1.
Winfield Scott Hancock
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Winfield Scott Hancock was a career U. S. Army officer and the Democratic nominee for President of the United States in 1880. He served with distinction in the Army for four decades, including service in the Mexican-American War, known to his Army colleagues as Hancock the Superb, he was noted in particular for his personal leadership at the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863. One military historian wrote, No other Union general at Gettysburg dominated men by the force of their presence more completely than Hancock. As another wrote, his tactical skill had won him the admiration of adversaries who had come to know him as the Thunderbolt of the Army of the Potomac. His military service continued after the Civil War, as Hancock participated in the military Reconstruction of the South, Hancocks reputation as a war hero at Gettysburg, combined with his status as a Unionist and supporter of states rights, made him a potential presidential candidate. His noted integrity was a counterpoint to the corruption of the era, when the Democrats nominated him for President in 1880, he ran a strong campaign, but was narrowly defeated by Republican James A. Garfield. The twins were the sons of Benjamin Franklin Hancock and Elizabeth Hoxworth Hancock, Winfield was named after Winfield Scott, a prominent general in the War of 1812. The Hancock and Hoxworth families had lived in Montgomery County for several generations, Benjamin Hancock was a schoolteacher when his sons were born. A few years after their birth, he moved the family to Norristown, the county seat, Benjamin was also a deacon in the Baptist church and participated in municipal government. Hancock was at first educated at Norristown Academy, but removed to the schools when the first one opened in Norristown in the late 1830s. In 1840, Joseph Fornance, the local Congressman, nominated Hancock to the United States Military Academy at West Point, Hancocks progress at West Point was average. He graduated 18th in his class of 25 in 1844, Hancock was commissioned a brevet second lieutenant in the 6th U. S. Infantry regiment, and initially was stationed in Indian Territory in the Red River Valley, the region was quiet at the time, and Hancocks time there was uneventful. Upon the outbreak of war with Mexico in 1846, Hancock worked to secure himself a place at the front, initially assigned to recruiting duties in Kentucky, he proved so adept at signing up soldiers that his superiors were reluctant to release him from his post. By July 1847, however, Hancock was permitted to join his regiment in Puebla, Mexico, scotts army moved farther inland from Puebla unopposed and attacked Mexico City from the south. During that campaign in 1847, Hancock first encountered battle at Contreras and he was appointed a brevet first lieutenant for gallant and meritorious service in those actions. Hancock was wounded in the knee at Churubusco and developed a fever, although he was well enough to join his regiment at Molino del Rey, fever kept Hancock from participating in the final breakthrough to Mexico City, something he would regret for the rest of his life. After the final victory, Hancock remained in Mexico with the 6th Infantry until the treaty of peace was signed in 1848, Hancock served in a number of assignments as an army quartermaster and adjutant, mostly in Fort Snelling, Minnesota and St. Louis, Missouri
2.
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
3.
Commanding General of the United States Army
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During the American Revolutionary War, the title was Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army. In 1783, the title was simplified to Senior Officer of the United States Army, in 1821, the title was changed to Commanding General of the United States Army. The office was referred to by various other titles, such as Major General Commanding the Army or General-in-Chief. From 1789 until its abolition in 1903, the position of Commanding General was legally subordinate to the Secretary of War, the position was abolished with the creation of the statutory Chief of Staff of the Army in 1903. List of United States military leaders by rank Notes Footnotes Historical Resources Branch, Eicher, John H. Eicher, David J. Civil War High Commands. Commanding Generals and Chiefs of Staff 1775-2005, Portraits and Biographical Sketches, United States Army Center of Military History. Charlottesville, Virginia, The Judge Advocate Generals School, U. S. Army
4.
Alexander Macomb (general)
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Alexander Macomb was the Commanding General of the United States Army from May 29,1828 until his death on June 25,1841. He was promoted to Major General for his conduct, receiving both the Thanks of Congress and a Congressional Gold Medal, born at British-held Detroit, Macomb was the son of Alexander Macomb and Mary Catherine Navarre. He moved with his parents to New York City and received an education at Newark Academy. In 1798, the age of 16, Macomb joined a New York militia company, in January 1799, with the recommendation of Alexander Hamilton during the French emergency, he was commissioned a Cornet in the Regular Army. In March he was promoted to lieutenant, and honorably discharged. In February 1801, he was commissioned a lieutenant, 2d Infantry. He then spent five years in charge of fortifications in the Carolinas. He also established fortifications at Fort Gratiot, Michigan, Chicago, Mackinaw, Prairie du Chien, St. Peters, at the beginning of the War of 1812, in July 1812, then 30-year-old Macomb was promoted to colonel of the newly organised 3rd Artillery Regiment. He won acclaim during the War of 1812 as brigadier general in command of the frontier of northern New York, macombs heavily outnumbered troops fell back before the British columns in a series of encounters as Prevost advanced towards the American defensive works. Long narrow lines of marching soldiers were unable to easily stop and they became entangled in the narrow false road maze, and were sitting targets for the waiting Americans. The British were about to launch an assault on the American defenses when the news came through of the defeat of the British naval squadron on Lake Champlain, Prevost needed the British Lake Champlain squadron to supply his planned advance into Vermont. Without it, he had no choice but to abandon the Expedition, the British invaders marched off back to Canada. He was promoted Major General for his conduct at this battle, receiving both the thanks of Congress and a Congressional Gold Medal. When Major General Jacob Brown, the U. S. Army’s commanding general, died in February 1828, Macomb was a colonel, president John Quincy Adams promoted him to commanding general of the Army with the rank of major general. The Armys brigadier generals — Winfield Scott and Edmund P. Gaines — had been vying for the position, their quarrels scandalized the Army and his last active service in a theater of war was in the Seminole War in Florida, in 1835. Macomb’s tenure as Commanding General was marked by continuing uncertainty about the responsibilities, in the same document he sought to define his relationship to the Secretary of War and establish his primacy over the bureau chiefs, including his successor as Chief of Engineers. This was easier said than done, Most issues were not fully resolved until early the next century. He advocated doubling Army strength, increasing enlisted pay, providing relief for some widows and orphans, in 1840 the Army Corps of Engineers adopted the castle uniform insignia and first described the Corps of Engineers’ distinctive Essayons button
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George B. McClellan
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George Brinton McClellan was an American soldier, civil engineer, railroad executive, and politician. A graduate of West Point, McClellan served with distinction during the Mexican-American War, although McClellan was meticulous in his planning and preparations, these very characteristics hampered his ability to challenge aggressive opponents in a fast-moving battlefield environment. He chronically overestimated the strength of units and was reluctant to apply principles of mass. McClellan organised and led the Union army in the Peninsula Campaign in southeastern Virginia from March through July 1862 and it was the first large-scale offensive in the Eastern Theater. General McClellan failed to maintain the trust of President Abraham Lincoln and he did not trust his commander-in-chief and was privately derisive of him. McClellan went on to become the unsuccessful Democratic Party nominee in the 1864 presidential election against Lincoln, the effectiveness of his campaign was damaged when he repudiated his partys platform, which promised an end to the war and negotiations with the Confederacy. He served as the 24th Governor of New Jersey from 1878 to 1881 and he eventually became a writer, and vigorously defended his Civil War conduct. Most modern authorities have assessed McClellan as a battlefield general. Some historians view him as a capable commander whose reputation suffered unfairly at the hands of pro-Lincoln partisans who made him a scapegoat for the Unions military setbacks. After the war, Ulysses S. Grant was asked for his opinion of McClellan as a general and he replied, McClellan is to me one of the mysteries of the war. Also, when Robert E. Lee was asked who was the best Union general, George Brinton McClellan was born in Philadelphia, the son of a prominent surgeon, Dr. George McClellan, the founder of Jefferson Medical College. His fathers family was of Ulster Scots heritage and his mother was Elizabeth Sophia Steinmetz Brinton McClellan, daughter of a leading Pennsylvania family, a woman noted for her considerable grace and refinement. The couple had five children, a daughter, Frederica, then three sons, John, George, and Arthur, and finally a daughter, Mary. McClellan was the great-grandson of Revolutionary War general Samuel McClellan, of Woodstock and he attended the University of Pennsylvania in 1840 at age 13, resigning himself to the study of law. After two years, he changed his goal to military service, with the assistance of his fathers letter to President John Tyler, young George was accepted at the United States Military Academy in 1842, the academy having waived its normal minimum age of 16. At West Point, he was an energetic and ambitious cadet, deeply interested in the teachings of Dennis Hart Mahan and his closest friends were aristocratic Southerners such as James Stuart, Dabney Maury, Cadmus Wilcox, and A. P. Hill. He graduated in 1846, second in his class of 59 cadets and he was commissioned a brevet second lieutenant in the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers. McClellans first assignment was with a company of engineers formed at West Point and he arrived near the mouth of the Rio Grande in October 1846, well prepared for action with a double-barreled shotgun, two pistols, a saber, a dress sword, and a Bowie knife
6.
Dinwiddie County, Virginia
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Dinwiddie County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 28,001, Dinwiddie County is part of the Richmond, VA Metropolitan Statistical Area. The first inhabitants of the area were Paleo-Indians, prior to 8000 BC and they are believed to have been nomadic hunter-gatherers following animal migrations. Early stone tools have been discovered in fields within the county. At the time of European contact, Native Americans had territory in the region, Dinwiddie County was formed May 1,1752, from Prince George County. The county is named for Robert Dinwiddie, Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, the county raised several militia units that would fight in the American Revolution. Dinwiddie County was the birthplace of Elizabeth Hobbs Keckly, a free black dressmaker who worked for two wives, Mrs. Jefferson Davis and later Mary Todd Lincoln. Thomas Day was also a native, he was known later at Milton, North Carolina. Another native son was Dr. Thomas Stewart, perhaps Americas first free black 18th-century rural physician, during the Civil War the Battle of Lewiss Farm was fought along Quaker Road. It took place on March 29,1865 and this was the first in several attempts by Union General Ulysses S. Grant to cut Robert E. Lees final supply line—the Southside Railroad—in the spring of 1865. Here the Union forces led by Brig. Gen. Joshua L. Chamberlain engaged Confederates under Maj. Gen. Bushrod R. Johnson, after sharp fighting, the Union troops entrenched nearby along the Boydton Plank Road, and Johnson withdrew to his lines at White Oak Road. The Union army cut the line four days later, after capturing Five Forks on April 1,1865. Several other engagements were fought in Dinwiddie County, including the Battle of Dinwiddie Court House, Battle of Sutherlands Station, the Dinwiddie County Historical Society currently occupies the historic Dinwiddie County Court House. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of 507 square miles. It is located between two US Army forts, Fort Lee to the east and Fort Pickett to the west, the population density was 49 people per square mile. There were 9,707 housing units at a density of 19 per square mile. 0. 97% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race,22. 20% of all households were made up of individuals and 8. 50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.58 and the family size was 3.01
7.
Virginia
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Virginia is a state located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, as well as in the historic Southeast. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are shaped by the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Chesapeake Bay, the capital of the Commonwealth is Richmond, Virginia Beach is the most populous city, and Fairfax County is the most populous political subdivision. The Commonwealths estimated population as of 2014 is over 8.3 million, the areas history begins with several indigenous groups, including the Powhatan. In 1607 the London Company established the Colony of Virginia as the first permanent New World English colony, slave labor and the land acquired from displaced Native American tribes each played a significant role in the colonys early politics and plantation economy. Although the Commonwealth was under one-party rule for nearly a century following Reconstruction, the Virginia General Assembly is the oldest continuous law-making body in the New World. The state government was ranked most effective by the Pew Center on the States in both 2005 and 2008 and it is unique in how it treats cities and counties equally, manages local roads, and prohibits its governors from serving consecutive terms. Virginias economy changed from agricultural to industrial during the 1960s and 1970s. Virginia has an area of 42,774.2 square miles, including 3,180.13 square miles of water. Virginias boundary with Maryland and Washington, D. C. extends to the mark of the south shore of the Potomac River. The southern border is defined as the 36° 30′ parallel north, the border with Tennessee was not settled until 1893, when their dispute was brought to the U. S. Supreme Court. The Chesapeake Bay separates the portion of the Commonwealth from the two-county peninsula of Virginias Eastern Shore. The bay was formed from the river valleys of the Susquehanna River. Many of Virginias rivers flow into the Chesapeake Bay, including the Potomac, Rappahannock, York, and James, the Tidewater is a coastal plain between the Atlantic coast and the fall line. It includes the Eastern Shore and major estuaries of Chesapeake Bay, the Piedmont is a series of sedimentary and igneous rock-based foothills east of the mountains which were formed in the Mesozoic era. The region, known for its clay soil, includes the Southwest Mountains around Charlottesville. The Blue Ridge Mountains are a province of the Appalachian Mountains with the highest points in the state. The Ridge and Valley region is west of the mountains and includes the Great Appalachian Valley, the region is carbonate rock based and includes Massanutten Mountain. The Cumberland Plateau and the Cumberland Mountains are in the southwest corner of Virginia, in this region, rivers flow northwest, with a dendritic drainage system, into the Ohio River basin
8.
West Point, New York
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West Point is the oldest continuously occupied military post in the United States. West Point was established in 1775 by George Washington who considered it the most important strategic position in America, until January 1778, West Point was not occupied by the military. It comprises approximately 16,000 acres including the campus of the United States Military Academy at West Point and it is a Census Designated Place located in the Town of Highlands in Orange County, New York, located on the western bank of the Hudson River. The population was 6,763 at the 2010 census and it is part of the New York–Newark–Jersey City, NY–NJ–PA Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the larger New York–Newark, NY–NJ–CT–PA Combined Statistical Area. West Point, was a site during the Revolutionary War. Originally picked because of the abnormal S-curve in the Hudson at this point, it was founded by military engineer and it was manned by a small garrison of Continental soldiers through the entirety of the war. A great iron chain was laid across the Hudson at this point in order to impede British Navy vessels, the site comprised multiple redoubts, including Fort Putnam, which is still preserved in a Revolutionary-period design. However, Arnolds plot failed when British Major John André was captured as a spy by the Americans, arnold received a decreased cash reward of £6,000 but was commissioned as a Brigadier General in the British Army. The United States Military Academy was established at West Point in 1802 and has the longest continuous service of any United States military installation and is the nations oldest service academy. In 1937, the West Point Bullion Depository was constructed, in 1988, it became the West Point Mint, West Point is located at 41° 23′ N 73°58 W. According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has an area of 25.1 square miles,24.3 sq mi land and 0.7 sq mi water. West Point and the village of Highland Falls, New York, are on the west bank of the Hudson River. West Point lies in the transition between the continental and humid subtropical zones, although lying closer to the former, with four distinct seasons. Summers are hot and humid, while winters are cold with moderate snowfall. The monthly daily average ranges from 27.5 °F in January to 74.1 °F in July, on average, temperatures reaching 90 °F or 0 °F occur on 17 and 1.4 days of the year. Extremes in temperature range from 106 °F on July 22,1926 down to −17 °F on February 9,1934, as of the census of 2010 there were 6,763 people, and 685 households residing in the CDP. The population density was 293.4 per square mile, there were 1,044 housing units at an average density of 42. 9/sq mi. The racial makeup of the CDP was 82. 31% White,9. 09% African American,0. 50% Native American,3. 35% Asian,0. 15% Pacific Islander,1. 64% from other races, and 2. 96% from two or more races
9.
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
10.
Whig Party (United States)
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The Whig Party was a political party active in the middle of the 19th century in the United States. Four US presidents belonged to the party while in office and it emerged in the 1830s as the immediate successor to the National Republican and Anti-Masonic Parties, and was also rooted in the tradition of the Federalist Party. Along with the rival Democratic Party, it was central to the Second Party System from the early 1840s to the mid-1860s and it originally formed in opposition to the policies of President Andrew Jackson and his Democratic Party. In particular, the Whigs supported the supremacy of the US Congress over the Presidency and favored a program of modernization, banking and it appealed to entrepreneurs, planters, reformers and the emerging urban middle class, but had little appeal to farmers or unskilled workers. It included many active Protestants, and voiced a moralistic opposition to the Jacksonian Indian removal, Party founders chose the Whig name to echo the American Whigs of the 18th century who fought for independence. The underlying political philosophy of the American Whig Party was not directly related to the British Whig party, the Whig Party nominated several presidential candidates in 1836. General William Henry Harrison of Ohio was nominated in 1840, former Senator Henry Clay of Kentucky in 1844, another war hero, General Winfield Scott of New Jersey was the Whig Partys last presidential nominee, in 1852. In its two decades of existence, the Whig Party had two of its candidates, Harrison and Taylor, elected president, John Tyler succeeded to the presidency after Harrisons death in 1841, but was expelled from the party later that year. Millard Fillmore, who became president after Taylors death in 1850, was the last Whig president, the party fell apart because of the internal tension over the expansion of slavery to the territories. Most Whig Party leaders eventually quit politics or changed parties, the northern voter base mostly gravitated to the new Republican Party. In the South, most joined the Know Nothing Party, which unsuccessfully ran Fillmore in the 1856 presidential election, the Constitutional Union Party experienced significant success from conservative former Whigs in the Upper South during the 1860 presidential election. Whig ideology as a policy orientation persisted for decades and played a role in shaping the modernizing policies of the state governments during Reconstruction. The name Whig derived from a term that Patriots used to refer to themselves during the American Revolution and it indicated hostility to the British Sovereign, and despite the identical name, did not directly derive from the British Whig Party. The American Whigs were modernizers who saw President Andrew Jackson as a man on horseback with a reactionary opposition to the forces of social, economic. Casting their enemy as King Andrew, they sought to identify themselves as opponents of governmental overreaching. Despite the apparent unity of Jeffersons Democratic-Republicans from 1800 to 1824, as Jackson purged his opponents, vetoed internal improvements, and killed the Second Bank of the United States, alarmed local elites fought back. In 1831, Henry Clay re-entered the Senate and started planning a new party and he defended national rather than sectional interests. His Jacksonian opponents, however, distrusted the government and opposed all federal aid for internal improvements
11.
Congressional Gold Medal
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A Congressional Gold Medal is an award bestowed by the United States Congress, the Congressional Gold Medal and the Presidential Medal of Freedom are the highest civilian awards in the United States. However, There are no permanent statutory provisions relating to the creation of Congressional Gold Medals. When a Congressional Gold Medal has been deemed appropriate, Congress has, by legislative action, American citizenship is not a requirement. Since the American Revolution, Congress has commissioned gold medals as its highest expression of appreciation for distinguished achievements. The medal was first awarded in 1776 by the Second Continental Congress to General George Washington, the medal normally is awarded to persons, but in 1979 the American Red Cross became the first organization to be honored with a gold medal. In 2014 the Civil Air Patrol was awarded a Congressional Gold Medal for the service in World War II. As of 2013 four people had been awarded more than one medal, Winfield Scott, Zachary Taylor, Lincoln Ellsworth. The Gold Medal and the Presidential Medal of Freedom are generally considered to carry the same level of prestige. The chief difference between the two is that the Freedom Medal is personally awarded by the President of the United States, a Congressional Gold Medal is designed by the United States Mint to specifically commemorate the person and achievement for which the medal is awarded. Medals are therefore different in appearance, and there is no standard design, Congressional Gold Medals are considered non-portable, meaning that they are not meant to be worn on a uniform or other clothing, but rather displayed. This was authorized in 1935 by Pub. L, 74–43 allowing the Secretary of the Navy to authorize—at his discretion—the wearing of commemorative or other special awards on Navy or Marine Corps uniforms, in military sized form. The rules have broadened since its beginning and now includes different people groups such as actors, authors, entertainers, often, bronze versions of the medals are struck for sale by the U. S. Mint, and may be available in both larger and smaller sizes. In at least one case, the John Wayne medal, private dealers bought large numbers of the bronze version and they were then gold plated and resold to the public for a significant profit. List of Congressional Gold Medal recipients Awards and decorations of the United States government Congressional Silver Medal Congressional Bronze Medal Thanks of Congress Snowden, a Description of the Medals of Washington, and of Other Objects of Interest in the Museum of the Mint. Illustrated, to Which Are Added Biographical Notices of the Directors of the Mint from 1792 to the year 1851, list of recipients Loubat, J. F. and Jacquemart, Jules, Illustrator, The Medallic History of the United States of America 1776–1876
12.
Virginia Army National Guard
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The Virginia Army National Guard is composed of approximately 7500 soldiers and maintains 46 armories in communities throughout the Commonwealth. The Governor may call individuals or units of the Virginia National Guard into state service during emergencies or to assist in situations which lend themselves to use of the National Guard. Virginia Army National Guard units are trained and equipped as part of the United States Army, the same enlisted ranks and officer ranks and insignia are used and National Guardsmen are eligible to receive all United States military awards. The Virginia Guard also bestows a number of awards for local services rendered in or to the commonwealth of Virginia. The Virginia Army National Guard is the oldest and the start of the Army National Guard. The Militia Act of 1903 organized the state militias into the present National Guard system. When the first English colonists arrived in America they brought them an existing militia system developed over centuries. Britain, being a nation, never had a need to have large standing armies like the countries of mainland Europe. The only threats had to come by sea and in the days of wind-powered ships there was always forewarning, such as during the Spanish Armada in 1588. ”The commanders of each of these regiments were the men of the county. The men were told they were expected to turn out when called for an emergency but in reality they were still civilian farmers or shop keepers, once the crisis passed they returned to their homes and trades. This was the system brought over from England and it was modified once the English arrived because there were constant threats for local natives and Spanish raiders. So part of the militia had to always be armed and in readiness in case of sudden attack, the HHT/2-183rd Cavalry and the 276th Engineer Battalion are two of only nineteen Army National Guard units with campaign credit for the War of 1812. The most obvious of these were the artillery battalions created to defend Washington, D. C. Initially armed with guns firing “flak” these were, in the mid-1950s, unlike Army Reserve members, National Guard members cannot be mobilized individually, but only as part of their respective units. For much of the decades of the twentieth century, National Guard personnel typically served One weekend a month. The current forces formation plans of the US Army call for the typical National Guard unit to one year of active duty for every five years of service. More specifically, current Department of Defense policy is that no Guardsman will be activated for a total of more than 24 months in one six year enlistment period. Since September 11,2001, over 15,700 Virginia Guard personnel have been deployed, Virginia Defense Force Virginia Military Institute Bibliography of Virginia Army National Guard History
13.
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
14.
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
15.
War of 1812
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Historians in the United States and Canada see it as a war in its own right, but the British often see it as a minor theatre of the Napoleonic Wars. By the wars end in early 1815, the key issues had been resolved, the view was shared in much of New England and for that reason the war was widely referred to there as Mr. Madison’s War. As a result, the primary British war goal was to defend their North American colonies, the war was fought in three theatres. Second, land and naval battles were fought on the U. S. –Canadian frontier, Third, large-scale battles were fought in the Southern United States and Gulf Coast. With the majority of its land and naval forces tied down in Europe fighting the Napoleonic Wars, early victories over poorly-led U. S. armies demonstrated that the conquest of the Canadas would prove more difficult than anticipated. Despite this, the U. S. was able to inflict serious defeats on Britains Native American allies, both governments were eager for a return to normality and peace negotiations began in Ghent in August 1814. This brought an Era of Good Feelings in which partisan animosity nearly vanished in the face of strengthened American nationalism, the war was also a major turning point in the development of the U. S. military, with militia being increasingly replaced by a more professional force. The U. S. also acquired permanent ownership of Spains Mobile District, the government of Canada declared a three-year commemoration of the War of 1812 in 2012, intended to offer historical lessons and celebrate 200 years of peace across the border. At the conclusion of the commemorations in 2014, a new national War of 1812 Monument was unveiled in Ottawa. The war is remembered in Britain primarily as a footnote in the much larger Napoleonic Wars occurring in Europe, historians have long debated the relative weight of the multiple reasons underlying the origins of the War of 1812. This section summarizes several contributing factors which resulted in the declaration of war by the United States, as Risjord notes, a powerful motivation for the Americans was the desire to uphold national honour in the face of what they considered to be British insults such as the Chesapeake–Leopard Affair. The approaching conflict was about violations of American rights, but it was also vindication of American identity. Americans at the time and historians since often called it the United States Second War of Independence, in 1807, Britain introduced a series of trade restrictions via a series of Orders in Council to impede neutral trade with France, with which Britain was at war. The United States contested these restrictions as illegal under international law, the American merchant marine had come close to doubling between 1802 and 1810, making it by far the largest neutral fleet. Britain was the largest trading partner, receiving 80% of U. S. cotton, the British public and press were resentful of the growing mercantile and commercial competition. The United States view was that Britains restrictions violated its right to trade with others, during the Napoleonic Wars, the Royal Navy expanded to 176 ships of the line and 600 ships overall, requiring 140,000 sailors to man. The United States believed that British deserters had a right to become U. S. citizens and this meant that in addition to recovering naval deserters, it considered any United States citizens who were born British liable for impressment. Aggravating the situation was the reluctance of the United States to issue formal naturalization papers and it was estimated by the Admiralty that there were 11,000 naturalized sailors on United States ships in 1805
16.
Battle of Queenston Heights
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The Battle of Queenston Heights was the first major battle in the War of 1812 and resulted in a British victory. It took place on 13 October 1812, near Queenston, Upper Canada, the battle was fought as the result of an American attempt to establish a foothold on the Canadian side of the Niagara River before campaigning ended with the onset of winter. This decisive battle was the culmination of a poorly managed American offensive, as a result, British reinforcements arrived and defeated the unsupported American forces, forcing them to surrender. The United States invasion across the Niagara River was originally intended to be part of an attack on Upper Canadas border strongpoints. These attacks were expected to bring the colony to its knees, however, the four attacks on Upper Canada failed or were not even launched. Hull was besieged in Detroit and, fearing a massacre by Britains Native American allies, surrendered the town, Dearborn and his army remained relatively inactive at Albany, New York and seemed to be in no hurry to attempt an invasion. Van Rensselaer was also unable to launch any immediate attack on the Niagara Peninsula, lacking troops, Van Rensselaer secured the appointment of his second cousin, Colonel Solomon Van Rensselaer, as his aide-de-camp. Solomon van Rensselaer was a soldier, and a valuable source of advice to the General. Major General Isaac Brock was both the civil Administrator of Upper Canada and Commander of the forces there. However, his superior at Quebec, Lieutenant General Sir George Prevost, was of a more cautious bent, Brock had hastened back from Detroit, intending to cross the Niagara, defeat Van Rensselaer before he could be reinforced and occupy upper New York State. Prevost vetoed this plan, ordering Brock to behave more defensively and he believed that peace negotiations might result and did not wish to prejudice any talks by taking offensive action. He opened negotiations with General Dearborn, and arranged local armistices, the United States government rejected Prevosts approach, and ordered Dearborn to proceed with the utmost vigor in your operations, after giving Prevost notice of the resumption of hostilities. However, it several weeks for this correspondence to travel between Washington and the frontier. While Brock had been at Detroit, Major General Sheaffe had been in command of the troops on the Niagara, Brock returned to the Niagara on 22 August, to find the armistice in effect. The armistice ended on 8 September, by which time Van Rensselaers army was better supplied than it had been before. The one aggressive action which Brock was able to take during the armistice was to facilitate the Siege of Fort Wayne on the Maumee River, even with Hulls failure and Dearborns inaction, Van Rensselaers situation appeared strong. On 1 September he had only 691 unpaid men fit for duty, in addition to his own force of around 6,000 regulars, volunteers and militia, Van Rensselaer had Brigadier General Alexander Smyths force of 1,700 regular soldiers under his command. However, Smyth, who was a regular officer although a lawyer by trade, as soon as his force reached the frontier, Smyth deployed his force near Buffalo, New York, at the head of the Niagara River
17.
Battle of Fort George
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The Battle of Fort George was a battle fought during the War of 1812, in which the Americans defeated a British force and captured the Fort George in Upper Canada. The troops of the United States Army and vessels of the United States Navy cooperated in a successful amphibious assault. The fort was situated on the bank of the Niagara River near its mouth. On the American side of the river lay Fort Niagara, Fort George was constructed to replace and counterbalance Fort Niagara, which the British lost to the Americans after Jays Treaty in the year 1796. At the beginning of the war both the British forces near Fort George and the American forces at Fort Niagara felt unprepared for conflict and he stated that there were 400 soldiers of the 41st Regiment and a Captains Command of Artillery stationed at Fort George. He also wrote that he felt Fort George would not be able to withstand an attack by the Americans if they came with a considerable force, by July 1812 however, the American commander at Fort Niagara was expecting a British attack and was demanding more reinforcements. When that happened, a force of U. S, regulars commanded by Brigadier General Alexander Smyth were to travel by boat from Four Mile Creek to the rear of Fort George and capture the fort. This plan failed to materialize in part because Smyth failed to cooperate, an attempt to carry out the plan on the night of October 10/11 was thwarted by bad weather. Smyth marched his detachment back to Black Rock, New York, van Rensselaer attacked Queenston with the troops he had at Lewiston on the night of October 13/14, without Smyths troops. During the ensuing Battle of Queenston Heights, the guns of Fort George, during the exchange the Americans ended up burning the court house, jail, and fifteen or sixteen other buildings. During this battle Fort George was left under the control of Major Evans, the Americans drafted a new plan on February 10,1813. The plan was to attack Kingston, then York from Sackets Harbor with 4,000 soldiers, only then were they to assault Fort George. Simultaneously 3,000 soldiers from Buffalo, New York were to capture Fort Erie then march on Fort George, the American army was then transported across the lake in Chaunceys ships to Fort Niagara. Dearborn planned to attack Fort George next, but his army required rest, no preparations had been made to accommodate the troops at Fort Niagara, and they suffered considerable shortages and privations for several days. In particular, the wounded were left without shelter or medical attention, on May 15, Colonel Winfield Scott took up his appointment as Dearborns Adjutant General, having been exchanged after being captured at the Battle of Queenston Heights in the previous year. Scott improved the administration and pushed forward the plans for the forthcoming attack. At Fort George, the Americans planned to land on the shore of the rather than on the shore of the Niagara River. The troops would be supported as they landed by twelve schooners, each mounting one or more heavy cannon, two larger vessels, the corvette Madison and the brig Oneida would engage the nearest British batteries
18.
Capture of Fort Erie
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The Capture of Fort Erie by American forces in 1814 was an incident in the War of 1812 between the United Kingdom and the United States. The British garrison was outnumbered but surrendered prematurely, in the view of British commanders, the United States shared a long border with British North America in 1814. During the war, the Americans launched several invasions into Upper Canada, one section of the border where this was easiest was along the Niagara River. Fort Erie was the British post at the head of the river, in 1812, two American attempts to capture Fort Erie were bungled by Brigadier General Alexander Smyth. Bad weather or poor administration foiled the American efforts to cross the river, in 1813, the Americans won the Battle of Fort George at the northern end of the Niagara River. The British abandoned the Niagara frontier and allowed Fort Erie to fall into American hands without a fight, the Americans failed to follow up their victory, and later in the year they withdrew most of their soldiers from the Niagara to furnish an ill-fated attack on Montreal. This allowed the British to recover their positions and to mount raids which led to the Capture of Fort Niagara, for 1814, a new invasion of Upper Canada was planned under the command of Major General Jacob Brown. Originally aimed at Kingston on Lake Ontario, it was switched to the Niagara because British ships controlled Lake Ontario for the first six months of 1814. Because American troops were concentrated at Buffalo and Black Rock. Fort Erie was the first objective that stood in the way, Major Thomas Buck was given command of the fort with a garrison of 137 British soldiers. Browns force crossed into Canada on July 3, Brigadier General Winfield Scott landed a mile and a half north of the fort with a brigade of regulars while it was still dark. Another brigade under Eleazar Wheelock Ripley crossed the head of the river to the south of the fort, meanwhile, New York militia demonstrated opposite Chippawa to distract the British troops in the area. As Scotts and Ripleys forces approached Fort Erie, Buck fired only a few shots at the Americans from the forts cannon, the Americans had captured an important fort at little cost. The forts garrison had bought the British little time and Buck was later court martialled for his hasty surrender, from their new base at Fort Erie, Brown next marched up the Niagara River and met the British at the Battle of Chippawa. Following the Battle of Lundys Lane in July, British forces under the command of Gordon Drummond advanced, however, American commanders decided to abandon the fort, which was evacuated and blown up in November 1814. John R. Elting, Amateurs to Arms Joseph Whitehorne, While Washington Burned, The Battle for Fort Erie 1814 Siege of Fort Erie
19.
Battle of Chippawa
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The Battle of Chippawa was a victory for the United States Army in the War of 1812, during an invasion of Upper Canada along the Niagara River on July 5,1814. This battle and the subsequent Battle of Lundys Lane demonstrated that trained American troops could hold their own against British regulars, the battlefield is a National Historic Site. Early in 1814, it was clear that Napoleon was defeated in Europe, the United States Secretary of War, John Armstrong Jr. was eager to win a victory in Canada before British reinforcements arrived there. Major General Jacob Brown was ordered to form the Left Division of the Army of the North, Armstrong intended him to mount an attack on Kingston, the main British base on Lake Ontario, with a diversion by militia across the Niagara River to distract the British. He had however drawn up alternate orders for an attack across the Niagara, possibly as a contingency plan. Brown considered that he was being presented with two plans, and was free to choose between them. Chauncey was waiting for new ships to be completed and refused to make any move before the middle of July, Brown therefore made the attack across the Niagara into the main effort. Armstrong had also directed that two Camps of Instruction be set up, to improve the standards of the units of the United States Army. One was at Plattsburgh, New York, under Brigadier General George Izard, the other was at Buffalo, New York, near the head of the Niagara River, under Brigadier General Winfield Scott. At Buffalo, Scott instituted a training programme. He drilled his troops for ten hours every day, using the 1791 Manual of the French Revolutionary Army and this reduced the wastage from dysentery and other enteric diseases which had been heavy in previous campaigns. There was only one deficiency, Scott had been unable to obtain enough regulation blue uniforms for his men. Although they had manufactured and sent to the northern theater, they had been diverted to Plattsburgh. By early July, Browns division was massed at the Niagara, without cooperation from Chauncey, a direct attack on Fort George at the mouth of the Niagara was impossible. Armstrong suggested that Brown should therefore capture and hold Fort Erie, opposite Buffalo, Brown assented, but was prepared to push much further than the immediate vicinity of Fort Erie. After a brigade of 750 volunteers from the militia under Brigadier General Peter B, porter, together with 600 Iroquois, arrived on July 4, Scott began advancing north along the portage road alongside the Niagara River. A British covering force under Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Pearson was easily driven back before they could any of the bridges or block the road with fallen trees. Late in the day, Scott encountered British defences on the far bank of Chippawa Creek, after a brief exchange of artillery fire, Scott withdrew a few miles to Streets Creek
20.
Battle of Lundy's Lane
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The Battle of Lundys Lane was a battle of the Anglo-American War of 1812, which took place on 25 July 1814, in present-day Niagara Falls, Ontario. It was one of the bloodiest battles of the war, the battle was a tactical draw but a British strategic victory because the Americans had suffered so many casualties that they were now outnumbered. There were over 1,500 casualties including 258 killed, on 3 July 1814 an American army under Major General Jacob Brown launched an attack across the Niagara River near its source on Lake Erie. His force quickly captured the British position at Fort Erie and then advanced north, two days later one of his two brigades of regular U. S. Infantry under Brigadier General Winfield Scott defeated a British force commanded by Major General Phineas Riall at the Battle of Chippawa. A few days after the battle Brown outflanked the British defences along the Chippawa River, Brown lacked the necessary troops and heavy artillery to attack this position. At the time a British naval squadron controlled the lake, when these were finally ready to sail, the American squadron was further delayed in port when Chauncey fell ill. As a result, no reinforcements or heavy guns could be sent to Brown while the British were able to move several units across the lake from York to reinforce Fort George, for most of July, Browns army occupied Queenston a few miles south of Fort George. In this forward position they were harassed by Canadian militia and Indians, on 24 July Brown fell back to the Chippawa River intending to secure his supplies before advancing west to Burlington. Early on 25 July, the British Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada, Lieutenant General Gordon Drummond, instead, Brown ordered an advance north, intending in turn to force the British to recall Tuckers column to protect Fort George. The Americans apparently did not know that the British held Lundys Lane in strength and these orders were countermanded by Drummond, who had force-marched a detachment of reinforcements to Lundys Lane from Fort George. The British were still reoccupying their positions when the first American units came into view, Lundys Lane was a spur from the main portage road alongside the Niagara River. It ran along the summit of some rising ground and therefore commanded good views of the area, the British artillery was massed in a cemetery at the highest point of the battlefield. The American 1st Brigade of regulars under Winfield Scott emerged in the afternoon from a forest into an open field and were badly mauled by the British artillery. Scott sent the 25th U. S. Infantry, commanded by Major Thomas Jesup, the 25th found a disused track leading to a landing stage on the river, and used it to pass round the British flank. They caught the British and Canadian units there while they were redeploying and unaware of the American presence, the British and Canadians rallied, but had been driven off the Portage Road. Jesup sent Captain Ketchums light infantry company to secure the junction of Lundys Lane, Ketchums company captured large numbers of wounded and messengers, including Major General Riall who had been wounded in one arm and was riding to the rear. The withdrawal of Drummonds centre left the artillery exposed in front of the infantry, by nightfall, Scotts brigade had suffered heavy casualties, but Brown had arrived with the American main body
21.
Seminole Wars
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Taken together, the Seminole Wars were the longest and most expensive Indian Wars in United States history. The First Seminole War began with General Andrew Jacksons excursions into West Florida, the governments of Britain and Spain both expressed outrage over the invasion. However, Spain was unable to defend its territory, and the Spanish Crown agreed to cede Florida to the United States in the Adams–Onís Treaty of 1819. According to the Treaty of Moultrie Creek of 1823, the Seminoles were required to leave northern Florida and were confined to a reservation in the center of the Florida peninsula. The U. S. government enforced the treaty by building a series of forts and trading posts in the territory, mainly along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts. The war resulted in most of the Seminole population in Florida being killed in battle, ravaged by starvation and disease, a few hundred Seminoles were allowed to remain in an unofficial reservation in southwest Florida. An estimated 100 Seminoles still refused to leave and retreated deep into the Everglades to live on land that was unwanted by white settlers, raids from the newly- established English Province of Carolina beginning in the mid-1600s began another steep decline in the indigenous population. In the first decade of the 18th century,10,000 –12,000 Indians were taken as slaves according to the governor of La Florida and by 1710, observers noted that north Florida was virtually depopulated. The few remaining natives fled west to Pensacola and beyond or east to the vicinity of St. Augustine. When Spain ceded Florida to Great Britain as part of the Treaty of Paris in 1763, during the mid-1700s, small bands from various Native American tribes from the southeastern United States began moving into the unoccupied lands of Florida. In 1715, the Yamasee moved into Florida as allies of the Spanish, Creek people, at first primarily the Lower Creek but later including Upper Creek, also started moving into Florida from the area of Georgia. The Mikasuki, Hitchiti-speakers, settled around what is now Lake Miccosukee near Tallahassee, another group of Hitchiti speakers, led by Cowkeeper, settled in what is now Alachua County, an area where the Spanish had maintained cattle ranches in the 17th century. One of the best-known ranches was Rancho de la Chua, the region became known as the Alachua Prairie. The Spanish in Saint Augustine began calling the Alachua Creek Cimarrones and this was the probable origin of the term Seminole. This name was applied to the other groups in Florida. Escaped African and African-American slaves who could reach the fort were essentially free, many were from Pensacola, some were free citizens though others had escaped from United States territory. The Spanish offered the freedom and land in Florida, they recruited former slaves as militia to help defend Pensacola. Other escaped slaves joined various Seminole bands as free members of the tribe, while most of the former slaves at Fort Mose went to Cuba with the Spanish when they left Florida in 1763, others lived with or near various bands of Indians
22.
Black Hawk War
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The Black Hawk War was a brief 1832 conflict between the United States and Native Americans led by Black Hawk, a Sauk leader. Black Hawks motives were ambiguous, but he was hoping to avoid bloodshed while resettling on tribal land that had been ceded to the United States in the disputed 1804 Treaty of St. Louis. US officials, convinced that the British Band was hostile, mobilized a frontier militia, Black Hawk responded by successfully attacking the militia at the Battle of Stillmans Run. He led his band to a location in what is now southern Wisconsin and was pursued by US forces. Meanwhile, other Native Americans conducted raids against forts and settlements largely unprotected with the absence of US troops, some Ho-Chunk and Potawatomi warriors with grievances against European-Americans took part in these raids, although most tribe members tried to avoid the conflict. The Menominee and Dakota tribes, already at odds with the Sauks and Meskwakis, commanded by General Henry Atkinson, the US troops tracked the British Band. Militia under Colonel Henry Dodge caught up with the British Band on July 21, Black Hawks band was weakened by hunger, death, and desertion and many native survivors retreated towards the Mississippi. On August 2, US soldiers attacked the remnants of the British Band at the Battle of Bad Axe, Black Hawk and other leaders escaped, but later surrendered and were imprisoned for a year. The Black Hawk War gave the young captain Abraham Lincoln his brief military service, other participants who later became famous included Winfield Scott, Zachary Taylor, and Jefferson Davis. The war gave impetus to the US policy of Indian removal, in which Native American tribes were pressured to sell their lands and move west of the Mississippi River and stay there. In the 18th century, the Sauk and Meskwaki Native American tribes lived along the Mississippi River in what is now the U. S. states of Illinois, by the time of the Black Hawk War, the population of the two tribes was about 6,000 people. As the United States expanded westward in the early 19th century, the treaty became controversial because the Native leaders had not been authorized by their tribal councils to cede lands. Historian Robert Owens argued that the chiefs probably did not intend to give up ownership of the land, and that they would not have sold so much valuable territory for such a modest price. Historian Patrick Jung concluded that the Sauk and Meskwaki chiefs intended to cede a little land, according to Jung, the Sauks and Meskwakis did not learn the true extent of the cession until years later. The 1804 treaty allowed the tribes to continue using the land until it was sold to American settlers by the U. S. government. For the next two decades, Sauks continued to live at Saukenuk, their village, which was located near the confluence of the Mississippi. In 1828, the U. S. government finally began to have the land surveyed for white settlement. Indian agent Thomas Forsyth informed the Sauks that they should vacate Saukenuk, the Sauks were divided about whether to resist implementation of the disputed 1804 treaty
23.
Siege of Veracruz
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The Battle of Veracruz was a 20-day siege of the key Mexican beachhead seaport of Veracruz, during the Mexican-American War. Lasting from March 9–29,1847, it began with the first large-scale amphibious assault conducted by United States military forces, U. S. forces then marched inland to Mexico City. After the battles of Monterrey and Buena Vista, much of Zachary Taylors Army of Occupation was transferred to the command of Major General Winfield Scott in support of the upcoming campaign. That campaign, determined by Scott and other Washington officials, would be a Veracruz landing, Veracruz was considered to be the strongest fortress in North America at the time. Puebla Libres, Orizaba, Veracruz, Oaxaca and Tehuantepec national guards, Fort San Juan de Ulúa – offshore on the Gallega Reef. Gen. Jose Durán with 1,030 men and 135 guns, artillery, Puebla and Jamiltepec activo battalions, companies of Tuxpan, Tampico, see Orders of Battle Mexican War. The Americans arrived at Anton Lizardo, Veracruz in early March, Scott agreed with Conners suggestion for a landing site at Collado Beach,3 mi south of Veracruz. The 1st Regular Division under Worth was chosen to make the landing first, followed by Pattersons volunteers, Conners Mosquito Fleet moved to within 90 yd of the beach to supply covering fire if necessary. By 12,15 pm on 9 March, this force was off Collado Beach, just before the main force touched the beach, a gig dashed ahead, and General Worth with his staff jumped ashore. Worths whole division landed without firing or receiving a single shot, by 11 pm, Scotts entire army had been brought ashore without a single man lost, and the first large scale amphibious landing conducted by the U. S. military was a success. Once ashore Pattersons division began marching northward to effect a complete envelopment of the city, one of Pattersons brigades under Gideon Pillow drove off a Mexican cavalry at Malibrán, cutting off the Alvarado road and the citys water supply. Quitman and Shields managed to drive off cavalry attempting to prevent the investment, by 13 March, the U. S. had completed a 7 mi siege line from Collado in the south to Playa Vergara in the north. On 17 March, siege lines were dug for Scotts siege artillery, sufficient for taking the city, the besiegers were plagued by sorties from the city, and Col. Juan Aguayo used the cover of a storm to slip his Alvarado garrison into Veracruz. Perry, Conners successor, returned from Norfolk, Virginia after making repairs on the USS Mississippi, perry and Conner met with Scott regarding the Navys role in the siege, and offered six guns that were to be manned by sailors from the ships. The naval battery was constructed under the direction of Captain Robert E. Lee 700 yd from the city walls. On March 22, Morales declined a surrender demand from Scott, the Naval batterys heavy cannonballs easily broke the coral walls. Congreve rockets were fired into the defenses and the fire forced the abandonment of Fort Santiago as Mexican morale began to drop. On March 24, Persifor F. Smiths brigade captured a Mexican soldier with reports that Antonio López de Santa Anna was marching an army from Mexico City to the relief of Veracruz
24.
Battle of Cerro Gordo
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The Battle of Cerro Gordo, or Battle of Sierra Gordo, was an engagement that took place during the Mexican-American War on April 18,1847. The battle saw Winfield Scotts United States troops out-flank and drive Antonio López de Santa Annas larger Mexican army from a defensive position. After United States forces captured the port of Veracruz on 29 March 1847 and these included several batteries under the command of brigadier generals Luis Pinzon, Jose Maria Jararo, and Romulo Diaz de la Vega. Scotts leading division, commanded by David E. Twiggs, reached the Cerro Gordo Pass on 12 April. On 12 April, Lieutenant Pierre G. T. Beauregard, of the United States Army Corps of Engineers, the Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. These reconnaissances were made under the supervision of Captain Robert E. Lee and other officers, all of whom attained rank and these had been opened under cover of night, without attracting the notice of the enemy. The engineers, who had directed the opening, led the way, in like manner the guns were drawn by hand up the opposite slope. Twiggs division took the hill on 17 April, advancing up the slopes to El Telegrafo, Santa Anna reinforced El Telegrafo with Brigadier General Ciriaco Vasquezs 2d Light, 4th, and 11th Infantry. Captain Edward J. Steptoe set up his battery on Atalaya Hill, at 7,00 am on 18 April, Twiggs directed William S. Harneys brigade to move against the front of El Telegrafo while Bennett C. The combination easily took the hill, killing General Vasquez, magruder turned the Mexican guns on the retreating Mexicans. Simultaneously, James Shields brigade attacked the Mexican camp and took possession of the Jalapa road, once they realized they were surrounded, the Mexican commanders on the three hills surrendered and by 10,00 am, the remaining Mexican forces fled. Scott moved on to Jalapa, and William J. Worths division took San Carlos Fortress on 22 April, Scott then occupied Puebla on 15 May, before departing for Mexico City on 7 August. Cerro Gordo County, Iowa, Cerro Gordo, North Carolina and Cerro Gordo, Illinois take their names from the battle, much as Resaca, the 1, 000-strong Artega Brigade, consisting of the Pueblo Activos and National Guard battalions, arrived at the end of the battle. Saint Patricks Battalion The Encyclopedia of Military History, Dupuy and Dupuy, apuntes para la historia de la guerra entre México y los Estados Unidos. The Other Side, Or, Notes for the History of the War between Mexico and the United States, translated and edited in the United States by Albert C, ramsey, New York, John Wiley,1850. Annual Reports,1894 War Department lists trophy guns as, 1–8 pounder bronze, 2–6 pounders, celebrations for Battle of Cerro Gordo, Washington D. C. 1847, Shapell Manuscript Foundation A Continent Divided, The U. S, – Mexico War, Center for Greater Southwestern Studies, the University of Texas at Arlington
25.
Battle of Contreras
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The Battle of Contreras, also known as the Battle of Padierna, took place on 19–20 August 1847, in the final encounters of the Mexican-American War. In the Battle of Churubusco, fighting continued the following day, Scott moved on the south side of Lake Chalco on 15 Aug. advancing to San Agustin. Santa Anna had about 30,000 men defending the city, including 7,000 from Gabriel Valencias Army of the North, which was located near Contreras by 17 Aug. Intending to flank San Antonio, Scott ordered Capt. Robert E. Lee to build a road across the Pedregal lava field so he could enfilade San Antonio to the north of San Agustin, Pillow then brought in his artillery, under the command of Capt. Magruder, Lt. Franklin D. Callender, and Lt. Jesse L. Reno, when told of the American movement across the Pedregal, Valencia exclaimed, No. In the mean time Col. Truman B, ransoms 9th Infantry and Lt. Col. Milledge L. Bonhams 12th moved forward on the American right to within 200 yards of Valencias camp by nightfall. Scott sent General James Shields brigade to Pillow who sent it after Cadwalader, santa Anna moved with Brigadier General Francisco Perezs 3,000 man brigade to San Angel, just north of the fighting. Night brought a cold rain and the end of fighting for the day, during the night, Lt. Zealous Bates Tower discovered a ravine running southwest from San Geronimo to the rear of Valencias camp, which Smith planned to use for a dawn attack the next morning. Lee volunteered to cross the Pedregal during the night so Scott could coordinate a diversion using Twiggs, Twiggs did so at 5 AM, just as Smith struck Valencia from the rear. Within seventeen minutes, Valencia and his force fled to San Angel, the U. S. forces captured 22 pieces of artillery and four generals. The battle culminated at the outskirts of Mexico City, at Padierna, among the neighborhoods of San Ángel, Contreras, apuntes Para la Historia de la Guerra entre Mexico y los Estados Unidos Mexico City. La batalla de Padierna Nevin, David, the Other Side New York, John Wiley,1850. - Mexico War, Center for Greater Southwestern Studies, the University of Texas at Arlington
26.
Battle of Churubusco
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The Battle of Churubusco took place on August 20,1847, while Santa Annas army was in retreat from the Battle of Contreras, Mexican–American War. After defeating the Mexican army at Churubusco, the U. S. Army was only 5 miles away from Mexico City, following their defeats at Contreras Santa Anna ordered Major General Nicolás Bravo with the Army of the Center to retreat from San Antonio to Churubusco. Scott sent David Twiggs and Gideon Johnson Pillows divisions from San Angel to Coyoacán, during retreat from San Antonio, the Mexican defenders, were struck in flank by Clarkes Brigade. Garland moved forward as the Mexicans withdrew from San Antonio and captured a general, scott ordered an attack on the convent. In addition to the walls of the convent, the defenses included a series of incomplete trenches the Mexicans had begun digging prior to the attack. Some elements of the Tlapa and Lagos Battalions arrived as reinforcements, three cannon were placed on the right, two in the center, and the remaining two on the left. Independencia was assigned to defend the walls, the right flank leading to the bridge, the unfortified south and north sides. The Bravos and the San Patricios were stationed on the left, in support along the Rio Churubusco was the Perez Brigade,2,500 men Worths division took on the tete-de-pont, while Twiggs the convent. Rincons gunners were able to force Taylors battery to withdraw, the attack by Franklin Pierce and James Shields, crossing the river on the Coyoacan-Mixcoac road in an attempt to cut off the Mexican retreat, was also stopped. However, Worth turned the Mexican left and crossed the river, capt. Duncan then set up a battery to attack the convent. Two of the Mexican cannons had melted and a third had fallen from its mount, lieutenant Colonel Francisco Peñúñuri of Independencia led a handful of men in a bayonet charge and was defeated. He and Captain Luis Martínez de Castro, who had accompanied him, were killed in the battle, officers from the Bravos attempted to raise the white flag over the convent walls on three occasions. Captain James Milton Smith finally stopped the fighting by putting up a white handkerchief, the Americans captured 192 prisoners and 3 pieces of artillery at the tete de pont. They captured 1,259 prisoners, including 3 generals and the San Patricios leader Lt. Col. Francisco Rosenda Moreno and they captured another 380 prisoners further up the road. Scott did not continue the pursuit into Mexico City. willing to leave something to this republic. I halted our victorious corps at the gates of the city, a brigade of volunteers from New York was billeted to the convent, remaining there until September 7. Parts of the battle were portrayed in the mini-series North and South, saint Patricks Battalion Balbontin, Manuel Recuerdos de la invasion norte-americana, 1846-1848. Annual Reports 1894, War Department lists trophy guns as, 1-16 pounder bronze, 4-8 pounders, 4-6 pounders, - Mexico War, Center for Greater Southwestern Studies, the University of Texas at Arlington
27.
Battle of Molino del Rey
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The Battle of Molino del Rey was one of the bloodiest engagements of the Mexican-American War as part of the Battle for Mexico City. It was fought in September 1847 between Mexican forces under General Antonio Léon against an American force under Major General Winfield Scott at El Molino del Rey near Mexico City. The Americans made little progress in this battle, but the Mexican forces were unable to hold them long enough to prevent the capture of Mexico City one week later. On 6 September 1847, Scott ended the following the Battle of Churubusco as negotiations broke down. On 7 Sept. a large number of Mexican horsemen were observed around a group of low, massive stone buildings known as El Molino del Rey or Kings Mill. Spread across the distance of point, they were about 1,000 yards west of the Castle at Chapultepec. A large grove of trees separated the Mill from the castle, while the castles batteries covered the area, Scott ordered General Worth to attack and take the Mill, break up the factory, and destroy any munitions found. General Juan Álvarezs 4,000 cavalry waited in reserve at the Hacienda Morales, the National Guard Battalions of Liberty, Union, Querétaro, and Mina, were commanded by General Leon, and the brigade of troops were commanded by General Joaquin Rangel. The 2nd light battalion, that of the Fijo the Mejico, the 4th light battalion and 11th regiment of the line, were commanded by General Francisco Perez. In the grove of Chapultepec, was the reserve 1st and 3d light battalions. At 5,45 AM, on 8 September, Worth sent a column of 500 men. Behind them he placed Colonel Charles F. Smiths light battalion and George Cadwaladers brigade in the center, and to their right was Garlands brigade, on the left, attacking the Casa Mata, was Colonel James Duncans battery and a brigade commanded by Colonel James S. McIntosh. Major Edwin Vose Sumner commanded three squadrons of dragoons on the left flank, Captain Benjamin Hugers heavy guns provided support. Major Wrights force came under artillery fire, which drove them back. Lt. Col. Miguel Maria Echeagarays 3d Light Infantry launced a counterattack, similarly, McIntoshs men withdrew in the face of a counterattack, but Duncans guns forced Perezs men to withdraw from Casa Mata. Worth sent the Voltigeur Regiment and the 11th Infantry into the assault, General Leon and Col. Lucas Balderas were killed. The Casa Mata caught fire and blew up near noon, causing casualties, but by 1 PM. Col. Hitchcock called the battle a Pyrrhic victory for the Americans, Scott still needed an assault path into the city, despite the destruction of Molino del Rey
28.
Battle of Chapultepec
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The castle, sitting atop a 200-foot tall hill, was an important position for the defense of the city. Its capture paved the way for the fall of Mexico City. On September 8,1847, in the costly Battle of Molino del Rey, however, Army engineers were still interested in the southern causeways to the city. General Winfield Scott held a council of war with his generals, Scott was in favor of attacking Chapultepec and only General David E. Twiggs agreed. Most of Scotts officers favored the attack through the southern gates, a young lieutenant, P. G. T. Beauregard, gave a textbook speech that persuaded General Franklin Pierce to change his vote in favor of the western attack. Antonio López de Santa Anna was in command of the army at Mexico City and he understood that Chapultepec Castle was an important position for the defense of the city. The castle sat atop a 200-foot tall hill which in recent years was being used as the Mexican Military Academy, a gradual slope from the castle down to the Molino del Rey made an inviting attack point. The additional Mexican troops were used in external walled redoubts of the castle to protect a large piece of ground in front of the castle itself. This area was protected by walls and was about three-quarters of a mile long by one-quarter mile deep. Also the source of water for the castle was located within this area, the first party consisted of Captain Samuel Mackenzies 256 men and Gideon Pillows division, who would advance from the Molino east up the hill. The second storming party consisted of Captain Silas Caseys men and John A. Quitmans division, however, Casey was replaced by Major Levi Twiggs. Only Twiggs division and Bennett Rileys brigade were left on the American right flank, the Americans began an artillery barrage against Chapultepec at dawn on September 12. It was halted at dark and resumed at first light on September 13, at 8 AM, the bombardment was halted and General Scott ordered the infantry attack. Pillow was quickly hit in the foot and called for reinforcements, andrewss column cleared the grove of Mexican troops and linked up with Johnston. Yet, the attack by the 9th and 15th Infantry stalled waiting for scaling ladders, Quitman sent Persifor Smiths brigade to his right and brought in James Shields, plus the New York and 2d Pennsylvania Regiments into the assault. At the same time, Newman S. Clarkes brigade arrived on the western slope, the Voltigeurs soon planted their flag on the parapet. By 9 AM, General Bravo surrendered to the New York Regiment, Santa Anna watched the Americans take Chapultepec while an aide exclaimed let the Mexican flag never be touched by a foreign enemy. He also exclaimed, I believe if we were to plant our batteries in Hell the damned Yankees would take them from us
29.
Battle for Mexico City
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The Battle for Mexico City refers to the series of engagements from September 8 to September 15,1847, in the general vicinity of Mexico City during the Mexican-American War. Included are major actions at the battles of Molino del Rey and Chapultepec, the U. S. Army under Winfield Scott scored a major success that ended the war. The major objective of American operations in central Mexico had been the capture of Mexico City, after capturing the port of Veracruz in March, General Winfield Scott was able to secure a base and move inland and defeat a large Mexican force at the Battle of Cerro Gordo. After routing the Mexicans at the Battle of Churubusco, Scotts army was five miles away from its objective of Mexico City. Although defeated at Cerro Gordo and Churubusco, General Santa Annas army remained intact, on September 8, the fight for Mexico City began. Scott believed that a cannon foundry was located at the Molino del Rey, Scott sent the 1st Division under William J. Worth to seize and destroy the foundry. Worth wished to include Chapultepec Castle in his attack, and when Scott refused, in the ensuing battle, both sides suffered heavy casualties, and Worth drove the Mexicans from the mill, separating them from the forces at Chapultepec. The battle produced no significant military gains for the U. S, the main assault on the city came a few days later on September 12. Mexico City was guarded in part by Chapultepec Castle, which was being used as a military academy, Scott preceded infantry assault with an all day artillery barrage on September 12. The next day, September 13, the 4th Division, under John A. Quitman, spearheaded the attack against Chapultepec, future Confederate generals George E. Pickett and James Longstreet participated in the attack. Serving in the Mexican defense were the cadets later immortalized as Los Niños Héroes, the Mexican forces fell back from Chapultepec and retreated within the city. Gen. Pérez, 11th Infantry & remnants of Light Regts. ) from the city during the night, Quitman sent Lieutenant Pierre Beauregard to arrange the surrender of the ciudadela. Beauregard and Mansfield Lovell were met by a Mexican officer who asked for a receipt for the captured ciudadela, Beauregard exclaimed that we give receipts at the point of their swords. Scott gave the honor of entering the city to Quitmans Division. The conquering army was less than impressing, the troops wore ragged and bloodstained uniforms, Quitman marched into the Zócalo plaza in the center of the city in front of the National Palace where the formal surrender took place. As Worths division entered the city the leading unit was John Garlands brigade, stragglers from the Mexican army left in the city after Santa Annas withdrawal climbed to the roofs of houses and began shooting at the American soldiers. General Garland was hit in the chest with the first shot, before he evacuated, Santa Anna released 30,000 prisoners into the streets of the city, and these rooftop shots provoked the prisoners into similar acts. Worth did manage to get the sniping under control, William S. Harneys dragoons escorted General Scott into the city wearing his immaculate dress uniform and was greeted by patriotic music
30.
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
31.
Second Seminole War
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The Second Seminole War, often referred to as the Seminole War, is regarded as the longest and most costly of the Indian conflicts of the United States. Bands from various tribes in the southeastern United States had moved into the lands in Florida in the 18th century. These included Alabamas, Choctaws, Yamasees, Yuchis and Creek people, the Creeks were the largest group, and included Lower Creeks and Upper Creeks, and both Hitchiti and Muscogee speakers. One group of Hitchiti speakers, the Mikasuki, settled around what is now Lake Miccosukee near Tallahassee, another group of Hitchiti speakers settled around the Alachua Prairie in what is now Alachua County. The Spanish in St. Augustine began calling the Alachua Creeks Cimarrones, which roughly meant wild ones or runaways, and this name was eventually also applied to the other groups in Florida, although the Native Americans still regarded themselves as members of different tribes. The United States and Spain were at odds over Florida after the Treaty of Paris ended the American Revolutionary War, the United States disputed the boundaries of West Florida. They accused the Spanish authorities of harboring fugitive slaves and of failing to restrain the Native Americans living in Florida from raiding into the United States, starting in 1810, the United States occupied and annexed parts of West Florida. In 1818 Andrew Jackson led an invasion of the Floridas, leading to the First Seminole War, the United States acquired Florida from Spain through the Adams-Onís Treaty in 1819 and took possession of the territory in 1821. Now that Florida belonged to the United States, the government was pressured by settlers to remove the Seminoles, in 1823 the government negotiated the Treaty of Moultrie Creek with the Seminoles, establishing a reservation for them in the middle of the territory. Six chiefs, however, were allowed to keep their villages along the Apalachicola River, the Seminoles gave up their lands in the panhandle and slowly settled into the reservation, although they had isolated clashes with whites. Colonel Duncan Lamont Clinch was placed in charge of the Army units in Florida, Fort King was built near the reservation agency, at the site of present-day Ocala, Florida. By early 1827 the Army reported that the Seminoles were on the reservation and this peace lasted for five years, during which time there were repeated calls for the Seminoles to be sent west of the Mississippi. The Seminoles were opposed to the move, and especially to the suggestion that they should be placed on the Creek reservation. Most whites regarded the Seminoles as simply Creeks who had moved to Florida, while the Seminoles claimed Florida as their home. The status of slaves was a continuing irritation between Seminoles and whites. Spain had given freedom to slaves who escaped to Florida under their rule, over the years, those who became known as Black Seminoles established communities near Seminole villages, and the two peoples had close alliances although they maintained separate cultures. Slave catchers argued over the ownership of slaves, New plantations in Florida increased the pool of slaves who could escape to the Seminoles. Worried about the possibility of an Indian uprising and/or an armed slave rebellion, instead, Fort King was closed in 1828
32.
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
33.
Anaconda Plan
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The Anaconda Plan is the name applied to an outline strategy for suppressing the Confederacy at the beginning of the American Civil War. Proposed by General-in-Chief Winfield Scott, the plan emphasized a Union blockade of the Southern ports, the snake image caught on, giving the proposal its popular name. A spearhead, a small amphibious force of army troops transported by boats and supported by gunboats, should advance rapidly. They would be followed by a traditional army, marching behind them to secure the victories. The culminating battle would be for the forts below New Orleans, when they fell, the river would be in Federal hands from its source to its mouth, Scotts plan had elements similar to a plan created before the Civil War. That antebellum plan was intended to crush a limited domestic insurrection by closing ports and it was not intended to deal with a new political organization with a regular army. The complete strategy could not be implemented immediately, as no warships of the type imagined for the Mississippi campaign existed, the U. S. Navy was also too small to enforce the blockade in the first months of the war. It would take time to gather and train the forces needed to out the Mississippi thrust. Hence, Scotts plan was subjected to a deal of ridicule. His opponents called for an overland campaign, directed primarily at the Confederate capital of Richmond. Their stated belief was that if a few strongholds were taken, the conflict was not the brief affair that Scotts critics imagined. In the four years of war, the Federal Navy enforced a blockade that certainly weakened the South, the form of the Northern victory thus turned out to look very much like what Scott had proposed in the early days. Consequently, the Anaconda has been rehabilitated, and general histories of the Civil War often credit it with guiding President Abraham Lincolns strategy throughout. The Anaconda had a development, both in its origin and the way it played out in the experience of battle. The blockade had already been proclaimed by President Lincoln and this executive order was not rescinded until the end of the war, so the blockade existed independently of Scotts plan. In the early days of the movement, the status of the border states Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland. All except Delaware had strong pro-Southern interests, because Congress was not in session to authorize Presidential initiatives to suppress the rebellion, the burden of raising troops for the war fell on the loyal state governments. Ohio was particularly active in doing so, and early acquired the services of George B, McClellan, who was to serve as the commander of its militia, with rank Major General of Volunteers
34.
Confederate States of America
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The Confederate States, officially the Confederate States of America, commonly referred to as the Confederacy, was a breakaway country of 11 secessionist slave states existing from 1861 to 1865. It was never recognized as an Independent country, although it achieved belligerent status by Britain. A new Confederate government was established in February 1861 before Lincoln took office in March, after the Civil War began in April, four slave states of the Upper South – Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina – also declared their secession and joined the Confederacy. The government of the United States rejected the claims of secession, the Civil War began with the April 12,1861, Confederate attack upon Fort Sumter, a Union fort in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina. In spring 1865, after four years of fighting which led to an estimated 620,000 military deaths, all the Confederate forces surrendered. Jefferson Davis later lamented that the Confederacy had disappeared in 1865, Missouri and Kentucky were represented by partisan factions from those states, while the legitimate governments of those two states retained formal adherence to the Union. Also fighting for the Confederacy were two of the Five Civilized Tribes located in Indian Territory and a new, but uncontrolled, Confederate Territory of Arizona. Efforts by certain factions in Maryland to secede were halted by federal imposition of law, while Delaware, though of divided loyalty. A Unionist government in parts of Virginia organized the new state of West Virginia. With the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1,1863, the Union made abolition of slavery a war goal, as Union forces moved southward, large numbers of plantation slaves were freed. Many joined the Union lines, enrolling in service as soldiers, teamsters and laborers, the most notable advance was Shermans March to the Sea in late 1864. Much of the Confederacys infrastructure was destroyed, including telegraphs, railroads, plantations in the path of Shermans forces were severely damaged. Internal movement became increasingly difficult for Southerners, weakening the economy and these losses created an insurmountable disadvantage in men, materiel, and finance. Public support for Confederate President Jefferson Daviss administration eroded over time due to repeated military reverses, economic hardships, after four years of campaigning, Richmond was captured by Union forces in April 1865. Shortly afterward, Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant, President Davis was captured on May 10,1865, and jailed in preparation for a treason trial that was ultimately never held. The U. S. government began a process known as Reconstruction which attempted to resolve the political and constitutional issues of the Civil War. By 1877, the Compromise of 1877 ended Reconstruction in the former Confederate states, Confederate veterans had been temporarily disenfranchised by Reconstruction policy. The prewar South had many areas, the war left the entire region economically devastated by military action, ruined infrastructure
35.
College of William & Mary
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The College of William & Mary in Virginia is a public research university located in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. William & Mary educated U. S. Presidents Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, a young George Washington also received his surveyors license through the College. W&M students founded the Phi Beta Kappa academic honor society in 1776, the establishment of graduate programs in law and medicine in 1779 makes it one of the first universities in the United States. In addition to its program, W&M is home to several graduate programs. Named in honor of the reigning monarchs King William III and Queen Mary II, the original plans for the College date back to 1618 but were thwarted by the Indian Massacre of 1622, a change in government, events related to the English Civil War, and Bacons Rebellion. In 1695 before the town of Williamsburg existed, construction began on the College Building, now known as the Sir Christopher Wren Building and it is the oldest college building in America. The College is one of the countrys nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution, the Charter named James Blair as the Colleges first president. William & Mary was founded as an Anglican institution, students were required to be members of the Church of England, and professors were required to declare adherence to the Thirty-Nine Articles. In 1693, the College was given a seat in the House of Burgesses and it was determined the College would be supported by taxes and export duties on furs. The College acquired a 330 acres parcel for the new school,8 miles from Jamestown, in 1694, the new school opened in temporary buildings. Williamsburg was granted a charter as a city in 1722 by the Crown. During this time, the College served as a law center and it educated future U. S. Presidents Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, and John Tyler. The College has been called the Alma Mater of a Nation because of its ties to Americas founding fathers. A 17-year-old George Washington received his surveyors license through the College, William & Mary is famous for its firsts, the first U. S. institution with a Royal Charter, the first Greek-letter society, the first student honor code and the first law school in America. The College became a school in 1906 and became coeducational in 1918. In 1928, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. chose the College Building as the first building to be returned to its 18th-century appearance as part of the iconic Colonial Williamsburg restoration. During the period of the American Revolution, freedom of religion was established in Virginia notably with the 1786 passage of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, in 1779 the college became the first American university with the establishment of the graduate schools in law and medicine. The College of William and Mary is home to the nations first collegiate secret society, Society, popularly known as the Flat Hat Club, founded November 11,1750
36.
Captain (United States O-3)
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In the United States Army, U. S. Marine Corps, and U. S. Air Force, captain is a company grade officer rank, with the pay grade of O-3. It ranks above first lieutenant and below major and it is equivalent to the rank of lieutenant in the naval rank system. The insignia for the rank consists of two bars, with slight stylized differences between the Army/Air Force version and the Marine Corps version. Promotion to captain is governed by Department of Defense policies derived from the Defense Officer Personnel Management Act of 1980, DOPMA guidelines suggest 95% of first lieutenants should be promoted to captain after serving a minimum of two years at their present rank. A U. S. Army and U. S. Marine captain generally commands company-sized units, when given such a command, they bear the title company commander. Captains also instruct at service schools and combat training centers and are often staff officers at the battalion level, Marine captains also serve as officer selection officers, commanding recruiting stations for commissioned officers. A U. S. Air Force captains authority varies by group assignment, in an operations group, senior captains may be flight commanders while more junior captains may be heads of departments. In the maintenance or logistics and mission support groups they are almost always flight commanders, in the medical group, captains usually have limited administrative and command responsibility as captain is frequently the entry-level rank for most medical officers and dental officers. In Army and Air Force medical units, captain is the rank for those possessing a medical degree. U. S. Army Special Forces Operational Detachments Alpha and MARSOCs 14-man Marine Special Operations Teams are commanded by a captain, United States Army officer rank insignia United States Air Force enlisted rank insignia DA Pamphlet 600–3, Commissioned Officer Professional Development and Career Management
37.
Artillery
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Artillery is a class of large military weapons built to fire munitions far beyond the range and power of infantrys small arms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach fortifications, and led to heavy, as technology improved, lighter, more mobile field artillery developed for battlefield use. This development continues today, modern self-propelled artillery vehicles are highly mobile weapons of great versatility providing the largest share of an armys total firepower, in its earliest sense, the word artillery referred to any group of soldiers primarily armed with some form of manufactured weapon or armour. In common speech, the artillery is often used to refer to individual devices, along with their accessories and fittings. However, there is no generally recognised generic term for a gun, howitzer, mortar, and so forth, the United States uses artillery piece, the projectiles fired are typically either shot or shell. Shell is a widely used term for a projectile, which is a component of munitions. By association, artillery may also refer to the arm of service that customarily operates such engines, in the 20th Century technology based target acquisition devices, such as radar, and systems, such as sound ranging and flash spotting, emerged to acquire targets, primarily for artillery. These are usually operated by one or more of the artillery arms, Artillery originated for use against ground targets—against infantry, cavalry and other artillery. An early specialist development was coastal artillery for use against enemy ships, the early 20th Century saw the development of a new class of artillery for use against aircraft, anti-aircraft guns. Artillery is arguably the most lethal form of land-based armament currently employed, the majority of combat deaths in the Napoleonic Wars, World War I, and World War II were caused by artillery. In 1944, Joseph Stalin said in a speech that artillery was the God of War, although not called as such, machines performing the role recognizable as artillery have been employed in warfare since antiquity. The first references in the historical tradition begin at Syracuse in 399 BC. From the Middle Ages through most of the era, artillery pieces on land were moved by horse-drawn gun carriages. In the contemporary era, the artillery and crew rely on wheeled or tracked vehicles as transportation, Artillery used by naval forces has changed significantly also, with missiles replacing guns in surface warfare. The engineering designs of the means of delivery have likewise changed significantly over time, in some armies, the weapon of artillery is the projectile, not the equipment that fires it. The process of delivering fire onto the target is called gunnery, the actions involved in operating the piece are collectively called serving the gun by the detachment or gun crew, constituting either direct or indirect artillery fire. The term gunner is used in armed forces for the soldiers and sailors with the primary function of using artillery. The gunners and their guns are usually grouped in teams called either crews or detachments, several such crews and teams with other functions are combined into a unit of artillery, usually called a battery, although sometimes called a company
38.
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
39.
Mexico City
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Mexico City, or City of Mexico, is the capital and most populous city of Mexico. As an alpha global city, Mexico City is one of the most important financial centers in the Americas and it is located in the Valley of Mexico, a large valley in the high plateaus at the center of Mexico, at an altitude of 2,240 metres. The city consists of sixteen municipalities, the 2009 estimated population for the city proper was approximately 8.84 million people, with a land area of 1,485 square kilometres. The Greater Mexico City has a domestic product of US$411 billion in 2011. The city was responsible for generating 15. 8% of Mexicos Gross Domestic Product, as a stand-alone country, in 2013, Mexico City would be the fifth-largest economy in Latin America—five times as large as Costa Ricas and about the same size as Perus. Mexico’s capital is both the oldest capital city in the Americas and one of two founded by Amerindians, the other being Quito. In 1524, the municipality of Mexico City was established, known as México Tenochtitlán, Mexico City served as the political, administrative and financial center of a major part of the Spanish colonial empire. After independence from Spain was achieved, the district was created in 1824. Ever since, the left-wing Party of the Democratic Revolution has controlled both of them, in recent years, the local government has passed a wave of liberal policies, such as abortion on request, a limited form of euthanasia, no-fault divorce, and same-sex marriage. On January 29,2016, it ceased to be called the Federal District and is now in transition to become the countrys 32nd federal entity, giving it a level of autonomy comparable to that of a state. Because of a clause in the Mexican Constitution, however, as the seat of the powers of the federation, it can never become a state, the city of Mexico-Tenochtitlan was founded by the Mexica people in 1325. According to legend, the Mexicas principal god, Huitzilopochtli indicated the site where they were to build their home by presenting an eagle perched on a cactus with a snake in its beak. Between 1325 and 1521, Tenochtitlan grew in size and strength, eventually dominating the other city-states around Lake Texcoco, when the Spaniards arrived, the Aztec Empire had reached much of Mesoamerica, touching both the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean. After landing in Veracruz, Spanish explorer Hernán Cortés advanced upon Tenochtitlan with the aid of many of the native peoples. Cortés put Moctezuma under house arrest, hoping to rule through him, the Aztecs thought the Spaniards were permanently gone, and they elected a new king, Cuitláhuac, but he soon died, the next king was Cuauhtémoc. Cortés began a siege of Tenochtitlan in May 1521, for three months, the city suffered from the lack of food and water as well as the spread of smallpox brought by the Europeans. Cortés and his allies landed their forces in the south of the island, the Spaniards practically razed Tenochtitlan during the final siege of the conquest. Cortés first settled in Coyoacán, but decided to rebuild the Aztec site to erase all traces of the old order and he did not establish a territory under his own personal rule, but remained loyal to the Spanish crown
40.
United States presidential election, 1852
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The United States presidential election of 1852 was the seventeenth quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 2,1852. It bore important similarities to the election of 1844, once again, the incumbent president was a Whig who had succeeded to the presidency upon the death of his war-hero predecessor. In this case, it was Millard Fillmore who followed General Zachary Taylor, the Whig party passed over the incumbent for nomination, casting aside Fillmore in favor of General Winfield Scott. The Democrats nominated a “dark horse” candidate, this time Franklin Pierce, the Whigs again campaigned on the obscurity of the Democratic candidate, and again, the strategy failed. Pierce’s substantial margin of victory did not signal the dawn of a new era of dominance for the Democrats. No presidential candidate from the Democratic party would win a majority in both the popular and electoral vote until 1932, when Franklin D. Roosevelt defeated Republican Herbert Hoover. Pierce himself would prove to be a largely ineffectual President and was denied his own party’s nomination in 1856 in favor of James Buchanan, the 1852 presidential election conventions of the parties are considered below in order of the party’s popular vote. Senator from New Hampshire James Buchanan, former U. S. Secretary of State from Pennsylvania Lewis Cass, Senator from Michigan Stephen Douglas, U. S. Throughout the balloting, numerous favorite son candidates received a few votes, Cass led on the first nineteen ballots, with Buchanan second, and Douglas and Marcy exchanging third and fourth places. Buchanan took the lead on the 20th ballot and retained it on each of the next nine tallies, Douglas managed a narrow lead on the 30th and 31st ballots. Cass then recaptured first place through the 44th ballot, Marcy carried the next four ballots. Franklin Pierce of New Hampshire, a former Congressman and Senator, did not get on the board until the 35th ballot and he consolidated his support in subsequent voting and was nominated nearly unanimously on the 49th ballot. In a peace gesture to the Buchanan wing of the party, Pierce’s supporters allowed Buchanan’s allies to fill the second position, knowing that they would select Alabama Senator William R. King. On the second ballot, with minor opposition, King finally obtained the Democratic vice-presidential nomination. ”King died shortly after his inauguration on April 18,1853. Supporters of President Fillmore pointed to the successful Compromise of 1850, the northern Whigs believed that the Compromise of 1850 favored the slaveholding South over the North. Northern Whigs favored heroic Mexican-American War General Winfield Scott of New Jersey, Scott had earned the nickname of “Old Fuss and Feathers” in the military due to his insistence on appearance and discipline, and while respected, was also seen by the people as somewhat foppish. A deadlock occurred because most New England delegates supported Daniel Webster, on the first ballot, Fillmore received all delegate votes from the South save four, but only received eighteen northern delegate votes. The vote was 133 for Fillmore,131 for Scott, and 29 for Webster
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Millard Fillmore
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Millard Fillmore was the 13th President of the United States, the last to be a member of the Whig Party while in the White House. A former congressman from New York, Fillmore was elected the nations 12th Vice President in 1848 and he was instrumental in getting the Compromise of 1850 passed, a bargain that led to a brief truce in the battle over slavery. He failed to win the Whig nomination for president in 1852, he gained the endorsement of the nativist Know Nothing Party four years later, Fillmore was born into poverty in the Finger Lakes area of New York state, his parents were tenant farmers during his formative years. He rose from poverty through study, and became a lawyer though he had formal schooling. He became prominent in the Buffalo area as an attorney and politician, was elected to the New York Assembly in 1828, and to the U. S. House of Representatives in 1832. Fillmore was a candidate for Speaker of the House when the Whigs took control of the chamber in 1841. Fillmore received the Whig vice presidential nomination in 1848 as Taylors running mate, and he was largely ignored by Taylor, including the dispensing of patronage in New York, on which Taylor consulted Weed and Seward. As vice president, Fillmore presided over debates in the Senate as Congress decided whether to allow slavery in the Mexican Cession. Fillmore supported Henry Clays Omnibus Bill though Taylor did not, after President Taylor died in July 1850, Fillmore dismissed the cabinet and changed the administrations policy. The new president exerted pressure to gain the passage of the Compromise, in foreign policy, Fillmore supported U. S. Navy expeditions to open trade in Japan, opposed French designs on Hawaii, and was embarrassed by Narciso Lópezs filibuster expeditions to Cuba. He sought election to a term in 1852, but was passed over by the Whigs in favor of Winfield Scott. As the Whig Party broke up after Fillmores presidency, many of Fillmores conservative wing joined the Know Nothings, in his 1856 candidacy as that partys nominee, Fillmore had little to say about immigration, instead focusing on the preservation of the Union, and won only Maryland. In his retirement, Fillmore was active in civic endeavors. He helped to found the University of Buffalo, serving as its first chancellor, during the American Civil War, Fillmore denounced secession and agreed that the Union must be maintained by force if necessary, but was critical of the war policies of Abraham Lincoln. After peace was restored, he supported the Reconstruction policies of President Andrew Johnson, obscure today, Fillmore has been praised by some for his foreign policy, but he is criticized by others for his enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act and for his association with the Know Nothings. Millard Fillmore was born in a log cabin, on a farm in what is now Moravia, Cayuga County, in the Finger Lakes region of New York state and his parents were Phoebe and Nathaniel Fillmore. He was the second of eight children and the oldest son, Nathaniel Fillmore Sr. was a member of the Green Mountain Boys, and served as an ensign and first lieutenant during the American Revolution. In 1767, Nathaniel Fillmore Sr. married Hepzibah Wood, the mother of Nathaniel Fillmore and grandmother of Millard Fillmore
42.
Democratic Party (United States)
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The Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The Democrats dominant worldview was once socially conservative and fiscally classical liberalism, while, especially in the rural South, since Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Deal coalition in the 1930s, the Democratic Party has also promoted a social-liberal platform, supporting social justice. Today, the House Democratic caucus is composed mostly of progressives and centrists, the partys philosophy of modern liberalism advocates social and economic equality, along with the welfare state. It seeks to provide government intervention and regulation in the economy, the party has united with smaller left-wing regional parties throughout the country, such as the Farmer–Labor Party in Minnesota and the Nonpartisan League in North Dakota. Well into the 20th century, the party had conservative pro-business, the New Deal Coalition of 1932–1964 attracted strong support from voters of recent European extraction—many of whom were Catholics based in the cities. After Franklin D. Roosevelts New Deal of the 1930s, the pro-business wing withered outside the South, after the racial turmoil of the 1960s, most southern whites and many northern Catholics moved into the Republican Party at the presidential level. The once-powerful labor union element became smaller and less supportive after the 1970s, white Evangelicals and Southerners became heavily Republican at the state and local level in the 1990s. However, African Americans became a major Democratic element after 1964, after 2000, Hispanic and Latino Americans, Asian Americans, the LGBT community, single women and professional women moved towards the party as well. The Northeast and the West Coast became Democratic strongholds by 1990 after the Republicans stopped appealing to socially liberal voters there, overall, the Democratic Party has retained a membership lead over its major rival the Republican Party. The most recent was the 44th president Barack Obama, who held the office from 2009 to 2017, in the 115th Congress, following the 2016 elections, Democrats are the opposition party, holding a minority of seats in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. The party also holds a minority of governorships, and state legislatures, though they do control the mayoralty of cities such as New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, and Washington, D. C. The Democratic Party traces its origins to the inspiration of the Democratic-Republican Party, founded by Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and that party also inspired the Whigs and modern Republicans. Organizationally, the modern Democratic Party truly arose in the 1830s, since the nomination of William Jennings Bryan in 1896, the party has generally positioned itself to the left of the Republican Party on economic issues. They have been liberal on civil rights issues since 1948. On foreign policy both parties changed position several times and that party, the Democratic-Republican Party, came to power in the election of 1800. After the War of 1812 the Federalists virtually disappeared and the national political party left was the Democratic-Republicans. The Democratic-Republican party still had its own factions, however. As Norton explains the transformation in 1828, Jacksonians believed the peoples will had finally prevailed, through a lavishly financed coalition of state parties, political leaders, and newspaper editors, a popular movement had elected the president
43.
Franklin Pierce
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Franklin Pierce was the 14th President of the United States. Pierce was a northern Democrat who saw the abolitionist movement as a threat to the unity of the nation. Historians and other scholars generally rank Pierce as among the worst of US Presidents, born in New Hampshire, Pierce served in the U. S. House of Representatives and the Senate until he resigned from the latter in 1842. His private law practice in his state was a success. Pierce took part in the Mexican–American War as a general in the Army. In the 1852 presidential election, Pierce and his running mate William R. King easily defeated the Whig Party ticket of Winfield Scott and William A. Graham. While Pierce was popular and outgoing, his life was a grim affair, with his wife Jane suffering from illness. All of their children died young, their last son being killed in a train accident while the family was traveling shortly before Pierces inauguration. Pierce was a Young America expansionist who signed the Gadsden Purchase of land from Mexico and his popularity in the Northern states declined sharply after he supported the Kansas–Nebraska Act, which nullified the Missouri Compromise, while many whites in the South continued to support him. Passage of the act led to violent conflict over the expansion of slavery in the American West, Pierces administration was further damaged when several of his diplomats issued the Ostend Manifesto, calling for the annexation of Cuba, a document which was roundly criticized. Although Pierce fully expected to be renominated by the Democrats in the 1856 presidential election, he was abandoned by his party and his reputation in the North suffered further during the Civil War as he became a vocal critic of President Abraham Lincoln. Pierce, who had been a heavy drinker for much of his life, Franklin Pierce was born on November 23,1804, in a log cabin in Hillsborough, New Hampshire. He was a descendant of Thomas Pierce, who had moved to the Massachusetts Bay Colony from Norwich, Norfolk, England. Pierces father Benjamin, a Revolutionary War lieutenant, moved from Chelmsford, Massachusetts to Hillsborough after the war, Pierce was the fifth of eight children born to Benjamin and his second wife, Anna Kendrick. Benjamin was by then a prominent Democratic-Republican state legislator, farmer, Pierces father, who sought to ensure that his sons were educated, placed Pierce in a school at Hillsborough Center in childhood and sent him to the town school at Hancock at the age of 12. The boy was not fond of schooling, growing homesick at Hancock, he walked 12 miles back to his home one Sunday. His father fed him dinner and drove him part of the back to school before kicking him out of the carriage. Pierce later cited this moment as the turning-point in my life, later that year he transferred to Phillips Exeter Academy to prepare for college
44.
George Washington
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George Washington was an American politician and soldier who served as the first President of the United States from 1789 to 1797 and was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He served as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War and he is popularly considered the driving force behind the nations establishment and came to be known as the father of the country, both during his lifetime and to this day. Washington was widely admired for his leadership qualities and was unanimously elected president by the Electoral College in the first two national elections. Washingtons incumbency established many precedents still in use today, such as the system, the inaugural address. His retirement from office two terms established a tradition that lasted until 1940 when Franklin Delano Roosevelt won an unprecedented third term. The 22nd Amendment now limits the president to two elected terms and he was born into the provincial gentry of Colonial Virginia to a family of wealthy planters who owned tobacco plantations and slaves, which he inherited. In his youth, he became an officer in the colonial militia during the first stages of the French. In 1775, the Second Continental Congress commissioned him as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army in the American Revolution, in that command, Washington forced the British out of Boston in 1776 but was defeated and nearly captured later that year when he lost New York City. After crossing the Delaware River in the middle of winter, he defeated the British in two battles, retook New Jersey, and restored momentum to the Patriot cause and his strategy enabled Continental forces to capture two major British armies at Saratoga in 1777 and Yorktown in 1781. In battle, however, Washington was repeatedly outmaneuvered by British generals with larger armies, after victory had been finalized in 1783, Washington resigned as commander-in-chief rather than seize power, proving his opposition to dictatorship and his commitment to American republicanism. Washington presided over the Constitutional Convention in 1787, which devised a new form of government for the United States. Following his election as president in 1789, he worked to unify rival factions in the fledgling nation and he supported Alexander Hamiltons programs to satisfy all debts, federal and state, established a permanent seat of government, implemented an effective tax system, and created a national bank. In avoiding war with Great Britain, he guaranteed a decade of peace and profitable trade by securing the Jay Treaty in 1795 and he remained non-partisan, never joining the Federalist Party, although he largely supported its policies. Washingtons Farewell Address was a primer on civic virtue, warning against partisanship, sectionalism. He retired from the presidency in 1797, returning to his home, upon his death, Washington was eulogized as first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen by Representative Henry Lee III of Virginia. He was revered in life and in death, scholarly and public polling consistently ranks him among the top three presidents in American history and he has been depicted and remembered in monuments, public works, currency, and other dedications to the present day. He was born on February 11,1731, according to the Julian calendar, the Gregorian calendar was adopted within the British Empire in 1752, and it renders a birth date of February 22,1732. Washington was of primarily English gentry descent, especially from Sulgrave and his great-grandfather John Washington emigrated to Virginia in 1656 and began accumulating land and slaves, as did his son Lawrence and his grandson, Georges father Augustine
United States of America
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Booknotes interview with John Eisenhower on Agent of Destiny, April 19, 1998, C-SPAN
"Scott, Winfield". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911.
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