Friday

Good morning,

Quote of the day:

“What is a friend? A single soul living in two bodies.”

Aristotle

A friend and I went to see American Sniper this past Tuesday. I is a bio of the most prolific sniper in American military history. He was a Texan, human with all the frailties...and most of all a Patriot. I was touched.

A while back ago a skeleton was uncovered near Leicester, England. The method of the burial indicated that it could be a person of royalty and a carbon 14 test showed that the skeleton was the right age to be Richard III, King of England. Richard was killed in combat near the burial site. That's right folks, he was that last monarch to lead an army in combat. A DNA specimen was gathered from the skeleton and compared with known blood kin descendant. Lo and behold the skeleton was indeed that of Richard III. Richard III, the king of England was killed at the Battle of Bosworth Field. Can you imagine Obama leading a SEAL team on a search and destroy mission?

A few days ago a pelvic bone fragment was uncovered near Winchester, England that was thought to be that of King Alfred the Great. A carbon 14 test proved that the bone fragment was indeed old enough to be that of Alfred. Alfred the Great died in 899 after years of bloody warfare fighting the ferocious invading Vikings to a standstill. The cause of Alfred's death is unknown but he suffered from some malady for years before his death. His chronicler described in detail the symptoms and today's diagnosis would indicate Crohn's disease. There is very little chance that a DNA sample could be used to confirm that the bone was indeed from Alfred because there is no known and documented blood kin relative to use as a comparison. Let us just remember that King Alfred was the only king of England to have been called “the Great”.

This Date in History January 23

1865 On this date CSA General John Bell Hood is relieved of command of the CSA Army of Tennessee thus ending a sad chapter in the history of the United States. Hood had requested to be relieved a couple of weeks earlier. John Bell Hood was born in Kentucky and graduated from West Point in 1853. As with most of his class, he served in the western theater until hostilities broke out at the start of the Civil War. Hood resigned his commission and offered his services to the famous Texas 4^th Infantry. His regiment was sent to serve with CSA General Robert E. Lee and the equally famous Army of Northern Virginia. Hood served with distinction in the Peninsular Campaign and especially in the Battle of the Seven Days in 1862. Hood aggressive nature did not go unnoticed and he was eventually given command of a division. There is little question that his aggressive counter-attack at the Battle of Antietam saved General Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia from total annihilation. His next major assignment came at the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg in June of 1863 when he was ordered to attack the left flank of the Union lines on a hill known as Little Round Top. He had under his command was the 4^th and 5^th Texas, the 5^th Alabama and a number of other regiments totaling about 2,500 men. He was attacking the 20^th Maine numbering about 300. At the onset of the battle Hood was severely wounded and lost the use of an arm as a result. Hood’s troops were not successful in turning the flank of the Union army on Little Round Top only because of the stubbornness of the 20^th Maine and the resolve of their commander Colonel Joshua L. Chamberlain. Hood spent quite a bit of time recuperating from this severe wound. Hood resumed his duties with the CSA Army of Tennessee and fought at the bloody Battle of Chickamauga where he was again severely wounded which resulted in the loss of a leg. When US General William T. Sherman began his attack across the state of Georgia beginning near Chattanooga, Tennessee and aimed at Atlanta and the port of Savannah, CSA General Joseph Johnston was in command of the CSA Army of Tennessee. Johnston knew he was out manned and outgunned and chose to use defensive strategy by digging in, fight and retreat. The closer Sherman got to Atlanta, the more nervous CSA President Jefferson Davis became. Finally Davis decided that the CSA needed a more aggressive commander of the Army of Tennessee and relieved Johnston and named Hood as his replacement. Hood assumed command and immediately struck hard at Sherman’s army in three different futile and costly attacks in and around Atlanta. Eventually Hood pulled his army out of Atlanta, moved west and headed north back toward Chattanooga hoping that Sherman would follow to protect his supply line but it didn’t happen that way. Hood finally moved the Army of Tennessee within striking distance of Sherman’s vital supply line near Nashville, Tennessee. Another Union army was dug-in and waiting but Hood flung what was left of his army at the Union fortifications in two unsuccessful and even more costly attacks. At the end of these two battles the CSA Army of Tennessee ceased to exist as a viable fighting force. When Hood took command in July of 1864, the CSA Army of Tennessee had 64,000 troops, when he was relieved on this day there was 18,000. War is hell.

1968 The United States intelligence gathering vessel USS Pueblo is on patrol 16 miles off the coast of North Korea when a North Korean gunboat pulls along side the Pueblo and orders it to stop. The commander of the lightly armed Pueblo, Captain Lloyd Bucher, tries to run away but the gunship opens fire killing a crewman and wounding Bucher. Bucher surrenders and the ship is ordered to the North Korean port of Wonsan. The crew of 84 is taken off the ship and sent to the capitol of Pyongyang where they are imprisoned. US President Lyndon Johnson demanded the release of the crewman stating that the ship was in international waters when attacked and captured. The North Koreans refused stating that the ship was well within the North Korean limit of 12 miles. Johnson had a much larger problem in the small Oriental country of Vietnam and did not want to risk having to fight another military engagement so he decided to let our guys rot in that North Korean prison and try to resolve the problem diplomatically. The North Koreans wanted Captain Bucher and the crew to make a public statement avowing that they were indeed intentionally spying in North Korean waters and were deeply sorry for this breach in the sovereignty of North Korea. When interviewed the American sailors made sarcastic remarks and stuck up their middle finger, a gesture the North Koreans did not understand. Finally the North Koreans caught on and beat those guys for a week and threatened further torture if their demands were not met. Not only that, they demanded that the US State Department to issue a similar statement. The US government finally conceded and issued a public apology and the crew was released. It would not do for me to be in a position of power when that sort of atrocity is made on our guys by those vermin in North Korea. I can assure you that part of the Orient would glow in the dark to this day.

1870 This is another incidence of the American cavalry out of control. Earlier a Montana cattle rancher named Malcolm Clarke had accused a Blackfoot sub-chief name Owl Child of stealing his horses and had savagely whipped him in public. As you might expect, Owl Child returned with a huge group of his closest friends and capped Clarke and his son in the most horrible of fashions and then fled north to join up with a group of rebel warriors led by another Blackfoot named Mountain Chief. The public outcry became so loud that the military Indian agent in that area notified Colonel Eugene Baker to gather up some troops and cavalrymen and seek out Owl Child and bring him in. The only problem here is that Colonel Baker is heavy into the sauce and stays in the bag most of the time. Anyway, the force led by Baker set out looking for Owl Child. Finally, some of Baker’s Indian scouts find an Indian encampment. They return and tell Baker what they had found but they could tell by the markings on the teepees that they were not of the tribe that Owl Child belonged to, that they were a peaceful group of Blackfeet. Baker absorbed this information along with another quart of whiskey and at dusk he says “I don’t care, they are still Indians” and orders his troops to surround the village and open fire and burn anything combustible including their meager food supply. The troopers surround the encampment and did indeed open fire and burned all that would burn. The Indians have no idea what the hell is going on and are massacred. The total killed was 39 men, 60 women and 55 children. Baker allowed the capture of a few of them but when he found out that some of them have smallpox, a gift from the damned Europeans, and ordered them released out onto the prairie in a Montana winter with no food. When word of this atrocity reaches the east there is a loud outcry and demands are made to correct this situation. President Ulysses Grant ordered that all Indian agents must be civilians from now on. But the troopers and Colonel Baker were never brought to justice. No wonder Crazy Horse, Dull Knife, Red Cloud, Sitting Bull and the others were so vicious and cruel in their retribution. What goes around…......

1556 In the middle of the afternoon the ground around the Chinese city of Shannxi begins to heave and shake. It is the beginning of the most deadly earthquake in recorded history. The city is a conglomeration of small shacks and huts that are heated by charcoal braziers that also serve as a stove. The aftershocks continue until the following morning triggering huge crevasses that open and close crushing thousands of people along with miles long landslides not to mention the fires. After all was said and done there were an estimated 830,000 deaths. I am going to repeat this: 830,000 deaths. The second largest disaster in history was the tsunami of 2004 in the Indian Ocean. There were only 240,000 deaths there. Repeat: 240,000 deaths.

Born today:

1737 US Super Patriot John Hancock. He said “A chip on the shoulder is too much baggage to carry around all of your life.” I know what will cure that infliction...age or a severe ass-kicking.

Died today:

1875 English clergyman Charles Kingsley. He said “Young blood must have its course, lad, and every dog its day.” I had often wondered where that adage came from.

1893 US clergyman Phillips Brooks. He said “Be such a man and live such a life, that if every man were such as you, and lived a life such as your, the earth would be a paradise.” Phillips, you failed to mention women...Paradise Lost....just joking.

1931 Russian dancer Anna Pavlova. When on her death bed and seconds from dying she said “Get my swan costume ready.” An artist to the end.

Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow