JANUARY 9 = 1861 “The Star of the West” is Fired Upon.

The American Civil War begun in earnest in April of 1861 when shots were exchanged between Union batteries in Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor and Confederate guns on the shore installations.  But the first actual shots were fired on this day, January 9 in 1861 when shots were fired upon the merchant ship “Star of the West” (above) as she attempted to resupply and reinforce Fort Sumter.

States Seceding, the Union Dissolving

This all came about during the secession crisis that followed the election of Abraham Lincoln on November 6, 1860. Sectional differences had divided the United States for years. There were arguments about state’s sovereignty, but  the main dividing factor was the practice of slavery in the southern states.  Lincoln’s Republican Party had run on a platform which pledged not to interfere with slavery where it already existed, but which opposed the extension of  slavery into the territories as they became states. The election was held, and with the opposition so divided between pro and anti-slave elements, Lincoln won with nearly 40% of the popular vote but a commanding majority of the electoral votes – 180 of  the 303 available. Many of the Southern states had been threatening to secede from the Union, and this mindset was very strong in South Carolina. On Nov. 8, the newspaper the Charleston Mercury, published a dark message: “The tea has been thrown overboard—the revolution of 1860 has been initiated.” And South Carolina indeed lead the way formally seceding from the Union on Dec. 20, 1860.

Fort Sumter – in Charleston Harbor

On seceding from the Union on that day South Carolina demanded the the withdrawal of the Federal garrison in Fort Sumter right out in the middle of Charleston Harbor.  The small number of Federal troops still in Charleston after secession had been moved there by their

commander, Major Robert Anderson in (left) to “prevent the effusion of blood.” President James Buchanan refused to cave in on this one point.  But Maj. Anderson and his 80 men required supplies and perhaps reinforcements. But Pres. Buchanan sent a civilian supply ship instead of a military ship, so as to keep the crisis from expanding by provocative action. The ship sent was “The Star of the West”, a purely civilian ship. Sent on Jan. 5, Star of the West was cruising into a hornet’s nest. Cadets from the South Carolina Military Academy – the Citadel – had set up a battery of guns on Morris Island, and were waiting.

The Shots Are Fired!

Early in the morning of today’s date, January 9, Star of the West captain John McGowan tried to move his ship into a channel near Fort Sumter. The Cadets on Morris Island fired a shot across the merchant vessel’s bow to warn her off. Still Star of the West tried to move on forward. The cadets began to open fire (below). Major Anderson gave no thought to returning fire from his batteries on

Sumter.  If he had it might have initiated a full fledged  military engagement, and the Civil War might have started right then and there. Some batteries on nearby Fort Moultrie scored a couple of hits on their target, causing some damage on the ship. At this point, Capt. McGowan in charge of his unarmed ship decided to exit the channel and make a safe withdrawal.

So ended thee initial shots of  America’s bloodiest war… a  small little skirmish in a Southern harbor in which nobody was killed or even harmed. A few weeks later after Lincoln had been inaugurated, 11 southern states had seceded from the union. And on April 12, 1861 the batteries in Charleston harbor opened fire on Fort Sumter itself, and the real shooting had begun.

Sources =

https://www.postandcourier.com/news/charleston-at-war-in-star-of-the-west-gets-first/article_27c54d7b-af4a-57a2-8273-d5902a0965a3.html

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/star-of-the-west-is-fired-upon

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_of_the_West

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fort_Sumter

 

“The Civil War” Prod. by Ken Burns, written by Geoffrey C. Ward Vol. 1

“The Cause”.

OCTOBER 24 = Transcontinental Telegraph is Completed

On today’s date, October 24 in 1861, the last link in the Transcontinental telegraph system was completed, and the United States for the first time had instantaneous communication from the east coast to the west. From Washington to California news and communication was for the first time immediate. The world had become a lot smaller by just the clicking of a small device like the one pictured above, the telegraph sounder.

The Need for Coast to Coast Communication

“California and the Pacific Northwest. This ground was rich enough to grow fruits and vegetables in abundance, and lumber was in limitless forests.  And GOLD had been discovered there in 1848.” As I wrote myself in my Blog about the Transcontinental Railroad and all that went along with it  ( https://historysstory.blogspot.com/2014/05/may-10-trans-continental-railroad-is.html), California had suddenly become very important. In fact it had already become a state in September of 1850. Well, just as the physical commute from the east coast to

California was nearly a killer proposition, getting news and communication was nearly as tough. It took weeks for mail to get through, and the Pony Express, a mail service delivering news, etc. using “young skinny wiry fellows, Orphans preferred, willing to risk death daily” (Poster above) and a series of horse-mounted riders only operated from April 3, 1860, to October 1861 between Missouri and California, took ten days.

“What hath God Wrought..”

This biblical phrase (Numbers, 22:23) “What hath God wrought” was the first message sent on May 24, 1844  on a new device developed by Samuel F.B. Morse (below) and others by transmitting electrical signals over a wire laid between receiving stations, utilizing a code developed by Morse and thus known as Morse code. This assigned each number, letter or character a unique sequence of short and long signals called

“dots” and “dashes.” This new invention revolutionized communication service between cities in the U.S.  Efficient telegraphic stations had been set up throughout the 1840’s And 1850 there were lines linked most eastern states, with a similar, separate network of lines linking the booming economy of California. The need to integrate the western state with its federal government and the financial and political centers in the east became self evident.

Funding the Transcontinental Telegraph

The move to set up a transcontinental telegraph line started in 1860 when Congress approved a subsidy of $40,000  to any company that would commit to the construction of a telegraph line which would link the western network with the eastern. The main challenge was to cover the space currently missing any coverage between Salt Lake City and western Missouri. The Western Union Company  took up the challenge. In a way very similar to that which would rule the Transcontinental Railroad a few years later, the work would be done by two teams working to the center from opposite ends.

In charge of the eastern team was Edward Creighton. In charge of the western team was James N. Gamble (above) – yes that Gamble, of the Proctor & Gamble Co. whose beautiful home on Werk Road in Cincinnati was recently demolished for no good reason. The first pole went up on July 4, 1861 and by the projects completion in October of that same year they had planted 27,500 poles holding 2,000 miles (3,200 km) of single-strand iron wire over some very rough country.

Operational Difficulties…..

There were of course some operational difficulties to be overcome in the construction. There was of course a Civil War raging not far from this area so acts of sabotage were a frequent concern. Also there was a bit of trouble with the indigenous tribes through whose land the poles and wires were being erected. In 1861 some Sioux warriors cut and

removed a section of wire for fashioning bracelets. Later, some of those wearing the bracelets fell ill.  A Sioux medicine man determined the illness was the great spirit of the “talking wire” avenging its desecration.  Thereafter, the Sioux stayed clear of the wire. And of course in the treeless Plains the logs had to be shipped by 200 oxen over the Sierra Nevada mountains, along with wire and glass insulators.  According to Gamble that portion of the job took over a month.

The Completion of the Transcontinental Telegraph

But in spite of the difficulties the line was completed in just a four months; a surprise to President Lincoln (and most everyone else) who thought that it would take years. And the total cost came to a half million dollars. In the first  message sent over the new system, Steven J. Field addressed to President Lincoln a message which sought to reassure the President that Transcontinental Telegraph would bind the western states to the Union:

They (the people of California) believe that it will be the means of strengthening the attachment which bind both the East & West to the Union & they desire in this the first message across the continent to express their loyalty to that Union & their determination to stand by the Government in this its day of trial They regard that Government with affection & will adhere to it under all fortunes

Stephen J Field,  Chief Justice of California

Sources  =

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_transcontinental_telegraph

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/western-union-completes-the-first-transcontinental-telegraph-line

https://www.washingtonian.com/2016/10/25/1861-first-transcontinental-telegraph-was-sent-to-dc/

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/americas-original-wire-the-telegraph-at-150/

https://www.historynet.com/western-union-things-right-west-got-message.htm 

OCTOBER 17 Al Capone is Convicted of Tax Evasion

On today’s date, October 17 in 1931 Al Capone (above) was  convicted of Income Tax Evasion and sentenced to 11 years in Federal Prison. After a lifetime of violence, killing and bloodshed it took the long arm of the Internal Revenue Service to at long last put this ruthless criminal behind bars.

The Rise of “Scarface” Al Capone

Alphonse Gabriel Capone was born on January 17, 1899 to  Italian immigrant parents in New York City.  He started the crooked path early, being expelled from school at 14. He joined a street gang and it was in such company that he acquired at age 17 during a fight the facial scar which gave him the nickname which he personally hated. But this kid had a lifetime of crime ahead of him, and his scar was certainly no hindrance. While he was still a teenager he took up with the Five Points Gang and made himself useful as a bouncer in their brothels. In 1920 he moved to Chicago, becoming a trusted lieutenant to Johnny Torrio, the head of a crime syndicate which supplied alcohol which was then illegal under the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. In 1920 this amendment established prohibition as the law of the land. Torrio was nearly killed in an attack by the North Side gang and was sufficiently frightened to retire while he still was alive.  He returned to Italy handing over the reigns of his organization to Capone in 1925.

Capone Goes for Bigger Profits

Al decided to expand the business, particularly the illegal liquor end of things, and he wasn’t shy about using increasingly violent means to do it, effectively going to war with the North Side gang

which had attacked Torrio. Violence increased as did the body count while Capone’s men fought it out with North Side thugs and their leaders Dean O’Banion and George “Bugs” Moran (above). At stake was control of the bootleg liquor business and the millions of dollars to be raked in from it and the brothels which they controlled.  Of course Capone was careful to pay off the various politicians, policemen, judges, in particular Chicago Mayor William Hale Thompson which protected him from too much law enforcement. Capone became a kind of celebrity and enjoyed every minute of it. He

loved it when the crowds would cheer for him when he showed up at baseball games. He even cultivated a certain Robin Hood image by opening soup kitchens (left) to feed poor men hit by the economic depression which was at its worst. Anybody who could bring relief to the millions left unemployed was certain to be a popular man with the public.

The St. Valentines Day Massacre

But the violence could get to be too much. Capone wanted to wipe out the North Side gang and the influence of its Irish-American leader, “Bugs” Moran once and for all.  On February 14, 1929, seven members of the North Side gang were lured into a garage by several men dressed as Chicago policemen. There the men were lined up against a wall and were shot down in cold blood. It may be that Capone’s men thought

that the group they had murdered included Moran himself. But it did not.  In fact, it was Moran himself put the finger squarely on his blood rival by commenting to the press: “Only Al Capone kills like that.” Capone had taken the precaution of being out of town at that time. No investigation was able to link the murders into Capone’s hands, but he  was widely believed to be the one behind it. His  public image was severely damaged by this brazen murder in broad daylight leading to calls for Government action, while the papers began referring to Al as “Public Enemy No. 1”

The I.R.S. Finally Bags Al 

As Capone’s fortune rose, so did the Treasury Department’s interest in his income. A ruling by the Supreme Court in May of 1927 worked in the government’s favor. In U.S. -v- Sullivan it was determined that “gains from illicit traffic in liquor are subject to the income tax (and) would be taxable” by the government.  Al Capone claimed for years that he had no income which was taxable, so this was exactly what the feds needed to reel in Capone. Led by Elmer Irey and Frank Wilson a group from Treasury known as “the T men” they quietly followed Capone’s money and gathered the necessary evidence to show that Capone had made millions off of income for which he had never paid taxes. And on today’s date Mr. Capone was convicted on 22 counts of Income Tax Evasion, was sentenced to 11 years in prison was fined $50,000 ($847,111 in today’s dollars), charged court costs and ordered to pay back taxes of $215,000 (now, $3,642,576).

Jail is Tough on Al

Capone began serving his sentence in Atlanta, but there were charges that he was allowed too many luxuries there, so his residence was changed to the Federal Penitentiary on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay. There, the warden, one James Aloysius Johnston, proved to be a more difficult man to deal with than Capone had dealt with before. There would be none of luxuries that Al had enjoyed before.  As prisoner # AZ-85, Capone occupied a normal cell of 5 ft. by 9 ft., working in  the prison laundry. These surroundings in a claustrophobically small cell in a damp place like Alcatraz is to anyone who has ever toured the place as this writer once did a few years ago, were not conducive to anybody’s good health.  At Alcatraz, Capone’s body, ravaged by syphilis, began to turn against him leading eventually to insanity. He was released from the Rock after only four years there, and eventually died of a stroke on January 25, 1947 at his home in Palm Island, Florida.

Sources =

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Capone

 https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/capone-goes-to-prison

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/2018/10/17/al-capone-sentenced-to-prison-for-tax-evasion-on-this-day-in-1931/#35da68ae7c4c

https://www.history.com/news/8-things-you-should-know-about-al-capone

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Torrio

https://www.history.com/topics/crime/saint-valentines-day-massacre

OCTOBER 4 = The Soviets Launch “Sputnik”

“Our movies and television programs in the fifties were full of the idea of going into space. What came as a surprise was that it was the Soviet Union that launched the first satellite. It is hard to recall the atmosphere of the time.”

— John Logsdon, Dir. of Space Policy Institute

On today’s date, October 4 in 1957 the Soviet Union (Russia) launched an orbital space satellite, which they called “Sputnik, after the Russian word for “satellite”. As one can see from viewing the image of it above, it was a rather odd looking craft that looked something like an octopus extending it’s tentacles. But in terms of the Cold War (the period from @ 1946 through the mid 80’s when U.S./Soviet relations were at their most tense) it came as a rude  awakening to the American people that the Soviets may have gained an edge over the in the race in the Space Race.

“Sputnik”: What & Why?

“Sputnik” was was the first artificial satellite ever launched into space from earth. Measuring about 58 meters (23 inches) in diameter and weighing 184 lbs. of polished metal with four external antennas which broadcast radio signals back to earth which were strong enough to be picked up by amateur radio operators all over the world. The information being collected was tracking and studying the density of the upper atmosphere could be deduced from its drag on the orbit, and the propagation of its radio signals gave data about the

ionosphere. Traveling at 18,000 miles an hour, its elliptical orbit had an apogee (farthest point from Earth) of 584 miles and a perigee (nearest point) of 143 miles. And it took @ 101.5 minutes to orbit the earth. As to why the Russians launched it, well they were looking for a way to show that there system was as advanced as that in the U.S. perhaps  more so. So the Soviet leader Nikita Krushchev  (above) gave the program his full backing.

The Space Race

Many Americans were shocked that the Soviets that the Soviets had beaten the U.S. to the punch in such a public fashion. And they felt very uneasy about having this damned Soviet contraption flying over our skies. Perhaps the satellite could eventually be used to spy or even launch weapons on this country. Eisenhower himself (below)was not

worried about it. Many in his administration dismissed ‘Sputnik” as a “useless hunk of iron”. But others were more concerned. As David Halberstam wrote in The Fifties, “The success of Sputnik seemed to herald a kind of technological Pearl Harbor, which was exactly what Edward Teller said it was.”  Whatever the case, the Russians and the U.S. continued one-upping each other with various “firsts” – until the U.S. wrote the final note on the subject by landing Apollo 11 with Armstrong and Aldrin landing on the moon itself in July 20 of 1969, effectively handing the U.S. the win in the Space Race.

Sources =

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sputnik_1

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history

https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/sputnik-memo

SEPTEMBER 21 – “YES VIRGINIA! There is a Santa Claus!”

Yes I know! With every year that passes the pause between the end of summer and Halloween gets smaller. And after Halloween never mind Thanksgiving but let’s move straight on to the Christmas BUYING season.  I bemoan this entirely commercial kidnapping of our once cherished kids holiday into a big cashier’s payoff as much as you do. So please understand that that is not what I’m doing here! It would feel a lot more appropriate if this had occurred some time in December.  But it didn’t.  It happened now and since this Blog is called “TODAY in History”, please indulge me for posting it today.

It just so happens that one of the best loved episodes of our Christmas holiday season occurred on today’s date, September 21 in 1897  when the little eight year old Virginia O’Hanlon wrote in to the newspaper the New York  Sun to  get an authoritative answer to a question which had bothered her. Miss O’Hanlon’s actual letter (above) struck one of the the Sun’s editors as being important enough to require an immediate response.  So Mr. Francis Pharcellus Church composed a properly philosophical answer. First I’ll give you the full text of the Sun’s introduction, Miss O’Hanlon’s letter, and then the Sun’s rather lengthy response and then we’ll look at some of the historical details.

“Is There a Santa Claus?

We take pleasure in answering at once and thus prominently the communication below, expressing at the same time our great gratification that its faithful author is numbered among the friends of The Sun:

DEAR EDITOR: I am 8 years old.

Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus.

Papa says, ‘If you see it in THE SUN it’s so.’

Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?

VIRGINIA O’HANLON.

115 WEST NINETY-FIFTH STREET.

VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that’s no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You may tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.”

The Reaction to and Legacy of “Yes, Virginia…”

The editorial response from the Sun has gone on to be the most often repeated editorial in our English language. Nevermind that it goes on to deal with some pretty adult concepts such as “the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.” and uses some words which I don’t imagine most 8 year olds would ever understand these days such as “comprehensible”. But it does refer to some very modern day problems as “the skepticism of a skeptical age.” In our very own present day with our computers, cell-phones, “smart” phones, we. or at least I wonder if it’s possible to capture the imagination of children who seem jaded in a world that that has become harsh and all too real, wherein children know the latest computer trends, but rarely go out and see nature in its own habitat.

Some Reality…

And of course even this seemingly magical moment has some harsh reality to go with it. The editorial went unsigned in the newspaper that day; its author, Mr. Francis Pharcellus Church had been a war correspondent during the American Civil War, and had thus seen humanity and destruction at its worst. So that may have informed the editorial with its laments about skepticism, and the need for child-like faith, romance and love. Indeed it may very well be that Mr. Church

himself (above) was a kind of hardened cynic. In an edition of the radio program “the Rest of the Story” an anecdote was broadcast saying that Francis Pharcellus Church was an atheist who had no belief in superstitions. It also said that Church didn’t want to write the editorial and that this was why he didn’t want his name attached to it. Although I must say that I find it difficult to believe that the man who wrote those sweet words was a cynic who didn’t believe any of what he wrote there. But there it is for my readers to consider.

“Yes Virginia” Continues….

Whatever the truth about the details of the story behind the story may be, the essential meaning of the story goes on year after year to inspire readers with its faith in the goodness and love to be found in the whole idea of Christmas and Santa Claus. A cartoon has been produced of the story, a TV movie, and of course numerous newspapers around the country continue to re-print the letter from little Virginia, and the Sun’s response every Christmas. Not a bad legacy for a letter from a little girl, wouldn’t you say?

Sources =

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yes,_Virginia,_there_is_a_Santa_Claus

https://oklahoman.com/article/2878743/yes-virginia-brwe-offer-this-classic-for-santa-doubters

https://www.newseum.org/exhibits/online/yes-virginia/ 

 

SEPTEMBER 3, 1783 – The Treaty of Paris is Signed

The Treaty of Paris was signed by Britain and America on today’s date, Sept. 3 in Paris (hence the name), in 1783. This document recognized the former American colonies to be a free and independent nation.  Although both the Brits and we Americans mostly got what they wanted out of the Treaty, the Brit’s overall feelings can be summed up by the painting above by Benjamin West. It is a painting of the peace negotiators and it remains eternally unfinished, because the British  declined to sit and be painted into it.

The Fighting War Ends

The last actual armed combat between Britain and America came in October 1781 with the surrender of the last major army the Brits had in America (outside of New York City) on October 19, 1781 at Yorktown, Virginia. That left @ 9,000 prisoners of war (including General Cornwallis) on America’s hands. The defeat at Yorktown left the war in

America with diminishing support in the British Parliament and with the British public. The war government of Lord North had been brought down by the defeat at Yorktown  and had been replaced the new Prime Minister, Lord Shelburn (above) who saw a favorable opportunity to develop a new and lucrative trading partner with the Americans. But the point which held up full negotiations on a Peace Treaty was the British unwillingness to recognize America as a free and independent state. Lord Shelburn had no problem with this. Yes Britain would accept American Independence. So on that basis negotiations could proceed.

The United States Send Jay, Adams and Franklin

  The U.S. sent John Jay, the U.S. Minister to Spain to Paris to negotiate with the Brits, and with him sent John Adams (below), and Ben Franklin, already in Paris as our Minister to France.  The Continental Congress  had given it’s delegation strict instructions to follow France’s lead in the negotiations. But the U.S. delegation saw no advantage in hitching our position to France. Jay told the Brits that his

people would negotiate directly with them. Adams, who favored the idea as well said that the U.S. wished: “…to be honest and grateful to our allies,  but to think for ourselves.”  The most important point came in the first sentence of Article I stating, “His Britannic Majesty acknowledges

the said United States… to be free, sovereign and independent states.” 

This was fine with Shelburn who saw it as a way of splitting the U.S. off from France and thus bring about the rich trading partnership with the Americans. And it paid off handsomely with the Brits ceding all of the territory south of Canada down to Spanish held Florida, and east of the Appalachian Mountains to the Mississippi River, thus doubling the size of the United States with the stroke of a pen.

Other Terms of the Treaty of Paris

Among other things, the treaty recognized the deep sea fishing rights of American fishermen in the Grand Banks off the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Newfoundland coasts.

Declared the Mississippi River to be open for the free navigation of both countries.

Said that the Continental Congress would recommend and “provide for the restitution of all estates, rights, and properties..” seized from British loyalists during the war. Also, it said that debts to creditors on either side of the conflict would be paid.

Released Prisoners of war on both sides; and any property of the British army presently located in the United States was forfeited. This included slaves.

The Treaty was signed by Franklin, Adams and Jay and the British emissary Richard Oswald at the Hotel d’York in Paris, on September 3, 1783.  It would be ratified by the Continental Congress in early 1784. The conflict which had started out as a skirmish between a few hundred British regulars and disgruntled Massachusetts farmers and townsmen way back on April 19 in 1775 and had swallowed up a large chunk of the North American continent was at long last over. And the United States of America which would eventually take up nearly the entire continent was born.

Sources =

https://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/treaty-of-paris

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Paris_(1783)

“John Adams” by David McCullough, Simon & Schuster, New York, 2001

“The American Heritage History of the American Revolution” by Bruce Lancaster, American Heritage Publishing Co., New York, 1971

AUGUST 22 = The Battle of Bosworth Field

The Battle of Bosworth Field, which was fought on today’s date, August 22 in the year 1486, was the climactic engagement in the English Civil War which took up the later half of the 15th Century, called “the War of the Roses”. The war was essentially  a struggle between the houses of Lancaster and York over which of them would hold the throne of England and thus rule the country.  The Battle was won by the forces of Henry Tudor, the Earl of Richmond who would afterword would ascend to the throne as Henry VII, having vanquished the forces of King Richard III of the house of York whom he believed had usurped the throne via murder. Richard was killed during the battle; the last English king to suffer that fate in battle. As this marked a change to the house of York and the end of the Plantagenet dynasty over to the Tudors it is a very important moment in the history of England.

Richard Usurps the Throne

The murder which Richard was suspected was that of his nephew Edward V. Richard had become Lord High Protector when Edward IV died and his only successor was his son the 12 year old Edward V. But Richard managed to get himself declared King on July 6 1483 after

which date the young Edward was not seen in public again. Richard III (left) was of course widely suspected of having him murdered. Richard was also rumored to have murdered his own wife Queen Anne. There was also some troubles regarding the Princess Elizabeth, the elder sister of the murdered Prince, and whom she was going to marry.  She was already engaged to marry Henry Tudor, the Earl of Richmond who had been across the English Channel in France waiting for the right opportunity to go and knock the usurper Richard off the throne. With Richard under a cloud of suspicion, now was the time.

Henry Lands in Wales, the Armies Clash at Bosworth

Henry, (below) with an army of 6,000 men landed unopposed at Milford Haven on the southwest coast of Wales on August 11, 1485. He

pushed immediately towards Richard, gathering support as he marched toward Richard’s forces in London. Richard quickly gathered his forces, between 7,500 and 12,000 men, and the two finally clashed at Bosworth Field, near Leicestershire.  A large portion of Richard’s army was under and Sir William Stanley but he held back while they decided which side it would be most advantageous to support. Thus leaving Richard with fewer men at his disposal than he thought, Richard divided his army into three portions each with a specific goal. Stanley’s inaction left the battle swaying back and forth until Richard apparently decided to bring it to an end by charging his group directly at Henry. When he saw Richard apart from the rest of his forces,  Stanley decided to throw in with Henry which turned the tide against Richard.  Seeing Henry fairly close by, Richard swung at him mightily, but was unable to get at him and was soon overwhelmed by Henry’s men, who knocked him to the ground, and killed him there on that ground. thus ended the troublesome reign of the Richard III of the house of York.

Sources =

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Bosworth_Field

https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryMagazine/DestinationsUK/The-Battle-of-Bosworth-Field/

“Kingdoms of  Europe” by Gene Gurney, Crown Publ., New York, 1982.

JUNE 21 = The Yankees Announce Lou Gehrig’s Retirement

On June 21, 1939, the New York Yankees announced that Lou Gehrig (left), their long-time first baseman would be retiring from baseball.  “The Iron Horse”, who had earned that mantle by appearing in what was then a world record 2,130 consecutive straight games had recently been diagnosed as having amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a neuro-muscular disease which causes paralysis in those who have it, eventually resulting in death.

Lou Gehrig’s Amazing Career in Baseball

Lou Gehrig, a player of amazing durability, and great offensive talent as a hitter had spent his entire career in Major League Baseball with the New York Yankees from 1923 through 1939. He had been with then during their glorious period of dominance when they won an astonishing six World Championships between 1927 and 1938. Having come up to the Yankees in 1923, Gehrig took over the first baseman’s job in 1925 from Wally Pipp. “I took the two most expensive aspirins in history.”  said Pipp, who sat out a 1925 game with a headache and lost his position to Lou Gehrig, who would play every game there for the Yankees for the remainder of his career. After that it was a ton of remarkable records for “The Iron Horse”: he finished his career with an amazing lifetime batting average of .340. Add to that 2,271 runs batted in, 493 home runs a total of 1,195  runs batted in. Further, he led the American League in home runs three times, RBIs five times, and he put up eight seasons with 200+ hits.

Gehrig’s Long Decline

Starting with the 1938 season he seemed to drop off  the amazing standard which he had set for himself. He finished the season with a .295 batting average, 114 RBIs, 170 hits; a fine total for any player but not the spectacular numbers that Gehrig was used to. Gehrig himself remarked “I was tired mid-season. I don’t know why, but I just couldn’t get going again.” As the 1939 season began. it was clear that he no longer possessed his former prowess.  He seemed slow on the base paths, and by the end of Spring Training he had not hit a single home run. When he was able to hit, he showed little power and during batting practice one afternoon, Joe DiMaggio watched in astonishment as the Yankees’ hitting star missed 10 fat pitches in a row.  As the 1939 season moved through April Gehrig had only one RBI, and a lowly .143 batting average. Sports writer James Kahn wrote: “I think there is something wrong with him. Physically wrong, I mean. I don’t know what it is, but I am satisfied that it goes far beyond his ball-playing…for some reason that I do not know, his old power isn’t there … He is meeting the ball, time after time, and it isn’t going anywhere.” Gehrig knew that he wasn’t up to his own standard so on May 2, he went to Yankees manager Joe McCarthy and asked to be benched “for the good of the team.”

The Diagnosis

Gehrig took a plane to Chicago and checked himself into the Mayo Clinic. There, after six days of tests, the doctors gave him the diagnosis: Gehrig was suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a disease which deprives nerve cells of their ability to interact with the body’s muscles. This disease causes rapidly increasing paralysis, difficulty with swallowing or speaking, and left Lou Gehrig with a life expectancy of fewer than three years. The cause of the disease was unknown then and now. And then, as now, there is no cure.

Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day….

The Mayo Clinic made their findings public on June 19, 1939. This led the Yankees to  announce Gehrig’s retirement on this day, June 21 of that year. The game played on July 4, 1939 was designated as “Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day” at Yankee Stadium. Ceremonies to honor this great player were held between games of a double-header. In it’s coverage, the New York Time’s John Drebinger wrote that the ceremony was “…perhaps as colorful and dramatic a pageant as ever was enacted on a baseball field.  61,808 fans thundered a hail and farewell.” Dignitaries and former Yankees players lined up to speak in tribute to Gehrig, most of them

struggling to hold back their emotions.  Babe Ruth embraced his team mate (above). Then Lou himself stepped forward and delivered a short speech that summed up the man’s character, and his indomitable spirit:

“For the past two weeks you’ve been reading about a bad break. (pause) Today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth. When you look around, wouldn’t you consider it a privilege to associate yourself with such fine-looking men as are standing in uniform in this ballpark today?… that I might have been given a bad break, but I’ve got an awful lot to live for. Thank you.”

The Baseball Writers’ Association held a special winter meeting on Dec. 7 of 1939, during which Lou Gehrig was inducted to that hall of baseball honor as a result of a special election related to his illness. Lou Gehrig died on June 2, 1941 at his home in the Bronx, New York. His wife, Eleanor, with whom he had no children never remarried, saying: “I had the best of it. I would not have traded two minutes of my life with that man for 40 years with another.” She dedicated the rest of her life to the support of ALS research.  Eleanor survived her husband by 43 years, passing away on her 80’th birthday, March 6, 1984.

It is perhaps a sad thing that the disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) has come to be known as  Lou Gehrig’s Disease. Just as the neurological disorder with which I must do battle every day, “Parkinson’s Disease” has come to be known by that name after the doctor who first wrote about it, James Parkinson (who wrote “Essay on the Shaking Palsy” in 1817). With both maladies there is no known cause or cure, but scientists and doctors continue to study these disorders and make gains on them every day. Perhaps one day these names will come to be associated with the great victories that will  one day be achieved when a cure for each one is found.  For this we can only pray. But if you wish to do more than that try

  http://www.alsa.org/donate/   to help with research on ALS or go to www.michaeljfox.org/  to help with research on Parkinson’s.

Sources =

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Gehrig

 https://baseballhall.org/hall-of-famers/gehrig-lou

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3234454/

https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Baseball_(documentary)#Inning_5:_Shadow_Ball_(1930_to_1940)

https://www.biography.com/athlete/lou-gehrig

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3234454/

JUNE 2 = The Last Confederate Army Surrenders

 The American Civil War began on April 12, 1861, when the guns in the harbor of Charleston Bay opened fire upon the Federal held Fort Sumter across the Bay. This would be the start of the longest and bloodiest war in our nation’s history. Four years later, General Edmund Kirby Smith (above) signed the final surrender document of the last Confederate army still in existence at Galveston on board the U.S.S. Fort Jackson on today’s date, June 2, in 1865. The Confederacy had at long last come to her end.

The Death of the  Confederacy  

We’ve covered two other parts of the death of the Confederacy – the main event, which was of course General Lee’s surrender to General Grant on April 9, 1865. And we have also covered the last battle of the Civil War, the Battle of Palmetto Ranch which begun on May 12 in 1865. But there were any number of Confederate troops still under arms after not only Appomattox but also Palmetto Ranch. General Joseph E. Johnston’s Army of the Tennessee was still officially in the field with @100,000 men spread over several states from the Carolinas to Florida. Johnston surrendered his troops to General Sherman on April 26, 1865 at Bennett Place in Durham, North Carolina.

Smith Commands the Trans-Mississippi

On January 14, 1863, Smith was sent to command the Trans-Mississippi Department. But with the South’s defeat at the Battle of Vicksburg, (July, 1863) the Mississippi River fell under the control of the Union. Thus all of the Confederate troops to the west of the Mississippi were cut off from communication with Lee and the rest of the command structure of the Southern forces (see map below). They were effectively on their own.  With Smith at their helm the Rebel

forces were able to score some successes, but cut off from everything east of the Mississippi, and unable to send anything east, their effectiveness was shrinking.  By 1865 the Confederate troops under Smith’s command remained  unbeaten and were still in existence as an army numbering some 20,000 men. Utilizing supplies that they had been able to get from Mexico, Gen. Smith still had thoughts of continuing to fight on in what was clearly a dying struggle against the Union. But Smith’s Chief of Staff had been in talks with Union Gen.

 Edward Canby (left) with the idea of surrendering the Trans-Mississippi. At this time, Smith, still having hopes of going on with the struggle had been on his way to Houston. Arriving there on May 27, he found the rebel forces disorganized and falling apart. With this realization upon him, Smith regretfully concluded that the right course was surrender. With this in mind, he went to Galveston, Texas, and signed the final document of surrender aboard the U.S.S. Fort Jackson. With this surrender of the last rebel army, the Confederacy at last died, and the American Civil War finally came to an end. That fuse which had been lit back in April of 1861 wound up costing @  620,000 dead total on both sides. Smith himself returned to the United States from his exile in Cuba and took an oath of amnesty at Lynchburg, Virginia, on November 14, 1865. He died on March  28, 1893.

Sources =

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Kirby_Smith

https://www.facebook.com/ShilohNMP/posts/gen-kirby-smith-finally-surrenders-june-2-1865gen-edmund-kirby-smith-was-the-las/831680786921909/

 https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/american-civil-war-ends 

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Kirby_Smith

https://www.thoughtco.com/general-edmund-kirby-smith-2360303

MAY 12 = Florence Nightingale is Born

Florence Nightingale (left), widely regarded as the founder of modern nursing was born on today’s date, May 12, 1820 in Florence, Italy.  Miss Nightingale was born into a wealthy family in the Tuscany, Italy.  Her mother, Frances Nightingale and her father, William Edward Nightingale were wealthy landowners who moved in high social circles. Florence was given the normal education for the upper class young lady, math and European languages. Florence often disagreed with her domineering mother who disapproved of Florence’s interest in the welfare of the poor people who lived near her family’s estates. Florence came eventually to the belief that nursing was her divine calling. Her parents had no interest in this; it was the Victorian age when a young woman was expected to marry well, not go into lowly servant-like work of nursing. In 1849, she declined a marriage proposal from an upper class man, contending that her “moral…active nature” drew her to something higher than the good wife. Against strong parental scoldings she enrolled as a student of nursing in 1850 at the Institution of Protestant Deaconesses in Kaiserswerth, Germany.

Early Training and the Crimean War

At Kaiserswerth the young Florence learned the basic rudiments of  nursing, which including the close observation of the patients condition. And she also learned much about hospital organization, both of which would become important parts of her approach to nursing. In 1853,  through personal connections, Florence became the superintendent of the Institution for Sick Gentlewomen in Distressed Circumstances, in London. Here she showed not only her skills at nursing by improving patient care and overall working conditions, but also her flair for hospital organization. After a time she began to realize that she needed to turn her attention to directly training nurses. The world  soon provided the chance for such training with the outbreak of

A

the Crimean War (1853 – 1856). The old Ottoman Empire (Turkey) was in steep decline at this point and wished to hold onto this portion of it’s Empire. Britain & France wanted to keep Russia out of this neighborhood. There was some argument about protecting Catholics against  the Eastern Orthodox Russians but this was mainly a struggle for Empire, Russia wanting to expand, with Britain and France backing the Turks to contain Russia.

Nightingale Acts Following News Reports

 It was following reports in British newspapers or horrific conditions for wounded soldiers that Florence felt compelled to act. On October 21 1854, gathering up her staff 38 personally trained lady volunteers, and 15 Catholic nuns, she went to the theater of war.  They were set up about 339 miles across the Black Sea away from Balaklava, the main British base in the region. When Nightingale and her party arrived at Scutari in  the Barrack Hospital on Nov. 5 what they saw was ghastly. Dirty overcrowded wards, patients lay wallowing in their own filth, and roaches and rodents crawled in among the wounded. A shortage of supplies, and uncooperative staff made matters worse. When wounded soldiers began arriving from the Battle of Balaklava, the hospital was overwhelmed. Nightingale called it a “Kingdom of Hell”. Mass infections were frequent in this place where hygiene was being ignored. And there was no effective system for getting food to the patients. Nightingale established basic standards that included bathing, keeping the wounds clean, and dressings being changed regularly.  Also supplies were purchased in order to keep the soldiers on a regular diet.

“The Lady With the Lamp”

Nightingale herself was a serious woman who spared herself nothing in caring for the patients in her ward. At night, she made her rounds through the darkened hallways of the wards  carrying a lamp. The wounded soldiers, seeing the  obvious concern that Nightingale had

for them, began referring to Florence as “the Lady with the Lamp”.The phrase went on to be popularized in a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1857) poem “Santa Filomena”:

“Lo! in that house of misery

A lady with a lamp I see

Pass through the glimmering gloom,

And flit from room to room.”

According to one source (Stephen Paget), Nightingale reduced the death rate from 42% to 2%, not only  by the improvements she made in hygiene herself, or by calling for a Sanitary Commission to oversee such matters.

Florence Nightingale’s Life and Legacy

It was during her time at Scutari that Nightingale contracted the bacterial infection brucellosis, also called Crimean fever. This was an affliction that would stay with her for as long as she lived. But she continued to work tirelessly for the cause of better nursing care. A fund set up for her cause by the Duke of Cambridge collected some £45,000 which founded the Nightingale Training School at St. Thomas’ Hospital in 1860. In 1859, she wrote “Notes on Nursing” which became a cornerstone of nursing education throughout the world.  Her  methods were followed around the globe including in hospitals during the American Civil War. In her book Florence wrote: “Every day sanitary knowledge, or the knowledge of nursing, or in other words, of how to put the constitution in such a state as that it will have no disease, or that it can recover from disease, takes a higher place. It is recognized as the knowledge which every one ought to have – distinct from medical knowledge, which only a profession can have” She continued to advocate through writings and interviews for better nursing and cleaner hospitals. Her long and influential life came to an end on

August 13, 1910. But her life which had been dedicated to the improvement of nursing not only for wounded soldiers, but for the poor and destitute of the world made a profound mark on the world in the number of methods, hospitals, and standard medical practices which bear her name. Above is pictured Florence Nightingale’s grave in the churchyard of St Margaret’s Church, East Wellow, Hampshire

Sources =

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Nightingale

https://www.biography.com/scientist/florence-nightingalein

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Florence-Nightingale