Friday

                      Musings and History

Quote of the day:

“Of all the actresses in show business, I think Liza Minelli’s face should win in the beagle category.”

                                     John Simon, film critic

It is Inauguration Day for the 45th President of the United States Donald Trump.  There is a change taking place good, bad or indifferent, and this is the first time in over 50 years when a non-politician is President.  The last was Dwight Eisenhower.

I had casual contact with a lady on Facebook whose last name was Ousterodeaux. I asked her for phonetic pronunciation. She sent me a young novel from Ancestors about the root of that name. It originally was Spanish and was spelled Osterdo and meant “farm fields” or something similar. When her ancestors came to Louisiana it was under the control of the French and so they spelled it the French way. I told her that Campbell meant “a redneck from South Carolina” and that we are of Scottish stock and have the scars to prove it. Actually the translation of Campbell in Scottish is Cambuell meaning “crooked mouth”. The name Cameron comes from Camsron meaning “crooked nose.” Don’t ask.

Again up in the “Queen City” Charlotte, NC a man wielding a knife tried to rob a convenience store. The clerk produced a knife of his own except his was a Samurai sword. He started hacking on the thief who chose the better part of valor and surrendered.

This Date in History January 20

1863 The dispirited US Army of the Potomac was still reeling from the terrible massacre of the Battle of Fredericksburg on December 13 where the US had 13,000 casualties and the CSA Army of Northern Virginia suffered only 5,000.The commanders at the Battle of Fredericksburg was US General Ambrose Burnside and CSA General Robert E. Lee. Burnside decided that the best way to re-install the morale of his army was to go on the offensive as soon as possible. After refitting and rearming, Burnside decided that the best course of action was to quickly swing around the left flank of Lee’s army. It had not rained for the whole month of January so Burnside’s army departed on dry roads but a sprinkle of rain began on the first day, then it became a deluge that lasted for four days. Needless to say, the quick movement of this Army was lost in the quagmires that once were dry roads. Any surprise of attack also was lost when this huge army bogged down to a crawl. At its worst the Army of the Potomac was moving at a speed of 1 ½ miles per day. To make things worse, Many Confederate troops moved in and began shouting “Burnside is stuck in the mud” from a distance. Due to conflicting orders an entire Corp crossed in front of another entire Corp churning whatever passable roads that might have been there into a slippery stew. Burnside then did the honorable thing hoping to cheer up the men; he brought up barrels of whiskey and dished it out. I don’t need to tell y'all what happened next. That’s right, Burnsides ended up with literally hundreds of drunken US soldiers fighting, sometimes regiment against regiment wallowing around in the mud. Mercifully, Burnside called an end to this attack forever known as the “Mud March”. This debacle was so embarrassing to Lincoln that Burnside was relieved three days later.

1777 Earlier a troop of 500 British soldiers had captured Van Newt’s mill near Millstone, New Jersey and had set about stealing all the wheat flour and corn meal they could carry along with many head of cattle that they had also stolen on the way to the mill all to feed the British troops at New Brunswick. General George Washington divided his forces to harass the British between New Brunswick and Amboy, New Jersey. Patriot Brigadier General Philemon Dickenson leading 400 “raw” New Jersey militia and 50 Pennsylvania riflemen commanded by Captain Robert Durkee went to put a stop to this. They had a problem in that the British had set up an array of cannon guarding the bridge across Millstone River leading to the mill. The Patriots did the unexpected and waded across the icy waters and attacked the British from an unexpected direction and routed those redcoats. General Dickenson wrote a report to General Washington about this action and said “we captured 49 British soldiers, 107 horses, 49 wagons, 114 cattle, 70 sheep and 40 barrels of flour.” It was reported later that the British were seen loading 25 to 30 wounded soldiers onto wagons. The Patriots lost 5 men. What a great victory for our ancestors.

1974 Rae Carruth is born on this date in Sacramento, California. Some people may know who this man is and others will not so I will tell you. Carruth was a gifted athlete as a wide receiver in football. He played four years at the University of Colorado and was first team All-American his senior year. He was picked by the Carolina Panthers in the 1997 NFL draft and signed a contract for four years for $3.7 million. Carruth was hell on wheels from the git-go. He was on the all-rookie team with 44 catches averaging 12.7 yards per catch. Then something happened to this millionaire. On November 15, 1999 he met his pregnant girlfriend Cherica Adams at a movie house in Charlotte, NC. After the movie Rae and Cherica got into their separate cars and headed for Cherica’s house with Rae in the lead. Along the way a car pulled up beside Cherica and a passenger in other car pumped four shots into Cherica’s car and sped off. Cherica is not killed and called 911 and mentioned that Rae is somehow involved in the shooting. When the paramedics arrived Rae is no where in sight. Cherica’s baby is delivered by emergency caesarian section and survived. Cherica is in critical condition but is rational enough to tell the police that when the other car had pulled along side, Rae had slowed to a crawl forcing her to slow and blocked an avenue of escape and after the shots were fired he sped off also. The shooter was captured and decided to squeal to get a lighter sentence. He said that Rae had contracted the shooting and soon after Rae was arrested for conspiracy. Nine days later Cherica died and Rae’s charges are changed to complicity to commit murder. This dumb-ass Rae had been on his cell phone the whole time telling the shooter where he and Cherica were and his cell phone records proved it. Rae was tried and convicted and sentenced to a minimum of 18 years and 11 months in prison. The reason he ordered the shooting was that he did not want to pay child support. I am without words at this point.

Born today:

1920 Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini. He said “All art is autobiographical. The pearl is the oyster’s autobiography.” What a great thought.

Died today:

1900 English critic John Ruskin. He said “There is hardly anything in this world that a man cannot make worse and sell a little cheaper.” I think I know this man,

1936 British monarch King George V. He said “Never pass up a chance to go to the bathroom.” I know whereof you speak, George.

1962 US writer Robinson Jeffers. He said “The heads of strong old age are beautiful beyond all grace of youth.” Hey Robbie, I have been telling women that all along until I am blue in the face.

1993 Belgium born actress Audrey Hepburn. Audrey had one of the most beautiful faces most people have ever seen and she said “I never thought I would get into pictures with a face like mine.” Audrey, it was my pleasure to have gazed upon your beauty.

                   Thanks for listening   I can hardly wait until tomorrow