The FReeper Foxhole Remembers Pickett's Charge (7/3/1863)

Pickett's Charge

It was at one o'clock that two Confederate signal guns were fired, and at once there opened such an artillery combat as the armies had never before seen. As a spectacle, the fire from the two miles of Confederate batteries, stretching from the town of Gettysburg southward, was appalling; but practically the Confederate fire was too high, and most of the damage was done behind the ridge on which the Army of the Potomac was posted, although the damage along the ridge was also great. The little house just over the crest where Meade had his headquarters, and to which he had gone from Gibbon's luncheon, was torn with shot and shell. The army commander stood in the open doorway as a cannon shot, almost grazing his legs, buried itself in a box standing on the portico by the door. There were two small rooms on the ground floor of the house, and in the room where Meade had met his corps commanders the night before were a bed in the corner, a small pine table in the center, upon it a wooden pail of water, a tin drinking cup, and the remains of a melted tallow candle held upright by its own grease, that had served to light the proceedings of last night's council of war. One Confederate shell bust in the yard among the horses tied to the fence; nearly a score of dead horses lay along this fence, close to the house. One shell tore up the steps of the house; one carried away the supports of the portico; one went through the door, and another through the garret. It was impossible for aids to report or for orders to be given from the center of so much noise and confusion, and the little house was abandoned as a headquarters, to be turned, after the firing was over, into a hospital.

Virginia's Honored Sons, Gen, Picket, Gettysburg, July 3, 1863

During the cannonade the infantry of Meade's army lay upon the ground behind the crest. By General Hunt's direction the Union artillery fire, with the exception of that of the Second Corps batteries, was reserved for a quarter of an hour and then concentrated upon the most destructive batteries of the foe. After half an hour both Meade and his chief of artillery started messengers along the line to stop the firing, with the idea of reserving the ammunition for the infantry assault, which they well knew would soon be made. On the other side, Alexander sent word to Pickett to come quickly, and the Confederate assault began.

Crossing the depression of the ground, a part of the Confederate line, after emerging from the woods, found a moment's rest and shelter, and then started toward the little umbrella-shaped clump of trees on the Union line, said to have been pointed out by Lee as the objective of the assault. On the left Pettigrew's division of four brigades advanced in one line, with Trimble's two brigades of Lane and Scales in the rear and right as supports. Pickett's division on the right advanced with the brigades of Kemper and Garnett in the front line and Armistead's brigade in rear of Garnett's on the left. Twenty minutes afterward the brigades of Wilcox and Perry were to advance on Pickett's right and repel any attempted flanking movement. The assault was made by eighteen thousand men.

General Lewis Armistead, CSA

To cover the advance the Confederate artillery reopened, and when the infantry line appeared the Union guns were directed upon the ranks. Great volumes of smoke, however, soon obscured the field, and many of the Confederates could not see that there was a foe in front of them until they were within two hundred yards of the Union line. Under the artillery fire from McGilvery and Rittenhouse on Pickett's right his part of line drifted to the left, and thus, when the brigades of Wilcox and Perry marched straight ahead, as ordered, for the purpose of protecting Pickett's right flank, their course took them to far to the south to accomplish their purpose, even if the advanced line by that time had not gone into pieces. As Pettigrew had formed behind Seminary Ridge, his troops had to advance under fire a distance of at least thirteen hundred yards, while Pickett's place of formation was but nine hundred yards distant from the objective point. The start was made in echelon, with Pettigrew in the rear; but by the time the Emmitsburg road was reached both divisions were on a line, and they crossed the road together.

Brockenbrough's Virginians, Pettigrew's left brigade, were disheartened by the flank fire of Hays' troops and Woodruff's battery after a loss of only twenty-five killed, and these troops either retreated, surrendered, or threw themselves on the he ground for protection; but the other brigades of Pettigrew, as well as those of Trimble, advanced to the stone wall, stayed there as long as any other Confederate troops, and surrendered many fewer men than did Pickett.

General George Meade, USA

The drifting of Pickett's division to the left exposed the flank of his right brigade (Kemper) to the fire of Doubleday's division, a part of which moved with Pickett, thus continuing its deadly volleys, while Stannard's brigade by Hancock's orders, changed front to the right, and opened a most destructive fire upon Kemper's flank. Armistead's brigade moved in between Kemper and Garnett, and together they marched upon the angle of the stone wall held by Webb's Philadelphia brigade, Garnett, just before death, calling out to Colonel Frye, commanding Archer's brigade of Pettigrew's division on his left, "I am dressing on you."

Scales' brigade, whose commander, Colonel Lowrance, says it "had advanced over a wide, hot, and already crimson plain," and through whose ranks troops from the front began to rush to the rear before he had advanced two thirds of the way, together with Lane's brigade, advanced to the front line, Lowrance's brigade reaching the wall. The two guns of Cushing's battery at the wall were silenced. The greater part of the Seventy-first Pennsylvania Regiment of webb's brigade had been withdrawn from the wall to make room for the artillery, and the two remaining companies, overwhelmed by the mass of the enemy concentrated at this point, were driven back from one hundred to one hundred and fifty feet. Through this gap the Confederates crossed the wall, and Armistead, putting his hat on his sword, dashed toward the other guns of Cushing's batter, near the clump of trees, and fell dead by the side of Cushing.

Gettysburg, Pa. The Bryan house on 2d Corps line, near scene of Pickett's Charge

The Sixty-ninth Pennsylvania of Webb's brigade held its left flanks by the enemy. The Seventy-second Pennsylvania and two companies of the One Hundred and Sixth Pennsylvania advanced to the wall; Cowan's New York battery galloped up; Hall's brigade of Hancock's corps, by the orders of Hancock, on Webb's left, changed front, and poured its fire into the Confederates' flank; Harrow's brigade also attacked Pickett in flank. The attack of Pettigrew and Trimble, farther to the Union right, fell upon Hays' division of the Second Corps. The Eighth Ohio changed front, facing south, reversing the tactics of Hall's brigade on the left and opened a flank fire. General Pickett, in person, did not cross the Emmitsburg road.

Copse of Trees, Cemetery Ridge, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania July 3, 1863
Major Edmund Rice leading the 19th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment engages the 14th Virginia Infantry at the climax of Pickett’s Charge.

Of his three brigade commanders, Garnett and Armistead were killed, and within twenty-five paces of the stone wall Kemper was wounded and captured. Pettigrew and Trimble and three of their brigade commanders (Frye, Marshall, and Lowrance) were wounded. The brigades of Wilcox and Perry, exposed to a heavy artillery fire from the fresh batteries moved to Gibbon's front again, and, seeing the repulse of the assault to their left, fell back to the main Confederate line.

Out of the fifty-five hundred men which Pickett took into action, fourteen hundred and ninety-nine surrendered, two hundred and twenty-four were killed, and eleven hundred and forty were reported wounded. Pickett lost twelve out of fifteen battle flags.

Pettigrew's division, in which there was one brigade of North Carolina troops , lost in killed and wounded eight hundred and seventy-four, and in missing five hundred. Trimble's two North Carolina brigades lost in killed and wounded three hundred and eighty-nine, and in missing two hundred and sixty-one. The two brigades of Perry and Wilcox together lost three hundred and fifty-nine.

Pettigrew's brigade of North Carolina regiments, commanded by Colonel Marshall, lost in the charge five hundred and twenty-eight, of which number three hundred were killed and wounded; and the Twenty-sixth North Carolina of this brigade, which regiment suffered greater losses during the war than any other on either side of the conflict, went into this charge with two hundred and sixteen men, and returned with but eighty-four.

The percentage of losses in killed and wounded in the assaulting column, taken as a whole, was not extraordinary for the civil war. The place assaulted was less formidable than Fort Fisher, which was taken later in the war by Union troops, and the assault itself was far less successful than that of Meade's division at Fredericksburg. Its complete failure was due to the thorough dispositions made to meet it, and it is improbable that the result would have been reversed if McLaws and Hood , whose attention was occupied by the appearance of the Union cavalry on their right, had participated in the assault. The tactical skill which had prevented the rout of the Third Corps from involving the whole army in a defeat on the second day of the battle, was exerted with equal success in supporting the center under attack on the third day.

General Hancock

At the center of Meade's position, were troops rank after rank, infantry division after division, line upon line, including even the provost guards, and, in rear of all, a regiment of cavalry waiting to shoot down the craven if he would discover himself. Against an army so disposed, in such a position, and so handled, its different parts thrown from point to point with certainty and promptitude, with every possible Confederate movement anticipated and provided for, the assault ordered by Lee was in truth the mad and reckless movement that Meade characterized it, and it accomplished no more than a slight fraying of the edge of the front Union line of troops.

March Into Immortality
General Garnett and the 56th Virginia, Pickett's Charge, Gettysburg.

On the Union side, Hancock, Gibbon, and Webb were wounded and carried from the field. The union losses were twenty-three hundred and thirty-two. Webb's brigade losing more than any other. One hundred and fifty-eight artillery men were killed or wounded. Before the attack Meade had told Hancock that if Lee attacked the Second Corps position he intended to put the Fifth and Sixth Corps on the enemy's flank. Recalling this remark of the army commander, Hancock, while lying on the ground wounded, dictated a note to Meade, expressing his belief that if the movement contemplated by the army commander were carried out a great success would be won. The Sixth corps, however, was not now a compact organization, its different parts, having been disposed in different portions of the field. The Fifth Corps was ordered to carry out the contemplated movement, but it had also been moved to support the center.

There is a limit to human endurance, and the slowness with which the movement ordered by Meade was made, owing partly to the difficulty of collecting the troops, was no doubt largely due to sheer exhaustion caused by the supreme efforts which had now been prolonged for six midsummer days.

Isaac R. Pennypacker

Gettysburg: Remembering Pickett's Charge

Although literature on the three-day Battle of Gettysburg is abundant, this letter by Confederate Captain Joseph Graham offers a different perspective on the fight, particularly its final hours.

Joseph Graham to
William A. Graham
Culpepper [Culpeper] County,
July 30th., 1863.

Since I left Kinston, I have travelled between seven and Eight Hundred miles, and have been engaged in one of the bloodiest conflicts of the War. We met the Enemy about two miles from Gettysburg, Pa., on the 1st. day of this month, and drove him, after a sharp contest, lasting all day, to Cemetery Hill, beyond town, distant about half a mile. During the next morning, nothing more than skirmishing occurred, until about two and a half P.M. When Longstreet's Corps arrived upon the Enemy's left, and commenced engaging him in his fortified position on the "Hill." In about half an hour, the fight became general, along our right, and right centre, (the right half of our Corps.) Our men advanced and fell back, in succession, until about six o'clock, when a desperate charge dislodged the Enemy from his position, but unfortunately our reserve was not near enough to support the brave, but decimated ranks of the assailants. Just at this time, the sun being nearly down, our Battalion was ordered up at a gallop, under the thickest fire I ever experienced to support our men, who had been overpowered by the enemy's reinforcements, and compelled to fall back with great loss. Darkness soon put an end to the operations, and the night passed off very quietly. This night and the night previous, the Enemy spent in fortifying his positions, already very strong from the nature of the ground. it was equal, if not superior to his situation at Malvern Hill. And that I think, naturally, the finest position for defence I ever saw.

We slept upon the field, and no sound was audible, except continuous din of the enemy's tools, and the awful groans of the wounded and dying. The next sun brought the fatal 3rd. day of July. Everything remained quiet 'till about 12 1/2 P.M. (by the watch I saw) when we began shelling their positions. On both sides I think there must have been between 350 and 400 guns in action. And after the heaviest Artillery duel of the war, (and said to have been heavier than the cannonade at Balaklava) and lasting about one hour and ten minutes, we silenced all their guns. They report that we killed and disabled nearly all their cannoneers, and they were compelled to get detachments from their Infantry to man their pieces. My men behaved very handsomely indeed, and shells from my guns blew up two of their Caissons loaded with Ammunition. The firing was terrific, and I never expect to hear anything to compare with it. We whipped them fairly in the Artillery, and they were in an elevated and fortified position, and we have no works at all. The distance was about 1 1/4 miles, over an open and gradual slope. The Infantry were to have charged through the dense smoke immediately upon the cessation of our fire, but by some mismanagement, there was quite a delay, until everything became settled, and the Enemy had time to prepare for the charge.

It was a very oppressive day, and our troops were much fatigued by the work of the two days previous, and consequently had to advance very slowly, exposed all the time to the Enemy's fire. The most of our Artillery Ammunition then expended, we could not do much towards driving off their batteries. However, our men advanced steadily, but I fear with too feeble determination, some, up to the work, others, not so far, and so on, 'till some did not go more than 150 yds. Gen'l Pettigrew told me that when the front line gave way, (we advanced in two lines) he could see their Artillery limbering up their guns to retire from the works. Our second line was 1000 yards from the first, and of course not near enough to support it. This being the case, the first was completely routed, and broke through the second, spoiling the whole affair.

I saw the whole charge, the view was open from my position, to the Enemy's works, on the Heights. The lines moved right through my Battery, and I feared then I could see a want of resolution in our men. And I heard many say, "that is worse than Malvern Hill," and "I don't hardly think that position can be carried," etc., etc., enough to make me apprehensive about the result. Davis' Miss. Brigade was the first to give way. The slaughter is represented as terrible, but so far as I would judge, it was not near as bad as reported. And much is owing to the cowardice of the enemy, for when our men retreated, so much disordered, if they had charged upon them, our Army would have been utterly routed and ruined.

It is painful to make such admissions, but they are nevertheless true. this part being over, the day passed off quietly in the centre. Gen'l Lee's plan was excellent, but some one made a botch of it indeed. Had we carried those Heights, that Army would have been ruined. There were only two avenues of escape, and Ewell had one, and Longstreet the other. So that they must have surrendered or been cut to pieces, and entirely ruined. They would have been scattered over the whole country, and we must have had Washington City, and Baltimore. And I hoped a speedy peace. But the fortune of war was otherwise.

On the night of the 3rd. Inst., after the crippling of that day, the Enemy began to retire his Artillery, and kept moving out all night, Longstreet having moved back when we could not carry their works. On the 4th. Inst. they threw out heavy lines of skirmishers, and pretended as if they intended to advance upon us. That night, about dusk, both Armies, badly crippled, retired in different directions. they towards Baltimore and we towards Hagerstown. If we had only remained 'till the next day we could have claimed the victory. But our supplies were exhausted, and a retrograde movement absolutely necessary. And for want of transportation, we left about 4500 wounded to fall into their hands. Neither side buried the dead of July 3rd. before leaving. It was an awful affair altogether.

Joseph Graham

This letter to his father, William A. Graham, a former Whig governor and conservative Confederate senator-elect, is characteristically thoughtful and literate. However, in his enthusiasm for Confederate arms Captain Graham errs when he concludes that Confederate artillery had silenced the Union's guns just before the awesome charge. To the contrary, Federal artillery was concentrated and effective, as Major General George E. Pickett's Southerners discovered.

Additional Sources:

www.civilwarhome.com
militaryhistory.about.com
www.library.georgetown.edu
www.germantown.k12.il.us
www.vw.vccs.edu
www.allenscreations.com
www.oldgloryprints.com
www.henry.k12.ga.us
www.pueblo.gsa.gov
www.mohicanpress.com
www.hauntedfieldmusic.com
www.fredericksburg.com
www.hammergalleries.com

'On the third day of the battle, a whole bunch of Confederates died trying to walk a mile uphill into the face of cannons and massed infantry.
As 'glorious' as the Charge of the Light Brigade, but without the poem to immortalize it...
(Actually the Confederates suffered 60 percent casualties compared to 40 percent during the Light Brigade's charge)'

BBC Documentary on Pickett's Charge

'Up, men and to your posts! Don't forget today that you are from Old Virginia'

General George Pickett, CSA

'We, with the smooth bores, loaded with canister, and bided our time. When they arrived within five hundred yards we commenced to fire, and the slaughter was dreadful. Never was there such a splendid target for Light Artillery.'

Lt. Tully McCrea,
Battery I, 1st U.S. Artillery

'My heart was heavy. I could see the desperate and hopeless nature of the charge and the hopeless slaughter it would cause. That day at Gettysburg was one of the saddest of my life.'

James Longstreet, General, C.S.A.

'I am going to lead my division forward, Sir'

General George Pickett, CSA

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

.......Good Thursday Morning Everyone!

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

Good morning, Snippy and everyone at the Foxhole.:-D

Good Morning EGC.

It was an awful affair altogether. - Joseph Graham

He sums it up well.

'Up, men and to your posts! Don't forget today that you are from Old Virginia' -General George Pickett, CSA

I love this quote by Pickett. There was a time when your state meant something and these would be encouraging words.

Good read this morning SAM. Thanks.

Present!

:)

Today's classic warship, US Army Ram Switzerland

Switzerland, a 413-ton side-wheel towboat built at Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1854, was converted to a ram in March-May 1862 for Colonel Charles Ellet's U.S. Ram Fleet. She played a distant role in the 6 June 1862 naval action off Memphis, Tennessee, and subsequently took part in operations in the Yazoo River and against Vicksburg, Mississippi.

On 25 March 1863, while commanded by Colonel Charles Rivers Ellet, Switzerland joined the ram Lancaster in an attempt to pass the Vicksburg fortress. Both ships were heavily hit by Confederate gunfire, with Lancaster being sunk. Despite her damage, Switzerland survived the trip and made a subsequent successful passage of the fortifications at Grand Gulf, Mississippi, on 31 March. She took part in operations on the Red and Atchafalaya rivers in May and June 1863. Later in the War, Switzerland was part of the Mississippi Marine Brigade. She was sold in October 1865 and was employed as the merchant steamer Switzerland until about 1870.

On This Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on August 21:
1165 Philip II Augustus 1st great Capetian king of France (1179-1223)
1660 Hubert Gautier engineer, wrote 1st book on bridge building
1765 William IV king of England (1830-37)
1789 Augustin-Louis Baron Cauchy, French mathematician
1872 Aubrey Beardsley England, artist (Salome)
1890 Bill Henry SF Calif, newscaster (Who Said That?)
1896 Roark Bradford writer/humorist (Ol' Man Adan an' His Chillun)
19-- Callan White actor (Loving)
19-- Steve Nathan Buffalo NY, actor (Allan-Busting Loose)
19-- Tammy Amerson actress (Mari Lynn-One Life to Live)
1906 William "Count" Basie jazz pianist
1906 Friz Freleng animator (Bugs Bunny-Emmy 1982)
1907 Dr Roy K Marshall Glen Carbon Ill, TV scientist (Nature of Things)
1909 C Dillon Douglas Geneva Switz, US Secretary of Treasury (1961-65)
1915 Jack Weston [Morris Weinstein], Cleveland, actor (4 Seasons, Rad)
1921 Nancy Kulp Harrisburg Pa, actress (Jane-Beverly Hillbillies)
1923 Chris Schenkel Biuppus Ind, sportscaster (Monday Night Fights)
1928 Gillian Sheen England, foils (Olympic-gold-1956)
1930 Princess Margaret England (Sister of Queen Elizabeth)
1931 Nancy Hadley LA Calif, actress (Love That Jill, Joey Bishop Show)
1933 Dame Janet Baker York England, mezzo-soprano (Owen Wingrave)
1936 Mart Crowley playwright (Boys in the Band)
1936 Wilt Chamberlain NBA great center (LA Laker, 5 time MVP)
1938 Kenny Rogers singer (Lady) actor (Coward of the County)
1939 Clarence Williams III NYC, actor (Mod Squad, 52 Pick Up, Purple Rain)
1944 Jackie DeShannon Hazel Kentucky, singer (What the World Needs Now)
1945 Patty McCormack Bkln NY, actress (Mama, Peck's Bad Girl, Ropers)
1946 Lev Alburt USSR, International Chess Master (1976)
1951 Bernhard Germeshausen German DR, bobsled (Olympic-gold-1976, 80)
1951 Harry Smith Indiana, TV host (CBS Morning Show)
1953 Joe Strummer [John Mellor], rocker (Clash-Rock the Casbah)
1956 Kim Cattrall Liverpool England, actress (Mannequin, Star Trek VI)
1957 Budgie rocker (Siouxsie & the Banshees-Wild Thing)
1957 Janice Thomas WBL guard (NY Stars)
1957 Kim Sledge Phila, vocalist (Sister Sledge-We are Family)
1959 Jim McMahon NFL QB (Chicago Bears, SD Chargers, Phila Eagles)
1962 Matthew Broderick actor (Ferris Buehler, Biloxi Blues)
1967 Michael Bendetti actor (Officer Tony McCann-21 Jump Street)

Deaths which occurred on August 21:
1940 Leon Trotsky dies of wounds inflicted by an assailant the day before
1958 Walter Schumann choral director (Ford Show), dies at 44
1971 George Jackson murdered
1982 Benigno S Aquino Jr Philippines opposition leader, killed in Manila

Reported: MISSING in ACTION
1966 JOHNSON JAMES R. INDIANAPOLIS IN.
1967 BUDD LEONARD R. JR. ROWLEY MA.
[03/05/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE IN 98]
1967 BUCKLEY JIMMY L. SAC CITY IA.
[12/16/75 PRG RETURNED ASHES]
1967 EBY ROBERT G.
1967 FLYNN ROBERT J. HOUSTON MN.
[03/15/73 RELEASED BY CHINA, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1967 GUENTHER HARRY GERMANY
1967 HARDMAN WILLIAM M. ST ALBANS WV.
[03/15/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE IN 98]
1967 MORRILL MERWIN L. SAN CARLOS CA.
[POSS DEAD REMAINS RECOVERED 06/03/83]
1967 PROFILET LEO T. CAIRO IL.
[03/15/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1967 POWELL LYNN K. PROVO UT.
[REMAINS RECOVERED 06/03/83]
1967 SCOTT DAIN V. GIBSONIA PA.
1967 TREMBLEY JAY F. SPOKANE WA.

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

On this day...
1560 Tycho Brahe becomes interested in astronomy
1680 Pueblo Indians took possession of Santa F‚ from Spanish
1831 Nat Turner slave revolt kills 55 (Southampton County, Virginia)
1841 John Hampson patents venetian blind
1858 1st Lincoln-Douglas debate (Illinois)
1878 American Bar Association organizes at Sarasota, NY
1883 Providence shuts out Phillies 28-0
1887 Mighty (Dan) Casey Struck-out in a game with the NY Giants!
1901 Joe McGinnity, suspended from NL for punching & spitting on an ump
1912 Mr Carter-Cotton chosen 1st chancellor of Univ of British Columbia
1922 Curly Lambeau & Green Bay Football Club granted NFL franchise
1926 White Sox Ted Lyons no hits Red Sox 6-0 in just 67 minutes at Fenway
1927 4th Pan-African Congress meets (NYC)
1929 Chicago Cardinals become 1st pro football team to train out of town
1931 Babe Ruth hits his 600th HR (Yanks beat Browns 11-7)
1933 Ruth's homer leads AL to a 4-2 win in 1st All Star Game
1944 Dumbarton Oaks conference opens in Washington, DC; establishes UN
1945 Pres Truman ends Lend-Lease program
1949 NY Giants beat Phillies on a forfeit, due to fan's throwing debris
1953 Marion Carl in Douglas Skyrocket reaches record 25,370 m
1958 KUT-FM in Austin Texas begins radio transmissions
1959 Hawaii becomes 50th US state
1963 Martial law declared in S Vietnam
1965 Gemini 5 launched into Earth orbit (2 astronauts)
1968 After 5 years Russia once again jams Voice of America radio
1968 Democratic Convention opens in Chicago
1968 Radio Prague (Czech) at 12:50 AM announces a soviet led invasion. Warsaw Pact forces enter Czechoslovakia to end reform movement
1968 William Dana reaches 80 km (last high-altitude X-15 flight)
1972 1st hot air balloon flight over the Alps
1972 Republican convention opens in Miami Beach
1972 US orbiting astronomy observatory Copernicus launched
1975 3 truck pile up kills 10, injures 26 on French highway
1975 Rick & Paul Reuschel become 1st brothers to pitch a combined shut out
1976 Al Bumbry hits the 17th inside-the-park HR in Oriole history
1977 Donna Patterson Brice sets high speed water skiing rec (111.11 mph)
1982 Palestinian terrorists are dispersed from Beirut
1982 Rollie Fingers (Brewers) becomes 1st pitcher to get save #300
1985 Mary Decker Slaney runs mile in world record 4:16.71
1986 Lake Nios Volcanic eruption in Cameroon releases poison gas, killing 1,746
1986 Red Sox Spike Owens scores 6 runs in a 24-5 rout of Cleve Indians
1986 With 2 outs in the 6th inning, The Red Sox score 11 runs
1987 "Mack Lobell" set harness racing's trotting mil (1:52)
1987 Clayton Lonetree, 1st marine court-martialed for spying, convicted
1988 Cease fire between Iran & Iraq takes effect after 8 years of war
1989 Voyager 2 begins a flyby of the planet Neptune
1991 Communist coup is crushed in USSR in 2 days
2017 Next total solar eclipse visible from North America

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

Hawaii : Admission Day (1959) - - - - - ( Friday )
Mich : Montrose-Blueberry Festival - - - - - ( Friday )

Religious Observances
RC : Commemoration of St Jane Frances Fr‚miot de Chantal, widow
RC : Memorial of Pius X, pope (1903-14)

Religious History
1245 Alexander of Hales, 59, died. An English scholastic theologian, Alexander is regarded as the founder of the Franciscan school of theology.
1799 Birth of Alexander R. Reinagle, English church organist. He penned many sacred compositions, including ST. PETER, which afterward became the melody to the hymn, "In Christ There is No East or West."
1866 Birth of Civilla D. Martin, teacher and songwriter, in Nova Scotia. A pastor's wife, she penned in 1904 the hymn, "Be Not Dismayed, Whate'er Betide" (a.k.a. "God Will Take Care of You").
1874 Popular 19th century preacher Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887) was accused by Theodore Tilton of committing adultery with his wife. The resulting trial ended in a 9-3 hung jury decision, in Beecher's favor.
1930 Pioneer linguistic educator Frank C. Laubach wrote in a letter: 'If this entire universe has a desperate need of love to incarnate itself, then "important duties" which keep us from helping little people are not duties but sins.'

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

Thought for the day :
"Liberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is itself the highest political end."

Good Morning Foxhole folks!!

Hurrah! Good morning

Good Morning

Morning feather. Very pretty graphic.

Yeah! Good morning stainlessbanner.

Thanks aomagrat, perfect for SAM's story today.

Great article, and the letter in post 2 was a most excellent addition. The charge of Pickett, Pettigrew and Trimble is probably the most written about action of the war, and is probably the most misunderstood as a result, lol. Great graphics work as well!

Mornin' Snippy and you to Sam. Thanks for the ping.