The FReeper Foxhole Remembers S.B.Cummins & Battle of the Wilderness (May 5-7, 1864)- Aug 13th, 2003

http://www.pasty.com/book/diary.html ^

[SAMWolf]

Lord,

Keep our Troops forever in your care

Give them victory over the enemy...

Grant them a safe and swift return...

Bless those who mourn the lost.
.

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

God Bless America
...................................................................................... ...........................................

U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues

Where Duty, Honor and Country
are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.

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.

Welcome to "Warrior Wednesday"
Where the Freeper Foxhole introduces a different veteran each Wednesday. The "ordinary" Soldier, Sailor, Airman or Marine who participated in the events in our Country's history. We hope to present events as seen through their eyes. To give you a glimpse into the life of those who sacrificed for all of us - Our Veterans.

To read previous Foxhole threads or
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click on the books below.

CAMPAYNE OF THE 151ST N. Y. V. THROUGH THE WILDERNESS IN VA.
ARMY OF THE POTOMAC
COMMENCING MAY 4TH 1864

We were in winter quarters near Brandy Station, VA. Our Bugler sounded the revilee and long role which caused a comotion in camp knowing full well the time had arrived for the Army of the Potomac to start on the summer campaign.

The Wilderness
Creating Org. War Department. U.S. Army.
Office of the Chief Signal Officer.
photographer, Mathew Brady Studio
National Archives at College Park,

We arose at 4 oclock, struck tents, packed our knapsacks, got our breakfast and fell into line. At 6 oclock in the morning we started south crossing the Rapidan river on a pontoon bridge. Marching all day. We encamped for the night in a pine woods. Marching about 15 miles. Was very tired & foot sore.

May the 5th

Arose at daybreak, got our breakfast and fell into line, then resumed our march southward. Saw Gen. Grant for the first time. Marching very slow. Very warm. Fighting commenced at 11 oclock A.M. and continued all day untill after dark. Saw Gen. Burnside. He is here with 6,000 men. We captured 500 men to day. The picket firing lasted all night. Slept on the ground with my knapsack for a pillow and the canopy of heaven for a tent.

In the Wilderness, May 6th 1864


General Grant and staff on the road
from the Wilderness to Spotsylvania Courthouse,
Virginia May 7, 1864
Edwin Forbes (1839-1895) Graphite on paper

The fighting commenced at daylight. The canons roared like thunder. Several charges were made but very little was accomplished on either side. Capt Billings of my own company, & Nicholas Beck, by old bunk mate were both killed by the same shell, and several more comrades belonging to Co F of our Regt. were killed & wounded. The Provose Guard were deployed as skirmishers in the rear of line of battle to take charge of the prisioners if any taken & to hold the straglers in check. Our lines were broken. The Rebels made a grand charge on the first Division of the Old 6th Corps & after a hard struggle our line was broken & driven back but the Provost Guard fixed bayonets & stoped every man. Our line was soon formed again and at dark the Old 6th Corps charged on the Rebels and drove them out of the breast works they had taken from us before l0 o'clock in the evening.

May the 7th 1864



Arose at daylight, we had our breakfast about half cooked when the battle commenced. The rebels came out of the woods in 4 lines of battle, then Our artilery opened on them with Grape & Canister causing them to retreat in confusion & were glad to get out of sight. Very heavy fighting down the left of the line near Chancelorsville. It was reported we had captured between 4 & 5000 prizoners today. Heared good news about dark and Great Cheering prevailed the whol length of the line. We recd orders to be ready to move at dark. We marched 3 or 4 miles and halted untill 2 O clock in the morning by the side of the road. We slept with our knapsacks on our backs. Was aroused from our slumbers by a pack of mules running away. We sprung to our feet, grabbed our muskets & got ready for action. We considered it an attack from the rebels. In a moments time we were all quiet and down we laid until daybreak.

May the 8th


Lee at the Wilderness (1872)

Lee at the Wilderness, McArdle's first battle painting, survives only in the form of a photograph. McArdle had served under General Robert E. Lee during the Civil War. In creating Lee at the Wilderness, McArdle honed the painstaking research skills he would use in the Texas paintings, interviewing and corresponding with many veterans of Hood's Texas Brigade and others involved in the battle. McArdle was heartbroken when Lee at the Wilderness, along with the first Dawn at the Alamo, was consumed in the 1881 Capitol fire

Arose at daylight and marched about 8 miles very fast. Very warm today. We passed our ambulances loaded with our wounded comrades & saw lots of men laying by the road side that were wounded. Some with a leg off, some with an arm off, some a hand, some a foot. I tell you it was a hard sight to behold. We passed through Chancelersville and also through a dense pine forest. We saw lots of dead & wounded all along the roadside. Canonading in the morning but not much fighting today but at dark we made a charge on the Rebel Breastworks and drove them from their position. We cut them down dreadfully. The ground was covered with the dead and dieing. They laid like sheaves of wheat in a harvest field. Our men slept in the Breastworks & rifle pits they had captured.

May 9th 1864



Arose at daylight ate breakfast and got ready to march. Not much fighting today. A little canonading & skirmishing. Gen. Sedgwick our Corps Commander was killed near our Regiment by Rebel sharp shooters. Some of the boys would dodge when the balls passed their heads & the General said: "boys don't dodge. They could not hit an elephant." And in less than 5 minutes he was hit and soon died on the field. Gen. Morris of our brigade was wounded about the same time in the leg. The rebel sharp shooters were soon discovered up in a tree, 9 of them, when the officer in command called for a piece of artilery from the rifle batery and opened on them and the first shot cut the tree off about 40 feet from the ground & down came Mr. sharp shooter head first. That ended the sharp shooting at this time. It was very warm today. Some of the men were sun struck. The sick & wounded are being sent to Fredricksburg in amblulanees and general wagons. Had a brisk fight at dark of musketry & artilery.

May 10th 1864



All was quiet at daylight, except now & then a random shot was fired. Heavy skirmishing commenced at 6 Oclock A.M. This has been the hardest days fighting that has been done. Have fought al1 day and hard at it yet. Reported that Gen Butler had taken Petersburg & was advancing on Richmond. We see hundreds of wounded by the sides of the road and the wounded in the ambulances are screeching as they are moved off the field. But we don't mind it. We are so tired & worn out by marching & fighting & being without sleep. We don't care for any one but ourselves. We don't realize the horrors of war. Our men made a charge at dark & captured about l000 rebels. So ended this days fighting.

[SAMWolf]

Spotsylvania Co. Virginia
May the 11th 1864
Dear Father and Mother,

Once more I am permitted to seat myself for the intention of writing you a few lines. But whether I will be able to send it through or not I can not tell. I am not as well as I wish but I am so I can do my duty and keep around etc. We have been out of our winter quarters some 7 or 8 days and I have been in battle. Today is the 7th and it is one of the hardest fights ever was known on this continent. It beats Gettysburg or Anteitim or Bull Run or anything else and it is not over yet. Our brigade has been very lucky. They have not lost but 21 killed and wounded out of our Reg’t. My captain is killed again and Beck is wounded very bad and one or two more out of our Co was wounded at the same time by a shell. The boys don’t think Beck will live. He had the flesh shot off of his hip and one had his toes shot off the same time and some others out of Co F. I inquired after Andrew Jorden in his Co. One of the men told me he was wounded through the foot and sent to Washington before we left Bandy Station.

The weather is a getting very warm down here now. Sometimes it is so hot I cannot hardly stand it. We are on one road to Richmond and Butler is in the rear of Richmond. He had taken Petersburg etc. Our boys was never in better spirits than at present. We are sure of success if God is for us. Well I am enjoying myself first rate. My trust is in God and I have had a season of secret prayer every day since I left my winter quarters. Have you received that memoradom I sent home? Let me know as soon as possible. We don’t expect to get any mail very soon. Not until this campaign is over anyway. This is all I can think of at present so I will bring my letter to a close hoping it may reach your hands & find you all enjoying God’s blessing. Keep up good courage and don’t think I am a going to get killed for I feel as though if I am called I am ready to go. Death must come sometime and it makes but little difference where a man dies if he has the right feeling. Father, Mother, Uncles, and Aunts remember me at the throne of Grace and I will you. Read this to those who wish to hear it and tell them (that are unconverted) to seek the Savior when he may be found.

Truly your son
Simon B. Cummins

[SAMWolf]

Battle of the Wilderness

The Battle of the Wilderness was the first battle of Lieut. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's 1864 Virginia campaign against General Robert E. Lee and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia.



The battle was fought in the Wilderness of Spotsylvania, an expanse of impenetrable scrub growth and rough terrain that encompassed more than a dozen square miles of Spotsylvania County in central Virginia. A number of battles were fought in its vicinity between 1862 and 1864, including the bloody Battle of Chancellorsville in May 1863. It is often said that the Wilderness and Chancellorsville were fought in the same spot, but this isn't really the case. The Wilderness was actually fought a few miles to the west, and only overlapped the old battlefield along the Brock Road on the United States (Union) Army's left flank.

On May 2, 1864, the Army of the Potomac, nominally under the command of Maj. Gen. George G. Meade but taking orders from Grant, crossed the Rapidan River at three separate points and converged on the Wilderness Tavern, which ironically was the concentration point for the Confederates one year to the day earlier when they launched their devastating attack on the Union right flank at Chancellorsville. But Grant chose to set up his camps to the west of the old battle site before moving southward. Unlike the Union army of a year before, Grant had no desire to fight in the Wilderness.



On the other hand, for Lee, who was massively outnumbered as usual (65,000 men to Grant's 123,000), accosting Grant in the Wilderness was imperative for the same reason as a year ago--in a battle contested in the tangled woods, the value of artillery was limited, and Lee's artillery possessed fewer guns of lower quality than Grant's.

While waiting for the arrival of Lieut. Gen. James Longstreet's First Corps, which had been posted 25 miles to the west in order to guard against an attack on the crucial railroad junction of Gordonsville, Lee pushed forward his Second Corps, commanded by Lieut. Gen. Richard Ewell, and the Third Corps under the command of Lieut. Gen. A.P. Hill in an effort to engage Grant before he moved south. The Confederates were able to do this, and on May 5, both Ewell, on Lee's left flank, and Hill on the right clashed with Union soldiers.



On the left, Ewell met up with the Union V Corps under the command of Maj. Gen. G.K. Warren, and fought it to a standoff. For much of the day, Ewell's 20,000-man corps actually held a slight numerical advantage on this part of the field. But on the right, Hill was hit hard and driven back by the Union II Corps under Maj. Gen. Winfield Scott Hancock and a division from the VI Corps. He held his ground, however.

On May 6, Hancock, now commanding close to 40,000 men, resumed the attack on Hill's corps, while heavy Union reinforcements on Ewell's front prevented Lee from sending Second Corps men to aid Hill. By late morning, Hancock had driven Hill's corps back more than two miles and inflicted heavy casualties. With the Third Corps in dire straits, Lee began to look desperately for Longstreet, whose arrival had been expected hours before.



At around noon, Longstreet and the 20,000-man First Corps arrived at last, and its timing was perfect. Hancock's men were tired from six hours of fighting and disorganized. When Longstreet hurled his forces at the Union attackers, they recoiled and within two hours, the situation was totally reversed. Not only had Longstreet regained all the ground lost, he'd advanced one mile beyond that, forcing Hancock to regroup along the Brock Road. At a crucial moment in the fighting, Longstreet attacked through the cut of an unfinished railroad that had divided the Union forces in two, increasing the confusion. However, Longstreet did not have enough men to complete his victory, and the fighting soon petered out near the Brock Road. As the fighting wound down on this part of the battlefield, Longstreet was badly wounded and did not return to the Army of Northern Virginia for several months.

Just as this phase of the battle was ending, a division of the Second Corps under Maj. Gen. John Gordon launched one final assault on the Union right, partially turning the Army of the Potomac's flank and taking close to 1,000 prisoners. But darkness fell before the Confederates had a chance to press their advantage, and with that, the battle came to a close.



The battle is usually described as a draw; a better way of describing it would be as a tactical Confederate victory, but a strategic victory for the Union army. Lee inflicted heavy casualties on Grant's army, a total of 17,666 according to Army of the Potomac records. Lee, on the other hand, lost only about 7,500 men and ended the battle in possession of more of the field than it held when the fighting started. But at this point in the war, that wasn't sufficient. Grant, unlike Lee's previous adversaries, refused to retreat simply because he met a check. Lee would have to destroy the Army of the Potomac while he still had sufficient force to do so, and Grant was too skilled to allow that to happen.


Trees that got in the way of bullets

On May 8, Grant ordered the Army of the Potomac to resume its advance, and less than a week later, the two armies clashed again 10 miles to the southeast, at the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House.

Additional Sources:

www.wikipedia.org
saints.css.edu/mkelsey
www.oldgloryprints.com
usa-civil-war.com
www.thewildgeese.com
usa-civil-war.com
www.tsl.state.tx.us
www.harmonydesigns.com
www.multied.com
www.civilwarhome.com

[SAMWolf]

'During the battle Getty and Carroll were wounded, but remained on the field. One of Birney's most gallant brigade commanders-Alexander Hays-was killed.


GENERAL ALEXANDER HAYS

I had been at West Point with Hays for three years, and had served with him through the Mexican war, a portion of the time in the same regiment. He was a most gallant officer, ready to lead his command wherever ordered. With him it was "Come, boys," not "Go."'

-- Ulysses S. Grant
Personal Memoirs

'God bless the Alabamians!' It was at this time that the much remembered quote of Lee was uttered when he was told that the Alabama Brigade was present. 'God bless the Alabamians!'

-- Robert E Lee
when he was told that the Alabama Brigade had arrived on the field of battle in the early morning hours of the 6th of May.

[SAMWolf]

[snippy_about_it]

.......FALL IN to the FReeper Foxhole!

.......Good Wednesday Morning Everyone!


If you would like added or removed from our ping list let me know.

[radu]

Happy Hump Day! Halfway to the weekend.

A big THANK YOU to all our service men and women, past and present, for serving our country! Your efforts and sacrifices in preserving our Freedom are deeply appreciated.

Here's a big *HUG* from me. :-)

[E.G.C.]

Good morning, Snippy and everyone at the Foxhole.

Folks, be sure to update your virus deifnitions and critical updates. This worm going around is really causing havoce in a number of places.

[snippy_about_it]

Good morning radu.

[snippy_about_it]

Good morning EGC.

I am up to date!

[SpookBrat]

Good morning ladies. Have a good day today.

[snippy_about_it]

Good Morning Spooky, thanks for stopping in. We know you're busy these days.

[SpookBrat]

Yeah, just a little busy. I'm trying to finish a quilt and stayed up till 2:00 thinking I could sleep in. My dog thought otherwise this morning.

[radu]

Good morning, y'all. Glad I took one more peek before I carted my sick lil self to bed. (Bad sinus infection)

Hope you have blue skies and sunshine today. Clouds and wet stuff in Tennessee....surprise, surprise! LOL!! Is this ever gonna end? I may end up changing my screen name to "Swamp Thang". ROTFLOL!!

Hope you two have a great day. I hope EVERYone here does.

[manna]

Present!

[snippy_about_it]

Dogs, I love them but they are creatures of habit about going out in the morning.

[snippy_about_it]

Yep, Ohio had lots of flood warnings last night. Glad I'm on high ground. Good luck staying dry.

[snippy_about_it]

Good morning manna!

[aomagrat]

Wednesday's weird warship, HMS "M" class submarines

Displacement: Surfaced: 1,600 tons, Submerged: 1,950 tons
Length: 296ft
Beam: 24.5ft
Draft: 18.8ft
Speed: 10 knots
Complement: 68
Armament: Single 12 inch BL 30 cal. Mark XI gun. 4x18 inch bow torpedo tubes

By the outbreak of war in 1914, the majority of navies with submarines wanted a gun as an alternative to the torpedoes, but it was the Royal Navy which sent the largest gun to sea in a Submarine in the M class. The thinking behind such a weapon was made clear by Rear Admiral Submarines "The object was to supplement torpedo attacks against surface ships, which could often elude a torpedo. A 12 inch projectile fired at fairly close range should be difficult to elude. Furthermore, fifty shells could be carried instead of a few torpedoes."

The guns were taken from a Majestic Class pre-dreadnought awaiting the breakers yard. The gun and mounting weighed 129 tons. The size of the mounting actually enhanced the submarines diving qualities - the weight helped to keep her down, whilst it's volume stabilised the boat at periscope depth.

The 12" gun of the M-class was not intended as a means of dealing with enemy battleships. Torpedoes were notoriously unreliable, and very few were carried. Large calibre gunfire, at close range, could quickly sink an enemy merchant ship - and so the M-class were born. These guns could not be fired when completely submerged, but could be used with the muzzle above water.

Not surprisingly, they were not successful in practice, and the classic quote is said to be: "I say, Number 1, my end is diving, what's your end up to?"

Only three of these monsters were built.

Launched 9th July 1917, M1 was sunk in collision with the Swedish Collier Vidar (2,159 grt), whilst on exercise off Start Point, Dorset on November the 12th 1925 with the loss of all hands.

Launched 19th October 1918, M2 Became a seaplane carrier in 1928 but foundered on 26th January 1932.

Launched 19th October 1918, M3 Became a minelayer in 1927. Sold for scrapping in February 1932.

[Valin]

On This Day In History


Birthdates which occurred on August 13:
1422 William Caxton 1st English printer (Histories of Troy)
1655 Johann Christoph Denner inventor (clarinet)
1802 Nikolaus Lenau Hungary, German poet (Faust, Die Albigenser)
1814 Anders Jonas Angstrom Sweden, physicist, founded spectroscopy
1818 Lucy Stone pioneered women's rights
1819 Sir George Gabriel Stokes physicist/mathematician (Spectroscope)
1820 Sir George Grove London, England, biblical scholar/musicologist
1860 Annie Oakley Drake Ohio, frontierswoman (Buffalo Bill's Wild West)
1888 John Logie Baird Scotland, inventor (father of TV)
1895 Robert Burton actor (Dr Gordon-Kings Row)
1898 Jean Borota France, tennis champ (35 Wimbledons between 1922-64)
1899 Alfred Hitchcock London, director (Psycho, Birds, Rear Window)
1902 Felix Wankel Germany, inventor (Wankel rotary-piston engine)
1902 Regis Toomey Pitts Pa, actor (Burke's Law, Petticoat Junction)
1904 Charles "Buddy" Rogers actor (Wings)
1907 Alfred Alwin Felix Krupp Essen Germany, arms manufacturer
1908 Gene Raymond NYC, actor (Paris 7000, Fireside Theater)
1909 John Beal actor (Amityville 3D)
1912 Ben Hogan Dublin Tx, PGA golfer (US Open 1950, 51, 53)
1912 Rita Johnson Worcester Mass, actress (All Mine to Give)
1918 Frederick Sanger England, chemist (Nobel 1958, 1980)
1919 Rex Humbard televanglist
1920 George Shearing London, blind pianist/composer (Lullabye of Byrdland)
1921 Neville Brand actor (Cahill, US Marshal)
1927 Fidel Castro Ruz Cuban political leader (1959- )
1929 Pat Harrington Jr NYC, actor (Danny Thomas Show, 1 Day at a Time)
1930 Don Ho Hawaii, ukulele player (Tiny Bubbles)
1931 Norman Read NZ, 50K walker (Olympic-gold-1956)
1934 Gary Davidson founder of ABA, WHA, WFL
1939 Saul Steinberg artist (The Art of Living)
1942 Robert L Stewart Wash DC, Brig Gen US Army/astronaut (STS 41B, 51J)
1943 Gary Ilman US, 100m freestyle (Olympic-4th-1964)
1947 Gretchen Corbett Camp Sherman Ore, actress (Beth-Rockford Files)
1948 Kathleen Battle Portsmouth Ohio, soprano (Shephard-Tannh„user)
1949 Bobby Clarke Manitoba, NHL player/coach (Phila Flyers)
1949 Sheralee Ft Lauderdale Fla, vocalist (Your Hit Parade)
195- Kavi Raz India, actor (VJ Kochar-St Elsewhere)
1951 Dan Fogelberg Peoria Ill, rocker (Same Auld Lang Syne)
1955 Betsy King LPGA golfer (1990 Dinah Shore, 1990 US Women's Open)
1958 Feargal Sharkey rocker (Undertones-Never Never, Good Heart)
1959 Danny Bonaduce actor (Danny-Partridge Family) (1959 approx)
1959 Mark Nevin rocker (Fairground Attraction-Find My Love)
1961 Dawnn Lewis actress (Jaleesa-Different World)
1963 Pamela Jean Stein Syracuse NY, playmate (Nov, 1987)
1963 Tigg Ketler Chula Vista Ca, drummer (Bang Tango-Dancin' on Coals)
1964 Ian Haughland heavy metal rocker (Europe-The Final Countdown)
1967 Quinn Cummings LA Calif, actress (Annie-Family, Goodbye Girl)

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Deaths which occurred on August 13:
867 Nicholas I, the Great, Italian Pope (858-67)
1321 Dante Alighieri, author (Divine Comedy)
1598 Philip II, King of Spain (1556-98), dies at 71
1759 James Wolfe, British general (Plains of Abraham), dies in battle at 32
1946 H G Wells, sci-fi author
1972 George Wiess Yankee GM, dies
1981 William Loeb, publisher of Manchester Union Leader, NH,
1982 Charles Walters director, dies at 68
1982 Joe E Ross comedian (Toody-Car 54, Phil Silvers Show), dies at 77
1984 Clyde Cook actor, dies in his sleep at 92
1985 Marion Martin actress, dies at 67
1988 Otto E Passman (Rep-D-La, 1947-77), dies at 88
1989 Tim Richmond race car driver (won 13 NASCAR races), dies of AIDS
1991 Jack Ryan inventor (Barbie Doll, Hot Wheels), dies at 65

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Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1965 GOLLAHON GENE R. CINCINNATI OH.
[EXPLODE CRASH NO PARA BEEP]
1965 MELLOR FREDRIC M. CRANSTON RI.
1965 THOMAS HARRY E. TAFT CA.
[HVY AA CRASH, REMAINS IDENTIFIED 10/30/96]
1966 DEVERS DAVID RONALD SR. PAULDING OH.
[12/27/69 REMAINS RECOVERED]
1966 O'NEIL JOHN JOSEPH JR PROVIDENCE RI.
[12/27/69 REMAINS RECOVERED]
1967 GOODERMOTE WAYNE K. TROY NY.
[03/14/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1967 HYATT LEO G. SALEM NH.
[03/14/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE IN 98]
1969 HANSEN LESTER A. PUEBLO CO.
1972 GAUNTT WILLIAM A. MT PLEASANT TX.
[03/27/73 RELEASED BY PRG]
1972 TOWNSEND FRANCIS W. RUSK TX.

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

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On this day...
122 Building begins on Hadrian's Wall
523 St John I begins his reign as Catholic Pope
1521 Spanish conquerors captured Mexico City from Aztecs
1642 Christiaan Huygens discovers Martian south polar cap
1651 Litchfield, CT founded
1704 English defeat French at Battle of Blenheim
1831 Nat Turner leads uprising of slaves in Virginia
1868 Quakes kill 25,000 & causes $300 million damages (Peru & Ecuador)
1869 Jay Gould & James Fisk attempt to control US gold market
1876 Reciprocity Treaty between US & Hawaii ratified
1892 Baltimore Afro-American forms
1906 Black soldiers raid Brownsville Texas
1906 Cub's Pitcher Jack Taylor ends a string of completing 202 games (187 complete, 15 relief) by the Dodgers in the 3rd inning
1907 1st taxicab (NYC)
1910 Dodgers & Pirates play to 8-8 tie, both have 38 at bats, 13 hits, 12 assists, 2 errors, 5 strikeouts, 3 walks, 1 passed ball & 1 hit by pitch
1917 Phillies steal 5 bases in an inning against the Braves
1919 Man o'War's only defeat (Upset wins at Saratoga)
1923 Mustapha Kemal elected president of Turkey
1928 Soviet Union Spartacan Games begins
1932 Yankee pitcher Red Ruffing homers & wins game 1-0 in 10 tying
1935 Transcontinental Roller Derby begins (Chicago Coliseum)
1939 Yankees set AL shutout margin with 21-0 victory over A's
1939 Sabotage suspected in crash of the 'City of San Francisco' which fell into the Humboldt River killing 24. (Elko, Nevada)
1945 35 Jews sacrifice their lives to blow up Nazi rubber plant in Silesia
1946 Britain transfers illegal immigrants bound to Palestine, to Cyprus
1948 Satchel Paige at 42 pitches his 1st major league complete game
1953 Pres Eisenhower establishes Govt Contract Compliance Committee
1960 Central African Republic & Chad proclaim independence from France
1961 Construction on Berlin Wall begins in East Germany (Dark day)
1963 Custom agents confiscate 21 gold coins from Witte Museum
1963 Warren Spahn sets left-hander strike out mark at 2,382
1969 Balt Oriole Jim Palmer no-hits Oakland A's, 8-0
1969 Temporary baseball commisioner Bowie Kuhn formally appointed
1971 Paul & Linda McCartney release "The Back Seat of My Car"
1977 1st test glide of the shuttle
1978 Yanks score 5 runs in top of 7th. but rain causes game to be halted & thus score goes back to previous inning, Balt wins 3-0
1978 1st flight of McDonnell Douglas F-18A Hornet
1979 Lou Brock gets his 3,000 career hit
1980 Tatyana Kazankina of USSR sets 1.5k woman's record (3:52.47) in USSR
1986 KRE-AM in Berkeley CA changes call letters to KBLX (now KBFN)
1988 Boston Red Sox win AL record 24 straight home games
1988 US beats Jamaicia 5-1, in 2nd round of 1990 world soccer cup
1988 Ronald J Dossenbach sets world record for pedaling across Canada from Vancouver, BC to Halifax, NS in 13 days, 15 hr, 4 min
1989 US space shuttle STS-28 lands

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Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"
World Left-handers Day
Psychic Month
Romance Awareness Month
Tunisia : International Women's Day
Italy : Palio Del Golfo (2nd Sunday) - - - - - ( Sunday )
Zambia : Youth Day - - - - - ( Monday )
Yukon : Klondike Gold Day (1896) - - - - - ( Friday )
Scotland : Fisherman's Walk Day

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Religious Observances
RC : Memorial of St Pontian, pope (230-235), martyr (opt)
RC : Memorial of St Hippolytus, martyr (opt)
RC : Commemoration of St Cassian, martyr, patron of stenographers
Ch : Commemoration of Jeremy Taylor, bishop of Down, Connor & Dromore
Luth : Commemoration of Florence Nightingale, Clara Maass

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Religious History
1587 In Roanoke, Virginia, Manteo became the first American Indian converted to Protestantism, and was baptized into the Church of England by members of Sir Walter Raleigh's expedition to the New World.
1682 The first Welsh immigrants to the American colonies arrived in Pennsylvania. They were Quakers, and settled near modern Philadelphia.
1727 In the German village of Herrnhut, religious reformer Count Nicolaus von Zinzendorf, 27, organized a group of Bohemian Protestant refugees into the first Moravian community of "Unitas Fratrum" (united brotherhood).
1908 Death of Ira D. Sankey, 68. He was Dwight Moody's song evangelist from 1870. During their revival crusades, Sankey penned many hymn tunes, of which the most enduring today are HIDING IN THEE ("O Safe to the Rock That is Higher Than I") and SANKEY ("Faith is the Victory").
1919 Birth of Rex Humbard, pioneer radio and television evangelist. In 1958 Humbard established the Cathedral of Tomorrow in Akron, Ohio, from which he afterward based his television ministry.

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

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Thought for the day :
"Some men are discovered; others are found out."

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You might be in the army if...
you refer to your son as Boy, Steven Type, 1 Each.

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Murphys Law of the day...(Computers Laws)
No matter how good of a deal you get on computer components, the price will always drop immediately after the purchase.

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Cliff Clavin says, it's a little known fact that...
The first-known contraceptive was crocodile dung, used by Egyptians in 2000 BC.

[Soaring Feather]

Good morning everyone. Happy Wednesday.