Military History Anniversaries 1 Thru 15 July
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Military History Anniversaries 1 thru 15 July Events in History over the next 15 day period that had U.S. military involvement or impacted in some way on U.S military operations or American interests JUL 00 1940 – U.S. Army: 1st Airborne Unit » In 1930, the U.S. Army experimented with the concept of parachuting three-man heavy-machine-gun teams. Nothing came of these early experiments. The first U.S. airborne unit began as a test platoon formed from part of the 29th Infantry Regiment, in July 1940. The platoon leader was 1st Lieutenant William T. Ryder, who made the first jump on August 16, 1940 at Lawson Field, Fort Benning, Georgia from a B-18 Bomber. He was immediately followed by Private William N. King, the first enlisted soldier to make a parachute jump. Although airborne units were not popular with the top U.S. Armed Forces commanders, President Franklin D. Roosevelt sponsored the concept, and Major General William C. Lee organized the first paratroop platoon. On a tour of Europe he had first observed the revolutionary new German airborne forces which he believed the U.S. Army should adopt. This led to the Provisional Parachute Group, and then the United States Army Airborne Command. General Lee was the first commander at the new parachute school at Fort Benning, in west-central Georgia. The U.S. Armed Forces regards Major General William C. Lee as the father of the Airborne. The first U.S. combat jump was near Oran, Algeria, in North Africa on November 8, 1942, conducted by elements of the 2nd Battalion, 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment. Tragically, he would never see his hard work and planning come to fruition. On February 4, 1944 he suffered a heart attack and would never see his "Screaming Eagles" jump into Normandy. In his honor, the soldiers of the 101st Airborne shouted "Bill Lee" instead of Geronimo as they dropped from planes onto the beaches of Normandy. Jul 01 1775 – American Revolution: Congress resolves to forge Indian alliances » The Continental Congress resolves to recruit Indian nations to the American side in their dispute with the British, should the British take native allies of their own. The motion read: “That in case any Agent of the ministry, shall induce the Indian tribes, or any of them to commit actual hostilities against these colonies, or to enter into an offensive Alliance with the British troops, thereupon the colonies ought to avail themselves of an Alliance with such Indian Nations as will enter into the same, to oppose such British troops and their Indian Allies.” Few “such Indians Nations” saw any advantage to joining the Patriot cause. Rather, they saw Great Britain as their last defense against the encroaching land-hungry European settlers into their ancestral territory. Racist settlers managed to undermine any residual trust remaining in the Native 1 | P a g e American population during the revolution by committing atrocities such as the massacre of neutral, Christian Indian women and children at prayer in Gnaddenhutten, Pennsylvania, in 1778. In another example, a Continental officer undermined his own cause with the murder of Cornplanter, a Shawnee leader and Patriot ally, in 1777. Cornplanter At the close of the War for Independence, the Patriots’ few Indian allies received worse treatment at the hands of their supposed allies than natives who had sided with Britain. Having promised Continental soldiers land in return for their service, Congress seized land from its Indian allies in order to cede it to officers on the verge of mutiny in 1783. Jul 01 1862 – Civil War: Battle of Booneville » Occurred in the aftermath of the Union victory at the Battle of Shiloh and within the context of Confederate General Braxton Bragg's efforts to recapture the rail junction at Corinth, Mississippi, 20 miles north of Booneville. After the Union Army victory at Shiloh, Maj. Gen. Henry W. Halleck moved his forces slowly toward Corinth, an important rail center. By 25 MAY after traveling 5 miles in three weeks, Halleck was positioned to lay siege to the town. But on 29 MAY, the Confederate forces under General P.G.T. Beauregard slipped away undetected and moved toward Tupelo, Mississippi. In late June, Halleck ordered his forces south and learned that the Confederates, by then under Bragg, were advancing toward Corinth. The 31-year-old Union Col. Philip Sheridan established a fortified position to the south at Booneville on 28 JUN to await the Confederate attack. Lead elements of 4,700 troops under the Confederate Brig. Gen. James R. Chalmers encountered Sheridan's pickets on the morning of 1 JUL, three and 1.8 miles to the southwest of Corinth. The pickets fell back and established a sound defensive line at the intersection of the roads from Tupelo and Saltillo. Aided by the superiority of their new Colt revolving rifles, the line withstood the initial Confederate assault before withdrawing to a backup position 2 miles closer to the town. Chalmers' effort to turn the left flank of this new line was thwarted when Sheridan's main force joined the battle. The bulk of the Union force stayed on the defensive while Sheridan sent the 2nd Michigan Cavalry under Capt. Russell Alexander and the 2nd Iowa Cavalry under Lt. Col. Edward Hatch to attack the Confederate rear and left flank, respectively. The cavalry forces pushed Chalmers to retreat and Sheridan called off the pursuit after 4 miles when his fatigued troops encountered swampy terrain. Sheridan estimated that Chalmers lost 65 troops killed in the battle; Federal casualties were one dead, 24 wounded, and 16 missing. Due to the 2 | P a g e battle, Bragg delayed his offensive strategy for Corinth, allowing Halleck additional time to unite his troops. Jul 01 1862 – Civil War: The Battle of Malvern Hill - The final battle in the Seven Days Campaign, part of George B. McClellan's Peninsula Campaign. Casualties and losses: US 2,100 - CSA 5,650 Jul 01 1863 – Civil War: The Battle of Gettysburg begins » The largest military conflict in North American history begins this day when Union and Confederate forces collide at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The epic battle lasted three days and resulted in a retreat to Virginia by Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia ending his northward advancement. Two months prior to Gettysburg, Lee had dealt a stunning defeat to the Army of the Potomac at Chancellorsville, Virginia. He then made plans for a Northern invasion in order to relieve pressure on war-weary Virginia and to seize the initiative from the Yankees. His army, numbering about 80,000, began moving on June 3. The Army of the Potomac, commanded by Joseph Hooker and numbering just under 100,000, began moving shortly thereafter, staying between Lee and Washington, D.C. But on June 28, frustrated by the Lincoln administration’s restrictions on his autonomy as commander, Hooker resigned and was replaced by George G. Meade. Meade took command of the Army of the Potomac as Lee’s army moved into Pennsylvania. On the morning of July 1, advance units of the forces came into contact with one another just outside of Gettysburg. The sound of battle attracted other units, and by noon the conflict was raging. During the first hours of battle, Union General John Reynolds was killed, and the Yankees found that they were outnumbered. The battle lines ran around the northwestern rim of Gettysburg. The Confederates applied pressure all along the Union front, and they slowly drove the Yankees through the town. By evening, the Federal troops rallied on high ground on the southeastern edge of Gettysburg. As more troops arrived, Meade’s army formed a three-mile long, fishhook-shaped line running from Culp’s Hill on the right flank, along Cemetery Hill and Cemetery Ridge, to the base of Little Round Top. The Confederates held Gettysburg, and stretched along a six-mile arc around the Union position. Lee’s forces would continue to batter each end of the Union position, before launching the infamous Pickett’s Charge against the Union center on 3 JUL. Jul 01 1863 – Civil War: The Battle of Cabin Creek » Union and Confederate troops with Indian regiments frequently skirmished on the eastern plains of the territory for control of rivers and forts. In 3 | P a g e early July 1863, Colonel James M. Williams led a Union supply train escorted by a handful of infantry and cavalry regiments on the Texas Road from Fort Scott, Kansas, to Fort Gibson in Indian Territory. Williams' force included Indian Home Guard units as well as his own unit, the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry. As he approached the crossing of Cabin Creek, midway between Tulsa and the Arkansas border, he learned from captured Rebel soldiers that Confederate Cherokee Indian Col. Stan Watie intended to assault him there. The water level at Cabin Creek was high, preventing a crossing at first, but when it had receded enough, Williams attacked. His troopers drove the Confederates off with artillery fire and two cavalry charges. Watie's Confederates fell back and fled the battlefield. The supply train continued to Fort Gibson, making it possible for Union forces to maintain their presence in Indian Territory and take the offensive that resulted in victory at Honey Springs later in July and the fall of Fort Smith, Arkansas in September. The battle was the first in which African-American troops fought side-by- side with their white and Indian comrades. Estimated casualties: Union 23 | Confederate 65. Jul 01 1898 – Spanish American War: Battle of San Juan Hill » As part of their campaign to capture Spanish-held Santiago de Cuba on the southern coast of Cuba, the U.S.