US 1st Lieutenant Tyler Hall Brown Ramadi - Anbar Hostile - hostile fire - sniper
US Major Kevin M. Shea Al Anbar Province Hostile - hostile fire
US Sergeant Jacob H. Demand Mosul (western part) - Ninawa Hostile - hostile fire

Afghanistan
A GOOD DAY

http://icasualties.org/oif/
Data research by Pat Kneisler
Designed and maintained by Michael White
//////////
Go here and I'll stop nagging.
http://soldiersangels.org/heroes/index.php

On this day...
0891 Stephen V ends his reign as Catholic Pope
1515 Battle at Marignano ends in French/Venetian victory
1629 Spanish garrison surrenders to prince Frederik Henry
1628 Salem, Mass., was founded.
1666 St Paul's in London destroyed by fire
1716 1st lighthouse in US lit (Boston Harbor)
1741 George Frederick Handel finishes "Messiah" oratorio
1752 England & colonies adopt Gregorian calendar, 11 days disappear
1776 The British Army entered New York City after defeating the Americans, under Gen. Washington, at the Battle of Long Island.
1812 Napoleon occupies Moscow

1814 Francis Scott Key inspired to write "The Star-Spangled Banner"

1847 US Marines under General Scott enter Mexico City (halls of Montezuma)
1848 Alexander Stewart opens the 1st US dept store
1856 Battle of San Jacinto, Nicaragua defeats invaders
1862 Battle at Crampton's Gap: Union defeats Confederates
1862 Battle at South Mountain: Union defeat Confederates
1862 Battle of Munfordsville KY
1862 Federal troops escape from beleaguered Harpers Ferry West Virginia
1862 Skirmish at Mountain MD (Boonesboro, Crampton's Gap, Fox's Gap)
1872 Britain pays the US $15,000,000 for damages during Civil War for building the Confederate commerce-raider CSS Alabama
1886 George K Anderson of Memphis, Tennessee patents typewriter ribbon
1891 "Empire State Express" train goes from NYC to East Buffalo, a distance of 436 miles, in a record 7H6M
1899 Henry Bliss becomes 1st automobile fatality (NY)
1901 Vice President Theodore Roosevelt is sworn in as the 26th President of the United States upon the death of William McKinley, who was shot eight days earlier
1916 Christy Mathewson pitches & wins his final game
1917 Provisional government of Russia established, Republic proclaimed
1919 British regime bans Sinn Fein
1923 Miguel Primo de Rivera becomes dictator of Spain
1930 Detroit Lions (as Portsmouth Spartans) play 1st NFL game, win 13-6
1930 Nazis gain 107 seats in German election
1933 2 billion board feet of lumber destroyed in Tillamook Oregon fire
1938 Graf Zeppelin II, world's largest airship, makes maiden flight
1940 Congress passes 1st peace-time conscription bill (draft law)
1942 German army began their siege of Stalingrad.
1948 Gerald Ford upsets Rep Bartel J Jonkman in Mich 5th Dist Rep primary
1948 Groundbreaking ceremony for the UN world headquarters
1948 Milton Berle starts his TV career on Texaco Star Theater
1954 Hurricane Edna (2nd of 1954) hits NYC, $50 million damage
1956 1st prefrontal lobotomy performed, Washington DC(I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy)
1957 UN resolution deplores & condemns USSR invasion of Hungary (USSR promptly leaves because the world community tells them to......meanwhile back in the real world)
1960 Chubby Checker's "Twist" hits #1
1960 Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Saudi-Arabia & Venezuela form OPEC
1963 Mary Ann Fischer, Aberdeen, SD, gave birth to America's 1st surviving quintuplets, 4 girls & a boy
1964 Walt Disney awarded the Medal of Freedom at the White House
1965 "F-Troop" premiers
1966 Operation Attleboro, designed as a training exercise for American troops, becomes a month-long struggle against the Viet Cong.
1967 Melville Abrams Ball Field in the Bronx named
1968 1st broadcast of "60 Minutes" on CBS-TV
1968 USSR's Zond 5 is launched on 1st circumlunar flight
1969 Males of Swiss canton Schaffhausen rejects female suffrage
1971 Cleve Indians & Wash Senators, play 20 innings
1972 West Germany & Poland establish diplomatic relations
1972 "Waltons" TV program premiers
1973 Israel shoots down 13 Syrian MIG-21s
1973 Pres Nixon signed into law a measure lifting pro football's blackout
1974 Charles Kowal discovers Leda, 13th satellite of Jupiter

1975 Mother Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton canonized as 1st US-born saint

1979 Theodore Coombs completes 5,193 mile roller skate from LA to NYC & back to Yates Center, Ks (WHY?)
1981 Entertainment Tonight premiers on TV
1982 The grand dragon of the Ku Klux Klan's Invisible Empire of Florida announced that he was moving the group's headquarters from Orlando to Gainesville. Why? Because, he said, it's "a progressive community, and we think we can fit in."
1982 36" snow (Red Lodge, MT)
1982 Trevor Baxter sets skateboard high jump record of 5' 5.7"
1983 US House of Representatives votes, 416 to 0, in favor of a resolution condemning Russia for shooting down a Korean jetliner
1987 Oriole Cal Ripken Jr sets record of playing 8,243 inn in 910 games
1987 Toronto Blue Jays hit a record 10 HRs vs Baltimore Orioles
1989 Calgary Flames become 1st NHL team to play in USSR, win 4-2
1990 Ken Griffey, Sr & Jr, hit back-to-back HRs in 1st inning
1991 The government of South Africa, the African National Congress and the Inkatha Freedom Party signed a national peace pact.
1993 Katherine Ann Power "peace activist"/fugitive for more than 20 years in the death of a police officer during a bank robbery in Boston -- surrendered. She later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to eight to 12 years in prison.
1996 Tara Dawn Holland of Kansas was crowned "Miss America."
1998 President Clinton, struggling to regain his footing from the Monica Lewinsky scandal, pledged during a speech in New York to work with America's allies to deal with the "biggest financial challenge facing the world in a half-century."
(And the legacy search goes on.
Where oh where has my legacy gone,
where oh where can it be.
I need to find my legacy,
so people will remember me.)
2000 President Clinton says he is “quite troubled” by the way the Energy and Justice departments had handled the Wen Ho Lee case, and he expressed his regrets.
(NOPE. No legacy here.
Here legacy legacy legacy!
Come here boy.
Monica PLEASE! I'm trying to find my legacy.)
2002 Lackawanna 6 arrested in Lackawanna New York & Bahrain. They trained in an al Qaeda camp run by Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network in the spring of 2001. All 6 were indicted Oct 21. In 2003 Mukhtar al-Bakri was sentenced to 10 years, Yasein Taher to 9 years. All terms ranged from 7-10 years.
2003 The Lasker foundation presented awards for medical research to Dr. Robert Roeder for his work on gene transcription, and to Dr. Marc Feldman and Sir Ravinder Maini for their anti-TVF work that led to drugs for treating rheumatoid arthritis.
2003 Hafiz Abdul Rahim, a top commander of the former Taliban regime along with 14 other terrorists assume room tempature in a shootout with Afghan forces.

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

Medieval South France Annual Fair of Ax-lesson-Thermes
Nicaragua : Battle of San Jacinto (1856)
Pakistan : Jamat Ul-Wida
US : National Anthem Day (1814)
US : National Boss/Employee Exchange Day
National Cream-Filled Donut Day
National Papaya Month

Religious Observances
Ang, RC, Luth : Memoria of the Exaltation Holy Cross Day
Orth : Beginning of the Orthodox church year (9/1 OS)
Feast of the 7 Sorrows of Mary.

Religious History
1741 German composer George Frederick Handel, 56, finished composing his oratorio, "The Messiah." He wrote the score, start-to-finish, in only 24 days, subsisting primarily on coffee.
1765 Anglican clergyman and hymnwriter John Newton wrote in a letter: 'How unspeakable are our obligations to the grace of God.'
1918 The Evangelical Lutheran Joint Synod of Wisconsin, Ohio and Other States was formed from the merger of several smaller synods. In 1930 this denomination merged with two other synods to form the American Lutheran Church (ALC).
1927 Bob Jones University opened in Greenville, South Carolina, and eighty-eight students registered for the first fall term.
1975 (Mother) Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton (1774-1821) was canonized by Pope Paul VI, making her the first native-born American citizen to become a saint in the Roman Catholic Church.

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

PLANET-DISSOLVING DUST CLOUD IS HEADED TOWARD EARTH!
It was spewed from a black hole 28,000 light years from Earth and is vaporizing everything in its path, astronomers say!

By MIKE FOSTER

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Scared-stiff astronomers have detected a mysterious mass they've dubbed a "chaos cloud" that dissolves everything in its path, including comets, asteroids, planets and entire stars -- and it's headed directly toward Earth!

Discovered April 6 by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, the swirling, 10 million-mile- wide cosmic dust cloud has been likened to an "acid nebula" and is hurtling toward us at close to the speed of light -- making its estimated time of arrival 9:15 a.m. EDT on June 1, 2014.

"The good news is that this finding confirms several cutting- edge ideas in theoretical physics," announced Dr. Albert Sherwinski, a Cambridge based astrophysicist with close ties to NASA.
"The bad news is that the total annihilation of our solar system is imminent."

Experts believe the chaos cloud is composed of particles spawned near the event horizon of a black hole (a form of what's called Hawking Radiation) that have been distorted by mangled information spewed from the hole.
"A super-massive black hole lies about 28,000 light-years from Earth at the center of our galaxy," explained Dr. Sherwinski.

"Last year the eminent physicist Stephen Hawking revised his theory of black holes -- which previously held that nothing could escape the hole's powerful gravitational field. He demonstrated that information about objects that have been sucked in can be emitted in mangled form.
"It now appears that mangled information can distort matter.
"Just imagine our galaxy the Milky Way as a beautiful, handwritten letter.
"Now imagine pouring a glass of water on the paper and watching the words dissolve as the stain spreads. That's what the chaos cloud does to every star or planet it encounters."

To avoid widespread panic, NASA has declined to make the alarming discovery public. But Dr. Sherwinski's contacts at the agency's Chandra X-ray Observatory leaked to him striking images of the newly discovered chaos cloud obliterating a large asteroid.
"It's like watching a helpless hog being dissolved in a vat of acid," one NASA scientist told Dr. Sherwinski.

Ordinarily, Hawkings Radiation is harmless.

"It's produced when an electron- positron pair are at the event horizon of a black hole," Dr. Sherwinski explained. "The intense curvature of space-time of the hole can cause the positron to fall in, while the electron escapes."
But when "infected" by mangled information from the black hole, the particles become a chaos cloud, which in turn mangles everything it touches.
"If it continues unchecked, the chaos cloud will eventually reduce our galaxy to the state of absolute chaos that existed before the birth of the universe," the astrophysicist warned.

Some scientists say mankind's best hope would be to build a "space ark" and hightail it to the Andromeda Galaxy, 2.1 million light-years away.
"We wouldn't be able to save the entire human population, but perhaps the best and the brightest," observed British rocket scientist Dr. David Hall, when asked about the feasibility of such a project.
But even if such a craft could be built in time, evacuating Earth might prove fruitless if theories about the origin of the chaos cloud are correct.
"A black hole at the center of Andromeda is about 15 times the size of the one in our own galaxy," Dr. Sherwinski noted. "It might be like jumping out of the frying pan into the fire."

Speaking under the condition of anonymity, a senior White House official said the president's top science advisors are taking the findings in stride.
"This is a lot like global warming, where the jury is still out on whether it's real or not," said the official.
"The existence of this so called chaos cloud is only a theory. Americans shouldn't panic until all the facts are in."

Thought for the day :
"Hollywood amuses me. Holier-than-thou for the public and unholier-than-the-devil in reality."
Grace Kelly

Consumed with ambition, Porter would not hesitate to trample on a fellow officer if he could benefit from doing so. One newspaper correspondent wrote that he was "vain, arrogant and egotistical to an extent that can neither be described nor exaggerated." For all his vanity, Porter possessed extraordinary resourcefulness, a tremendous asset in river warfare.

What;s the old saying, It ain't bragging if you can back it up.

Good morning ladies. Flag-o-Gram.

Hi miss Feather.

If I hadn't stopped her, Bittygirl was well on the way to climbing out of the bathtub last night.

Oh my!! This child is gonna make you Grey!! Climbing in, climbing out, turning on the faucets.
Yikes!!

Bitty Girl sounds a lot like Hobbit Lass. We put her in gymnastics to burn off some of the energy.

She's already figured out how to open doors. She doesn't have the strength to turn the doorknobs. Yet.

Good Morning Foxhole!

We used those white plastic doorknob covers to keep Hobbit Lass from opening doors. We put those safety latches on all the cabinet doors. The only problem was that Grandma couldn't open the doors either. :^)

Hidee Ho!