Daily history

Good morning,




Quote of the day:

“Sometimes I get a feeling that the whole world is against me, but on second thought I suspect some of the smaller countries are neutral.”

                                 Stanley O’Brien



I am going to treat y’all to a small biography about one of the greatest cavalry officers in history.



                        James Ewell Brown Stuart

                                 (1833-1864)



James Ewell Brown Stuart was born in Patrick County, Virginia on February 6, 1833. He was known as “Jeb” in his younger days and either “Jeb” or “Beauty” as an adult. Jeb was a career cavalry officer for both the United States and the Confederate States of America. Jeb was already a seasoned cavalry officer before the outbreak of the Civil War. He had fought with distinction in the Indian Wars and was present at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia Arsenal when the attempt by abolitionist John Brown to capture this important arsenal was stopped by Colonel Robert E. Lee, Lieutenant Jeb Stuart and a platoon of US Marines. It was Stuart that read the “Surrender or else” proclamation to John Brown and his henchmen who were barricaded in the arsenal. They did not surrender so Lee sent in the Marines and Brown was captured and the great majority of his followers were killed which crushed the rebellion.

Stuart excelled at reconnaissance and support of infantry assaults but he was a vain man. After joining the Confederacy he cultivated his image of being a cavalier. He kept his riding boots polished to a high sheen, wore a cape with red lining, a yellow sash, a hat cocked to one side with a peacock plume attached, a red flower in his lapel and often wore cologne into battle. Early on in the beginnings of the Civil War, he shone in his leadership at the Battle of the First Manassas and was instrumental in the rout of the US troops. His star rose to its zenith during US General George McClellan’s so-called ‘Peninsular” campaign. In this action McClellan had landed and enormous army on the James River peninsula southwest of Richmond with the idea of attacking Richmond from an unexpected direction. Jeb Stuart was tasked by General Lee to reconnoiter the flank of this US army. Not only did Stuart reconnoiter the flank, he and his cavalry unit rode completely around the entire army gathering information and destroying supplies as he went. Stuart returned to Lee with invaluable information and after seven days of combat, McClellan packed his troops and equipment back onto the ships that has brought them and got his young ass back to where he came from. Stuart did another “ride around McClellan” at the Battle of Antietam. After Antietam Stuart was tasked with going to Chambersburg, Pennsylvania and cutting a railroad bridge that most of the supplies going to the US army passed over. He was unable to take out the bridge because it was made of iron but he gathered up over 2,000 horses and several wagons of supplies and brought them back into Virginia while passing almost within sight of an encamped US Army and passed by undetected. His cavalry unit was involved in the largest cavalry engagement ever seen on the North American continent. It was the Battle of Brandy Station, Virginia. In this engagement there were about 5,000 cavalrymen involved. This fight was considered a draw in spite of the fact that the Confederates held the field after the battle was over. What made this battle significant was that the US cavalry was able to hold its own against the renowned cavalry of the Confederates, something they were unable to do in the past.

Stuart and his cavalry unit were present at nearly every important engagement in the Eastern Theatre in the Civil War. One of these was the Battle of Chancellorsville, Virginia. In this engagement Confederate General “Stonewall” Jackson was severely wounded and subsequently died of pneumonia a few days later. Stuart took temporary command of Jackson’s Corp but his skills as a cavalry officer was in greater need for the Confederacy and command of the Corp was given to CSA General Richard Ewell and Stuart went back to what he does best. He did perform poorly at the Battle of Gettysburg. He took his cavalry unit on a long range reconnaissance and lost contact with General Lee while the Confederates were engaged in a major battle without Lee knowing what he was up against. This knowledge was the responsibility of Stuart. To this day there has not been a satisfactory explanation of Stuart’s absence in the first days of this pivotal engagement. When he finally did arrive on the scene he was severely admonished by Lee but was given the assignment of taking his cavalry unit to the rear of the US lines on Cemetery Ridge and be prepared to cut off the retreat of the US troops after the Confederates broke through with the infantry action know as Pickett’s Charge. The only problem here was the Confederates hit the US line with everything they had and were unable to break through. Stuart came back to Lee and provided rear cover for the Confederate retreat back into Virginia.

The US Army had realized for a long time how much of a danger Stuart was and finally they assigned US General Phillip Sheridan to go into the Shenandoah Valley to destroy the food source for the Confederates, but his secondary assignment was the destruction of Jeb Stuart. Finally, a cavalry engagement on May 11, 1864 at Yellow Tavern, Virginia (about 6 miles northeast of Richmond) cost the life of CSA General J.E.B. Stuart. Stuart was not killed instantly but was severely wounded and he knew his wounds were mortal. He was taken to Richmond and died the next day but not before designating certain personal belongings to be given to different people. He requested that his golden spurs to be given to Mrs. R.E. Lee who was present to be relayed to her husband. He designated that his sword be given to his young son. Stuart finally said that he knew he had just minutes to live and felt that God’s will had been done and then he died. Jeb was 31 years old.

He is buried in a vault in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia. His funeral was attended by CSA President Jefferson Davis among many other CSA luminaries. It is acknowledged that Stuart was one of the greatest cavalry officers in American history.



This date in history February 8




1777    On August 12, 1739 Timothy Bigelow is born in Worchester, Massachusetts. After helping remove some of the dead Patriot soldiers from the field after the battle of Lexington, he joined the Continental Army. He is one of two majors with General Benedict Arnold on that ghastly march from Maine to Quebec, Canada. Many Continental soldiers died of starvation and exposure during this ordeal. The attack on Quebec was not successful and Bigelow was captured and was imprisoned by the British from December 1775 to August 1776 and then released. After returning to the Continental Army he was promoted to the rank of Colonel on this date. Bigelow was a dedicated and very efficient soldier. He was present at some of the most important battles in United States history. He was there at the Battle of Saratoga, a Patriot victory that persuaded France to come to our aid, the Battle of Monmouth, and most of all he was with the Continental Army at the battle of Yorktown where the entire army under British General Charles Cornwallis surrendered. After the war Bigelow went back home to Worchester and resumed his profession as a blacksmith. He fell into financial ruin and was jailed for failure to repay his debts. He died in prison on March 31, 1790. He left a wife and five children. What the hell can you say about this outrage?



1587    In 1542 Mary is six days old when her father James V, the King of Scotland dies making little Mary the ruling Monarch of Scotland. After reaching an appropriate age Mary is sent to be raised in France. She ends up marrying the dauphin (apparent heir to the French throne) and he eventually becomes King Francis II. Francis died the year after becoming King and Mary returns to Scotland to assume her position as the ruling monarch, Mary Queen of Scots. Mary marries her cousin Lord Darnley but has a lover in Lord Bothwell. Lord Darnley is killed in a mysterious explosion and three months later Mary marries Lord Bothwell. Well, the Scottish nobles call bullshit on that action and accuse Mary and Bothwell of assassinating Lord Darnley to get him out of the way and call for Mary to step down. Mary refuses and civil war breaks out with the army that is loyal to Mary against an army raised by the Scottish nobles. Mary’s army has the crap kicked out it and Mary has no choice but to flee the country. She goes to England seeking refuge with her cousin Queen Elizabeth I. Mary’s son James becomes the King of Scotland as James VI. Elizabeth welcomes Mary and offers refuge. Later on it was discovered that Mary had conspired with the French to assassinate Elizabeth so Mary can rise to the throne of England. Queen Elizabeth is not pleased and in 1568 sends Mary to Fotheringay Castle for imprisonment. She stays imprisoned for 19 years and on this date, Mary Queen of Scots has a date with the ever present big guy with a big axe and a black hood. Mary went to meet her maker in two pieces. Mary’s son James calmly accepts his mother’s execution and cools his heels waiting for Elizabeth to expire and sure enough, in 1603 Elizabeth passes away and James VI of Scotland becomes the King of Scotland, Ireland and the King of England and is titled James I. This is the first time all three countries were under one rule and the phrase “Great Britain” came into being.



1887    On this date President Grover Cleveland signs the Dawes Severalty Act. As incredible as it sounds, Senator Lauren Dawes of Massachusetts formulates a plan to divide the Indian’s reservations into domestic plots with Indian males with families would get 160 acres, single males 80 acres and boys 40 acres. The women were not eligible for any lands at all. After all of this took place, what land that would be left over would be sold to the Anglos. The so called “friends of the Indians” endorsed this project as the best way to assimilate the Indians into the Anglo society in spite of the fact that the Indians lost ownership of 86 million acres or 63 % of their lands. The “friends of the Indians” were the first in line when the excess lands came up for sale. They weren’t “friends” they were just lusting after Indian lands. The Dawes Severalty Act remained in place for 40 years and then in 1934 the Wheeler-Howard Act became law and the Dawes Act was repudiated. The Wheeler-Howard Act stated that the Indian tribes would be allowed to revert back to a central type government that they had been in the past. But much damage had already been done. We honkies are not such hot shit, are we? After all, we were the very first “illegal aliens” to step foot on the Continent to stay (the Vikings were first but they did not stay) and drive the Natives almost into extinction with disease, cheating, betrayal and mass murder. It is estimated that there were 26 million Indians on the lands that became the continental United States when Columbus arrived in the Bahamas. After the last US military engagement with the Indians at Wounded Knee Creek, South Dakota in the 1880’s, there were 750,000. What is wrong with this picture?



1692    Previously the good Reverend Samuel Parris had purchased two slaves in the Bahamas and brought them back to his home in Salem, Massachusetts. The two teenaged girls living in his house were his niece Abigail Williams and his daughter Betty. The girls were beginning to act a little weird so the Reverend took them to see a doctor. On this date the doctor diagnosed the girls as being under the influence of an “evil spirit.” Well, the Reverend immediately suspected his slaves and being the culprits so he takes his slaves, Tituba and John Indian aside and administers a severe beating to them both trying to get them to confess to being witches/warlocks. Neither one of them confessed. One of the neighbors suggested making a cake with the girls’ urine and fed it to the dog. The logic was if the dog began acting strangely, then the girls were under the influence of a witch. Fortunately for Fido, that idea was scrapped. But the girls kept having what appeared to be fits and convulsions and said that they had seen Tituba in their hallucinations. Then other girls that had visited Abigail and Betty began having fits and convulsions. This set off the well documented panic in the fear of witches in the town of Salem. Soon everyone was pointing fingers at others with which they had a grievance against. On February 29 an arrest warrant was issued for three other women as being witches and the panic was in high gear. In the summer of 1692 the first of the Salem witch trials began with Sarah Good, Rebecca Nurse, Susannah Martin, Elizabeth Howe and Sarah Wildes. All were convicted and sentenced to hang on July 23. While these women were on the gallows all but one forgave those that convicted them. The one woman said to the executioner Nicholas Noyes who read them the order of execution for being witches “You are a liar. I am no more a witch that you are a wizard and if you take my life, God will give you blood to drink.” Nicholas Noyes died a few years later bleeding from the mouth. Eventually the credibility of the accusers went away and the good people of Salem came to their senses, but not before hanging 19 and imprisoning over 100 and the Governor stepping in and putting a stop to it. The most important family in Salem was the Proctor family. The powers that be chose to hang John Proctor as a witch but spared his wife because she was pregnant. People are fools at times, in fact, most of the time.



Born today:



1820    US General William Tecumseh Sherman. He said “If I had my choice I would kill all of the reporters but we would be getting reports from hell before breakfast.” Believe it or not the US General that laid waste to Georgia and South Carolina became the President of LSU.



1828   French writer Jules Verne. He said “Whatever one man can conceive another man can achieve.” Jules was one of the first authors to write about space travel.



1884    English racer Lord Brabazon. He said “If you cannot say what you want to say in twenty minutes you ought to go home and write a book.” Lord Brabazon was not known for his patience.



1888    US movie director Elbert “King” Vidor. He said “Marriage isn’t a word...it is a sentence.” It is close to life without parole.



1931    US actor James Dean. He said “Dream as if you will live forever, live as if you will die today.” James was a rising star in the movies when he was killed in a car wreck at the age of 24. He only made three movies, Giant, East of Eden and Rebel Without a Cause, but he is a legend to this day.





1941   US actor Nick Nolte. When speaking about Barbra Streisand he said “She is a ball-buster...protect me from her.” Hey Nick, there are million of them out there… just joking.



Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow



Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow