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 are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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Posted on 02/18/2003 5:34:30 AM PST by SAMWolf
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are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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"Forty Days and Nights in the Wilderness of Death" We eat all the meat and bread in the fort...eat all the beef--all the mules--all the Dogs--and all the Rats around us.  From the time the Civil War started in April 1861, both the North and South made controlling the Mississippi River a major part of their strategy. The Confederacy wanted to keep using the river to transport needed supplies; the Union wanted to stop this supply route and drive a wedge that would divide Confederate states and territories. Particularly important to the South was the stretch of the Mississippi that included the mouth of the Red River. The Red was the Confederacy's primary route for moving vital supplies between east and west: salt, cattle, and horses traveled downstream from the Trans-Mississippi West; in the opposite direction flowed men and munitions from the east. In the spring of 1862, the Union took control of New Orleans and Memphis. To make sure it could continue to use the middle section of the river, the South fortified positions at Vicksburg, Mississippi and Port Hudson, Louisiana. In May 1863, Union land and naval forces began a campaign they hoped would give them control of the full length of the Mississippi River. One army under Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant commenced operations against the Confederacy's fortified position at Vicksburg, Mississippi, at the northern end of the stretch of the river still in Southern hands. At about the same time, another army under Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks moved against Port Hudson, which stood at the southern end. By May 23, Banks's forces, which numbered between 30,000 and 40,000 men at their strongest, had surrounded the Port Hudson defenses. Banks hoped to overrun the entrenchments quickly, then take his army northward to assist Grant at Vicksburg.  Major-General Franklin Gardner, C.S.A. Within the Confederate fortifications at Port Hudson were approximately 6,800 men. Their commander was Maj. Gen. Franklin Gardner, a New Yorker by birth. His goals were to have his men defend their positions as long as possible in order to prevent Banks' troops from joining Grant, and to keep Confederate control of this part of the Mississippi. On the morning of May 27, 1863, under Maj. Gen. Banks, the Union army launched ferocious assaults against the lengthy Confederate fortifications. Among the attackers were two regiments of African-American soldiers, the 1st and 3rd Louisiana Native Guards. They were the first black soldiers committed to combat in the Civil War. The attacks were uncoordinated, and the defenders easily turned them back causing heavy Northern casualties. Banks' troops made a second, similarly haphazard assault on June 14. Again they were repulsed, suffering even more dead and wounded soldiers. These actions constituted some of the bloodiest fighting of the Civil War. The Confederates began building their defenses in 1862, and by now had an elaborate series of earthworks. One of their officers provided the following description of the line of these barriers, which, as their name suggested, were made mainly from hard-packed dirt:  Major General Nathaniel P. Banks, USA For about three-quarters of a mile from the river the line crossed a broken series of ridges, plateaus and ravines, taking advantage of high ground in some places and in others extending down a steep declivity; for the next mile and a quarter it traversed Gibbon's and Slaughter's fields where a wide level plain seemed formed on purpose for a battlefield; another quarter of a mile carried it through deep and irregular gullies, and for three-quarters of a mile more it led through fields and over hills to a deep gorge, in the bosom of which lay Sandy creek. The elaborate defenses they built and difficult terrain in the area assisted the Confederates in keeping this part of the Mississippi under their control. The Federals had no choice but to besiege Port Hudson to obtain win access to the full length of the Mississippi.  Confederate fortifications at Port Hudson. Union line is right behind, in the foreground. For more than 2,000 years, armies unable to storm strongly defended positions--cities, for example, or forts or castles--had instead surrounded their enemies. A siege, as one of these blockades was called, might end in a number of ways. The defenders would lose if their opponents found a way to break through their defenses or if, because they were cut off from the rest of the world, they ran out of supplies. On the other hand, if the defenders could hold out long enough, their allies might appear and drive off the enemy, or the attacking army might eventually give up due to heavy casualties or lack of supplies. This type of warfare changed significantly with the introduction of gunpowder during the Middle Ages. Both sides involved in a siege had always shot objects at the other: stones and spears and even pots of fire. These weapons quickly became obsolete, however, when gunpowder allowed armies to use powerful artillery like cannons. The new shells they fired were could knock down previously impenetrable fortifications, and so besieging armies now relied on artillery as their main weapon. Defenders also had artillery, which they used to destroy their attackers' large guns and the attackers themselves. The fighting at Port Hudson illustrated how artillery affected the conduct of a siege. The Union Army combined artillery fire with sharpshooting riflemen as it attempted to keep the defenders from getting supplies of food or other necessities; the Union Navy added their big guns to the bombardment. The Confederates responded by firing their rifles and artillery at the Union forces. Recognizing how dangerous this type of fighting could be, each side also built elaborate earthworks to protect themselves.  Confederate "rat holes" (dug-out caves) within the defensive lines. There was a Federal artillery position along the tree line in the distance. The siege created hardships and deprivations for both the North and South, but by early July the Confederates were in much worse shape. They had exhausted practically all of their food supplies and ammunition, and fighting and disease had greatly reduced the number of men able to defend the trenches. When Maj. Gen. Gardner learned that Vicksburg had surrendered, he realized that his situation was hopeless and that nothing could be gained by continuing. The terms of surrender were negotiated, and on July 9, 1863, the Confederates lay down their weapons, ending 48 days of continuous fighting. The siege of Port Hudson affected the Civil War and the men who fought there in a number of ways. The surrender gave the Union control of the Mississippi River, cutting off important states such as Arkansas and Texas. Both sides suffered heavy casualties: about 5,000 Union men were killed or wounded, and an additional 4,000 fell prey to disease or sunstroke; Gardner's forces suffered around 700 casualties, several hundred of whom died of disease. And on both sides, even many of those who survived found their view of war permanently changed. New York native Howard C. Wright was a newspaperman in New Orleans, Louisiana, when the Civil War began. He joined the 30th Louisiana Infantry Regiment when it was formed in 1862 and became a lieutenant. Captured at the surrender of Port Hudson, he was imprisoned with other officers in New Orleans. He wrote an account of the siege which was originally serialized as Port Hudson: Its History from an Interior Point of View in the Daily True Delta less than a month after the surrender. Wright's account was printed in book form for the first time in 1937 by the editor of the St. Francisville Democrat and republished in 1978 by The Eagle Press, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The following excerpt is taken from that printing (p. 51). The last quarter ration of beef had been given out to the troops on the 29th of June. On the 1st of July, at the request of many officers, a wounded mule was killed and cut up for experimental eating. All those who partook of it spoke highly of the dish. The flesh of mules is of a darker color than beef, of a finer grain, quite tender and juicy, and has a flavor something between that of beef and venison. There was an immediate demand for this kind of food, and the number of mules killed by the commissariat daily increased. Some horses were also slaughtered, and their flesh was found to be very good eating, but not equal to mule. Rats, of which there were plenty about the deserted camps, were also caught by many officers and men, and were found to be quite a luxury--superior, in the opinion of those who eat them, to spring chicken; and if a philosopher of the Celestial Empire could have visited Port Hudson at the time, he would have marvelled at the progress of the barbarians there toward the refinements of his own people.  A Union artillery battery at Port Hudson. The white material in the foreground is cotton, bales of which were used to protect the cannoneers from Confederate fire. Mule meat was regularly served out in rations to the troops from and after the 4th of July, and there were very few among the garrison whose natural prejudices were so strong as to prevent them from cooking and eating their share. The stock of corn was getting very low, and besides that nothing was left but peas, sugar and molasses. These peas were the most indigestible and unwholesome articles that were ever given to soldiers to eat, and the reason that such a large quantity was left on hand was probably accounted for by the fact that most of the troops would not have them on any consideration. To save corn they were issued out to horses and mules, and killed a great many of these animals. All of the horses and mules which were not needed for hauling or other imperative duties, had been turned out to graze, where numbers of them were killed or disabled by the enemy's cannonade and rain of Minie balls, and the rest nearly starved to death. The sugar and molasses was put to good use by the troops in making a weak description of beer, which was constantly kept at the lines by the barrel-full, and drank by the soldiers in preference to the miserable water with which they were generally supplied. This was a very pleasant and healthful beverage, and went far to recompense the men for the lack of almost every other comfort or luxury. In the same way, after the stock of tobacco had given out, they substituted sumac leaves, which grew wild in the woods. It had always been smoked by the Indians under the name of killickenick, and, when properly prepared for the pipe, is a tolerably good substitute for tobacco.
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More coverage: The Patriot Defenders Network patriotwatch.com
See this post: Anti-war Protests Anger U.S. Troops Inside Kuwait
The Detroit News | Tuesday, February 18, 2003 | M.E. Sprengelmeyer
194 posted on 02/18/2003 11:19 AM PST by comwatch
Today's classic warship, USS San Juan (CL-54)
Atlanta class light cruiser
Displacement: 6,000 t.
Length: 541’6”
Beam: 53’2”
Draft: 20’10”
Speed: 31.8 k.
Complement: 820
Armament: 16 5”; 16 1.1”; 8 20mm; 8 21” torpedo tubes; 2 depth charge tracks; 6 depth charge projectors
The USS SAN JUAN (CL-54) was laid down on 15 May 1940 by the Bethlehem Steel Co. (Fore River), Quincy, Mass.; launched on 6 September 1941; sponsored by Mrs. Margarita Coll de Santori; and commissioned on 28 February 1942, Capt. James E. Maher in command.
After shakedown in the Atlantic, SAN JUAN departed from Hampton Roads, Va., on 5 June 1942 as part of a carrier task group formed around WASP (CV-7) and bound for the Pacific. The group got underway from San Diego on 30 June escorting a large group of troop transports destined for the Solomon Islands where the Navy was about to launch the first major American amphibious operation of the war.
Following rehearsal in the Fiji Islands, SAN JUAN provided gunfire support for the landings at Tulagi on 7 August 1942. On the night of 8 and 9 August, she was patrolling the eastern approaches to the transport area between Tulagi and Guadalcanal when gun flashes indicated that fighting was taking place in the western approaches. The action turned out to be the Battle of Savo Island, in which an enemy cruiser force sank four Allied cruisers. SAN JUAN retired from the forward area with the empty transports on the 9th and escorted them to Noumea.
She then rejoined WASP and operated with the carrier force for several weeks between the New Hebrides and the Solomons, on guard against a Japanese carrier attack. However, when this strike materialized on 24 August, SAN JUAN had withdrawn to refuel and thus missed the Battle of the Eastern Solomons. ENTERPRISE (CV-6) was hit in the battle, and SAN JUAN, which had damaged a gun mount off Guadalcanal, escorted the carrier to Pearl Harbor, arriving on 10 September 1942.
On 5 October, the cruiser again headed for the South Pacific, stopping first at Funafuti in the Ellice Islands to deliver a deck load of 20 millimeter guns to the marines who had just landed there. She then carried out a raid through the Gilberts sinking two Japanese patrol vessels on 16 October. Disembarking Japanese prisoners at Espiritu Santo, the cruiser joined ENTERPRISE on the 23d. Three days later, after patrol planes had made contact with enemy carrier forces, the Battle of Santa Cruz Island was fought in which HORNET (CV-8) was lost and ENTERPRISE damaged while the Japanese suffered severe losses in aircraft and pilots. During the last dive-bombing attack on the formation, one bomb passed through SAN JUAN's stern, flooding several compartments and damaging, though not disabling, her rudder. She arrived at Noumea with the task force on 30 October and then spent 10 days at Sydney Australia, receiving permanent repairs.
SAN JUAN joined carrier SARATOGA (CV-3), at Nandi, Viti Levu Island, in the Fijis on 24 November. From December 1942 to June 1943, the cruiser was based at Noumea and operated in the Coral Sea, both with carrier groups and alone. At the end of June 1943, during the occupation of New Georgia, SAN JUAN’s carrier group patrolled the Coral Sea for 26 days to prevent enemy interference. Late in July, the force made a quick stop at Noumea and moved to the New Hebrides, first to Havannah Harbor, Efate, and later to Espiritu Santo.
On 1 November, the SARATOGA group, including SAN JUAN, neutralized airfields on Bougainville and Rabaul while Allied forces landed on Bougainville. In the middle of November, the task group acted as a covering force for the occupation of the Gilberts. SAN JUAN then joined ESSEX (CV-9) on a raid on Kwajalein in the Marshalls, fighting off persistent torpedo plane attacks on 4 and 5 December. Detached on 6 December, the cruiser returned to the United States for overhaul at Mare Island.
SAN JUAN rejoined SARATOGA off Pearl Harbor on 19 January 1944 and the force covered the occupation of Eniwetok in February. SAN JUAN next escorted carriers, YORKTOWN (CV-10) and LEXINGTON (CV-16), in strikes on Palau, Yap, and Ulithi between 30 March and 1 April. On 7 April, the cruiser joined the new carrier HORNET (CV-12), which covered the landings at Hollandia in April and then struck at Truk on 29 and 30 April. After returning to bases in the Marshalls, the HORNET group began support of the Marianas campaign in early June, striking at Iwo Jima and Chichi Jima in the Bonins, while American troops landed on Saipan. SAN JUAN helped guard her group during the Battle of the Philippine Sea when American naval air power decisively defeated a Japanese counterattack to save the Marianas, and, in doing so, all but wiped out Japanese naval air strength.
After a short stop at Eniwetok, SAN JUAN escorted carriers, WASP (CV-18) and FRANKLIN (CV-13), during July as they covered the capture of Guam with strikes on Iwo Jima and Chichi Jima. After a strike on Palau and Ulithi, SAN JUAN was ordered to San Francisco for overhaul, and departed from Eniwetok on 4 August escorting YORKTOWN.
Following refresher training at San Diego and Pearl Harbor, SAN JUAN joined LEXINGTON’s task group at Ulithi on 21 November. In early December, she screened the carriers in strikes on Formosa and Luzon in support of landings on Mindoro. During this operation, she was sent alone within scouting range of Japanese airfields in an effort to draw out Japanese aircraft by radio deception, but none rose to the bait. On 18 and 19 December, the force was battered by a typhoon, and returned to Ulithi on Christmas Eve. Underway again six days later, the carriers covered the occupation of Luzon with strikes on Formosa, Okinawa, and Luzon from 3 through 9 January 1945, and then from 10 to 20 January, raided ports and shipping in the South China Sea, particularly Saigon, Cam Ranh Bay, and Hong Kong. After replenishing at Ulithi, SAN JUAN escorted carrier HORNET in air strikes on Tokyo during the Iwo Jima operation in February and then returned to Ulithi on 1 March to prepare for the Okinawa invasion.
SAN JUAN rejoined HORNET on 22 March and, until 30 April, operated with her to the north and east of Nansei Shoto, interrupting her regular occupation of supporting air strikes and replenishment at sea with a bombardment, on 21 April, of Minami Daito Shima, a small island about 180 miles from Okinawa. Planes from SAN JUAN's group helped sink the giant Japanese battleship YAMATO, on 7 April. After nine days at Ulithi, the HORNET group was back on station off Nansei Shoto for strikes on targets in Japan. SAN JUAN arrived in Leyte Gulf on 13 June for repairs and then joined carrier, BENNINGTON (CV-20), on 1 July for more strikes on the Japanese home islands. She was at sea when the news of the Japanese capitulation was received on 15 August, and, on the 27th, after 59 days at sea, she joined the van forces for the triumphal entry of the 3d Fleet into Sagami Wan, just outside Tokyo Bay.
SAN JUAN's embarked unit commander, Commodore Rodger W. Simpson, was assigned responsibility for freeing, caring for, and evacuating Allied prisoners of war in Japan. On 29 August, the ship entered Tokyo Bay and landed parties which liberated prisoners at camps at Omori and Ofuna and the Shanagawa hospital. The former prisoners were transferred to hospital ships BENEVOLENCE (AH-13) and RESCUE (AH-18). After evacuating camps in the Tokyo Bay area, SAN JUAN moved to the Nagoya-Hamamatsu area to the south and then to the Sendai-Kamaishi area to the north. On completing her liberation duty, the cruiser moored on 23 September next to the last Japanese battleship, NAGATO, at Yokosuka shifting to an outer anchorage there on 28 October. She sailed for the United States on 14 November, disembarked Commodore Simpson at Pearl Harbor, and continued to the U.S. with homewardbound troops, arriving on 29 November. Three days later, she sailed on "Magic Carpet" duty to Noumea and Tutuila, returning to San Pedro, Calif., on 9 January 1946 with a full load of troops. The cruiser arrived at Bremerton, Wash., for inactivation on 24 January 1946, and was decommissioned and placed in reserve there on 9 November 1946. SAN JUAN was redesignated CLAA-54 on 28 February 1949. She was struck from the Navy list on 1 March 1959 and sold on 31 October 1961 to National Metals and Steel Co., Terminal Island, Calif., for scrapping.
SAN JUAN received 13 battle stars for her World War II service.
A sad end for a ship with a distinguished career.
All the courage from both sides is concentrated against our enemies now.
Those wretched few who litter the streets with their treason figure no more than maggots.
God in His embarrassment sent two feet of snow to cover their obscene display.
It takes one's breath away to even consider the sacrifice and the nerve of the Port Hudson combatants.
Just so, it takes nerve to consider the truth of the current war on terrorism.
Germany supplies nerve gas precursors to North Korea.
North Korea provides Scuds to Iraq.
Iran provides safe haven to Osama's son while Iraq continues to harbor al Qaeda.
Those who now claim the label "anti-war" are in fact anti-America--and we've had enough of that:
Jane Fonda and Ramsey Clark grow moss, as the Sean Penns and Martin Sheens blossom like chancres.
In the siege, these traitors would have been ground and eaten;
Now we settle for binding them in duct tape and dropping them into Baghdad as "human shields".
In the aftermath of the current operation, the Smoocher of Suha is poised to pounce on any misadventure--
--and is not averse to helping it along with more treason:
No other administration has so invigorated our ChiCom, North Korean, Iraqi and Irani enemies.
I have here by the monitor a lead replica of the Burton shown in the diagram:
It is an awesome slug.
The 1st Regiment of the Louisiana Native Guards was sworn into service on September 27, 1862. The 2nd and 3rd Regiments were organized during October and November, respectively.
Actually, the Native Guards were not the first black soliders to volunteer. Major General David Hunter had raised a regiment of black men at Hilton Head, South Carolina, during the spring of 1862, but it was not formally recognized as part of the Union Army. Hunter disbanded the unit on August 9, two weeks prior to Benjamin F. Butler's call for black recruits in New Orleans. Although Secretary of War Edwin Stanton finally authorized Hunter's enlistment of black troops, the 1st South Carolina Volunteers did not complete their reorganization until January 31, 1863. Consequently, the Native Guards were the first black soldiers to be officially mustered into the Union Army during the Civil War.
It should also be noted that Senator Jim Lane began recruiting the 1st Regiment of Kansas Colored Volunteers in August 1862. Although this unit engaged in combat as early as October, it was not mustered into federal service until January 13, 1863, making it the fourth black regiment to enter the United States Army. The famous 54th Massachusetts Infantry did not complete its organization until May 13, 1863, almost eight months after the 1st Regiment of the Native Guards was sworn into service. Finally, a "Black Brigade" was organized in September 1862 in Cincinnati, Ohio, to construct fortifications. However, the three regiments in this brigade were not armed, nor were they given uniforms, and when the threat of a Confederate invasion ended, they were disbanded.
Facedown, I see you are in IL. Are you in the Chicago area? Can you help Comwatch with his request in his post, or ping FReepers who can? Is there a Chicago area FR Chapter?
Comwatch, you may want to post a message about this on the IL board.
#$(!*!^% +*^$#@^#~%& %#!?<)*&*^ %#@!?*
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