1.
Distinctive unit insignia
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A distinctive unit insignia is a metallic heraldic badge or device worn by soldiers in the United States Army. The DUI design is derived from the coat of arms authorized for a unit, DUIs may also be called distinctive insignia, a crest or a unit crest by soldiers or collectors. The term crest however, in addition to being incorrect, may be misleading, the term crest properly refers to the portion of an achievement of arms which stands atop the helmet over the shield of arms. The U. S. Army Institute of Heraldry is responsible for the design, development, Distinctive ornamentation of a design desired by the organization was authorized for wear on the Mess Jacket uniform by designated organizations per General Order 132 dated December 31,1902. The distinctive ornamentation was described later as coats of arms, pins, the authority continued until omitted in the Army uniform regulation dated December 26,1911. Various organizations which carry colors or standards have generally submitted coats of arms having certain historical significance, as fast as approved these coats of arms will for the basis for regimental colors or standards which will eventually replace the present regimental colors or standards when these wear out. The use of coats of arms as collar ornaments in lieu of the insignia of corps, departments. The first unit to wear this insignia was the 51st Artillery which received approval for wear on March 18,1922 and it was designed by Master Gunner and Master Sergeant Edward C. Kuhn, the artist responsible for creating all authorized coats of arms, up until 1965, only regiments and separate battalions were authorized a coat of arms and distinctive units insignia. Now all major commands, field hospitals, corps, logistics commands and certain other units – groups, the unit commanding officer requests approval of a distinctive unit insignia. A check is made by the Institute of Heraldry to determine the availability of a current copy of the lineage, if such is not available, one is requested from the United States Army Center of Military History. The units history is reviewed to determine if the unit may inherit a previously approved distinctive unit insignia or if a new design should be made, if a new design is to be made, careful study is made of the history and battle honors of the unit. The most important decorations, honors, combat service and missions are represented in the design of the insignia, sometimes two centuries of history are condensed into symbolism for distinctive unit insignia. A proposed design is created and sent to the officer for review. Upon concurrence by the commander an official letter of approval of the distinctive unit insignia is sent to the unit. Manufacturing drawings and specifications are sent to a manufacturer which provides samples of the finished distinctive unit insignia to the Institute of Heraldry for approval. Once approved the manufacturer may produce this insignia, each manufacturer has an identifying hallmark assigned by the Institute of Heraldry which is applied to the back of the insignia. The shield shape design is used to identify color bearing organizations, other design patterns will be used for non-color bearing units
2.
Adelbert Ames
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Adelbert Ames was an American sailor, soldier, and politician. He served with distinction as a Union Army general during the American Civil War, as a Radical Republican, he was military governor, Senator and civilian governor in Reconstruction-era Mississippi. In 1898 he served as a United States Army general during the Spanish–American War, Ames was the second to last general officer of the Civil War to die, dying at age 97 in 1933. He was outlived in this only by Aaron Daggett, who died in 1938 at age 100. However, because Daggett was a general by brevet rank only. Adelbert Ames was born in 1835 in the town of Rockland, located in Knox County and he was the younger of two sons of Jesse Ames, a sea captain who would later purchase what became the Ames Mill in Northfield, Minnesota, and Martha Bradbury Ames. Adelbert Ames also grew up to be a sailor, becoming a mate on a clipper ship, and also served briefly as a merchant seaman on his own fathers ship. On July 1,1856, he entered the United States Military Academy at West Point, two classes had graduated that year due to the oncoming American Civil War. Amess class had graduated about an earlier than usual while a second class, set to graduate in 1862. On the date of his graduation from West Point, Ames was commissioned a lieutenant in the 2nd U. S. Artillery. Eight days later he was promoted to first lieutenant and was assigned to the 5th U. S. Artillery, during the First Battle of Bull Run that July, Ames was badly wounded in the right thigh but refused to leave his guns. He was brevetted to the rank of major on July 21 for his actions during the First Battle of Bull Run, in 1893 Ames would also receive the Medal of Honor for his performance there. Returning to duty the following spring, Ames was part of the defenses of Washington, D. C. He then fought in the Peninsula Campaign, and saw action at the Battle of Yorktown from April 5 to May 4, the Battle of Gaines Mill on June 27, and the Battle of Malvern Hill that July. Ames was commended for his conduct at Malvern Hill by Col. Henry J. Hunt, chief of the artillery of the Army of the Potomac, although Ames was becoming an excellent artillery officer, he realized that significant promotions would be available only in the infantry. He returned to Maine and politicked to receive a commission as a commander of infantry and was assigned to command the 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment on August 20,1862. The 20th Maine fought in the Maryland Campaign, but saw action at the Battle of Antietam on September 17. During the Union defeat at the Battle of Fredericksburg that winter, during the Chancellorsville Campaign in May 1863, Ames volunteered as an aide-de-camp to Maj. Gen. George G. Meade, commander of the V Corps
3.
Joshua Chamberlain
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Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain was an American college professor from the State of Maine, who volunteered during the American Civil War to join the Union Army. He became a respected and decorated Union officer, reaching the rank of brigadier general. He is most well known for his gallantry at the Battle of Gettysburg, Chamberlain was commissioned a lieutenant colonel in the 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment in 1862 and fought at the Battle of Fredericksburg. He became commander of the regiment in June 1863, on July 2, during the Battle of Gettysburg, Chamberlains regiment occupied the extreme left of the Union lines at Little Round Top. Chamberlains men withheld repeated Confederate assaults and finally drove away with a bayonet charge. He was severely wounded while commanding a brigade during the Second Battle of Petersburg in June 1864, after the war, he entered politics as a Republican and served four one-year terms of office as the 32nd Governor of Maine. He served on the faculty, and as president, of his alma mater and he died in 1914 at age 85 due to complications from the wound that he received at Petersburg. Chamberlain was born in Brewer, Maine, the son of Sarah Dupee, Chamberlain was of English ancestry, and could trace his family line back to twelfth century England, during the reign of King Stephen. He was the oldest of five children and it is said that he was his mothers favorite while his father was tough on him. He was very involved in his church, mostly singing in the choir and his mother encouraged him to become a preacher while his father wanted him to join the military, but he felt a reluctance towards both options. He suffered a speech impediment until shortly after graduating from Bowdoin College and he entered Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, in 1848 with the help of a local tutor, professor William Hyde. Chamberlain learned to read Ancient Greek and Latin in order to pass the entrance exam, while at Bowdoin he met many people who would influence his life, including Harriet Beecher Stowe, the wife of Bowdoin professor Calvin Stowe. Chamberlain would often go to listen to her passages from what would later become her celebrated novel. He also joined the Peucinian Society, a group of students with Federalist leanings, a member of the Phi Beta Kappa academic honor society and a brother of the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity, Chamberlain graduated in 1852. He married Fanny Adams, cousin and adopted daughter of a clergyman, in 1855. Chamberlain studied for three years at Bangor Theological Seminary in Bangor, Maine, returned to Bowdoin. He eventually went on to every subject in the curriculum with the exception of science. In 1861 he was appointed Professor of Modern Languages and he was fluent in nine languages other than English, Greek, Latin, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Arabic, Hebrew, and Syriac
4.
United States Army
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The United States Armed Forces are the federal armed forces of the United States. They consist of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, from the time of its inception, the military played a decisive role in the history of the United States. A sense of unity and identity was forged as a result of victory in the First Barbary War. Even so, the Founders were suspicious of a permanent military force and it played an important role in the American Civil War, where leading generals on both sides were picked from members of the United States military. Not until the outbreak of World War II did a standing army become officially established. The National Security Act of 1947, adopted following World War II and during the Cold Wars onset, the U. S. military is one of the largest militaries in terms of number of personnel. It draws its personnel from a pool of paid volunteers. As of 2016, the United States spends about $580.3 billion annually to fund its military forces, put together, the United States constitutes roughly 40 percent of the worlds military expenditures. For the period 2010–14, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute found that the United States was the worlds largest exporter of major arms, the United States was also the worlds eighth largest importer of major weapons for the same period. The history of the U. S. military dates to 1775 and these forces demobilized in 1784 after the Treaty of Paris ended the War for Independence. All three services trace their origins to the founding of the Continental Army, the Continental Navy, the United States President is the U. S. militarys commander-in-chief. Rising tensions at various times with Britain and France and the ensuing Quasi-War and War of 1812 quickened the development of the U. S. Navy, the reserve branches formed a military strategic reserve during the Cold War, to be called into service in case of war. Time magazines Mark Thompson has suggested that with the War on Terror, Command over the armed forces is established in the United States Constitution. The sole power of command is vested in the President by Article II as Commander-in-Chief, the Constitution also allows for the creation of executive Departments headed principal officers whose opinion the President can require. This allowance in the Constitution formed the basis for creation of the Department of Defense in 1947 by the National Security Act, the Defense Department is headed by the Secretary of Defense, who is a civilian and member of the Cabinet. The Defense Secretary is second in the chain of command, just below the President. Together, the President and the Secretary of Defense comprise the National Command Authority, to coordinate military strategy with political affairs, the President has a National Security Council headed by the National Security Advisor. The collective body has only power to the President
5.
Maine
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Maine is the northernmost state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. Maine is the 39th most extensive and the 41st most populous of the U. S. states and territories and it is bordered by New Hampshire to the west, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the north. Maine is the easternmost state in the contiguous United States, and it is known for its jagged, rocky coastline, low, rolling mountains, heavily forested interior, and picturesque waterways, and also its seafood cuisine, especially clams and lobster. There is a continental climate throughout the state, even in areas such as its most populous city of Portland. For thousands of years, indigenous peoples were the inhabitants of the territory that is now Maine. At the time of European arrival in what is now Maine, the first European settlement in the area was by the French in 1604 on Saint Croix Island, by Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Mons. The first English settlement was the short-lived Popham Colony, established by the Plymouth Company in 1607, as Maine entered the 18th century, only a half dozen European settlements had survived. Loyalist and Patriot forces contended for Maines territory during the American Revolution, Maine was part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts until 1820, when it voted to secede from Massachusetts to become an independent state. On March 15,1820, it was admitted to the Union as the 23rd state under the Missouri Compromise, there is no definitive explanation for the origin of the name Maine, but the most likely origin is the name given by early explorers after a province in France. Whatever the origin, the name was fixed for English settlers in 1665 when the English Kings Commissioners ordered that the Province of Maine be entered from then on in official records. The state legislature in 2001 adopted a resolution establishing Franco-American Day, other theories mention earlier places with similar names, or claim it is a nautical reference to the mainland. Attempts to uncover the history of the name of Maine began with James Sullivans 1795 History of the District of Maine. He made the allegation that the Province of Maine was a compliment to the queen of Charles I, Henrietta Maria. MAINE appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 in reference to the county of Dorset, the view generally held among British place name scholars is that Mayne in Dorset is Brythonic, corresponding to modern Welsh maen, plural main or meini. Some early spellings are, MAINE1086, MEINE1200, MEINES1204, mason had served with the Royal Navy in the Orkney Islands where the chief island is called Mainland, a possible name derivation for these English sailors. Initially, several tracts along the coast of New England were referred to as Main or Maine, Maine is the only state whose name has exactly one syllable. The original inhabitants of the territory that is now Maine were Algonquian-speaking Wabanaki peoples, including the Abenaki, Passamaquoddy, Maliseet and Penobscot, who had a loose confederacy. European contact with what is now called Maine started around 1200 CE when Norwegians interacted with the native Penobscot in present-day Hancock County, most likely through trade
6.
Combat engineer
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A combat engineer is a soldier who performs a variety of construction and demolition tasks under combat conditions. The combat engineers goals involve facilitating movement and support of forces while impeding those of the enemy. Combat engineers build, repair and maintain buildings, roads and power supplies and they employ explosives for construction and demolition projects, and clear minefields using specialized vehicles. Typically, an engineer is also trained as an infantryman. A general combat engineer is often called a pioneer or sapper, terms derived respectively from the French, while the officers of a combat engineering unit may be professionally certified civil or mechanical engineers, the non-commissioned members are generally not. Sapper, In the U. S. British, Indian, Canadian, Australian, in the Israeli Defence Forces, Sapper 06 is a military profession code denoting a combat engineer who has graduated from basic general engineering training. In the Canadian Army, is a term for soldiers that have completed the basic Combat Engineer training, in the Portuguese Army, a sapador de engenharia is a soldier of the engineering branch that has specialized combat engineer training. A sapador de infantaria is a soldier of the branch that has a similar training. The Italian Army uses the term Guastatori for their engineers and other specialized units. Pioneer, In the Finnish army, pioneeri is the equivalent rank in the army for a soldier who has completed the basic combat engineering training. Naval engineers retain the rank matruusi but bear the insignia on their sleeves. The German Bundeswehr uses the term Pionier for their engineers and other specialized units. Also the combat engineers in the Austro-Hungarien k. u. k, until recently, assault pioneers were responsible for the operation of flamethrowers. Field engineer, is a used in many Commonwealth armies. In modern usage, it is synonymous with combat engineer. However, the originally identified those military engineers who supported an army operating in the field as opposed to garrison engineers who built. In its original usage, field engineering would have been inclusive of, miner Pontonier Combat engineers are force multipliers and enhance the survival of other troops through the use and practice of camouflage, reconnaissance, communications and other services. These include the construction of roads, bridges, field fortifications, obstacles, in these roles, combat engineers use a wide variety of hand and power tools
7.
Portland, Maine
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Portland is the largest city in the U. S. state of Maine, with a population of 66,881 as of 2015. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to half a million people. The Old Port district is frequented by tourists, while Portland Head Light is also a destination, the city seal depicts a phoenix rising from ashes, which is a reference to the recoveries from four devastating fires. Portland was named for the English Isle of Portland, and the city of Portland, Oregon was in turn named after Portland, Native Americans originally called the Portland peninsula Machigonne. Portland, Maine was named for the English Isle of Portland, the first European settler was Capt. Christopher Levett, an English naval captain granted 6,000 acres in 1623 to found a settlement in Casco Bay. The settlement failed, and the fate of Levetts colonists is unknown, the explorer sailed from England to the Massachusetts Bay Colony to meet John Winthrop in 1630, but never returned to Maine. Fort Levett in the harbor is named for him, the peninsula was first permanently settled in 1632 as a fishing and trading village named Casco. When the Massachusetts Bay Colony took over Casco Bay in 1658, in 1676, the village was destroyed by the Abenaki during King Philips War. During King Williams War, a party of French and Native allies attacked. On October 18,1775, Falmouth was burned in the Revolution by the Royal Navy under command of Captain Henry Mowat, following the war, a section of Falmouth called The Neck developed as a commercial port and began to grow rapidly as a shipping center. In 1786, the citizens of Falmouth formed a town in Falmouth Neck and named it Portland, after the isle off the coast of Dorset. Portlands economy was greatly stressed by the Embargo Act of 1807, which ended in 1809, and the War of 1812, in 1820, Maine became a state with Portland as its capital. In 1832, the capital was moved north to Augusta, in 1851, Maine led the nation by passing the first state law prohibiting the sale of alcohol except for medicinal, mechanical or manufacturing purposes. The law subsequently became known as the Maine law, as 18 states quickly followed, on June 2,1855, the Portland Rum Riot occurred. In 1853, upon completion of the Grand Trunk Railway to Montreal, the Portland Company manufactured more than 600 19th-century steam locomotives. Portland became a 20th-century rail hub as five rail lines merged into Portland Terminal Company in 1911. Following nationalization of the Grand Trunk system in 1923, Canadian export traffic was diverted from Portland to Halifax, Nova Scotia, in the 20th century, icebreakers later enabled ships to reach Montreal in winter, drastically reducing Portlands role as a winter port for Canada. On June 26,1863, a Confederate raiding party led by Captain Charles Read, entered the harbor at Portland, more than 10,000 people were left homeless
8.
War of 1812
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Historians in the United States and Canada see it as a war in its own right, but the British often see it as a minor theatre of the Napoleonic Wars. By the wars end in early 1815, the key issues had been resolved, the view was shared in much of New England and for that reason the war was widely referred to there as Mr. Madison’s War. As a result, the primary British war goal was to defend their North American colonies, the war was fought in three theatres. Second, land and naval battles were fought on the U. S. –Canadian frontier, Third, large-scale battles were fought in the Southern United States and Gulf Coast. With the majority of its land and naval forces tied down in Europe fighting the Napoleonic Wars, early victories over poorly-led U. S. armies demonstrated that the conquest of the Canadas would prove more difficult than anticipated. Despite this, the U. S. was able to inflict serious defeats on Britains Native American allies, both governments were eager for a return to normality and peace negotiations began in Ghent in August 1814. This brought an Era of Good Feelings in which partisan animosity nearly vanished in the face of strengthened American nationalism, the war was also a major turning point in the development of the U. S. military, with militia being increasingly replaced by a more professional force. The U. S. also acquired permanent ownership of Spains Mobile District, the government of Canada declared a three-year commemoration of the War of 1812 in 2012, intended to offer historical lessons and celebrate 200 years of peace across the border. At the conclusion of the commemorations in 2014, a new national War of 1812 Monument was unveiled in Ottawa. The war is remembered in Britain primarily as a footnote in the much larger Napoleonic Wars occurring in Europe, historians have long debated the relative weight of the multiple reasons underlying the origins of the War of 1812. This section summarizes several contributing factors which resulted in the declaration of war by the United States, as Risjord notes, a powerful motivation for the Americans was the desire to uphold national honour in the face of what they considered to be British insults such as the Chesapeake–Leopard Affair. The approaching conflict was about violations of American rights, but it was also vindication of American identity. Americans at the time and historians since often called it the United States Second War of Independence, in 1807, Britain introduced a series of trade restrictions via a series of Orders in Council to impede neutral trade with France, with which Britain was at war. The United States contested these restrictions as illegal under international law, the American merchant marine had come close to doubling between 1802 and 1810, making it by far the largest neutral fleet. Britain was the largest trading partner, receiving 80% of U. S. cotton, the British public and press were resentful of the growing mercantile and commercial competition. The United States view was that Britains restrictions violated its right to trade with others, during the Napoleonic Wars, the Royal Navy expanded to 176 ships of the line and 600 ships overall, requiring 140,000 sailors to man. The United States believed that British deserters had a right to become U. S. citizens and this meant that in addition to recovering naval deserters, it considered any United States citizens who were born British liable for impressment. Aggravating the situation was the reluctance of the United States to issue formal naturalization papers and it was estimated by the Admiralty that there were 11,000 naturalized sailors on United States ships in 1805
9.
Bangor, Maine
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Bangor is a city along the Penobscot River in the U. S. state of Maine. The city proper has a population of 33,039, while the Bangor metropolitan area has a population of 153,746, Bangor is known as the Queen City of Maine. Modern Bangor was established by European Americans in the mid-1800s, based on the lumber, with their wealth, the lumber barons built elaborate Greek Revival and Victorian mansions and the 31 feet high statue of Paul Bunyan. Today, Bangors economy is based on services and retail, healthcare, founded as Condeskeag Plantation, Bangor was incorporated as a New England town in 1791, after the end of the American Revolutionary War. There are more than 20 communities worldwide named Bangor, of which 15 are in the United States and named after Bangor, the final syllable is pronounced gor, not ger. Bangor has a port of entry at Bangor International Airport, also home to the Bangor Air National Guard Base, Historically Bangor was an important stopover on the great circle air route between the East Coast of the United States and Europe. Bangors Police Department also has a popular Facebook page, which uses humor and advice in an attempt to better public police relations, Bangor has a humid continental climate, with cold, snowy winters, and warm summers. The Penobscot have inhabited the area around present-day Bangor for at least 11,000 years and they practiced some agriculture, but less than peoples in southern New England where the climate is milder, and subsisted on what they could hunt and gather. Contact with Europeans was not uncommon during the 1500s because the fur trade was lucrative, the site was visited by Portuguese explorer Estêvão Gomes in 1524 and by Samuel de Champlain in 1605. In 1769 Jacob Buswell founded a settlement at the site, by 1772, there were 12 families, along with a sawmill, store, and school, and in 1787 the population was 567. In September 1787 a petition, signed by 19 residents, was sent to the General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts requesting that this area be named Sunbury. On the back of it was written, To the care of Dr. Cony and this petition was rejected before 6 October 1788, as the town referred to itself as Penobscot River, west side. In 1779, the rebel Penobscot Expedition fled up the Penobscot River, the ships remained there until the late 1950s, when construction of the Joshua Chamberlain Bridge disturbed the site. Six cannons were removed from the riverbed, five of which are on display throughout the region and he left the name for the town blank so he could obtain tentative approval. He chose the name of a popular hymn known to be a favorite of Governor John Hancock, the incorporation was received on 25 February 1791 and was signed by John Hancock. During the War of 1812, Bangor and Hampden were looted by the British, Maine was part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts until 1820, when it voted to secede from the state and was admitted to the Union under the Missouri Compromise as the 23rd state. Bangor was near the lands disputed during the Aroostook War, a dispute with Britain in 1838–39. The passion of the Aroostook War signaled the increasing role lumbering and logging were playing in the Maine economy, particularly in the central, Bangor arose as a lumbering boom-town in the 1830s, and a potential demographic and political rival to Portland, Maine
10.
Castine, Maine
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Castine is a town in Hancock County in eastern Maine, USA, which served from 1670 to 1674 as the capital of Acadia. The population was 1,366 at the 2010 census, Castine is the home of Maine Maritime Academy, a four-year institution that graduates officers and engineers for the United States Merchant Marine and marine related industries. During the French colonial period, Castine was the tip of Acadia. During the 17th and early 18th century, New France defined the Kennebec River as the boundary of Acadia. The town is named after Jean-Vincent dAbbadie de Saint-Castin, called Majabigwaduce by Tarrantine Abenaki Indians, Castine is one of the oldest towns in New England, predating the Plymouth Colony by seven years. Situated on Penobscot Bay, it is near the site of Fort Pentagouet, few places in New England have had a more tumultuous history than Castine, which proclaims itself the battle line of four nations. Majabagaduce changed hands numerous times with shifting imperial politics, at one time or another, it was occupied by the French, Dutch and Englands Plymouth Colony. Castine was founded in the winter of 1613, when Claude de Saint-Etienne de la Tour established a trading post to conduct business with the Tarrantine Indians. There is evidence that de La Tour immediately challenged the English action by re-establishing his trading post in the wake of Argalls raid, captain John Smith charted the area in 1614 and referred to French traders in the vicinity. In 1625, Charles de Saint-Étienne de la Tour erected a fort named Fort Pentagouet, English colonists from the Plymouth Colony seized it in 1628, and made it an administrative outpost of their colony. Colonial Governor William Bradford personally traveled there to claim it, in 1635, it was retaken by the French and again incorporated into Acadia, Governor Isaac de Razilly sent Charles de Menou dAulnay de Charnisay to retake the village. In 1638, dAulnay built a substantial fort named Fort St. Pierre. Emmanuel Le Borgne with 100 men raided the settlement in 1653, Major General Robert Sedgwick led 100 New England volunteers and 200 of Oliver Cromwells soldiers on an expedition against Acadia in 1654. Before taking its capital Port Royal, Sedgwick captured and plundered the French settlement at Pentagouet, the English occupied Acadia for the next 16 years. In 1667, after the Treaty of Breda brought peace, French authorities dispatched the Baron Jean-Vincent de St. Castin to take command of Pentagouet, the baron married an Abenaki woman, the daughter of the sachem Modockawando. She adopted the French name Mathilde and bore him 10 children, the baron became a widower and then married another Abenaki woman named Marie Pidiwammiskwa who bore him two additional children. Castine soon became a force in trade and diplomacy. During the Franco-Dutch War, Pentagouet and other Acadian ports were captured by the Dutch captain Jurriaen Aernoutsz who arrived from New Amsterdam, renaming Acadia, the Dutch turned the forts cannon on its own walls and destroyed most of it after the second siege
11.
Napoleonic Wars
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The wars resulted from the unresolved disputes associated with the French Revolution and the Revolutionary Wars, which had raged on for years before concluding with the Treaty of Amiens in 1802. Napoleon became the First Consul of France in 1799, then Emperor five years later, inheriting the political and military struggles of the Revolution, he created a state with stable finances, a strong central bureaucracy, and a well-trained army. The British frequently financed the European coalitions intended to thwart French ambitions, by 1805, they had managed to convince the Austrians and the Russians to wage another war against France. At sea, the Royal Navy destroyed a combined Franco-Spanish fleet at Trafalgar in October 1805, Prussian worries about increasing French power led to the formation of the Fourth Coalition in 1806. France then forced the defeated nations of the Fourth Coalition to sign the Treaties of Tilsit in July, although Tilsit signified the high watermark of the French Empire, it did not bring a lasting peace for Europe. Hoping to extend the Continental System and choke off British trade with the European mainland, Napoleon invaded Iberia, the Spanish and the Portuguese revolted with British support. The Peninsular War lasted six years, featured extensive guerrilla warfare, the Continental System caused recurring diplomatic conflicts between France and its client states, especially Russia. Unwilling to bear the consequences of reduced trade, the Russians routinely violated the Continental System. The French launched an invasion of Russia in the summer of 1812. The resulting campaign witnessed the collapse and retreat of the Grand Army along with the destruction of Russian lands. In 1813, Prussia and Austria joined Russian forces in a Sixth Coalition against France, a lengthy military campaign culminated in a large Allied army defeating Napoleon at the Battle of Leipzig in October 1813. The Allies then invaded France and captured Paris in the spring of 1814 and he was exiled to the island of Elba near Rome and the Bourbons were restored to power. However, Napoleon escaped from Elba in February 1815 and took control of France once again, the Allies responded by forming a Seventh Coalition, which defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in June. The Congress of Vienna, which started in 1814 and concluded in 1815, established the new borders of Europe and laid out the terms, Napoleon seized power in 1799, creating a de facto military dictatorship. The Napoleonic Wars began with the War of the Third Coalition, Kagan argues that Britain was irritated in particular by Napoleons assertion of control over Switzerland. Furthermore, Britons felt insulted when Napoleon stated that their country deserved no voice in European affairs, for its part, Russia decided that the intervention in Switzerland indicated that Napoleon was not looking toward a peaceful resolution of his differences with the other European powers. The British quickly enforced a blockade of France to starve it of resources. Napoleon responded with economic embargoes against Britain, and sought to eliminate Britains Continental allies to break the coalitions arrayed against him, the so-called Continental System formed a league of armed neutrality to disrupt the blockade and enforce free trade with France
12.
Battle of Antietam
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After pursuing the Confederate general Robert E. Lee into Maryland, Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan of the Union Army launched attacks against Lees army, in defensive positions behind Antietam Creek. At dawn on September 17, Maj. Gen. Joseph Hookers corps mounted an assault on Lees left flank. Attacks and counterattacks swept across Millers Cornfield, and fighting swirled around the Dunker Church, Union assaults against the Sunken Road eventually pierced the Confederate center, but the Federal advantage was not followed up. In the afternoon, Union Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnsides corps entered the action, capturing a bridge over Antietam Creek. At a crucial moment, Confederate Maj. Gen. A. P. Hills division arrived from Harpers Ferry and launched a counterattack, driving back Burnside. Although outnumbered two-to-one, Lee committed his entire force, while McClellan sent in less than three-quarters of his army, during the night, both armies consolidated their lines. In spite of crippling casualties, Lee continued to skirmish with McClellan throughout September 18, despite having superiority of numbers, McClellans attacks failed to achieve force concentration, which allowed Lee to counter by shifting forces and moving interior lines to meet each challenge. Therefore, despite ample reserve forces that could have been deployed to exploit localized successes, McClellan had halted Lees invasion of Maryland, but Lee was able to withdraw his army back to Virginia without interference from the cautious McClellan. McClellans refusal to pursue Lees army led to his removal from command by President Abraham Lincoln in November, although the battle was tactically inconclusive, the Confederate troops had withdrawn first from the battlefield, making it, in military terms, a Union victory. Robert E. Lees Army of Northern Virginia—about 55,000 men—entered the state of Maryland on September 3,1862, emboldened by success, the Confederate leadership intended to take the war into enemy territory. Lees invasion of Maryland was intended to run simultaneously with an invasion of Kentucky by the armies of Braxton Bragg and it was also necessary for logistical reasons, as northern Virginias farms had been stripped bare of food. They sang the tune Maryland, My Maryland, as they marched, but by the fall of 1862 pro-Union sentiment was winning out, especially in the western parts of the state. Civilians generally hid inside their houses as Lees army passed through their towns, or watched in cold silence, while the Army of the Potomac was cheered and encouraged. While McClellans 87, 000-man Army of the Potomac was moving to intercept Lee, the order indicated that Lee had divided his army and dispersed portions geographically, thus making each subject to isolation and defeat if McClellan could move quickly enough. McClellan waited about 18 hours before deciding to take advantage of this intelligence and reposition his forces, McClellans Army of the Potomac, bolstered by units absorbed from John Popes Army of Virginia, included six infantry corps. The I Corps, under Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker, consisted of the divisions of, the II Corps, under Maj. Gen. Edwin V. Sumner, consisted of the divisions of, Maj. Gen. Israel B. The V Corps, under Maj. Gen. Fitz John Porter, consisted of the divisions of, the VI Corps, under Maj. Gen. William B. Franklin, consisted of the divisions of, Maj. Gen. Henry W. Slocum, Maj. Gen. William F. Baldy Smith
