History Blog Week of September 5-11

 This Week in History

Introduction: In this segment, I list some of the important historical events that transpired this week throughout history and provide links for further reading on each event. 

September 5, 1774 

“The First Continental Congress assembled in Philadelphia with 56 delegates, representing every colony, except Georgia. Attendants included Patrick Henry, George Washington, Sam Adams and John Hancock.”--Historyplace.com

Learn more here: https://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/the-continental-congress

September 5, 1970

US forces, in coordination with South Vietnamese forces, launched their last major military operation in Vietnam, known as Operation Jefferson Glenn.

Learn more at: https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/u-s-forces-launch-last-major-american-operation-of-the-war

September 5-6, 1972

“Eleven members of the Israeli Olympic Team were killed during an attack on the Olympic Village in Munich by members of the Black September faction of the Palestinian Liberation Army. Israeli jets then bombed Palestinian positions in Lebanon and Syria in retaliation on September 8, 1972.”--Historyplace.com

Learn more at: https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/massacre-begins-at-munich-olympics

September 5, 1975 

The first of two assassination attempts on President Gerald R. Ford occurred in Sacramento, California, when a woman named Lynette Fromme (who was a member of the Manson Family cult) pointed her M1911 at the president, but did not fire. 

Learn more here: https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/gerald-ford-survives-first-assassination-attempt

September 8, 1565 

The first Catholic settlement in America was founded by Spaniard Don Pedro Menendez de Aviles at St. Augustine, Florida.

Learn more here: https://www.history.com/news/st-augustine-first-american-settlement

September 8, 1900

“A hurricane with winds of 120 mph struck Galveston, Texas, killing over 8,000 persons, making it the worst natural disaster in U.S. history. The hurricane and tidal wave that followed destroyed over 2,500 buildings.”--Historyplace.com

Further reading: https://www.history.com/news/how-the-galveston-hurricane-of-1900-became-the-deadliest-u-s-natural-disaster

September 9, 1776

Congress officially chose the name “United States of America,” replacing the term “United Colonies.” 

Learn more here: https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/congress-renames-the-nation-united-states-of-america

September 11, 2001

"The worst terrorist attack in U.S. history occurred as four large passenger jets were hijacked then crashed, killing nearly 3,000 persons. Four separate teams of Mideast terrorists, operating from inside the U.S., boarded the morning flights posing as passengers, then forcibly commandeered the aircraft. Two fully-fueled jumbo jets, American Airlines Flight 11 carrying 92 people and United Airlines Flight 175 carrying 65 people, had departed Boston for Los Angeles. Both jets were diverted by the hijackers to New York City where they were piloted into the twin towers of the World Trade Center. The impact and subsequent fire caused both 110-story towers to collapse, killing 2,752 persons including hundreds of rescue workers and people employed in the towers. In addition, United Airlines Flight 93, which had departed Newark for San Francisco, and American Airlines Flight 77, which had departed Dulles (Virginia) for Los Angeles, were hijacked. Flight 77 with 64 people on board was diverted to Washington, D.C., then piloted into the Pentagon building, killing everyone on board and 125 military personnel inside the building. Flight 93 with 44 people on board was also diverted toward Washington but crashed into a field in Pennsylvania after passengers attempted to overpower the terrorists on board.”--Historyplace.com

Read more here: https://www.911memorial.org/911-faqs

And here: https://www.history.com/topics/21st-century/9-11-attacks

Reading recommendation: Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card

In these reading recommendations, at least for now, I aim to focus on books that can, in some way or another, help us to develop ourselves as leaders or as tactical thinkers. That being said, there are very few books, at least of the fiction variety, that could ever be as indispensable to a soldier as Card’s masterpiece. While the book itself is science fiction, the tactics displayed throughout the book are a masterclass in strategic thinking. The main character also shows exemplary leadership skills, and could be a template for one's own leadership style. Card’s use of simulators in a military setting also inspired the real army to start using its own simulations, including virtual reality*. This book has been on the Commandant’s Professional Reading List since the creation of the list in 1988, and has been used for decades as a brilliant example of leadership and the principles of Maneuver Warfare. It is also rather light and easy to read, while still being clever and well-written. 

*As mentioned in this article: https://spectrum.ieee.org/enders-game-is-already-a-reality-for-the-us-military

Roofing Ad From 1916

I work in the 161st Military History Detachment so I find weird stuff all the time when I’m looking through old newspapers and records and such. This image is one of the most entertaining things I've found while doing so. It's a 1916 newspaper ad for a roofing company which, without a trace of irony, compares itself to the National Guard.

History story of the week: A short article about a specific event in history, more detailed than the “This Week in History” section. This one is pulled from a 2014 edition of the Georgia Guardsman, a magazine made by the Georgia Army National Guard’s Department of Public Affairs. 

Assault on Dalton:

The Atlanta Campaign Begins

By Capt. William Carraway

Public Affairs Office

Georgia Department of Defense

Drive north on Interstate 75 from Atlanta to the Tennessee border

and you will pass Allatoona, Adairsville, Dalton, Rocky-Face Ridge and

Dug Gap. These places, random highway stops to the casual traveler,

were the focus of engagements and maneuvers involving nearly 160,000

men in 1864. The events of the Atlanta Campaign unfolded largely along

this Interstate corridor and offer the student of history many readily

accessible opportunities for study.

CONFEDERATE CHANGES

Following his November 1863 defeat at Chattanooga, General

Braxton Bragg and his Confederate Army of Tennessee retreated to

Dalton, Ga., where they established winter camps. Bragg resigned

December 1, 1863, and was replaced by General Joseph E. Johnston,

who had earned fame as a commander at Manassas in 1861.

Dalton was ideally suited for defense. Protected to the west by

a sheer mountain wall known as Rocky Face Ridge, Dalton offered

defensible terrain from which Confederates could rebuild and challenge

Union invasion. Only three gaps would admit passage over the ridge.

To the north, Mill Creek Gap passed between two prominences known

as The Buzzard’s Roost. Travelers driving north on I-75 pass through

this gap near Exit 336. Three miles south, at exit 333, a low pass known

as Dug Gap allowed passage west to east in a low point of the ridge. 

12 miles further south of Dug Gap was Snake Gap, near the town of

Villanow. Snake Gap would prove the undoing of Johnston’s formidable

Rocky Creek Defenses.

UNION PLANS

As early as February 1864, the Union Army knew of the presence

of Snake Gap and its potential to outflank the Confederate position.

Discovered by scouts of Maj. Gen. George Thomas’ Army of the

Cumberland, the gap, Thomas argued, would allow his army to approach

and seize the railroad town of Resaca in the Confederate rear. Sherman

heard his recommendation but elected instead to send the smaller Army

of Tennessee led by his friend Maj. Gen James McPherson. Thomas

and his massive army had a reputation for slow deliberate maneuver,

ideal for defensive operations, but were, in Sherman’s mind, ill-suited for rapid

flanking maneuver.

Sherman’s plan called for Thomas and his 73,000 Soldiers along

with the 12,500 men of Maj. Gen. John Schofield’s Army of the Ohio

to feint toward Rocky Face Ridge while McPherson and his 25,000 men

struck for Snake Gap and the Confederate railhead of Resaca east of the

gap. If McPherson could reach Resaca he could cut Johnston’s supply

lines and the Confederates would effectively be surrounded.

CONFEDERATE PREPARATIONS

As Sherman’s armies moved into position, Johnston’s Confederates

were deployed on the 1,600 foot Rocky Face Ridge. Without enough

forces to cover all approaches, Johnston concentrated his men at likely

avenues of approach. On the ridge south of Mill Creek Gap, Johnston

placed Maj. Gen. William Bate’s division which included the 37th

Georgia and 4th Georgia Sharpshooter regiments.

The gap itself was defended by Maj. Gen. Alexander Stewart’s

Division. The vital Western Atlantic Railroad passed through this gap.

Over these rails would pass the bulk of Sherman’s supplies in the coming

months. Six of Stewart’s Georgia Regiments, the 40th, 41st, 42nd, 43rd,

52nd and the 1st Georgia State Line were positioned on the ridge north

of Mill Creek Gap.

THE BATTLE BEGINS

On May 7, Confederate cavalry sparred with the lead elements

of Sherman’s forces at Tunnel Hill, approximately three miles west of

Mill Creek Gap. Tunnel Hill drew its name from a 1,500 foot tunnel

for the Western & Atlantic Railroad that passes through Chetoogeta

Mountain nearby. Following an exchange of musket and artillery fire,

the Confederate horsemen withdrew to Mill Creek Gap. Sherman

adopted the Clisby Austin House near the Chetoogeta Tunnel as his

headquarters.

The following day, the Georgians on the Confederate right near

Potato Hill received the first advance of the Union infantry against

Rocky Face Ridge. Schoefield’s Soldiers, moving south, engaged the

Georgian infantry and artillery west of Potato Hill, but after evaluating

the heavy entrenchments of the Georgians and making a few desultory

charges, Schoefield withdrew. His mission was not to take the ridge,

merely to hold the defenders in place while McPherson’s army raced

for Snake Gap.

Mill Creek Gap was the focus of concentrated Union attacks. The

oddly named Brig. Gen. Jefferson Davis, attacked with his division but

was unable to make headway against the Confederate defense.

Three miles south of the Mill Creek action, Union Soldiers under

Maj. Gen. John Geary attacked Dug Gap. The Confederate lines were

thin, but positioned among rocky palisades. Geary described the action

at Dug Gap.

“The palisades were charged… hand to hand combat encounters

took place, and stones as well as bullets became elements in the combat,

the enemy rolling them over the precipice.”

Geary withdrew from Dug Gap at nightfall and the fighting ceased.

The Confederates were successful in repulsing all the Union assaults,

but Rocky Face Ridge was not the Union’s main effort.

AN UNEXPECTED THREAT

The next morning, McPherson’s army emerged from Snake Creek

Gap. Moving east on the Lafayette Road, the army was within five miles

of Resaca.

That evening, as Sherman was sitting down to dinner at the Clisby

Austin House, Sherman received a letter from McPherson informing

him of the developments. Elated, Sherman exclaimed “I’ve got Joe

Johnston dead.”