Musings
and History
Quote
of the day:
“I've
learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on
both hands; you need to be able to throw something back.”
Maya
Angelou
On
Pensacola Beach there is a cross that has been erected on the highest
sand dune (about 15 feet). The legend is that one of the Spanish
explorers (I presume to be Tristan De Luna or one of his fleet) was
sailing west just off shore. It was Easter Sunday in the approximate
year of 1559. The Catholic priest aboard (all Spanish ships had a
priest aboard, especially the explorers) felt the need to hold an
Easter Mass service so all the ships hove to and anchored. Row boats
shuttled the sailors ashore to witness the service. The priest
crawled up to the top of this particular dune and delivered Easter
Mass service to the amassed sailors. I don’t know if it is true or
not but there is no question that Spanish explorers were in this area
in this time frame. Wrecks of their supply ships have been found and
explored not to mention the foundations of buildings built in an
attempt to colonize Pensacola. They lasted about three years but
their stay was cut short when a hurricane destroyed a fleet of supply
ships that had sailed up from Vera Cruz, Mexico.
On
this date in 1941 the Japanese Admiralty gave Admiral Yamamota the
go-ahead for planning an airborne attack on the American Pacific
Fleet anchored at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. I think we all agree that
this was a terrible error in judgment by the Japanese.
This
Date in History November 3
1816
Jubal Anderson Early was born in 1816 in Franklin County,
Virginia. Little is known of little Jubal’s early life but it is
known that he entered the United States Military Academy at West
Point in 1833. He graduated four years later ranked 11th
in a class of 50. He participated in the Seminole War and resigned
in 1838 and began a law practice. He was prosecutor for Franklin and
Floyd counties in Virginia but his law practice was interrupted by
the Mexican-American war of 1846-1848. Early was a Whig and opposed
to secession but changed his mind when Lincoln called for 75,000
soldiers to begin suppressing the rebellion and offered his services
to the Confederacy. He was given the rank of Colonel in the Virginia
Militia and sent to Lynchburg, Virginia to begin recruiting. He was
able to raise three regiments and commanded one of them, the 24th
Infantry.
He commanded a regiment at the Battle of 1st
Manassas and was impressive to his commander, CSA General P.T.G.
Beauregard who saw fit to promote him to Brigadier General. He was
present at nearly all of the important battles in the eastern
theatre. He was at the battles of The Seven Days, 2nd
Manassas, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville and Gettysburg
plus several major skirmishes in the Shenandoah Valley. Jubal was
known to CSA General Robert E. Lee as “my bad old man” because of
Jubal’s irascible attitude and quick temper especially form anyone
of less rank. But he was a superb combat organizer, planner and
tactician. During the Battle of Gettysburg he was assigned the task
of capturing York, Pennsylvania and eventually attacking the US
forces at Gettysburg from the northeast. He indeed did capture York
but was unable to launch a successful attack and ended up covering
the rear of CSA General Lee’s retreat. Early was wounded in 1862
at the Battle of Williamsburg while personally leading an infantry
charge against preposterous odds. He convalesced in Rocky Mount,
Virginia and returned to action two months later only this time he
would be commanded by CSA General Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson
just in time for the Battle of Malvern Hill. This time Early did not
shine as usual. His navigation was faulty and he and his division
got lost in thick woods and was late arriving at the battle. In
spite of this he excelled at the Battles of Spotsylvania Court house
and The Wilderness and was promoted to Major General. It was his
actions in the Shenandoah Valley that he made his mark. During the
siege of Petersburg, Lee sent Early and an army of 14,000 to patrol
the Valley and to prevent the Yankees from capturing it. The
Shenandoah was where the majority of the food for the CSA Army of
Northern Virginia came from. Early was also tasked with threatening
Washington so as to draw some troops away from Petersburg. On his
way to Washington he defeated several Union armies. His tactics
worked and US General U.S. Grant sent troops to counter Early but it
was not enough to weaken the US position around Petersburg. Grant
sent US General Philip Sheridan and 40,000 troops to neutralize
Early. Early lost two major battles against Sheridan but launched a
ferocious surprise attack at Cedar Creek and drove those Yankees back
several miles. It was only by Sheridan’s personal direction that
the Yankees were able to counterattack and win the battle. When the
Army of Northern Virginia surrendered in 1865, Jubal rode to Texas on
horseback trying to find any units still fighting. From there he
went to Mexico then to Cuba and finally sailed to Canada and settled
in Toronto. He wrote his memoirs while there. He named it “The
Memoirs of the Last Year of a War for Independence, the Confederate
States of America.” After US President Andrew Johnson declared a
general amnesty in 1869, Early returned to Virginia and resumed his
law practice. After falling down a flight of stairs, Early died at
the age of 77. He remained unreconstructed (loyal to the Confederate
cause) to the day he died. He is buried in the Spring Hill Cemetery
in Lynchburg, Virginia. Here is a quote about Jubal A. Early:
“Honest
and outspoken, honorable and uncompromising, Jubal A. Early
epitomized much that was the Southern Confederacy. His self-reliance,
courage, sagacity, and devotion to the cause brought confidence then
just as it inspires reverence now.”
—James
I. Robertson, Jr., Alumni
Distinguished Professor of History, Virginia Tech
I have a read several
books by Mr. Robertson. He is considered an expert on the Civil War.
1984
Serial killer rapist Bobby Joe Long is arrested in Tampa, Florida.
His capture was engineered by the bravery and courage of his last
victim, Lisa McVey. Lisa was riding home from school on her bicycle
when she was attacked and captured by Long. After Long forced her
into his car, Lisa began taking mental notes about what she could see
in the car. She also mentally timed the length of the ride when Long
stopped at an ATM. He took her to a motel room and ravaged her for
most of the day but agreed not to kill her. After releasing her,
Lisa went to the police and told them about what she had observed in
the car the police had a good idea what model and year the car was.
And when she told them about the length of time it took to get to the
ATM, the police had a radius to search. In that time ATM’s were
not that plentiful and the police narrowed the possible ATM’s to a
very few. And when Lisa told them the approximate time it took to
get to the motel, the rest was easy. Bobby Joe went to meet his
maker with puncture marks in his arms.
1941
The Japanese War Ministry led by General Tojo met and set the
final day for the attack on the United States Naval installations in
Hawaii. There was little doubt that war was coming because the
Japanese had already made preparations for the attack on the
Philippines and The United States knew it. The Philippines was an
American protectorate at the time. They decided it would be December
5 but the Japanese fleet was delayed by weather and the attack
materialized on the 7th.
A date that will live in infamy.
Thanks
for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow
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