American Revolution

The Question of the Convention; Sunrise or Sunset?

The President's Convention Throne The President's Convention Throne

The Convention

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The war was over and the United States had come fully into existence. Thirteen independent states now faced the world as one nation under the auspices of the Articles of Confederation. This document was the model of government that was created during the Revolution and for lack of a better term, it sucked. The Confederation Congress had very little power to set national policy. It had no power to tax and was often wholly beholden to a majority of states in most decisions. There was no way that the country would stay together under such a system.

In May of 1787 delegates from the states came to Philadelphia for a convention tasked with “fixing” the Articles of Confederation. Instead, they would toss them out. Over the summer and in incredible secrecy, a new government took shape and form.

Issues of representation in the government and the type of government drew the most debate. Centered on the creation of a strong central government in a Federal system, the convention was split most the time. Some thought that the states should be the primary driver of the government. Others thought it should be the people of the nation. Small states demanded the same power as the larger states and the issue of slavery hung like a dark cloud.

Sunrise or Sunset?

On September 17, 1787, the final version of the document was signed and sent to the states for ratification. For the duration of the convention George Washington had presided as the president, his wisdom and leadership was instrumental in keeping the process moving. During the signing, the eminent Dr. Benjamin Franklin had perhaps one of the prescient observations of the summer. In his notes on the convention James Madison relayed the following:

Whilst the last members were signing it Doctr. FRANKLIN looking towards the Presidents Chair, at the back of which a rising sun happened to be painted, observed to a few members near him, that Painters had found it difficult to distinguish in their art a rising from a setting sun. I have said he, often and often in the course of the Session, and the vicisitudes of my hopes and fears as to its issue, looked at that behind the President without being able to tell whether it was rising or setting: But now at length I have the happiness to know that it is a rising and not a setting Sun. (Madison’s Notes for September 17, 1787)

The photos at the top of the article show a reproduction of the chair that Washington sat in as President of the Convention. They show the sun motif that so vexed Franklin. It is currently on display at the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia.

Interwar Years, Spanish American War

Dog Tags

Dog Tags

Dog Tags

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In the Civil War, it was not uncommon for soldiers to write their name and hometown on pieces of paper to be pinned onto their backs. The idea was that if they were to fall in battle someone would know who they were. Maybe even there would be a chance for their body to make it home.

To that extent, the Civil War saw innovations in embalming techniques that would allow for a body to be preserved for the trip home. If they could afford it. A soldier who purchased the service would be issued a  medallion that they were to wear around their neck. After the battle representatives of the embalming company would search through the bodies to find their clients. These men would be embalmed and sent home.

What would eventually become “dog tags” was born.

On December 20, 1906, War Department General Order No. 204 that was issued. This order made the “identification tag” standard military issue. This tag was to be an aluminum disk approximately the size of a silver half-dollar. It would be stamped with name, rank, company, and regiment. The order provided that the tags would be issued to enlisted men for free, but officers had to purchase theirs at cost.

In 1916 the regulations were changed to provide two tags to each individual. One to be kept with them and one for the burial services and record keeping. At a later point, the religious beliefs of the wounded were added to ensure the proper services during burial.

The tags in the picture above are from the Pre-WWI era and were most likely issued to American soldiers that were engaged in the Philippine Insurrection.

Word and Phrases, WWI

Wednesday Words & Phrases: Chat or Chatting

Image result for chat

Chat or Chatting

How many times have you said you needed to have a chat with someone? Or have you seen two people chatting? Usually, we mean it as a short conversation, something small, nothing major.  Well, the word comes to us from deep in the trenches of WWI.

Lice was an issue in the trenches during WWI. Lots of bodies huddled close together allowed the little buggers to multiply by the millions. Small enough to hide in the folds of clothing, in the hair and other places they seemed to be everywhere causing itching rashes and just general irritation. Now it turns out that in Hindi the word for these lice was “chatt”, it is also known that French soldiers during the Napoleonic Wars referred to them as “chats”. There is also a word in medieval English “chateren” which means idle gossip. So how does all this tie together?

It was not uncommon during WWI  to see groups of soldiers sitting around, close together, picking lice off of each other. They would use their fingernails to squash them or a candle to burn them. As they sat around picking the lice, or “chats” from each other they would engage in small talk. before long when groups were seen engaging in this behavior they were said to be “chatting”.  Sure they probably did the same thing in every war, but this was the one where the term started being used in an everyday sense.

So hopefully the next time you need to “have a chat” with someone it does not involve lice.

Cold War, Vietnam

AH-1 Cobra: Small Package, Big Punch

AH-1 Cobra: Small Package, Big Punch

AH-1 Cobra: Small Package, Big Punch

Above is a decommissioned version of the AH-1 Cobra attack helicopter. One of the workhorses of the Vietnam War.  From 1967 when it first entered service until 1973 over 1,000 of these saw service.  Over that time they accumulated over 1 million hours of operational time.

Their main mission was close fire support of the infantry. They also served as escorts for the troop helicopters and as highly mobile rocket artillery platforms. Basically, they did whatever was needed. During the war, almost 300 were lost due to combat and other incidents.

The Cobra comes in a number of variants that served many different roles and as such. They have seen a lot of action. Starting in Vietnam, then the invasion of Grenada in 1983 and Panama in 1989. The 1991 Gulf War saw the AH-1 and its variants in action. In they were on the scene in Somalia and again later in 1994 during the armed intervention in Haiti.

In 1999 the US Army officially pulled the AH-1 from active service. They found a home though with NATO and other allies. Over the years they have served a vital role for the US Forest Service, not as gunships, but as firefighting equipment. The AH-1W SuperCobra and AH-1Z Viper still are used by the US Marine Corps.

The AH-1G HueyCobra, the most common one in Vietnam had a maximum speed of 171mph and an effective range of 357 miles. For armament, it depended on the job but could include: 2 7.62 mm miniguns, 2 M129 grenade launchers, rocket pods, and additional minigun pods. Basically, for a small chopper, it packed a heck of a punch.

WWI

The War to End All Wars (WWI)

The War to End All Wars (WWI)

The War to End All Wars (WWI)

The medals in the picture above were given to participants in WWI. Given for heroics and valor, for bravery and performing above and beyond the call of duty. On April 6, 1917, the Great War on the European continent finally drew in the United States. On that day the US House of Representatives voted 373 to 50 to approve the Senates (82 to 6) declaration of war against Germany.

There were many that wanted us in the war since it began and many more that saw a war across the ocean as something that should stay there, but when American civilian lives were put at risk, and even lost thanks to German navy, it was not long before we would seek our retribution. The last straw, the straw that saw us turn toward war instead of away was not the sinking of the Lusitania, which may be the ship you are most familiar with, but the Houstanic. 

Days later on February 22, 1917, Congress passed a $250 million appropriations bill to prepare us for war. By the time March had come and gone Germany had sunk four more US merchant ships and President Wilson called for war to be officially declared.

The Yankees Arrive

The first US troops landed in France on June 26, almost 14,000 total began their adventure Over There. About seventeen months later the war was finally over with more than 2 million Americans having joined in the fighting. Almost fifty thousand of them didn’t come home. Those that did came home to a country that had proven itself on the world stage as never before. As a military power and as a true industrial power.

The medals above were given for heroics and valor. For bravery and performing above and beyond the call of duty. They also served as proof to the world that America was poised to take its place on the world stage.

Word and Phrases

Wednesday Words & Phrases: That’ll Be The Day

Image result for That'll Be The Day

That’ll Be The Day

Sorry, I couldn’t help it using that picture. The phrase “That’ll Be the Day” oddly enough did not originate with Buddy Holly. It actually came from the German army (with a little help from the British).

Or the Prussian officer corps of the German Army during World War 1. They held a belief that someday the German Army would defeat the British and become the preeminent power in Europe. They referred to it as Der Tag or “The Day”. The phrase was used as a popular toast and appeared in many books and newspaper article. So many in fact that the British picked up and started yelling it across No Man’s Land as a taunt to the German forces.

So technically Buddy Holly wrote a song mocking the German army.

 

Book Reviews, Civil War

Book Review: The Cause of All Nations: An International History of the American Civil War

Book Review

The Cause of All Nations: An International History of the American Civil War

by Don H. Doyle

There was a lot riding on the American Civil War. When the nation was formed in the American Revolution a new country was created, a democracy unlike any that had been seen before. Much of the world didn’t think it would last. Much of the world did not want it to last. So when the Southern states seceded and the United States became divided, the world held its breath.

The Cause of All Nations tells the story of the American Civil War from the perspective of the rest of the world. How did countries like Britain and France view the war? The fledgling democracy movements in each saw things quite different from the aristocratic and royalist leaders. How did the creation of Italy play into the American war? Was this going to be a war to set people free or a fight between two different ideas of government?

These questions and many others are answered in this fascinating and well-written book. The biggest takeaway for me and something that I had never really realized before was how close Europe came to intervention. I mean the fleets were in the harbors close to turning this into a world war. I knew it was close, but not that close. The other fascinating bit is the role the Vatican played in the American Civil War. Tiny, but interesting. I would love to see if some of those letters survived.

Doyle has told and informative and compelling narrative. If you are picking this up you most likely already know the basics of the story. What the author does is allow you to see the conflict from the perspective of the rest of the world. It also provides insight into exactly what the United States meant to the world in the 1860’s and provides insight into what we mean to the world today.

It is well worth the read and as always you can click the cover above to find it at Amazon.

 

 

American Revolution

The Fighting Quaker

The Fighting Quaker

The Fighting Quaker

The Nathaniel Greene monument at Guilford Courthouse is just one that stands to memorialize the man who General Washington hand-picked as his successor in command of the army should he fall. And it was a good choice.

One of the first to answer the call to arms from Rhode Island, Greene served in a number of capacities during the war. He received his brigadier appointment from the Continental Congress on June 22, 1775. Greene was given command of Boston by Washington after the British withdrew.

In August 1776 he became one of four new major generals. At that point, he was given command of all troops on Long Island. He selected the location of fortifications and supervised their construction. During the British invasion, he was given command of Forts Washington and Lee only to lose them to the British onslaught. He would make up for it at the Battle of Trenton where he led one of two American columns into the fight.

After given command of the reserve at the Battle of Brandywine Washington pleaded for him to take over as Quartermaster General during the long winter at Valley Forge.  He did so reluctantly but proved more than competent. He would lead the right wing of the army at Monmouth. Rhode Island was next along with Lafayette and the French.

Once he was in command of the army in the south Greene became an immortal. Somehow he did it without winning a single battle. He didn’t need to. Much like Washington he simply managed to keep fighting. Never allowing the British to rest. The eventual victory at Yorktown belongs to Greene as much as any man. None, however, can say it better than the enemy that he dueled within the Carolinas.

Green is as dangerous as Washington, I never feel secure when encamped in his neighborhood– General Charles Cornwallis

 

 

 

Word and Phrases

Wednesday Words & Phrases: Run The Gauntlet

Run the Gauntlet
By Edward Eggleston, Elizabeth Eggleston Seelye (Tecumseh and the Shawnee Prophet) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Run The Gauntlet

To Endure a Trial

This phrase first entered the English during the Thirty Years War (1618-48) and came from the Swiss. The Swiss Army would punish soldiers by causing them to run between two ranks for men armed with sticks and rope ends. The end result was they were beaten pretty bad, but never really fatal.

The Swiss called this the “gatlopp” or “gangway”. Eventually, in the late 17th century, the English corrupted it to “running the gauntlet” which probably had to do with the armored gove of the same name. It sounded alike so they just went with it. So next time you have to endure a trial get ready to Run the Gatlopp!

Uncategorized

Germany’s WWI Turtle Grenade

German Turtle Grenade WWI

Turtle Grenade

 

Sure it sounds cute, but the Turtle Grenade was nothing to trifle with.  During WWI grenades were all the rage but there was a problem. When you pulled the pin the fuse would start counting down. You would throw the grenade and hope that it exploded when you wanted it to. Sometimes whoever if you did not time thing right, they would get picked up and thrown back at you.

In an effort to avoid this outcome Germany developed the Discushandgranaten. The Allies called it the Turtle Grenade. It was made up of two thin steel plates that were crimped together. Running through was a cross of four tubes that contained metal rods. The rods blocked the spring-loaded firing pins. When thrown you would put a spin on it, causing the metal rods to move outward (via centrifugal force). This action released the firing pins which ignited the fuse.

That was the theory at least. The design was good but still had issues. First off for it to be effective you had to throw it in such a way that it would land on one of the studs. Almost like skipping a stone on the water or some kind of steampunk shuriken. If it did not land just right, no explosion. Getting the throw right while you are standing in the trenches under fire was not the easiest thing to do.

The other issue was that it was easy to bump one of the studs and set the thing off. During the small amount of time, it was in use the number of “friendly fire” incidents was high. It did not take long for a new model of the grenade to find its way out. The Turtle would be replaced by the Potato Masher within a year.

People, Places and Things from US Military History

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