The FReeper Foxhole Remembers Colonel Benedict Arnold at Quebec (Winter 1775)

Arnold also brought some of his misery upon himself. In mid-October, when his force was 160 miles from Québec, he sent a letter ahead to friends in the Canadian city in a legitimate, if somewhat risky, attempt to gain information on the British disposition. He entrusted the letter to an Indian who had joined the expedition around Norridgewock and who immediately turned the note over to the British. While Arnold could be faulted for being reckless, he was in dire need of the intelligence and had no other means to obtain it. In his position, it was probably a chance worth taking, but he was not completely injudicious. In his letter, he claimed he was leading "about 2,000 men." If the letter did reach the British, they would have a rather nasty nugget to chew on.

Quebec Invasion Militia

Somehow, though, Arnold's leadership kept his troops' morale high, and spirits remained generally excellent among the survivors--until October 25, when Colonel Roger Enos, commanding the rearmost division, turned back with some 350 men. Despite the difficulties, the remainder plodded on, held together only by Arnold's vigorous generalship. The bateaux foundered constantly, losing precious supplies overboard. As the troops waded through frozen swamps, Suzannah Grier tucked her skirts up around her waistband and carried her husband's equipment over her head, while Captain Hendricks admonished the men to avert their eyes and make no lewd remarks. Rations became so scarce that the men were forced to consume pet dogs and make gruel out of wax candles.

On November 8, just five days before Montgomery took Montréal, Arnold arrived at Point Levis, opposite Québec on the St. Lawrence, with barely 600 frozen, starving men. The trek had taken six weeks, twice what he had estimated.

Royal Highlanders

But now that Arnold was here, what could he do? His "army" was too weak to take the objective. Had Arnold's ill-fated letter served its purpose, he would have known that only a handful of soldiers garrisoned Québec, and if he could have crossed the St. Lawrence, the city might have fallen more easily than he thought possible. Instead, there seemed to be little he could do but sit back and wait for Montgomery.

After the fall of Montréal to Montgomery, the initiative shifted somewhat to the British. Caught between the two cities was a 200-man reinforcement column of Canadian volunteers heading east under Lt. Col. Allen Maclean, and behind him was Sir Guy Carleton, the British governor general of Canada. Carleton, dressed as a farmer, took a rowboat and narrowly avoided Montgomery's troops. While he made his way to Québec, its garrison was already preparing a stout defense.

Arnold's next step was to get his army across the St. Lawrence. The bateaux had been left some 100 miles behind, leaving canoes as the only conveyances available to the expedition. Arnold began shuttling his men across the river in them the first chance he got--but due to high winds and rough water that opportunity did not arrive until November 13. He had ferried about 500 men across the river when a patrolling British barge came upon the American army, and after a brief exchange of shots, Arnold ended the effort, leaving his army temporarily split.

Silently leading the men he had to King's Road and heading eastward across the Plains of Abraham, Arnold brought his column up to the edge of the woods about a mile from St. Louis Gate. By dawn his men had occupied some local dwellings, and Arnold had established his headquarters at the country estate of Colonel Henry Caldwell. Once the area was secure, most of the exhausted Americans fell asleep, but Arnold remained awake. Although exhilarated by his success thus far, he was sure the British knew all about him and his men and decided that a surprise attack on the city was now out of the question. In fact, the patrol boat's crew failed to report their findings for several hours. Later, when the British finally were aware of Arnold's presence, they sent out a land patrol that captured one of Daniel Morgan's men, Private George Merchant, who had been ordered to watch St. Johns' Gate but had fallen asleep at his post.

General Daniel Morgan

Arnold was certain the enemy would sally out from the city, and he prepared to meet them. On the 14th, he even had the audacity to send a rather blustery letter to Hector Cramahé, the lieutenant governor of Québec, demanding the city's immediate surrender "in the name of the United Colonies." When Matthias Ogden, accompanied by a drummer, tried to deliver the message, he received Cramahé's reply in advance--in the form of a cannon shot that sent him scurrying back to rebel lines. The New Jersey?born rebel tried again the next day, carrying both the ultimatum and a message from Arnold stating that Cramahé's behavior the previous evening was unworthy of his "honor and valor" and represented "an insult I could not have expected from a private soldier." Cramahé's response was no different but more accurate--his salvo almost killed Ogden.

The British forces in Québec, still under Maclean, were far weaker than Arnold realized. Although the city had ample provisions, cannons and ammunition, there were only 1,200 troops in the garrison, and half were civilian militiamen who the British felt were no more reliable than their American rebel counterparts. Only 70 were Regular troops, while the balance were sailors drawn from ships in Québec Harbor and Maclean's own Canadian volunteers. Given that situation, Maclean was not about to repeat the error made on September 13, 1759 by French General Louis Joseph de St. Véran, marquis de Montcalm (ironically, Montgomery had served under Maj. Gen. James Wolfe during that earlier fight for Québec, in which both Wolfe and Montcalm lost their lives). Rather than risk battle on the Plains of Abraham, the British sat back in the city and waited for the Americans to come to them. No amount of American demonstrating outside the city could persuade the defenders to come out.

Quebec Militia

Arnold then laid siege to the city, which was so ineffectual that he withdrew some 20 miles west to Pointe-Aux-Trembles. As he left the area of Québec, his men were disheartened by the boisterous welcome being given Governor Carleton as he entered the city on November 19. Shortly after arriving at Point-Aux-Trembles, however, Arnold learned that Montréal had fallen and that Carleton's arrival in Québec was more escape than anything else. Better yet was the news that Montgomery was on his way with reinforcements.

In a letter to Montgomery on November 20, Arnold painted a bleak picture. He was down to 550 effectives, while his supplies included 600 pairs of coarse stockings, 300 milled caps, 300 dozen pairs of mittens and gloves, only 300 blankets and very little food. In a very candid postscript, he added that his "hard cash is nearly exhausted" and that the French Canadians already held so many IOU's that "I don't think it prudent to offer...them at present." In addition, he estimated the number of men under Maclean and Carleton at 1,900, although he did not believe them to be of very high quality. On that same day, Arnold wrote General Washington that his army of 650 (a figure that included about 100 ill, not mentioned in the letter to Montgomery) was "almost naked and in want of every necessity."

Finally, after leisurely reorganizing his army, Montgomery arrived at Point-Aux-Trembles on December 3. He had with him a paltry 350 men--just enough to replace those who had left with Colonel Enos, but hardly worth waiting for. Montgomery had judged it necessary to leave the rest behind as a garrison in Montréal. Another problem was looming for the luckless force--the enlistments of the men in the expedition were due to expire on New Year's Eve. If Arnold's army of barely 1,000 men was going to accomplish anything, it would have to be soon.

Fortunately, Montgomery and Arnold hit it off well and quickly devised a mutually agreeable plan. On December 5, Arnold wrote optimistically to Washington, telling him that the scheme was well underway. By that date, the colonists were once again encamped around Québec.

Montgomery tried to approach Québec under a white flag of truce to parley but was driven off by British cannons. Jemima Warner then dressed in a formal gown that someone had obtained from one of the local residences and marched 800 yards through deep snows to deliver Montgomery's terms. She was admitted into the city and delivered the surrender demand to Carleton, but he promptly tore it up and imprisoned her. Five days later, he released her but made her march out the gate between two rows of drummers, a gesture to indicate that, as a rebel, she was being drummed out of the empire.

The siege continued. On December 11, the British guns managed to destroy a rebel artillery battery at St. Roch, killing a man and a woman. The latter was Jemima Warner, probably the first woman to die in combat for a country that still had yet to formally declare its independence.

Arnold and Montgomery were awaiting only a stretch of favorable weather to launch the attack. In this case, "favorable" meant a blinding snowstorm through which some element of surprise might be obtained. The first apparent chance came on the evening of December 27. About 300 men were sent to feint against the riverside business district while the real attack would come from the Plains of Abraham, where the main force under Montgomery (who outranked Colonel Arnold) would scale the walls with ladders. Unfortunately for the Americans, the storm blew over before the attack was launched. Montgomery called it off, and the only rebel who got into the city was a deserter who promptly revealed as much as he knew. Montgomery and Arnold found it prudent to change their plan.

Still, they needed a snowstorm to hide their movements. It appeared that the weather was acting as if its own term of enlistment was up soon--for days it was quiet and uncooperative. Then, on the night of December 30, a fierce Canadian storm brewed up out of the northwest. The final chapter of the invasion was about to be played out.

At 2 a.m. on December 31, muster was called. Somewhat disgruntled, the men fell in. No one wanted to die on their last day in the army. Nonetheless, they followed the orders of their officers.

The plan for the evening was even simpler than that of four nights ago. Montgomery would lead his men along the river from the west while Arnold's larger force would come in from the east. In the middle of the business district, the two columns would meet and turn north, heading out of Lower Town and up a winding road to Upper Town.

At the western edge of Lower Town, the British--forewarned by a deserter that the American attack would take place "on the first wild night"--had erected a feeble barricade manned by 50 British sailors and British and Canadian irregulars. The main armament consisted of a trio of 3-pounders, only one of which was kept loaded. Out of the swirling mist of snow the defenders spotted a body of men approaching cautiously from around Cape Diamond. Only 50 yards away the troops halted, and a few stepped forward to reconnoiter the position. A cry went out: "Men of New York, you will not fear to follow where your general leads! March on!" These were Montgomery's last words. At that point, a sergeant named Hugh McQuarters brought a dramatic and sudden end to the western attack. Under orders from his captain, he fired off his one round of grapeshot.

Horrified, the Americans watched as McQuarters' gunnery wiped out their three-man advance party. Montgomery; his aide-de-camp, Captain John Macpherson; and a battalion commander, Captain Jacob Cheeseman--three of the top men in command--were killed. Ten privates were also killed and a sergeant wounded. The next in command, Lt. Col. Donald Campbell, turned back with his men and raced pell-mell to safety. Montgomery's attack was over. Rarely, if ever, has a single cannon shot been more effective in altering the course of history. The panicky British continued to fire for 10 more minutes, not realizing there was nothing left to shoot at.

On the other side of Lower Town, Arnold had launched his attack as soon as he saw the three signal rockets Montgomery fired to let his compatriot know the western attack was beginning. Arnold had no way of knowing that only minutes later the brigadier would lie dead. He opened his attack as planned. He and his men struggled through the swiftly falling snow and toward another British barricade. The rebels' single artillery piece had been abandoned in a snowdrift, and Arnold had no choice but to order a frontal assault. Like Montgomery, he was in the lead. And, like his counterpart, he fell. A musketball tore into his left leg, lodging in his heel. He tried to continue but soon gave up, allowing two of his men to carry him out of the fight and to a Catholic hospital outside Québec. Before leaving, however, he turned command over to the indomitable Daniel Morgan.

Death of General Montgomery

Leaping to the forefront, Morgan provided the impetus that got his Virginia riflemen moving. That in turn gave the cowering New Englanders courage, and together they stormed the position. After several long minutes of heavy fighting (Arnold later erroneously wrote that it was an entire hour), the barricade was taken. Another loomed ahead, but it was unmanned, and the troops poured over it. Morgan was ready to race up Mountain Street into Upper Town, but his subordinates cautioned that it would be wiser to wait for Montgomery. Morgan argued but was eventually forced to give in. Whatever momentum the attack may have had was now lost.

Additional Sources:

www.uswars.net
www.aubergearnold.qc.ca
www.wcha.org
www.civilization.ca
www.republiquelibre.org
www.clarkbooksmaine.com
www.lib.utexas.edu
www.futura-dtp.dk
www.generalatomic.com

Carleton used the respite to reorganize his disordered troops. It was slowly becoming obvious that the threat to his right flank had disappeared, and he could now concentrate his men better. When Morgan finally got impatient and roused his men again, Carleton was ready.

Sir Guy Carleton

The Americans pulled themselves through the twisting streets leading to Upper Town as musket fire poured down on them from houses and barricades. The snow for which they had so ardently hoped also worked in favor of the defenders hidden behind their positions. Carleton, meanwhile, maneuvered some men into the unmanned barricade, which had been abandoned by the Americans. The colonists were cut off.

The fight went on for three hours as the American column, stretched along the streets, was gradually broken down into smaller and smaller pockets. Ever defiant, Morgan simply refused to surrender and dared the British to come and take his sword. He eventually turned it over to a very frightened priest. Virtually the entire force was captured, except for those like Arnold who were wounded early and sent to the rear.

American Soldier at Quebec

Arnold himself endured the crude medical care of his day valiantly and reassured the Canadians that his troops had taken Lower Town and that the time was ripe to join the revolution. The Canadians were less than convinced. After dawn, Arnold got word that the British were moving toward the hospital. He tried to rouse some men for defense, but they responded with an apathy born of suffering, and little was done. Fortunately, Carleton became overly cautious and recalled his men, although there is no doubt their attack would have totally destroyed Arnold's force had they pressed it.

With that, the attack on Québec frittered to an end. The total American casualties came to 454, of which 440 were in Arnold's command. All 14 of the casualties in Montgomery's force came from the single cannon shot. Arnold lost 35 troops killed, 33 wounded and 372 taken prisoner, including Daniel Morgan. (Aaron Burr seems to have been ill at the time of the attack, although Arnold later claimed in a letter that he had acquitted himself well both before and afterward.) British losses were a mere 20 killed and wounded. The fledgling American army had suffered its first defeat on the battlefield.

The rest of the adventure was anti-climactic, if long and drawn out. On January 10, 1776, Arnold was promoted to brigadier general and given overall command of what remained of the rebel forces outside Québec. He refused to quit the field and with a handful of men--just 50 to 75--put the city "under siege" again for the remainder of the winter while he recovered from his wound. The siege was, naturally, wholly ineffective, but Carleton decided to sit tight and await reinforcements as soon as the river became navigable. During an exchange of gunfire, which occurred intermittently throughout the siege, Suzannah Grier was shot and killed on April 13.

Arnold was relieved on April Fool's Day, 1776, by Brig. Gen. David Wooster, whose boorish behavior antagonized everyone, including Washington, who was miles away. Wooster was relieved on May 1 by Maj. Gen. John Thomas, who learned on the following day that 15 British ships were coming up the St. Lawrence to relieve the city. On May 5, he officially lifted the siege and was preparing his troops for an orderly withdrawal when the first three ships, bearing 400 British troops, approached Québec and spotted the blue flag that Carleton had said he would fly as a signal that his garrison was still holding out. Once the first reinforcements had debarked, Carleton combined them with a roughly equal number of his own troops and led them toward Thomas' men, who panicked and fled, leaving much of their equipment behind. Québec was now safe for the landing of fresh troops--a total of 9,000 British and 4,400 Hessian and Brunswick soldiers, under the overall command of Maj. Gen. John Burgoyne.

A view of Quebec city and its ramparts, including a few burned-out houses in the foreground, after the American attack in 1775.

Thomas and his ragged, starving troops retreated to Sorel, where he contacted smallpox on May 21. He died on June 2, and Brig. Gen. John Sullivan, who had just arrived with a column of New York troops, took overall command of the haggard army.

Arnold, meanwhile, remained busy despite the blow to his pride over the loss of command. He was made commandant of Montréal and, while serving in that capacity, led a small expedition that -- mostly through bluff but also with a good bit of generalship--secured the release of hundreds of American prisoners from a larger British force. He then returned to Québec, where Sullivan informed him of the arrival of thousands of the expected British reinforcements. In retrospect, it is obvious that the British would never have allowed Arnold to hold Québec, and thus Canada, even had the American expedition been fully successful during the winter and even if Arnold had 2,000 men in the city. Finally realizing the hopelessness of the situation, Arnold agreed that it was time to quit Canada. With the fiasco clearly over, Arnold told Sullivan he would be content to be the last American to leave the country.

The British Army arriving at Quebec, 1776.

The surviving Americans followed Montgomery's route back down to Fort Ticonderoga. On the summer evening of June 18, the Canadian border town of St. Johns was burning fiercely along the waterfront, put to the torch by a retreating army. Between the banks of the Sorel River the remnants of the expedition rowed south toward safety. Only two Americans remained in St. Johns. When they heard the beating of British drums in the distance, the men shot their horses and one, Captain James Wilkinson, climbed into a canoe, grabbing a paddle. The second waited until his aide settled in, then pushed off the canoe and climbed in himself. That second man was Brig. Gen. Benedict Arnold, making good on his vow to be the last to leave Canada.

Showcasing America's finest, and those who betray them!

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UPDATED THROUGH APRIL 2004

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

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

LINK TO FOXHOLE THREADS INDEXED by PAR35

Hey Sam, good to see you!

"FALL IN" to the FReeper Foxhole!

Good Thursday Morning Everyone.

If you want to be added to our ping list, let us know.

Interesting story. Not familiar with it. General Washington sure did have his work cut out for him. The military material, the men, were so raw.

Here we are in January 1777. In October we see Burgoyne and Arnold again, this time at Saratoga. Without Arnold the battle might have been lost (though General Gates knew what he was doing). Certainly Arnold was brave enough at Saratoga to impress any warrior.

Saratoga brought the French in, of course. No French, no Yorktown.

Odd how tiny things change history so much. Individual personalities are so important.

Good morning, snippy and everyone at the Freeper Foxhole.

Off to work Bump for the Freeper Foxhole

Regards

alfa6 ;>}

Good morning Snippy and Sam, and every one.

Good Thursday morning to everyone.

Interesting account of the foray into Canada. Too bad we werent successful.

September 15, 2005

Do The Hard Work!

Read:
1 Timothy 6:6-19

Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life. —1 Timothy 6:12

Bible In One Year: Ezekiel 15-18

cover After living more than 80 years, I know that any claim that offers an effortless way to develop a lean, well-conditioned body is a hoax. So is any sermon title that promises an easy way to become like Christ.

Author Brennan Manning tells of an alcoholic who asked his minister to pray over him to be delivered from his drinking problem. He thought this would be a quick and easy way to overcome his addiction. Recognizing his motive in asking for prayer, the minister replied, "I've got a better idea. Go to Alcoholics Anonymous." He counseled the man to follow the program diligently and read his Bible daily. "In other words," the minister concluded, "do the hard work."

Do the hard work—that's what Paul was saying to Timothy when he told him how he should order his life so he could teach believers how they should live. Notice the action verbs: "Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life" (1 Timothy 6:11-12).

Just as there is no easy path to being delivered from alcoholism, so too, there is no effort-free route to Christlikeness. If we really want to become like Jesus, we must keep on doing the hard work. —Herb Vander Lugt

O to be like Thee, blessed Redeemer,
This is my constant longing and prayer;
Gladly I'll forfeit all of earth's treasures,
Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear —Chisholm

Conversion is the miracle of a moment; becoming like Christ is the work of a lifetime.

FOR FURTHER STUDY
How Do You Live The Christian Life?

On This Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on September 15:
0053 Trajan 13th Roman emperor (98-117), second of the "five good emperors"
1613 Duc Francois de la Rochefoucald, Writer
1789 James Fenimore Cooper 1st major American novelist (The Last of the Mohicans)
1830 Porfirio Diaz, soldier, president of Mexico (1877-1911)
1852 Jan E Matzeliger Surinamese inventor (shoe lacing machine)
1857 William Howard Taft Cin, (R) 27th pres (1909-13), chief justice
1876 Frank E Gannett Rochester, newspaper publisher (Gannett)
1881 Ettore Arco Isidoro Bugatti Milan, race car builder (Amaz Bugattis)
1889 Robert Benchley author (My 10 Years in a Quandary)
1890 Dame Agatha Christie mystery writer (Murder on the Orient Express)
1899 Milton S Eisenhower Dwight's brother/Pennsylvania State president
1903 Roy Acuff Maynardville Tenn, country musician (Hee Haw)
1904 Umberto II king of Italy (1946)
1906 Kathryn Murray Jersey City NJ, dancer (Arthur Murray Dance Party)
1906 Penny Singleton Phila Pa, voice (Jane Jetsons)/actress (Blondie)
1907 Fay Wray Alberta, actress (King Kong)
1907 Jack Bailey Hampton Iowa, TV host (Queen for a Day)
1913 John Mitchell Nixon's attorney general who went to jail
1914 Creighton Abrams US, army general (Vietnam War)
1921 Jackie Cooper LA Calif, actor/director ("Our Gang" films,"The Rockford Files")
1924 Bobby Short singer/pianist (Carlisle Hotel)
1925 Blues musician B. B. ("Blues Boy") (Riley B.) King. In the mid-1950s, while King was performing in Twist, Arkansas, some audience members got into a fight over a woman named Lucille. They knocked over a kerosene stove and set the place on fire. Everyboy ran outside...but when King realized he left his guitar inside, he rushed back to retrieve it. From then on, King has named all his guitars "Lucille."
1927 Norm Crosby Boston Mass, comedian/double talker (Liar's Club)
1929 Murray Gell-Mann physicist who predicted quarks
1938 Gaylord Perry baseball player (1972 AL Cy Young winner)
1940 Merlin Olsen UT, NFL tackle (Rams)/sportscaster/actor (Father Murphy)
1941 Miroslaw Hermaszewski 1st Polish space traveler (Soyuz 30)
1946 Oliver Stone NYC, director/conspiracy nut/moral midget (Wall St, Good Morning Vietnam, Platoon)
('Bin Laden was completely protected by the oil companies in this country who told President Bush not to go after him because it would piss off the Saudis.'
Oliver Stone)
1946 Tommy Lee Jones actor (Executioner's Song, Men In Black)
1961 Dan Marino NFL quarterback (Miami Dolphins)
1984 Prince Henry Charles Albert David of Wales, 3rd in British sucession

Deaths which occurred on September 15:
0009 Publius Quinctilius Varus, Roman viceroy of Syria, suicide at 59
1525 Jan de Bakker (26), Roman Catholic priest also known under the name Pistorius, burned at the stake during the Reformation in the Netherlands.
1736 Gabriel Daniel Fahrenheit. He discovered that water boils at 212F and froze at 32F.
1883 Joseph Antoine Ferdinand Plateau (Mathematician)
1938 Thomas Wolfe, US writer (Enigma), dies at 62

1963 Denise McNair, eleven years old, Carole Robertson, fourteen years old, Cynthia Wesley, fourteen years Addie Mae Collins, fourteen years old, killed in bombing at the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, a site of past civil rights rallies.

1978 Willy Messerschmitt, German aircraft builder, dies at 80
1979 Tommy Leonetti singer/actor (Gomer Pyle USMC), dies at 50
1982 Sadegh Ghotbzadeh Iran's former foreign minister, executed by Iran
1983 Willie Bobo jazz drummer (Cos), dies at 49
1986 Virginia Gregg actress (Little Women), dies at 69
1994 Alain Berdarin founder/owner of "Crazy Horse Saloon," suicide at 78
2004 Johnny Ramone (55), guitarist and co-founder of the seminal punk band "The Ramones," died of cancer

Take A Moment To Remember
GWOT Casualties

Iraq
15-Sep-2003 2 | US: 2 | UK: 0 | Other: 0
US Specialist Alyssa R. Peterson Telafar - Ninawa Non-hostile - weapon discharge
US Staff Sergeant Kevin C. Kimmerly Baghdad Hostile - hostile fire - RPG attack

15-Sep-2004 2 | US: 2 | UK: 0 | Other: 0
US Lance Corporal Gregory C. Howman Al Anbar Province Hostile - hostile fire
US Lance Corporal Drew M. Uhles Al Anbar Province (westernmost part) 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...
0608 St Boniface IV begins his reign as Catholic Pope
1514 Thomas Wolsey appointed archbishop of York
1514 Selim I captures Tabriz, Persia, massacres much of the population.
1588 The Spanish Armada, which attempted to invade England, is destroyed by a British fleet.

1620 Mayflower departs from Plymouth, England with 102 pilgrims

1621 Swedish troops occupy Riga
1644 Giambattista Pamfili replaces Pope Urban VII as Innocent X
1776 British forces capture Kip's Bay Manhattan during the Revolution
1789 Dept of Foreign Affairs, renamed the Dept of State
1821 Costa Rica El Salvador Guatemala Honduras & Nicaragua gain independence
1830 1st to be run-over by a railroad train (William Huskisson, England)
1835 HMS Beagle and Charles Darwin reach the Galapagos Islands.
1853 1st US woman ordained a minister, Antoinette Blackwell
1858 The Butterfield Overland Mail Company begins delivering mail from St. Louis to San Francisco. The company's motto was: "Remember, boys, nothing on God's earth must stop the United States mail!"
1862 Stonewall Jackson takes Harpers Ferry
1887 Phila celebrates 100th anniversary of US Constitution
1891 The Dalton gang holds up a train and takes $2,500 at Wagoner, Oklahoma
1893 More than 100 thousand people rushed to the Cherokee Strip as a large area of the Indian Territory - now known as Oklahoma - was opened to homesteaders.
1894 Japan defeats China in Battle of Ping Yang
1904 Wilbur Wright makes his 1st airplane flight
1912 Red Sox pitcher Joe Wood ties then record of 16 straight wins
1912 War between Turkey & Montenegro breaks out in Albania
1913 1st US milch goat show held, Rochester, NY
1914 Battle of Aisne begins between Germans & French during WW I

1916 1st tank used in war, "Little Willies" at Battle of Flors, France

1917 Russia proclaimed a republic by Alexander Kerensky
1918 CH Chubb gives Stonehenge to English state
1923 In response to terrorist activity by the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), Oklahoma was placed under martial law by Governor John Calloway Walton
1928 Scottish bacteriologist Alexander Fleming discovers, by accident, that the mold penicillin has an antibiotic effect.
1930 1st intl bridge match is held in London. US team defeats England
1931 British naval force mutinies at Invergordon over pay

1935 Nuremberg Laws deprive German Jews of citizenship & makes the swastika the official symbol of Nazi Germany

1938 British PM Chamberlain visits Hitler at Berchtesgarden
1938 John Cobb sets world auto speed record at 350.2 MPH (lasts 1 day)
1938 Only time brothers hit back-to-back HRs (Lloyd & Paul Waner, Pitts)
1939 The Polish submarine Orzel arrives in Tallinn, Estonia, after escaping the German invasion of Poland.
1940 Tide turns in Battle of Britain in WW II, RAF beats Luftwaffe, On this day, a reported 185 German planes were shot down
1941 Nazis kill 800 Jewish women at Shkudvil Lithuania
1942 US aircraft carrier Wasp torpedoed at Guadalcanal
1946 Dodgers beat Cubs 2-0 in 5 inns, games called because of gnats
1947 1st 4 engine jet propelled fighter plane tested, Columbus, Oh
1947 Yanks clinch pennant #15
1948 F-86 Sabre sets world aircraft speed record of 1080 kph
1949 The Lone Ranger premiers on ABC-TV
(A fiery horse with the speed of light, a cloud of dust and a hearty "Hi Yo Silver!" The Lone Ranger. "Hi Yo Silver, away!" With his faithful Indian companion Tonto, the daring and resourceful masked rider of the plains, led the fight for law and order in the early west. Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear. The Lone Ranger rides again!)

1950 During Korean war, UN forces land at Inchon in the south

1950 Longest game in Phila's Shribe Park, Phils beat Reds 8-7 in 19
1952 UN turns over Eritrea to Ethiopia
1953 Boxing's NBA adopts 10-pt-must-scoring-system (10 pts to round winner)
1957 "Bachelor Father" with John Forsythe premiers
1958 Commuter train crashes through drawbridge, killing 48 (Newark NJ)
1959 Soviet Premier Khrushchev arrives in US to begin a 13-day visit
1961 Hurricane Carla strikes Texas with winds of 175 mph
1962 Australia's 1st entry in America's Cup yacht race (US wins)
1962 KC A's Bill Fischer sets record of 69 1/3 innings without a walk
1963 4 children killed in bombing of a black Baptist church in Birmingham. In 1977 Robert Chambliss (d.1985) was tried and convicted of murder. Suspect Herman Cash died in 1994. In 2000 Thomas E. Blanton Jr. and Bobby Frank Cherry (d.2004) turned themselves in after they were indicted by a state grand jury. In 2001 Thomas Blanton was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. Cherry was convicted May 22, 2002, and sentenced to life in prison.
1963 SF Giants play outfield of Felipe, Matty & Jesus Alou
1965 "Lost in Space" premiers
1966 Gemini XI returns to Earth
1968 "Barbra Streisand: A Happening in Central Park" Show on CBS TV
1968 Launch of Zond 5, the 1st lunar flyaround with Earth reentry. Probable test flight for a manned fly-around (scooped by Apollo 8)
1970 Decca awards Bing Crosby a 2nd platinum disc for selling 300 million
1971 1st broadcast of "Columbo" on NBC-TV (just one more question)
1971 The environmental group Greenpeace is founded.
1973 "Star Trek-Animated" premiers on TV

1974 President Ford offered conditional amnesty to Vietnam draft evaders.

1976 Soyuz 22 carries 2 cosmonauts into Earth orbit for 8 days
1978 Muhammad Ali beats WBA heavyweight champion Leon Spinks
1981 US Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approves Sandra Day O'Connor

1982 1st issue of "USA Today" published by Gannett Co Inc

1982 Israeli forces began pouring into west Beirut
1990 Florida lottery goes over $100,000,000
1990 France announce it will send 4,000 troops to the Persian Gulf
1991 "The Party Machine with Nia Peeples" final show(life is good)
1991 SD State freshman Marshall Faulk sets NCAA rushing record of 386 yds
1993 Katherine Ann Power, member of the Weather Underground Aka Weathermen aka Students for a Democcratic Society, aka Communists. surrendered to authorities to face charges stemming from a 1970 bank robbery in which Boston police officer Walter Schroeder Sr. was killed. She received a five-year federal term, to run concurrently with an eight- to 12-year state sentence. (8-12 for murder. Of course he was only a cop so it's not like it was anyone important. Katherine did it for the "people" for the "children" and I'm sure she regrets this....unfortunate incident and suffered (at least) 2-3 sleepless nights over it. Oh well life goes on for her and we must learn to move on with our lives...well except for Walter Schroeder Sr he wasn't able too because the B*tch shot and killed him)
/rant
1994 Moslem fundamentalists kidnap & behead 16 citizens in Algeria
1998 Mark McGuire of the St. Louis Cardinals hits his 63rd home run against the Pittsburgh Pirates
1998 Archeologists find 6 frozen mummies sacrificed to Inca gods over 500 years ago near the crater of the 19,100 foot El Misti volcano in Peru
2001 Pres. Bush states: “We are planning a broad and sustained campaign to secure our country and eradicate the evil or terrorism.”
2002 Thousands of Muslims gathered at a radical Islamic conference in London to confront what organizers said was a choice between accepting life under a "colonialist world view" or being labeled terrorists.

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

Costa Rica, El Salv, Guatemala, Honduras & Nicaragua : Ind Day (1821)
Iran : Imama Ja'afar Sadeq's Death
Japan : Respect for the Aged Day
UK : Battle of Britain Day (1940)
Mexico : Independence Day
USA : Felt Hat Day, when men of fashion put away their straw hats
USA : Quarterly Income Tax Due.
National Spina Bifida Awareness Month

Religious Observances
RC : Memorial of 7 Sorrows of Mary
RC Nicomedes, martyr in Rome
Moslem : Id Al-Fitr

Religious History
1648 The Larger and the Shorter Catechisms -- both prepared by the Westminster Assembly the previous year -- were approved by the British Parliament. These two documents have been in regular use among various Presbyterians, Congregationalists and Baptists ever since.
1770 English founder of Methodism John Wesley wrote in a letter: 'To use the grace given is the certain way to obtain more grace. To use all the faith you have will bring an increase of faith.'
1853 In her home state of New York, Antoinette L. Brown, 28, became pastor of the Congregational church in South Butler -- making her the first woman to be formally ordained to the pastorate in the United States.
1920 Pope Benedict XV published the encyclical "Spiritus paraclitus," which restated the Catholic position on Scripture: '...the Bible, composed by men inspired of the Holy Ghost, has God himself as its principal author, the individual authors constituted as his live instruments. Their activity, however, ought not be described as automatic writing.'
1966 The American Bible Society published the New Testament of its "Today's English Version" (TEV), otherwise known as "Good News for Modern Man." It marked the end of a two-year effort led by chief translator, Robert G. Bratcher. (The complete Good News Bible was published in 1976.)

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

Treadmill arrives to help Alaska's only elephant fight battle of the bulge

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - A 7,260-kilogram treadmill specifically built to exercise Maggie the elephant arrived at the Alaska Zoo, but the question remains: Just how do you get a more than 4-tonne animal fighting the battle of the bulge to use a treadmill?
Zoo director Tex Edwards is optimistic she can do it.
"Every time we've undertaken to teach Maggie something new she has always learned it faster than we anticipated," Edwards said Tuesday. "She seems to enjoy new challenges."

The six-metre-long by 2.5-metre-wide treadmill was built by Conveyor Engineering, an Idaho-based company that designs heavy-duty conveyor systems for mining. Automatic Welding in Anchorage put the treadmill together, believed to be the first one built specifically for an elephant.
"They have built them for race horses and race camels but never for an elephant," said assistant zoo director Pat Lampi.

The treadmill arrived Monday and was lowered through the roof, which has been removed for a renovation project to double Maggie's living space.
The treadmill sits in a well in the elephant house so that it will be flush with the floor. It also is equipped with gates on either end so she can get on and off the treadmill, which is separated from her main living quarters by steel beams.

Zoo officials are eager to get the elephant house renovation completed and Maggie back in her permanent home before the snow flies in October. Since summer, she's been housed in a temporary shelter of empty truck trailers equipped with two large heaters that are turned on when the temperature dips below 10 C.
At last weigh-in in August 2004, Maggie tipped the scales at about 4,135 kilograms, which is around 455 kilograms overweight. But Lampi estimates that under her new diet and health regime, even without the benefit of the treadmill, she's already lost roughly 410 kilograms.
Maggie's weight became an issue when the broader question of her welfare was raised after the zoo's only other elephant died of a chronic foot infection in 1997.
The American Zoo and Aquarium Association in Washington, D.C., an accrediting organization, recommends that female elephants be kept in groups of three or more. The AZA recommended Maggie be moved but the zoo's board of directors decided to keep her as long as improvements were made for her care.

One of the challenges with captive elephants is to get them enough exercise, Lampi said. In the wild, African elephants spend their time foraging for food.
In an effort to simulate that experience, Maggie has had to strain and reach for her food, now hung from structures inside her paddock as part of her lifestyle enrichment program. Her diet also was changed to help her shed some pounds.

Maggie's handlers hope to use the same positive reinforcement technique to get her, well ... if not up and running, at least moving at first. Lampi predicts a slow start.
"The first time she's on it ... it will be barely moving," he said.
Maybe later, the treadmill's incline feature can be utilized and it can be sped up to give her a brisk, healthful walk.
"Since nobody has ever done it before we are proceeding very cautiously, making sure she and all the people involved are very comfortable," Lampi said.

Edwards predicted Maggie will become a shining example of the benefits of regular exercise for overweight pachyderms worldwide.
"We think it is possible that a lot of elephants around the world will find more regular exercise a beneficial addition to their lives," he said.

Thought for the day :
"Old people love to give good advice; it compensates them for their inability to set a bad example."
Duc Francois de la Rochefoucald

Good morning ladies. Flag-o-Gram.

Here's some more detail on your "this day in history" segment.

World War II - Real time + 70 years

September 15, 1935: Nuremberg Laws: Deprived Jews of German citizenship, confining them to status of "subjects." Forbade marriage between Jews and Aryans as well as extramarital relations between them. Prohibited Jews from employing Aryan servants under 35 years of age. Followed by some 13 decreees over the next few years that would outlaw Jews completely.

Beginning with this post I would like to spend the next ten years in a study of WWII day by day. I picked this month to begin because we just passed the sixtieth anniversary of the end of the war. Obviously, there won't be any American involvement to speak of until 1941 + 70 years, or 2011. On the other hand, I am discovering that many of the lessons than can be applied to our current situation stem from events that took place well before the Germans invaded Poland on Sept. 1, 1939.

I won't be heard from much until next March, on the anniversary of Hitler's occupation of the Rhineland. Maybe I can spend some time drumming up interest in the project and deciding if there is enough to make it all worthwhile. I guess I could start a dedicated vanity thread and develop a ping list to go with it. I can just about guarantee that anyone cracked enough to go follow it through will know a lot more about World War II than the average bear. I like the day by day method of studying for a couple of reasons. One, it gives an idea of the scope of the events. Also, it allows plenty of time to contemplate battles and campaigns and even read about them from different sources.

I suppose internet technology will evolve in unimaginable (to me) ways over the next ten years. We may be able to post holographic three dimensional battle maps to each other by VJ Day, 2015.

I am open to comments and suggestions.

Hmmm... I never heard any of this bit of history before. And I thought I knew more about the war for Independence. Didn't know we went up to try to free the Canadians in 75 at all.

Funny, those Canadians don't seem to have changed much. Still not terribly interested in liberty.

Interesting story. Not familiar with it.

Well! I am in good company. If you haven't heard it, I don't feel so lost!

Saratoga brought the French in, of course. No French, no Yorktown.

That's another interesting twist in history to me. We couldn't have done it without them... and yet, we keep having to get their tails out of a sling in the 20th century. Lots of odd things about the french and our relations with them from the first. I could go into a long commentary on that - but I won't.

Odd how tiny things change history so much. Individual personalities are so important.

This is where I see God's Hand. The tiny odd things, to me, are God-incidences. And the individual personalities, well, He formed each of us with a plan and a purpose. I truly believe our nation was His plan and He worked it through many amazing individuals from the Founding Fathers - to the most insignificant of the soldiers - like those ladies Jemima Warner and Suzanna Grier.

Mornin' PE.

Happy Friday!!!

1961 Hurricane Carla strikes Texas with winds of 175 mph

Okay, in this aftermath of Katrina, I will volunteer the information that I evacuated that one!!!

Of course, I was only 3 and it had a lot to do with mama and daddy puttin' me in the car and takin' me to Grama's house till the storm passed.

My mama and daddy are at least a tad brighter than some of those folks in NO.

Do The Hard Work!

Read:1 Timothy 6:6-19

Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life. —1 Timothy 6:12

Bible In One Year: Ezekiel 15-18

Read:
1 Timothy 6:6-19