Wednesday Words & Phrases: Trophy

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Trophy: A Symbol of Victory

The Ancient Greeks knew how to celebrate a win. At the place where the battle turned they would build a monument to celebrate their victory. This monument would normally be made up of the enemy’s cast off weapons. The monument itself was called a trope which in Greek means “a turning.” As time passed the name became used for anything brought back after a victory. So that runner-up trophy you got in little league, you can thank the Ancient Greeks for that!

 

 

Book Review: The Dawn of Innovation: The First American Industrial Revolution

The Dawn of Innovation: The First American Industrial Revolution

Almost all the book reviews so far have been about men or wars or battles and they fit the site theme well. This book is a little different because it does not deal with outward military themes. Instead it has to do with something much bigger, the rise of American industrialization.

It starts in the wake of the revolution when the fledgling country started shifting away from a colonial economy. From the shipwrights in New England during the War of 1812 to the rapid growth of a peace time economy. This is the story about how the US eventually would surpass England in manufacturing power. This was done by making use of the boundless resources of the continent and harnessing an American spirit. It is this spirit that the author tries to convey in the portraits of the people and places that rose to the occasion.

The author uses the development of interchangeable parts to illustrate this tale. Also the battles over patents, and the general disregard for them. One of the recurring taglines of this book is that the United states achieved the unprecedented rate of 3.9% growth for over 135 years. The author does a very good job of showing that.

As always  you can click on the cover to find the book easily on Amazon.

Wednesday Words & Phrases: Jeopardy

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No, not the game show. The danger of loss, harm or failure.

The game was in jeopardy right until the end.

Our love’s in jeopardy (baby ooo…ooo).

The term comes from medieval France when archery competitions were tied going into the final round and the final two competitors were tied. (Look they didn’t have TV back then.)

The ever excited umpire (see here) would cry out “Jeu parti!” (the game is divided!). This morphed into the modern meaning due to the fact that both parties were in danger of losing.

Thank God That Such Men Lived…

General George Patton was a lot of things. He was a warrior and a poet in the classical sense. He thought that he had lived many lives before and sometimes did not understand things such as weakness or fear. He was a man who had a purpose and it just so happened that the times he lived in were ripe for that purpose.

The quote of his above is from a speech that he gave at the Copley Plaza Hotel in Boston, on June 7, 1945. It is ingrained in the wall of the Illinois WWII Memorial and at first glance it causes one to take pause and much like Patton himself you need to look at it fully to appreciate the merit of what he is saying.

He had used similar words before in 1943 while dedicating an Allied cemetery in Italy, “I consider it no sacrifice to die for my country. In my mind we came here to thank God that men like these have lived rather than to regret that they have died.” This quote, which came first, sheds light on the second and provides it with a little context.

Patton was a warrior in the classical sense. His job was war and he was good at it. To his detriment he did not always grasp some of the finer details of the job, some of the more human aspects. The slapping incidents are one example. (If you need background on that click here.) He expected every man under him to fight, that was their job, and when he found these men that were unable to mentally continue the fight he lashed out. it is not that he was a callous man, he was just a man who saw a job that needed done and stood for no obstacles in that path. His superiors recognized that in him and while such actions from almost any other general would have seen them dismissed, they need what Patton brought to the table.

Now back to the quote. it would be easy to read the first part and think that those were the words of a callous Patton, one who did not fully grasp the human cost of war. Perhaps he did not even see the men that he commanded but only pieces on a chess board. That is not the fact however. He did see the men and knew the cost, in his role though he had to be able to put it into context. No better quote by the man shows how he was able to do that. By thanking God that these men lived he is showing that their sacrifice, though great, was what was necessary to defeat their enemy. He elevates them in a way from men to legends, and such a thing from this man can not be taken lightly.

Yes, light on history but heavy on commentary. Just that kind of day…

Leaving His Mark: General Lincolns Lows and Highs

Benjamin Lincoln is often an overlooked player on the Patriot side of the American Revolution. In a conflict where most the leaders were either exceptionally or incompetent he rides right in the middle, for the most part. He started in the Massachusetts militia in 1772 and eventually rose to the rank of Major General of the militia in 1776.  Showing some gumption and a little bit of skill he was noticed by General Washington who brought into the Continental Army as a major-general in 1777. After seeing some action including leading troops at Saratoga where he was wounded, Lincoln spent time recovering and preparing for his next step. It would be a big one.

In September of 1778 Washington chose Lincoln to be the commander of the southern department. It went OK for Benjamin. Until March of 1780 when a large British force under General Clinton landed and besieged Charleston, South Carolina.

The siege was text-book and though some believe that Lincoln should have abandoned the city and kept his army intact he decided to stay put, hope for reinforcements and try to survive the siege. Despite long odds he was able to do so for about six weeks. Then faced with pressure from the merchants and well to do in town (they didn’t want to lose their property) he was finally forced to surrender.

In total Lincoln surrendered to the British:

Over 5,000 soldiers

More than 300 artillery pieces

Over 9,000 artillery rounds

33,000 barrels of ammunition

49 ships

120 boats

and a lot more.

This was by far the worst defeat the Continental Army had ever, or would ever suffer and nearly broke the back of the new country. It would have been easy to lay the defeat at the feet of Lincoln and many did, but for the most part his reputation stayed fairly clean (as opposed to someone like Schuyler who faced charges after Ticonderoga).

Lincoln was eventually exchanged and rejoined the army, mainly as a staff officer, keeping his head down and avoiding controversy. in October 1781 however he was thrust back upon the stage at a place called Yorktown.

When the combined French and American forces besieged the army of British General Cornwallis, Lincoln found himself in command of a large portion of the American forces and as second in command to General Washington. In that role he played a huge part in the battle.

on October 19, 1781 the British forces surrendered to the allies. General Cornwallis, who plead illness, sent his second in command to meet the victorious army, General O’Hara, and to surrender his sword. one version of the story says that O’Hara first attempted to surrender the sword to French General Rochambeau who politely refused and indicated it should go the Washington. When offering the sword to Washington O’Hara was gently directed to turn the sword over to Washington’s second in command, General Benjamin Lincoln which accepted the sword and perhaps a little bit of satisfaction. Present at the biggest defeat and the biggest victory Lincoln left his mark on the American Revolution.

 

Wednesday Words & Phrases: Flap

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I would like to think this is used to prevent trouble, but I think I know better.

I apologize for the double post. A WordPress Theme Update ate the last one causing quite the flap. See what I did, worked today’s word right into it. The good news is if you managed to read the first version, this one is slightly different.

So when we use flap today we mean any kind of fuss or excitement. That caused quite a flap! Weave the British Navy to thank for that one.

At the turn of the century (20th) when reliable radio communications were still a ways off ships used a series of flags to send messages to one another. The system f flags is caused semaphore code and is actually still used today.

On Royal Naval vessels during times of great excitement or problems or general hub bub flags would be run up the pole to let other ships know what was going on. The bigger the trouble the more flags. The more flags the louder the flap noise. As such any kind of commotion was termed a flap. Eventually the term left the navy and found its way into the everyday lexicon.

Patton Would Approve (M60 Patton)

M60 Patton

Patton Would Approve (M60 Patton)

 

That above is an M60 Patton. The M60 and its variants served as the main battle tank for the US Army up until it was finally replaced by the M1A1 Abrams in 1997. Coming into service in 1960 it was manufactured until 1987 with over 15,000 units being built during that time. Of course, there are still numerous units in service not only in the US military but in the military of many countries around the world. The story though is how it came about.

In 1956 the people of Hungary rose up against the Soviet-backed government for a period of several months actually posed a threat to Soviet control. Though not successful the several months that the revolt lasted provided some interesting information. At one point a Soviet T54A tank found itself sitting the front yard of the British Embassy in Budapest.

Not ones to miss an opportunity the British examined the armor and armament of the tank and were impressed. The T54 mounted a 100mm gun, much more powerful than what the NATO forces of the time could muster. Soon the British and Americans were working on 105mm cannons and were looking for chassis to place them on. The US decided that they would use the M48 chassis, with the new 105mm cannon. The new design was christened the 105mm Gun Full Tracked Combat Tank M60. Unofficially it carried over the Patton designation and began a stellar career that stretched across many wars and continents.

Though officially retired in 2005 the US still maintains a number of them in storage. Even more impressive is that some of the special variants. The M728 Combat Engineer Vehicle and the M60AVLB still are in service.

Beaver

Beaver

 

The New World was rich with resources which drew the interest of those in the Old World. For the Spanish Central and South America gave them gold, more gold than anyone ever thought existed. This gold fueled the Spanish Empire and caused the other nations in Europe to take notice.

France, England and The Netherlands looked upon North America with interest, some hoping to find the same gold that the Spanish found in the south, some hopping to find something even more valuable. One that they found, were beavers.

Yes, beaver, or more accurately their fur, spurred a gold rush of a different kind in North America and became a flash point for generations as France and England wrestled for control of the resource. The key though was relations with the Native Americans whose land this trade crisscrossed.

France looked upon the natives as partners in the endeavor, they did their best to treat them fairly and not subjugate them. Of course this was not purely altruistic. The French never colonized in the numbers that the British did and keeping on good terms with the natives was truly in their own self-interest,

The British took a slightly different view on the fur trade. They looked upon the natives as subjects and where the French were fairly free wheeling in their dealings, the English looked for a much more regimented structure and as their population grew, conflict with the natives and the French was inevitable.

And this all came on the back of the beaver and the incredible military uses that the little buggers provided. What? No military value? OK, then it must have been because of the beaver has a special gland that provides eternal life? No? Not that either huh? Yes, their fur was prized, and most of it went to the creation of hats. Yes, hats. The photo above shows a beaver pelt and the end product, a beaver pelt hat. A pelt and hat that would eventually lead to the founding of the United States of America.

 

The Five Power Treaty of 1922

 

In the aftermath of WWI, the world was tired of war. Millions had died for reasons that most people didn’t understand. Secret treaties and insane military build ups were seen as part of the problem, so in the wake of the war a massive demobilization was undertaken. A move was also made to limit the size of each nation’s military. Take away the toys, and no one would want to play. The Washington Treaty, also called the Five Power Treaty, of which the picture above present an actual copy, was designed to limit the size of the Navies of the United States, Great Britain, France, Italy and Japan.

Signed in 1922 the treaty set a strict tonnage (displacement) limit for the navy of each power. That tonnage would be counted against their battleships, battle cruisers and aircraft carries based on certain ratios. While much time is spent discussing the actual ratios of the allowed tonnage, the important thing to note is that the US and Great Britain were allowed much more tonnage than Japan and far more than France and Italy.

For the US and Britain the allowance was 525,000 tons for capital ships (battleships and cruisers) and 135,000 tons for Aircraft carriers. With the average displacement of a capital ship at 35,000 tons that would limit each to about 15 capital ships. Aircraft carriers at 27,000 tons would allow for 5. A drastic reduction indeed.

Japan was allowed 315,000 and 8,100 tons (9 and 3).

France and Italy came in at 175,000 and 60,000 (5 and 2-ish).

Size and amount of guns on each ship we also limited as well as a ten-year moratorium being placed on new construction.

Like most treaties that came  out of the Great War, this one left everyone, let’s just say “grumpy”. With the world spinning towards the next great war, Japan realized that the treaty left them incredibly behind the other US and Britain in the Pacific and in 1934 the announced they were pulling out of the treaty. In 1936 the treaty was not renewed.

Japan always felt like the little brother to the West in modern times, they way their contributions in WWI were overlooked, and their subordinate position in this treaty simply brought them to the point where conflict would become inevitable.

Aren’t treaties wonderful things?

 

 

The Spad

WWI saw the advent of many aspects of war that we take for granted nowadays. Tanks, chemical weapons, machine guns and airplanes. For almost one hundred years now these have been part of most conflicts on the globe. The picture is a replica of one of the models that the Allies used. The Americans started using them in late 1917 and the model continued in use for various countries well in to the 1920’s.

The Spad S.VII pictured has a basic bi-plane design, the combination of the wings set low to give the aircraft maximum lift and stability, while giving the pilot the most possible visibility. The body was cloth and wood, powered by a V8 automobile engine that could get it up to about 140 MPH. Not much by today’s standards but that was literally flying back then.

The Spad was armed with a single .303 Vickers machine gun that was synced to be able to fire through the propeller. The gun was mounted on top of the engine compartment and placed so that pilot would be able to clear jams without much difficulty, as they were prone to occur.

Armed with 189 of these fighters, the United States Amer Air Service began it mission in Germany, using some of these planes as front line units, but alas as trainers for the new version that was to be released shortly.

Even though they came late to the fight, tools such as the Spad VII were among those used by the US to turn the tide of the war, or at least break the tie, depending on who you ask.

 

 

 

People, Places and Things from US Military History

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