Military Historical Dates

[RF]

Sorry, I was not aware the US sent forces into Russia during the post WW1 Civil War.

[lwd]

Here's a wiki link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entente_in ... _Civil_War
All the normal wiki caveats.

[IronDuke]

Britain has only really lost one war between the End of the American War of Independence in 1782 and the present day, the First Anglo-Boer War of 1880-81, since Gladstone would not send reinforcements after Majuba.
Ted

There was also the failure to complete the occupation of Afghanistan and make it part of British India. Something particulary relevant to today and airbrushed out of the history books here.

Britain fought three earlier wars with Afghanistan: 1839-42. 1878-80 and 1919. In both the first two wars the Anglo-Indian Army won all the major battles except one (Retreat from Kabul in the First Afghan War and Maiwand in the Second Afghan war) both the defeats were followed up by further successful military actions. In the Third Afghan War the Afghans invaded British India in the belief that Britain, following the vast losses of WWI was ripe for defeat: They were incorrect.

During the years of the Raj in India, Britain required that Afghanistan should not be friendly with Russia, the first two wars were fought to prevent any significant Russian pressence in Afghanistan and, in this they were successful. Most British Governments and Viceroys in India were against the long term military occupation of Afghanistan; a country where boys have ever learned to fire a rifle and to kill almost as soon as they can walk (only a slight exaggeration). Holding the North West Frontier of India (todays Frontier Province of Pakistan) was bad enough, the British/Indian Army was almost continuesely in action there from C. 1848-1947 (including my Grandfather in the early 1930's).

All that said, I support the war in Afghanistan if only because the US, British, Canadian, Australian and other Allied troops there at least mean the Taliban will not take over Pakistan, which has both Nuclear weapons and long range missiles...
Ted

T

[Karl Heidenreich]

Let's try it again. I will do it today (no personal comments, I promise) and let's see if someone take it tomorrow.

69 – Tiberius Julius Alexander orders his Roman legions in Alexandria to swear allegiance to Vespasian as Emperor.
1097 – Battle of Dorylaeum: Crusaders led by Prince Bohemond of Taranto defeat a Seljuk army led by Sultan Kilij Arslan I.
1520 – La Noche Triste: a joint Mexican Indian force led by the Aztec ruler Cuitláhuac defeat Spanish Conquistadores led by Hernán Cortés.
1690 – Glorious Revolution: Battle of the Boyne (as reckoned under the Julian calendar).
1782 – American privateers attack Lunenburg, Nova Scotia.
1862 – American Civil War: the Battle of Malvern Hill takes place. It is the final battle in the Seven Days Campaign, part of the George B. McClellan's Peninsula Campaign.
1863 – American Civil War: the Battle of Gettysburg begins.
1881 – General Order 70, the culmination of the Cardwell-Childers reforms of the British Army, comes into effect.
1898 – Spanish-American War: the Battle of San Juan Hill is fought in Santiago de Cuba.
1915 – Lieutenant Kurt Wintgens achieves the first known aerial victory with a synchronized gun-equipped fighter plane, the Fokker M.5K/MG Eindecker.
1916 – World War I: First day on the Somme – On the first day of the Battle of the Somme 19,000 soldiers of the British Army are killed and 40,000 wounded.
1942 – World War II: first Battle of El Alamein.
1947 – The Philippine Air Force is established.
1963 – The British Government admits that former diplomat Kim Philby had worked as a Soviet agent.
1968 – The CIA's Phoenix Program is officially established.
1968 – The Nuclear non-proliferation treaty is signed in Washington, D.C., London and Moscow by sixty-two countries.
1990 – German re-unification: East Germany accepts the Deutsche Mark as its currency, thus uniting the economies of East and West Germany.
1991 – The Warsaw Pact is officially dissolved at a meeting in Prague.
1997 – The People's Republic of China resumes sovereignty over the city-state of Hong Kong, ending 156 years of British colonial rule.
2002 – The International Criminal Court is established to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression.
2003 – Over 500,000 people protested against China's brutality in Hong Kong.

[Karl Heidenreich]

July 2nd:

963 – The imperial army proclaims Nicephorus Phocas Emperor of the Romans on the plains outside Cappadocian Caesarea.
1298 – The Battle of Göllheim is fought between Albert I of Habsburg and Adolf of Nassau-Weilburg.
1494 – The Treaty of Tordesillas is ratified by Spain.
1555 – The Ottoman Admiral Turgut Reis sacks the Italian city of Paola.
1561 – Menas, Emperor of Ethiopia, defeats a revolt in Emfraz.
1582 – Battle of Yamazaki: Toyotomi Hideyoshi defeats Akechi Mitsuhide.
1613 – The first English expedition from Massachusetts against Acadia led by Samuel Argall takes place.
1644 – English Civil War: Battle of Marston Moor.
1776 – The Continental Congress adopts a resolution severing ties with Great Britain although the wording of the formal Declaration of Independence is not approved until July 4.
1823 – Bahia Independence Day: the end of Portuguese rule in Brazil, with the final defeat of the Portuguese crown loyalists in the province of Bahia.
1853 – The Russian Army crossed the Pruth river into the Danubian Principalities, Moldavia and Wallachia--providing the spark that set off the Crimean War.
1871 – Victor Emmanuel II of Italy enters Rome after having conquered it from the Papal States.
1900 – The first Zeppelin flight takes place on Lake Constance near Friedrichshafen, Germany.
1934 – The Night of the Long Knives ends with the death of Ernst Röhm.
1966 – The French military explodes a nuclear test bomb codenamed Aldébaran in Mururoa, their first nuclear test in the Pacific.
1976 – Fall of the Republic of Veitnam; Communist North Vietnam declares their union to form the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

[Karl Heidenreich]

July 4th

324 – Battle of Adrianople Constantine I defeats Licinius, who flees to Byzantium.
1754 – French and Indian War: George Washington surrenders Fort Necessity to French forces.
1775 – American Revolutionary War: George Washington takes command of the Continental Army at Cambridge, Massachusetts.
1778 – American Revolutionary War: British forces kill 360 people in the Wyoming Valley massacre.
1849 – The French enter Rome in order to restore Pope Pius IX to power. This would prove a major obstacle to Italian unification.
1852 – Congress establishes the United States' 2nd mint in San Francisco, California.
1863 – U.S. Civil War: The final day of the Battle of Gettysburg culminates with Pickett's Charge.
1866 – Austro-Prussian War is decided at the Battle of Königgratz, resulting in Prussia taking over as the prominent German nation from Austria.
1898 – Spanish-American War: The Spanish fleet, led by Pascual Cervera y Topete, is destroyed by the U.S. Navy in Santiago, Cuba.
1913 – Confederate veterans at the Great Reunion of 1913 reenact Pickett's Charge; upon reaching the high-water mark of the Confederacy they are met by the outstretched hands of friendship from Union survivors.
1938 – President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicates the Eternal Light Peace Memorial and lights the eternal flame at Gettysburg Battlefield.
1940 – World War II: the French fleet of the Atlantic based at Mers el Kébir, is bombarded by the British fleet, coming from Gibraltar, causing the loss of three battleships: Dunkerque, Provence and Bretagne. One thousand two hundred sailors perish.
1944 – World War II: Minsk is liberated from Nazi control by Soviet troops during Operation Bagration.
1962 – The Algerian War of Independence against the French ends.
1969 – The biggest explosion in the history of rocketry occurs when the Soviet N1 rocket explodes and subsequently destroys its launchpad.
1986 – US President Ronald Reagan presides over the relighting of the renovated Statue of Liberty.
1988 – United States Navy warship USS Vincennes shoots down Iran Air Flight 655 over the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 people aboard.

[RF]

July 4th - American Independence day???

[Karl Heidenreich]

That I put it apart in the Happy Birthday USA thread.

[Karl Heidenreich]

July 5th,

1295 – Scotland and France form an alliance, the so-called "Auld Alliance", against England.
1316 – Battle of Manolada between the Burgundian and Majorcan claimants of the Principality of Achaea.
1770 – The Battle of Chesma between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire begins.
1803 – The Convention of Artlenburg leads to the French occupation of Hanover (which had been ruled by the British king).
1809 – The Battle of Wagram, the largest of the Napoleonic Wars.
1813 – War of 1812: three weeks of British raids on Fort Schlosser, Black Rock and Plattsburgh, New York begin.
1814 – War of 1812: Battle of Chippawa – American Major General Jacob Brown defeats British General Phineas Riall at Chippawa, Ontario.
1830 – France invades Algeria.
1833 – Admiral Charles Napier defeats the navy of the Portuguese usurper Dom Miguel at the third Battle of Cape St. Vincent.
1940 – World War II: the United Kingdom and the Vichy France government break off diplomatic relations.
1941 – World War II: German troops reach the Dnieper River.
1943 – Beginning of the Battle of Kursk, the largest full-scale battle in history and the world's largest tank battle at Prokhorovka village.
1943 – World War II: An Allied invasion fleet sails for Sicily (Operation Husky, July 10, 1943).
1945 – World War II: liberation of the Philippines declared.
1950 – Korean War: Task Force Smith – First clash between American and North Korean forces in the Battle of Osan.
1962 – Algeria becomes independent from France.
1989 – Iran-Contra Affair: Oliver North is sentenced by U.S. District Judge Gerhard A. Gesell to a three-year suspended prison term, two years probation, $150,000 in fines and 1,200 hours community service.
2006 – North Korea launches at least two short-range Nodong-2 missiles, one SCUD missile and one long-range Taepodong-2 missile.

[Karl Heidenreich]

July 6th

371 BC – The Battle of Leuctra, where Epaminondas defeats Cleombrotus I, takes place.
1044 – The Battle of Ménfő between troops led by Emperor Henry III and Magyar forces led by King Samuel takes place.
1189 – Richard I "the Lionheart" is crowned King of England.
1495 – First Italian War: Battle of Fornovo – Charles VIII defeats the Holy League, but ultimately ends his attempted conquest of Italy.
1630 – Thirty-Years War: 4,000 Swedish troops under Gustavus Adolphus land in Pomerania, Germany.
1777 – American Revolutionary War: Siege of Fort Ticonderoga – After a bombardment by British artillery under General John Burgoyne, American forces retreat from Fort Ticonderoga, New York.
1801 – Battle of Algeciras: the French navy are defeated by the Royal Navy.
1809 – The second day of the Battle of Wagram sees a French victory over the Austrian army in the largest battle yet of the Napoleonic Wars.
1887 – David Kalakaua, monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaii, is forced at gunpoint, at the hands of the Americans, to sign the Bayonet Constitution giving Americans more power in Hawaii while stripping Hawaiian citizens of their rights.
1917 – World War I: Arabian troops led by T. E. Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia") and Auda ibu Tayi capture Aqaba from the Ottoman Empire during the Arab Revolt.
1939 – Holocaust: the last remaining Jewish enterprises in Germany are closed.
1942 – Anne Frank and her family go into hiding in the "Secret Annexe" above her father's office in an Amsterdam warehouse.
1947 – The AK-47 goes into production in the Soviet Union.
1962 – As a part of Operation Plowshare, the Sedan nuclear test takes place.
1967 – Biafran War: Nigerian forces invade Biafra, beginning the war.
1989 – The Israeli 405 Bus slaughter in which 14 bus passengers are killed when an Arab assaulted the bus driver as the bus was driving by the edge of a cliff.
1999 – U.S. Army private Barry Winchell dies from baseball-bat injuries inflicted in his sleep the previous day by a fellow soldier, Calvin Glover, for his relationship with transgender showgirl and former Navy combat medic Calpernia Addams.
2006 – The Nathula Pass between India and China, sealed during the Sino-Indian War, re-opens for trade after 44 years.

[Karl Heidenreich]

July 7th:

1543 – French troops invade Luxembourg.
1575 – Raid of the Redeswire, the last major battle between England and Scotland.
1770 – The Battle of Larga takes place.
1777 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Hubbardton
1798 – Quasi-War: the U.S. Congress rescinds treaties with France sparking the "war".
1807 – Napoleonic Wars: Peace of Tilsit between France, Prussia and Russia ends the Fourth Coalition.
1846 – Mexican-American War: American troops occupy Monterey and Yerba Buena, thus beginning the United States conquest of California.
1863 – United States begins first military draft; exemptions cost $300.
1865 – American Civil War: four conspirators in the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln are hanged.
1915 – World War I: end of First Battle of the Isonzo.
1917 – Russian Revolution: Prince Georgy Yevgenyevich Lvov forms Provisional Government in Russia after the deposing of the Tsar Nicholas II.
1937 – Sino-Japanese War: Battle of Lugou Bridge – Japanese forces invade Beijing, China.
1941 – World War II: U.S. forces land in Iceland to forestall an invasion by Germany.
1941 – World War II: Beirut is occupied by Free France and British troops.
1947 – Alleged and disputed Roswell UFO incident.
1953 – Che Guevara sets out on a trip through Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, and El Salvador.
1967 – Beginning of the civil war in Biafra.
1980 – Institution of sharia in Iran.
1980 – The Safra massacre in Lebanon.
1983 – Cold War: Samantha Smith, a U.S. schoolgirl, flies to the Soviet Union at the invitation of Secretary General Yuri Andropov.
1991 – Yugoslav Wars: the Brioni Agreement ends the ten-day independence war in Slovenia against the rest of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
2002 – A scandal breaks out in the United Kingdom when news reports accuse MI6 of sheltering Abu Qatada, the supposed European Al Qaeda leader.
2005 – A series of four explosions occurs on London's transport system killing 56 people, including four alleged suicide bombers and injuring over 700 others.

[Byron Angel]

Excellent presentation, Karl.

My only criticism is that the Battle of Algeciras in 1801 should actually be counted as a French victory. Saumarez's British squadron was beaten off by Linois. HMS POMPEE had to be towed out of action and HMS HANNIBAL, which had run aground, was beaten into submission and capture. While it is true that Saumarez did gain a victory over a reinforced Franco-Spanish squadron under Moreno and Linois a week or so later in Strait of Gibraltar, that should diminish the achievment of Linois and his small squadron at Algeciras Bay.

.... just sayin'.


Byron

[Karl Heidenreich]

Byron,

Point taken. Have to check the source... wikipedia. Can't be too rigorous with so many dates and issues, but this kind of comments made our process richer.

Thanks,

[Karl Heidenreich]

OK. Byron put the record straight here: Battle of Algeciras is in reality two separate actions. One on July 6th and the other in July 12th. The first one is a Franco-Spanish victory and the second a British one.

For the first one we have the following account:

The battle began on July 6, 1801, when the French Admiral Linois brought his three ships of the line and one frigate into Algeciras after finding that the British had blockaded Cádiz. No fewer than four Spanish fort protected the harbour at Algeciras, and was so the French and Spanish considered it safe despite its proximity to Gibraltar.

The British observed these movements from Gibraltar, and decided to move quickly to try to neutralise this threat. On 8 July, a fleet under Admiral Sir James Saumarez sailed out from Gibraltar into the Bay of Gibraltar, intending to attack the French ships.

The British fleet consisted of six ships of the line. Saumarez had a seventh ship of the line, HMS Superb, but she and her accompanying brig Pasley were absent; Saumarez dispatched his sole frigate - the HMS Thames - to recall her, but they did not return in time.

The British squadron consisted of:

Caesar 80 (flag of Rear-Adm. James Saumarez, with Captain Jahleel Brenton)
Pompee 74 (Captain Charles Stirling)
Spencer 74 (Captain Henry D'Esterre Darby)
Venerable 74 (Captain Samuel Hood)
Hannibal 74 (Captain Solomon Ferris)
Audacious 74 (Captain Shuldham Peard)

The French squadron consisted of:

Formidable 80 (flag of Rear-Adm. Linois, with Captain Laindet Lalonde)
Indomptable 80 (Captain Moncousu †)
Desaix 74 (Captain Jean-Anne Christy de la Pallière)
Muiron 40 (Captain Martinencq)

Saumarez's six ships attacked the French ships and Spanish forts, but a lack of wind and numerous shoals in the harbour hampered the attack. The French squadron, with aid from the forts and Spanish gunboats, held its own. They were able to drive off the larger British force, although the French purposely grounded their ships to avoid capture. Saumarez lost the 74-gun Hannibal after it ran aground near Spanish fortifications and was obliged to surrender,[1] which enabled the French to capture her. Calpe lost several men and boats attempting to rescue Hannibal's crew. The rest of the British squadron suffered various degrees of damage and the British lost 121 men killed and 240 wounded. The French lost 306 killed, including Captains Laindet Lalonde and Moncousu, and 280 wounded.

Both sides retired to their respective sides of the bay, and over the next four days repaired their battle damage as best they could. The Pompée could not be repaired in the time available, and the Caesar was only repaired in time due to constant day-and-night work. The French refloated their ships and prepared them for sea.

[RF]

1575 – Raid of the Redeswire, the last major battle between England and Scotland.

No it wasn't.

Try Culloden in 1746.