1.
Henry Jackson Hunt (Mayor of Detroit)
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Henry Jackson Hunt was a politician and businessman from Detroit, Michigan. Henry Jackson Hunt was born in New York, the first son of American Revolutionary War colonel Thomas Hunt and he arrived in Detroit around 1800 and went into the mercantile and real estate business, in some cases in partnership with Lewis Cass. In 1811, he married Ann MacIntosh, daughter of Angus MacIntosh, the couple had no children, but Hunts brother Samuel named his son after Henry. The younger Henry Jackson Hunt went on to become a general in the American Civil War. Hunt died while in office, on September 15,1826
Henry Jackson Hunt (Mayor of Detroit)
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Williams
2.
Detroit
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Detroit is the most populous city in the U. S. state of Michigan, the fourth-largest city in the Midwest and the largest city on the United States–Canada border. It is the seat of Wayne County, the most populous county in the state, the municipality of Detroit had a 2015 estimated population of 677,116, making it the 21st-most populous city in the United States. Roughly one-half of Michigans population lives in Metro Detroit alone, the Detroit–Windsor area, a commercial link straddling the Canada–U. S. Border, has a population of about 5.7 million. Detroit is a port on the Detroit River, a strait that connects the Great Lakes system to the Saint Lawrence Seaway. The Detroit Metropolitan Airport is among the most important hubs in the United States, the City of Detroit anchors the second-largest economic region in the Midwest, behind Chicago, and the thirteenth-largest in the United States. Detroit and its neighboring Canadian city Windsor are connected through a tunnel and various bridges, Detroit was founded on July 24,1701 by the French explorer and adventurer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac and a party of settlers. During the 19th century, it became an important industrial hub at the center of the Great Lakes region, with expansion of the American automobile industry in the early 20th century, the Detroit area emerged as a significant metropolitan region within the United States. The city became the fourth-largest in the country for a period, in the 1950s and 1960s, suburban expansion continued with construction of a regional freeway system. A great portion of Detroits public transport was abandoned in favour of becoming a city in the post-war period. Due to industrial restructuring and loss of jobs in the auto industry, between 2000 and 2010 the citys population fell by 25 percent, changing its ranking from the nations 10th-largest city to 18th. In 2010, the city had a population of 713,777 and this resulted from suburbanization, corruption, industrial restructuring and the decline of Detroits auto industry. In 2013, the state of Michigan declared an emergency for the city. Detroit has experienced urban decay as its population and jobs have shifted to its suburbs or elsewhere, conservation efforts managed to save many architectural pieces since the 2000s and allowed several large-scale revitalisations. More recently, the population of Downtown Detroit, Midtown Detroit, paleo-Indian people inhabited areas near Detroit as early as 11,000 years ago. In the 17th century, the region was inhabited by Huron, Odawa, Potawatomi, for the next hundred years, virtually no British, colonist, or French action was contemplated without consultation with, or consideration of the Iroquois likely response. When the French and Indian War evicted the Kingdom of France from Canada, the 1798 raids and resultant 1799 decisive Sullivan Expedition reopened the Ohio Country to westward emigration, which began almost immediately, and by 1800 white settlers were pouring westwards. By 1773, the population of Detroit was 1,400, by 1778, its population was up to 2,144 and it was the third-largest city in the Province of Quebec
Detroit
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From top to bottom, left to right:
Downtown Detroit skyline and the
Detroit River,
Fox Theatre,
Dorothy H. Turkel House in
Palmer Woods,
Belle Isle Conservatory,
The Spirit of Detroit,
Fisher Building,
Eastern Market,
Old Main at
Wayne State University,
Ambassador Bridge, and the
Detroit Institute of Arts
Detroit
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Ste. Anne de Détroit, founded in 1701 by French colonists, is the second-oldest continuously operating
Catholic parish in the United States. The present church was completed in 1887.
Detroit
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A 4
p.m. change of work shift at the Ford Motor Company assembly plant in
Highland Park, Michigan, 1910s
Detroit
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Looking south down
Woodward Avenue, with the Detroit skyline in the distance, July 1942
3.
Michigan
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Michigan /ˈmɪʃᵻɡən/ is a state in the Great Lakes and Midwestern regions of the United States. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, Michigan is the tenth most populous of the 50 United States, with the 11th most extensive total area. Its capital is Lansing, and its largest city is Detroit, Michigan is the only state to consist of two peninsulas. The Lower Peninsula, to which the name Michigan was originally applied, is noted to be shaped like a mitten. The Upper Peninsula is separated from the Lower Peninsula by the Straits of Mackinac, the two peninsulas are connected by the Mackinac Bridge. The state has the longest freshwater coastline of any political subdivision in the world, being bounded by four of the five Great Lakes, as a result, it is one of the leading U. S. states for recreational boating. Michigan also has 64,980 inland lakes and ponds, a person in the state is never more than six miles from a natural water source or more than 85 miles from a Great Lakes shoreline. What is now the state of Michigan was first settled by Native American tribes before being colonized by French explorers in the 17th century, the area was organized as part of the larger Northwest Territory until 1800, when western Michigan became part of the Indiana Territory. Eventually, in 1805, the Michigan Territory was formed, which lasted until it was admitted into the Union on January 26,1837, the state of Michigan soon became an important center of industry and trade in the Great Lakes region and a popular immigrant destination. Though Michigan has come to develop an economy, it is widely known as the center of the U. S. automotive industry. When the first European explorers arrived, the most populous tribes were Algonquian peoples, which include the Anishinaabe groups of Ojibwe, Odaawaa/Odawa, the three nations co-existed peacefully as part of a loose confederation called the Council of Three Fires. The Ojibwe, whose numbers are estimated to have been between 25,000 and 35,000, were the largest, French voyageurs and coureurs des bois explored and settled in Michigan in the 17th century. The first Europeans to reach what became Michigan were those of Étienne Brûlés expedition in 1622, the first permanent European settlement was founded in 1668 on the site where Père Jacques Marquette established Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan as a base for Catholic missions, missionaries in 1671–75 founded outlying stations at Saint Ignace and Marquette. Jesuit missionaries were received by the areas Indian populations, with relatively few difficulties or hostilities. In 1679, Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle built Fort Miami at present-day St. Joseph, in 1691, the French established a trading post and Fort St. Joseph along the St. Joseph River at the present day city of Niles. The hundred soldiers and workers who accompanied Cadillac built a fort enclosing one arpent, cadillacs wife, Marie Thérèse Guyon, soon moved to Detroit, becoming one of the first European women to settle in the Michigan wilderness. The town quickly became a major fur-trading and shipping post, the Église de Saint-Anne was founded the same year
Michigan
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Père Marquette and the Indians (1869), Wilhelm Lamprecht
Michigan
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Flag
Michigan
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Approximate area of Michigan highlighted in
Guillaume de L'Isle 's 1718 map
Michigan
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Lumbering pines in the late 1800s
4.
Washington, D.C.
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Washington, D. C. formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D. C. is the capital of the United States. The signing of the Residence Act on July 16,1790, Constitution provided for a federal district under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Congress and the District is therefore not a part of any state. The states of Maryland and Virginia each donated land to form the federal district, named in honor of President George Washington, the City of Washington was founded in 1791 to serve as the new national capital. In 1846, Congress returned the land ceded by Virginia, in 1871. Washington had an population of 681,170 as of July 2016. Commuters from the surrounding Maryland and Virginia suburbs raise the population to more than one million during the workweek. The Washington metropolitan area, of which the District is a part, has a population of over 6 million, the centers of all three branches of the federal government of the United States are in the District, including the Congress, President, and Supreme Court. Washington is home to national monuments and museums, which are primarily situated on or around the National Mall. The city hosts 176 foreign embassies as well as the headquarters of international organizations, trade unions, non-profit organizations, lobbying groups. A locally elected mayor and a 13‑member council have governed the District since 1973, However, the Congress maintains supreme authority over the city and may overturn local laws. D. C. residents elect a non-voting, at-large congressional delegate to the House of Representatives, the District receives three electoral votes in presidential elections as permitted by the Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1961. Various tribes of the Algonquian-speaking Piscataway people inhabited the lands around the Potomac River when Europeans first visited the area in the early 17th century, One group known as the Nacotchtank maintained settlements around the Anacostia River within the present-day District of Columbia. Conflicts with European colonists and neighboring tribes forced the relocation of the Piscataway people, some of whom established a new settlement in 1699 near Point of Rocks, Maryland. 43, published January 23,1788, James Madison argued that the new government would need authority over a national capital to provide for its own maintenance. Five years earlier, a band of unpaid soldiers besieged Congress while its members were meeting in Philadelphia, known as the Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783, the event emphasized the need for the national government not to rely on any state for its own security. However, the Constitution does not specify a location for the capital, on July 9,1790, Congress passed the Residence Act, which approved the creation of a national capital on the Potomac River. The exact location was to be selected by President George Washington, formed from land donated by the states of Maryland and Virginia, the initial shape of the federal district was a square measuring 10 miles on each side, totaling 100 square miles. Two pre-existing settlements were included in the territory, the port of Georgetown, Maryland, founded in 1751, many of the stones are still standing
Washington, D.C.
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Clockwise from top left:
Smithsonian Institution Building,
Rock Creek Park,
National Mall (including the
Lincoln Memorial in the foreground),
Howard Theatre and the
Frederick Douglass National Historic Site
Washington, D.C.
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Map of the District of Columbia in 1835, prior to the
retrocession
Washington, D.C.
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Ford's Theatre in the 19th century, site of the 1865
assassination of
President Lincoln
Washington, D.C.
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Crowds surrounding the
Reflecting Pool during the 1963
March on Washington
5.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
United States
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Native Americans meeting with Europeans, 1764
United States
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Flag
United States
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The signing of the
Mayflower Compact, 1620.
United States
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The
Declaration of Independence: the
Committee of Five presenting their draft to the
Second Continental Congress in 1776
6.
Union (American Civil War)
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The Union was opposed by 11 southern slave states that formed the Confederate States, or the Confederacy. All of the Unions states provided soldiers for the U. S. Army, the Border states played a major role as a supply base for the Union invasion of the Confederacy. The Northeast provided the resources for a mechanized war producing large quantities of munitions and supplies. The Midwest provided soldiers, food, horses, financial support, Army hospitals were set up across the Union. Most states had Republican governors who energetically supported the war effort, the Democratic Party strongly supported the war in 1861 but in 1862 was split between the War Democrats and the anti-war element led by the Copperheads. The Democrats made major gains in 1862 in state elections. They lost ground in 1863, especially in Ohio, in 1864 the Republicans campaigned under the National Union Party banner, which attracted many War Democrats and soldiers and scored a landslide victory for Lincoln and his entire ticket. The war years were quite prosperous except where serious fighting and guerrilla warfare took place along the southern border, prosperity was stimulated by heavy government spending and the creation of an entirely new national banking system. The Union states invested a great deal of money and effort in organizing psychological and social support for soldiers wives, widows, orphans, and for the soldiers themselves. Most soldiers were volunteers, although after 1862 many volunteered to escape the draft, Draft resistance was notable in some larger cities, especially New York City with its massive anti-draft riots of 1863 and in some remote districts such as the coal mining areas of Pennsylvania. In the context of the American Civil War, the Union is sometimes referred to as the North, both then and now, as opposed to the Confederacy, which was the South. The Union never recognized the legitimacy of the Confederacys secession and maintained at all times that it remained entirely a part of the United States of America, in foreign affairs the Union was the only side recognized by all other nations, none of which officially recognized the Confederate government. The term Union occurs in the first governing document of the United States, the subsequent Constitution of 1787 was issued and ratified in the name not of the states, but of We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union. Union, for the United States of America, is repeated in such clauses as the Admission to the Union clause in Article IV. Even before the war started, the preserve the Union was commonplace. Using the term Union to apply to the non-secessionist side carried a connotation of legitimacy as the continuation of the political entity. In comparison to the Confederacy, the Union had a large industrialized and urbanized area, additionally, the Union states had a manpower advantage of 5 to 2 at the start of the war. Year by year, the Confederacy shrank and lost control of increasing quantities of resources, meanwhile, the Union turned its growing potential advantage into a much stronger military force
Union (American Civil War)
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Charleston Mercury Secession Broadside, 1860 - "The Union" had been a way to refer to the American Republic
Union (American Civil War)
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Map of the division of the states during the American Civil War. Blue (the U.S. Army's uniform color) indicates the Union states; light blue represents Union states which permitted slavery (
border states). Red represents states in rebellion, also known as the
Confederate states. Unshaded areas were U.S. territories.
Union (American Civil War)
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The Union had large advantages in men and resources at the start of the war; the ratio grew steadily in favor of the Union. In the chart, "cauc men" means white men.
Union (American Civil War)
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An anti-Lincoln Copperhead pamphlet from 1864
7.
United States Army
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The United States Army is the largest branch of the United States Armed Forces and performs land-based military operations. After the Revolutionary War, the Congress of the Confederation created the United States Army on 3 June 1784, the United States Army considers itself descended from the Continental Army, and dates its institutional inception from the origin of that armed force in 1775. As a uniformed service, the Army is part of the Department of the Army. As a branch of the forces, the mission of the U. S. The branch participates in conflicts worldwide and is the major ground-based offensive and defensive force of the United States, the United States Army serves as the land-based branch of the U. S. Section 3062 of Title 10, U. S, the army was initially led by men who had served in the British Army or colonial militias and who brought much of British military heritage with them. As the Revolutionary War progressed, French aid, resources, a number of European soldiers came on their own to help, such as Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, who taught Prussian Army tactics and organizational skills. The army fought numerous pitched battles and in the South in 1780–81 sometimes used the Fabian strategy and hit-and-run tactics, hitting where the British were weakest, to wear down their forces. Washington led victories against the British at Trenton and Princeton, but lost a series of battles in the New York and New Jersey campaign in 1776, with a decisive victory at Yorktown, and the help of the French, the Continental Army prevailed against the British. After the war, though, the Continental Army was quickly given land certificates, State militias became the new nations sole ground army, with the exception of a regiment to guard the Western Frontier and one battery of artillery guarding West Points arsenal. However, because of continuing conflict with Native Americans, it was realized that it was necessary to field a trained standing army. The War of 1812, the second and last war between the United States and Great Britain, had mixed results. After taking control of Lake Erie in 1813, the U. S. Army seized parts of western Upper Canada, burned York and defeated Tecumseh, which caused his Western Confederacy to collapse. Following U. S. victories in the Canadian province of Upper Canada, British troops, were able to capture and burn Washington, which was defended by militia, in 1814. Two weeks after a treaty was signed, Andrew Jackson defeated the British in the Battle of New Orleans and Siege of Fort St. Philip, U. S. troops and sailors captured HMS Cyane, Levant, and Penguin in the final engagements of the war. Per the treaty, both sides, the United States and Great Britain, returned to the status quo. Both navies kept the warships they had seized during the conflict, the armys major campaign against the Indians was fought in Florida against Seminoles. It took long wars to defeat the Seminoles and move them to Oklahoma
United States Army
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Storming of Redoubt #10 in the
Siege of Yorktown during the
American Revolutionary War prompted the British government to begin negotiations, resulting in the
Treaty of Paris and British recognition of the United States of America.
United States Army
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Emblem of the United States Department of the Army
United States Army
–
General
Andrew Jackson stands on the parapet of his makeshift defenses as his troops repulse attacking
Highlanders during the
defense of New Orleans, the final major battle of the War of 1812
United States Army
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The
Battle of Gettysburg, the turning point of the American Civil War
8.
Union Army
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The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War,1861 to 1865. It included the permanent regular army of the United States, which was augmented by numbers of temporary units consisting of volunteers as well as conscripts. The Union Army fought and eventually defeated the Confederate Army during the war, at least two and a half million men served in the Union Army, almost all were volunteers. About 360,000 Union soldiers died from all causes,280,000 were wounded and 200,000 deserted. When the American Civil War began in April 1861, there were only 16,000 men in the U. S. Army, and of these many Southern officers resigned and joined the Confederate army. The U. S. Army consisted of ten regiments of infantry, four of artillery, Lincolns call forced the border states to choose sides, and four seceded, making the Confederacy eleven states strong. The war proved to be longer and more extensive than anyone North or South had expected, the call for volunteers initially was easily met by patriotic Northerners, abolitionists, and even immigrants who enlisted for a steady income and meals. Over 10,000 Germans in New York and Pennsylvania immediately responded to Lincolns call, as more men were needed, however, the number of volunteers fell and both money bounties and forced conscription had to be turned to. Nevertheless, between April 1861 and April 1865, at least two and a million men served in the Union Army, of whom the majority were volunteers. It is a misconception that the South held an advantage because of the percentage of professional officers who resigned to join the Confederate army. At the start of the war, there were 824 graduates of the U. S, Military Academy on the active list, of these,296 resigned or were dismissed, and 184 of those became Confederate officers. Of the approximately 900 West Point graduates who were civilians,400 returned to the Union Army and 99 to the Confederate. Therefore, the ratio of Union to Confederate professional officers was 642 to 283, the South did have the advantage of other military colleges, such as The Citadel and Virginia Military Institute, but they produced fewer officers. The Union Army was composed of numerous organizations, which were generally organized geographically, Military Division A collection of Departments reporting to one commander. Military Divisions were similar to the modern term Theater, and were modeled close to, though not synonymous with. Department An organization that covered a region, including responsibilities for the Federal installations therein. Those named for states usually referred to Southern states that had been occupied and it was more common to name departments for rivers or regions. District A subdivision of a Department, there were also Subdistricts for smaller regions
Union Army
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The
21st Michigan Infantry, a company of
William Tecumseh Sherman 's army
Union Army
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Flag of the United States from 1863 until 1865.
Union Army
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Recruiting poster for the First Battalion, New York Mounted Rifles
Union Army
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Noncommissioned officers of the 93rd New York Infantry
9.
Brigadier general (United States)
–
In the United States Armed Forces, brigadier general is a one-star general officer with the pay grade of O-7 in the U. S. Army, U. S. Marine Corps, and U. S. Air Force. Brigadier general ranks above a colonel and below major general, the rank of brigadier general is equivalent to the rank of rear admiral in the other uniformed services. The rank of brigadier general has existed in the U. S. military since the inception of the Continental Army in June 1775, later, on June 18,1780, it was prescribed that brigadier generals would instead wear a single silver star on each epaulette. At first, brigadier generals were infantry officers who commanded a brigade, however, over the course of the 19th and 20th centuries, the responsibilities of the rank expanded significantly. During the period from March 16,1802, to January 11,1812, foreseeing the need for an expanded general staff in case of war, which seemed imminent, Congress restored the rank of major general in January 1812. The first brigadier general in the U. S. Marine Corps was Commandant Archibald Henderson, the insignia for a brigadier general is one silver star worn on the shoulder or collar, and has not changed since the creation of the rank two centuries ago. Since the Mexican-American War, however, the rank of colonel has been the normal rank appointed to command a brigade that is organic to a division. In an infantry brigade not organic to a division, a brigadier general serves as the units commander, an Air Force brigadier general typically commands a large wing. Additionally, one-star officers of all services may serve as staff officers in large military organizations. U. S. Code of law explicitly limits the number of general officers who may be on active duty. The total of active duty general officers is capped at 230 for the Army,60 for the Marine Corps, the President or Secretary of Defense may increase the number of general slots in one branch, so long as they subtract an equal number from another. Some of these slots are reserved by statute, for promotion to the permanent grade of brigadier general, eligible officers are screened by a promotion board consisting of general officers from their branch of service. This promotion board then generates a list of officers it recommends for promotion to general rank and this list is then sent to the service secretary and the joint chiefs for review before it can be sent to the President, through the defense secretary, for consideration. The President nominates officers to be promoted from this list with the advice of the Secretary of Defense, the secretary, and if applicable. The President may nominate any eligible officer who is not on the recommended list if it serves in the interest of the nation, the Senate must then confirm the nominee by a majority vote before the officer can be promoted. Once the nominee is confirmed, they are promoted to that once they assume or hold an office that requires or allows an officer of that rank. For positions of office reserved by statute, the President nominates an officer for appointment to fill that position, for all three uniformed services, because the grade of brigadier general is a permanent rank, the nominee may still be screened by an in-service promotion board. The rank does not expire when the officer vacates a one-star position, tour length varies depending on the position, by statute, or when the officer receives a new assignment
Brigadier general (United States)
–
U.S. Army,
U.S. Air Force, and
U.S. Marine Corps rank
insignia for brigadier general. Style and method of wear may vary between the services.
10.
Major general (United States)
–
In the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, and United States Air Force, major general is a two-star general-officer rank, with the pay grade of O-8. Major general ranks above brigadier general and below lieutenant general, a major general typically commands division-sized units of 10,000 to 15,000 soldiers. Major general is equivalent to the rank of rear admiral in the United States Navy. The United States Code explicitly limits the number of general officers that may be on active duty at any given time. The total number of active duty general officers is capped at 231 for the Army,61 for the Marine Corps, some of these slots are reserved or finitely set by statute. This promotion board then generates a list of officers it recommends for promotion to general rank and this list is then sent to the service secretary and the Joint Chiefs of Staff for review before it can be sent to the President, through the Secretary of Defense for consideration. The President nominates officers to be promoted from this list with the advice of the Secretary of Defense, the secretary, and if applicable. The President may nominate any eligible officer who is not on the recommended list if it serves in the interest of the nation, the Senate must then confirm the nominee by a majority vote before the officer can be promoted. Once confirmed, the nominee is promoted to rank on assuming a position of office that requires an officer to hold the rank. For positions of office that are reserved by statute, the President nominates an officer for appointment to fill that position, since the grade of major general is permanent, the rank does not expire when the officer vacates a two-star position. Tour length varies depending on the position, by statute, and/or when the officer receives a new assignment or a promotion, in the case of the Air National Guard, they may also serve as The Adjutant General for their state, commonwealth or territory. Other than voluntary retirement, statute sets a number of mandates for retirement of general officers, all major generals must retire after five years in grade or 35 years of service, whichever is later, unless appointed for promotion or reappointed to grade to serve longer. Otherwise, all officers must retire the month after their 64th birthday. However, the Secretary of Defense may defer a general officers retirement until the officers 66th birthday, because there are a finite number of General Officer positions, one officer must retire before another can be promoted. As a result, general officers typically retire well in advance of the age and service limits. The rank of general was abolished in the U. S. Army by the Act of March 16,1802. Major general has been a rank in the U. S. Army ever since, to address this anomaly, Washington was posthumously promoted by Congress to the rank of General of the Armies of the United States in 1976. The position of Major General Commanding the Army was entitled to three stars according to General Order No.6 of March 13,1861
Major general (United States)
–
Lafayette in a uniform of a major general of the Continental Army.
Major general (United States)
–
Army,
Air Force, and
Marine Corps two-star
insignia of the rank of Major General. Style and method of wear may vary between the services.
11.
Army of the Potomac
–
The Army of the Potomac was the principal Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. It was created in July 1861 shortly after the First Battle of Bull Run and was disbanded in June 1865 following the surrender of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in April. The Army of the Potomac was created in 1861, but was only the size of a corps. Its nucleus was called the Army of Northeastern Virginia, under Brig. Gen. Irvin McDowell, and it was the army fought the wars first major battle. The arrival in Washington, D. C. of Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan dramatically changed the makeup of that army, on July 26,1861, the Department of the Shenandoah, commanded by Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. The men under Bankss command became a division in the Army of the Potomac. The army started with four corps, but these were divided during the Peninsula Campaign to produce two more, after the Second Battle of Bull Run, the Army of the Potomac absorbed the units that had served under Maj. Gen. John Pope. It is a popular, but mistaken, belief that John Pope commanded the Army of the Potomac in the summer of 1862 after McClellans unsuccessful Peninsula Campaign, on the contrary, Popes army consisted of different units, and was named the Army of Virginia. The Army of the Potomac underwent many changes during its existence. The army was divided by Ambrose Burnside into three divisions of two corps each with a Reserve composed of two more. Thereafter the individual corps, seven of which remained in Virginia, Hooker also created a Cavalry Corps by combining units that previously had served as smaller formations. In late 1863, two corps were sent West, and—in 1864—the remaining five corps were recombined into three, burnsides IX Corps, which accompanied the army at the start of Ulysses S. Grants Overland Campaign, rejoined the army later. For more detail, see the section Corps below, the Army of the Potomac fought in most of the Eastern Theater campaigns, primarily in Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. After the end of the war, it was disbanded on June 28,1865, the Army of the Potomac was also the name given to General P. G. T. Beauregards Confederate army during the early stages of the war. However, the name was changed to the Army of Northern Virginia. In 1869 the Society of the Army of the Potomac was formed as a veterans association and it had its last reunion in 1929. Because of its proximity to the cities of the North, such as Washington. Philadelphia, and New York City, the Army of the Potomac received more media coverage than the other Union field armies
Army of the Potomac
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Commanders of the Army of the Potomac at Culpeper, Virginia, 1863. From the left:
Gouverneur K. Warren,
William H. French,
George G. Meade,
Henry J. Hunt,
Andrew A. Humphreys,
George Sykes.
Army of the Potomac
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The Army of the Potomac -- Our Outlying Picket in the Woods, 1862
Army of the Potomac
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Saint Patrick's Day celebration in the Army of the Potomac, depicting a
steeplechase race among the
Irish Brigade, March 17, 1863, by
Edwin Forbes.
Army of the Potomac
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Scouts and guides, Army of the Potomac,
Mathew Brady
12.
Mexican-American War
–
It followed in the wake of the 1845 U. S. annexation of Texas, which Mexico considered part of its territory in spite of its de facto secession in the 1836 Texas Revolution. After its independence in 1821 and brief experiment with monarchy, Mexico became a republic in 1824 and it was characterized by considerable instability, leaving it ill-prepared for conflict when war broke out in 1846. In 1845, Texas agreed to an offer of annexation by the U. S. Congress, and became the 28th state on December 29 that year. In 1845, James K. Polk, the newly-elected U. S. president, when that offer was rejected, American forces commanded by Major General Zachary Taylor were moved into the disputed territory. They were then attacked by Mexican forces, who killed 12 U. S. soldiers and these same Mexican troops later laid siege to an American fort along the Rio Grande. This led to the war and the loss of much of Mexicos northern territory. The U. S. army, under the command of Major General Winfield Scott, captured the capital, Mexico City, marching from the port of Veracruz. The 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the war and specified its major consequence, the U. S. agreed to pay $15 million compensation for the physical damage of the war. In addition, the United States assumed $3.25 million of debt owed by the Mexican government to U. S. citizens, Mexico acknowledged the loss of Texas and thereafter cited the Rio Grande as its national border with the United States. The territorial expansion of the United States toward the Pacific coast had been the goal of US President James K. Polk, at first, the war was highly controversial in the United States, with the Whig Party, anti-imperialists, and anti-slavery elements strongly opposed. Critics in the United States pointed to the casualties suffered by U. S. forces. The war intensified the debate over slavery in the United States, in Mexico, the war came in the middle of political turmoil, which increased into chaos during the conflict. Border left many Mexican citizens separated from their national government, for the indigenous peoples who had never accepted Mexican rule, the change in border meant conflicts with a new outside power. The northern area of Mexico was sparsely settled and not well controlled politically by the government based in Mexico City, after independence from Spain in 1821, Mexico contended with internal struggles that sometimes verged on civil war and the northern frontier was not a high priority. In the sparsely settled interior of northern Mexico, the end of Spanish rule was marked by the end of financing for presidios, there were conflicts between indigenous people in the northern region as well. The Comanche were particularly successful in expanding their territory in the Comanche–Mexico Wars, the Apache–Mexico Wars also made Mexicos north a violent place, with no effective political control. The Apache raids left thousands of people dead through out northern Mexico, when the United States Army entered northern Mexico in 1846 they found demoralized Mexican settlers. There was little resistance to US forces from the civilian population, hostile activity from indigenous people also made communications and trade between the interior of Mexico and provinces such as Alta California and New Mexico difficult
Mexican-American War
–
Clockwise from top left U.S. soldiers engaging the retreating Mexican force during the
Battle of Resaca de la Palma, American victory
at Churubusco outside Mexico City, U.S. marines
storming Chapultepec castle under a large American flag,
Winfield Scott entering
Plaza de la Constitución after the
Fall of Mexico City.
Mexican-American War
Mexican-American War
Mexican-American War
13.
Battle of Chapultepec
–
The castle, sitting atop a 200-foot tall hill, was an important position for the defense of the city. Its capture paved the way for the fall of Mexico City. On September 8,1847, in the costly Battle of Molino del Rey, however, Army engineers were still interested in the southern causeways to the city. General Winfield Scott held a council of war with his generals, Scott was in favor of attacking Chapultepec and only General David E. Twiggs agreed. Most of Scotts officers favored the attack through the southern gates, a young lieutenant, P. G. T. Beauregard, gave a textbook speech that persuaded General Franklin Pierce to change his vote in favor of the western attack. Antonio López de Santa Anna was in command of the army at Mexico City and he understood that Chapultepec Castle was an important position for the defense of the city. The castle sat atop a 200-foot tall hill which in recent years was being used as the Mexican Military Academy, a gradual slope from the castle down to the Molino del Rey made an inviting attack point. The additional Mexican troops were used in external walled redoubts of the castle to protect a large piece of ground in front of the castle itself. This area was protected by walls and was about three-quarters of a mile long by one-quarter mile deep. Also the source of water for the castle was located within this area, the first party consisted of Captain Samuel Mackenzies 256 men and Gideon Pillows division, who would advance from the Molino east up the hill. The second storming party consisted of Captain Silas Caseys men and John A. Quitmans division, however, Casey was replaced by Major Levi Twiggs. Only Twiggs division and Bennett Rileys brigade were left on the American right flank, the Americans began an artillery barrage against Chapultepec at dawn on September 12. It was halted at dark and resumed at first light on September 13, at 8 AM, the bombardment was halted and General Scott ordered the infantry attack. Pillow was quickly hit in the foot and called for reinforcements, andrewss column cleared the grove of Mexican troops and linked up with Johnston. Yet, the attack by the 9th and 15th Infantry stalled waiting for scaling ladders, Quitman sent Persifor Smiths brigade to his right and brought in James Shields, plus the New York and 2d Pennsylvania Regiments into the assault. At the same time, Newman S. Clarkes brigade arrived on the western slope, the Voltigeurs soon planted their flag on the parapet. By 9 AM, General Bravo surrendered to the New York Regiment, Santa Anna watched the Americans take Chapultepec while an aide exclaimed let the Mexican flag never be touched by a foreign enemy. He also exclaimed, I believe if we were to plant our batteries in Hell the damned Yankees would take them from us
Battle of Chapultepec
–
U.S. Marines storming Chapultepec castle under a large American flag.
Battle of Chapultepec
–
Disposition of forces.
Battle of Chapultepec
–
Battle of Chapultepec
Battle of Chapultepec
–
Monument to the six Heroic Cadets, with
Chapultepec Castle in the background.
14.
American Civil War
–
The American Civil War was an internal conflict fought in the United States from 1861 to 1865. The Union faced secessionists in eleven Southern states grouped together as the Confederate States of America, the Union won the war, which remains the bloodiest in U. S. history. Among the 34 U. S. states in February 1861, War broke out in April 1861 when Confederates attacked the U. S. fortress of Fort Sumter. The Confederacy grew to eleven states, it claimed two more states, the Indian Territory, and the southern portions of the western territories of Arizona. The Confederacy was never recognized by the United States government nor by any foreign country. The states that remained loyal, including border states where slavery was legal, were known as the Union or the North, the war ended with the surrender of all the Confederate armies and the dissolution of the Confederate government in the spring of 1865. The war had its origin in the issue of slavery. The Confederacy collapsed and 4 million slaves were freed, but before his inauguration, seven slave states with cotton-based economies formed the Confederacy. The first six to declare secession had the highest proportions of slaves in their populations, the first seven with state legislatures to resolve for secession included split majorities for unionists Douglas and Bell in Georgia with 51% and Louisiana with 55%. Alabama had voted 46% for those unionists, Mississippi with 40%, Florida with 38%, Texas with 25%, of these, only Texas held a referendum on secession. Eight remaining slave states continued to reject calls for secession, outgoing Democratic President James Buchanan and the incoming Republicans rejected secession as illegal. Lincolns March 4,1861 inaugural address declared that his administration would not initiate a civil war, speaking directly to the Southern States, he reaffirmed, I have no purpose, directly or indirectly to interfere with the institution of slavery in the United States where it exists. I believe I have no right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so. After Confederate forces seized numerous federal forts within territory claimed by the Confederacy, efforts at compromise failed, the Confederates assumed that European countries were so dependent on King Cotton that they would intervene, but none did, and none recognized the new Confederate States of America. Hostilities began on April 12,1861, when Confederate forces fired upon Fort Sumter, while in the Western Theater the Union made significant permanent gains, in the Eastern Theater, the battle was inconclusive in 1861–62. The autumn 1862 Confederate campaigns into Maryland and Kentucky failed, dissuading British intervention, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which made ending slavery a war goal. To the west, by summer 1862 the Union destroyed the Confederate river navy, then much of their western armies, the 1863 Union siege of Vicksburg split the Confederacy in two at the Mississippi River. In 1863, Robert E. Lees Confederate incursion north ended at the Battle of Gettysburg, Western successes led to Ulysses S. Grants command of all Union armies in 1864
American Civil War
–
New Orleans the largest cotton exporting port for New England and Great Britain textile mills, shipping Mississippi River Valley goods from North, South and Border states.
American Civil War
–
Clockwise from top:
Battle of Gettysburg,
Union Captain John Tidball's artillery,
Confederate prisoners,
ironclad USS Atlanta, ruins of
Richmond, Virginia,
Battle of Franklin
American Civil War
–
Sen. Stephen Douglas, author of the
Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854
American Civil War
–
Sen. John J. Crittenden, of the 1860
Crittenden Compromise
15.
First Battle of Bull Run
–
It was the first major battle of the American Civil War. The Unions forces were slow in positioning themselves, allowing Confederate reinforcements time to arrive by rail, each side had about 18,000 poorly trained and poorly led troops in their first battle. It was a Confederate victory, followed by a retreat of the Union forces. Yielding to political pressure, Brig. Gen. Irvin McDowell led his unseasoned Union Army across Bull Run against the equally inexperienced Confederate Army of Brig. Gen. P. G. T. Confederate reinforcements under Brig. Gen. Joseph E. Johnston arrived from the Shenandoah Valley by railroad, the Confederates launched a strong counterattack, and as the Union troops began withdrawing under fire, many panicked and the retreat turned into a rout. McDowells men frantically ran without order in the direction of Washington, both armies were sobered by the fierce fighting and many casualties, and realized that the war was going to be much longer and bloodier than either had anticipated. The Battle of First Bull Run highlighted many of the problems, McDowell, with 35,000 men, was only able to commit about 18,000, and the combined Confederate forces, with about 32,000 men, committed only 18,000. Earlier, South Carolina and seven other Southern states had declared their secession from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America. To suppress the rebellion and restore Federal law in the Southern states and he later accepted an additional 40,000 volunteers with three-year enlistments and increased the strength of the U. S. Army to almost 20,000. In Washington, D. C. as thousands of volunteers rushed to defend the capital, General in Chief Lt. Gen. Winfield Scott laid out his strategy to subdue the rebellious states. He proposed that an army of 80,000 men be organized and sail down the Mississippi River, while the Army strangled the Confederacy in the west, the U. S. Navy would blockade Southern ports along the eastern and Gulf coasts. The press ridiculed what they dubbed as Scotts Anaconda Plan, instead, many believed the capture of the Confederate capital at Richmond, only one hundred miles south of Washington, would quickly end the war. By July 1861 thousands of volunteers were camped in and around Washington, since General Scott was seventy-five years old and physically unable to lead this force, the administration searched for a more suitable field commander. Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase championed fellow Ohioan, although McDowell was a West Point graduate, his command experience was limited. In fact, he had spent most of his career engaged in staff duties in the Adjutant Generals Office. While stationed in Washington he had become acquainted with Chase, a former Ohio governor and senator, McDowell immediately began organizing what became known as the Army of Northeastern Virginia,35,000 men arranged in five divisions. Under public and political pressure to begin operations, McDowell was given very little time to train the newly inducted troops. Units were instructed in the maneuvering of regiments, but they received little or no training at the brigade or division level and he was reassured by President Lincoln, You are green, it is true, but they are green also, you are all green alike
First Battle of Bull Run
–
First Battle of Bull Run, chromolithograph by Kurz & Allison
First Battle of Bull Run
–
Brig. Gen.
Irvin McDowell,
Army of Northeastern Virginia, USA
First Battle of Bull Run
–
Maj. Gen.
Robert Patterson, USA
First Battle of Bull Run
–
Brig. Gen.
P. G. T. Beauregard,
CSA Army of the Potomac
16.
Battle of Malvern Hill
–
Including inactive reserves, more than fifty thousand soldiers from each side took part, using more than two hundred pieces of artillery and three warships. Confederate commander-in-chief Joseph E. Johnston fended off McClellans repeated attempts to take the city, when Johnston was wounded, Lee took command and launched a series of counterattacks, collectively called the Seven Days Battles. These attacks culminated in the action on Malvern Hill, the Unions V Corps, commanded by Brig. Gen. Fitz John Porter, took up positions on the hill on June 30. Confederate preparations were hindered by several mishaps, Magruder and D. H. Hill, respectively. In each phase, the effectiveness of the Federal artillery was the factor, repulsing attack after attack. After the battle, McClellan and his forces withdrew from Malvern Hill to Harrisons Landing and his plan to capture Richmond had been thwarted. These errors provided Union forces with an opportunity to inflict heavy casualties, in the aftermath of the battle, however, the Confederate press heralded Lee as the savior of Richmond. In stark contrast, McClellan was accused of being absent from the battlefield, in spring 1862, Union commander Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan developed an ambitious plan to capture Richmond, the Confederate capital, on the Virginia Peninsula. The bold and sweeping landing was executed with few incidents, when McClellans army finally did attack on May 4, the defensive earthworks around Yorktown were undefended. After some hours, the Army of the Potomac pursued the retreating Confederates, when Union troops encountered the Confederate rearguard at Williamsburg, the two armies fought an inconclusive battle. The Confederates continued their withdrawal that night, to stymie the Southerners retreat, McClellan sent Brig. Gen. William F. Baldy Smith to Elthams Landing by boat, resulting in a battle there on May 7. When the Union Army tried to attack Richmond by way of the James River, all the while, McClellan continued his pursuit of Confederate forces, who were withdrawing quickly towards Richmond. The lack of action on the Virginia Peninsula spurred President Abraham Lincoln to order McClellans army to move into positions close to Richmond. By May 30, McClellan had begun moving troops across the Chickahominy River, however, heavy rains and thunderstorms on the night of May 30 caused the water level to swell, washing away two bridges and splitting the Federal army in two across the Chickahominy. Johnstons plan fell apart, and McClellan lost no ground, late in the battle, Johnston was hit in the right shoulder by a bullet and in the chest by a shell fragment, his command went to Maj. Gen. Gustavus W. Smith. Smiths tenure as commander of the Army of Northern Virginia was short, the subsequent two weeks on the peninsula were mostly quiet. On June 25, though, an attack by McClellan began a series of six major battles over the next week near Richmond—the Seven Days Battles. On the first day, as Lee led the Army of Northern Virginia toward the Union lines, Lees men successfully warded off the Union assault, and Lee continued with his plans
Battle of Malvern Hill
–
A watercolor of the Battle of Malvern Hill by
Robert Sneden
Battle of Malvern Hill
Battle of Malvern Hill
Battle of Malvern Hill
–
The gentle slope of the hill has been cleared to show the open ground in front of the Union cannon, as it was originally.
17.
Battle of Antietam
–
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
Battle of Antietam
–
Maj. Gen.
Fitz John Porter
Battle of Antietam
–
The Battle of Antietam, by
Kurz & Allison, depicting the scene of action at Burnside's Bridge
Battle of Antietam
–
Maj. Gen.
William B. Franklin
Battle of Antietam
–
Maj. Gen.
Ambrose E. Burnside
18.
Battle of Fredericksburg
–
A visitor to the battlefield described the battle to U. S. President Abraham Lincoln as a butchery. Burnsides plan was to cross the Rappahannock River at Fredericksburg in mid-November, bureaucratic delays prevented Burnside from receiving the necessary pontoon bridges in time and Lee moved his army to block the crossings. When the Union army was able to build its bridges and cross under fire. Union troops prepared to assault Confederate defensive positions south of the city, Burnside ordered the grand divisions of Maj. Gens. Sumner and Joseph Hooker to make frontal assaults against Lt. Gen. James Longstreets position on Maryes Heights. On December 15, Burnside withdrew his army, ending another failed Union campaign in the Eastern Theater, in November 1862, Lincoln needed to demonstrate the success of the Union war effort before the Northern public lost confidence in his administration. Confederate armies had been on the earlier in the fall, invading Kentucky and Maryland, and although each had been turned back. Lincoln urged Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant to advance against the Confederate stronghold of Vicksburg, Mississippi. McClellan had stopped Robert E. Lee at the Battle of Antietam in Maryland, mcClellans replacement was Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside, the commander of the IX Corps. Burnside had established a reputation as an independent commander, with successful operations earlier that year in coastal North Carolina and, However, he felt himself unqualified for army-level command and objected when offered the position. Burnside assumed command on November 7, in response to prodding from Lincoln and general-in-chief Maj. Gen. Henry W. Halleck, Burnside planned a late fall offensive, he communicated his plan to Halleck on November 9. The plan relied on movement and deception. He would concentrate his army in a visible fashion near Warrenton, feigning a movement on Culpeper Court House, Orange Court House and he also believed that the Orange and Alexandria Railroad would be an inadequate supply line. Lincoln reluctantly approved the plan on November 14 but cautioned his general to move with great speed, the Union Army began marching on November 15, and the first elements arrived in Falmouth on November 17. Burnside first requisitioned the pontoon bridging on November 7 when he detailed his plan to Halleck, the plan was sent to the attention of Brig. Gen. George Washington Cullum, the chief of staff in Washington. Plans called for both riverine and overland movement of the trains to Falmouth. On November 14, the 50th New York Engineers reported the pontoons were ready to move, unknown to Burnside, most of the bridging was still on the upper Potomac. Communications between Burnsides staff engineer Cyrus B, comstock and the Engineer Brigade commander Daniel P. Woodbury indicate that Burnside had assumed the bridging was en route to Washington based on orders given on November 6
Battle of Fredericksburg
–
Maj. Gen.
Ambrose E. Burnside, USA
Battle of Fredericksburg
–
The Battle of Fredericksburg by Kurz and Allison.
Battle of Fredericksburg
–
Maj. Gen.
William B. Franklin, USA
Battle of Fredericksburg
–
Gen.
Robert E. Lee, CSA
19.
Battle of Gettysburg
–
The Battle of Gettysburg was fought July 1–3,1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, by Union and Confederate forces during the American Civil War. The battle involved the largest number of casualties of the war and is often described as the wars turning point. Union Maj. Gen. George Meades Army of the Potomac defeated attacks by Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lees Army of Northern Virginia, ending Lees attempt to invade the North. After his success at Chancellorsville in Virginia in May 1863, Lee led his army through the Shenandoah Valley to begin his second invasion of the North—the Gettysburg Campaign. Prodded by President Abraham Lincoln, Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker moved his army in pursuit, but was relieved of command just three days before the battle and replaced by Meade. Elements of the two armies collided at Gettysburg on July 1,1863, as Lee urgently concentrated his forces there, his objective being to engage the Union army. Low ridges to the northwest of town were defended initially by a Union cavalry division under Brig. Gen. John Buford, on the second day of battle, most of both armies had assembled. The Union line was out in a defensive formation resembling a fishhook. In the late afternoon of July 2, Lee launched an assault on the Union left flank, and fierce fighting raged at Little Round Top, the Wheatfield, Devils Den. On the Union right, Confederate demonstrations escalated into full-scale assaults on Culps Hill, all across the battlefield, despite significant losses, the Union defenders held their lines. The charge was repulsed by Union rifle and artillery fire, at great loss to the Confederate army, Lee led his army on a torturous retreat back to Virginia. Between 46,000 and 51,000 soldiers from both armies were casualties in the battle, the most costly in US history. Shortly after the Army of Northern Virginia won a victory over the Army of the Potomac at the Battle of Chancellorsville. Such a move would upset U. S. plans for the campaigning season. The invasion would allow the Confederates to live off the bounty of the rich Northern farms while giving war-ravaged Virginia a much-needed rest, in addition, Lees 72, 000-man army could threaten Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, and possibly strengthen the growing peace movement in the North. Thus, on June 3, Lees army began to shift northward from Fredericksburg, the Cavalry Division remained under the command of Maj. Gen. J. E. B. The Union Army of the Potomac, under Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker, consisted of seven corps, a cavalry corps. The first major action of the campaign took place on June 9 between cavalry forces at Brandy Station, near Culpeper, Virginia
Battle of Gettysburg
–
The Battle of Gettysburg, by
Thure de Thulstrup
Battle of Gettysburg
–
First shot monument
Battle of Gettysburg
–
Union
breastworks on Culp's Hill
Battle of Gettysburg
–
The "High Water Mark" on Cemetery Ridge as it appears today. The monument to the 72nd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Regiment ("Baxter's Philadelphia Fire Zouaves") appears at right, the Copse of Trees to the left.
20.
Siege of Petersburg
–
The Richmond–Petersburg Campaign was a series of battles around Petersburg, Virginia, fought from June 9,1864, to March 25,1865, during the American Civil War. Numerous raids were conducted and battles fought in attempts to cut off the Richmond, many of these battles caused the lengthening of the trench lines, overloading dwindling Confederate resources. Lee finally gave in to the pressure and abandoned cities in April 1865, leading to his retreat and surrender at Appomattox Court House. The Siege of Petersburg foreshadowed the trench warfare that was common in World War I and it also featured the wars largest concentration of African American troops, who suffered heavy casualties at such engagements as the Battle of the Crater and Chaffins Farm. In March 1864, Ulysses S. Grant was promoted to lieutenant general and was given command of the Union Army. He devised a strategy to apply pressure on the Confederacy from many points. Grant put Maj. Gen. William T, George Crook and William W. Averell to operate against railroad supply lines in West Virginia, and Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Most of these failed, often because of the assignment of generals to Grant for political rather than military reasons. Butlers Army of the James bogged down against inferior forces under Gen. P. G. T, Beauregard before Richmond in the Bermuda Hundred Campaign. Sigel was soundly defeated at the Battle of New Market in May, banks was distracted by the Red River Campaign and failed to move on Mobile. However, Crook and Averell were able to cut the last railway linking Virginia and Tennessee, on May 4, Grant and Meades Army of the Potomac crossed the Rapidan River and entered the area known as the Wilderness of Spotsylvania, beginning the six-week Overland Campaign. Grant spent the remainder of May maneuvering and fighting battles with the Confederate army as he attempted to turn Lees flank. Grant knew that his army and base of manpower in the North could sustain a war of attrition better than Lee. This theory was tested at the Battle of Cold Harbor when Grants army once again came into contact with Lees near Mechanicsville and he chose to engage Lees army directly, by ordering a frontal assault on the Confederate fortified positions on June 3. This attack was repulsed with heavy losses, Cold Harbor was a battle that Grant regretted more than any other and Northern newspapers thereafter frequently referred to him as a butcher. On the night of June 12, Grant again advanced by his left flank and he planned to cross to the south bank of the river, bypassing Richmond, and isolate Richmond by seizing the railroad junction of Petersburg to the south. While Lee remained unaware of Grants intentions, the Union army constructed a pontoon bridge 2,100 feet long, what Lee had feared most of all—that Grant would force him into a siege of Richmond—was poised to occur. This represented a change of strategy from that of the preceding Overland Campaign, Lee at first believed that Grants main target was Richmond and devoted only minimal troops under Gen. P. G. T
Siege of Petersburg
–
The "Dictator" siege mortar at Petersburg. In the foreground, the figure on the right is Brig. Gen.
Henry J. Hunt, chief of artillery of the
Army of the Potomac.
Siege of Petersburg
–
Lt. Gen.
Ulysses S. Grant
Siege of Petersburg
–
Maj. Gen.
George G. Meade
Siege of Petersburg
–
Gen.
Robert E. Lee
21.
Artillery
–
Artillery is a class of large military weapons built to fire munitions far beyond the range and power of infantrys small arms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach fortifications, and led to heavy, as technology improved, lighter, more mobile field artillery developed for battlefield use. This development continues today, modern self-propelled artillery vehicles are highly mobile weapons of great versatility providing the largest share of an armys total firepower, in its earliest sense, the word artillery referred to any group of soldiers primarily armed with some form of manufactured weapon or armour. In common speech, the artillery is often used to refer to individual devices, along with their accessories and fittings. However, there is no generally recognised generic term for a gun, howitzer, mortar, and so forth, the United States uses artillery piece, the projectiles fired are typically either shot or shell. Shell is a widely used term for a projectile, which is a component of munitions. By association, artillery may also refer to the arm of service that customarily operates such engines, in the 20th Century technology based target acquisition devices, such as radar, and systems, such as sound ranging and flash spotting, emerged to acquire targets, primarily for artillery. These are usually operated by one or more of the artillery arms, Artillery originated for use against ground targets—against infantry, cavalry and other artillery. An early specialist development was coastal artillery for use against enemy ships, the early 20th Century saw the development of a new class of artillery for use against aircraft, anti-aircraft guns. Artillery is arguably the most lethal form of land-based armament currently employed, the majority of combat deaths in the Napoleonic Wars, World War I, and World War II were caused by artillery. In 1944, Joseph Stalin said in a speech that artillery was the God of War, although not called as such, machines performing the role recognizable as artillery have been employed in warfare since antiquity. The first references in the historical tradition begin at Syracuse in 399 BC. From the Middle Ages through most of the era, artillery pieces on land were moved by horse-drawn gun carriages. In the contemporary era, the artillery and crew rely on wheeled or tracked vehicles as transportation, Artillery used by naval forces has changed significantly also, with missiles replacing guns in surface warfare. The engineering designs of the means of delivery have likewise changed significantly over time, in some armies, the weapon of artillery is the projectile, not the equipment that fires it. The process of delivering fire onto the target is called gunnery, the actions involved in operating the piece are collectively called serving the gun by the detachment or gun crew, constituting either direct or indirect artillery fire. The term gunner is used in armed forces for the soldiers and sailors with the primary function of using artillery. The gunners and their guns are usually grouped in teams called either crews or detachments, several such crews and teams with other functions are combined into a unit of artillery, usually called a battery, although sometimes called a company
Artillery
–
French naval piece of the late 19th century
Artillery
–
French soldiers in the
Franco-Prussian War 1870–71.
Artillery
–
British 64 Pounder Rifled Muzzle-Loaded (RML) Gun on a Moncrieff disappearing mount, at Scaur Hill Fort,
Bermuda. This is a part of a fixed battery, meant to protect against over-land attack and to serve as coastal artillery.
Artillery
–
7-person gun crew firing a US
M777 Light Towed Howitzer,
War in Afghanistan, 2009.
22.
Military tactics
–
Military tactics are the science and art of organizing a military force, and the techniques for combining and using weapons and military units to engage and defeat an enemy in battle. Changes in philosophy and technology have been reflected in changes to military tactics, in contemporary military science, tactics are the lowest of three planning levels, strategic, operational, and tactical. The highest level of planning is strategy, how force is translated into political objectives by bridging the means, the intermediate level, operational, the conversion of strategy into tactics, deals with formations of units. Military tactics answer the questions of how best to deploy and employ forces on a small scale, some practices have not changed since the dawn of warfare, assault, ambushes, skirmishing, turning flanks, reconnaissance, creating and using obstacles and defenses, etc. Using ground to best advantage has not changed much either, heights, rivers, swamps, passes, choke points, and natural cover, can all be used in multiple ways. Before the nineteenth century, many tactics were confined to battlefield concerns. Nowadays, specialized tactics exist for many situations, for example for securing a room in a building, technological changes can render existing tactics obsolete, and sociological changes can shift the goals and methods of warfare, requiring new tactics. Tactics define how soldiers are armed and trained, each – constrained by his weaponry, logistics and social conditioning – would use a battlefield differently, but would usually seek the same outcomes from their use of tactics. The First World War forced great changes in tactics as advances in technology rendered prior tactics useless, list of military tactics Combat arms Johnson, Rob, Michael Whitby, John France. How to win on the battlefield,25 key tactics to outwit, outflank, cS1 maint, Multiple names, authors list Muhm, Gerhard. German Tactics in the Italian Campaign, Gerhard Muhm, La Tattica nella campagna ass d’Italia, in LINEA GOTICA AVAMPOSTO DEI BALCANI, Amedeo Montemaggi - Edizioni Civitas, Roma 1993. Contemporary Marine tactics for war fighting Napoleons tactics and strategy Small Unit Actions during German Campaign in Russia
Military tactics
–
German World War I observation post disguised as a tree.
23.
Infantry
–
Infantry is the general branch of an army that engages in military combat on foot. As the troops who engage with the enemy in close-ranged combat, infantry units bear the largest brunt of warfare, Infantry can enter and maneuver in terrain that is inaccessible to military vehicles and employ crew-served infantry weapons that provide greater and more sustained firepower. In English, the 16th-century term Infantry describes soldiers who walk to the battlefield, and there engage, fight, the term arose in Sixteenth-Century Spain, which boasted one of the first professional standing armies seen in Europe since the days of Rome. It was common to appoint royal princes to military commands, and the men under them became known as Infanteria. in the Canadian Army, the role of the infantry is to close with, and destroy the enemy. In the U. S. Army, the closes with the enemy, by means of fire and maneuver, in order to destroy or capture him, or to repel his assault by fire, close combat. In the U. S. Marine Corps, the role of the infantry is to locate, close with, and destroy the enemy fire and maneuver. Beginning with the Napoleonic Wars of the early 19th century, artillery has become a dominant force on the battlefield. Since World War I, combat aircraft and armoured vehicles have become dominant. In 20th and 21st century warfare, infantry functions most effectively as part of a combined arms team including artillery, armour, Infantry relies on organized formations to be employed in battle. These have evolved over time, but remain a key element to effective infantry development and deployment, until the end of the 19th century, infantry units were for the most part employed in close formations up until contact with the enemy. This allowed commanders to control of the unit, especially while maneuvering. The development of guns and other weapons with increased firepower forced infantry units to disperse in order to make them less vulnerable to such weapons. This decentralization of command was made possible by improved communications equipment, among the various subtypes of infantry is Medium infantry. This refers to infantry which are heavily armed and armored than heavy infantry. In the early period, medium infantry were largely eliminated due to discontinued use of body armour up until the 20th century. In the United States Army, Stryker Infantry is considered Medium Infantry, since they are heavier than light infantry, Infantry doctrine is the concise expression of how infantry forces contribute to campaigns, major operations, battles, and engagements. It is a guide to action, not a set of hard, doctrine provides a very common frame of reference across the military forces, allowing the infantry to function cooperatively in what are now called combined arms operations. Doctrine helps standardise operations, facilitating readiness by establishing common ways of accomplishing infantry tasks, doctrine links theory, history, experimentation, and practice
Infantry
–
Early 20th-century infantry: The
Royal Irish Rifles at the
Battle of the Somme (July–November 1916) during the
First World War (1914–18).
Infantry
–
Janissaries are a very important example in the evolution of the modern infantry.
Infantry
–
20th-century infantry: Australian infantry at Tobruk, Libya, in 1941, during the Second World War (1939–45).
Infantry
–
19th-century infantry: Brigadier General
Winfield Scott leads American line infantry into the
Battle of Chippawa (5 July 1814) in Canada, during the Anglo–American
War of 1812 (1812–15).
24.
Officer (armed forces)
–
An officer is a member of an armed force or uniformed service who holds a position of authority. In this sense, officers are not enlisted, but hold appointments from their government that typically remain in force indefinitely unless resigned, the proportion of officers varies greatly. Officers typically make up between an eighth and a fifth of modern armed forces personnel, in 2013, officers were the senior 17% of the British armed forces, and the senior 13. 7% of the French armed forces. In 2012, officers made up about 18% of the German armed forces, historically, however, armed forces have generally had much lower proportions of officers. During the First World War, fewer than 5% of British soldiers were officers, in the early twentieth century, the Spanish army had the highest proportion of officers of any European army, at 12. 5%. Within a nations armed forces, armies tend to have a proportion of officers. For example,13. 9% of British army personnel and 22. 2% of the RAF personnel were officers in 2013, having officers is one requirement for combatant status under the laws of war, though these officers need not have obtained an official commission or warrant. Commissioned officers are typically the only persons, in an armed forces environment, a superior officer is an officer with a higher rank than another officer, who is a subordinate officer relative to the superior. Non-commissioned officers in positions of authority can be said to have control or charge rather than command per se, many advanced militaries require university degrees as a prerequisite for commissioning, even from the enlisted ranks. In the Israel Defense Forces, a university degree is a requirement for an officer to advance to the rank of lieutenant colonel, the IDF often sponsors the studies for its majors, while aircrew and naval officers obtain academic degrees as a part of their training programmes. In the United Kingdom, there are three routes of entry for British Armed Forces officers, the first, and primary route are those who receive their commission directly into the officer grades following completion at their relevant military academy. The third route is similar to the second, in that they convert from an enlisted to a commission, but these are taken from the highest ranks of SNCOs. LE officers, whilst holding the same Queens Commission, generally work in different roles from the DE officers, in the infantry, a number of Warrant Officer Class 1s are commissioned as LE officers. For Royal Navy and Royal Air Force officer candidates, a 30-week period at Britannia Royal Naval College or a 30-week period at RAF College Cranwell, Royal Marines officers receive their training in the Command Wing of the Commando Training Centre Royal Marines during a grueling 15-month course. The courses consist of not only tactical and combat training, but also leadership, management, etiquette, until the Cardwell Reforms of 1871, commissions in the British Army were purchased by officers. The Royal Navy, however, operated on a more meritocratic, or at least socially mobile, AOCS also also included the embedded Aviation Reserve Officer Candidate and Naval Aviation Cadet programs. NAVCADs were personnel who held associates degrees, but lacked bachelors degrees, nAVCADs would complete the entire AOCS program, but would not be commissioned until completion of flight training and receiving their wings. After their initial tour, they would be assigned to a college or university full-time for no more than two years in order to complete their bachelors degree
Officer (armed forces)
–
A commissioned officer and a non-commissioned officer prepare for a mission in Afghanistan.
Officer (armed forces)
–
The
Royal Navy officer training academy
Britannia Royal Naval College at Dartmouth, also known as HMS Britannia
Officer (armed forces)
–
A
platoon from the Australian
29th Battalion being addressed by their Commanding Officer in August 1918
25.
Continental Army
–
The Continental Army was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War by the colonies that became the United States of America. Established by a resolution of the Congress on June 14,1775, the Continental Army was supplemented by local militias and troops that remained under control of the individual states or were otherwise independent. General George Washington was the commander-in-chief of the army throughout the war, most of the Continental Army was disbanded in 1783 after the Treaty of Paris ended the war. The 1st and 2nd Regiments went on to form the nucleus of the Legion of the United States in 1792 under General Anthony Wayne and this became the foundation of the United States Army in 1796. The Continental Army consisted of soldiers from all 13 colonies, and after 1776, when the American Revolutionary War began at the Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19,1775, the colonial revolutionaries did not have an army. As tensions with Great Britain increased in the leading to the war. Training of militiamen increased after the passage of the Intolerable Acts in 1774, colonists such as Richard Henry Lee proposed forming a national militia force, but the First Continental Congress rejected the idea. On April 23,1775, the Massachusetts Provincial Congress authorized the raising of an army consisting of 26 company regiments. New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Connecticut soon raised similar, on July 18,1775, the Congress requested all colonies form militia companies from all able bodied effective men, between sixteen and fifty years of age. It was not uncommon for men younger than sixteen to enlist as most colonies had no requirement of consent for those under twenty-one. Four major-generals and eight brigadier-generals were appointed by the Second Continental Congress in the course of a few days, after Pomeroy did not accept, John Thomas was appointed in his place. As the Continental Congress increasingly adopted the responsibilities and posture of a legislature for a sovereign state, as a result, the army went through several distinct phases, characterized by official dissolution and reorganization of units. Soldiers in the Continental Army were citizens who had volunteered to serve in the army, early in the war the enlistment periods were short, as the Continental Congress feared the possibility of the Continental Army evolving into a permanent army. The army never numbered more than 17,000 men, turnover proved a constant problem, particularly in the winter of 1776–77, and longer enlistments were approved. Major General Philip Schuylers ten regiments in New York were sent to invade Canada, the Continental Army of 1776, reorganized after the initial enlistment period of the soldiers in the 1775 army had expired. Despite attempts to broaden the recruiting base beyond New England, the 1776 army remained skewed toward the Northeast both in terms of its composition and of its geographical focus. This army consisted of 36 regiments, most standardized to a battalion of 768 men strong and formed into eight companies. Enlistment terms extended to three years or to the length of the war to avoid the crises that depleted forces
Continental Army
Continental Army
–
Infantry of the Continental Army.
Continental Army
–
1778 Drawing of a member of the
Stockbridge Militia (from Revolutionary War diary of
Johann Von Ewald)
Continental Army
–
Continental Army Plaza,
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
26.
American Revolution
–
The British responded by imposing punitive laws on Massachusetts in 1774 known as the Coercive Acts, following which Patriots in the other colonies rallied behind Massachusetts. Tensions escalated to the outbreak of fighting between Patriot militia and British regulars at Lexington and Concord in April 1775, the conflict then developed into a global war, during which the Patriots fought the British and Loyalists in what became known as the American Revolutionary War. The Continental Congress determined King George IIIs rule to be tyrannical and infringing the rights as Englishmen. The Patriot leadership professed the political philosophies of liberalism and republicanism to reject monarchy and aristocracy, Congress rejected British proposals requiring allegiance to the monarchy and abandonment of independence. The British were forced out of Boston in 1776, but then captured and they blockaded the ports and captured other cities for brief periods, but failed to defeat Washingtons forces. After a failed Patriot invasion of Canada, a British army was captured at the Battle of Saratoga in late 1777, a combined American–French force captured a second British army at Yorktown in 1781, effectively ending the war in the United States. The Treaty of Paris in 1783 formally ended the conflict, confirming the new nations complete separation from the British Empire. The United States took possession of all the territory east of the Mississippi River and south of the Great Lakes, with the British retaining control of Canada. Among the significant results of the revolution was the creation of a new Constitution of the United States. Historians typically begin their histories of the American Revolution with the British victory in the French and Indian War in 1763, the lands west of Quebec and west of a line running along the crest of the Allegheny mountains became Indian territory, temporarily barred to settlement. For the prior history, see Thirteen Colonies, in 1764, Parliament passed the Currency Act to restrain the use of paper money which British merchants saw as a means to evade debt payments. Parliament also passed the Sugar Act, imposing customs duties on a number of articles, none did and Parliament passed the Stamp Act in March 1765 which imposed direct taxes on the colonies for the first time. All official documents, newspapers, almanacs, and pamphlets—even decks of playing cards—were required to have the stamps, the colonists did not object that the taxes were high, but because they had no representation in the Parliament. Benjamin Franklin testified in Parliament in 1766 that Americans already contributed heavily to the defense of the Empire, stationing a standing army in Great Britain during peacetime was politically unacceptable. London had to deal with 1,500 politically well-connected British officers who became redundant, in 1765, the Sons of Liberty formed. They used public demonstrations, boycott, violence, and threats of violence to ensure that the British tax laws were unenforceable, in Boston, the Sons of Liberty burned the records of the vice admiralty court and looted the home of chief justice Thomas Hutchinson. Several legislatures called for united action, and nine colonies sent delegates to the Stamp Act Congress in New York City in October 1765, moderates led by John Dickinson drew up a Declaration of Rights and Grievances stating that taxes passed without representation violated their rights as Englishmen. Colonists emphasized their determination by boycotting imports of British merchandise, the Parliament at Westminster saw itself as the supreme lawmaking authority throughout all British possessions and thus entitled to levy any tax without colonial approval
American Revolution
–
John Trumbull 's
Declaration of Independence, showing the
Committee of Five presenting its work to Congress
American Revolution
–
Notice of Stamp Act of 1765 in newspaper
American Revolution
–
Burning of the
Gaspee
American Revolution
–
This 1846
lithograph by
Nathaniel Currier was entitled "The Destruction of Tea at Boston Harbor"; the phrase "
Boston Tea Party " had not yet become standard.
27.
Kansas Territory
–
The territory extended from the Missouri border west to the summit of the Rocky Mountains and from the 37th parallel north to the 40th parallel north. Much of the region of what is now the State of Colorado was part of Kansas Territory. The Territory of Colorado was created to govern this western region of the former Kansas Territory on February 28,1861, Kansas Territory was established by the Kansas–Nebraska Act. The Kansas–Nebraska Act became a law on May 30,1854, establishing the Nebraska Territory, the provisions relating to Kansas Territory were embodied in the last eighteen sections. Section 28 Declares the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 to be in force in the Territory. Section 31 Locates the seat of government of the Territory, temporarily at Fort Leavenworth, and authorizes the use for public purposes of the government buildings. As early as June 10,1854, the Missourians held a meeting at Salt Creek Valley and they said they were in favor of making Kansas a slave state if it should require half the citizens of Missouri, musket in hand, to emigrate there. The desire to facilitate the colonization of the Territory took practical shape while the bill was still under debate in the United States Congress, the largest organization created for this purpose was the New England Emigrant Aid Company, organized by Eli Thayer. Emigration from the states, including New England, Iowa, Ohio. These emigrants were known as Free-Staters, because Missourians had claimed much of the land closest to the border, the Free-Staters were forced to establish settlements further into Kansas Territory. Among these were Lawrence, Topeka, and Manhattan, to protect themselves against the encroachments of non-residents, the Actual Settlers Association of Kansas Territory was formed. The first territorial appointments, looking to the inauguration of a government, under the provisions of the organic law, were made in June. The officers appointed by President Pierce, whose appointments were confirmed by the United States Senate, the first governor was Andrew Horatio Reeder was appointed June 29,1854 and removed July 28,1858. On March 30,1855 Border Ruffians from Missouri entered Kansas during the territorys first legislative election, antislavery candidates prevailed in one election district, the future Riley County. The first session of the legislature was held in Pawnee, Kansas at the request of Governor Reeder, the two-story stone building still stands and is open to the public as the First Territorial Capitol of Kansas. The building remained as the seat of the legislature for five days from July 2–6,1855, the last legislative act of the Territorial Legislature was the approval of the charter for the College of the Sisters of Bethany. This was February 2, 1861—four days after James Buchanan signed the act of Congress that officially brought Kansas into the Union, James H. Lane joined the Free-State movement in 1855 and became president the Topeka Constitutional Convention from October 23 to November 11,1855. He was later a leader of Jayhawkers and it was claimed that some Missourians had used violence toward the persons and property of the inhabitants of the Kansas Territory
Kansas Territory
–
Site No. JF00-072: Nebraska-Kansas state line at intersection of Nebraska counties Thayer and Jefferson and Kansas counties Washington and Republic.
Kansas Territory
–
1855 first edition of Colton's map of Nebraska and Kansas Territories
28.
Fort Leavenworth
–
Fort Leavenworth is a United States Army installation located in Leavenworth County, Kansas, immediately north of the city of Leavenworth in the upper northeast portion of the state. Built in 1827, it is the oldest active United States Army post west of Washington, D. C. Fort Leavenworth has been historically known as the Intellectual Center of the Army. Fort Leavenworth was also the base of African-American soldiers of the U. S. 10th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army, formed on 21 September 1866 at Fort Leavenworth and they became known as Buffalo Soldiers, nicknamed by the Native American tribes whom they fought. This term eventually was applied to all of the African-American regiments formed in 1866, during the countrys westward expansion, Fort Leavenworth was a forward destination for thousands of soldiers, surveyors, immigrants, American Indians, preachers and settlers who passed through. On August 1,1846, a Mormon Battalion, led by Col. James Allen, colonel Allen became ill and died at the fort, his headstone marks his grave at the Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery. Today, the garrison supports the U. S. Army Training, cACs mission involves leader development, collective training, Army doctrine and battle command. The fort occupies 5,600 ac and 7,000,000 ft2 of space in 1,000 buildings and 1,500 quarters. It is located on the Frontier Military Scenic Byway, which was originally a road connecting to Fort Scott National Historic Site. The garrison commander is a colonel reporting via IMCOM West to the Installation Management Command, the fort is nicknamed the intellectual center of the Army because much of its mission involves training. S. and allied soldiers and officers. The school trains almost all of the armys majors, all modern five-star army generals have passed through the college including George Marshall, Douglas MacArthur, Dwight Eisenhower, Henry “Hap” Arnold, and Omar Bradley. Since 1978 it has been commanded by a Lieutenant General, in 2007, its commander was David Petraeus. It reports to the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command, United States Disciplinary Barracks, which is the only maximum security prison for military personnel of all branches. Since a 2007 reorganization, its commander is a colonel who reports to the United States Army Corrections Command, midwest Joint Regional Correctional Facility, a low security prison. Reports to the United States Army Corrections Command, army/ACE Registry Transcript Systems See Fort Leavenworth School District The Fort Leavenworth Lamp newspaper serves the military community living on post. The fort is 10 miles south of the 18th century French Fort de Cavagnal and its commandant was François Coulon de Villiers, a brother to Louis Coulon de Villiers, who was the only military commander to force George Washington to surrender. The French abandoned the fort after ceding its territory to Louisiana at the conclusion of the French, early American explorers on the Missouri River to visit the area of Fort de Cavagnal include Lewis and Clark on 26–29 June 1804 and Stephen Harriman Long in 1819. The fort location had been chosen then because of its proximity to a large Kansa tribe village, the spot being chosen, he will then construct with the troops of his command comfortable, though temporary quarters sufficient for the accommodation of four companies. This movement will be made as early as the convenience of the service will permit, the first army installation in Cantonment Leavenworth was located on Scott Avenue, south of the Post Chapel with initial strength of 14 officers and 174 enlisted men
Fort Leavenworth
–
Grant Hall, the symbol of Fort Leavenworth and headquarters of the
U.S. Army Combined Arms Center
Fort Leavenworth
–
Artillery Battery at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
Fort Leavenworth
–
Buffalo Soldier Monument
29.
United States Military Academy
–
It sits on scenic high ground overlooking the Hudson River,50 miles north of New York City. It is one of the four U. S. military service academies, the entire central campus is a national landmark and home to scores of historic sites, buildings, and monuments. The majority of the campuss Norman-style buildings are constructed from gray, the campus is a popular tourist destination complete with a large visitor center and the oldest museum in the United States Army. Candidates for admission must both apply directly to the academy and receive a nomination, usually from a member of Congress or Delegate/Resident Commissioner in the case of Washington, puerto Rico, Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Virgin Islands. Other nomination sources include the President and Vice President of the United States, students are officers-in-training and are referred to as cadets or collectively as the United States Corps of Cadets. Tuition for cadets is fully funded by the Army in exchange for an active duty service obligation upon graduation, approximately 1,300 cadets enter the Academy each July, with about 1,000 cadets graduating. Cadets are required to adhere to the Cadet Honor Code, which states that a cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, the academy bases a cadets leadership experience as a development of all three pillars of performance, academics, physical, and military. Most graduates are commissioned as lieutenants in the Army. Foreign cadets are commissioned into the armies of their home countries, since 1959, cadets have also been eligible to cross-commission, or request a commission in one of the other armed services, provided that they meet that services eligibility standards. Every year, a small number of cadets do this. The academys traditions have influenced other institutions because of its age and it was the first American college to have an accredited civil-engineering program and the first to have class rings, and its technical curriculum was a model for later engineering schools. West Points student body has a rank structure and lexicon. All cadets reside on campus and dine together en masse on weekdays for breakfast, the academy fields fifteen mens and nine womens National Collegiate Athletic Association sports teams. Cadets compete in one sport every fall, winter, and spring season at the intramural, club and its football team was a national power in the early and mid-20th century, winning three national championships. The Continental Army first occupied West Point, New York, on 27 January 1778, between 1778 and 1780, the Polish engineer and military hero Tadeusz Kościuszko oversaw the construction of the garrison defenses. While the fortifications at West Point were known as Fort Arnold during the war, as commander, Benedict Arnold committed his act of treason, after Arnold betrayed the patriot cause, the Army changed the name of the fortifications at West Point, New York, to Fort Clinton. With the peace after the American Revolutionary War, various ordnance, Cadets underwent training in artillery and engineering studies at the garrison since 1794. In 1801, shortly after his inauguration as president, Thomas Jefferson directed that plans be set in motion to establish at West Point the United States Military Academy and he selected Jonathan Williams to serve as its first superintendent
United States Military Academy
–
West Point fortifications 1780
United States Military Academy
–
United States Military Academy at West Point
United States Military Academy
–
West Point, from Phillipstown. engraving by W. J. Bennett showing the original buildings of the United States Military Academy
United States Military Academy
–
Thayer monument
30.
Second Lieutenant
–
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1b rank. Like the United Kingdom, the rank of second lieutenant replaced the rank of ensign, the rank of second lieutenant was phased out in the Australian Regular Army in 1986. The Canadian Forces adopted the rank insignia of a single gold ring around the service dress uniform cuff for both army and air personnel upon unification in 1968 until the late 2000s. For a time, naval personnel used this rank but reverted to the Royal Canadian Navy rank of acting sub-lieutenant, currently, the Canadian Army insignia for second lieutenant is a pip and the Royal Canadian Air Force insignia for lieutenant is one thick braid. The equivalent rank for the Royal Canadian Navy is acting sub-lieutenant, also known as an Ensign in the Foot Guards units. The insignia consists of a bar in accordance with the color of the ceremonial uniform buttons. For cavalry or forest rangers, ceremonial dress buttons were silver, as was the horn on the forest commissioned officers képi. The insignia consists of a silver star. Officers holding this rank should be addressed as Kyrie Anthypolochage by their subordinates, in Indonesia, Second lieutenant is known as Letnan Dua which is the most junior ranked officer in the Indonesian Military. Cadets who graduate from the Indonesian Military Academy achieve this rank as young officers, senior Non-commissioned officers promoted to becoming commissioned officers go to the Officers Candidate School in Bandung for achieving the Second Lieutenant rank. The Lieutenant rank has two levels, which are Second lieutenant and First lieutenant, lieutenants in Indonesia usually command a Platoon level of troops and are referred to as Danton abbreviated from Komandan Pleton in Indonesian. Since 1951 in the Israel Defense Forces (סגן-משנה (סגמ segen mishne has been equivalent to a second lieutenant, from 1948 –1951 the corresponding rank was that of a segen, which since 1951 has been equivalent to lieutenant. Segen mishne means junior lieutenant and segen literally translates as assistant, typically it is the rank of a platoon commander. Note that the IDF uses this rank across all three of its services, the equivalent rank in Norway is fenrik. This is the first rank, where they are commanding officer, Fenriks are usually former experienced sergeants but to become a fenrik one has to go through officers training and education. Fenriks fill roles as second in command within a platoon, Fenriks are in some cases executive officers. Most fenriks have finished the War Academy as well, and are fully trained officers, to qualify for the Military Academy, Fenriks are required to do minimum 6 months service in international missions, before or after graduation. The Pakistan Army follows the British pattern of ranks, a second lieutenant is represented by one metal pip on each shoulder in case of khaki uniform and one four quadric printed star on the chest in case of camouflage combat dress
Second Lieutenant
–
Army
31.
Winfield Scott
–
Winfield Scott was a United States Army general and unsuccessful presidential candidate of the Whig Party in 1852. He served as Commanding General of the United States Army for twenty years, a national hero after the Mexican–American War, he served as military governor of Mexico City. Such was his stature that, in 1852, the Whig Party passed over its own incumbent President of the United States, Millard Fillmore, at six feet five inches in height, he remains the tallest man ever nominated by a major party. He was educated by tutors and in the schools, and briefly attended the College of William. He then studied law in the office of attorney David Robinson, Scott attained admission to the bar, and made a brief attempt to practice law. He also gained his military experience as a corporal of cavalry in the Virginia militia near Petersburg in 1807. He was subsequently commissioned as a captain in the Light Artillery in May 1808, Scotts early career in the army was tumultuous. Scotts commission was suspended for one year, and after returning to duty, Scott earned the nickname Old Fuss and Feathers for his insistence on military bearing, courtesy, appearance and discipline. In his own campaigns after reaching high rank, Scott preferred to use a core of Army regulars augmented by volunteers whenever possible, Scott perennially concerned himself with the welfare of his men, as demonstrated by his quarrel with Wilkinson over the New Orleans bivouac site. In another instance, when cholera broke out at a post under his command, the army promoted Scott to lieutenant colonel of the 2nd Artillery Regiment in July 1812. Scott served primarily on the Niagara Campaign front in the War of 1812 and he took command of an American landing party during the Battle of Queenston Heights on October 13,1812. The British held Scott as a prisoner of war, the British considered Irish-American prisoners of war British subjects and traitors and executed 13 such Americans captured at Queenstown Heights. The British paroled and released Scott in a prisoner exchange, upon release, Scott returned to Washington to pressure the Senate to take punitive action against British prisoners of war in retaliation for the British executions of Irish-American soldiers. The Senate wrote a bill after this urging, but President James Madison believed the execution of prisoners of war unworthy of civilized nations. Scott was promoted to colonel in March 1813, Scott planned and led the capture of Fort George, Upper Canada, on the Niagara River. By crossing the Niagara and landing on the Lake Ontario shore, Colonel Scott was wounded in this battle, which is considered among the best-planned and best-executed U. S. operations of the war. Scott was promoted to general on March 19,1814. He was only 27 years old at the time, one of the youngest generals in the history of the U. S. Army, Scott commanded the 1st Brigade, and was instrumental in the American success at the Battle of Chippawa on July 5,1814
Winfield Scott
–
Scott in 1862
Winfield Scott
–
Scott during the War of 1812
Winfield Scott
–
Winfield Scott, 1835 portrait by
George Catlin
Winfield Scott
–
Statue of Winfield Scott on
Scott Circle in Washington, D.C.
32.
Captain (United States O-3)
–
In the United States Army, U. S. Marine Corps, and U. S. Air Force, captain is a company grade officer rank, with the pay grade of O-3. It ranks above first lieutenant and below major and it is equivalent to the rank of lieutenant in the naval rank system. The insignia for the rank consists of two bars, with slight stylized differences between the Army/Air Force version and the Marine Corps version. Promotion to captain is governed by Department of Defense policies derived from the Defense Officer Personnel Management Act of 1980, DOPMA guidelines suggest 95% of first lieutenants should be promoted to captain after serving a minimum of two years at their present rank. A U. S. Army and U. S. Marine captain generally commands company-sized units, when given such a command, they bear the title company commander. Captains also instruct at service schools and combat training centers and are often staff officers at the battalion level, Marine captains also serve as officer selection officers, commanding recruiting stations for commissioned officers. A U. S. Air Force captains authority varies by group assignment, in an operations group, senior captains may be flight commanders while more junior captains may be heads of departments. In the maintenance or logistics and mission support groups they are almost always flight commanders, in the medical group, captains usually have limited administrative and command responsibility as captain is frequently the entry-level rank for most medical officers and dental officers. In Army and Air Force medical units, captain is the rank for those possessing a medical degree. U. S. Army Special Forces Operational Detachments Alpha and MARSOCs 14-man Marine Special Operations Teams are commanded by a captain, United States Army officer rank insignia United States Air Force enlisted rank insignia DA Pamphlet 600–3, Commissioned Officer Professional Development and Career Management
Captain (United States O-3)
–
US Marine Corps insignia of the rank of Captain (O-3)
Captain (United States O-3)
–
US Army and
US Air Force insignia of the rank of Captain (O-3)
33.
Battle of Contreras
–
The Battle of Contreras, also known as the Battle of Padierna, took place on 19–20 August 1847, in the final encounters of the Mexican-American War. In the Battle of Churubusco, fighting continued the following day, Scott moved on the south side of Lake Chalco on 15 Aug. advancing to San Agustin. Santa Anna had about 30,000 men defending the city, including 7,000 from Gabriel Valencias Army of the North, which was located near Contreras by 17 Aug. Intending to flank San Antonio, Scott ordered Capt. Robert E. Lee to build a road across the Pedregal lava field so he could enfilade San Antonio to the north of San Agustin, Pillow then brought in his artillery, under the command of Capt. Magruder, Lt. Franklin D. Callender, and Lt. Jesse L. Reno, when told of the American movement across the Pedregal, Valencia exclaimed, No. In the mean time Col. Truman B, ransoms 9th Infantry and Lt. Col. Milledge L. Bonhams 12th moved forward on the American right to within 200 yards of Valencias camp by nightfall. Scott sent General James Shields brigade to Pillow who sent it after Cadwalader, santa Anna moved with Brigadier General Francisco Perezs 3,000 man brigade to San Angel, just north of the fighting. Night brought a cold rain and the end of fighting for the day, during the night, Lt. Zealous Bates Tower discovered a ravine running southwest from San Geronimo to the rear of Valencias camp, which Smith planned to use for a dawn attack the next morning. Lee volunteered to cross the Pedregal during the night so Scott could coordinate a diversion using Twiggs, Twiggs did so at 5 AM, just as Smith struck Valencia from the rear. Within seventeen minutes, Valencia and his force fled to San Angel, the U. S. forces captured 22 pieces of artillery and four generals. The battle culminated at the outskirts of Mexico City, at Padierna, among the neighborhoods of San Ángel, Contreras, apuntes Para la Historia de la Guerra entre Mexico y los Estados Unidos Mexico City. La batalla de Padierna Nevin, David, the Other Side New York, John Wiley,1850. - Mexico War, Center for Greater Southwestern Studies, the University of Texas at Arlington
Battle of Contreras
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"The Battle of Contreras" by Carl Nebel. Oil on canvas, 1851.
Battle of Contreras
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Environs south of Mexico City
Battle of Contreras
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Disposition of forces.
34.
Churubusco
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Churubusco is a neighbourhood of Mexico City. Under the current territorial division of the Mexican Federal District, it is a part of the borough of Coyoacán and it is centred on the former Franciscan monastery at 19°21′20″N 99°8′55″W. The name Churubusco is the interpretation the Spanish conquistadors gave to the original Nahuatl name Huitzilopochco – meaning place of Huitzilopochtli, earlier attested forms that the adapted name took include Huycholopuzco, Ocholopusco, Ochoroposco, Uchilubusco, and Chulibusco. The first settlers are believed to have arrived in the area, Huitzilopochco existed as an independent lordship within Mexico-Tenochtitlan. Its first ruler was Huitzilatzin, a grandson of Huitzilihuitl, the second Tlatoani and its population numbered some 15,000 dedicated to the cultivation of fruit and flowers and the extraction of salt from the neighboring Lake Texcoco. A temple dedicated to the worship of Huitzilopochtli stood at a known as Teopanzolco. Within the Aztec Empire, this teocalli ranked second only to the one at the Templo Mayor in Mexico-Tenochtitlan, Huitzilopochco was famous for the hummingbird feathers that it sent in tribute to the capital. In 1503, Ahuitzotl, the eighth Tlatoani, connected a nearby spring to the Mexico-Tenochtitlan water supply and this is believed to have been the direct cause of the great flood of that year that devastated the city and claimed hundreds of lives – including that of Ahuitzotl. During Hernán Cortéss siege of Mexico-Tenochtitlan in 1521, Huitzilopochco was razed to the ground, some years later, Franciscan friars founded a small convent in the Teopanzolco district, using stones from the destroyed teocalli of Huitzilopochtli. The convent was dedicated to Mary, Queen of Angels and they rebuilt the monastery and added a novitiate and a school. In the second half of century, thanks to the generosity of one Diego del Castillo and his wife. A series of enhancements were made to the monastery and its church, including an altar dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe in 1766. In 1797 an independent chapel, dedicated to Saint Anthony of Padua, was erected, on 20 August 1847, during the U. S. invasion of Mexico, a bloody and decisive battle was fought in Churubusco – specifically, in the vicinity of the monastery. In 1857, President Ignacio Comonfort had a monument commemorating the defence of the monastery built in front of its main gates. In 1869, during the Reform period under President Benito Juárez and it was converted into a military hospital specialising in contagious diseases. The museum was opened to the public in 1921, with the rapid expansion of Mexico City during the mid-20th century, Churubusco ceased to be a separate village and was swallowed up by the urban sprawl of the capital. The motion picture production facility of Estudios Churubusco – the nerve centre of the Golden Age of Mexican Cinema – opened in the district in 1945. It stands in a residential neighbourhood just outside the southernmost loop of the inner ring-road, in the middle of a pleasant, metro General Anaya is located in the vicinity
Churubusco
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Churubusco's monastery at the height of the 1847
Battle of Churubusco
Churubusco
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The
Aztec glyph for Huitzilopochco.
35.
Major (United States)
–
In the United States Army, Marine Corps, and Air Force, major is a field grade military officer rank above the rank of captain and below the rank of lieutenant colonel. It is equivalent to the rank of lieutenant commander in the other uniformed services. Although lieutenant commanders are considered junior officers by their respective services, the pay grade for the rank of major is O-4. The insignia for the rank consists of an oak leaf. Promotion to major is governed by Department of Defense policies derived from the Defense Officer Personnel Management Act of 1980, a major in the U. S. Army typically serves as a battalion executive officer or as the battalion operations officer. A major can also serve as a staff officer for a regiment, brigade or task force in the areas concerning personnel, logistics. A major will also be a staff officer / action officer on higher staffs, in addition, majors command augmented companies in Combat Service and Service Support units. U. S. Army majors also command Special operations companies, during the American Civil War the Union Army continued to use the existing titles of rank and rank insignia established for the US Army. The number of rows of lace increased with the rank of the officer. A major in the Air Force typically has duties as a staff officer at the squadron. In flying squadrons majors are generally flight commanders or assistant directors of operations, in the mission support and maintenance groups majors may occasionally be squadron commanders. In the medical corps, a major may be the head of a clinic or flight, many police agencies in the United States use the rank of major for officers in senior administrative and supervisory positions. The position is most often found in larger agencies, where the number of sworn personnel requires an expanded and complex rank structure. The term major is not always used in scenarios, and some police departments prefer to use titles such as Deputy Chief, Commander, or similar. However, there are agencies, particularly state police, which prefer to use both the insignia and title. The rank may also be used in conjunction with, rather than instead of, confederate Army rank insignia, A guide Officer rank insignia Rank history
Major (United States)
–
Army,
Air Force, and
Marine Corps insignia of the rank of major. Style and method of wear may vary between the services.
36.
Utah War
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The confrontation lasted from May 1857 to July 1858. There were some casualties, mostly non-Mormon civilians, the war had no notable military battles. In 1857-1858, President James Buchanan sent U. S. forces to the Utah Territory in what known as the Utah Expedition. The Mormons, fearful that the large U. S. military force had sent to annihilate them and having faced persecution in other areas. Though bloodshed was to be avoided, and the U. S. government also hoped that its purpose might be attained without the loss of life, firearms were manufactured or repaired by the Mormons, scythes were turned into bayonets, and long-unused sabres were burnished and sharpened. Rather than engaging the enemy directly, Mormon strategy was one of hindering and weakening them. Daniel H. Wells, lieutenant-general of the Nauvoo Legion, instructed Major Joseph Taylor, On ascertaining the locality or route of the troops, use every exertion to stampede their animals and set fire to their trains. Burn the whole country before them and on their flanks, keep them from sleeping, by night surprises, blockade the road by felling trees or destroying the river fords where you can. Watch for opportunities to set fire to the grass on their windward, so as, if possible, leave no grass before them that can be burned. Keep your men concealed as much as possible, and guard against surprise, the Mormons blocked the armys entrance into the Salt Lake Valley, and weakened the U. S. Army by hindering them from receiving provisions. They first claimed that the migrants were killed by Indians, and this event was later called the Mountain Meadows massacre, and the motives behind the incident remain unclear. The Aiken massacre took place the following month, in October 1857, Mormons arrested six Californians traveling through Utah and charged them with being spies for the U. S. Army. They were released, but were murdered and robbed of their stock. Other incidents of violence have also linked to the Utah War. They killed two Mormons and wounded several others, the historian Brigham Madsen notes, he responsibility for the lay mainly with the Bannock. David Bigler concludes that the raid was probably caused by members of the Utah Expedition who were trying to replenish their stores of livestock which had been stolen by Mormon raiders. Taking all incidents into account, MacKinnon estimates that approximately 150 people died as a result of the year-long Utah War. He points out that this was close to the number of people killed during the seven-year contemporaneous struggle in Bleeding Kansas. S
Utah War
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Governor
Brigham Young was appointed to office by President
Millard Fillmore in 1850.
Utah War
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The
Utah Territory (blue with black outline) and proposed
State of Deseret (dotted line). Modern map underlaid for reference.
Utah War
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President
James Buchanan was inaugurated in March 1857. The Presidential campaign of 1856 featured extensive denunciation of
polygamy and Mormon governance in Utah.
Utah War
–
Senator
Stephen A. Douglas was a leading proponent of
popular sovereignty.
37.
Field artillery
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Field artillery is a category of mobile artillery used to support armies in the field. These weapons are specialized for mobility, tactical proficiency, long range, short range and this was in contrast to horse artillery, whose emphasis on speed while supporting cavalry units necessitated lighter guns and crews riding on horseback. Modern artillery has also advanced to rapidly deployable wheeled and tracked vehicles, thus, their role was limited to such functions as breaking sieges. Following the beginning of the era, the first field artillery came into being as metallurgy allowed thinner cannon barrels to withstand the explosive forces without bursting. However, there was still a risk of the constant changes of the battlefield conspiring to leave behind slow-moving artillery units - either on the advance, or more dangerously. Artillery units were particularly vulnerable to assault by light cavalry, which were used in this role. Only with a number of inventions, did the concept of field artillery really take off. One of the earliest documented uses of field artillery is found in the 14th-century Ming Dynasty treatise Huolongjing, the text describes a Chinese cannon called a thousand ball thunder cannon, manufactured of bronze and fastened with wheels. The book also describes another mobile form of artillery called a barbarian attacking cannon consisting of an attached to a two-wheel carriage. Before World War I, field artillery batteries fired directly at visible targets measured in distances of meters. Today, modern field batteries measure targets in kilometers and miles, most field artillery situations require indirect fire due to weather, terrain, night-time conditions, distance or other obstacles. Modern field artillery has three sections, All batteries have a Fire Support Man, Fire Direction Control. The FOs are forward with the infantry where they can see the targets and they call the FDC on the radio and transmit a request for fire in the format of CFF. The FDC calculates the CFF and send a deflection and elevation to the gun line, the gun line cranks the specified elevation and deflection on the howitzers, punch the artillery shell followed by the bag. Depending on the CFF, the gunline will fire the round when they are ready or when the FO calls and tells them to fire, the FO spots the round and sends a correction back to the FDC and the process starts all over again until its done. The batteries are many kilometres behind the FLOT and they plan a location where they can be Fire Capability for some certain amount of time and do multiple fire missions before needing to displace. In normal operations the FOs locate targets and transmits the CFF to the FDCs and they can also calculate defensive fire tasks. Because the calculations have already been done, the fire can be called down very quickly when it is needed, the advance party consists of the battery commander, his driver, first sergeant, gunnery sergeant, FDC guide, gun guides, and communications representatives
Field artillery
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French Napoleonic artillery battery. Photo taken during the 200th anniversary reenactment of the
battle of Austerlitz in 1805.
Field artillery
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U.S. Army troops in Europe, winter 1944-5, with artillery shells labeled as "
Easter Eggs for
Hitler ".
Field artillery
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An illustration of a bronze "thousand ball thunder cannon" from the 14th century Ming Dynasty book Huolongjing. The cannon is an early example of field artillery.
Field artillery
–
Calling in and adjusting artillery fire on a target visible to a
forward observer but not to the soldiers manning the guns, themselves
38.
William H. French
–
William Henry French was a career United States Army officer and a Union Army General in the American Civil War. He rose to command a corps within the Army of the Potomac. He remained in the Army and went on to command several Army installations before his retirement in 1880, William H. French was born in Baltimore, Maryland. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1837 and was commissioned a lieutenant in the 1st U. S. Artillery. During the Mexican-American War, French was aide-de-camp to General Franklin Pierce and he was engaged in the siege of Vera Cruz, and received two brevet promotions for bravery, to captain for Cerro Gordo and to major for Contreras and Churubusco. Between 1850 and 1852, he served against the Seminole Indians in Florida and was the commanding officer of Stonewall Jackson. The two disagreed often and Frenchs assignment with Jackson led to the two filing numerous charges against each other with U. S. Army authorities, after Florida, French served on frontier duty until 1861. He was the co-author of Instruction for Field Artillery, along with William F. Barry and Henry J. Hunt, at the start of the Civil War, Captain French and the 1st U. S. Artillery were stationed at Fort Duncan, Eagle Pass, Texas and he refused to surrender his garrison to the Confederate-aligned state authorities as they requested. Instead, he moved his men to the mouth of the Río Grande in sixteen days and sailed to Key West, shortly thereafter, he was elevated to major and assumed command of the base. In conjunction with the Union Navy, he was instrumental in shutting off Key West to slave traders. He was promoted to general of volunteers as of September 28,1861, and was assigned to the Army of the Potomac. He was engaged at the battles of Yorktown, Seven Pines, Oak Grove, Gaines Mill, Garnetts & Goldings Farm, Savages Station, Glendale, and Malvern Hill. French received praise in official reports for his actions and leadership, French commanded the 3rd Division of the II Corps at the Battle of Antietam, making the first attack on the Confederate Division in the Sunken Road. He was promoted to general on November 29,1862. He led his division in the battles of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville and this engagement was the last for the III Corps, which was reorganized out of the Union Army in the spring of 1864, and French was mustered out of volunteer service on May 6,1864. He remained in the army, and for the remainder of the war, he served on military boards in Washington. French ended the war with the army rank of colonel of the 4th U. S. Artillery
William H. French
–
General William Henry French
William H. French
–
Commanders of the
Army of the Potomac,
Gouverneur K. Warren, William H. French,
George G. Meade,
Henry J. Hunt,
Andrew A. Humphreys and
George Sykes in September 1863.
William H. French
–
General William H. French and staff in September 1863.
Brigadier General
Brevet Major General
