Today in 1606, in London, England

Guy Fawkes was hanged, drawn and quartered.

Today, England celebrates November 5 as “Guy Fawkes Day” in commemoration of the botched attack on the English Parliament by a group of anti-government conspirators who hoped to blow up the Parliament building in the infamous "Gunpowder Plot."  Ironically, Fawkes was not one of the original conspirators and actually was a late addition to the group.

Born a Protestant in 1570, Fawkes enlisted in the Spanish army in the Netherlands around 1593, shortly after converting to Catholicism. Co-conspirators Robert Catesby, Thomas Winter, Thomas Percy and John Wright enlisted Fawkes as a ringer, reasoning that his military skills — he had participated in the 1595 capture of Calais, France — and his anonymity as a foreign soldier made him an ideal candidate to help execute their plan.

Fawkes' henchmen were zealous Catholics who believed that by beheading the government, they might usher in a new era of Catholicism in Protestant England. Led by Catesby, they hatched a plan to explode gunpowder under Parliament during a state opening, when King James I, his queen, and other family members and government leaders were inside. The plot was set for Nov. 5, 1605, and in the preceding days, the conspirators rented a cellar underneath the building, where Fawkes stashed at least 20 barrels of gunpowder.

Things didn't go according to plan. The plotters sought wider support, and, as the story goes, one of the individuals to whom they reached out alerted his brother-in-law, a lord, not to attend Parliament on Nov. 5. The building was searched, and Fawkes was apprehended along with his stockpile of gunpowder. Tortured on the rack, he revealed the names of his co-conspirators. Some of them were killed while resisting arrest; others, including Fawkes, pled not guilty and went to trial, where they were convicted of high treason. In January, 1606, the remaining conspirators were hanged, drawn and quartered. Parliament immediately established Nov. 5 as a day of celebration.

[January 31, 1606]

After 150 years, Confederate submarine's hull again revealed

AP | Bruce Smith

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. — A century and a half after it sank and a decade and a half after it was raised, scientists are finally getting a look at the hull of the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley, the first sub in history to sink an enemy warship.

 

What they find may finally solve the mystery of why the hand-cranked submarine sank during the Civil War.

"It's like unwrapping a Christmas gift after 15 years. We have been wanting to do this for many years now," said Paul Mardikian, senior conservator on the Hunley project.

The Hunley sank the Union blockade ship USS Housatonic off Charleston in February 1864 as the South tried to break the Union blockade strangling the Confederacy. But the sub and its eight-man crew never made it back to shore.

The Hunley was discovered off the South Carolina coast in 1995, raised in 2000 and brought to a conservation lab in North Charleston.

It was covered with a hardened gunk of encrusted sand, sediment and rust that scientists call concretion.

Last May, it was finally ready to be bathed in a solution of sodium hydroxide to loosen the encrustation. Then in August, scientists using small air-powered chisels and dental tools began the laborious job of removing the coating.

Now about 70 percent of the outside hull has been revealed.

Mardikian said the exposed hull indeed has revealed some things that may help solve the mystery of the sinking.

"I would have to lie to you if I said we had not, but it's too early to talk about it yet," he said. "We have a submarine that is encrypted. It's like an Enigma machine."

He said the clues will be studied closely as scientists try to piece together what happened to the 40-foot submarine that night in 1864.

The Hunley had a 16-foot spar tipped with a charge of black powder that was exploded, sinking the Housatonic. After close examination of the spar two years ago, scientists speculated the crew was knocked unconscious by the shock wave of the explosion.

When the Hunley was first raised, scientists speculated the crew may have run out of air before they could crank back to the coast.

After the Hunley was raised, the sand and the silt and the remains of the crew in the interior were removed.

In April 2004, thousands of men in Confederate gray and Union blue walked in a procession with the crew's coffins four miles from Charleston's waterfront Battery to Magnolia Cemetery in what has been called the last Confederate funeral.

Today in 1912, in New York City,

Author and historian Barbara Tuchman was born.

 

Ms. Tuchman is a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner who is best known for her book The Guns of August (1962), a historical analysis of early World War I.  She earned her first Pulitzer in 1963.   She went on to win another Pulitzer in 1970 for Stilwell and the American Experience in China, 1911-45, a book about the relationship between America and China during World War II. Tuchman died on February 6, 1989, in Greenwich, Connecticut.

[January 30, 1912]

Today in 1879, on the prairie near Little Big Horn River,

The battlefield at Little Big Horn was designated a national monument.

The Custer battlefield today.

The Battle of the Little Bighorn, known to Lakota as the Battle of the Greasy Grass,[1] and commonly referred to as Custer's Last Stand, was an armed engagement between combined forces of the Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes, against the 7th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army. The battle, which occurred June 25–26, 1876, near the Little Bighorn River in eastern Montana Territory, was the most prominent action of the Great Sioux War of 1876. It was an overwhelming victory for the Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho, led by several major war leaders, including Crazy Horse and Chief Gall, inspired by the visions of Sitting Bull.

The Custer battlefield in 1879 (after the battle).

The U.S. 7th Cavalry, including the Custer Battalion, a force of 700 men led by George Armstrong Custer, suffered a severe defeat. Five of the 7th Cavalry's twelve companies were annihilated; Custer was killed, as were two of his brothers, a nephew, and a brother-in-law. The total U.S. casualty count, including scouts, was 268 dead and 55 injured.

[January 29, 1879]

Today in 1964, in the skies over East Germany,

The U.S. State Department angrily accused the Soviet Union of shooting down an American jet that strayed into East German airspace. Three U.S. officers aboard the plane were killed in the incident. The Soviets responded with charges that the flight was a "gross provocation," and the incident was an ugly reminder of the heightened East-West tensions of the Cold War era. According to the U.S. military, the jet was on a training flight over West Germany and pilots became disoriented by a violent storm that led the plane to veer nearly 100 miles off course.

A North American T-39 Sabreliner.

Shortly after the incident, U.S. officials were allowed to travel to East Germany to recover the bodies and the wreckage.

Like numerous other similar Cold War incidents, this event resulted in heated verbal exchanges between the United States and the Soviet Union, but little else. The deaths were, however, another reminder that the heated suspicion, heightened tension, and loaded rhetoric of the Cold War did have the potential to erupt into meaningless death and destruction.

[January 28, 1964]

Today in 1945, in Poland,

Soviet troops liberated the Nazi concentration camps at Auschwitz and Birkenau.



[January 27, 1945]

Today in 1863, in Washington, D.C.

Union General Joseph Hooker assumed command of the Army of the Potomac.



Gen. "Fightin' Joe' Hooker

Following Ambrose Burnside's disastrous tenure as commander, including the debacle at Fredericksburg, Virginia, President Lincoln realized the demoralized Union army desperately needed a new leader.  Hooker, a West Point graduate, was a veteran of the Seminole War and the Mexican War, and served in the American West in the 1850s. When the Civil War erupted, Hooker was named brigadier general in the Army of the Potomac. He quickly rose to division commander, and distinguished himself during the Peninsular Campaign of 1862. He also continued to build his reputation as a hard drinker and womanizer. Hooker received command of the First Corps in time for the Second Battle of Bull Run, Virginia, in August 1862 and his corps played a major role in the Battle of Antietam in Maryland in September of that year.

Accidentally saddled with the sobriquet “Fighin’ Joe” when a newspaper poked fun at the General’s notoriously thin skin, General Hooker would forever after be known as Fightin’ Joe Hooker.

Battle of Chancellorsville

When he took charge, Hooker first had to deal with the sagging morale of the army. He reorganized his command and instituted a badge system, where each division had its own unique insignia. This helped to build unit pride and identity, and Hooker led a re-energized army into Virginia in April 1863. Hooker's appointment was part of President Abraham Lincoln's frustrating process of finding a winning general in the East. After Irwin McDowell, George McClellan, John Pope, McClellan again, and then Burnside, Lincoln hoped Hooker could defeat Confederate General Robert E. Lee and the vaunted Army of Northern Virginia.

Gen. George Meade

However, it was too tall an order for a man like Hooker. In May 1863, Hooker clashed with Lee at the Battle of Chancellorsville, Virginia, and the Union army suffered a decisive and stunning defeat. Lincoln's search for an effective commander continued.  When Hooker sensed that his Commander in Chief (and the army itself) had lost confidence in him, he foolishly tendered an offer of resignation (which he did not believe Lincoln would accept).  But, Lincoln knew Hooker was not the man for the job, accepted the resignation, and, much to his surprise, appointed George Meade the new commander, just days before the pivotal battle at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

[January 26, 1863]

Today in 1945, along the northern coast of East Prussia,

The German Kriegsmarine began the evacuation by sea of hundreds of thousands of civilian refugees from East Prussia and the Danzig area.

Desperate Wehrmacht troops evacuating Danzig.

The Soviet Red Army advance was virtually unstoppable, the German operation against the US and British in the West had failed, and East Prussia's land communications with the rest of the Reich had been completely severed.

By 1945, the Kriegsmarine was a shadow of its former self.

The Reich did not have much longer to survive.
[
January 23, 1945]

Today in 1941, in Tobruk, Libya

British and Commonwealth forces entered the port city, capturing it and taking tens of thousands of Italian occupiers taken prisoner.

Tobruk's port was more important than the city itself.

Less than a year earlier, Italy had declared war on Great Britain in June 1940. At that time, Gen. Rodolfo Graziani had almost 10 times the number of men in Libya than the British forces in Egypt under Gen. Archibald Wavell, who was commissioned to protect the North African approaches to the Suez Canal. A vast western desert stretched between the antagonists, who sat for months without confrontation. During that time, Italian forces passed into Egypt-but by that point Britain had reinforced its own numbers and decided to make a first strike.

Tobruk would change hands several times during the war.

On December 9, Maj. Gen. Richard Nugent O'Connor launched a westward offensive from Mersa Matruh, in Egypt. Thirty thousand Brits warred against 80,000 Italians-but the British had the advantage of 275 tanks to the Italians' 120. Within three days, 40,000 Italian prisoners were taken. The battle marked the beginning of the end of the Italian occupation of North Africa.

Italian artillery was among the spoils captured by the British.

General O'Connor then began a sweep of Italian positions in Libya. Under his direction in early January 1941, the British 7th Royal Tank Regiment drove westward from Bardia, which it had just taken from the Italians, with the intention of isolating Tobruk until the 6th Australian Division could aid in an assault. The attack on the coastal fortress of Tobruk was finally launched on the 21st and it fell the next day, yielding 30,000 Italian prisoners, 236 guns, and 87 tanks. The 7th Royal Tank Regiment was a remarkable unit, winning a quick series of battles in Libya despite a paucity of resources.

Rommel and the Afrika Korps arrived in the nick of time.

However, the British victory was short-lived as the unrelenting string of Italian catastrophes led Adolf Hitler to the conclusion that the Italian would lose all of North Africa if they were no reinforced by German forces.  Rommel and the Afrika Korps soon arrived.

[January 22, 1941]

Today in 1954, on the Thames River in Connecticut

USS Nautilus (SSN-571), the world's first operational nuclear-powered submarine, was christened by Mamie Eisenhower and launched.

 

Commissioned on September 30, 1954 under the command of Commander Eugene P. Wilkinson, USN, the vessel was the first submarine to complete a submerged transit to the North Pole on August 3, 1958. Sharing names with the submarine in Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, and named after another USS Nautilus (SS-168) that served with distinction in World War II, Nautilus was authorized in 1951 and launched in 1954. Because her nuclear propulsion allowed her to remain submerged far longer than diesel-electric submarines, she broke many records in her first years of operation, and traveled to locations previously beyond the limits of submarines. In operation, she revealed a number of limitations in her design and construction. This information was used to improve subsequent submarines.

Nautilus was decommissioned in 1980 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1982. The submarine has been preserved as a museum of submarine history in Groton, Connecticut, where the vessel receives some 250,000 visitors a year.

[January 21, 1954]

Today in 1824, in Clarksburg, Virginia

Thomas Jonathon (later “Stonewall”) Jackson was born.

CSA General "Stonewall" Jackson

During the American Civil War, Jackson sided with the South and joined the Army of the Confederate States of America as a commissioned officer at the regimental level. 

Jackson at First Bull Run where he earned his nickname

Jackson, a devout Christian, was a West Point graduate who served in the Mexican War then resigned to teach at the Virginia Military Institute. Serving with the Rebel army, he became a Brigadier General, earning his nickname of “Stonewall” at the first battle of Bull Run as his troops held firm while others wavered. "There is Jackson standing like a stone wall," General Bee, a fellow general, commented.

Jackson, with Lee and Davis, is immortalized at Stone Mountain, Georgia

During the Battle of Chancellorsville (and not long before Lee’s invasion of the North and the Battle of Gettysburg), Jackson was shot by jittery confederate troops while he was riding with other officers and inspecting the lines in the dark.  "I have lost my right arm," lamented General Lee upon his death.  Jackson was missed at Gettysburg and many remain convinced that had he been present the outcome of that pivotal battle would have been very different.

[January 21, 1824]

Today in 1839, in northern Peru

The Battle of Yungay (or Yungai) effectively destroyed the Peru-Bolivian Confederation created by Bolivian Marshal Andrés de Santa Cruz in 1836.

 

On January 20, 1839, the alliance formed Chilean Army led by Chilean General in Chief Manuel Bulnes and force of Peruvians opposed to Santa Cruz, decisively defeated the Confederate Army commanded by Santa Cruz after six hours of combat in the battlefield of Yungay, in northern Peru, 200 km north of Lima.  The Chilean victory at Yungay effectively brought the Peru-Bolivian Confederation to an end, and Andrés de Santa Cruz exiled himself in Guayaquil, Ecuador.

 

 

The Peruvian government paid the debt contracted with Chile due to Chilean aid on the restoring campaign, also giving decorations and awards to Chilean and Peruvian officials.[2] Also, Peruvian officers who served under the Confederation - among them Guillermo Miller, Mariano Necochea, Luis José Orbegoso, Domingo Nieto – were banned from the Peruvian army.

The victory of Yungay is remembered by the Chilean Army with the "Hymn of Yungay", and by Peru with the creation of the Ancash Department.

[January 20, 1839]

Today in 1419, in Upper Normandy, France

The city of Rouen surrendered to Henry V of England.

The capture of Rouen completed Henry V's conquest of Normandy.

Fought between 1337 and 1453, the Hundred Years' War saw England and France battle for the French throne.  Beginning as a dynastic war in which Edward III of England attempted to assert his claim to the French throne, the Hundred Years' War also saw English forces attempt to regain lost territories on the Continent.  Though initially successful, English victories and gains were slowly undone as French resolve stiffened. 

Henry V

During the Lancastrian phase of the War, Richard II was deposed by Henry IV in 1399 in England and Charles VI was plagued by mental illness in France.  While Henry desired to mount campaigns in France, issues with Scotland and Wales prevented him from moving forward.  The war was renewed by his son Henry V in 1415 when an English army landed and captured Harfleur. 

The Hundred Years' War saw the decline of the mounted knight.

As it was too late in the year to march on Paris, he moved towards Calais and won crushing victory at the Battle of Agincourt.  Over the next four years, he captured Normandy and much of northern France.  Meeting with Charles in 1420, Henry agreed to the Treaty of Troyes by which he agreed to marry the French king's daughter and have his heirs inherit the French throne. 

[January 19, 1419]

Today in 1943, in the dry, barren hills of Tunisia

The German and Italian troops of Panzer Armee Afrika deployed Tiger tanks against the Allies for the first time at Bau Arada.

Tiger tanks proved an unwelcome surprise to the Allies.

Attacking U.S. forces in the east and British forces in the south had hoped to end the war in North Africa by meeting in Tunisia and forcing a German surrender en masse. However, Irwin Rommel, commanding the Axis armies in Africa, and the OKH and OKW commanders back in Berlin had other ideas.

But, even the Tigers were not impervious.

When the first Tigers arrived in Tunisia and entered combat against the Allied armor, they had little with which to counter the German behemoths with their high velocity 88 mm main guns and virtually impervious frontal armor.  But, eventually, the sheer strength of the Allied forces, especially the protective air cover, overwhelmed even those untis equipped with Tiger tanks and, to those who were paying attention, presaged the upcoming slaughter of teh French bocage and teh Falaise pocket in 1944.

[January 18, 1944]

Today in 1991, along the Iraqi eastern and southern frontier

Operation Desert Storm began.

American and Allied air power controlled the skies over the battlefield.

Desert Storm began when aircraft from British, American, Kuwait, French and Saudi bomb military and strategic targets in Iraq, including an oil refinery and Baghdad airport. 

Iraqi armored units were decimated.

Defending Iraqi Army units, most of which had dug into fixed positions, were ill-prepared for the ferocity of the onslaught that was being unleashed against them.  In the aftermath of the attacks, it was hard to believe how quickly the war was concluded, how light had been the Allied casualties (the feared chemical and biological weapons had not been used by the Iraqi's), and how complete was the the victory against the defending armed forces that had sacked Kuwait weeks earlier. However, the long sought and effective peace the Allies had envisioned proved elusive and it wasn't long before a second war was underway.

[January 17, 1991]

Today in 1945, in Berlin, Germany,

Adolf Hitler moved into the Führerbunker.


Der Fuhrer

Hitler would spend the rest of his life), 105 days, in the bunker while overwhelming Soviet infantry and armored forces surrounded and eventually captured the German capital. It became the centre of the Nazi regime until the last week of World War II in Europe. Hitler married Eva Braun here during the last week of April 1945, shortly before they committed suicide.

The bunker as it looked after it was captured by the Soviets

The Führerbunker (English: "Leader's bunker") was an air-raid shelter located near the Reich Chancellery in Berlin, Germany. It was part of a subterranean bunker complex constructed in two phases which were completed in 1936 and 1944. It was the last of the Führer Headquarters
(Führerhauptquartiere) used by Adolf Hitler.

After the war both the old and new Chancellery buildings were levelled by the Soviets. Despite some attempts at demolition, the underground complex remained largely undisturbed until 1988–89. During reconstruction of that area of Berlin, the sections of the old bunker complex that were excavated were for the most part destroyed. The site remained unmarked until 2006, when a small plaque with a schematic diagram was installed. Some corridors of the bunker still exist, but are sealed off from the public.

[January 16, 1945]

Today in 588 B.C., outside Jerusalem

Nebuchadrezzar II of Babylon laid siege to Jerusalem under Zedekiah's reign. The siege lasted more than two years until July 23, 586 BC.



[January 15, 588 B.C.]

Today in 1960, in West Germany,

Elvis Presley was promoted to Sergeant (E-5).

Sgt. Presley showing off his new stripes.

Elvis entered the United States Army at Memphis, Tennessee, on March 24, 1958, and then spent three days at the Fort Chaffee, Arkansas, Reception Station. He left active duty at Fort Dix, New Jersey, on March 5, 1960, and received his discharge from the Army Reserve on March 23, 1964.

During his active military career Mr. Presley served as a member of two different armor battalions. Between March 28 and September 17, 1958, he belonged to Company A, 2d Medium Tank Battalion, 37th Armor, stationed at Fort Hood, Texas. During this assignment he completed basic and advanced military training.

Elvis' overseas service took place in Germany from October 1, 1958, until March 2, 1960, as a member of the 1st Medium Tank Battalion, 32d Armor. For the first five days of that period he belonged to Company D of the battalion, and thereafter to the battalion's Headquarters Company at Friedberg.

While in Germany Elvis wore the shoulder sleeve insignia of the 3d Armored Division.

[January 14, 1960]

Today in 1815, near St. Marys, Georgia

British troops captured Fort Peter in St. Marys, Georgia, the only battle of the War of 1812 to take place in the state.

British regulars advance

The Battle of Fort Point Peter was a successful attack by a British force on St. Marys, Georgia, and a smaller force of American soldiers at a fort on Point Peter on the Georgia side of the St. Marys River. The river was part of the international border between the US and British-allied Spanish Florida. Occupying coastal Camden County allowed the British to blockade American transportation on the Intracoastal Waterway.

Just like the Battle of New Orleans, the attack on Fort Peter occurred after the signing of the Treaty of Ghent, which would end the War of 1812, but before the treaty’s ratification. The attack on Fort Peter occurred at the same time as the siege of Fort St. Philip in Louisiana and was part of the British occupation of St. Marys and Cumberland Island.

[January 13, 1815]

Civil War Trust Completes Memorable 2014

The cause of battlefield preservation took great strides forward in 2014, as the Civil War Trust, America’s premier battlefield preservation organization, announced several landmark projects, and laid the groundwork for continued success beyond the conclusion of the national Civil War sesquicentennial commemoration.  Through the generosity of individual donors, coupled with strategic partnerships with government officials and nonprofit groups across the country, the Trust protected more than 2,300 acres of battlefield land in 2014, eclipsing 40,000 total acres saved by the organization at 122 historic sites in 20 states.

 

“A generation from now, I believe that 2014 will be remembered as the year when the conceivable scope of battlefield preservation exploded,” remarked Trust president James Lighthizer.  “This was the year that we demonstrated, in multiple ways, the tremendous level of public support for protection of hallowed ground as outdoor classrooms and living memorials to the sacrifices of
America’s military.”

Working closely in cooperation with willing landowners and preservation partners, the Trust completed 45 transactions at 26 individual battlefields in 10 states. The battlefields where land was preserved in 2014:  Appomattox Court House, Va.; Bentonville, N.C.; Brandy Station, Va.; Cedar Creek, Va.; Cold Harbor, Va.; Davis Bridge, Tenn.; Franklin, Tenn.; Gettysburg, Pa.; Glendale, Va.; Glorieta Pass, N.M.; Harpers Ferry, W.Va.; Kelly’s Ford, Va.; Mansfield, La.; Mill Springs, Ky.; North Anna, Va.; Petersburg, Va.; Port Republic, Va.; Rappahannock Station, Va.; Ream’s Station, Va.; Richmond, Ky.; Shepherdstown, W.Va.; Shiloh, Tenn.; South Mountain, Md.; Stones River, Tenn.; Trevilian Station, Va.; and Vicksburg, Miss.



The Antietam battlefield in Maryland

With the October closing of the 654-acre historic Fontaine Farm at North Anna — a property encompassing nearly the entire scene of combat on May 23, 1864 — the Trust surpassed 40,000 acres saved in the organization’s history. In November, the Trust embarked on a large preservation opportunity at Chancellorsville, seeking to raise nearly $500,000 to save 479 acres associated
with Confederate Lt. Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson’s flank attack. Facilitating these types of landmark transactions was the Trust’s ongoing sesquicentennial fundraising effort, Campaign 150, which, in April, met its original $40 million goal before being extended to an unprecedented $50 million target.

Proving that acreage is not the only measure of a preservation project’s significance, in July, the Trust announced a $5.5 million national fundraising campaign to save 4.1 acres in Gettysburg, Pa. The property played a key role in combat on July 1, 1863, and includes several historic buildings — most notably the Mary Thompson House, used throughout the remainder of the battle as Gen. Robert E. Lee’s headquarters.

The most significant developments in battlefield preservation during 2014 came near the year’s close. On Veterans Day, the Trust announced the launch of Campaign 1776, ww.campaign1776.org, the first-ever national initiative to preserve and interpret the battlefields of the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. The new effort’s first project involves assisting the State of New Jersey in the protection of four acres on the Princeton Battlefield, scene of George Washington’s first victory over British forces on January 3, 1777. Campaign 1776 received a major boost on December 12, when Congress passed legislation to extend federal matching grants for battlefield protection through 2021 and, for the first time, make sites from other conflicts eligible for what had previously been a Civil War-only program.

“The extension of this grant program mirrors our reasoning for the creation of Campaign 1776,” said Trust president James Lighthizer. “All of these American battlefields are sacred places — living memorials to this nation’s brave soldiers, past, present and future — and it is up to us to ensure their protection.”

The battle of Antietam in September 1862

The Trust’s preservation success in 2014 would not have been possible without the dedication of Trust partners, including:  American Battlefield Protection Program, National Park Service, Bentonville Battlefield State Historic Site, City of Franklin (TN), County of Chesterfield (VA) Parks and Recreation, Department of Agriculture Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program, Jefferson County Historic Landmarks Commission, Kentucky Heritage Council, Madison County (KY) Fiscal Court,
Louisiana Office of State Parks, Maryland Department of Transportation, Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Mississippi Department of Archives and History, Municipality of Princeton (NJ), New Jersey State Parks, Forests and Historic Sites, New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs-Historic Preservation Division, North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission-Bureau for Historic Preservation, Tennessee Historical Commission, Tennessee Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission, Tennessee Department of Transportation, Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation and Virginia Department of Transportation.  Numerous organizations also contributed to these preservation successes, including:  Averasboro Battlefield Commission, Battle of Richmond Association, Brandy Station Foundation, Franklin’s Charge, Central Maryland Heritage League, Central Virginia Battlefields Trust, Friends of Shiloh National Military Park, Friends of Vicksburg National Military Park and Campaign, Friends of Wilderness Battlefield, Gettysburg Foundation, Glorieta Battlefield Preservation Society, Journey Through Hallowed Ground, Land Conservancy of Adams County, Land Trust for Tennessee, Land Trust of the Eastern Panhandle, Manassas Battlefield Trust, Maryland Environmental Trust, Maryland Historical Trust, Mill Springs Battlefield Association, National Parks Conservation Association, New Mexico Land Conservancy, Piedmont Environmental Council, Princeton Battlefield Society, Richmond Battlefields Association, Save Historic Antietam Foundation, Silver Companies, Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation, Shepherdstown Battlefield Preservation Association, Trevilian Station Battlefield Foundation and Wallace Foundation.

“These are among the generous individuals and organizations who continue to stand by the Trust and our members — year in and year out — to save America’s hallowed ground,” Lighthizer said. “Our job would be a whole lot harder without the tireless efforts of these leaders, along with many of our elected officials who fight — tooth and nail — for programs essential to our efforts.”

In addition to its land acquisition successes, the Trust continues promoting greater appreciation and understanding of the Civil War through its innovative educational programs and digital offerings.  In 2014, the group’s flagship website, www.civilwar.org, received more than 5.8 million unique visits — an increase of 30 percent from 2013.  A popular new online feature was the War Department™ video series, an ongoing effort designed to move past lists of names and dates, encouraging viewers to analyze the broader impact of historical events.  Classroom educators benefited from two new Trust programs: the Teachers Regiment, a virtual community of classroom educators, museum professionals, librarians, tour guides and other public historians eager to raise the level of history instruction nationwide; and the Field Trip Fund, a scholarship fund to assist teachers in planning and paying for student trips to historic sites.



Antietam preservation

The Trust also continues to earn accolades for its sound fiscal management and commitment to top-notch donor relations, renewing its Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance accreditation and receiving a prestigious Top-Rated Award by GreatNonprofits, the leading provider of user reviews about nonprofit organizations. In addition, the Trust maintained its 4-star rating from Charity Navigator, America’s leading charity evaluator, for a fifth straight year — an honor bestowed on only four percent of charities assessed by that organization.  Further, the Trust’s membership magazine, Hallowed Ground, again earned top honors for outstanding quality through the APEX Awards for Publication Excellence — its sixth-consecutive Grand Award.

The Civil War Trust is the largest and most effective nonprofit organization devoted to the preservation of America’s hallowed battlegrounds.  Although primarily focused on the protection of Civil War battlefields, through its Campaign 1776 initiative, the Trust also seeks to save the battlefields connected to the Revolutionary War and War of 1812.  To date, the Trust has preserved more than 40,000 acres of battlefield land in 20 states.  Learn more at www.civilwar.org.

Today in 1913, in Imperial Russia.

After using other pseudonyms over the years, Josef Dzhugashvili signs himself as Stalin ('man of steel) in a letter to the the paper, Social Democrat. 

A young Josef "Stalin"

Eventually, the name would become synonymous with brutal repression.

[January 12, 1913]

Today in 1879, in Africa on the border of Zululand and the Transvaal

The Anglo-Zulu War, fought between the British and the Zulus, began with the British invasion of Zululand.

British forces entered Zululand under thinly veiled pretexts.

Following Lord Carnarvon's successful introduction of federation in Canada, it was thought that similar political effort, coupled with military campaigns, might succeed with the African kingdoms, tribal areas and Boer republics in South Africa.

British regulars in their distinctive red coats.

In 1874, Sir Henry Bartle Frere was sent to South Africa as High Commissioner for the British Empire to bring such plans into being. Among the obstacles were the presence of the independent states of the South African Republic and the Kingdom of Zululand and its army. Frere, on his own initiative, without the approval of the British government and with the intent of instigating a war with the Zulu, had presented an ultimatum on December 11, 1878, to the Zulu king Cetshwayo with which the Zulu king could not comply. Bartle Frere then sent Lord Chelmsford to invade Zululand.

Early Zulu victories shocked the British, but also strengthened their resolve.

The war is notable for several particularly bloody battles, including a stunning opening victory by the Zulu at the Battle of Isandlwana, as well as for being a landmark in the timeline of imperialism in the region. The war eventually resulted in a British victory and the end of the Zulu nation's independence.

[January 11, 1879]

Today in 1943, on the lines surrounding Stalingrad

General Rokossovsky, commander of Soviet forces on the Don Front, demanded the surrender of the German 6th Army defending its encircled position at Stalingrad. The demand included an offer of food and medical care for all German troops taken into the Russian lines and a promise that prisoners of war would be repatriated at the end of the war.

Colonel-General Von Paulus, commander of the defending German forces, formally refused the demand on orders from OKH, OKW and der Furher himself.  Eventually, of course, the German lines collapsed and the 6th Army was captured by the Soviets with German losses totaling more than 250,000 men.

[January 8, 1943]

Today in 1871, on the outskirts of Paris, France

Attacking Prussian forces began the bombardment of Paris during the Franco-Prussian War.

Eventually, Prussian forces captured the French capital, ending the war with a Prussian victory and establishing Germany as a country.

 

Ironically, the war and German victory set in motion an ongoing conflict that would eventually engulf all of Europe and the rest of the world in World War I and World War II.

Today in 1942, in Washington D.C.

President Franklin Roosevelt informed Congress that he was authorizing the biggest military buildup in US history, including 45,000 military vehicles, 45,000 aircraft and 20,000 antiaircraft guns, all to be built within the year.

Today in 1919, at Sagamore Hill in New York

Theodore Roosevelt, former Rough Rider who fought in Cuba, former Secretary of the Navy, and the 26th President of the United States died in his home at the age of 60.

Today in 1989, in the skies over the Mediterranean Sea

In what became known as the Gulf of Sidra Incident, two US Navy F-14 Tomcats launched from the aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy shot down two Libyan MiG 23 Floggers.

The Kennedy battle group had been operating some 130 km north of Libya, with a group of A-6 Intruders on exercise south of Crete, escorted by two pairs of F-14As from VF-14 and VF-32, and as well as an E-2C from VAW-126. Later that morning the southernmost Combat Air Patrol station was taken by two F-14s from VF-32, (CDR Joseph Bernard Connelly/CDR Leo F. Enwright in BuNo 159610, 'AC207') and (LT Hermon C. Cook III/LCDR Steven Patrick Collins in BuNo 159437, 'AC202'). The officers had been specially briefed for this mission due to the high tensions regarding the carrier group's presence; the pilots were advised to expect some kind of hostilities.

In 1973 Libya had laid claim to much of the Gulf of Sidra as its territorial waters and subsequently declared a "line of death", the crossing of which would invite a military response. Tensions between Libya and the U.S. were high after the U.S. accused Libya of building a chemical weapons plant near Rabta, causing the U.S. to deploy the USS John F. Kennedy near its coast. A second carrier group, based around the USS Theodore Roosevelt, was also being prepared to sail into the Gulf of Sidra.

At 11:50 a.m., after some time on patrol, the E-2 informed the F-14 crews that four Libyan MiG-23s had taken off from Al Bumbaw airfield, near Tobruk. The F-14s from VF-32 turned towards the first two MiG-23s (Floggers) some 50 km ahead of the second pair and acquired them on radar, while the Tomcats from VF-14 stayed with the A-6 group. At the time the Floggers were 72 nautical miles (133 km) away at 10,000 feet (3,000 m) and heading directly towards the Tomcats and carrier. The F-14s turned away from the head-on approach to indicate that they were not attempting to engage. The Floggers changed course to intercept at a closing speed of about 870 knots (1,610 km/h). The F-14s descended to 3,000 ft (910 m) to give them a clear radar picture of the Floggers against the sky and leave the Floggers with sea clutter to contend with. Four more times the F-14s turned away from the approaching MiGs. Each time the Libyan aircraft turned in to continue to close. At 11:59 the Radar Intercept Officer (RIO) of the lead Tomcat ordered the arming of the AIM-9 Sidewinder and AIM-7 Sparrow missiles it was carrying. The E-2C had given the F-14 crews authority to fire if threatened; the F-14 crews did not have to wait until after the Libyans opened fire.

At almost 12:01 the lead Tomcat RIO said that "Bogeys have jinked back at me again for the fifth time. They're on my nose now, inside of 20 miles", followed shortly by "Master arm on" as he ordered arming of the weapons. At a range of 14 nautical miles (26 km) the RIO of the lead F-14A fired the first AIM-7M Sparrow; he surprised his pilot, who did not expect to see a missile accelerate away from his Tomcat. The RIO reported "Fox 1. Fox 1." The Sparrow failed to track because of a wrong switch-setting. At 10 nautical miles (19 km), he launched a second Sparrow missile, but it also failed to track its target.

The Floggers accelerated and continued to approach. At 6 nautical miles (11 km) the Tomcats split and the Floggers followed the wingman while the lead Tomcat circled to get a tail angle on them. The wingman fired a third Sparrow from 5 nautical miles (9.3 km) and downed one of the Libyan aircraft. The lead Tomcat by now had gained the rear quadrant on the final Flogger. After closing to 1.5 nautical miles (2.8 km) the pilot fired a Sidewinder, which hit its target. The Tomcats proceeded north to return to the carrier group. The Libyan pilots were both seen to successfully eject and parachute into the sea, but the Libyan Air Force was unable to recover them.

[January 4, 1989]