TIME MACHINE: Battle of New Orleans

 

TIME MACHINE: BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS

January 8 marked the 200th anniversary of the last of a series of engagements that marked the Battle of New Orleans. This battle marked the last one of the conflict between the United States and Great Britain, known as the War of 1812.

The Battle of New Orleans consisted of a series of engagements fought between December 24, 1814 and January 8, 1815. The two countries had been at war since June 1812 - for two-and-a-half years. With the end of the Napoleonic War (before it was briefly renewed, thanks to Napoleon Bonaparte's escape in early 1815), Great Britain was finally able to focus its full attention upon the war against the United States. The British military decided to focus its strategy upon capturing the port of New Orleans, Louisiana, which had been under American control for eleven years. Capture of the city would give the British control of the Mississippi River and sever the Americans' vital commerce route to the Gulf of Mexico and beyond. Capture of the city would also allow full control of the agriculture industries that dominated the lower Mississippi River Valley region - namely sugar and especially cotton.

The British Army began gathering its invasion force in the summer of 1814. The army's defeat at Fort Bowyer prevented it from capturing Mobile, Alabama in September 1814. Alerted, the U.S. government dispatched a frantic message to General Andrew Jackson to immediately proceed to New Orleans and defend it. Jackson marched his army from present-day Alabama to New Orleans and arrived in the city on December 2, 1814. Ten days later, a large British fleet under the command of Sir Alexander Cochrane with more than 8,000 soldiers and sailors aboard, anchored in the Gulf of Mexico to the east of Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Borgne. At Lake Borgne, the U.S. Navy and the Royal Navy engaged in a battle on December 14, 1814 that left the British victors, but heavily battered. Although the British won control of the two lakes, the battle gave Jackson enough time to strengthen his defenses around New Orleans.

By December 23, 1814; a British Army vanguard of 1,800 troops under Lieutenant-General John Keane reached the east bank of the Mississippi River, nine miles south of New Orleans. When Jackson learn of Keane's presence, who was awaiting reinforcements at Lacoste's Plantation, he led a brief three-pronged assault on the unsuspecting British troops, who were resting in their camp. Then Jackson pulled his forces back to the Rodriguez Canal, about four miles south of the city. The unexpected attack made Keane even more cautious and he made no effort to advance. As a consequence, the Americans were given time to begin the transformation of the canal into a heavily fortified earthwork. The main body of the British Army under Major-General Edward Pakenham arrived on January 1, 1815. The army attacked the earthworks using their artillery. An exchange of artillery fire lasted for three hours. Several of the American guns were destroyed or knocked out and some damage was done to the earthworks. The British guns ran out of ammunition, which led Pakenham to cancel the attack. Unknown at the moment to Pakenham, the Americans on the left of Line Jackson near the swamp had broken and run from the position. Pakenham decided to wait for his entire force of over 8,000 men to assemble before launching his attack on the city.

Pakenham finally ordered a two-pronged assault against Jackson's position during the early morning hours of January 8, 1814. The attack began under darkness and a heavy fog, but as the British neared the main enemy line the fog lifted, exposing them to withering artillery fire and musket fire. Poor leadership of the British forces, confusion on the battlefield, the swampy terrain and American tenacity combined to create a debacle for the British, as they tried to overcome the parapet that served as the Americans' defense position. Two large assaults on the Americans were made. Only a handful of British troops made it to the top, but they were either killed or captured. The only British success was on the west bank of the Mississippi River, where a brigade under William Thornton, which comprised of the 85th Regiment and detachments from the Royal Navy and Royal Marines, attacked and overwhelmed the American line. Since Pakenham was dead and both Keane and Major-General Samuel Gibbs were wounded, command of the British forces fell upon Major-General John Lambert. Lambert decided not to renew the attack and withdrew his forces.

In the battle's aftermath, the Royal Navy attacked Fort St. Philip on the following day, January 9, 1815. The British laid siege to the fort for ten days before its ships withdrew on January 18, 1815. On February 4, 1815, the British fleet, with troops aboard, set sail toward Mobile Bay, Alabama. The British army then attacked and captured Fort Bowyer at the mouth of Mobile Bay on February 12, 1815. The following day, the British army began making preparations to attack Mobile, when news arrived of the Treaty of Ghent. The treaty, which officially ended the War of 1812, had been signed on December 24, 1814; in the city of Ghent, Belgium. The British abandoned Fort Bowyer and sailed toward the West Indies. Although the Battle of New Orleans had no influence on the terms of the Treaty of Ghent, the defeat at New Orleans did compel Britain to abide by the treaty.

For more detailed information on the Battle of New Orleans, I recommend the following books:

*"Battle of New Orleans, The: 'But for a Piece of Wood'" (1814) by Ron Chapman

*"The War of 1812, Conflict and Deception: The British Attempt to Seize New Orleans and Nullify the Louisiana Purchase" (1814) by Ronald J. Drez

TIME MACHINE: Battle of Bladensburg

TIME MACHINE: BATTLE OF BLADENSBURG

The Battle of Bladensburg, a major conflict fought during the War of 1812, was fought on August 24, 1814 in Bladensburg, Maryland.  And it played a major role in the fate of the United States' capital, Washington D.C. and a future battle fought around Baltimore.

Although the Royal Navy had controlled the Chesapeake Bay region since early 1813, the lack of substantial British troops due to the Napoleonic Wars had limited to mounting small-scale raids. However, Napoleon Bonaparte was defeated by April 1814, leaving the British Army to focus full attention to the war on the North American continent. Major General Robert Ross, assumed command of veterans from the Duke of Wellington's army and other British troops serving along the East Coast. They were transported to Chesapeake Bay to create a diversion from a British invasion of New York, led by Lieutenant General Sir George Prevost, Governor General of Canada and commander in chief in North America. Although Ross commanded the troops, the point of attack was to be decided by Vice Admiral Alexander Cochrane, Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Navy's North American Station.

When Ross and Cochrane's forces arrived at the town Benedict, along the Patuxent River, President James Madison sent Secretary of State James Monroe to reconnoiter. President Madison received a dispatch from Secretary Monroe on August 23 that stated - "The enemy are in full march to Washington, Have the materials prepared to destroy the bridges, PS – You had better remove the records." Unfortunately, Madison and his advisers ignored Monroe's warning and reports. The Washington and Baltimore area served as the Tenth Military District and it was under the command of General William H. Winder, who had been an attorney before the war broke out. In theory, Winder was supposed to have at least 15,000 militia troops, but he actually had only 120 Dragoons and 300 other Regulars, plus 1,500 poorly trained and under-equipped militiamen at his immediate disposal. Secretary of War John Armstrong, Jr. and other advisers incorrectly assumed that the British were destined for Baltimore and that Washington would not be attacked since he deemed it strategically unimportant.

Winder ordered the destruction of the two bridges across the Anacostia River as a precaution to protect the Capital. This act left a route through Bladensburg as the logical approach. He also sent troops to Marlborough to intercept the British at Upper Marlboro on August 20. Unfortunately, those troops quickly returned when the Americans learned that British troops were already entering Blandesburg. Following a brief clash with Ross' leading forces on August 22, Winder ordered a hasty retreat. Several Maryland militia regiments were summoned from Baltimore to defend Washington. Winder ordered Brigadier General Tobias Stansbury to move from Baltimore to Bladensburg and take the best position in advance of Bladensburg in order to resist as long as possible. The latter deployed his force atop Lowndes Hill, just east of Bladensburg. The road from Annapolis crossed the hill, and the road from Upper Marlboro ran to its south and west. Furthermore, the roads to Washington, Georgetown, and Baltimore all intersected behind between it and Bladensburg. From this position, Stansbury dominated the approaches available to the British while controlling the lines of communication. Then on August 23, Stansbury received a message from Winder, informing the former that he had withdrawn across the Eastern Branch and he intended to fire the lower bridge. A surprised Stansbury was seized by an irrational fear that his right flank could be turned. Instead of strengthening his commanding position, he immediately removed his exhausted troops and marched across Bladensburg bridge, which he did not burn. Stansbury ended up tossing away almost every tactical advantage available to him.

The British forces reached Bladensburg on August 24, around noon. Around noon on 24 August, Ross's army reached Bladensburg and Stansbury's tactical errors quickly became apparent. Had he continued to hold Lowndes Hill, Stansbury could have made the British approach a costly one. With the use of Bladensburg's brick structures, which were ready-made mini-fortresses, Stansbury might have drawn Ross's troops into bloody street fighting. Since Stansbury failed to burn the bridge, he was forced to defend it. Stansbury's infantry and artillery were posted too far from the river's edge to contest an effective crossing. The British sweep across the Bladensburg Bridge proved to be very strong. Although the Americans repulsed the British forces three times by artillery fire and launched a counter-attack led by U.S. Naval officer Commodore Joshua Barney and his almost 600 seasoned Marines and sailors. Despite their valiant repulse, the authorities in Washington simply forgot about Barney for several days. Without orders they were tardy arrivals on the field of contest. Had they been supplied with sufficient ammunition and supporting infantry, the course of the battle could have been changed. But in the end, Barney and his men were flanked and overwhelmed by British forces. Barney was wounded and captured.

Although the British had suffered heavier casualties than the Americans, thanks to Barney's guns; they had completely routed the defenders. The British are believed to suffer casualties of 64 dead and 185 wounded. Some of the British dead "died without sustaining a scratch. They collapsed from heat exhaustion and the strain of punishing forced marches over the five days since landing at Benedict. General Winder had not given any instructions to his commanders before the battle in regard to a possible retreat. When the American militia left the battlefield, he issued contradictory orders - either to halt and reform, fall back on the Capitol where Secretary of War Armstrong hoped vainly to make a stand using the Federal buildings as strong points, or retreat through Georgetown to Tenleytown. Most of the militia simply fled the field with no destination in mind, or deserted the ranks to see to the safety of their families. The Americans actually fled through the streets of Washington, D.C. President Madison and most of the rest of the federal government had been present at the battle, and had nearly been captured. They too fled the capital, and scattered through Maryland and Virginia. That same night the British entered Washington unopposed and set fire to many of the government buildings in what became known as the Burning of Washington.

TIME MACHINE: John Brown's Christmas Raid Into Missouri

TIME MACHINE: JOHN BROWN'S CHRISTMAS RAID INTO MISSOURI

When people think of 19th century abolitionist John Brown, they would usually bring up his activities against pro-slavery factions in the Kansas Territory in the mid 1850s, especially the lethal attack he had led against five pro-slavery settlers near Pottawatomie Creek in May 1856. Or they would especially bring up the famous raid on the federal armory at Harpers Ferry, Virginia (West Virginia), with the intent to start a slave liberation movement. However, toward the end of the 1850s, Brown became known for another raid that led him from Missouri to the Canadian border.

On December 19, 1858; a biracial Missouri slave named Jim Daniels had encountered one George Gill, a free black man who happened to be one of Brown's lieutenants near the Missouri-Kansas border. Daniels complained to Gill that his owner Harvey Hicklan planned to sell his wife and children, along with another slave. This sale threatened to break up his family. Gill informed Brown, who saw Daniels' situation as an opportunity for a raid to liberate slaves and strike a blow for abolitionism. Earlier, he had conveyed his plans for an anti-slavery raid into the South, via the Appalachian Mountains to his Northern-born abolitionist supporters. But they had dismissed the idea as unrealistic and advised Brown to return to Kansas and lie low. However, Brown saw Daniels' plea to help prevent his family from being sold as an opportunity. He believed this raid and the 1,100 mile exodus to Canada would provide a good deal of press attention for his cause.

Brown's previous activities, especially the Pottawatomie Creek killings had made him persona non grata with many Americans - including a good number of abolitionists - by late 1858. Many Southerners wanted him captured or dead. His return to Missouri soil had infuriated many citizens of that state. By December 20, Brown had managed to gather twenty (20) riders to lead this latest raid into Western Missouri. He split his followers into three groups in order to free neighboring blacks on the same trip. Brown's group held up Harvey Hicklan at gunpoint, extracted Jim Daniels and the latter's family and took some of Hicklan's possessions to support the freed slaves. Brown sent a second group to John Larue's nearby farm t liberate four slaves and kidnap Larue as a hostage. A third group, led by Aaron Stevens (another Brown lieutenant), surprised David Cruise at his farmhouse and liberated a female slave. Believing that Cruise was reaching for a weapon, Stevens shot him dead.

Cruise's death transformed the raid from a rescue into an act that infuriated Kansans, Missourians and Southerners. The act, the slave escapes and Larue's kidnapping led to a great deal of negative press by the newspapers in those regions. Missouri's governor, Robert Marcellus Stewart, offered a reward of $3,000 for Brown's capture. Because of the publicity, Brown's efforts to lead the fugitive slaves and his men through Kansas and up north became increasingly difficult. Brown and his men were forced to keep the fugitives hidden inside the homes of anti-slavery supporters in the area near Osawatomie, Kansas for a month. One of the fugitives, a woman who happened to be pregnant around the time of her rescue, gave birth to a baby boy, who was named after Brown. However, the abolitionist, his men and the fugitives realized that none of them were safe, especially after nearly being spotted by pro-slavers on two separate occasions. On January 20, 1859; Brown, his men and fugitives resumed their journey north by heading for the Kansas-Nebraska Territory border.

Despite the negative press that covered Brown's journey; Brown, his men and the fugitives continued to receive aid from local anti-slavery supporters. On the night of January 24, 1859; Brown, Gill, eleven fugitives and the newborn baby had arrived at the farm of Major James Abbott near Lawrence, Kansas. Abbott provided them with food, clothing and fresh horses before they resumed their journey. Brown and his companions were nearly captured, following their arrival in Topeka, during a severe snowstorm. They were forced to spend the night at a nearby village called Holton. The following day, the party - including the remaining raiders - reached Spring Creek. Unfortunately, the water was too high for crossing by wagon or horseback. Brown was nearly in a state of panic, for he had learned both a local posse and one sent by Missouri's governor were waiting for them. Brown and his party managed to slip away to Fuller's Crossing . . . where a large posse of around one hundred men awaited them.

Brown remained calm and led his party across the raging creek. Following the crossing, the raiders and the fugitive slaves became engaged in a gun battle with eighty members of the posse. In a bold move, Brown and his party charged the posse members and drove the latter out of the area. The posse members were so intent upon retreating that two men rode some of their horses, digging their boot spurs into the animals. Ironically, there were no fatalities during the incident. Not only was it reported by the press, but also dubbed in newspapers as "the Battle of the Spurs".

After traveling through the eastern half of the Nebraska Territory, Brown and his party reached the free state of Iowa. Brown had used the state as a hideout during his anti-slavery activities in 1855 and 1856. Although they were allowed shelter in some of the Iowans' homes, they were not allowed to remain longer than one night, due to David Cruise's death. However, Brown and his party received friendlier receptions in communities like Des Moines, Grinnell and Springdale. Brown and fellow raider John Henry Kagi were nearly captured when they made an overnight visit to Iowa City. On March 9, Springdale's citizens accompanied Brown's party to West Liberty, where the latter boarded a railroad box car to Chicago, Illinois. They arrived in the latter city on March 11, at 3:30 a.m.

The party remained at the home of private detective and future Secret Service leader and Presidential bodyguard, Allan Pinkerton. The detective hid them at his home and at two other houses for several days, as he tried to raise funds for the raiders. Ironically, Pinkerton managed to raise a good deal of cash from fellow members of the Chicago Judiciary Convention, when he blurted out John Brown's presence in the city.

After raising $600 dollars, Pinkerton and his son conveyed Brown, the fugitives and the raiders to the Chicago railroad station. They boarded a boxcar for Detroit, Michigan. Upon their arrival in Detroit, the fugitive slaves and most of the raiders boarded a ferry that conveyed them across the Detroit River into Canada and freedom. Only Brown remained in the United States. After bidding them farewell, he headed for Oberlin, Ohio in order to visit the imprisoned rescuers involved in the Oberlin-Wellington Rescue.

The Christmas 1858 Raid of 1858 led to a 1,100 mile journey from Missouri, through Kansas Territory, Nebraska Territory, Iowa, Illinois, Michigan and finally Canada. The raid provided a great deal of national press coverage for John Brown. President James Buchanan offered a reward of $250 for Brown's capture. Missouri Governor Robert Marcellus Stewart continued to offer a reward of $3,000. The raid convinced Brown's Northern abolition supporters that his plan for a raid into the South via the Appalachian Mountains in order to lead the slaves into a major rebellion might work. Seven months later, John Brown led his famous raid to Harper's Ferry, Virginia.

TIME MACHINE: Bombardment of Fort Sumter

TIME MACHINE: BOMBARDMENT OF FORT SUMTER

This month marked the 150th anniversary of the bombardment of Fort Sumter, near Charleston, South Carolina. Following this attack, the United States found itself plunged into a civil war that lasted four years. 

Following Abraham Lincoln's election as the 16th president of the United States in November 1860, several Southern states threatened to secede from the Union, fearful that a Republican administration would pose threats to the political, social and financial agendas of their region. The one thing they generally feared was that Lincoln and his administration would abolish slavery, undermining both their social and financial power.

Nearly two months after Lincoln's victory at the polls, South Carolina became the first state to declare its secession from the Union on December 20, 1860. Within a month, six more states seceded - Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas. Not long after South Carolina's secession, the state demanded that the U.S. Army abandon its facilities in Charleston Harbor. Realizing that his command might be in danger, Major Robert Anderson moved his command from the indefensible Fort Moultrie, a more substantial fortress that controlled the entrance to Charleston Harbor. Lame duck President James Buchanan sent an unarmed merchant ship named the Star of the West to deliver supplies and reinforcement troops to Major Anderson's command on in early January. But on January 9, 1861; cadets from The Citadel, stationed at the Morris Island battery, fired upon the steamer as it tried to enter Charleston Harbor. The Star of the West was hit three times before it turned around at headed back to its home port in New York. 

South Carolina authorities then seized all Federal property in the Charleston area, following the Star of the West incident. Only Fort Sumter remained outside its grasp. However, the commander eventually found itself besieged by South Carolina military forces throughout the winter of 1861. In late February, the Confederate States of America was formed, with Jefferson Davis (formerly a senator from Mississippi) named as its president. The following month, two events occurred. Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated as President of the United States. And Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard, the first commissioned general officer of the Confederate Army, was placed in command of Confederate forces in Charleston. Beauregard immediately began strengthening the batteries around Charleston harbor, aimed at Fort Sumter. Conditions in the fort grew dire as Major Anderson found himself short of men, food, and supplies.

On April 4, President Lincoln had sent a naval expedition led by former captain Gustavus V. Fox, who had proposed a plan for nighttime landings of vessels smaller than the Star of the West. Fox's orders were to land at Sumter with supplies only. And if he was opposed by the Confederates, he was to respond with the U.S. Navy vessels following and to then land both supplies and men. This time, Major Anderson was informed of the impending expedition, although the arrival date was not revealed to him. President Lincoln informed South Carolina governor, Francis W. Pickens, that he planned to send supply ships to Fort Sumter. The Confederate government responded by sending an ultimatum to the Lincoln administration that Anderson and his men must evacuate Fort Sumter immediately. Anderson refused to surrender. On April 12, at 4:30 a.m., Confederates bombarded the fort from artillery batteries surrounding the harbor. 

Lieutenant Henry S. Farley, acting upon the command of Captain George S. James, fired a single 10-inch mortar round from Fort Johnson. James had offered the first shot to Virginia secessionist Roger Pryor. But the latter declined, stating that he could not fire the first gun of the war. The shell exploded over Fort Sumter as a signal to open the general bombardment from 43 guns and mortars at Fort Moultrie, Fort Johnson, the floating battery, and Cummings Point. General Beauregard ordered the guns fired in a counterclockwise sequence around the harbor, with 2 minutes between each shot. He wanted to conserve ammunition, which he calculated would last for only 48 hours. Edmund Ruffin, another Virginia secessionist, had traveled to Charleston in order to be present for the beginning of the war, and fired one of the first shots at Sumter after the signal round - a 64-pound shell from the Iron Battery at Cummings Point. The shelling of Fort Sumter from the batteries ringing the harbor awakened Charleston's residents, including diarist Mary Chesnut.

Major Anderson withheld his fire, awaiting daylight. His troops reported for roll call at 6 a.m. and then had breakfast. At 7 a.m., Captain Abner Doubleday fired a shot at the Ironclad Battery at Cummings Point. He missed. Given the available manpower, Anderson could not take advantage of all of his 60 guns. Although the Federals had moved as many of their supplies to Fort Sumter as they could manage, the fort was nearly out of ammunition at the end of the 34-hour bombardment. Because of the shortages, Major Anderson reduced his firing to only six guns - two aimed at Cummings Point, two at Fort Moultrie, and two at the Sullivan's Island batteries.

Ships from Gustave Fox's relief expedition began to arrive on April 12. Although Fox himself arrived at 3 a.m. on his steamer Baltic, most of the rest of his fleet was delayed until 6 p.m. One of the two warships, USS Powhatan, never did arrive. Unbeknownst to Fox, it had been ordered to the relief of Fort Pickens in Florida. As landing craft were sent toward the fort with supplies, the artillery fire deterred them and they pulled back. Fox decided to wait until after dark and for the arrival of his warships. But heavy seas made it difficult to load the small boats with men and supplies on the next day. Fox was left with the hope that Anderson and his men could hold out until dark on April 13.

On April 13, Fort Sumter's central flagpole was knocked down at 1 p.m., raising doubts among the Confederates about whether the fort was ready to surrender. Colonel Louis Wigfall, a former U.S. senator, had been observing the battle and decided that this indicated the fort had had enough punishment. He commandeered a small boat and proceeded from Morris Island, waving a white handkerchief from his sword, dodging incoming rounds from Sullivan's Island. He met with Major Anderson and indicated that the latter had did all that was possible to defend the fort. He suggested that Anderson surrender, before any blood was shed. Encouraged that Wigfall had used the word "evacuate" instead of "surrender", Anderson agreed to a truce. He knew that his command was low on ammunition and his men, hungry and exhausted. He ordered that one of his men raise Wigfall's white handkerchief on its flagpole as the former senator departed in his small boat back to Morris Island. The handkerchief was spotted in Charleston and a delegation of officers that included Beauregard; Stephen D. Lee; Porcher Miles, a former mayor of Charleston, and Roger Pryor; sailed to Sumter, unaware of Wigfall's visit. Anderson was outraged when these officers disavowed Wigfall's authority, telling him that the former senator had not spoken with Beauregard for two days. He threatened to resume firing. General Beauregard sent a second set of officers, offering essentially the same terms that Wigfall had presented. And the Anderson-Wigfall agreement was reinstated.

After 34 hours, Major Anderson agreed to evacuate on April 14, at 2:30 p.m. There had been no loss of life on either side as a direct result of this engagement. During the 100-gun salute to the U.S. flag - Anderson's one condition for withdrawal - a pile of cartridges blew up from a spark, killing 36 year-old Irish born Private Daniel Hough instantly and mortally injuring another member of the gun crew, Private Edward Gallway. Hugh and Gallway were the first fatalities of the American Civil War. The salute stopped at fifty shots. Gallway died a few days later at a hospital at Charleston. The rest of Anderson's troops spent the night aboard a Confederate steamer named the Isabel. The next morning, they were transported to Gustave Fox's relief ship Baltic, resting outside the harbor bar. Major Anderson carried the Fort Sumter flag with him North, where it became a widely known symbol of the battle and a rallying point for supporters of the Union.

The bombardment of Fort Sumter became the first military action of the American Civil War. Following the surrender, Northerners rallied behind Lincoln's call of arms to recapture the fort and preserve the Union. This call for 75,000 volunteers triggered four additional states - Arkansas, Virginia, Tennessee and North Carolina - to join the Confederacy. The ensuing war lasted four years. Fort Sumter officially returned to Union hands on April 14, 1865; with Robert Anderson in attendance (who was by then, retired). The war effectively ended on April 9, 1865; with the surrender of General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia to General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse, in Virginia.

TIME MACHINE: Armistice of 11 November 1918

TIME MACHINE: ARMISTICE OF 11 NOVEMBER 1918

This month, November 2018, marked the 100th anniversary of armistice that was signed between the Allied/Entente Powers that included Great Britain, France, Italy and the United States and Germany, the remaining member of the Central Powers. This armistice ended the fighting in World War I. 

By late September 1918, war had waged between the Allied Powers and the Central Powers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa for roughly over four years. On the 28th of that month, the German Supreme Army Command had met with Kaiser Wilhelm II and the Imperial Chancellor, Count Georg von Hertling at the Imperial Army Headquarters at Spa in occupied Belgium. The Command had informed the Kaiser and the Imperial Chancellor that the military situation facing Germany was hopeless. Quartermaster General Erich Ludendorff, probably fearing a breakthrough, claimed that he could not guarantee that the Germany's front would hold for another two hours and demanded a request be given to the Entente for an immediate ceasefire. Then news came of the signing of the Armistice of Salonica at Thessaloniki, Greece; between Bulgaria and the Allied Powers on September 29, 1918. The Central Powers had lost one member of its alliance and the war hostilities ceased on the Bulgarian front.

Prince Maximilian of Baden replaced Georg von Hertling as Chancellor of Germany on October 3, 1918 in order to gegotiate an armistice. Two days later, the German government sent a message to U.S. President Woodrow Wilson to negotiate terms on the basis of his Fourteen Points. The points or Wilson's demands included the retreat of Germany from all occupied territories, the cessation of submarine activities and Kaiser Wilhelm's abdication.

Then on October 17, 1918; the Allied forces made its final push towards the German border. While the British, French and American armies advanced, the alliance between the Central Powers began to collapse. The Ottoman Empire (Turkey) signed the Armistice of Mudros on October 30, 1918; ending the hostilities in the Middle East. On November 3, Austria-Hungary signed the Armistice of Villa Guisti with Italy, ending hostilities on the Italian front on the following day, November 4. 

By mid-to-late October, Germany began to crumble from within. Faced with the prospect of returning to sea, the sailors of the High Seas Fleet stationed at Kiel mutinied on October 29. Within a few days, the entire city was under their control and the revolution against the empire spread throughout the country. On November 9, 1918; Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated from Germany's imperial throne. The former monarch slipped across the border into the Netherlands and remained in exile until his death in 1941, at the age of 82. A German Republic was declared and peace feelers extended to the Allies. Also on November 9, Max von Baden handed over the office of Chancellor to Friedrich Ebert, a Social Democrat. Ebert's SPD and Erzberger's Catholic Centre Party had enjoyed an uneasy relationship with the Imperial government since Bismarck's era in the 1870s and 1880s. They were well represented in the Imperial Reichstag, which had little power over the government, and had been calling for a negotiated peace since 1917.

In the end, the Armistice proved to be a rushed process. The German delegation headed by Matthias Erzberger crossed the front line in five cars and traveled under escort for ten hours across the devastated war zone of Northern France. They arrived on the morning of November 8, 1918 and were taken to the secret destination aboard the Allied Powers' Supreme Commander Marshal Ferdinand Jean Marie Foch's private train parked in a railway siding in the forest of Compiègne. The Germans were handed the list of Allied demands and given 72 hours to agree. The latter included complete German demilitarization, immediate evacuation of occupied territory, surrender of weaponry, vacated territory to be occupied by Allied troops at Germany's expense, and evacuation of German forces in Africa. The Germans were able to correct a few impossible demands (for example, the decommissioning of more submarines than their fleet possessed), extended the schedule for the withdrawal and registered their formal protest at the harshness of Allied terms. But they were in no position to refuse to sign. 

On Sunday 10 November, the German delegation received news of the Kaiser's abdication and departure via Parisian newspapers shown to them. That same day, Ebert instructed Erzberger to sign the armistice. The cabinet had earlier received a message from the German Army Supreme Commander Paul von Hindenburg, who requested that the armistice be signed even if the Allied conditions could not be improved on. Germany and the Allied Powers agreed at 5:00 am on November 11, 1918, to sign the Armistice of Compiègne. It became effective at 11:00 am (Paris time).

The armistice went through prolongation (extension) three times - between November 11, 1918 and January 10, 1920 - before it was finally ratified on that final date at 4:15 pm. Also ratified on that date was the Treaty of Versailles, which brought a final end to World War I. Celebration of the Armistice became the centerpiece for the war's memories, along with salutes to the unknown soldier. Nations built monuments to the dead and the heroic soldiers, but seldom to the generals and admirals. November 11 is commemorated annually in many countries under various names such as Armistice Day, Remembrance Day, Veterans Day, and in Poland it is Independence Day.

For more information on the Armistice of Compiègne, read the following book:

*"Peace at Last: A Portrait of Armistice Day, 11 November 1918" (2018) by Guy Cuthbertson

TIME MACHINE: Assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy (1925-1968)

TIME MACHINE: ASSASSINATION OF SENATOR ROBERT F. KENNEDY (1925-1968)

This week marks the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy of New York, in Los Angeles, California. Kennedy was fatally shot by a gun man, while walking through the kitchen of the Ambassador Hotel with his wife Ethel Kennedy, former FBI agent William Barry, Olympian athlete Rafer Johnson and former football player Rosey Grier. 

Kennedy was the seventh child of former U.S. Ambassador to Britain and businessman Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy. Following the election of his older brother John F. Kennedy as the 35th U.S. President in 1960, Kennedy served as Attorney General for his brother's administration. In November 1968, Jack Kennedy was assassinated by a sniper in Dallas, Texas. Nine months following his brother's death, Robert Kennedy ran for a seat in the U.S. Senate, representing the State of New York and beat his opponent, Kenneth Keating. Kennedy spent his years in the Senate, Kennedy advocated gun control and the Johnson Administration's Great Society program for the elimination of poverty and racial injustice. He served on the Senate Labor Committee and supported the campaigns for better working conditions for laborers. And by 1968, Kennedy had shifted his opinion on American involvement in Vietnam by advocating the eventual withdrawal of American and North Vietnamese soldiers from South Vietnam.

While meeting with labor activist Cesar Chavez in Delano, California in February 1968, Kennedy decided to challenge President Lyndon B. Johnson for the Democratic nomination for U.S. President. However, Johnson changed his mind about running for re-election following the Tet Offensive in Vietnam that occurred between late January and late March 1968. Kennedy officially announced his candidacy on March 16, 1968. His main opponents for the Democratic nomination were Senator Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota and later, Vice-President Hubert Humphrey. Kennedy ran on a platform of racial and economic justice, non-aggression in foreign policy, decentralization of power, and social change. His policy objectives did not sit well with the business community, where he was viewed as something of a liability. Many businessmen also opposed Kennedy's support of tax increases to social programs.

Kennedy learned of the assassination of civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. in Memphis, Tennessee; while visiting Indianapolis, Indiana. Riots broke out in many cities following King's death, with the exception of Indianapolis. There, Kennedy gave his famous "On the Mindless Menace of Violence" speech on April 5, 1968. Later, he attended King's funeral with his younger brother Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts and his sister-in-law, former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy. He won the Indiana Democratic primary on May 7, 1968; and the Nebraska primary on May 14. But he lost the Oregon primary to Senator McCarthy on May 28. The Kennedy campaign hoped that the senator would beat McCarthy for the California primary, knocking the latter out of the race; and eventually face Vice-President Humphrey in Chicago, Illinois.

The 1968 California presidential primary elections were held on Tuesday, June 4, 1968. Kennedy claimed victory over McCarthy at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, four hours after the California polls closed. He spoke on the telephone with one of his major supporters, Senator George McGovern of South Dakota. Then around 12:10 a.m., Kennedy addressed his campaign supporters in the hotel's Embassy Room ballroom. He ended his speech with the following words:

"My thanks to all of you; and now it's on to Chicago, and let's win there!"

Since presidential candidates were not entitled to Secret Service protection back in 1968, Kennedy's only official security was William Barry, a former F.B.I. agent. Both Rafer Johnson and Rosey Grier served as unofficial bodyguards. He had planned to meet another gathering of supporters in another part of the Ambassador Hotel by making his way through the Embassy Room ballroom. However, reporters wanted a second press conference and Kennedy's campaign aide, Fred Dutton, suggested to Barry that the senator should forgo the second gathering and instead head for the press area, via the hotel's kitchen and pantry area behind the ballroom. After his speech, Kennedy started to leave the ballroom, when Barry stopped him and suggested the alternate route through the kitchen corridor. Both Barry and Dutton tried to clear a path for Kennedy, but he was hemmed in by a crowd and followed maître d'hôtel Karl Uecker through a back exit. While Kennedy allowed Uecker to lead him through the hotel's kitchen area, he shook hands with people he encountered. As they started down a narrow passageway, Kennedy turned and shook hands with busboy Juan Romero. At that moment, Sirhan Sirhan stepped down from a low tray-stacker beside the ice machine, rushed past Uecker, and fired a .22 caliber Iver Johnson Cadet revolver at Kennedy at least three times or more, before the latter fell to the floor. 

Romero cradled the wounded Kennedy's head, while sitting on the floor. Sirhan was subdued by Barry, Johnson, Grier, and writer George Plimpton, while he continued to shoot in random directions. Five other people were wounded:

*William Weisel of ABC News
*Paul Schrade of the United Auto Workers union,
*Democratic Party activist Elizabeth Evans
*Ira Goldstein of the Continental News Service 
*Irwin Stroll, Kennedy campaign volunteer

Ethel Kennedy, who was three months pregnant, stood outside the crush of people at the scene seeking help. Someone led her to her husband and she knelt beside him. Thirty minutes later, Kennedy was transferred to the Hospital of the Good Samaritan. Surgery began at 3:12 a.m. and lasted three hours and forty minutes. Spokesman Frank Mankiewicz announced at 5:30 p.m. that Kennedy's doctors were concerned over his failure to show any improvement. Kennedy had been shot three times. Despite extensive neurosurgery to remove the bullet and bone fragments from his brain, he was pronounced dead at 1:44 a.m. on June 6, 1968; nearly 26 hours after being shot.

Historians believed that Sirhan Sirhan, a Palestinian Arab with Jordanian citizenship, had shot Kennedy in retaliation for the latter's support of Israel during the Six Day War. However, others have criticized this oversimplification of Sirhan's motives, pointing out that these historians have failed to take account of his psychological problems. Sirhan's lawyers attempted to use a defense of diminished responsibility during the trial, while he tried to confess to the crime and change his plea to guilty on several occasions. With Lynn Compton serving as prosecutor, Sirhan was eventually convicted of the murder of Robert F. Kennedy on April 17, 1969. He was sentenced to death six days later. However, the sentence was commuted to life in prison with the possibility of parole in 1972; after the California Supreme Court invalidated all pending death sentences that were imposed prior to 1972. This was due to the California v. Anderson ruling. Since that time, Sirhan has been denied parole 15 times and is currently incarcerated at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in southern San Diego County.

Robert Kennedy's funeral was held on June 8, 1968 at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City. His brother, Ted Kennedy, gave the eulogy. Following the mass, Kennedy's body was transported by a slow-moving train to Washington, D.C., where he was buried near his older brother John, in Arlington National Cemetery. 

After the assassination, Congress altered the Secret Service's mandate to include protection for presidential candidates. Ethel gave birth to Rory Elizabeth Katherine Kennedy in December 1968. Although he had a slight lead over Kennedy at the time of the latter's death, Vice-President Humphreys became the leading Democratic nominee for the 1968 Presidential election and won the nomination during the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois, later that summer. He eventually lost the election to the Republican candidate, former Vice-President Richard M. Nixon, in November 1968.

TIME MACHINE: Sherman's March to the Sea - Part Two

Here is Part Two on my look at Sherman's March to the Sea. 


TIME MACHINE: SHERMAN'S MARCH TO THE SEA - PART TWO

December 21, 2014 marked the 150th anniversary of the end of Major General William Tecumseh Sherman's military march from Atlanta to Savannah, Georgia. The date also marked the 150th anniversary of Savannah's surrender to his forces. 

Sherman's famous march across the state of Georgia began in Atlanta, Georgia on November 15, 1864. Utilizing aspects of Lieutenant-General Ulysses S. Grant's successful Vicksburg Campaign and Winfield Scott's march to Mexico City, during the Mexican-American War, Sherman cut his army's ties to tradition supply lines and led his forces across Georgia, as they lived off the land, foraging food and livestock. Sherman's forces also destroyed military targets as well as industry, infrastructure, and civilian property and disrupted not only the State of Georgia's economy and its transportation networks, but also those that belonged to the Confederacy.

The Union forces that departed from Atlanta in mid-November 1864 consisted of two wings. Major General Oliver O. Howard commanded the Army of the Tennessee, also known as the right wing. The left wing consisted of the Army of Georgia, which was under the command of Major General Henry W. Slocum. A calvary division under Brigadier General Judson Kilpatrick supported both wings. And the First Alabama Calvary Regiment, a unit Southern Unionists, served as Sherman's personal escort.

Sherman's forces encountered military opposition from Confederate forces led by Lieutenant-General William J. Hardee's Department of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida; and the state militia. Both the Union and Confederate forces clashed on several occasions; including the Battle of Griswoldville, the Battle of Griswoldville, and the Battle of Waynesboro. All were Union victories. More troops from Hilton Head, South Carolina under the command of Brigadier General John P. Hatch were sent to join Sherman's march by Major General John G. Foster. Hatch's forces fought an action against Georgia militiamen under G.W. Smith at the Battle of Honey Hill, resulting in a Confederate victory.

Sherman's forces finally reached the outskirts of Savannah on December 10, 1864. Unfortunately, he discovered that Hardee had entrenched 10,000 men in good positions. The latter's soldiers also flooded the surrounding rice fields, leaving only narrow causeways available to approach the city. Sherman found himself blocked from linking up with the U.S. Navy under Admiral John A. Dahlgren and new supplies, as he had planned. To unblock his route to the U.S. Navy, he dispatched William B. Hazen's division of Howard's wing and the cavalry to Fort McAllister, guarding the Ogeechee River, in hopes of unblocking his route. On December 13, Hazen and his forces stormed the fort in the Battle of Fort McAllister and captured it within 15 minutes. 

Once Sherman managed to connect to Dahlgren and the Navy's supplies, he set about preparing a siege of Savannah. On December 17, he sent a message to Hardee in the hopes that the latter would surrender. Instead, Hardee and his men escaped across the Savannah River on December 20, leaving the city to the mercy of Sherman's forces. On the following day, December 21, 1864; Mayor Richard Dennis Arnold, with a delegation of aldermen and ladies of the city, rode out to Union lines and offered a surrender of the city in exchange for protection of the city's citizens and their property. Sherman accepted their proposition and later in the day, rode into Savannah with the Union forces that had accompanied him across Georgia. Later, Sherman sent the following telegram to President Abraham Lincoln:

"I beg to present you as a Christmas gift the City of Savannah, with one hundred and fifty guns and plenty of ammunition, also about twenty-five thousand bales of cotton."

For more detailed information on Sherman's March to the Sea, I recommend the following books:

*"Sherman's March: The First Full-Length Narrative of General William T. Sherman's Devastating March through Georgia and the Carolinas" (1988) by Burke Davis

*"Through the Heart of Dixie: Sherman's March and American Memory" (2014) by Anne Sarah Rubin

TIME MACHINE: The War of 1812

TIME MACHINE: THE WAR OF 1812

June 18 marked the 200th anniversary of when President James Madison and the U.S. Congress declared war against Great Britain and the British Empire on June 18, 1812; an act that led to the beginning of the War of 1812 (1812-1814). 

The War of 1812 was a major conflict that lasted two-and-a-half years between the young United States nation and the British Empire, along with the latter's Native American allies. The conflict was fought on both land and the sea, on and near the North American continent. There were a handful of reasons that led the U.S. government to declare war on Great Britain. Here are a few:

Impressment of American Sailors - Due to the Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815) waged against Napoleon's French Empire, sailors aboard American ships found themselves impressed by the Royal Navy and French ships. The British, especially, claimed that many sailors that found themselves aboard American merchant ships were deserters from their Navy. And many of them were. Their efforts to impress sailors from American ships became even more excessive after 1805. The problem of impressment culminated in the Chesapeake-Leopard Affair, a naval engagement between naval engagement that occurred off the coast of Norfolk, Virginia; on June 22, 1807, between the British warship H.M.S. Leopard and American frigate U.S.S. Chesapeake. The crew of the Leopard pursued, attacked and boarded the American frigate, while looking for deserters from the British Navy. 

Orders in Council (1807) - This document was a series of decrees made by Great Britain that forbade French trade with the British Empire, its allies, or neutrals like the United States. The decrees were a response to France's Berlin Decree of 1806, which forbade the import of British goods into European countries allied with or dependent upon France, and installed the Continental System in Europe. The Orders in Council led the British to use the Royal Navy to enact a blockade of French ports. The British used the Orders in Council as an excuse to bombard Copenhagen, Denmark in September 1807 (Battle of Copenhagen). They did so to prevent the Danish from joining France's Continental System. The British also used their decrees as an excuse for their policy of stopping neutral (including American) ships from trading with France. President Thomas Jefferson responded to the Orders by passing the Embargo Act of 1807, which forbade U.S. ships from trading with Britain and France. The act proved to be very ineffective, unpopular, and led to economic strain in the U.S., until it was repealed in 1809. Great Britain repealed the Orders in Council on June 16, 1812. But the news of the repeal, which gave great concessions to the U.S., did not reach American shores in time to prevent Congress from declaring war on the British.

American Expansion - This is believed to be one of the major causes of the war. The Americans wanted expansion into the Native American lands of the Northwest Territory and the Upper Mississippi Valley. However, the tribes blocked their expansion and the British supported this block. The British worried about American desire for Canada, a problem that first manifested during the American Revolution. Many American historians believe that the U.S. desire for the conquest of Canada is nothing more than a staple of Canadian opinion since the 1830s and that it was never a permanent war goal, merely a tool for negotiations. However, many do believe that if the U.S. had been successful in acquiring control of Canadian lands, the government would have been very reluctant to returned the occupied territory to the British.

Despite the many reasons that led to the beginning of the War of 1812, it took certain incidents that led the U.S. to declare war on Great Britain. Confrontations between the Royal Navy and American ships (both military and commercial) like the Chesapeake-Leopard Affair and the Leander Affair, the series of economic decrees and embargo acts, and military conflicts between the Native Americans and the Americans like the Tecumseh War in which the British supported the natives, finally led to the development of a coalition of young congressmen from the Democratic-Republican party (popular in the West and the South) called the "War Hawks". Led by Henry Clay Sr. of Kentucky and John C. Calhoun of South Carolina, the "War Hawks" pushed for a declaration of war against Britain. President James Madison gave a speech to the U.S. Congress on June 1, 1812; listing American grievances against Great Britain. The House of Representatives quickly voted to declare war against the British, followed by the Senate. The conflict formally began on June 18, 1812; when President Madison signed the measure into law. 

If you have any further interest in the War of 1812, the following is a sample of books you might want to read:

*"The War of 1812 - A Forgotten Conflict" by Donald R. Hickey

*"The War of 1812: Conflict for a Continent" by J.C.A. Stagg

*"1812: War With America" by Jon Latimer