This Date In History, The Southern Version

Wednesday, November 4, 2020

Wednesday

Musings and History

Quote of the day:
“There is no doubt that it is around family and the home that all the greatest virtues, the most dominate virtues in human society, are created, strengthened and maintained.”
                                       Winston Churchill
Keep Sir Winston's thought in mind when reading about people committing capitol crimes...or crimes of any kind for that matter.

A while back on the Hallmark channel was a movie starring Willie Nelson and Harry Connick, Jr. There was this exchange. Willie "Do you know what ties a family together? It is not blood, it is not the same last name...it is the memories." Harry "But I have so many bad ones". Willie "You can't do anything about those...but you can about the good ones." Good advice for us all.

A friend got tired the trouble she was having with her Toyota Avalon and traded it for a new Mercedes sedan. Two weeks ago she was in a fender bender and the other driver drove off. A cop was tapping on her window within a couple of minutes. He said that he was two cars back and saw the whole thing and got the tag number of the other car. He directed her to a parking lot a few blocks away to clear the intersection. She pulled in and a new pickup truck pulled in beside her along with the cop. The pickup contained the involved driver and his son. They were both Latinos. The cop went over an chatted with them and watched them drive off. The cops said that in spite of the fact that the father was the driver, could not speak English but his son could, did not have a drivers license because he had no social security number and was an illegal alien with no insurance but he let him go because he was polite and cooperative. Keep this in mind when you given a ticket for going 7 MPH over the speed limit, paying that insurance bill and renewing your driver's license.

On Monday's blog I wrote about a neighbor of a hunter that was offended by him hanging and butchering a deer in his back yard.  On Tuesday a long time friend sent me this notice from a newspaper. It said “To all you hunters that hunt for meat, shame on you. You should go the supermarket where they make the meat and nothing gets hurt.” Keep in mind that these people are out there on the streets driving, voting and worst of all...they are walking around in Walmart with us.

Speaking of the National Security Agency hacking in on the communications of our allies, this is not the first time this has happened. Back in the early 1900's Germany decided to conquer all of Europe and WWI erupted. Germany was not an ally of the United States but neither were they an enemy. Germany felt that they could conquer Europe as long as the United States stayed out of it and indeed the United States refrained from joining the fray until the disclosure of the “Zimmerman memorandum”. In this memorandum a German ambassador named Zimmerman sent a telegraph to the prime minister of Mexico encouraging him to attack the United States. The German government felt that if the United States was busy protecting itself from Mexico they would not join the allies against Germany. The Mexicans wanted no part of this and told the Germans “Not no, but hell no”. This message was intercepted and sent to the United States spy agency of the time. Very soon thereafter, the United States ramped up their munitions and men and entered the war in Europe and Germany was severely beaten down...for a while.

This Date in History November 4

1801 US Patriot William Shippen died in Germantown, Pennsylvania. He was a member of the powerful Shippen family of Philadelphia that could trace their ancestry back to the earliest settlements in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. William went to medical school at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. William and his brother Edward were successful physicians in Philadelphia and were instrumental in the upbringing of their community. William was present at the founding of the Benjamin Franklin Public Academy that eventually became the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) and served as a trustee for 24 years. He also was part and parcel of the founding of the College of New Jersey that became Princeton and served as a trustee there also. Now here is where the fun starts. Edward’s daughter Margaret (Peggy) Shippen flirted heavily with one John Andre and his close friend Benedict Arnold. Peggy chose Benedict Arnold for a husband. Soon thereafter, Andre was captured at a road block and in his boot was a document detailing the surrender of West Point, New York to the British by US General Benedict Arnold for 20,000 pounds Sterling. When Arnold found out that Andre had been captured he and Peggy hightailed it to the British warship H.M.S Vulture for refuge. Arnold was made a commander of a British combat unit and fought against his countrymen for the remainder of the war. Andre was hanged as a spy, as well he should have been. After the surrender of British General Charles Cornwallis at Yorktown, Arnold and Peggy fled to Canada then England. He died in London 1801 in relative obscurity and poverty with Peggy at his side. There are those that believe that Arnold betrayed his country because he got his feeling hurt when a junior officer was promoted ahead of him, but in retrospect I think he needed the money to keep up the “high maintenance” Peggy in the lifestyle that she was accustomed. I have a niece that is “high maintenance” so I know what it means.

1928 The notorious gambler Arnold Rothstein is shot and killed at the Park Central Hotel in Manhattan. Arnold was found at a service entrance of the first floor bleeding heavily. He had been upstairs playing poker with his friends when the shooting occurred. One of the players was “Hump” McManus. A few weeks before, Arnold and Hump had been playing in a poker game and Arnold won a cool $306,000 to Hump but refused to pay saying the game was rigged. It was Hump that invited Arnold to come and play in this game although the actual murderer was never determined. After Arnold was found bleeding, the police tracked the blood trail back upstairs to a room where four men were sitting around a table playing pinochle like nothing had happened. The cops went back down to Arnold and asked him who had done the shooting. Arnold just held a finger up to his lips and shook his head no and he was gone. Arnold was most famous for the “Black Sox Scandal” whereby Arnold financed the rigging of the 1919 World Series. There is no question that Arnold was involved, the actual players that took money and played badly will always be in question. One of those was a man from Greenville, SC named Joseph “Shoeless Joe” Jackson. He was banned from baseball for life by baseball commissioner Judge Kennesaw Landis. Joe played around in amateur leagues for a while but he eventually became too old and bought a liquor store in Greenville. On one occasion Ty Cobb who was traveling from Detroit to his home near Royston, Georgia stopped by Joe’s liquor store to say hello. After Ty walked in Joe acted like he did not know him and Ty said “Joe, don’t you know who I am?” And Joe said “I know who you are Ty, but I didn’t think you would want to know me.” What a sad tale.

  Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow

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Monday, November 2, 2020

Tuesday

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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 11^th 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 24^thInfantry. He commanded a regiment at the Battle of 1^st 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, 2^nd 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 arm
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 7^th. A date that will live in infamy.

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Monday

Musings and History

Quote of the day:
“The supreme happiness in life is the conviction that we are loved — loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves.”
Victor Hugo

Trivia question of the day:
What is the deepest freshwater lake in the world and how deep is it? Answer at the end of the blog.

At one time I was working for Halliburton in the oil and gas fields in western Oklahoma. One day I was going west from Oklahoma City and stopped at a roadside marker in the small town of El Reno. The marker stated that approximately 2.5 million cattle crossed over this spot on trail drives from central Texas to the railroad in Abilene, Kansas. I looked south across a field and there was indeed a shallow depression about 50 yards wide as far as the eye could see...it was the Chisolm Trail, y'all, this kind of thing is right up my alley.

Down in Pensacola the county cops were called out to a domestic disturbance. Three officers showed up and all three were shot soon after arrival. After this display of hostility a SWAT team was called in and the shooters themselves were shot by the team. I don’t think anyone was killed but a couple was in serious condition. It is really is a mistake to shoot a cop, they are better trained and much more heavily armed.

A while back down in Summerville, South Carolina a man and woman pulled into the parking lot at Perkins restaurant. Witnesses said they could hear the couple screaming at each other as they entered the lot. The woman was driving. After they got out of the car, the man produced an automatic pistol and began shooting at the woman. She went down almost immediately but the man kept shooting at least eight more rounds. He then pointed the gun at the nearby witnesses and told them got “get inside.” The woman was declared dead at the scene and the man was last seen running behind the restaurant. 47 year old Randal Benton was captured in Alabama the next day and charged with the murder of 36 year old Trevi Benton at Perkins Restaurant. How can things get that bad? All he had to do was leave.

This Date in History November 2

1863 Major General John C. Fremont is relieved of command of the Western Department of the Union Army. Fremont was an interesting character. He was born in Savannah, Georgia and raised in Charleston, South Carolina and attended the College of Charleston. He was kicked out of school because of “idleness and lack of attention” but he excelled in mathematics and secured a position with the US Navy teaching mathematics. He was the illegitimate son of prominent Virginia socialite Janice Whiting who got knocked up by a French teacher from Norfolk, Virginia named Jean Fremon. It was later on the John changed his name by adding a “t” and a comma over the “e” in his last name. John joined the Union army in 1838 but made a great career move by marrying Jesse Benton. Jesse was the daughter of powerful Missouri Senator Thomas Hart Benton. As a result of his father-in-law’s influence, John was assigned three different expeditions of discovery. He started by mapping the upper Mississippi and Missouri rivers that had been explored earlier by the Lewis and Clark expedition but they did not map the area like Fremont did. The next two were in the American west which he also mapped and proved to be of incalculable help to the pioneers that followed. It is believed that he was the first honkie to lay eyes on Lake Tahoe but he did not do it alone; he had guidance from mountain men like Kit Carson and Jim Bridger. Fremont was superb cartographer but his expertise in combat was suspect. At the outbreak of the Civil War, again with his father-in-laws influence, he was named commander of the Union Army Western Department based in Saint Louis, Missouri. Soon thereafter a Union army commanded by US General Nathaniel Lyons ran up against a CSA army commanded by CSA General Sterling Price at the place called Wilson’s Creek. It was a massacre, y’all. The Union army was cut to pieces, including General Lyons. That Union army fled into the four winds in a complete rout. General Fremont was assailed for not providing Lyons assistance. Fremont was stung by this criticism and fought back by declaring martial law and chose to free the slaves in the state of Missouri. This act was way more than he had authority for. Not only that, it put A. Lincoln and the Republicans between a rock and a hard place. There were four slave holding states that had not seceded and they were Kentucky, Maryland, Delaware and Missouri. When Fremont freed the slaves in Missouri, he really pissed off the slave owners that had voted not to secede into thinking that maybe they really should secede and join the Confederacy. When Fremont’s actions in Missouri reached Kentucky, Delaware and Maryland the fires of secession were again kindled. Lincoln knew he had to do something so he requested Fremont to rescind his order. Fremont refused and that forced Lincoln to relieve him of command and Lincoln rescinded the order himself. They really did not know what to do with Fremont so they gave him command of a small army and sent him to a safe location, or so they thought, in West Virginia near the Shenandoah Valley. Soon after his arrival in West Virginia, the US army sent three separate armies, including Fremont, into the Shenandoah Valley to kick CSA General Thomas J.”Stonewall” Jackson and his army out of the valley. There is an upside to this for Fremont. He was included in the details of one of the greatest military actions ever documented when Stonewall Jackson defeated and routed not only Fremont but the other two armies as well. But it took an enormous amount of grit, endurance and determination by Stonewall’s troops and well as his unquestioned military genius. After having his ass handed to him by Jackson, Fremont retired from military service. In 1864 he was approached to challenge A. Lincoln for the Republican nominee for president but he declined. After the war he became the territorial governor of Arizona. He died in 1890 in New York. Fremont delivered some of the most important information ever discovered about the topography this country. He was just did not have a military mind.

1982 At the beginning of Russia’s disastrous war in Afghanistan, the worst disaster of that entire debacle occurred. There was a long truck convoy coming from Russia into Afghanistan carrying troops, fuel and other tools of war. The convoy had to traverse the Salang tunnel near the border town on Hairotum, Afghanistan. This tunnel was at an elevation of 11,000 feet, was 1.7 miles long, 24 feet high and 17 feet wide. After the trucks were about half way through, a truck load of troops rear ended a tanker truck full of diesel fuel and an explosion and fire erupted. The Russians thought that they were under attack and put guards on each end of the tunnel and would not let anyone out. The fire quickly spread and ate up most of the oxygen and the oxygen was replaced by carbon monoxide from the fire and the still running trucks. To make matters worse, the tunnel ventilation system was out of order. After the Russians figured out what had happened, they began pulling the trucks out of the tunnel but it was too little too late. Over 3,000 bodies were found. Due to the tight-lipped Russians who rarely tell the general public about negative news, we may never know the true bottom line in this disaster.

Answer to the trivia question:
The deepest fresh water lake in the world is Lake Baikal in southern Russia. It is 5,398 feet deep. That ain't all, the lake is located on a continental rift that is spreading at a rate of about and inch a year meaning it may get wider and deeper.

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