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12/25/2024

On this day in 1776, General George Washington makes a harrowing trip across the Delaware River, in the dead of night. The tremendous feat came just when it was needed most.

Washington’s army was reeling from a series of crushing defeats: The British had won important battles in New York and had chased Americans across New Jersey. Early in December, a defeated American army had narrowly escaped across the Delaware River.

That river provided a barrier from further British attacks, at least for the moment, because Washington had ensured the destruction of every boat for miles around.

It was then that British General William Howe made a decision with serious ramifications for the British war effort. The weather had become much worse, and Howe decided to retire to winter quarters in New York City. He left behind a series of outposts in New Jersey to protect the ground he’d won.

Washington did not realize that Howe was gone (or he may have thought that it was simply a trick). He had roughly 6,000 men fit for duty, but many of those enlistments would end on New Year’s Day. He needed to recruit new soldiers or inspire the old ones to stay. The year had gone badly, and he needed to end it on a high note. On Christmas Eve, he met with his officers, and they finalized the details of a surprise attack. The army would go back across the Delaware in three different locations. The men would march to Trenton during the early morning hours, and they would attack before sunrise.

Washington’s army began its crossing on Christmas night. One of the American officers, Henry Knox, later described the “almost infinite difficulty” created by the icy conditions in the Delaware River. Making matters worse, a northeaster sprang up during the night. The bad news was that it made the crossing more difficult; the good news was that it covered up any noise created by the Americans.

Amazingly, the army managed to cross—even getting horses and cannon across the river. Yet conditions were so difficult that the army completed its crossing 3 hours later than planned. Washington knew the element of surprise might be difficult to achieve if his troops arrived after sunrise, but he determined to push on anyway. They had come too far to turn back now.

Washington could not know that the officers in charge of the other two crossings along the Delaware had called off their own troops, deeming the crossing too difficult. Washington’s planned three-pronged attack was down to only one.

The army pushed on relentlessly, through snow and ice. Knox would later write that the march was made “with the most profound silence.” Another lieutenant later wrote that Washington rode among the men, repeatedly telling them: “For God’s sake keep with your officers.” The weather was so severe that two men literally froze to death during the course of the night.

The army reached its destination, outside Trenton, at about 8 a.m. on December 26, three hours later than planned and one full hour after sunrise. Could the element of surprise be maintained?

Tomorrow’s post will tell you what happened next. ;) In the meantime, Merry Christmas!

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07/27/2024

07/17/2024

On this day in 1744, a signer of the Declaration of Independence is born. Elbridge Gerry was nothing if not a determined Patriot. “If every Man here was a Gerry,” John Adams once wrote, “the Liberties of America would be safe against the Gates of Earth and Hell.”

Gerry was a Harvard graduate working as a merchant in his family’s business when he was elеcted to the Massachusetts legıslature in 1773, then to a provincial cοngress in 1774.

There would be no turning back for Gerry! After all, this was the same man who'd written a master’s dissertation at Harvard, arguing for the colonists to resist the Stamp Act.

“The fiery little Marbleheader who stuttered when speaking became one of his colony’s leading revolutionaries,” historian Dennis Fradin writes, “among other things helping to gather military supplies and distribute them to Massachusetts minutemen.”

Indeed, when the British began their march toward Lexington and Concord in April 1775, Gerry was among those seeking to avoid capture by the British. (He did avoid capture, but only because he escaped to a cornfield in his pajamas.)

In the weeks that followed, Gerry was charged with obtaining gunpowder and supplies for the mılitia then just outside Boston. From all accounts, he was diligent in his task and even used some of his own money to make sure the mılitia had what it needed.

Nevertheless, Gerry considered his actions the following year to be the “crowning achievement” of his life: He was a member of the Continental Cοngress that vοted on independence, and he was among those who risked their lives by signing the Declaration later that summer.

Naturally, Gerry’s service didn’t end there. After the war, he served as a delegate to the Cοnstitutional Cοnvention. He was an active member of that cοnvention, but he was disappointed in the outcome. He ultimately refused to sign the Cοnstitution when it was proposed.

He feared the Sеnate would be too powerful, he distrusted standing armies, and he thought a Bıll of Rıghts was needed.

Ever the Patriot, he vowed to support his country’s new gοvernment when it was established, despite his earlier opposition to the Cοnstitution. He even served in the first two Cοngresses as a rеprеsentative from Massachusetts, declaring that “the federal cοnstitution having become the supreme ląw of the land, he conceived the salvation of the country depended on its being carried into effect.”

In later years, he left his mark on the country in an unexpected way. He was then serving as Gοvernor of Massachusetts, and he signed off on a redıstricting plan that favored the Dеmocratic-Rеpublican Party. “The shape of one new district—in Gerry’s home county of Essex—resembled a fantastic dragon-like monster,” a Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities website explains.

Various stories are told about what happened next, but possibly a drawing was made of that contorted district at a dinner party. One dinner guest was a noted illustrator. He added a head, wings, and claws to the district, and dinner guests noted that it looked like a salamander. “Better say a Gеrry-mander!” retorted another.

The Boston Gazette soon ran a pοlitical cartoon making fun of “The Gеrry-mander.” After all his years of service, Gerry surely did not expect to be remembered for that—but then he was.

Gerry was later elected Vice Prеsident, but he died during his tеrm in office. The headstone placed on his grave was etched with the words he lived by: “It is the duty of every man, though he may have but one day to live, to devote that day to the good of his country.”

Words to live by today, too, don’t you think?

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07/02/2024

On this day in 1776, the Continental Congress declared America’s independence! Did you know that this vote actually occurred on July 2, not July 4?

“That these United Colonies are,” congressional delegates resolved, “and, of right, ought to be, Free and Independent States; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown . . . .”

There would be no more attempts to reconcile with Great Britain.

John Adams was elated, and he thought that July 2 would be celebrated as a memorable day in American history. He wrote Abigail: “The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America.”

Well, it didn’t quite work out that way, did it? ;) Instead, Americans have chosen to celebrate July 4 as our Independence Day. On that day, Congress finally approved a formal, written Declaration of Independence.

That Declaration was written by a committee of five men: John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Robert R. Livingston, and Roger Sherman. The five-man committee, in turn, had appointed a subcommittee—Jefferson and Adams—to come up with the initial draft.

Or, at least, that’s how Adams remembered it.

In 1822, Adams wrote a letter, explaining how Jefferson became the primary author of such an important document. His letter contains a blow-by-blow of a conversation that he remembered between the two men:

“Jefferson proposed to me to make the draught. I said, ‘l will not.’ ‘You should do it.’ ‘Oh! no.’ ‘Why will you not? You ought do it.’ ‘I will not.’ ‘Why?’ ‘Reasons enough.’ ‘What can be your reasons?’ ‘Reason first—You are a Virginian, and a Virginian ought to appear at the head of this business. Reason second—I am obnoxious, suspected, and unpopular. You are very much otherwise. Reason third—You can write ten times better than I can.’ ‘Well,’ said Jefferson, ‘if you are decided, I will do as well as I can.’”

In the same letter, Adams discussed the reasons that Jefferson, then relatively unknown, was appointed to the committee of five in the first place: “[Mr. Jefferson] brought with him a reputation for literature, science, and a happy talent at composition. . . . Though a silent member in Congress, he was so prompt, frank, explicit and decisive upon Committees . . . that he soon seized upon my heart, and upon this occasion I gave him my vote and did all in my power to procure the votes of others.”

Jefferson heard Adams’ rendition of events and didn’t quite agree!

The Committee, Jefferson wrote James Madison, “unanimously pressed on myself alone to undertake the draught. I consented; I drew it; but before I reported it to the committee, I communicated it separately to Dr. Franklin and mr. Adams requesting their corrections; because they were the two members of whose judgments and amendments I wished most to have the benefit . . . .”

So who was right? One historian suspects that the truth lies somewhere in the middle.

“It could well be,” Pauline Maier concludes, “that the exchange Adams recalled between himself and Jefferson occurred as the committee debated who should be given responsibility for producing a draft—not later, within a sub-committee of two members.”

The story of our Declaration of Independence will continue in a few days. Until then, Happy 2nd of July!

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01/12/2024

On this day in 1737, John Hancock is born. You know him best because of his extravagantly big signature on the Declaration of Independence. Legend has it that his large signature was accompanied by a proclamation: “There, I guess King George will be able to read THAT!”

It’s a great story, and I wish I could tell you that I know it to be true. Sadly, I can’t. More likely than not, the story is simply a legend.

The story continues in the cοmments, below, or here:
https://www.taraross.com/post/tdih-john-hancock

P.S. Dear regular readers: I promise I won't do the shortened form every day! More below.

01/11/2024

At about this time in 1776, Americans rebuff British forces, then attempting a raid on Rhode Island. The British hoped to steal sheep and other supplies. Naturally, the colonists would have none of THAT.

Information on this raid is scarce. On a personal note, it can sometimes be easier to leave this type of post unwritten. It’s hard to find information, and I’d hate to accidentally say something inaccurate. On the other hand, it can be hard to find information on many of our unsung heroes. Should we let their deeds go unnoticed, simply because details are scarce? In this case, I decided to tell you what I know, acknowledge what I don’t, and at least let a little bit of our ancestors’ bravery live on. :)

At this point in history, Rhode Island had at least three agricultural islands near Newport: Hope, Prudence and Patience Islands. The islands were not well-populated, but they had sheep and other supplies that could help the British.

Some of these British were then based at Newport and were being led by Captain James Wallace.

On January 12, roughly 250 British sailors came to Prudence Island, intent on stealing supplies. A small group of milιtia opposed the British, but they were easily overwhelmed and forced to fall back almost immediately. The British burned a few houses and stole some sheep.

You know that these Rhode Island residents weren’t going to take that outcome lying down. They got reinforcements and were prepared on the morning of January 13.

On that morning, Americans were still outnumbered, but this time a battle raged for three hours! As many as 14 (or as few as 3) British were kιlled before they finally retreated. As they left, they set fιre to more buildings on the island. In the meantime, Americans had lost between 1 and 4 men. One additional man was taken prisoner.

One modern ecological study reveals the severe damage done to the island, noting that the island had to be “virtually abandoned from January 1776 until about 1780. British troops burned nearly all buildings on the island between 1776 and 1778, cut down all the remaining trees on the island for firewood, and confiscated or destroyed everything of value they could find. After the war, many of the prewar residents never returned to the island.”

We hear of the big sacrifices made during the American Revolution. But we rarely hear about these smaller, less glamorous sacrifices. And yet they were real sacrifices made by real people.

Eventually, though, these sacrifices would ensure our freedom.

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01/10/2024

On this day in 1941, a heroine passes away. Lenah Higbee is best known as the first woman to receive the Navy Cross; it was awarded for her service in World War I.

Higbee was a nurse and the widow of retired Marine Corps Lt. Col. John H. Higbee when the Navy Nurse Corps was first authorized in 1908. She was only recently widowed, but that meant she was unmarried—and eligible to serve. Higbee passed the Navy’s written and oral exams and was a member of the “Sacred Twenty” by October 1908.

They were the first 20 nurses in the newly formed Corps.

One of the Sacred Twenty felt as if she were “invading what a man calls his domain.” Nevertheless, the women would prove themselves, as did Higbee when she was dispatched to Norfolk, Virginia, early in 1909.

The commanding officer of Norfolk’s naval hospital had demanded more staff but was unpleasantly surprised when the Navy sent a woman. Nevertheless, the resolute nurse buckled down, working 7 days a week until she’d proven herself.

Higbee spent less than two years as Chief Nurse of that hospital before she received another promotion: She would serve as superintendent of the Navy Nurse Corps, beginning in January 1911.

Let’s just say that the Nurse Corps was never the same again.

When Higbee took over, the Corps was composed of 86 nurses, serving in the United States, the Philippines, and Guam. These nurses were not allowed aboard ships. They didn’t hold a military rank, and they were paid less than men.

Higbee’s persistence helped bring about change—and she did it even as she led her nurses into World War I and through the Spanish Flu that followed.

The first year of war was especially tough. “The cold was awful!” one nurse wrote. “I slept under the weight of six blankets, with four hot water bottles, and shivered. . . . [Nurses] would cough apparently all night; would work all day, and would fall on their cots for another night of coughing.”

But there was still more.

“The wounds which you will be called upon to handle and dress,” another nurse wrote, “are such that you have never imagined it possible for a human being to be so fearfully hurt and yet to be alive.” She noted that “the mental strain . . . is always with you.”

But Higbee was there, supporting her nurses. She developed better training for these women, suddenly expected to witness and treat horrific war injuries. She worked to improve camp conditions. She’d already gotten her women assigned to serve aboard ships, and the ranks of hospital corpsmen grew as her nurses trained them.

The size of the Corps grew exponentially, too. By the end of World War I, a stunning 1,386 nurses were serving.

“No words of mine can adequately describe the valiant way the nurses met the conditions described,” Higbee concluded. Yet her country thought her invaluable, too. She was awarded a Navy Cross.

“Though their contributions to the Navy cannot be measured in ships sunk or enemies engaged,” Naval History Magazine concluded, “Higbee and her nurses were as essential to victory in war as any military element.”

Higbee left an indelible mark on the Corps—and the Navy. During World War II, Navy nurses finally began receiving military ranks. A WWII combat warship was named for Higbee, but a destroyer has been named for her more recently as well. At its 2021 dedication, Rear Admiral Cynthia Kuehner, Director of the Nurse Corps, spoke.

“I am here in no small part because of the vision, initiative and conspicuous achievements of this great warship’s namesake. As the second Superintendent, she led the Navy Nurse Corps with awe inspiring distinction. . . . [W]e celebrate her legacy. We honor her service.”

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10/13/2023

Happy Birthday to the United States Navy!

On this day in 1775, the Continental Congress passes a resolution establishing a naval force to help George Washington’s army. The Continental Navy was the precursor to our United States Navy.

The move was more controversial than you might think.

“It is the maddest idea in the world,” Samuel Chase of Maryland stormed, “to think of building an American fleet . . . we should mortgage the whole continent.”

He didn’t get his way. Congress knew that British supply ships were headed to America. Could they capture one and redirect supplies to George Washington’s army?

They certainly hoped so.

Thus, on October 13, Congress resolved to fit out two “swift sailing vessel[s], to carry ten carriage guns, and a proportionable number of swivels, with eighty men....” More vessels were authorized later, along with “two Battalions of Marines” to support the Navy.

Naval advocates such as John Adams were thrilled. “We must excite by Policy that kind of exalted Courage, which is ever victorious by sea and land,” he wrote.

Nevertheless, that Navy was relatively short-lived—at least at first. Did you know that the Navy ceased to exist for about 10 years after the American Revolution? The country was then operating under the Articles of Confederation, which created a weak central government. The Confederation Congress couldn’t raise sufficient funds to support the Navy.

The missing Navy became a problem in international waters. American merchant ships found themselves caught in the crossfire between the French and the English. The Barbary pirates piled on, seizing American vessels and seeking to ransom passengers and crews.

“The Americans cannot protect themselves [from the Barbary States],” British Lord Sheffield scoffed, “they cannot pretend to a navy.”

There matters lay until the Constitution was ratified in 1788, establishing a stronger national government with federal powers of taxation. Yet it still took several years—and new pirate attacks—to convince Congress to act.

“If we desire to avoid insult, we must be able to repel it,” George Washington said at the time, “if we desire to secure peace. . . , it must be known, that we are at all times ready for War.”

Finally, on January 2, 1794, Congress resolved to create “a naval force, adequate to the protection of the commerce of the United States against the Algerine corsairs.” A committee recommended that six frigates be procured, and an “Act to provide a naval armament” was passed and signed on March 27.

The task of procuring the frigates fell to Henry Knox, then the Secretary of War. But Knox wasn’t interested in procuring simple vessels. He wanted to construct all-new frigates that would “combine such qualities of strength, durability, swiftness of sailing, and force as to render them equal, if not superior to, any frigates belonging to any of the European powers.”

Knox almost didn’t get his way. Peace was negotiated with Algiers in 1796, before the frigates were completed. By law, construction was supposed to stop if a treaty was obtained, but a reluctant Congress allowed 3 of the 6 frigates to be completed. (The last 3 were eventually, but not immediately, approved.)

USS United States, USS Constellation, and USS Constitution were launched in 1797. These vessels would engage in America’s first large-scale naval engagements, first during the Quasi War, then during the War of 1812. During one notable battle, USS Constitution would earn the nickname “Old Ironsides.”

Naturally, that is a story for another day. ;)

In the meantime, Happy Birthday to the men and women who serve in our U.S. Navy!

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10/11/2023

On this day in 1798, John Adams writes a letter to officers in the Massachusetts militia.

Adams thought America then free of certain problems that plagued much of the world. But he could also see a different future if Americans were to become deceptive “towards one another and towards foreign nations” by assuming “the Language of Justice and moderation while it is practicing [immorality] and Extravagance . . . [and] rioting in rapine and Insolence.” If such corruption were to come about, he thought “this Country will be the most miserable Habitation in the World.”

His closing sentence is one that you might have heard before.

“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious People,” Adams concluded. “It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

Wow. What would he say of us today?

10/06/2023

At about this time in 1780, Patriot militia win a stunning victory against a band of Loyalists at the Battle of Kings Mountain.

The “memorable victory,” as Thomas Jefferson called it, was much-needed. It finally turned the tide after a long, difficult summer in which Americans had been repeatedly defeated in southern cities such as Charleston and Camden.

Maybe it was British Major Patrick Ferguson who finally pushed locals over the edge?

The British Major had come to be known as the “Bulldog.” He’d issued a threat to the local militia: Lay down your arms or we’ll hang your leaders and destroy the countryside. Things were getting personal, and the local militia had had enough. They were determined to defend their lives, their families, and their homes.

A group of men—the Over Mountain Men—gathered to stop Ferguson. They started their pursuit of him on September 26.

For his part, Ferguson remained cocky. He thought the Over Mountain Men the “dregs of mankind.” He decided to make a stand at King’s Mountain with his force of about 1,100 Loyalists. Brimming with overconfidence, he didn’t spend much time considering his defenses. He was sure he’d win. According to legend, he declared that “he was on King’s Mountain, that he was king of that mountain, and God Almighty could not drive him from it.”

Roughly 900 Patriots attacked on October 7. They’d separated into multiple columns and stealthily worked their way toward Ferguson’s men. They’d approached from many directions so as to surround the Loyalists. They were so quiet that they were nearly there before the Loyalists realized the Patriots were approaching.

The battle began with a Loyalist bayonet charge down the mountain. It was the only advantage that the Loyalists would have. The battle would be decided by the determination of the Patriots—and their weapons. They were carrying American rifles, and the Over Mountain Men were good, accurate shots. During much of the Revolution, the rifles weren’t always useful, despite their extended range. They took too long to reload. In this instance, however, the rifles were perfect. The Patriots had plenty of trees to use for cover, and they steadily worked their way uphill.

The Americans were winning, but Ferguson refused to believe it. When some of his men attempted to raise white flags, he hacked them down! Finally, he seemed to realize that he’d been defeated. He rushed the American lines, apparently hoping to break through and escape. Instead, he was shot and killed. His second-in-command was finally able to hoist a surrender flag.

Unfortunately, the Patriot militia wasn’t at its best in that moment. The long summer’s worth of pent-up anger could not be easily restrained. The Loyalists sought quarter, but the Patriots at first refused to give it. They stopped killing the Loyalists only when American officers finally made them.

The victory had a huge, positive impact on the Patriot cause! George Washington called it a “proof of the spirit and resources of the country.” Thomas Jefferson later remembered the victory as the “joyful annunciation of that turn of the tide of success which terminated the revolutionary war with the seal of our independence.” British General Charles Cornwallis moved his forces away from the area, possibly believing the Patriot militia to be larger and better organized than it really was.

The ultimate victory at Yorktown was only one year away.

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10/05/2023

On this day in 1945, a hero receives the Medal of Honor from President Harry S Truman. Robert “Bob” Bush was the youngest Navy man to receive a Medal of Honor during World War II.

Bush had been only 15 years old when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. It was too young to enlist, but he joined the Navy as soon as he could afterwards, dropping out of high school at the age of 17 to do so.

He trained to be a medic. “Mom, I’m going into the service to help people, not to kill them,” he said as he left, according to Tom Brokaw’s The Greatest Generation. It was an important statement: His mom was a nurse.

The young corpsman’s heroism came on May 2, 1945, as he served with a Marine division at the Battle of Okinawa. The day dawned, a “typical morning of fighting,” Bush later said. The Marines were trying to take a particular hill by the end of the day.

“Our platoon leader, Lieutenant James Roach,” Bush later described, “elected to take a squad of men to the base of the hill. . . . he went down with his 19 men, down through the ravine, and all hell broke loose. Where the hell they came from, nobody knows. But in the meantime, Jim Roach got hit.”

Bush never hesitated. He knew what he had to do, running quickly through the intense enemy fire until he reached his lieutenant. He could see the officer’s eyes dilating, and Roach appeared to be slipping away. Bush promptly grabbed a can of albumin (blood plasma) and began an IV.

Just then, he noticed the enemy close—too close—about 30 feet away.

He picked up Roach’s carbine and began firing. Can you imagine the scene? Bush was holding the life-saving plasma for Roach in one hand, while he wielded a carbine with the other.

“It was just like a shooting gallery,” he said. “How many I shot with that thing, I don’t know, but I used up 15 rounds. But I was thinking one thing, that if they’re going to take me, by God they’re gonna pay the bill.”

The effort was enough to save Roach. Somewhat revived by the plasma, the lieutenant struggled to his feet and began working his way toward help.

The Japanese were still coming for Bush.

“They got me,” he told a reporter years later. “The first gr***de took my eye out, and I put my arm up to hold it off and got some fragments in the other eye. Got a lot in my eye and shoulders. They hit me with three hand gr***des in a matter of seconds.”

Amazingly, though, Bush survived, “with the help of God and a few Marines,” as he would say.

Bush went home after the war and married his high school sweetheart. He received the Medal of Honor from Truman while he was still on his honeymoon.

He had just turned 19 years old.

“This medal wasn’t given to me because I’m the greatest guy who came down the pike,” he concluded. “We had thousands who lost their lives who were certainly identifiable as being able to receive the Medal of Honor. But perhaps it wasn’t properly documented. So, I look at it as though I’m a custodian for those who died.”

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If you enjoy these history posts, please see my note below. :)

Gentle reminder: History posts are copyright © 2013-2023 by Tara Ross. I appreciate it when you use the shar e feature instead of cutting/pasting.