1.
Utica, New York
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Utica is a city in the Mohawk Valley and the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The tenth-most-populous city in New York, its population was 62,235 in the 2010 U. S. census, located on the Mohawk River at the foot of the Adirondack Mountains, Utica is approximately 90 miles northwest of Albany and 45 miles east of Syracuse. Formerly a river settlement inhabited by the Mohawk tribe of the Iroquois Confederacy, Utica attracted European-American settlers from New England during and after the American Revolution. In the 19th century, immigrants strengthened its position as a city between Albany and Syracuse on the Erie and Chenango Canals and the New York Central Railroad. During the 19th and 20th centuries, the citys infrastructure contributed to its success as a manufacturing center, Uticas 20th-century political corruption and organized crime gave it the nicknames Sin City, and later, the city that God forgot. Like other Rust Belt cities, Utica had a downturn beginning in the mid-20th century. Several theories exist about the history of the name Utica, prior to construction of the fort, the Mohawk, Onondaga and Oneida tribes had occupied this area south of the Great Lakes region as early as 4000 BC. The Mohawk were the largest and most powerful tribe in the part of the Mohawk Valley. Colonists had a fur trade with them, in exchange for firearms. The land housing Old Fort Schuyler was part of a 20, since the fort was located near several trails, its position—on a bend at a shallow portion of the Mohawk River—made it an important fording point. The Mohawk called the bend Unundadages, and the Mohawk word appears on the citys seal, during the American Revolution, border raids from British-allied Iroquois tribes harried the settlers on the frontier. George Washington ordered Sullivans Expedition, Rangers, to enter Central New York, more than 40 Iroquois villages were destroyed and their winter stores, causing starvation. In the aftermath of the war, numerous European-American settlers migrated into the state, in 1794 a state road, Genesee Road, was built from Utica west to the Genesee River. That year a contract was awarded to the Mohawk Turnpike and Bridge Company to extend the road northeast to Albany, the Seneca Turnpike was key to Uticas development, replacing a worn footpath with a paved road. The village became a rest and supply area along the Mohawk River for goods, the boundaries of the village of Utica were defined in an act passed by the New York State Legislature on April 3,1798. Utica expanded its borders in subsequent 1805 and 1817 charters, on April 5,1805, the villages eastern and western boundaries were expanded, and on April 7,1817, Utica separated from Whitestown on its west. After completion of the Erie Canal in 1825, the growth was stimulated again. The municipal charter was passed by the legislature on February 13,1832
2.
New York (state)
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New York is a state in the northeastern United States, and is the 27th-most extensive, fourth-most populous, and seventh-most densely populated U. S. state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south and Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont to the east. With an estimated population of 8.55 million in 2015, New York City is the most populous city in the United States, the New York Metropolitan Area is one of the most populous urban agglomerations in the world. New York City makes up over 40% of the population of New York State, two-thirds of the states population lives in the New York City Metropolitan Area, and nearly 40% lives on Long Island. Both the state and New York City were named for the 17th-century Duke of York, the next four most populous cities in the state are Buffalo, Rochester, Yonkers, and Syracuse, while the state capital is Albany. New York has a diverse geography and these more mountainous regions are bisected by two major river valleys—the north-south Hudson River Valley and the east-west Mohawk River Valley, which forms the core of the Erie Canal. Western New York is considered part of the Great Lakes Region and straddles Lake Ontario, between the two lakes lies Niagara Falls. The central part of the state is dominated by the Finger Lakes, New York had been inhabited by tribes of Algonquian and Iroquoian-speaking Native Americans for several hundred years by the time the earliest Europeans came to New York. The first Europeans to arrive were French colonists and Jesuit missionaries who arrived southward from settlements at Montreal for trade, the British annexed the colony from the Dutch in 1664. The borders of the British colony, the Province of New York, were similar to those of the present-day state, New York is home to the Statue of Liberty, a symbol of the United States and its ideals of freedom, democracy, and opportunity. In the 21st century, New York has emerged as a node of creativity and entrepreneurship, social tolerance. On April 17,1524 Verrazanno entered New York Bay, by way of the now called the Narrows into the northern bay which he named Santa Margherita. Verrazzano described it as a vast coastline with a delta in which every kind of ship could pass and he adds. This vast sheet of water swarmed with native boats and he landed on the tip of Manhattan and possibly on the furthest point of Long Island. Verrazannos stay was interrupted by a storm which pushed him north towards Marthas Vineyard, in 1540 French traders from New France built a chateau on Castle Island, within present-day Albany, due to flooding, it was abandoned the next year. In 1614, the Dutch under the command of Hendrick Corstiaensen, rebuilt the French chateau, Fort Nassau was the first Dutch settlement in North America, and was located along the Hudson River, also within present-day Albany. The small fort served as a trading post and warehouse, located on the Hudson River flood plain, the rudimentary fort was washed away by flooding in 1617, and abandoned for good after Fort Orange was built nearby in 1623. Henry Hudsons 1609 voyage marked the beginning of European involvement with the area, sailing for the Dutch East India Company and looking for a passage to Asia, he entered the Upper New York Bay on September 11 of that year
3.
New Brighton, Staten Island
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New Brighton, formerly an independent village, is today a neighborhood located on the North Shore of Staten Island in New York City, USA. The neighborhood comprises an older industrial and residential harbor front area along the Kill Van Kull west of St. George, the village of New Brighton was incorporated in 1866 out of six wards of the town of Castleton. It originally stretched for four long and was two miles wide, encompassing the entire northeast tip of the island from Tompkinsville to Snug Harbor. The current neighborhood includes Hamilton Park, an enclave of Victorian homes built before the American Civil War, the neighborhood includes several older churches, including St. Peters Church, the oldest Roman Catholic church on Staten Island. The original Village Hall, constructed in 1871 on present Fillmore Street, was demolished in 2004, New Brighton public housing includes the Cassidy-Laffayette Houses and the Richmond Terrace Houses on Jersey Street. Built in 1871, the New Brighton Village Hall was one of the few Village Halls to remain from the old system the existed before it was considered to be a part of New York City. It has since used as a local court, a health insurance office, youth activities office. In 1965 the Landmarks Preservation Commission selected it as an official landmark, a complete system of sewerage has been adopted. The neighbors seem to vie with each other in friendly emulation as to who keep the smoothest lawn. In 1898, Staten Island was consolidated with New York City, after the turn of the century, the political and economic center of the island shifted to the northern shore, including New Brighton. The Staten Island borough hall was built in 1906, while the new courthouse for Richmond county was built in 1919, at this time, the general community of Staten Island and New Brighton thrived due to its economy. Larger manufacturers employed many residents, Procter & Gamble, US Gypsum. The Procter & Gamble factory, opened in October 1907, operated for more than 80 years, at the end of the 1920s, some of the borough’s first apartment buildings and four-family dwellings were concentrated in New Brighton. However, the livelihood of the community began to change, first after the completion of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, completed in November 1964, connected Brooklyn and Staten Island and allowed for a massive population and development boom that continues to this day. Sailors Snug Harbor was built in 1833 by a wealthy New Yorker named Robert Richard Randall, designed as a place for retired sailors, Snug Harbor was the first establishment of its kind in the United States. The 83-acre park-like setting is located right on the shore of Staten Island along the Kill Van Kull. Notably, Captain Thomas Melville, the brother of Herman Melville, was the governor of Snug Harbor from 1867 to 1884, Snug Harbor was very successful, and was one of the wealthiest charities. At its peak,1,000 sailors made their home at Snug Harbor, however, there was a steep decline in funding for the retirement home in the 1930s, with the establishment of Social Security, and Snug Harbor never fully recovered, closeing in the 1960s
4.
Forest Hill Cemetery (Utica, New York)
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Forest Hill Cemetery is a rural garden style cemetery in Utica, New York founded in 1850. Forest Hills Cemetery is located at 2201 Oneida Street, Utica and it is a non-sectarian cemetery, which means anyone of any religion can be buried here. Over the years some nationally and locally recognized people have been buried here, some of the local people are Theodore Faxton, the Proctor Family, and nationally are some politicians such as Ellis Roberts, Ward Hunt and many more. Ezekiel Bacon, represented Massachusettss 12th congressional district from 1807 to 1813, william J. Bacon, represented New Yorks 23rd congressional district from 1877 to 1879. Samuel Beardsley, represented New York in the United States House of Representatives from 1831 to 1836, john Warren Butterfield, founder Butterfield Overland Express. Alfred Conkling, represented New Yorks 14th congressional district from 1821 to 1823, roscoe Conkling, represented New York in the United States Senate from 1867-1883. James G. Grindlay, Civil War Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient, thomas Hill Hubbard, represented New Yorks 17th congressional district from 1817 to 1819, and from 1821 to 1823. Ward Hunt, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1873 to 1882, joseph Kirkland, represented New Yorks 16th congressional district from 1821 to 1823. James H. Ledlie, general in the Union Army during the American Civil War, matteson, represented New Yorks 20th congressional district from 1849 to 1851, and from 1853 to 1859. Miller, represented New Yorks 17th congressional district from 1836 to 1837, Ellis H. Roberts, served in the United States House of Representatives from 1871 to 1875. John Savage, Chief Justice of the New York Supreme Court from 1823 to 1836, horatio Seymour, Governor of New York from 1853 to 1855 and from 1863 to 1865. James S. Sherman, Vice President of the United States from 1909-1912, charles A. Talcott, represented New Yorks 27th congressional district and New Yorks 33rd congressional district from 1911 to 1915. Mayor of Utica from 1902 to 1906, edward W. Townsend, represented New Jerseys 6th congressional district from 1911 to 1913, and the 10th district from 1913-1915. Benjamin Walker, represented New Yorks 9th congressional district from 1801 to 1803, jedediah Sanger, founder of New Hartford and Sangerfield, first judge of Oneida County. Forest Hill Cemetery at Find A Grave Forest Hill Cemetery at Forest Hill Cemetery
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
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
7.
United States Army
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The United States Armed Forces are the federal armed forces of the United States. They consist of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, from the time of its inception, the military played a decisive role in the history of the United States. A sense of unity and identity was forged as a result of victory in the First Barbary War. Even so, the Founders were suspicious of a permanent military force and it played an important role in the American Civil War, where leading generals on both sides were picked from members of the United States military. Not until the outbreak of World War II did a standing army become officially established. The National Security Act of 1947, adopted following World War II and during the Cold Wars onset, the U. S. military is one of the largest militaries in terms of number of personnel. It draws its personnel from a pool of paid volunteers. As of 2016, the United States spends about $580.3 billion annually to fund its military forces, put together, the United States constitutes roughly 40 percent of the worlds military expenditures. For the period 2010–14, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute found that the United States was the worlds largest exporter of major arms, the United States was also the worlds eighth largest importer of major weapons for the same period. The history of the U. S. military dates to 1775 and these forces demobilized in 1784 after the Treaty of Paris ended the War for Independence. All three services trace their origins to the founding of the Continental Army, the Continental Navy, the United States President is the U. S. militarys commander-in-chief. Rising tensions at various times with Britain and France and the ensuing Quasi-War and War of 1812 quickened the development of the U. S. Navy, the reserve branches formed a military strategic reserve during the Cold War, to be called into service in case of war. Time magazines Mark Thompson has suggested that with the War on Terror, Command over the armed forces is established in the United States Constitution. The sole power of command is vested in the President by Article II as Commander-in-Chief, the Constitution also allows for the creation of executive Departments headed principal officers whose opinion the President can require. This allowance in the Constitution formed the basis for creation of the Department of Defense in 1947 by the National Security Act, the Defense Department is headed by the Secretary of Defense, who is a civilian and member of the Cabinet. The Defense Secretary is second in the chain of command, just below the President. Together, the President and the Secretary of Defense comprise the National Command Authority, to coordinate military strategy with political affairs, the President has a National Security Council headed by the National Security Advisor. The collective body has only power to the President
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
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Brigadier general (United States)
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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
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American Civil War
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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
11.
Battle of the Crater
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The Battle of the Crater was a battle of the American Civil War, part of the Siege of Petersburg. It took place on July 30,1864, between the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, commanded by General Robert E. Lee and the Union Army of the Potomac, commanded by Maj. Gen. George G. Meade. After weeks of preparation, on July 30, Union forces exploded a mine in Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnsides IX Corps sector, blowing a gap in the Confederate defenses of Petersburg, from this propitious beginning, everything deteriorated rapidly for the Union attackers. Unit after unit charged into and around the crater, where soldiers milled in confusion, Grant considered the assault the saddest affair I have witnessed in the war. The Confederates quickly recovered and launched several counterattacks led by Brig. Gen. William Mahone, the breach was sealed off, and Union forces were repulsed with severe casualties. Brig. Gen. Edward Ferreros division of soldiers were badly mauled. This may have been Grants best chance to end the Siege of Petersburg, instead, the soldiers settled in for another eight months of trench warfare. Burnside was relieved of command for the last time for his role in the debacle, during the Civil War, Petersburg, Virginia, was an important railhead, where four railroad lines from the south met before continuing to Richmond, Virginia, the capital of the Confederacy. Most of the supplies to Lees army and to the city of Richmond funneled through this point, consequently, the Union regarded it as the back door to Richmond, without which defending the Confederate capital would be impossible. The result was the Siege of Petersburg, after Lee held at bay Grants attempt to seize Petersburg on June 15, the battle settled into a stalemate. Grant had learned a lesson at Cold Harbor about attacking Lee in a fortified position and was chafing at the inactivity to which Lees trenches. Finally, Lt. Col. Henry Pleasants, commanding the 48th Pennsylvania Infantry of Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnsides IX Corps, if successful, this would not only kill all the defenders in the area, it would also open a hole in the Confederate defenses. Digging began in late June, but even Grant and Meade saw the operation as, A mere way to keep the men occupied, and doubted it of any actual tactical value. They quickly lost interest and Pleasants soon found himself with few materials for his project, to the extent that his men had to forage for wood to support the structure. The shaft was elevated as it moved toward the Confederate lines to make sure moisture did not clog up the mine, a canvas partition isolated the miners air supply from outside air. The miners had constructed a vertical exhaust shaft located well behind Union lines, at the vertical shafts base, a fire was kept continuously burning. A wooden duct ran the length of the tunnel and protruded into the outside air. The fire heated stale air inside of the tunnel, drawing it up the exhaust shaft, the resulting vacuum then sucked fresh air in from the mine entrance via the wooden duct, which carried it down the length of the tunnel to the location where the miners were working
12.
Siege of Petersburg
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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
13.
Schenectady, New York
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Schenectady /skᵻˈnɛktədi/ is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 66,135, the name Schenectady is derived from a Mohawk word skahnéhtati meaning beyond the pines. The city was founded on the side of the Mohawk River by Dutch colonists in the 17th century. They were prohibited from the fur trade by the Albany monopoly, residents of the new village developed farms on strip plots along the river. Connected to the west via the Mohawk River and Erie Canal, by 1824 more people worked in manufacturing than agriculture or trade, and the city had a cotton mill, processing cotton from the Deep South. Numerous mills in New York had such ties with the South, the city was part of emerging technologies, with GE collaborating in the production of nuclear-powered submarines and, in the 21st century, working on other forms of renewable energy. The city is in eastern New York, near the confluence of the Mohawk and it is in the same metropolitan area as the state capital, Albany, which is about 19 miles southeast. In December 2014, the announced that the city was one of three sites selected for development of off-reservation casino gambling, under terms of a 2013 state constitutional amendment. The project would redevelop an ALCO brownfield site in the city along the waterfront, with hotels, housing, when first encountered by Europeans, the Mohawk Valley was the territory of the Mohawk nation, one of the Five Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy, or Haudenosaunee. They had occupied territory in the region since at least 1100 AD, in the 1640s, the Mohawk had three major villages, all on the south side of the Mohawk River. The easternmost one was Ossernenon, located about 9 miles west of present-day Auriesville, about 3200 acres of this unique ecosystem are now protected as the Albany Pine Bush. Eventually, this word entered the lexicon of the Dutch settlers, the settlers in Fort Orange used skahnéhtati to refer to the new village at the Mohawk flats, which became known as Schenectady. In 1661 Arent van Curler, a Dutch immigrant bought a big piece of land on the side of the Mohawk River. Other colonists were given grants of land by the government in this portion of the flat fertile river valley. The settlers recognized that these bottomlands had been cultivated for maize by the Mohawk for centuries, Van Curler took the largest piece of land, the remainder was divided into 50-acre plots for the other first fourteen proprietors. As most early colonists were from the Fort Orange area, they may have anticipated working as fur traders, the settlers here turned to farming. Their 50-acre lots were unique for the colony, laid out in strips along the Mohawk River, with the narrow edges fronting the river and they relied on rearing livestock and wheat. From the early days of interaction, early Dutch traders in the valley had unions with Mohawk women and their children were raised within the Mohawk community, which had a matrilineal kinship system, considering children born into the mothers clan
14.
Major (United States)
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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
15.
Colonel (United States)
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It is equivalent to the naval rank of captain in the other uniformed services. The pay grade for colonel is O-6, the insignia of the rank of colonel, as seen on the right, is worn on the officers left side. The insignia for a colonel is an eagle which is a stylized representation of the eagle dominating the Great Seal of the United States. As on the Great Seal, the eagle has a U. S. shield superimposed on its chest and is holding an olive branch, however, in simplification of the Great Seal image, the insignia lacks the scroll in the eagles mouth and the rosette above its head. On the Great Seal, the branch is always clutched in the eagles right-side talons. The head of the eagle faces towards the branch, rather than the arrows. As a result, the head of the eagle faces towards the viewers left. During World War II the military insignia for the rank of Colonel changed somewhat with the eagle facing the arrows and this was done only during war years. These special war eagles, although rare, can sometimes be found in surplus or memorabilia sales. In the United States Army and United States Air Force, the eagle is worn with the head of the eagle to the wearers right. In the United States Marine Corps, United States Navy, United States Coast Guard and NOAA, the United States rank of colonel is a direct successor to the same rank in the British Army. The first colonels in America were appointed from Colonial militias maintained as reserves to the British Army in the American colonies, upon the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, colonial legislatures would grant commissions to men to raise a regiment and serve as its colonels. Thus, the first American colonels were usually respected men with ties in local communities, such was the origin of the phrase soldier and statesman. With the post-war reduction of the US Army, the rank of colonel disappeared, the first insignia for the rank of colonel consisted of gold epaulettes worn on the blue uniform of the Continental Army. The first recorded use of the insignia was in 1805 as this insignia was made official in uniform regulations by 1810. The rank of colonel was relatively rare in the early 19th century, partly because the U. S. Army was very small, and the rank was usually obtained only after long years of service. During the War of 1812 the Army grew rapidly and many colonels were appointed, a number of other colonels were appointed by brevet - an honorary promotion usually for distinguished service in combat. The American Civil War saw an influx of colonels as the rank was commonly held in both the Confederate army and Union Army by those who commanded a regiment
16.
Coastal artillery
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Coastal artillery is the branch of the armed forces concerned with operating anti-ship artillery or fixed gun batteries in coastal fortifications. The advent of 20th-century technologies, especially aviation, naval aviation, jet aircraft, and guided missiles, reduced the primacy of cannon, battleships. In countries where coastal artillery has not been disbanded, these forces have acquired amphibious capabilities, in littoral warfare, mobile coastal artillery armed with surface-to-surface missiles still can be used to deny the use of sea lanes. Land-based guns also benefited in most cases from the protection of walls or earth mounds. The Martello tower is an excellent example of a widely used coastal fort which mounted defensive artillery, during the 19th century China also built hundreds of coastal fortresses in an attempt to counter Western naval threats. Coastal artillery could be part of the Navy, or part of the Army, in English-speaking countries, certain coastal artillery positions were sometimes referred to as Land Batteries, distinguishing this form of artillery battery from for example floating batteries. In the United Kingdom, in the later 19th and earlier 20th Centuries, then, following the Spanish–American War and the report of the Endicott Board, U. S. harbor defenses were greatly strengthened and provided with new, rifled artillery and minefield defenses. Shortly thereafter, in 1907, Congress split the field artillery, the first decade of the 20th Century, the United States Marine Corps established the Advanced Base Force. The force was used for setting up and defending advanced bases, during the Siege of Port Arthur, Japanese forces had captured the vantage point on 203 Meter Hill overlooking Port Arthur harbor. The battleship Sevastopol, although hit 5 times by 11-inch shells, after 3 weeks, the Sevastopol was still afloat, having survived 124 torpedoes fired at her while sinking two Japanese destroyers and damaging six other vessels. The Japanese had meanwhile lost the cruiser Takasago to a mine outside the harbor, the Blücher had entered the narrow waters of the Oslofjord, carrying 1,000 soldiers and leading a German invasion fleet. The first salvo from the Norwegian defenders, fired from Oscarsborg Fortress about 1 mile distant, disabled Blüchers main battery, fire from the smaller guns swept her decks and disabled her steering, and she received several torpedo hits before the fires reached her magazines and doomed her. Singapore was defended by its famous large-caliber coastal guns, which included one battery of three 15-inch guns and one with two 15-inch guns, AP shells were designed to penetrate the hulls of heavily armoured warships and were ineffective against personnel. The Japanese defended the island of Betio in the Tarawa atoll with numerous 203 mm coastal guns, in 1943, these were knocked out early in the battle with a combined USN naval and aerial bombardment. Nazi Germany fortified its conquered territories with the Atlantic Wall, the intent was to destroy the Allied landing craft before they could unload. During the Normandy Landings in 1944, shore bombardment was given a high importance, using ships from battleships to destroyers, for example, the Canadians at Juno beach had fire support many times greater than they had had for the Dieppe Raid in 1942. In addition, there were modified landing-craft, eight Landing Craft Gun, twenty-four Landing Craft Tank carried Priest self-propelled howitzers which also fired while they were on the run-in to the beach. Similar arrangements existed at other beaches, on June 25,1944 the American battleship Texas engaged German shore batteries on the Cotentin Peninsula
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Lieutenant general (United States)
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In the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, and the United States Air Force, lieutenant general is a three-star general officer rank, with the pay grade of O-9. Lieutenant general ranks above major general and below general, Lieutenant general is equivalent to the rank of vice admiral in the other uniformed services. The United States Code explicitly limits the number of generals that may be concurrently active to 230 for the Army,60 for the Marine Corps. For the Army and Air Force, no more than about 25% of the active duty general officers may have more than two stars. Some of these slots can be reserved by statute, officers serving in certain intelligence positions are not counted against either limit, including the Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. The President may also add three-star slots to one if they are offset by removing an equivalent number from other services. Finally, all statutory limits may be waived at the presidents discretion during time of war or national emergency, the Superintendent of the United States Military Academy is almost always a U. S. Army lieutenant general, either upon appointment or shortly thereafter. The three-star grade goes hand-in-hand with the position of office to which it is linked, officers may only achieve three-star grade if they are appointed to positions that require the officer to hold such a rank. Their rank expires with the expiration of their term of office, the nominee must be confirmed via majority vote by the Senate before the appointee can take office and thus assume the rank. The standard tour length for most lieutenant general positions is three years but some are set four or more years by statute, some statutory limits under the U. S. Code can be waived in times of national emergency or war. Three-star ranks may also be given by act of Congress but this is extremely rare, other than voluntary retirement, statute sets a number of mandates for retirement. Lieutenant generals must retire after 38 years of service unless appointed for promotion or reappointed to grade to serve longer, otherwise all general officers must retire the month after their 64th birthday. However, the Secretary of Defense can defer a three-star officers retirement until the officers 66th birthday, General officers typically retire well in advance of the statutory age and service limits, so as not to impede the upward career mobility of their juniors. Since there is a number of three-star slots available to each service. Additionally, lieutenant generals of all services serve as staff officers at various major command headquarters and The Pentagon. Currently, five women serve as lieutenant generals in the US Army, in theory, a general vacates their three or four-star rank at termination of their assignment unless placed in an equal ranking billet. Douglas MacArthur, who served as general and Army Chief of Staff. Even with the status, such officers are also almost always granted permanent retirement in the last grade they held with the satisfactory completion of at least two or three years in grade
18.
Ulysses S. Grant
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Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States. As Commanding General, Grant worked closely with President Abraham Lincoln to lead the Union Army to victory over the Confederacy in the American Civil War and he implemented Congressional Reconstruction, often at odds with President Andrew Johnson. His presidency has often criticized for tolerating corruption and for the severe economic depression in his second term. Grant graduated in 1843 from the United States Military Academy at West Point, after the war he married Julia Boggs Dent in 1848, their marriage producing four children. Grant initially retired from the Army in 1854 and he struggled financially in civilian life. When the Civil War began in 1861, he rejoined the U. S. Army, in 1862, Grant took control of Kentucky and most of Tennessee, and led Union forces to victory in the Battle of Shiloh, earning a reputation as an aggressive commander. He incorporated displaced African American slaves into the Union war effort, in July 1863, after a series of coordinated battles, Grant defeated Confederate armies and seized Vicksburg, giving the Union control of the Mississippi River and dividing the Confederacy in two. After his victories in the Chattanooga Campaign, Lincoln promoted him to lieutenant general, Grant confronted Robert E. Lee in a series of bloody battles, trapping Lees army in their defense of Richmond. Grant coordinated a series of devastating campaigns in other theaters, as well, in April 1865, Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox, effectively ending the war. Historians have hailed Grants military genius, and his strategies are featured in history textbooks. After the Civil War, Grant led the armys supervision of Reconstruction in the former Confederate states and he also used the army to build the Republican Party in the South. After the disenfranchisement of some former Confederates, Republicans gained majorities, in his second term, the Republican coalitions in the South splintered and were defeated one by one as redeemers regained control using coercion and violence. In May 1875, Grant authorized his Secretary of Treasury Benjamin Bristow to shut down and his peace policy with the Indians initially reduced frontier violence, but is best known for the Great Sioux War of 1876. Grant responded to charges of corruption in executive offices more than any other 19th Century president and he appointed the first Civil Service Commission and signed legislation ending the corrupt moiety system. In foreign policy, Grant sought to trade and influence while remaining at peace with the world. His administration successfully resolved the Alabama claims by the Treaty of Washington with Great Britain, Grant avoided war with Spain over the Virginius Affair, but Congress rejected his attempted annexation of the Dominican Republic. His administration implemented a standard and sought to strengthen the dollar. Grant left office in 1877 and embarked on a two-year diplomatic world tour that captured the nations attention, in 1880, Grant was unsuccessful in obtaining the Republican presidential nomination for a third term
19.
Overland Campaign
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The Overland Campaign, also known as Grants Overland Campaign and the Wilderness Campaign, was a series of battles fought in Virginia during May and June 1864, in the American Civil War. Although Grant suffered severe losses during the campaign, it was a strategic Union victory and it inflicted proportionately higher losses on Lees army and maneuvered it into a siege at Richmond and Petersburg, Virginia, in just over eight weeks. Crossing the Rapidan River on May 4,1864, Grant sought to defeat Lees army by quickly placing his forces between Lee and Richmond and inviting an open battle. Lee surprised Grant by attacking the larger Union army aggressively in the Battle of the Wilderness, Lees army was able to get into position to block this movement. Grant maneuvered again, meeting Lee at the North Anna River, here, Lee held clever defensive positions that provided an opportunity to defeat portions of Grants army, but illness prevented Lee from attacking in time to trap Grant. Resorting to maneuver a final time, Grant surprised Lee by stealthily crossing the James River, threatening to capture the city of Petersburg, the resulting Siege of Petersburg led to the eventual surrender of Lees army in April 1865 and the effective end of the Civil War. The campaign included two long-range raids by Union cavalry under Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan, in a raid toward Richmond, legendary Confederate cavalry commander Maj. Gen. J. E. B. Stuart was mortally wounded at the Battle of Yellow Tavern, in March 1864, Grant was summoned from the Western Theater, promoted to lieutenant general, and given command of all Union armies. He chose to make his headquarters with the Army of the Potomac, Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman succeeded Grant in command of most of the western armies. Johnston, and capture Atlanta, George Crook and William W. Averell to operate against railroad supply lines in West Virginia and this was the first time the Union armies would have a coordinated offensive strategy across a number of theaters. Lincoln had long advocated this strategy for his generals, recognizing that the city would fall after the loss of its principal defensive army. Grant ordered Meade, Wherever Lee goes, there you will go also, although he hoped for a quick, decisive battle, Grant was prepared to fight a war of attrition. Both Union and Confederate casualties could be high, but the Union had greater resources to replace lost soldiers, despite Grants superior numbers, he had manpower challenges. Furthermore, since many of his soldiers three-year enlistments were about to expire, to deal with these challenges, Grant supplemented his forces by reassigning soldiers manning the heavy artillery batteries around Washington, D. C. to infantry regiments. The Overland Campaign began as Grants forces crossed the Rapidan River on May 4,1864, Grants objective was to force an engagement with Lee, outside of his Mine Run fortifications, by either drawing his forces out or turning them. By forcing a fight here, Lee effectively neutralized the Unions advantage in artillery and he ordered Ewells Corps to advance on the Orange Turnpike, A. P. Hills in parallel on the Orange Plank Road, and Longstreets from the distant Gordonsville. Early on May 5, Warrens V Corps was advancing south toward the Plank Road when Ewells Corps appeared in the west on the Turnpike, Meade halted his army and directed Warren to attack if the Confederates were a small, isolated group. Ewells men erected earthworks on the end of the clearing known as Saunders Field
20.
Army of the Potomac
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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
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Ambrose Burnside
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Ambrose Everett Burnside was an American soldier, railroad executive, inventor, industrialist, and politician from Rhode Island, serving as governor and a United States Senator. His distinctive style of facial hair became known as sideburns, derived from his last name and he was also the first president of the National Rifle Association. Burnside was born in Liberty, Indiana and was the fourth of nine children of Edghill and Pamela Brown Burnside and his great-great-grandfather Robert Burnside was born in Scotland and settled in the Province of South Carolina. His father was a native of South Carolina, he was an owner who freed his slaves when he relocated to Indiana. Ambrose attended Liberty Seminary as a boy, but his education was interrupted when his mother died in 1841, he was apprenticed to a local tailor. He graduated in 1847, ranking 18th in a class of 47 and he traveled to Veracruz for the Mexican–American War, but he arrived after hostilities had ceased and performed mostly garrison duty around Mexico City. In 1849, he was wounded by an arrow in his neck during a skirmish against Apaches in Las Vegas and he was promoted to 1st lieutenant on December 12,1851. In 1852, he was assigned to Fort Adams, Newport, Rhode Island, the marriage lasted until Marys death in 1876, but it was childless. In October 1853, Burnside resigned his commission in the United States Army and he devoted his time and energy to the manufacture of the famous firearm that bears his name, the Burnside carbine. President Buchanans Secretary of War John B, Floyd contracted the Burnside Arms Company to equip a large portion of the Army with his carbine, mostly cavalry, and induced him to establish extensive factories for its manufacture. The Bristol Rifle Works were no sooner complete than another gunmaker allegedly bribed Floyd to break his $100,000 contract with Burnside, Burnside ran as a Democrat for one of the Congressional seats in Rhode Island in 1858 and was defeated in a landslide. The burdens of the campaign and the destruction by fire of his contributed to his financial ruin. He then went west in search of employment and became treasurer of the Illinois Central Railroad, McClellan, who later became one of his commanding officers. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Burnside was a general in the Rhode Island Militia. He raised the 1st Rhode Island Volunteer Infantry Regiment, and was appointed its colonel on May 2,1861, two companies of this regiment were then armed with Burnside Carbines. Within a month, he ascended to command in the Department of Northeast Virginia. He commanded the brigade without distinction at the First Battle of Bull Run in July, and took over division command temporarily for wounded Brig. Gen. David Hunter. His 90-day regiment was mustered out of service on August 2 and he conducted a successful amphibious campaign that closed more than 80% of the North Carolina sea coast to Confederate shipping for the remainder of the war
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IX Corps (Union Army)
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IX Corps was a corps of the Union Army during the American Civil War that distinguished itself in combat in multiple theaters, the Carolinas, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Mississippi. The corps was assembled by Burnside at Newport News, Virginia, the corps consisted of three divisions, under Generals Stevens, Jesse L. Reno, and John G. Parke. After a short stay at Newport News the corps was ordered to reinforce Maj. Gen. John Popes Army of Virginia, only the two divisions of Stevens and Reno were engaged in this action, they numbered 12 regiments and 2 batteries, fewer than 5,000 men. General Reno was in command of divisions in Burnsides absence. The losses in this small engagement amounted to 204 killed,1,000 wounded, some of the regiments encountered a severe fire, the 28th Massachusetts losing 234 men. General Stevens was killed at Chantilly, General Reno retained command of the corps on the Maryland Campaign, General Burnside having charge of the right wing of the Army of the Potomac, which was composed of the I and IX Corps. Brig. Gen. Orlando B. Willcox was appointed to the command of Stevenss Division, while the 2nd and 3rd Divisions were commanded, respectively, by Generals Samuel D. Sturgis and Isaac P. Rodman. During this campaign Jacob D. Coxs Kanawha Division from western Virginia was temporarily attached to the corps, the Battle of South Mountain was fought wholly by Burnsides two corps, the IX Corps losing 157 killed,691 wounded, and 41 missing, total,889. The loss in the I Corps was about the same, General Reno was killed in this action, upon which General Cox succeeded to his command. At Antietam the corps lost 438 killed,1,796 wounded, General Rodman was among the mortally wounded. In October, Coxs Division returned to western Virginia and its connection with the corps terminated. This division had made a brilliant record by its gallant services at South Mountain, upon the departure of General Cox the command of the corps fell to General Willcox. General William W. Burns was appointed to fill the vacancy thus caused in the 1st Division, on November 5,1862, General Burnside was made commander-in-chief of the Army of the Potomac. At Fredericksburg, the casualty lists indicate that the corps took into action 31 regiments and 5 batteries, with a loss of 111 killed,1,067 wounded, and 152 missing, total,1,330. Not long after this battle Maj. Gen. John Sedgwick was assigned to the command of the corps, General Smiths stay with the corps was of short duration, for he was succeeded in the following month by Maj. Gen. John G. Parke. While at Newport News, Gettys Division was detached and ordered to Suffolk, Virginia and it never rejoined its old command although, in 1864, one of its regiments, the 4th Rhode Island, was restored to the IX Corps. In the meantime, General Burnside had been assigned to the command of the Department of Ohio, just prior to the departure from Virginia, General Sturgis was relieved, and Brig. Gen. Robert B. Potter was assigned to the command of the 2nd Division. The IX Corps was stationed in Kentucky for two months, during which it served as an army of occupation
23.
Battle of Spotsylvania Court House
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Elements of Lees army beat the Union army to the critical crossroads of Spotsylvania Court House, Virginia and began entrenching. Fighting occurred on and off from May 8 through May 21,1864, in the end, the battle was tactically inconclusive, but with almost 32,000 casualties on both sides, it was the costliest battle of the campaign. On May 8, Union Maj. Gens, on May 10, Grant ordered attacks across the Confederate line of earthworks, which by now extended over 4 miles, including a prominent salient known as the Mule Shoe. Although the Union troops failed again at Laurel Hill, an innovative assault attempt by Col. Emory Upton against the Mule Shoe showed promise. Grant used Uptons assault technique on a larger scale on May 12 when he ordered the 15,000 men of Maj. Gen. Winfield S. Hancocks corps to assault the Mule Shoe. Hancock was initially successful, but the Confederate leadership rallied and repulsed his incursion, supporting attacks by Warren and by Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside were unsuccessful. Grant repositioned his lines in another attempt to engage Lee under more favorable conditions and launched an attack by Hancock on May 18. A reconnaissance in force by Confederate Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell at Harris farm on May 19 was a costly and pointless failure. On May 21, Grant disengaged from the Confederate Army and started southeast on another maneuver to turn Lees right flank, in March 1864, Grant was summoned from the Western Theater, promoted to lieutenant general, and given command of all Union armies. He chose to make his headquarters with the Army of the Potomac and he left Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman in command of most of the western armies. This was the first time the Union armies would have an offensive strategy across a number of theaters. Grants campaign objective was not the Confederate capital of Richmond, Lincoln had long advocated this strategy for his generals, recognizing that the city would certainly fall after the loss of its principal defensive army. Grant ordered Meade, Wherever Lee goes, there you will go also, although he hoped for a quick, decisive battle, Grant was prepared to fight a war of attrition. Both Union and Confederate casualties could be high, but the Union had far greater resources to replace lost soldiers and equipment. On May 5, after Grants army crossed the Rapidan and entered the Wilderness of Spotsylvania, although Lee was outnumbered, about 60,000 to 100,000, his men fought fiercely and the dense foliage provided a terrain advantage. After two days of fighting and almost 29,000 casualties, the results were inconclusive and neither army was able to obtain an advantage, Lee had stopped Grant, but had not turned him back, and Grant had not destroyed Lees army. As of May 7, Grants Union forces totaled approximately 100,000 men and they consisted of the Army of the Potomac, under Maj. Gen. George G. Meade, and the IX Corps. The five corps were, II Corps, under Maj. Gen. Winfield S. Hancock, Barlow, John Gibbon, and Gershom Mott
24.
Confederate States Army
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The Confederate States Army was the military ground force of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. S. Military Academy and colonel of a regiment during the Mexican War. In March 1861, the Provisional Confederate Congress established a more permanent Confederate States Army, the better estimates of the number of individual Confederate soldiers are between 750,000 and 1,000,000 men. This does not include a number of slaves who were pressed into performing various tasks for the army, such as construction of fortifications. Since these figures include estimates of the number of individual soldiers who served at any time during the war. These numbers do not include men who served in Confederate naval forces, although most of the soldiers who fought in the American Civil War were volunteers, both sides by 1862 resorted to conscription, primarily as a means to force men to register and to volunteer. In the absence of records, estimates of the percentage of Confederate soldiers who were draftees are about double the 6 percent of Union soldiers who were conscripts. Confederate casualty figures also are incomplete and unreliable, one estimate of Confederate wounded, which is considered incomplete, is 194,026. These numbers do not include men who died from causes such as accidents. Other Confederate forces surrendered between April 16,1865 and June 28,1865, by the end of the war, more than 100,000 Confederate soldiers had deserted. The Confederacys government effectively dissolved when it fled Richmond in April, by the time Abraham Lincoln took office as President of the United States on March 4,1861, the seven seceding slave states had formed the Confederate States. The Confederacy seized federal property, including nearly all U. S. Army forts, Lincoln was determined to hold the forts remaining under U. S. control when he took office, especially Fort Sumter in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina. Under orders from Confederate President Jefferson Davis, C. S. troops under the command of General P. G. T, Beauregard bombarded Fort Sumter on April 12–13,1861, forcing its capitulation on April 14. The Northern states were outraged by the Confederacys attack and demanded war and it rallied behind Lincolns call on April 15, for all the states to send troops to recapture the forts from the secessionists, to put down the rebellion and to preserve the Union intact. Four more slave states joined the Confederacy. The Confederate Congress provided for a Confederate army patterned after the United States Army and it was to consist of a large provisional force to exist only in time of war and a small permanent regular army. Although the two forces were to exist concurrently, very little was done to organize the Confederate regular army, the Provisional Army of the Confederate States began organizing on April 27. Virtually all regular, volunteer, and conscripted men preferred to enter this organization since officers could achieve a rank in the Provisional Army than they could in the Regular Army
25.
Subsidence crater
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A subsidence crater is a hole or depression left on the surface of an area which has had an underground explosion. Many such craters are present at the Nevada Test Site, which is no longer in use for nuclear testing, subsidence craters are created as the roof of the cavity caused by the explosion collapses. This causes the surface to depress into a sink and it is possible for further collapse to occur from the sink into the explosion chamber. When this collapse reaches the surface, and the chamber is exposed atmospherically to the surface and it is at the point that a chimney is formed through which radioactive fallout may reach the surface. At the Nevada Test Site, depths of 100 to 500 meters were used for tests, when the material above the explosion is solid rock, then a mound may be formed by broken rock that has a greater volume. This type of mound has been called retarc, crater spelled backwards and this phenomenon is called cratering in oil field slang. An example of which is the Darvaza gas crater in Derweze Turkmenistan, underground nuclear testing Explosion crater Chagan Sedan Camouflet Glory hole, specifically the subsidence crater produced by underground block caving. Subsidence - the similar phenomenon observed in the air, upon cooling, DOE Image of NTSs many subsidence craters Crater at DOE site Low-Yield Earth-Penetrating Nuclear Weapons at FAS site
26.
Edward Ferrero
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Edward Ferrero was one of the leading dance instructors, choreographers, and ballroom operators in the United States. Ferrero was born in Granada, Spain and his parents were natives of Italy, and had just arrived in Spain when their son was born. Thirteen months later, the moved to the United States. Ferreros father, a dancer and a personal friend of the revolutionary General Giuseppe Garibaldi. When the elder Ferrero retired in his fifties, Edward took over operation of the academy. He educated the wealthy and elite of New York society in the art of dance, Ferrero became renowned as one of Americas leading experts in dance. He worked part-time as an instructor at the United States Military Academy and was the author of The Art of Dancing in 1859. Ferrero was interested in military affairs from his association as a youth with Garibaldi, and from his uncle, Colonel Lewis Ferrero, who had served in the Crimean War and the Italian campaign. Edward Ferrero became the lieutenant colonel of the 11th New York Militia Regiment, with his skills in choreography and instruction, his troops soon became known for their parade ground precision and military drill. With the outbreak of the Civil War in early 1861, Ferrero raised a regiment at his own expense and he was commissioned as its first colonel and drilled the regiment in military procedures. He led a brigade of three regiments in Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnsides expedition to Roanoke Island, where his regiment seized the first fortified Confederate redoubt captured in the war and he also commanded a brigade at New Bern under Brig. Gen. Jesse L. Reno. Transferred northward with his brigade to Virginia in the summer of 1862, he served in the army of Maj. Gen. John Pope during the Northern Virginia Campaign, including the Second Battle of Bull Run. In September, he served at the battles of South Mountain and Antietam, for his personal bravery at Antietam, the dancer-turned-warrior was promoted to brigadier general of volunteers on September 19,1862. His first action as a general was at Fredericksburg, sent to the Western Theater along with the IX Corps in early 1863, Ferrero led his brigade with distinction during the Siege of Vicksburg. He subsequently commanded a division during the Knoxville Campaign, and was in command of the defenses of Fort Sanders, transferred eastward again in 1864 with the corps, he served in the Siege of Petersburg, commanding a division of black troops. His men were involved in the ill-fated July 30 charge on the Crater, both Ferrero and Ledlie received criticism for remaining in a shelter behind the lines through most of the battle, passing a bottle of rum between them. A court of inquiry headed by Maj. Gen. Winfield S, on December 2,1864, Ferrero was breveted major general for bravery and meritorious services. He served throughout the Appomattox Campaign in early 1865, Ferrero mustered out of the army on August 24,1865, and returned home to New York City
27.
George Meade
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George Gordon Meade was a career United States Army officer and civil engineer involved in the coastal construction of several lighthouses. He fought with distinction in the Second Seminole War and the Mexican–American War, during the American Civil War he served as a Union general, rising from command of a brigade to command of the Army of the Potomac. He is best known for defeating Confederate General Robert E. Lee at the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863, Meades Civil War combat experience started as a brigade commander in the Peninsula Campaign and the Seven Days Battles, including the Battle of Glendale, where he was wounded severely. As a division commander, he had success at the Battle of South Mountain. His division was arguably the most successful during the assaults at the Battle of Fredericksburg, Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, who accompanied him throughout these campaigns. He also suffered from a reputation as a man of short, violent temper who was hostile toward the press, after the war, he commanded several important departments during Reconstruction. George Gordon Meade was born in 1815 in Cádiz, Spain and his father, a wealthy Philadelphian merchant, was serving in Spain as a naval agent for the U. S. government. He was ruined financially because of his support of Spain in the Napoleonic Wars and his family returned to the United States in 1817, in precarious financial straits. Young George attended the Mount Hope Institution in Baltimore and entered the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1831 and he graduated 19th in his class of 56 cadets in 1835. His brother, Richard Worsam Meade II, became a naval officer, for a year, he served with the 3rd U. S. Artillery in Florida, fighting against the Seminole Indians, before resigning from the Army and he worked as a civil engineer for the Alabama, Georgia, and Florida Railroad and for the War Department. On December 31,1840, he married Margaretta Sergeant, daughter of John Sergeant, finding steady civilian employment was difficult for the newly married man, so he reentered the army in 1842 as a second lieutenant in the Corps of Topographical Engineers. After that war he was involved in lighthouse and breakwater construction and coastal surveying in Florida. He designed Barnegat Light on Long Beach Island, Absecon Light in Atlantic City, Cape May Light in Cape May, Jupiter Inlet Light in Jupiter, Florida and he also designed a hydraulic lamp that was adopted by the Lighthouse Board for use in American lighthouses. He was promoted to captain in 1856, in 1857, Meade relieved Lt. Col. James Kearney on the Lakes Survey mission of the Great Lakes. Completion of the survey of Lake Huron and extension of the surveys of Lake Michigan down to Grand, prior to Captain Meades command, Great Lakes water level readings were taken locally with temporary gauges, a uniform plane of reference had not been established. In 1858, based on his recommendation, instrumentation was set in place for the tabulation of records across the basin, in 1860, the first detailed report of Great Lakes was published. Meade stayed with the Lakes Survey until the 1861 outbreak of the Civil War and he was assigned command of the 2nd Brigade of the Pennsylvania Reserves, recruited early in the war, which he led competently, initially in the construction of defenses around Washington, D. C
28.
First Transcontinental Railroad
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The rail line was built by three private companies over public lands provided by extensive US land grants. Construction was financed by state and US government subsidy bonds as well as by company issued mortgage bonds. The Western Pacific Railroad Company built 132 mi of track from Oakland/Alameda to Sacramento, the Central Pacific Railroad Company of California constructed 690 mi eastward from Sacramento to Promontory Summit, Utah Territory. And the Union Pacific built 1,085 mi from the eastern terminus at Council Bluffs near Omaha. The railroad opened for traffic on May 10,1869 when CPRR President Leland Stanford ceremonially drove the gold Last Spike with a silver hammer at Promontory Summit. The coast-to-coast railroad connection revolutionized the settlement and economy of the American West and it brought the western states and territories into alignment with the northern Union states and made transporting passengers and goods coast-to-coast considerably quicker and less expensive. Paddle steamers linked Sacramento to the cities and their facilities in the San Francisco Bay until 1869. The roads rail terminus was moved two months later to the Oakland Long Wharf about a mile to the north, Service between San Francisco and Oakland Pier continued to be provided by ferry. The CPRR eventually purchased 53 miles of UPRR-built grade from Promontory Summit to Ogden, the transcontinental line was popularly known as the Overland Route after the principal passenger rail service that operated over the length of the line until 1962. In 1847 he submitted to the U. S. Congress a Proposal for a Charter to Build a Railroad from Lake Michigan to the Pacific Ocean, Congress agreed to support the idea. Under the direction of the Department of War, the Pacific Railroad Surveys were conducted from 1853 through 1855 and these included an extensive series of expeditions of the American West seeking possible routes. A report on the explorations described alternative routes and included an amount of information about the American West. It included the natural history and illustrations of reptiles, amphibians, birds. The report failed however to include detailed maps of potential routes needed to estimate the feasibility, cost. This in part motivated the United States to complete the Gadsden Purchase, the U. S. Congress was strongly divided on where the eastern terminus of the railroad should be—in a southern or northern city. Three routes were considered, A northern route roughly along the Missouri River through present-day northern Montana to Oregon Territory and this was considered impractical due to the rough terrain and extensive winter snows. A central route following the Platte River in Nebraska through to the South Pass in Wyoming, following most of the Oregon Trail, snow on this route remained a concern. A southern route across Texas, New Mexico Territory, the Sonora desert, connecting to Los Angeles, surveyors found during a 1848 survey that the best route lay south of the border between the United States and Mexico
29.
Union Pacific Railroad
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The Union Pacific Railroad is a freight hauling railroad that operates 8,500 locomotives over 32,100 route-miles in 23 states west of Chicago, Illinois and New Orleans, Louisiana. The Union Pacific Railroad network is the largest in the United States and it is also one of the worlds largest transportation companies. Union Pacific Railroad is the operating company of Union Pacific Corporation. Union Pacific Corporations main competitor is the BNSF Railway, the second largest freight railroad. Together, the two railroads have a duopoly on all freight rail lines in the U. S. The original company was incorporated on July 1,1862, under an act of Congress entitled Pacific Railroad Act of 1862. The act was approved by President Abraham Lincoln, and it provided for the construction of railroads from the Missouri River to the Pacific as a war measure for the preservation of the Union. It was constructed westward from Council Bluffs, Iowa to meet the Central Pacific Railroad line, the line was constructed primarily by Irish labor who had learned their craft during the recent Civil War. The two lines were joined together at Promontory Summit, Utah,53 miles west of Ogden on May 10,1869, hence creating the first transcontinental railroad in North America. Under the guidance of its dominant stockholder Dr. Thomas Clark Durant, the namesake of the city of Durant, Iowa, the first rails were laid in Omaha. It built or purchased local lines that gave it access to Denver, Colorado, to Portland, Oregon and it also owned narrow gauge trackage into the heart of the Colorado Rockies and a standard gauge line south from Denver across New Mexico into Texas. UP was entangled in the Crédit Mobilier scandal, exposed in 1872 and its independent construction company the Crédit Mobilier had bribed congressmen. The UP itself was not guilty but it did get bad publicity, the financial crisis of 1873 led to financial troubles but not bankruptcy. The company was reorganized as the Union Pacific Railway on January 24,1880, the new company declared bankruptcy during the Panic of 1893. When it emerged in 1897 it reverted to the original name, the corporate headquarters of the Union Pacific Corporation were located in New York City from its initial founding in the 1860s until Drew Lewis became CEO in the mid-1980s. He relocated it to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, later the headquarters was shifted to Dallas, Texas, before relocating to Omaha to join the operating headquarters. From the ICC annual reports, except 1979 is from Moodys, on December 31,1925 UP-OSL-OWRN-LA&SL-StJ&GI operated 9,834 route-miles and 15,265 track-miles. At the end of 1980, Union Pacific operated 9,266 route-miles and 15,647 miles of track, Moodys shows 220,697 million revenue ton-miles in 1993 on the expanded system
30.
Nevada Central Railroad
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The Nevada Central Railroad was a 3 ft narrow gauge railroad completed in 1880 between Battle Mountain and Austin, Nevada. The railroad was constructed to connect Austin, the center of a silver mining area. However, by the time that the line was finished, the boom was almost over, major silver production ended by 1887, although there was a slight revival later. Austin was founded in 1862, as part of a silver rush reputedly triggered by a Pony Express rider, by summer 1863, Austin and the surrounding Reese River Mining District had a population of over 10,000, and it became the county seat of Lander County. In 1871 the Manhattan Silver Mining Company had consolidated most of the claims, the company grew to have a lot of influence in the area and its secretary M. J. Farrell was the state senator for Lander County. Farrell set out to fix the lack of a railroad with a project, approved only after a bitter debate in the 1874 legislature. The legislature authorized Lander County in 1875 to grant a $200,000 of its bonds as a subsidy to build a railroad, with Stokes involved he brought in General James H. Ledlie, a former Union officer in the Civil War. The crews went to work desperately, only to bring the line within 2 miles of the Austin town limits with less than a day left before the deadline. An emergency meeting of the Austin Town Board extended the limits by two miles and the last rails were laid just minutes before the deadline. The line from Battle Mountain to Austin was 92 miles, Nevada Central was only profitable as long as the mines at Austin were operating at full capacity. By the middle 1930s most of the mines that generated traffic at Battle Mountain were shut down and boarded up, complaints of Kimballs neighbors because of the coal smoke forced Kimball to sideline the locomotive in 1951 and operated his railroad with a small 0-4-2T locomotive. Kimball, one of the Orange Empire Railway Museums founders, donated the locomotive to the museum, brown, Michael J. Nevada Central Narrow Gauge Railroad. Hilton, George W. American Narrow Gauge Railroads, Railroads Of Nevada and Eastern California, Volume 1
31.
Battle Mountain, Nevada
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Battle Mountain is a census-designated place in Lander County, Nevada, United States. The population was 3,635 at the 2010 census, though it has no legal status as a municipality, it still functions as the county seat of Lander County. Its primary economic base is gold mining and to a lesser extent, the town is located on Interstate 80 between Winnemucca and Elko. The Battle Mountain area was home to the Northern Paiute and Shoshone peoples, the area was noted by fur trappers in the 1820s and 30s. It served as a waypoint for travel on the Emigrant Trail along the Humboldt River by 1845. According to local legends the name stems from confrontations between Native Americans and early settlers during the 1850s and 60s, when copper ore was discovered in 1866 and mining began, the Central Pacific Railroad started a station to support the mining activity. In 1870 the railroad moved the Argenta station to Battle Mountain and established a townsite to serve the Battle Mountain copper, in 1874, the Nevada Legislature overrode the governors veto and approved a railroad from Austin to Battle Mountain. The Nevada Central Railroad from Battle Mountain to Austin was completed in 1880, the rail line was constructed to connect the silver mines around Austin to the Central Pacific line at Battle Mountain. The rail line served the Austin area until it was abandoned in 1938, ulysses S. Grant spoke in the town in 1879 during his western speaking tour. President Woodrow Wilson established Battle Mountain Indian Colony by executive order in 1917, in 1919, Nevadas Red Scare Miners held a ten-day strike at the Battle Mountain Copper Mines. In a 1979 ruling, the Nevada Supreme Court moved the Lander County seat to Battle Mountain, chiefs Frank Temoke and Frank Brady refused the governments offer of a payoff under the 1863 Treaty of Ruby Valley at Battle Mountain on December 11,1992. Copper mining started in 1866 and the Copper Canyon Mine operated from 1917 until 1955, the Tomboy-Minnie ore deposits were developed after the depletion of the West ore body, which was developed after the depletion of the East ore body. Placer gold was discovered in 1912, mining switched from the copper-gold-silver ores to gold-silver ores in 1979. The Fortitude gold-silver skarn body was discovered in 1981, the Surprise gold deposit was discovered in 1986. These Paleozoic rocks were intruded in the Tertiary by a granodiorite porphyry which generated the ore bodies as zones of disseminated sulfide minerals and these zones include copper-gold-silver next to the granodiorite, followed by a gold-silver zone, then a lead-zinc-silver zone. Battle Mountain is located at the confluence of two rivers, the Humboldt and the Reese, the town is in the Humboldt valley between the Shoshone Range to the southeast, the Battle Mountains to the southwest and the Sheep Creek Range across the Humboldt to the north. According to the United States Census Bureau, the community has an area of 3.6 square miles or 9.3 square kilometres. Battle Mountain’s climate is cool semi-arid, receiving just enough precipitation to avoid arid classification, due to aridity and high elevation, the area commonly experiences large diurnal temperature variation, particularly in summer, where it averages almost 45 °F or 25 °C
32.
Austin, Nevada
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Austin is a small, unincorporated community and census-designated place in Lander County, Nevada, United States. In 2010, its population was 192 and it is located on the western slopes of the Toiyabe Range at an elevation of 6,605 feet. U. S. Route 50 passes through the town and this area was long occupied by bands of the Western Shoshone people. The city of Austin was mapped out in 1862 by David Buell and this was during the American Civil War, and the Union was eager to find new sources of precious metals, especially gold, to support the war effort. The city was named after Buells partner, Alvah Austin, during a silver rush, the valued metal was reputedly found when a Pony Express horse kicked over a rock and observers noticed the silver. By summer 1863, Austin and the surrounding Reese River Mining District had a population of more than 10,000 and it was designated as the county seat of Lander County. In 1864, the town launched Reuel Colt Gridleys impromptu fundraising drive raised over $250,000 for wounded Civil War veterans. The Nevada Central Railroad was built to connect Austin with the railroad at Battle Mountain in 1880. However, by time the silver boom was almost over. Major silver production ended by 1887, although there was a revival in the 1910s. In the mid-1950s there was a deal of interest in uranium deposits in the area, to fuel the emerging nuclear industry. Gold and silver mining has continued in the area sporadically and at low levels of production. High quality turquoise is mined in the area in small quantities. This active turquoise mining, together with shops that manufacture jewelry from local turquoise have made Austin a sort of Nevada Turquoise mecca. Today Austin is a living ghost town, an example of an early Nevada mining town. It contains four churches, both the Catholic church and the Austin Methodist Church were built in 1866, the Methodist Church is now used as a community center. The Catholic Church, St. Augustines, has purchased and is being restored as a cultural center for Central Nevada. The Episcopal church, dedicated to St. George and considered by some to be the prettiest frontier church still standing, was built in 1878 and is still in regular use and these three churches are listed as Nevada Historical Marker 67
33.
David J. Eicher
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David John Eicher is an American editor, writer, and popularizer of astronomy and space. He has been editor-in-chief of Astronomy magazine since 2002, Eicher is also a historian, having researched and written extensively about the American Civil War. Eicher was born in Oxford, Ohio on August 7,1961 and his sister Nancy Eicher is a journalist and editor. His great uncle was Ethan Nathan Allen, a baseball player. His great-great grandfather Darius Wetzel fought with the 74th Ohio Infantry in the Civil War and he is of predominantly German ancestry, with significant Swiss, English, and a very small amount of Delaware Native American ancestry in his bloodline. Eicher grew up in a suburb of the town of Oxford. He attended William Holmes McGuffey Laboratory School and Talawanda High School and he was also actively interested in American history and in science, leaning toward a career as a doctor. This changed in early 1976 when he attended a “star party” in Oxford and he was immediately attracted to astronomy and set off exploring the sky with binoculars, joining the local astronomy club, and beginning to write for their publication when another contributor quit. Deep Sky Monthly caught on and soon had a circulation of several hundred copies among astronomy enthusiasts, Eicher began his career at AstroMedia Corp. the magazine’s publisher, in September 1982 as assistant editor of Astronomy and editor of Deep Sky. Eicher wrote many stories about observing deep-sky objects, comets, and other sky targets, in 1985 Kalmbach Publishing Co. the Milwaukee publisher of Model Railroader, Trains, and other titles, bought AstroMedia Corp. and the Astronomy staff moved across town. In 1992 the company decided to cease publishing Deep Sky, in 2002 Eicher became Astronomy magazine’s sixth editor in chief. Eicher has appeared on CNN, CNN Headline News, Fox News Channel, WGN radio, National Public Radio, MSNBC, CNBC, and other media outlets to promote the science and hobby of astronomy. In 2013 he was invited to speak about great advances in astronomy and on comets at Harvard University, in 2017 he spoke at the Science + Mathematics Think-in at WVIZ-PBS ideastream in Cleveland, Ohio. He will also speak at the America’s Darkest Sky Star Party at the Dark Sky New Mexico site near Animas, Eicher is active promoting astronomy outreach to a younger generation. Since 2011, he has been president of the Astronomy Foundation, the Foundation received 5013 nonprofit status in 2014 and now has a board consisting of Eicher, Lupica, Maris, Hedrick, and others, and plans astronomy outreach activities beginning in 2015. Eicher’s service to the world was recognized in 1990 when the International Astronomical Union named minor planet 3617 Eicher in his honor. The asteroid, a main object in orbit between Mars and Jupiter, was discovered by astronomer Brian A. Skiff at Lowell Observatory’s Anderson Mesa Station in 1984 and the citation was proposed, in 2013, in anticipation of the approach of Comet ISON, Eicher produced a popular book about the science, history, and observation of comets, COMETS
34.
International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
Brigadier General
