Musings and History

Quote of the day:
“My next door neighbor keeps bragging about the sex he and his wife keeps having like I haven't been watching.”
                                                     Brian Kiley

Trivia question of the day:
Who played Adam in the TV series Bonanza? Answer at the end of the blog.

                               This Date in History   January 8

1877 On this date the mighty Cheyenne warrior Crazy Horse fought his last battle. A year earlier Crazy Horse and his Sioux counterpart Sitting Bull had gathered an army of about 2,000 warriors and their families in Montana in the Coulee of the Greasy Grass in as it was called by the Indians but known to us honkies as Little Big Horn. The US 7th Cavalry led by Lt. Col. George A. Custer had struck at the encampment with just 227 men all of whom were massacred and mutilated. The American public demanded revenge for this and the US army sent out General Nelson Miles to find and punish the Indians. Sitting Bull escaped with his tribe into Canada where they stayed for four years, but Miles was able to track down Crazy Horse and his tribe. On this day, Miles and his cavalry encounter Crazy Horse. The Cheyenne opened with withering rifle fire and the US Cavalry responded with wagon mounted cannon fire that drove the Indians out of their warm tepees out into a blizzard. Under cover of the blizzard, the women and children escaped the fusillade followed soon by the warriors. Even though Crazy Horse escaped defeat and capture then, he realized how outgunned he and his braves were and in May took his tribe to Fort Robinson in the Nebraska territory and surrendered. About 5 months later Crazy Horse got into an argument with a guard and was bayoneted and killed, thus died one of the bravest hearts to ever beat. There is a gigantic statue of Crazy Horse being erected in Black Hills of the Dakotas.

1815 A few days earlier French pirate Jean Lafitte’s crewmen spotted a British Army unit closing in on New Orleans from the east and got word to the US commander in that area, General Andrew Jackson. Jackson gathered as many armed men that he could, and that included Jean Lafitte’s crewmen. Jackson chose to dig in at the Rodriguez Canal and await the British attack. The British did not disappoint and began an attack led by British Colonel Packenham. Keep in mind that Jackson’s troops included many backwoodsmen that happened to be very skilled sharpshooter. When the British got within range the American troops accompanied by French pirates open up a withering hailstorm of rifle and artillery fire. The Battle of New Orleans was over in a matter of minutes with the British suffering 2,000 killed, including Packenham, and many wounded. Jackson’s troops suffered 8 killed and 6 wounded. This battle was fought unnecessarily because a truce had been signed 10 days before but Jackson and the British had not received the word in that area. As a reward for fighting with Jackson, Jean Lafitte and his three (some say five) pirate ships would be allowed to make their home base in one of the bayous in southwest Louisiana, probably Bayou Lafourche, under the stipulation that he would never again attack an American vessel. For some reason, one of Lafitte’s crews spots a fat ship out in the Gulf of Mexico and decided to capture it. They sail out of their bayou and when they get close enough they see it is an American vessel but chose to capture it anyway. When word got back to Lafitte he hanged the offending crewmen and sailed his ships out of Bayou Lafourche and was never seen or heard from again. The part of this tale about Lafitte fighting with Jackson is documented. The rest of the story is part speculation and part legend but it is an interesting tale none the less.

1821 Future CSA General James Longstreet is born on a plantation near Edgefield, South Carolina. He was raised in Georgia and attended West Point where he graduated in 1842 54th in a class of 62. One of his best friends was Ulysses Grant and he was Grant’s best man at his 1848 wedding to Julia Dent. Longstreet fought in the Mexican War and was wounded at the Battle of Chapultepec. At the outbreak of the Civil War he resigned his commission in the United States Army and signed on with the Confederacy and given the rank of Brigadier General. Longstreet fought at the Battle of 1st Manassas and within a year he was a commander of one of Lee’s three corps. After the death of “Stonewall” Jackson at Chancellorsville Longstreet was regarded as the most effective of Lee’s corps commanders. Longstreet stayed with Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia for all of the war with an exception of a short stay while trying to aid the inept CSA General Braxton Bragg near Chattanooga. He was with Lee at the surrender at Appomattox Court House. After the war he was selected as the Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire which he served with great aplomb. Then he committed what his wartime buddies considered an unpardonable sin and that was he joined the Republican Party. His greatest detractor during this time was former CSA General Jubal Early who called him a traitor especially when Longstreet attributed the loss of the Battle of Gettysburg as being the fault of General Lee. It was reported that at the 40th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, Longstreet was not invited to attend the ceremony by his Confederate brethren because of his belonging to the Republican Party. Then during the opening ceremonies, General Longstreet came out of nowhere in his still fitting Confederate uniform, and ramrod straight walked to the front of the podium amid torrents of rebel yells and oceans of tears. He died the next year and is buried In Gainesville, Georgia. By the way, General Jubal Early died unreconstructed, meaning he was still loyal to the Confederacy. I have a friend that is also unreconstructed and I suppose he will remain that way for the remainder of his days. He lives in North Carolina.

Born today:

1601 Spanish philosopher Baltasar Gracian. He said “Always leave something to wish for, otherwise you will be miserable with your very happiness.” Hey Baltasar, I ain’t sure that being constantly unfulfilled is the avenue to Nirvana.

1821 English writer Storm Jameson. She said “I want to be thankful to God for what I have received, but even more grateful for what I have not received.” Me too.

1913 US writer Horace Smith. He said “Courage is the fear of being thought a coward.” Hey Horace, George Patton said courage is overcoming fear.

Died today:

1642 Italian scientist Galileo Galilei. He said “It is surely harmful to souls to make it heresy to believe what has been proved.” This star in the catalog of geniuses is talking about he and another genius name Copernicus proving that the earth orbited the sun rather that vice versa. Copernicus got away with it but Galileo, living in Catholic Church dominated Italy, had to recant what he had found because that ain’t what the Pope believed. The church threatened to torture Galileo but because of his fame, age and ill health, they gave him house arrest instead hoping he would be unable to tell others what he had found out about the solar system with a telescope.  Galileo’s theory got out anyway but he died while under house arrest. This is why we CANNOT mix religion and science.

Answer to the trivia question:
Adam Cartwright was played by Pernell Roberts.

         Thanks for listening   I can hardly wait until tomorrow