•  Musings and History


    Quote of the day:

    “Once a newspaper touches a story, the facts are lost forever, even to the protagonists.”

                                                              Norman Mailer


    Trivia question of the day:

    In the United States has a cabinet member been arrested, tried, convicted and imprisoned, if so who? Answer at the end of the blog.

                             This Date In History February 19


    1777 On this date The United States Congress releases a promotion list to Major General and they were Thomas Mifflin, Andrew St. Clair, William Alexander, Adam Stephen and Benjamin Lincoln. Conspicuous in his absence was Brigadier General Benedict Arnold. It was Benedict Arnold that was instrumental in the United States successes at the Battles of Ticonderoga and Saratoga; he was also very skillful in saving all of his command in their retreat from Montreal. But on this particular promotion list he was absent and a few of his juniors were promoted ahead of him. Arnold immediately submitted his resignation much to the chagrin of General George Washington. In those days the US Congress felt it necessary to spread the General officer promotions equally among the states so as to keep some kind of equality. This meant that they did not promote due to merit and leadership, they promoted along political lines. I cannot think of worse criteria for promotion and neither could George Washington. Washington raised hell with Congress to no avail but he was able to talk Benedict Arnold out of his resignation but unbeknownst to Washington, the damage had been done. Arnold had his feelings hurt and to get back at the United States, he offered West Point, New York to the British for 20,000 pounds sterling. Had the British been able to take control of the armaments at West Point, they could have isolated New England from the rest of the country; a serious tactical situation would have arisen for the US. Fortunately, Arnold’s accomplice John Andre’ was captured with the details of the deal in his boot. When Arnold found out about the capture of Andre, he fled to an English warship and asked for asylum. He was accepted and spent the rest of the war fighting against his friends and compatriots as a British Major General. After the war he went to London where he died destitute in 1801. What an ignominious end to a great military leader that got his feeling hurt.


    1847 Back in August of 1846 a wagon train of 86 people arrived at Fort Bridger, Wyoming from Springfield, Illinois headed for California. The unofficial leader of the wagon train was George Donner. For some reason the wagon train chose to go on the recently blazed train known as the Hastings Cutoff rather than the tried and true California Trail blazed by Jim Bridger. They believed the new trail was shorter and would save time. The trail was a bit shorter but the terrain was much rougher and cost them time instead. In October the wagon train was caught on top of the Sierra Nevadas and the snows came locking them in. It was on this date that a rescue party from California reached what was left of the survivors. We all know how they survived.


    1894 Sixteen years before one of the meanest gunfighters on record is caught, tried and convicted of murder and was given life in a Texas prison. John Wesley Hardin killed his first man at the age of 15 and the trail of bodies continued from then on. Strangely, it was in a gunfight where the other man fired the first shot and missed and Hardin fired and did not miss but he was arrested for murder. Hardin escaped from prison and headed for Abilene where his friend Wild Bill Hickock was sheriff. Wild Bill accepted Hardin and allowed him to stay over for a few days. In the hotel room where he was staying, there was a loud snoring man in the next room. Hardin pulled out his trusty .44 and shot through the wall killing the noisemaker. Even Hardin knew that Wild Bill would not sit still for that and Hardin hit the road. He ended up on a passenger train stopped in Pensacola, Florida when a Texas Ranger named John Armstrong captured Hardin and took him back to Texas to do his prison time. That’s right folks, I said a Texas Ranger who had no authority in Florida who took Hardin back to justice. Anyway, Hardin goes to prison, studies law and indeed becomes a lawyer. On this date after sixteen years he was given a pardon and set up a law practice in a small town in Texas but that was too boring so he hit the road. He ended up in El Paso and was recognized by a relative of someone he had killed. The relative walked up behind Hardin standing at a bar and shot him in the back of the head point blank. The sheriff of El Paso did not even arrest the relative; they did not want Hardin’s type in town anyway.


    1945 On this date the United States Navy/Marines begins Operation Detachment. This operation was to capture the Japanese Island of Iwo Jima. This island was needed to eliminate the Japanese from notifying mainland Japan of US air strikes coming from Guam. It was also needed for the returning bombers to have a place to land for fuel if needed and if they were damaged. The Japanese commander chosen to defend Iwo Jima was General Kuribayashi one of Japan’s best commanders and during the upcoming battle he proved it. Japan realized the importance of this island. He carved defenses both above and below the ground. He summoned the finest mining engineers in Japan to dig the underground emplacements and personally oversaw the construction of those above ground emplacements. I think everyone knows what dimension of the slaughter of human beings occurred after the US Marines landed. The Japanese were well lead, well spirited and well armed. Kuribayashi had prepared well and his defenses were formidable and exacted a terrible price from the US Marines. Even though the US Navy fighters controlled the skies over Iwo Jima and the Japanese had no answer for the thunderous and continuous naval bombardment, the final question was as to who had the strongest will, Kuribayashi’s army or the United States Marines. It was the Marines that prevailed virtually on will power alone. It helped a lot when the United States flag was raised on the tallest peak on the island, a dormant volcano name Mount Suribachi which was seen be all the Marines on the island and by the support ships at anchor. For some reason the Secretary of the Navy, James Forestal was aboard one of the ships at anchor and upon seeing the flag rising he said “This will ensure the existence of the United States Marines for the next 500 years.” A loud cheer went up when the flag was raised and a photo was taken of the raising that is to this day the symbol of the spirit of the US Marines. General Kuribayshi’s showed some class when he sent his last message to Tokyo read “Our munitions have been destroyed, we have not eaten nor drank for five days, but out spirit is good, we will mount a final attack tonight. May Japan exist for a thousands years.” Then it was all over except for mopping up. This struggle went down in history as one of the most savage battles ever fought and is a milestone in the history of the United States Marine Corps.


    Born today:


    1924 One of my favorite movie stars Lee Marvin. He said “Ah stardom! You work hard and end up having a star on a sidewalk in Hollywood. You go by the next day and there is a pile of dog shit on it. That says it all, baby”.


    Answer to the trivia question:

    The answer is yes. Albert Fall was the Secretary of the Interior during the Warren G. Harding administration. Three known oil fields in California and Wyoming were set aside to be used by the US Navy during time of war. For a bribe of about $385,000 he allowed 2 oil companies to drill on one of them named the Teapot Dome in Wyoming. He did a year in the joint.


                               Thanks for listening   I can hardly wait until tomorrow