Brookwood American Cemetery and Memorial

Brookwood American Cemetery and Memorial is the only American Military Cemetery of World War I in the British Isles. Located approximately southwest of London, Brookwood American Cemetery contains the graves of 468 American war dead, including the graves of 41 unknown servicemen, from World War I.
Maintained by the American Battle Monuments Commission, the cemetery of lies to the west of the civilian Brookwood Cemetery, built by the London Necropolis Company and opened in 1854. The American cemetery is flanked by the much larger Brookwood Military Cemetery, maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, which contains more than 5,000 war dead from the two world wars.
History.
In September 1922 the London Necropolis Company sold an area adjacent to the Brookwood Military Cemetery to the US government. The LNC was hired by the US government to landscape this area and build a chapel, to create this cemetery.
In 1929 the chapel memorial opened. Inside are the engraved names of 563 missing, most of whom served in the United States Navy and Coast Guard, whose graves are in the sea.
Most of the dead buried in Brookwood died in Great Britain or its surrounding waters. During World War I, servicemen who died in London hospitals were brought to Brookwood. After the Armistice in 1918, the dead from various temporary sites throughout England, Scotland and Ireland were brought to it. These were members of the American Expeditionary Forces who lost their lives in England or the surrounding waters. Among those reburied in Brookwood American Cemetery were victims of the German U-boat "UB-77" attack on the SS "Tuscania", a British troop transport of the Anchor Line, sunk on 5 February 1918 off the coast of Scotland with the loss of 210 souls. Also most of the 358 American victims of the HMS "Otranto" tragedy were reinterred in Brookwood.
After the entry of the United States into the Second World War the American cemetery was enlarged, with burials of US servicemen beginning in April 1942. With large numbers of American personnel based in the west of England, a dedicated rail service for the transport of bodies operated from Devonport to Brookwood. By August 1944 over 3,600 bodies had been buried in the American Military Cemetery. At this time burials were discontinued, and US casualties were from then on buried at Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial.
On the authority of Thomas B. Larkin, Quartermaster General of the United States Army, the US servicemen buried at Brookwood during the Second World War were exhumed in January–May 1948. Those whose next of kin requested it were shipped to the United States for reburial, and the remaining bodies were transferred to the new cemetery outside Cambridge. Brookwood American Cemetery had also been the burial site for those US servicemen executed while serving in the United Kingdom, whose bodies had been carried to Brookwood by rail from the American execution facilities at Shepton Mallet. They were not transferred to Cambridge in 1948, but instead reburied in unmarked graves at Oise-Aisne American Cemetery Plot E, a dedicated site for US servicemen executed during the Second World War. (One of those executed, David Cobb, was not transferred to Plot E but was repatriated to the US and reburied in Dothan, Alabama in 1949.) The railway service had been suspended in 1941, and North station (renamed North Bar after the ending of rail services) was used as a temporary mortuary to hold these bodies while awaiting shipment to the United States or Cambridge. As the branch line into the cemetery was no longer in use, temporary platforms were built on the branch line serving the National Rifle Association's shooting range at Bisley, on the opposite side of the LSWR line from the cemetery. Following the removal of the US war graves the site in which they had been buried was divided into cemeteries for the Free French forces and Italian prisoners of war.
General layout.
The cemetery was designed by New York architect Egerton Swartwout (1870–1943) and British architect Harry Bulkeley Creswell (1869–1960). Swartwout designed the Missouri State Capitol in Jefferson City (1917) and Brooklyn's Grand Army Plaza Bailey Fountain (1929). For Brookwood, he laid out the cemetery into four plots for the 468 headstones, grouped around a flagpole. The headstones are of Italian Carrara marble, in the shape of the Latin cross or a Star of David. Shrubs and trees frame the grave plots: evergreen, oak and Scots pine. Existing pine trees were retained to give a pleasing effect around the chapel. For color around the cemetery, rhododendrons, azalea and heather were planted.
From 2015 to early 2016 extensive work was undertaken at the cemetery in readiness for the 2016 Memorial Day Service. This included replacing all headstones to meet strict ABMC regulations, extensive ground works, removal of trees with borders redesigned and replanted.
The chapel.
The chapel memorial was dedicated in 1929 and designed by Egerton Swartwout and Harry Bulkeley Creswell. It is located in the northwest side of the cemetery. Engraved above the entrance is the tribute “PERPETUAL LIGHT UPON THEM SHINES.” A classic white stone building of Portland limestone, quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset, the interior is decorated with religious, military and patriotic symbols. The interior has soft tan-hued stone, with an altar, two oak pews, flags and carved doorways. There are 18 stained glass windows designed by Reginald Hallward, each bearing the names of American States and Territories of 1918. There are unit insignia worked into the glass and the branches of service for the Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard.
Engraved into the walls of the chapel are the names of 563 missing Americans. Most were lost at sea and their remains were never recovered or could not be positively identified. Included on the walls of the chapel are the names of all hands from the USCGC cutter "Tampa". The cutter was in service for 11 months, until the night of 26 September 1918, when it was attacked in the Bristol Channel. All 115 hands, as well as 16 passengers, were lost. Another naval disaster was the USS "Alcedo", a former pleasure yacht that converted to a navy escort, and the first American ship lost in the war. It was struck by a torpedo on 17 December 1917 and lost 21 men. Also included on the wall are the names of the 11 men of the USCGC "Seneca" who were lost on 16 September 1918, while attempting to assist the steamship "Wellington".
Notable names.
There are two Medal of Honor recipients honored at Brookwood American Cemetery. Gunner's Mate First Class Osmond Ingram was the first sailor to receive the award in World War I. On 15 October 1917, Ingram was serving on the USS "Cassin". He spotted an incoming torpedo and attempted to release the ship's load of depth charges before the torpedo struck the ship on the aft side. The torpedo struck the ship before he could accomplish his purpose and Ingram was killed by the explosion. Ingram's body was never recovered; his name is engraved in gold on the wall of the chapel with other crewmen of the "Cassin". Also honored is Medal of Honor recipient Gustav A. Sundquist, who fought in the Spanish–American War and who later drowned at sea on August 25, 1918.


Mahenge offensive

The Mahenge offensive (); was a military action which occurred around the Morogoro Region in the east of German East Africa (modern-day Tanzania) during World War I. The combat formed part of the East Africa Campaign and ended with the capture of Mahenge by the Belgian forces on 9 October 1917.
Prelude.
Within the framework of the neutral Belgian Congo state, the "Force Publique" could only adopt a defensive position. This changed on 15 August 1914 when German ships, stationed on Lake Tanganyika, bombed the port of Mokolobu and the Lukuga post a week later.
After the occupation of Ruanda in May 1916 and of Urundi in June 1916, the Belgo-Congolese forces advanced southwards from Kitega along the eastern shore of Lake Tanganyika. On 28 July the "Force Publique" captured the port of Kigoma, terminus of the strategic railway line from Dar Es Salaam passing through Tabora to Kigoma. On 19 September 1916 the city of Tabora was controlled by Belgian forces.
Belgian Retreat.
After the Battle of Tabora the British and Belgian governments agreed that the latter would retreat the majority of its forces to Rwanda and Urundi and to bring its military campaign in German East Africa to a conclusion. This was because of British fears Belgium would stake a claim to the land it had conquered.
Mahenge Offensive.
Because of the continued German resistance and their growing experience in guerrilla warfare tactics, the troops of the ‘Force Publique’ were moved to the Dodoma-Kilosa region in July 1917, at the request of the British government. At that time the Mahenge area was controlled by 12 German companies under the command of Hauptmann Theodor Tafel. The Belgo-Congolese units advanced on the Mahenge Plateau in September 1917, and Mahenge was captured on 9 October 1917. Captain Tafel withdrew to the south-east. Due to military logistics problems—the rainy season rendered the road from Kilosa to Mahenge unusable, only two Belgian battalions could remain in Mahenge, the rest was sent to the central railway for redeployment to Kilwa and Lindi.
Aftermath.
After the Mahenge Offensive and the capture of Mahenge in 1917, the Belgian Congolese army controlled roughly one-third of German East Africa. After the war, as outlined in the Treaty of Versailles, Germany was forced to cede "control" of German East Africa to the Allies.


Sheboygan Hmong Memorial

The Sheboygan Hmong Memorial (or Lao, Hmong and American Veterans Memorial) is a monument to the service and sacrifice of the Hmong people of Laos who fought for the United States during the Secret War from 1961-1975, part of the Laotian Civil War. The monument is located within Deland Park along the Lake Michigan shoreline of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, which contains one of the larger Hmong communities in the United States. It was dedicated on July 15, 2006. Sheboygan was among the first United States cities to accept Hmong asylum seekers and immigrants in late 1976, after the victory of a communist government in Laos.
The memorial is intended to honor and memorialize all the Hmong who fought against communism. It includes 24 panels dedicated to military personnel who were a part of the Hmong Secret Guerrilla Unit Army that fought against the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) in the Secret War, as well as all civilian participants. The monument was vandalized in 2008. In June 2010, a painted centerpiece ("pang dao") was added, consisting of a green circle with traditional white needlework.
The United States did not acknowledge the Secret War until 1997, under the administration of President Bill Clinton, as a result of Hmong and Congressional pressure. In 2004, following several years of pressure from a coalition of U.S. conservatives and liberal human rights activists, the U.S. government reversed a policy of denying immigration to Hmong who had fled Laos in the 1990s for refugee camps in Thailand. In a major victory for the refugees, the US government recognized some 15,000 Hmong as asylum seekers and afforded them expedited U.S. immigration rights.


Tiger Faction New Forces

The Tiger Faction New Forces (short: TFNF, also called Tiger Faction or The Tigers) was a Shilluk militia that took part in the South Sudanese Civil War with the aim of reversing the division of South Sudan into 28 (later 32) states in order to restore the territory of the Shilluk Kingdom per its 1956 borders. Led by Yoanis Okiech, the TFNF originally split from the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) in late October 2015 and subsequently started an insurgency against the SPLM government. In course of 2016, however, it also came into conflict with SPLM-IO rebels, leading to inter-rebel fighting which resulted in Okiech's death and the group's destruction in January 2017.
Background.
The Shilluk are South Sudan's third-largest ethnic group and mostly live in the country's former Upper Nile state. Centuries ago, the Shilluk formed a sophisticated and powerful kingdom, which has survived to the present day even though it lost its independence during the 19th century. Wary of any outside powers, the Shilluk are much more loyal to each other, their monarchy and their lands than to South Sudan, as the "fertile floodplains of the Nile River, after all, have done more for them than any government ever has". Upon the outbreak of the South Sudanese Civil War, the Shilluk militias mostly sided with the Dinka-dominated government; this changed, however, when President Salva Kiir Mayardit decided to increase the number of South Sudan's states to 28 in mid-2015. This move was widely denounced by Shilluk as attempt to divide their homeland, driving several Shilluk militias into armed rebellion.
Foundation and independent operations.
The beginnings of the Tiger Faction New Forces are tied to Yoanis Okiech, one of the leading Shilluk commanders in South Sudan's army, the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA). Okiech initially remained loyal to the government when Shilluk elements in the SPLA, most notably John Uliny's Agwelek forces, rebelled in May 2015. Nevertheless, the government did not trust him and put him under house arrest while his troops remained in Manyo County in northern Upper Nile State, from which they had driven SPLM-IO rebels in early 2015. Okiech consequently expressed sympathy for Uliny's uprising, and when the President finally decreed the creation of new states in October 2015, he and his forces mutinied. At the time, Okiech's superior, Major General Ayok Ogat, had left his soldiers for Juba, an opportunity which Okiech used to launch surprise attacks on SPLA loyalists at Wadakona and Tor Gwang in Manyo County on 29 October 2015. The government claimed that Okiech's followers numbered just 90 men and that their first attacks had failed, whereas the rebels said that their assaults had been a success.
On 30 October, Okiech officially announced the formation of the "Tiger Faction New Forces". The declared intention of the new group was to reverse the division of the Shilluk Kingdom through the creation of new states, which TFNF considered an unconstitutional move by the "corrupt clique in Juba" with the aim of giving Shilluk lands to Dinka. Although there had been reports that the TFNF subsequently joined Uliny's Agwelek forces, the Tigers in fact remained independent, though began to cooperate closely with the Agwelek forces, and, by extension, the SPLM-IO. Attacking loyalist forces at Wadakona, Gabat, Mananmand Ajot, Nyanowar, and Tor Gwang, the TFNF expanded its area of control. Although the Tigers were not powerful enough to capture the strategically significant town of Renk, they controlled much of northern Western Nile State by early 2016, also thanks to widespread support by local Shilluk civilians. In turn, the SPLA launched numerous counter-attacks against the TFNF between October 2015 and February 2016.
Joining the NDM and destruction.
The SPLM-IO attempted to convince the TFNF to officially join them in March 2016, but their offer to appoint Okiech as commander of the "Special Brigade One" was rebuffed. The TFNF explained their refusal with the readiness of the SPLM-IO to negotiate a peace agreement with the government. In contrast, the Tigers refused to end their insurgency as long as the Shilluk Kingdom was not restored per its 1956 borders. The TFNF instead joined the National Democratic Movement (NDM), a Shilluk rebel group formed by Lam Akol. As the NDM is a rival to the SPLM-IO, hostilities consequently grew between the Tigers and the SPLM-IO-affiliated Agwelek forces, leading to inter-rebel fighting.
In January 2017, the SPLM-IO forces in Western Upper Nile launched a major campaign against the local NDM affiliates, leading to fierce clashes between the two sides in the area around Hamra, a small village near Kodok. Although a first attack by the SPLM-IO was reportedly repulsed, troops under Uliny's command later overran Okiech's headquarters in the area. In course of the fighting Gen. Gabriel Gatwech Chan (a.k.a. "Tanginye"), a senior NDM commander and personal friend of Okiech, was killed alongside his two sons and at least 20 militants. Okiech was wounded and barely escaped alive, while his remaining forces mostly scattered. John Uliny's men continued to pursue him, and eventually cornered Okiech at Thoroji, in northern Upper Nile near the border to Sudan. There, they killed him and 27 of his bodyguards in a shootout on 7 January 2017. The SPLM-IO went on to claim that with this victory, Okiech's forces were completely destroyed.
Although elements of the NDM remained active in the Upper Nile region, the deaths of Okiech and Gabriel Tang permanently reduced the NDM's ability to expand in the area. Upper Nile thus remained dominated by the SPLM-IO.


Wild Tiger Corps

The Wild Tiger Corps () was a national paramilitary corps founded in Thailand in 1911 by King Vajiravudh (Rama VI). Inspired by the British Volunteer Force, the unit was intended to maintain civil order.
The Wild Tiger Corps was founded on 1 May 1911 by King Vajiravudh. The corps was meant to be a nationwide paramilitary corps, answerable only to the monarch. At first a ceremonial guard, it became a military force of 4,000 within its first year. Filled with commoners, the king would often mess with them and socialize with them openly. The corps eventually rivaled the army in strength and the civil service in influence. The king even went so far as appointing some to high ranks in the army and nobility.
While the king socialized with members of the corps, the regular army and aristocrats were deeply dissatisfied. Army officers were not permitted to join the organization. They saw these new appointments and the corps as a threat to the honour of the army. Combined with the king's spending on new palaces and attention on dramatic productions, the kingdom was deeply in debt and was in danger of financial collapse. This dissatisfaction partially led to the Palace Revolt of 1912.
The unit drew its Thai name from the Sua Pa Maew Mong scout corps founded by King Naresuan around 1600.
The Wild Tiger Corps also included a junior division known as "Luk Sua" ("Tiger Cubs") based on the Boy Scout movement.
The origins of the beverage company Osotspa date to 1900, when a pharmaceutical product called "Kilane" was developed by the Pae family in response to a dysentery outbreak within the corps. The epidemic was cleared in days and Mrs. Pae was awarded the "Wild Tiger Corps" pin.
The movement was quietly disbanded after the death of King Vajiravudh in 1925.
Ranks.
Wild Tiger Corps have ranking like military ranking, see list.
Legacy.
The ranks were reused in Volunteer Defense Corps but the Insignia are different.


Memorial Chapel (University of Maryland)

Memorial Chapel is a non-denominational building on the campus of the University of Maryland, College Park, constructed to honor those associated with the university who had lost their lives serving in the United States Armed Forces. The building, designed by Henry Powell Hopkins, actually is made up of three chapels: the Main Chapel, the West Chapel, and the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament. A Vietnam Veterans Memorial was constructed on the Chapel grounds in 1988. The steeple of the chapel is the highest point on campus.
History.
In 1946, the university's Board of Regents approved the construction of the chapel, after four students presented a petition of 1,348 signatures to the Board for the construction of an interdenominational place of worship on campus. In 1948, it was decided that the building would be dedicated to veterans of World War I and World War II. The building's dedication took place on October 12, 1952, with then-Maryland Governor Theodore McKeldin delivering the dedication address. Alumni donations led to a restoration in the 1980s, and the Class of 1997's Class Gift was a restoration of the chapel's West Courtyard.
For the first 40-plus years of the chapel's existence, the Memorial Chapel carillon rang out Maryland's state song, "Maryland, My Maryland." On April 21, 1999, however, the carillon began to play the University of Maryland alma mater "Hail! Alma Mater." The carillon has continued to chime out the alma mater before noon daily. The Class of 1992's Senior Class Gift was a refurbishment of the carillon.
Usage.
The Memorial Chapel attracts over 80,000 visitors each year, and hosts upwards of 1,200 events annually, including commencement ceremonies, concerts, convocations, lectures, and weddings. Weddings at the chapel are particularly popular among Maryland alumni and members of the university community, as 84% of the weddings that have taken place at the chapel had at least one connection to the university. Visitors of the Chapel include Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Senator John McCain, Senator Joseph Tydings, and former Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich. A Veterans Day ceremony is held at the Chapel annually.
The chapel is often used as place of remembrance and reflection by the university community, particularly in the aftermath of great tragedies; it has been an important meeting place and symbol during the Vietnam War, and in the wake of September 11, Challenger, Columbia, 2004 Tsunami, and Virginia Tech disasters.
The Garden of Reflection and Remembrance.
In 2007, following the September 11th and Virginia Tech tragedies, an initial grant was awarded to the Memorial Chapel to create a garden for reflection on the south side of the building for the university community. Among the features of the garden are a labyrinth and a walk of remembrance. The groundbreaking for the garden took place on May 25, 2010.


Chief White Eagle

Chief White Eagle (c. 1825 - February 3, 1914) was a Native American politician and American civil rights leader who served as the hereditary chief of the Ponca from 1870 until 1904. His 34-year tenure as the Ponca head of state spanned the most consequential period of cultural and political change in their history, beginning with the unlawful Ponca Trail of Tears in 1877 and continuing through his successful effort to obtain justice for his people by utilizing the American media to wage a public relations campaign against the United States and President Rutherford B. Hayes. His advocacy against America's Indian removal policy following the Ponca Trail of Tears marked a shift in public opinion against the federal government's Indian policy that ended the policy of removal, placing him at the forefront of the nascent Native American civil rights movement in the second half of the 19th century.
Family history and early life (1825-1847).
White Eagle was born on the ancestral Ponca homeland somewhere near the confluence of the Niobrara River and Missouri River which forms the contemporary South Dakota-Nebraska state line. At the time of his birth, the Ponca form of government was an oligarchy in which the full sovereign power of the Ponca was vested in a hereditary chief sovereign who was counseled by thirteen chiefs—six senior chiefs and seven junior chiefs—who represented the interests of the Ponca citizenry. The chief sovereign served as the head of state and ranking senior chief and the position was a dynastic succession based on male primogeniture. Dynastic rule was vested in White Eagle's direct male line, a dynasty established by White Eagle's paternal grandfather Chief Little Bear late in the 18th century when he assumed power from the traditional sovereigns by heroic feat. At the turn of the 20th century, White Eagle provided ethnographers at the Smithsonian Institute the oral history of how he became hereditary chief sovereign:
White Eagle's exact birth year is unknown. Various sources place his birth year as early as 1803 and as late as 1840, though both historical estimates are dubious. When White Eagle died in early 1914, American press reports indicated that he was "the oldest Indian in the United States" at 111 years old, placing his birth in 1803, one year prior to the arrival of the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1804. This report is dubious as White Eagle's father Iron Whip told British author Charles Mackay in 1858 that he was 56 years old, placing his birth year at 1802. As White Eagle was Iron Whip's first born son, there is an equally low probability that he was born in 1840, a year made all the more unlikely as White Eagle was documented as a junior chief on August 8, 1846 when he accompanied a high ranking Ponca delegation that sought to establish diplomatic relationship with Brigham Young's Mormon Pioneers during their emigration to the Great Basin. The delegation was led by White Eagle's aged paternal grandfather Little Bear whose death was recorded by the Mormons in 1846. The Mormons witnessed the transfer of power to Little Bear's eldest son and White Eagle's uncle, Two Bulls, after Little Bear's death. A month later, Two Bulls died and the Mormons again witnessed the transfer of power to White Eagle's father, Iron Whip, who abdicated the hereditary chief sovereignty to White Eagle in 1870, thereby corroborating White Eagle's oral history.
Chieftaincy (1870-1904).
Ponca removal crisis and Ponca Trail of Tears (1870-1877).
White Eagle's tenure as chief was defined by the unlawful forced removal of the Ponca from their treaty protected territory in the Dakota Territory to the Indian Territory in 1877, in direct violation of the Ponca Treaty of 1865 and American law. Known as the Ponca Trail of Tears, this removal was a six-hundred mile forced march spanning three modern-day states, resulting in numerous deaths en route. The forced march consisted of two parties of Ponca citizens. The first party was composed of approximately 170 Ponca citizens with mixed ancestry and began on April 16, 1877. The second party was to consist of the vast majority of the Ponca citizenry numbering about 500 people, including White Eagle and his vice chief Standing Bear. For nearly a month, White Eagle and Standing Bear resisted the unlawful efforts of Edward Cleveland Kemble, the federal agent sent by President Ulysses S. Grant, to force the Ponca removal by fraud. On April 24, 1877, General William Tecumseh Sherman ordered two companies of American soldiers to Ponca territory to force their compliance. White Eagle said:
On May 16, 1877, White Eagle again addressed the Ponca people regarding the imminent removal: “My people, we, your chiefs, have worked hard to save you from this. We have resisted until we are worn out, and now we know not what more we can do. We leave the matter into your hands to decide. If you say that we fight and die on our lands, so be it.” White Eagle later recalled what happened afterward, "There was utter silence. Not a word was spoken. We all arose and started for our homes, and there we found that in our absence the soldiers had collected all our women and children together and were standing guard over them. The soldiers got on their horses, went to all the houses, broke open the doors, took our household utensils, put them in their wagons, and pointing their bayonets at our people, ordered them to move. They took all our plows, mowers, hay-forks, grindstones, farming implements of all kind, and everything too heavy to be taken on a journey and locked them up in a large house. We never knew what became of them afterwards. Many of these things of which we were robbed we had bought with money earned by the work of our hands."
The removal lasted 54 miserable days, beginning on May 16, 1877 and ending on July 9, 1877, with many deaths occurring en route. The removal was plagued by torrential rains which flooded the unpaved dirt roads, miring the Ponca in mud for most of the march. A tornado struck the Ponca removal party on June 7, 1877 near Milford, Nebraska, killing one child and injuring many others. The federal agent in charge of the removal described the event as follows:
The following day, yet another child died. As the Poncas continued their forced march across Kansas, four more people died: a young child named Little Cottonwood died outside Blue Rapids, Kansas on June 18, two elderly women died south of Manhattan, Kansas on June 25, and a young child died outside of Emporia, Kansas on June 30. Two days later, an assassination attempt was made on White Eagle by a disaffected Ponca named Buffalo Chip who held White Eagle responsible for the mounting death toll. The federal removal agent described the chaotic scene of July 2nd his journal as follows: "Broke camp at six o'clock. Made a long march of fifteen miles for Noon Camp, for reason that no water could be got nearer. An Indian became hostile and made a desperate attempt to kill White Eagle, head chief of the tribe. For a time, every male in camp was on the warpath, and for about two hours the most intense excitement prevailed, heightened by continued loud crying by all the women and children." A week after the failed assassination attempt, the Ponca arrived at the Quapaw Agency in the Indian Territory. The federal removal agent wrote:
As a result of the unlawful removal, the Ponca suffered severe economic losses, including the loss of their wooden homes, personal property, and agricultural implements. Due to the hasty nature of the unlawful removal perpetuated by Edward Cleveland Kemble and the Hayes administration, the Ponca were removed to a swampy marsh in the Indian Territory and forced to live outside exposed to the elements in a tropical climate. No preparations were made to accommodate the Ponca by the newly inaugurated Hayes administration or Carl Schurz, President Hayes' cabinet secretary responsible for overseeing the removal. Within six months, a further 141 deaths were reported as half of the Ponca population suffered from tropical diseases such as malaria and yellow fever. Among the victims were White Eagle's wife, four of his children, and his father Iron Whip, who preceded him as hereditary chief of the Ponca from 1846 until his abdication in 1870. Iron Whip signed the broken treaty with President Abraham Lincoln in 1865 shortly before Lincoln's assassination. The exact number of deaths is unknown; however, it is known that the death toll exceeded 200 of the 700 Poncas — 30% of the Ponca population — and included the outright extinction of 24 Ponca families.
Advocacy for Native American rights following the Ponca Trail of Tears (1877-1881).
White Eagle led a delegation of Ponca leaders to Washington in the immediate aftermath of the removal in order to confront President Hayes and the American politicians in the Congress regarding the clear illegality of the removal. He and Standing Bear arrived on November 8, 1877.
White Eagle's leadership during the Ponca removal crisis played a central role in the series of events culminating in a landmark civil rights ruling in 1879 recognizing Native Americans as persons due civil rights under the Constitution of the United States for the first time in American history in "Standing Bear v. Crook". Immediately following the Ponca removal, White Eagle aggressively sought restoration of the ancestral Ponca homeland from President Hayes and the United States Senate for the American government's violation of the Ponca Treaty of 1865 and its subsequent mismanagement of the Ponca removal. The efforts of both White Eagle and Standing Bear generated significant support from many notable Americans of the time including the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, former abolitionist Wendell Phillips, and author Helen Hunt Jackson who advocated on behalf of the Ponca by writing the seminal book on Native American civil rights entitled ""A Century of Dishonor"." Nebraska journalist Thomas Tibbles traveled the country on a speaking tour to raise the money necessary for the Ponca to appeal their removal to the United States Supreme Court. Tibbles “thought that, if the Christian people of this country only knew of these horrors, they would be glad to help White Eagle in getting out of the Indian Territory, and saving from death the little children.” Tibbles appealed to large audiences “not only help White Eagle, but in so doing, burst the infamous Indian Ring,” which was a corrupt segment of political appointees. Tibbles argued that “if they could get standing in the courts for White Eagle and the Ponca, they would put an end to the Indian question and the Indian Wars and at once solve the Indian Question.”
Unlike President Andrew Jackson's forced removals of the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, and Seminoles which the American government regarded as legal under the Indian Removal Act of 1830, the Ponca removal was widely acknowledged by contemporary Americans to be unlawful from its inception as it was in clear violation of the Ponca Treaty of 1865 and a 1876 Act of Congress which required the federal removal agent, Edward Cleveland Kemble, to obtain White Eagle's consent before removing the Ponca to Indian Territory, which White Eagle refused. As public outrage grew, the Senate created a select committee to investigate the Ponca removal which found that the United States had forced a great injustice upon the Ponca through the misdeeds of Edward Cleveland Kemble, concluding: "If the government expects to exterminate this tribe, it has but to continue the policy of the past few years. The committee can see no valid objection, therefore, to that means of redress which comes nearest to putting these Indians in precisely the condition they were in when E.C. Kemble undertook, without authority of law, to force them from their homes into the Indian Territory."
White Eagle subsequently negotiated a settlement with the United States on behalf of the Ponca in January 1881 pursuant to which the Ponca agreed to remain in the Indian Territory for monetary reparation in the amount of $125,000 (2019: $3,609,847). His decision shocked political observers but his rationale was based on guaranteed national security in the Indian Territory from Sioux aggression in addition to unique economic opportunities in the Indian Territory such as leasing. On October 22, 1880, White Eagle symbolically declared his intention to remain in the Indian Territory by laying the cornerstone of a school on the Ponca Agency alongside Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce. White Eagle deposited the Sioux scalp taken by his grandfather Chief Little Bear in a box at the laying of the cornerstone, symbolically closing a chapter of Ponca history.
Following the enactment of the Dawes Act, however, White Eagle forged a close association with former Confederate general George W. Miller and leased most of the 110,000 acres which became the Miller 101 Ranch. In 1907, he later befriended oilman E.W. Marland. White Eagle became acquainted with Miller in then immediate aftermath of the Ponca Trail of Tears in July 1877 at the Quapaw Reservation as the Ponca waited disconsolately at Baxter Springs, homesick, and with considerable sickness. White Eagle and Miller soon developed a lifelong friendship built upon mutual respect as Miller learned the Ponca language. Miller quickly became a trusted advisor to White Eagle and the two held many conferences over the plight of the tribe. While inspecting land in the Cherokee Strip Col. Miller, Joe, and a number of cowboys found themselves near the proposed Ponca Reservation. After inspection Miller was satisfied that if White Eagle could visit the country he would accept the offer of the government and make it their home. Since White Eagle intended to leave soon for Washington to refuse the grant, Miller knew it was necessary to get word to him. Joe, his son, was the messenger. He was a mere boy but fully qualified to care for himself and since he knew and could speak the Ponca language he could meet and talk with them in their own way. He arrived just in time for White Eagle was preparing to leave for Washington. For the first time in the memory of the tribe, when the chiefs and head men met in council that night, a white boy sat in the center and answered their questions in their own tongue. It was decided that the next day White Eagle would return with Joe to view this land, and that the Poncas would never forget this kindness. The Indians moved to their new home in 1879.
The United States drastically altered its policies toward Native Americans Immediately following the Senate investigation of the Ponca removal by terminating the forced removal policy which began under President Jackson's Indian Removal Act. White Eagle was later credited as being responsible for forcing this change in government policy.
“We have been robbed of all we owned, but if we had thousands we would spend it all in bearing the expenses of the lawsuit carried on for us. We have nothing but our thanks to give.”
Opposition to the General Allotment Act of 1887 and the Oklahoma Land Run.
After successfully obtaining reparations for the unlawful removal, White Eagle remained a prominent advocate for Native American civil rights and the advancement of his people. He was one of the few outspoken opponents of the disastrous Dawes Act of 1887 which sought to culturally assimilate Native Americans into American society by withholding civil rights to Native Americans unless they agreed to abolish their governments, thereby relinquishing control of communal lands. In exchange, the United States would grant citizenship to individual Native Americans who agreed to accept small allotments of land. White Eagle accurately predicted to Senator Henry L. Dawes, for whom the Dawes Act was named, that it would “pluck the Indian like a bird” within three months. Politically, the Dawes Act seriously eroded the role and authority of Native American governments; however, White Eagle fought to retain his power, telling American leaders that “a chieftainship is hard to break up.” (Hagan, 222). He strenuously objected to the surplus provision. He explained his refusal to comply: “when animals come out, there is grass for them to eat, and we would like to have land for the children when they come.”
When White Eagle's prediction turned out to be true, Dawes later described White Eagle as "the clearest head of all" Native American leaders on the issue. President Hayes' Secretary of the Interior Carl Schurz regarded White Eagle as “one of the greatest men among the Indians.”
White Eagle had used diplomacy and litigation to deflect the onrushing American immigrants, by 1889, these efforts had failed. This left the surviving Ponca facing reservation life and continuing pressures from the Harrison administration to acculturate. Federal officials demanded that the Ponca abandon their traditions and join the white American mainstream.
Following the Oklahoma Land Run of 1889, President Benjamin Harrison convened a commission with the objective of acquiring land occupied by thirteen separate Native American nations, including the Ponca, for the purpose of opening the land to American settlers. In 1891, White Eagle appeared before a panel convened by President Harrison who told him they needed more of his land due to the wave of new immigrants. He told them that "all the increase coming from over the big water [Atlantic Ocean] should stay on their own reservations.”
By 1892, Harrison's commission had successfully annexed land from every nation except the Ponca. On March 17, 1892, led by White Eagle, the Ponca were the first tribe to refuse to engage in negotiations. Commissioners attempted to acquaint the Ponca with the size of 80 acres by staking out two such plots and marking them with flags. To their disappointment, the Poncas declined all invitations to ride a wagon around the plots with White Eagle declaring that he already knew the size of 80 acres. (Hagan, 174). Commissioners told White Eagle that while the United States could not force them to sell their land, they would have no peace until they did. (Hagan, 171). During negotiations, Jerome attempted to persuade White Eagle suggested the white homesteaders "..stay on their own reservation." White Eagle felt there was no evidence that allotments, or lack thereof, made any difference in a tribe's standard of living. Over the course of 11 weeks, the commissioners schedule dozens of hearings and over the course of 11 weeks, the Ponca attendance declined, frustrating Jerome who threatened to get the Ponca to council, “if it takes the whole army.” (Hagan, 175).
On April 12, 1892, the Commission articulated President Harrison's proposal. Each Ponca would receive an allotment of 80 acres and $20, coming from the federal payment of $69,000.00 for the surplus lands. The balance of the purchase price would be placed in the United States Treasury where it would earn 5% interest, which would be paid annually at the rate of $10 per month to each tribal member. In the event the Ponca desired to withdraw the principle amount, each Ponca family of 5 would receive $1,000.00. Commissioners stated that if the Ponca accepted this offer, “they could live as they please,” and “could visit as much as they please, ” a remarkable statement considering the United States was attempting to discourage intra and inter-reservation visitation as prejudicial to the proper care of Native American property. (Hagan, 176).
White Eagle was highly critical of this offer. The depth of the Ponca resistance was immense and the Commission was unable to extract any concessions whatsoever.
A young Ponca testified that since the Ponca removed to the Indian Territory, the Ponca chiefs were “not the ones to say what we should do, the land belongs to all the men, women, and children and they have a right to say what shall be done with it.” (Hagan, 179). The Commission set out to use individualism to promote factionalism and set the Ponca against one another. (Hagan, 179). White Eagle continually asserted his authority and utilized his tactic of delay, saying he was not prepared to give any direction to his people on the issue until the federal plan was fully articulated. (Hagan, 179).
Leasing Ponca land to the 101 Ranch Wild West Show and Marland Oil.
Though unsuccessful, White Eagle effectively utilized the Dawes Act by conveying Ponca land to a prominent oil tycoon when a large oilfield was discovered under the Ponca reserve in 1911. He forged a relationship with oil tycoon and future United States congressman E. W. Marland. He also leased significant acreage of the Ponca Reservation in the Indian Territory to the Miller Brothers 101 Ranch who used the land to establish what would become one of the most recognizable names in ranching and western entertainment, staging Wild West shows that provided employment for the Ponca people and entertained such personalities as King George V of the United Kingdom, President Theodore Roosevelt, and Will Rogers.
In September 1883, young Joe Miller, joined by Ponca Chief White Eagle, led a delegation of Poncas to the Alabama State Fair where he helped the Poncas establish an Indian village to hold traditional dances.
This included marching in parades on Mar. 18, 1899. In late 1902, White Eagle traveled to Birmingham, Alabama to perform in the 101 Ranch Wild West Show. In a sign of the times, White Eagle was forbidden to leave the Ponca Reservation without permission from the federal government:
Abdication and later life (1904-1914).
Abdication and inauguration of Horse Chief Eagle (1904).
White Eagle formally abdicated his position as hereditary chief on May 8, 1904 to his son and successor, Horse Chief Eagle, who would ultimately be recognized as the last hereditary chief in the United States due to the enactment of the Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act of 1936 prohibiting non-democratic Native American governments. White Eagle's abdication ceremony and the traditional buffalo hunt that followed was attended by an estimated 13,000 people. The press described the ceremony as the last buffalo hunt in this history of the Great Plains.
Death (1914).
White Eagle died on February 3, 1914 and is interred on Monument Hill in Noble County, Oklahoma.
Honors.
"Nieuw Amsterdam" by Salvador Dali.
In 1899, American sculptor and artist Charles Schreyvogel made a bronze statue bust of White Eagle. In 1974, the renowned Catalan-Spanish artist Salvador Dalí transformed the 1899 bust of White Eagle using via his Paranoiac-critical method. Dalí transformed White Eagle's eyes into a scene depicting 17th century Dutch colonists seemingly celebrating Peter Minuit's 1621 acquisition of Manhattan Island from the indigenous owners for the proverbial string of beads by toasting bottles of Coca-Cola. Dalí also transformed White Eagle's chin into a tabletop and his lips into a fruit basket. British art historian Dawn Adès has argued that Dalí's work, known as "Nieuw Amsterdam", symbolizes the foundations of American capitalism in the Dutch traders’ purchase of New York. "Nieuw Amsterdam" is displayed at the Salvador Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Dalí Museum describes White Eagle as "the celebrated chief of the Ponca tribe of Plains Indians, known for his vocal objection to the confinement of his people on reservations and his role in the subsequent ruling for equality for the Indian people in the 1870s."


Mimi and Toutou Go Forth

Mimi and Toutou Go Forth: The Bizarre Battle for Lake Tanganyika is the fourth book by author Giles Foden. It was published in 2004 by Michael Joseph. The United States edition, published in 2005 by Knopf, is entitled "Mimi and Toutou's Big Adventure: The Bizarre Battle of Lake Tanganyika".
The book tells the story of a British naval expedition in World War I, which travelled thousands of miles through the Belgian Congo to Lake Tanganyika in Central Africa in order to win control of the lake from the Germans with just two boats - "Mimi" and "Toutou".
According to academic Dirk Göttsche the book gives a critical postcolonial perspective and assessment on colonialism. This is reflected through grotesque and absurd actions of the actors involved, specifically those of Geoffrey Spicer-Simson.
Summary.
During World War One, German warships controlled Lake Tanganyika, which is the longest Lake in the world and was of great strategic value in Central Africa at the time. The British had no naval craft at all upon 'Tanganjikasee' (as the Germans called it). After the sinking of the Belgian steamer "Alexandre Del Commune" and through the actions of a British informant known as Lee and his observations of the two German warships, including the "Hedwig von Wissman", the British Admiralty and Admiral Sir David Gamble decided that a naval expedition was needed to retake the Lake from the Germans. They were unaware of the existence of a much larger German vessel on the lake, the Graf von Götzen.
So, in June 1915, a force of 28 men was dispatched from Britain on a long journey. Their commanding officer was an eccentric naval officer called Geoffrey Spicer-Simson who was known for being the oldest Lieutenant Commander in the Royal Navy, a man court-martialled for wrecking his own ships and a complete liar. He was given command of two small gunboats, which he named "Mimi" and "Toutou" (childish onomatopoeia for "Cat" and "Dog" in French). After a monthlong journey to South Africa via the Atlantic Ocean, the boats and expedition travelled by train to the Congo. There, with great difficulty, the expedition carried the two boats, with the aid of steam engines and mules, to the edge of Lake Tanganyika.
They captured one ship, the "Kigani", and named her "Fifi"; they also sank the "Hedwig von Wissman", but did not engage the formidable "Graf von Götzen", which remained dominant on the lake until she was scuttled in the wake of an Anglo-Belgian attack overland on German positions.
Today.
The scuttled ship "Graf von Götzen" was raised and now operates on the lake as the MV "Liemba".


Town of Tonawanda Veterans Memorial

The Town of Tonawanda Veterans Memorial is a public memorial in the Town of Tonawanda, New York. It is located in Walter M. Kenney Field at the northwest corner of Brighton Road and Colvin Boulevard. The memorial stands to honor the service of all veterans of the United States Armed Forces.
Initial construction of the memorial took roughly seven weeks and was completed in mid-August 2009. The memorial was formally dedicated on August 18, 2009 before a crowd of more than 1,500 people. Retired U.S. Army General and former U.S. Secretary of State Colin L. Powell delivered the keynote address. A crowd of several hundred people gathered one year later, on August 18, 2010, for a re-dedication ceremony to commemorate the completion of a major expansion effort necessitated by the popularity of the memorial among interested donors.
The focal point of the memorial is a seven-foot-tall V-shaped monument of Paradiso granite, standing for "Veterans". The monument was designed specifically for the memorial in 2007 by artist and Vietnam War veteran Ralph Sirianni. Sirianni's original sketch of the monument was featured on donation pamphlets distributed to residents of the Town of Tonawanda and did not depict the memorial wall or elevated landscape. Architectural firm Carmina, Wood & Morris designed the memorial and surrounding landscape, incorporating Sirianni's monument as the centerpiece.
Granite plaques engraved with the names of local veterans hang on two angled, semicircular walls. One wall partially surrounds the granite monument, while a second wall, constructed a year after the first, wraps around the reverse of the memorial's elevated platform. The site also features seven flagpoles, one flying the flag of the United States and the POW/MIA flag, and six others displaying the flags of the U.S. Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, and Merchant Marine.
The memorial is surrounded by several trees and numerous park benches. Each tree and park bench bears a bronze plaque inscribed with the names of veterans, community organizations, or local businesses on whose behalf financial contributions were made to fund the memorial's construction. Adjacent to the memorial is a Korean War-era Grumman F9F-6P Cougar Naval airframe, on loan to the Town of Tonawanda from the U.S. government. The airframe was installed at its current location in May 1959 and is a well-known landmark in the community.
History.
Background.
The Town of Tonawanda Veterans Memorial project began in 2004 as a grassroots effort to establish a permanent site in the town for residents to gather and pay tribute to their relatives, friends, and fellow Americans who have served or currently serve in the U.S. Military. In 2007, the Town of Tonawanda Veterans Memorial Steering Committee was established to see the project through to completion.
 To fund construction, the memorial steering committee solicited private donations from town residents and business owners. For $100, a donor could have the name of a military veteran of their choice engraved on the memorial. Donors could also have a tree, park bench, or flag pole dedicated in honor of a veteran for $1,000, $2,000, or $3,000, respectively. Between 2007 and 2009, the committee raised over $100,000 in private donations and successfully applied for $47,500 in grant funding offered by the State of New York.
By the spring of 2009, the committee had reached its funding goal to cover the cost of construction and the project was ready to be put out to bid. The Tonawanda Town Board agreed to designate space for the memorial at Walter M. Kenney Field and fully manage its construction. The project was put out to bid three times before an offer was returned within the range that the committee could afford. With a construction contractor confirmed and work set to begin, the memorial steering committee held a groundbreaking ceremony on May 22, 2009 at what was to be the future site of the memorial. Joining the steering committee that day were local military veterans and residents, as well as town and state officials.
The "Blue Jet".
Walter M. Kenney Field was the chosen location for the Town of Tonawanda Veterans Memorial for its high visibility from nearby roads, ease of access for pedestrians, and for its historical significance as the longtime home of a Korean War-era Grumman F9F-6P Cougar Naval airframe, on loan to the town from the U.S. government. The "blue jet," as it is often called, has been on loan to the town from the U.S. government since May 1959. Today, the memorial sits directly behind the F9F-6P airframe.
During the construction of the memorial, a local auto collision business volunteered to refurbish the F9F-6P airframe. To refurbish the aluminum structure, volunteers removed all old paint, pounded out dents, filled in cracks and gaps, repainted all surfaces, and applied decals to the fuselage and wings. The entire process took roughly three weeks to complete.
Since its installation, the F9F-6P airframe had been used as a piece of playground equipment by local children. However, in February 2009, town government officials received paperwork from the National Museum of Naval Aviation requesting that the town take full responsibility for the loaned airframe's upkeep and make an effort to prevent people from climbing on its wings and fuselage. In response to this request, the town initially installed signage asking visitors to refrain from climbing on the airframe. However, the damage continued. Less than a year later, volunteers once again took to repairing the airframe, after which the town installed a four-foot high wrought-iron fence around the long-standing community icon. On July 11, 2014, a former resident of the area offered to commit an unspecified sum for the plane's upkeep if the town would remove the fence. The town responded that it is not permitted by the National Museum of Naval Aviation to permit people to climb on the plane. Further, it stated that because the plane was not maintained for a very long time, the last renovation required the use of carbon fiber, which is not resilient for climbing.
Dedication Ceremony.
The Town of Tonawanda Veterans Memorial was unveiled to the public in a dedication ceremony the afternoon of Tuesday, August 18, 2009. The Tuesday date was chosen to accommodate the event's keynote speaker, Colin Powell, who was scheduled to visit the area for a separate event in nearby Buffalo, New York later that same day. Powell is connected to the Town of Tonawanda through his sister and brother-in-law, who were once residents of the town.
Over 1,500 people convened on Walter M. Kenney Field to witness the ceremony, including area residents, public officials, active military personnel, veterans organizations, and members of the Patriot Guard Riders. Invitations had been sent to those that made financial contributions to fund the memorial, but the event was open to the public and received significant media attention in anticipation of Powell's address.
The ceremony featured multiple military, veteran, and police honor guards, a flag raising ceremony, several speeches, and the unveiling of the memorial's V-shaped granite monument. In addition, a member of the memorial steering committee read a letter from U.S. President Barack Obama written to the people of the Town of Tonawanda in recognition of the day's dedication ceremony.
In his keynote address, Powell spoke of the Town of Tonawanda Veterans Memorial as a symbolic gesture of thanks to the military veterans it represents, and as a tool to educate youth on the meaning of military service. He stressed the role of young people in society and acknowledged that it was a teenage Town of Tonawanda resident that initiated the grassroots effort to build the memorial, saying that "sometimes it is the youngest people in our community who understand what's important." Powell further remarked that the memorial's location, in a public park and adjacent to a playground, means that it will be readily visible to local children and that "it will speak to them silently, but powerfully." He also discussed his appreciation of military service throughout the history of the U.S. and of his own military service, including his time leading the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Powell ended his speech on the topic of government policies aimed at providing services to military veterans, including health care and other benefits. On this, Powell said that offering those services to military veterans is as much a symbol of thanks as a memorial built in their honor.
Memorial Expansion.
At the time of its dedication, the memorial listed the names of nearly 500 local military veterans categorized according to their branch of service across 12 granite plaques mounted to the memorial wall. The wall itself was designed to accommodate a total of 1,000 names, with the expectation that names beyond the first 500 would be added to the wall over a period of years following construction. However, it was just months after the dedication ceremony that the wall reached capacity.
By the end of 2009, more names had been submitted for engraving than could be accommodated on the original wall. In light of this, the Town of Tonawanda chose to initiate a second phase of construction to expand the memorial. That expansion took the form of a semicircular wall surrounding the back side of the existing memorial, adding space for up to 2,500 additional names across 30 new granite plaques. Construction began in the spring of 2010 with workers carefully orchestrating the installation of the new wall around existing memorial fixtures.
Work on the second wall finished in time for the town to host a re-dedication ceremony one year after the first, on August 18, 2010.


Battle off Lizard Point

The Battle off Lizard Point was a naval action which took place on 18 February 1637 off the coast of Cornwall, England, during the Eighty Years' War. The Spanish admiral Miguel de Horna, commander of the Armada of Flanders, intercepted an important Anglo-Dutch merchant convoy of 44 vessels escorted by six warships, destroying or capturing 20 of them, and returned safely to his base in Dunkirk.
Background.
In early 1636, the experienced Flemish admiral, Jacob Collaert, commander of the Armada of Flanders, the fleet of the Dunkirkers, was defeated by five warships of the Dutch blocking fleet under Captain Johan Evertsen. His galleon and another vessel were sunk after a prolonged engagement off the French coast, near Dieppe, and he was captured along with 200 of his men. After an exchange of prisoners he was freed, but died of an illness at A Coruña shortly after. The Navarrese Miguel de Horna replaced him. Horna also proved to be a skillful commander, as he destroyed three major enemy convoys in less than two years, winning the actions of the Lizard, Mardyck, and the Channel.
Battle.
Miguel de Horna sailed from Dunkirk on 18 February, in command of a squadron of five ships and two frigates, to attack the Dutch fishing fleet and trade routes. His captains were the Basque Antonio de Anciondo, the Flemish Marcus van Oben and Cornelis Meyne, and the Castilians Antonio Díaz and Salvador Rodríguez. After capturing a merchant ship while under fire from the coastal batteries of Calais, the Spanish squadron crossed the English Channel. An Anglo-Dutch convoy of 28 Dutch merchantmen and 16 English merchantmen, escorted by six Dutch warships, was sighted off Lizard Point, on the coast of Cornwall. The Spanish warships rapidly proceeded to attack, approaching the convoy under heavy fire from the escorting warships.
Soon after the convoy escort was engaged by the Spanish, the Dutch flagship was completely disabled by heavy cannon and musketry fire from Horna's flagship. Antonio Díaz's ship managed to board her and capture her flag, but the assault was ultimately repulsed. A second attempt from Horna's ship, which lasted half an hour, also failed, but with the help of a third Spanish ship under Cornelis Meyne, the Dutch flagship was finally captured. Although the merchants used their cannon to help the Dutch warships, three were nevertheless sunk. The remaining two surrendered and were captured. The convoy ships dispersed and tried to escape individually, taking advantage of the smoke of battle and the darkness of the night. However, 14 of them fell into Spanish hands and were taken to Dunkirk with the three captured warships.
Aftermath.
Horna returned to Dunkirk escorting 17 prizes fully loaded with ammunitions and supplies. He avoided the Dutch lieutenant-admiral, Philips van Dorp, who had been sent to intercept with 20 warships. Dorp attempted to blockade the Spanish fleet in the port, but Horna was able to continue his campaigns without difficulties. In July, he ambushed two Dutch Bordeaux convoys, carrying off 12 prizes loaded with, amongst other items, 125 valuable cavalry horses. The convoy coming from Venice to Amsterdam was also captured, as well as 14 ships of the Dutch East India Company and eight which carried gifts to Louis XIII of France.
In a later exploit, the action of 18 February 1639, when he was attacked by a Dutch fleet of 17 ships, Horna managed to help a Spanish convoy escape, despite his numerical inferiority.


Tomb of the Unknown Soldier of the American Revolution

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier of the American Revolution honors an unidentified soldier of the American Revolutionary War, whose remains were unearthed in 1826 in Alexandria, Virginia. The memorial is in the churchyard Burial Ground of the Old Presbyterian Meeting House, a congregation of the Presbyterian Church that dates from 1772. The Meeting House is located at 323 South Fairfax Street, in Alexandria's Old Town National Historic Landmark District.
Creation of the memorial.
In 1826, during construction of St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, which is located immediately next to the churchyard of the Old Presbyterian Meeting House, the body of an unidentified man, clothed in a Revolutionary War uniform, was unearthed. The body was then reinterred within the current bounds of the Meeting House Burial Ground. The memory that the remains of an unidentified soldier had been reburied at this site was carried into the twentieth century by Mary Gregory Powell (1847–1928), a member of the Meeting House congregation and long-time historian of the Mount Vernon chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Her father, William Gregory (1789–1875), had come to Alexandria from Scotland in 1807 and had served the Presbyterian Meeting House congregation for many years as an Elder and member of the Church Committee. Mary Gregory had placed flowers on the unmarked grave of the unidentified soldier as a child.
Several events during the 1920s influenced the creation of this memorial to an Unknown of the American Revolution. One was the memorialization of soldiers who had died in World War I and remained unidentified. On the second anniversary of the signing of the treaty that ended World War I, Armistice Day 1920, memorials to unknown soldiers were dedicated in Great Britain and France. The United States dedicated its memorial to an unknown soldier of that war at Arlington National Cemetery on November 11, 1921. The sarcophagus-style monument that now sits atop the burial vault of the Tomb of the Unknowns was added in 1932.
The 1920s also witnessed a surge of interest in honoring and preserving the nation's colonial heritage. Alexandria's earliest Colonial revival preservation effort was the restoration of the Presbyterian Meeting House, which began in 1925. As that project drew to its completion, Mary Gregory Powell contacted John B. Gordon, chair of the Meeting House restoration committee, about honoring the Unknown Soldier. The decision was made to formally mark the gravesite. Leadership in that task was provided by Alexandria's American Legion Post No. 24.
On February 22, 1928, a temporary marker was placed at the gravesite in conjunction with Alexandria's annual celebration of George Washington's birthday. Dedication services held that day followed traditions in Alexandria that date from its colonial period – participants initially gathered at Gadsby's Tavern and then joined in a processional walk through the city's streets to the Meeting House, where the service was conducted. Mary Gregory Powell dedicated the initial wooden temporary marker.
Dedication of the memorial.
The current memorial was created by the National Society of the Children of the American Revolution under the leadership of Mrs. Josiah A. Van Orsdel, the Society's president. The memorial was dedicated on Lexington–Concord Day, April 19, 1929, with services in the Presbyterian Meeting House and at the site of the memorial in the churchyard Burial Ground. The service in the Meeting House was led by Mrs. Van Orsdel and included two addresses – "Story of the Discovery of the Grave," by John B. Gordon, chair of the Meeting House restoration committee, and "157,000 American Unknown War Dead Here and Abroad," by James W. Good, U.S. Secretary of War. William Tyler Page, Clerk of the United States House of Representatives and author of "The American's Creed," read the "Epitaph of the Unknown Soldier," which he had prepared for the tabletop memorial. Music was provided by the U.S. Army Band, which joined with the church's historic 1849 Erben organ to lead the singing of the Star Spangled Banner. Following the service inside the Meeting House, the assemblage moved to the gravesite, accompanied by the solemn tolling of the church bell, where numerous wreaths were placed at the foot of the memorial by patriotic and military organizations. The 90-minute program was broadcast live national audience by Washington's local radio station, WRC.
The memorial today.
Alexandria's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier of the American Revolution continues to be honored regularly by visitors and with ceremonial services conducted by the Children of the American Revolution, Daughters of the American Revolution, Sons of the American Revolution, Society of the Cincinnati, First Virginia Regiment of the Continental Line, Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion, Legion of Honor of Shriners International, National Sojourners of Freemasonry, and other groups.
Other memorials to Unknown Soldiers of the American Revolution.
There are three other unidentified soldiers of the American Revolution who are similarly honored. One is honored with the Tomb of the Unknown Revolutionary War Soldier, located in Washington Square, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, created in 1957. The second is honored with the Unknown Patriot Soldier of the American Revolution, located near Jamestown, Virginia, created in 2016.
The third is the Tomb of the Unknown Patriot of the American Revolution, paying homage to an unknown soldier of the fort, located south of Akron/Canton, in Bolivar OH, at Fort Laurens, the only Revolutionary War fort in Ohio.


Sveaborg


Flanders Field American Cemetery and Memorial

Flanders Field American Cemetery and Memorial is a World War I cemetery in the city of Waregem, Belgium. Originally a temporary battlefield burial ground, Flanders Field American Cemetery later became the only permanent American World War I cemetery in Belgium.  The Flanders Field American Cemetery commemorates 411 service members of the United States Armed Forces of which 368 are interred. The Walls of the Missing inside the chapel venerates 43 missing service members.
This cemetery is administered by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) and occupies a six-acre (2.5 hectares) site.  The government of Belgium granted its free use as a permanent burial ground in perpetuity without charge or taxation.
At the center of the cemetery is the small memorial chapel of white Pouillenay stone. Above its bronze entrance door is engraved:
"Greet Them Ever"
"With Grateful Hearts"
On three of the outer walls, the dedicatory inscription appears in French, Flemish and English:
"This Chapel Has Been Erected By The"
"United States Of America In Memory"
"Of Her Soldiers Who Fought And"
"Died In Belgium During The World"
"War. These Graves Are The Permanent"
"And Visible Symbol Of The"
"Heroic Devotion With Which They"
"Gave Their Lives To The Common"
"Cause Of Humanity"
Beneath the three versions of the inscription, sculptured bas-relief figures symbolizing Grief, Remembrance, and History respectively appear.
Located inside the chapel is an altar of Grand Antique (black and white) marble.  On the front of the altar is inscribed:
"I Will Ransom Them From The Power Of The Grave"
"I Will Redeem Them From Death"
Above it carved on a rose-tinted marble panel is a Crusader's sword outlined in gold.  On either side of the altar are bronze candelabras depicting cannons  Flags of the United States, Belgium, France, Great Britain, and Italy also flank the altar.  On the side walls of the chapel, panels of rose St. George marble carry the names of 43 American soldiers who lost their lives in Belgium and sleep in unknown graves.  Above the names is the Great Seal of the United States and the inscription:
"In Memory Of Those American"
"Soldiers Who Fought In This Region"
"And Who Sleep In Unknown Graves"
The interior of the chapel is enhanced by the mosaic ceiling, which depicts a lighted oil lamp under the stars of Heaven with doves of peace flying toward the light.
The graves area consists of four rectangular plots.  Each plot contains 92 graves marked with white Carrara marble headstones set in four rows.  Eight Stars of David mark the graves of those of Jewish faith.  21 of the 368 graves in the cemetery are of Unknowns.  The majority of the soldiers memorialized at the Flanders Field American Cemetery represent four main divisions who fought in Belgium during the final weeks of the war.  The 27th New York and the 30th Old Hickory Divisions saw action near Ypres from August 18 to September 4, 1918.  The 37th Buckeye and 91st Wild West Divisions pushed west from Waregem and across the Scheldt River at Oudenaarde from October 30, 1918 until the Armistice on November 11, 1918.  The Flanders Field American Cemetery is situated on a battlefield where the 91st Division suffered many casualties in securing the nearby wooded area called "Spitaals Bosschen".
The Flanders Field American Cemetery takes its name from the poem “In Flanders Fields” written by a Canadian physician, Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae. McCrae wrote the poem near Ypres after attending the funeral of his friend, Lieutenant Alexis Helmer.


East Pomeranian offensive

The East Pomeranian strategic offensive operation () was an offensive by the Soviet Red Army against the German "Wehrmacht" on the Eastern Front. It took place in Pomerania and West Prussia from 10 February – 4 April 1945.
The operation happened in four phases:
It was the East Pomeranian offensive that prevented Zhukov from reaching Berlin in February (the object of the massive Vistula–Oder offensive), since it became a priority to clear German forces from Pomerania first.
Planning.
The 2nd Belorussian Front—under Konstantin Rokossovsky—had initially been tasked with advancing westward north of the Vistula River toward Pomerania and the major port city of Danzig, with the primary aim of protecting the right flank of Zhukov's 1st Belorussian Front, which was pushing towards Berlin. During the East Prussian offensive, however, Rokossovsky was ordered to wheel directly north toward Elbing. This left substantial German forces intact in Pomerania, where they threatened the right flank of Zhukov's formations.
As a result, once the initial phase of the East Prussian offensive was over, the 2nd Belorussian Front was redeployed with the intention of attacking westwards into Pomerania, eliminating the possibility of a German counter-offensive (similarly, the parallel Silesian offensives of Konev's 1st Ukrainian Front in the south were in part designed to protect the 1st Belorussian Front's left flank). The need to secure the flanks delayed the Soviets' final push towards Berlin, which was originally planned for February, until April.
Joseph Stalin's decision to delay the push toward Berlin from February to April has been a subject of some controversy among both the Soviet generals and military historians, with one side arguing that the Soviets had a chance of securing Berlin much quicker and with much lower losses in February, and the other arguing that the danger of leaving large German formations on the flanks could have resulted in a successful German counter-attack and prolonged the war further: the Germans did in fact mount a surprise counter-attack in Pomerania in mid-February, Operation Solstice. The delay did, however, allow the Soviets to occupy significant parts of Austria in the Vienna offensive.
German intelligence.
As early as 13 February, German intelligence services had deduced that the Soviets would seek to clear Pomerania before advancing on Berlin. The 2nd Army—defending a large and exposed sector running through Pomerania eastward toward the edge of East Prussia at Elbing — sought permission to withdraw, but this was denied by Adolf Hitler. Graudenz, on the Vistula, was surrounded on 18 February (the garrison, from the 83rd Infantry Division—finally surrendered the following month).
Deployments.
Wehrmacht.
The corps of the Second Army were seriously understrength by this time, being composed largely of fragmentary or "ad hoc" units. The 3rd Panzer Army had been rebuilt using the "korps" of the recently formed 11th SS Panzer Army, the original formation having been largely destroyed in Lithuania and East Prussia, where its remnants were now defending Königsberg.
The offensive.
Breakthrough.
Rokossovsky opened the offensive on 24 February using the fresh troops of Kozlov's 19th Army, but after an initial advance of some they were halted by intense German resistance. On 26 February, he inserted the 3rd Guards Tank Corps east of Neustettin, where they achieved a penetration of , and relieved Kozlov of command. The 3rd Guards Tank Corps broke through at Baldenburg, while Neustettin on the Front's left flank fell to the 3rd Guards Cavalry Corps on 27 February.
Weiß had hurriedly assembled the VII Panzer Corps, including the remnants of the 7th Panzer Division, at Rummelsburg to threaten 19th Army's flank. However, after a Soviet breakthrough at Köslin on 2 March, the 2nd Army found itself completely cut off from the rest of its Army Group.
1st Belorussian Front joins the attack.
Zhukov's right wing—a grouping of the 3rd Shock Army and 1st and 2nd Guards Tank Armies—went over to the offensive on 1 March, striking northward with the main force concentrated at Reetz. The entire left wing of 3rd Panzer Army was cut off by their breakthrough, after Guderian refused Raus' request for withdrawal; the right flank withdrew towards Stettin.
On 4 March, forward Soviet tank units reached the Baltic, and the German forces in Pomerania were trapped in a series of encirclements. The 2nd Army began to fall back on the Danzig fortified area, while the X SS Corps of the 3rd Panzer Army had been surrounded at Dramburg.
The second phase.
Rokossovsky opened the second phase of his offensive on March 6. The 2nd Shock Army threatened to cut off the defending forces in the fortress of Marienburg, which was evacuated two days later, while in the east Elbing finally fell on 10 March. The defence of Marienburg was conducted by a "Kampfgruppe" under the nominal control of the staff of the 7th Infantry Division, including marine, SS and other units. Weiß, having warned that the Elbing pocket could not be held, was relieved of command on 9 March and replaced by Dietrich von Saucken. The troops of the German 2nd Army withdrew in disarray into Danzig and Gdingen, where the 2nd Belorussian Front besieged them. Zhukov's forces meanwhile, cleared the remainder of 3rd Panzer Army from the east bank of the lower Oder, driving the Germans from their last positions in a bridgehead at Altdamm.
Siege of Kolberg.
Many civilian refugees from Pomerania had fled into the coastal town of Kolberg, which was surrounded by 4 March. Nevertheless, the town was successfully defended until 18 March, by which time evacuation was almost complete.
Siege of Danzig.
The Danzig-Gotenhafen (Gdingen) Fortified Area—also the main port for refugees from East Prussia escaping to the west—was ordered to be defended for as long as possible by von Saucken in order to keep the evacuation routes open.
Rokossovsky opened his final offensive on 15 March 1945; the main thrust, toward the coast at Zoppot between Gdingen and Danzig, being undertaken by the 70th and 49th Army advancing in parallel. The fighting was savage, but by 19 March 1945 the Soviet spearheads had reached the heights over Zoppot, while the 4th Panzer Division had been pushed back to the outskirts of Danzig itself. By 22 March 1945, the 70th Army reached the sea, splitting the German defence. Gdingen was taken on 26 March 1945, its defenders and many civilians retreating to the headland at Oxhöft, from where they were evacuated to the Hel Peninsula.
Danzig finally fell on 30 March 1945, after which the remnants of the 2nd Army withdrew to the Vistula delta southeast of the city. Evacuation of civilians and military personnel from there and from the Hel Peninsula continued until 10 May 1945. The Soviets declared the East Pomeranian offensive complete a week after the fall of Danzig.
According to Soviet claims, in the Battle of Danzig the Germans lost 39,000 soldiers dead and 10,000 captured.


Serbia in World War II


Battle of Alexandretta

The Battle of Alexandretta was the first clash between the forces of the Byzantine Empire and the Fatimid Caliphate in Syria. It was fought in early 971 near Alexandretta, while the main Fatimid army was besieging Antioch, which the Byzantines had captured two years previously. The Byzantines, led by one of Emperor John I Tzimiskes' household eunuchs, lured a 4,000-strong Fatimid detachment to attack their empty encampment and then attacked them from all sides, destroying the Fatimid force. The defeat at Alexandretta, coupled with the Qarmatian invasion of southern Syria, forced the Fatimids to lift the siege and secured Byzantine control of Antioch and northern Syria.
Background.
On 28 October 969, Antioch fell to the Byzantine commander Michael Bourtzes. The fall of the great metropolis of northern Syria was soon followed by a treaty between the Byzantines and the Hamdanid Emirate of Aleppo, which made Aleppo a tributary vassal and handed over to the Byzantine Empire the entirety of the former Abbasid frontier zones ("thughur") in Cilicia and Upper Mesopotamia, as well as the coastal strip of Syria between the Mediterranean Sea and the Orontes River until the environs of Tripoli, Arqa, and Shayzar. Byzantine control of this area was initially only theoretical, and the murder of the Byzantine emperor Nikephoros II Phokas in December 969 threatened to nullify Byzantine gains in the region.
Further south, the troops of the Fatimids of Ifriqiya, under the command of Jawhar al-Siqilli, had just conquered Egypt from its Ikhshidid rulers. Seized with the spirit of "jihad" and aiming to legitimize their rule, the Fatimids used the Byzantine advance on Antioch and the "infidel" threat as a major item in their propaganda aimed towards the newly conquered region, along with promises to restore just government. The news of Antioch's fall helped to persuade the Fatimids to allow Jawhar to send Ja'far ibn Falah to invade Palestine. There, Ja'far defeated the last Ikhshidid remnants under al-Hasan ibn Ubayd Allah ibn Tughj and took Ramla in May 970, before occupying Damascus in November.
Siege of Antioch and battle at Alexandretta.
Almost as soon as Damascus submitted, Ja'far ibn Falah entrusted one of his "ghilman", named Futuh ("Victories"), to carry out the promised "jihad" against the Byzantines, although the 15th-century compilation "Uyun al-Akhbar" by the Yemeni historian Idris Imad al-Din also mentions Akhu Muslim as commander. Futuh assembled a large army of Kutama Berbers, strengthened with levies from Palestine and southern Syria, and moved to besiege Antioch in December 970. The Byzantine writer Kedrenos claims that the Fatimid army numbered a clearly much exaggerated 100,000 men, but Imad al-Din records the number as 20,000 men. The Fatimids laid siege to the city, but its inhabitants offered stiff resistance, and Ibn Falah had to send "army after army", in the description of the 14th-century historian Abu Bakr ibn al-Dawadari, apparently from the levies raised in southern Syria, to its reinforcement. Following the account of the 15th-century Egyptian al-Maqrizi, it was with these additional troops, which he puts at 4,000 men, that it became possible to completely halt the city's resupply by intercepting the caravans headed towards it.
In the meantime, Nikephoros' murderer and successor, John I Tzimiskes, was unable to intervene in person in the east due to the more menacing invasion of the Balkans by Sviatoslav I of Kiev. As a result, he sent a small force under a trusted eunuch of his household, the "patrikios" Nicholas, who according to the contemporary Leo the Deacon was experienced in battle, to relieve the siege. In the meantime, the siege of Antioch had continued for five months over winter and into spring, without result. At some point, a Fatimid detachment—according to Ibn al-Dawadari 4,000 men under a Berber chieftain called Aras and a former emir of Tarsus, Ibn az-Zayyat—moved north against Alexandretta, where the Byzantine relief army had camped. Informed of their approach, the Byzantine commander vacated the camp and placed his troops in ambush. Finding the enemy encampment deserted, the Fatimid troops began to plunder it, heedless of anything else. At that moment, Nicholas launched a surprise attack from all sides and the Fatimid force disintegrated; most of the Muslim army perished, but Aras with Ibn az-Zayyat managed to escape.
The defeat at Alexandretta was a major blow to Fatimid morale. Coupled with news of an advance against Damascus of the Qarmatians, a radical Isma'ili group originating from Eastern Arabia, Ibn Falah ordered Futuh to raise the siege of Antioch in early July 971. The army returned to Damascus, whence the various contingents dispersed to their home districts.
Aftermath.
The first clash between the eastern Mediterranean's two foremost powers thus ended in a Byzantine victory, which on the one hand strengthened the Byzantine position in northern Syria and on the other weakened the Fatimids, both in lives lost and in morale and reputation. As the historian Paul Walker writes, had Ibn Falah "possessed the troops and the prestige lost at Alexandretta, he might have resisted the onrush of the Qarmatians. The armies of the local districts might have aided him had they not dispersed". In the end, Ja'far was unable to resist the Qarmatians and their Arab Bedouin allies; making the fatal choice of confronting them in the desert, he was defeated and killed in battle in August 971. It was a defeat that led to the near total collapse of Fatimid control in southern Syria and Palestine, and the Qarmatian invasion of Egypt. The Fatimids were victorious before Fustat, however, and eventually managed to drive the Qarmatians out of Syria and restore their control over the restive province. The Byzantines remained quiescent until the great campaigns led by John Tzimiskes in person in 974–975. Although the emperor advanced deep into Muslim lands and even threatened to take Jerusalem, his death in January 976 lifted the Byzantine danger for the Fatimids: the Byzantines would never again try to advance far beyond their northern Syrian possessions around Antioch.


224th Mixed Brigade (Spain)

The 224th Mixed Brigade () was a mixed brigade of the Spanish Republican Army in the Spanish Civil War. It was formed in summer 1937 in Catalonia from scattered Coastal Defence units and had four battalions: the 893, 894, 895 and 896.
In early March 1938 this mixed brigade was sent to combat in Aragon without adequate equipment and training. Within a short time its battalions were decimated in such a manner that only a few demoralized men remained and the brigade was disbanded.
The number of this unit was assigned then to a new brigade established a month later, on 19 April 1938. This new mixed brigade also suffered many losses and only a few of its men survived and were able to cross the French border while fleeing from the advancing rebel armies.
History.
The 224th Mixed Brigade was established in August 1937 in Catalonia with Coastal Defence "(Defensa de Costas)" units as a military reserve unit for the Levantine Army "(Ejército de Levante)". The command of the unit was entrusted to Infantry Commander Martín Calvo Calvo, who had been a retired Captain at the time of the July 1936 coup. The commissar was Ignacio Fernández of the Communist Party of Spain (PCE).
First unit: Aragon.
The 224th Mixed Brigade was placed under the 72nd Division of the XVIII Army Corps of the Levantine Army "(Ejército de Levante)". It was sent with this division to the Teruel front line, but the organization of both the brigade and its division was still so deficient that it was not possible to use them in combat and thus it was camped as reserve unit south of La Muela. On 7 March 1938 the brigade was sent, still not fully equipped, to the Battle of Belchite during the imminent rebel offensive in Aragon, but it was overwhelmed by the sheer force and intensity of the Nationalist attacks. The brigade was further devastated on 11 March in bloody combats that followed in the Escatrón and Caspe area.
The result of all these combat actions foisted on the ill-prepared brigade was the almost total dispersion of the unit, with only a much battered battalion remaining in the area between Pertusa and Monzón, another between Fraga and the Ebro River and the remainder engaged in the Defence of Lleida. The brigade had been shattered in such manner that it was no longer possible to reestablish it and it was terminated in March 1938.
Latter unit: Catalonia.
On 19 April the number 224 was revived and assigned to a new mixed brigade hastily formed with new battalions that had formerly belonged to the 124th Mixed Brigade. The new unit was assigned to the 60th Division of the XVIII Army Corps at Vallfogona. The commander was Militia Major Antonio Moya Gabarrón, and the chief of staff commander was Militia Captain Benito García Freixas.
The new unit took part in the Battle of the Ebro, arriving to the frontline area on 30 July as reserve of the XV Army Corps in the Fayón-Vilalba dels Arcs sector.
As stated in a rebel military report based on deserters from this Republican Army unit —while at the Second Gandesa front in Vilalba dels Arcs— unusual measures were taken in order to avoid desertions in the newly reorganized 224th Mixed Brigade.
On 3 August the 224th Mixed Brigade relieved the troops of the 16th Division in the line between La Pobla de Massaluca and "Cuatro Caminos".
By 19 August it was caught up in the heavy combats of the Vilalba-Corbera-Vértice Gaeta triangle where it held its positions without giving way for eight days.
Between 9 and 12 September the brigade was relieved by forces of the 42nd Division, while they were on their way to cover the left bank of the lower Ebro River.
On 4 December the 224th Mixed Brigade was sent to Ivars d'Urgell in order to defend the bridgehead at Balaguer. In the combats that ensued it suffered many casualties, for the rebels were initiating the Catalonia Offensive with numerous well-equipped units and their advance was unstoppable. Its hasty retreat led the battered 224th Mixed Brigade northeastwards across Catalonia, to Cervera, Calaf, Manresa and Vic, from were a few of its remaining survivors managed to cross the French border around January 1939.


Governor of Gravesend and Tilbury

The Governor of Gravesend and Tilbury Fort (or West Tilbury) was the military officer responsible for paired fortifications and blockhouses protecting the River Thames: on the south side of the river at Gravesend, Kent and on the north side at Tilbury Fort and West Tilbury, Essex. The fortifications here date from the time of Henry VIII; Tilbury Fort remained in military use until 1950, but the office of Governor was discontinued upon the death of Sir Lowry Cole in 1842.


Truceless War


Battle of Porrassalmi

The Battle of Porrassalmi was a battle fought near the bight of Porrassalmi in Savonia on 13 June 1789, during the Russo-Swedish War (1788–90). A Swedish force of about 750 men succeeded in stopping the northbound advance of a Russian force numbering 5,000 men.
The Swedish forces blocked the road to Mikkeli at a narrow watercrossing with a bridge near the bight of Porrassalmi. There they faced Russian infantrymen led by Ivan Ivanovich Michelson and Georg Magnus Sprengtporten a Swedish officer who had entered the Russian service and received the command of the Russian army corps directed against Finland. Sprengtporten persuaded the Russians that Finnish troops were disloyal to the Swedish Crown and not going to fight, but his column was met with gunfire. Only infantry units participated in the fighting. The Russians were moving in a too-close formation and, despite numerous charges against the outnumbered Swedes, could not break through the defence and pulled back, covered by mounted Cossacks and Bashkirs. The Russians lost 425 men killed and wounded, including their commander, General Georg Magnus Sprengtporten, who was seriously wounded, while the Swedes claimed to have killed and wounded 900. The Swedes lost in total 203 men dead or wounded. The battle brought to prominence Major Georg Carl von Döbeln, whose iconic black silk bandanna was worn over a wound suffered in the battle. Sprengtporten claimed that his defeat was due to a lack of cooperation between his officers and that the decision to leave the battlefield was unsound and taken without his consideration. He personally led a charge that succeeded in capturing a Swedish battery. Russian staff officer Ivan Sazonov, who also participated in the fighting, was said to have publicly praised the enemy's valour after the battle, although adding that it was only the enemy's advantageous defensive position that determined the outcome of the battle.


George Kemball

Major-General Sir George Vere Kemball, KCMG, CB, DSO, R.A. (1859–1941) was a British Army officer of the 19th and early 20th century. He was a career officer in the British Army spending most of his career in India and Africa.
Early life and family.
George Kemball was the son of Major-General John Shaw Kemball. He had a younger brother, Arnold Henry Grant Kemball, who commanded the 54th (Kootenay) Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force during the First World War. His father and uncle were both generals in the British Army. His grandfather, Vero Shaw Kemball, had been the Surgeon-General for Bombay. Other ancestors served various regiments of the British Army, including the Black Watch, as well as the Indian Army. In 1889, he married Hattie Elliot. With his brother, he attended Twyford before going to Harrow.
Military career.
Early career.
After attending Twyford School and Harrow, he obtained a commission as a lieutenant in the Royal Artillery in 1878. After serving in the Second Afghan War (1878–1880), he was promoted to captain in 1886. In 1895, he was assigned to the staff of the Chitral Relief Force, working as the Deputy Assistant Quartermaster General for Intelligence, for which he was mentioned in dispatches and be brevetted to major. In 1898, he was promoted to major.
In 1897 Kemball took part in the Tochi Expedition along the North-West Frontier, for which he was also mentioned in dispatches, and in 1900 he first saw action in Africa, campaigning in Nigeria in the Kaduna Expedition. The following year he took command of an expedition against the Bida and Kontagora in January 1901, for which he would receive the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) in April 1902.
Kemball was appointed Inspector general and thus acting commander of the West African Frontier Force in January 1901, holding this position until 1905, with the local rank of brigadier-general. He was also promoted to the substantive rank of lieutenant-colonel in 1901. In late 1902 he started an extended tour inspecting the colonies of Northern Nigeria, Southern Nigeria and Lagos. He commanded British forces in the Kano-Sokoto Expedition in 1903, for which he was rewarded with a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB).
Service in Africa and first commands.
After the Kano-Sokoto Expedition, Kemball was recalled to London, where he was involved in the recruiting and selection of personnel for service in Nigeria. From 1909 until 1913, he worked at the War Office. In 1914, he returned to India, where he was given command of a brigade and promoted to major general.
Great War service.
During World War I, Kemball served in Mesopotamia and was involved in efforts to relieve the Siege of Kut. He commanded the 28th Indian Brigade of the 7th (Meerut) Division through the battles of 1916. He was wounded at the Battle of Sanniyat in April 1916. For his service in the Mesopotamian Campaign, he was knighted and made a Knight Commander of Order of St Michael and St George.
After his service in the Mesopotamian Campaign, he returned to India, where he was given command of 5th (Mhow) Division in 1917. He remained in command of the division until 1919. After his retirement, from 1927 to 1929 he served as the colonel commandant of the Royal Artillery.
Kemball died in 1941, survived by his wife and children.


Northwood Gratitude and Honor Memorial

The Northwood Gratitude and Honor Memorial is a memorial in Irvine, California, to American troops who lost their lives in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The names on the memorial come from US DoD casualty records for Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and . Located at Northwood Community Park, on the corner of Yale and Bryan in Northwood, Irvine, California, it is the only known memorial in the United States dedicated to listing by name all American service men and women killed in the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. Local community members assembled annually from 2003 through 2010 to erect a temporary memorial in the park, hold public ceremonies on Memorial Day, July 5, September 11, Veterans Day and conduct nightly candlelight vigils throughout each June and early July. A permanent memorial was built as a joint community and city project in the same location as the temporary memorial as part of the community park. It was dedicated in a ceremony on November 14, 2010.
History.
Shortly after the invasion of Iraq, after hearing of the deaths of about thirty soldiers, Asher Milgrom, a local resident of Irvine, created the first display in the park. The original memorial consisted of thirty wooden posts bearing the names and photos of the fallen. Since 2003, community residents have come together to maintain the temporary memorial on the same site each year from Memorial Day until shortly after Independence Day.
Also involved was Andy Zelinko, a retired resident who frequently makes suggestions to the city council.
Permanent memorial.
Starting in 2006, a non-partisan group of Irvine residents advocated for the establishment of a permanent memorial near the site of the temporary memorial that was set up annually. In late 2009, after debate and conflict among city leaders and local residents, the Irvine City Council unanimously approved a plan to create a permanent memorial. The city leaders approved the spending of the $150,000 already earmarked in 2006 for the $210,000 project, while community members pledged to cover the remaining shortfall through donations and support from the community. The final decision was made December 8, 2009, when the order of names (alphabetic vs. chronological) and whether the names would be segregated by theatre was discussed. The project was designated Capital Improvement Project 397080.
Expenses included:
Updates to the Memorial.
As the first and only memorial dedicated to listing by name all the American service men and women killed in the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, the memorial includes plans for updating it over time as names of the dead accumulate.
At its dedication the Memorial displayed the names of 5,714 American casualties. As of May 25, 2015, the Memorial displayed 6,829 names. These are all the casualties reported by the Pentagon for the period from October 1, 2001 through December 28, 2014 (the end of Operation Enduring Freedom).
Description.
The memorial includes names of all members of the American military reported by the Department of Defense to have died while associated with Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, or Operation New Dawn.


Battle of the Sierra Guadalupe

The Battle of the Sierra Guadalupe (), also known as the Tagus Campaign, was a continuation of the Nationalist Army's race north toward Madrid in the early stages of the Spanish Civil War. In mid-late August 1936, the three Regulares columns of General Yagüe's Army of Africa dashed through the Sierra de Guadalupe Mountains, also known as "Sierra de Villuercas", in central Spain and forded across the Tagus River, capturing several towns and routing the Republicans in a succession of rapid advances.
Background.
On August 14, Badajoz fell to the Nationalists under General Yagüe, cutting off the Republic from Portugal. Ahead of him, several hundred miles to the northeast, across the broad Tagus River, gleamed Madrid, the aim and object of General Franco's lightning campaign. The Army of Africa's famous northward "Marcha" (or "March" - actually a fully motorized displacement), consequently, continued without pause into the hills and valleys sheltering Madrid.
To cover these southern approaches, the Republic deployed loyalist General Riquelme with the so-called "Army of Extremadura", a force of about 9,000 militia. Many of these troops had been redeployed in haste from the mountains of the Guadarrama front, and their condition deteriorated wretchedly in the Tagus River valley.
The battle.
The government militias, while unquestionably brave, were sorely deficient in training and equipment and proved unable to face the disciplined Spanish Foreign Legion and the feared Moroccan "Regulares" shock troops. Desertions bled the Republicans, who refused to dig trenches. Consequently, the Nationalists outmarched and outflanked the defenders, forcing perpetual retreats by threatening encirclement.
Riquelme's forces included 2,000 Anarchists who refused to take his orders and launched useless attacks along the San Vicente hills. On August 17, Major Heli Tella pushed through to Trujillo and crossed the Tagus at Almaraz. Guadalupe fell to Major Antonio Castejón on August 21.
According to the novel "L'Espoir", at Medellín, a section of Colonel Carlos Asensio's column was surprised and savagely attacked by Republican aircraft under André Malraux, but on the whole resistance was minimal. By August 27, all three columns had concentrated at Navalmoral, where the Nationalists launched the war's first air raids on Madrid.


East Coast Memorial