Contents

The Military History Digest is an idiosyncratic selection of military history from a variety of weblogs. Nominations for blogs to follow are always welcome at hwar@silbey.net

19th Century

1. The Pecking Order in the Old Army | to the Sound of the Guns by n/a

"While bouncing around Fort Monroe on Saturday, I paid a bit more attention to the fort’s architecture than normal."

2. Research Exercise: Did Grant Say This? (Part One) by Brooks D. Simpson

"Over the last week or so a quote often attributed to Ulysses S. Grant has made the rounds again, from the comment space at Civil War Memory to Bob Pollack’s Yesterday … and Today blog. Here’s the quote: “Sir,” said Grant, “I have no doubt in the world that the sole object is the restoration [...]..."

3. Research Exercise: Did Grant Say This? (Part Two) by Brooks D. Simpson

"(link to part one) Let’s look at the quote itself first. “Sir,” said Grant, “I have no doubt in the world that the sole object is the restoration of the Union. I will say further, though, that I am a Democrat—every man in my regiment is a Democrat—and whenever I shall be convinced that this [...]..."
4. Slaves as Confederate Cannon Fodder? by Donald R. Shaffer

"Desperate to escape bondage, slaves fled to Union forces any way they could when presented with the opportunity. The federal army, of course, became the main sanctuary for slaves during the Civil War. However, when given a chance to flee to the Union navy, slaves took it. The opportunities were few at the beginning of the war, but increased as the Union blockade of southern ports tightened and federal navy increased its activity along inland water ways An early example of slaves fleeing to the Union navy occurred in July 1861 with the USS Mount Vernon. This ship was a..."

5. The Slaveholders’ Rebellion Bill by Donald R. Shaffer

"The July 8 edition of Civil War Emancipation discussed the lead taken by Congress in Summer 1861 in nudging the United States in the direction of emancipation, at the same time Lincoln was attempting to placate Unionist slaveholders in the border states. It explored a resolution passed by the U.S. House Representatives on July 9, 1861, stating “That in the judgment of this House it is no part of the duty of the soldiers of the United States to capture and return fugitive slaves.” The resolution was the brainchild of abolitionist Congressman Owen Lovejoy of Illinois. Opponents of slavery in..."

6. "Drive on": the Genius of James Buchanan Eads by noreply@blogger.com (Caleb Greinke)

"Building a naval fleet is not the work of a military organization alone. In the Civil War as now, the Navy depended upon businesses and individuals of action to help conceive and produce the nation's ships of war. John Ericsson traditionally receives effusive praise and a surfeit of attention for his role in designing the Monitor and a host of other ingenious creations. But Ericsson has a forgotten counterpart in the American west: James B. Eads. Without Eads's shipbuilding and design collaboration, the western ironclad flotilla may never have come into being, or its birth might have been a great..."

7. Eyewitness to Bull Run by noreply@blogger.com (Ron Coddington)

"Lieutenant Edward Burgin Knox (pictured here, left, with a comrade) wrote this account soon after the First Battle of Bull Run, fought near Manassas, Va., on July 21, 1861. He relates the experience of his regiment, the Eleventh New York Infantry, popularly known as the First Fire Zouaves because of the large number of New York City firemen in its ranks and their distinctive uniforms, inspired by French-colonial soldiers.The regiment was organized by Knox's close friend E. Elmer Ellsworth, who commanded the nationally known U.S. Zouave Cadets before the war. Ellsworth was gunned down by an innkeeper at the..."

World War I

1. Don’t Forget Me, Cobber: the Battle of Fromelles by Emma Campbell

" It has become known as Australia’s blackest night. On 19 July 1916, the troops of the 5th Australian and 61st British Divisions attacked a strong German position, at the centre of which stood the Sugar Loaf salient, near the small French village of Fromelles. The overnight assault – the first major battle fought by [...] ..."

World War II

1. World War II: Conflict Spreads Around the Globe by n/a

"From the last few months of 1940 through the summer of 1941, the conflicts among nations grew into true World War. The East African campaign and Western Desert campaign both began, with largely Italian and British forces battling back and forth across the deserts of Egypt and Libya and from Ethiopia to Kenya. The Tripartite Pact -- a declaration of cooperation between Germany, Italy, and Japan -- was signed in Berlin. Japanese forces occupied Vietnam, established bases in French Indochina, and continued to attack China. Mussolini ordered his forces to attack Greece, launching the Greco-Italian War and the Balkans Campaign. The..."

2. Acquisitions by Brett Holman

" Rather more seaminded than airminded, the result of having visited two maritime museums today. Mike Dash. Batavia's Graveyard: The True Story of the Mad Heretic Who Led History's Bloodiest Mutiny. London: Phoenix, 2003. See here. Richard Guilliatt and Peter Hohnen. The Wolf. North Sydney: William Heinemann, 2009. See here. M. McCarthy, ed. HMAS Sydney (II). Welshpool: Western Australian Museum, 2010. See here. ..."

3. War and Peace, Barbarism and Civilisation in Perth by Brett Holman

"Cross-posted at Cliopatria.] So the XXII Biennial Australasian Association for European History Conference is over, and I must say it's the best conference I've been to, for a number of reasons. It was well-organised, despite some added difficulties such as being jointly hosted by and held at two universities, the University of Western Australia and Murdoch University. That's easy to gloss over but some conferences don't manage to rise to the occasion. The locations were pretty, both the campuses and the city (though it was rainy on the first day, it would probably be unfair to blame the..."

4. German Light Cruiser Köln by Charles McCain

"I have written about the German light cruisers previously including the Köln. The Köln was the third of the three 'K' class light cruisers built. The K class light cruisers suffered from many design problems since they were designed and built in the late 1920's and had to adhere to the strict limit's imposed on Germany by the Treaty of Versailles. As the design problems became increasingly apparent, the duties of the ships were limited to compensate and they increasingly failed to serve in the role they were intended to. The Köln patrolled the coasts of Spain and Portugal..."

5. German Propaganda Posters - Labor by Charles McCain

"Tad found a great collection of Nazi Propaganda that has been collected by a college professor in Michigan, Randall Bytwerk. I've shown plenty of WW2 propaganda posters but the majority have been from the Allied side of the war and I'm using this opportunity to showcase the types of propaganda used by the Germans and will be highlighting some of these posters over the next few months. More than any other war, World War Two was a battle of production and relied upon goods almost as much as it relied upon men. The Germans, like the Americans, recognized this and..."

6. Death or Glory: Hms Clematis vs Admiral Hipper by Charles McCain

"+ HMS Clematis + German Heavy Cruiser Admiral Hipper Part 1 "Am engaging unknown enemy battleship," signaled Cdr. York McLeod Cleeves, RNR, captain of the Royal Navy corvette, HMS Clematis, to the British Admiralty on 25 December 1940. No doubt coded "Most Immediate," the highest priority, this became one of the most famous signals of the Royal Navy in World War Two. Why? It demonstrated the aggressiveness and sacrifice expected in the British navy. If you sighted an enemy warship, you attacked it - especially if your were escorting a troop convoy. Bravery of this kind wasn't thought to be heroic..."

7. Death or Glory: Hms Clematis vs Admiral Hipper by Charles McCain

"+ HMS ClematisPart 1 - Part 2 Like all Flower class corvettes, HMS Clematis was built on the heavily revised design of the whale catcher, Southern Pride. A thirty foot section was added to the front of the ship, the type of keel was changed, additional quarters and a larger bridge were added as well. After adding bits, taking some other things off, and moving compartments around, a barely acceptable convoy escort came to be. Because time was critical, these ships were produced in civilian yards in England. They barely had time to build the Flowers, much less build them to..."

8. Review of in the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitlers Berlin by Charles McCain

"+In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family In Hitler's Berlin by Erik LarsonThe Fascinating Martha Dodd And the Men She Slept With would be a more accurate title to this book. While about the entire family of US Ambassador to Germany, William Dodd, who served from 1933 to 1937, Martha steals the show. She was twenty-four years old when she accompanied her father, mother, and older brother to Berlin in 1933. (The book is only about the family's first year in Berlin.) She had been secretly married and was now getting secretly divorced. She..."

9. German Propaganda Posters - Antisemitism by Charles McCain

"Tad found a great collection of Nazi Propaganda that has been collected by a college professor in Michigan, Randall Bytwerk. I've shown plenty of WW2 propaganda posters but the majority have been from the Allied side of the war and I'm using this opportunity to showcase the types of propaganda used by the Germans and will be highlighting some of these posters over the next few months. In an effort to promote the Nazi Party's campaign against other peoples and ideologies, the Reich's Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda created posters to attempt to sway the public opinion. Here are..."

10. Pearl Harbor Skull May Belong to Japanese Pilot by The Associated Press

"HONOLULU — Forensic scientists are conducting tests on a skull unearthed at the bottom of Pearl Harbor to determine if it is a Japanese pilot who died in the historic attack on Dec. 7, 1941...."

Cold War

1. Profile 52 - "754" as Flown by the Sdang by wily1@mac.com (JSM)

"Gawd what a miserable airplane!" he cried. "Those brakes were so bad, they had boards of nail strips to stop the things!"I'll leave his name out, but the quote above came from an FAA Controller buddy who, in the course of decades of experience, has an opinion on nearly every airplane that's taken to the sky since 1950. F-100s were based at a field he Controlled during the mid-60s. Clearly, he saw one-too-many F-100s roll off the runway and made his judgement.Airplanes do that to people - they give rise to such emotion and logic..."

2. Profile 53 - "236" as Flown by the Sdang by wily1@mac.com (JSM)

"Recently, an A-7 came up for sale in the civilian market. And I missed it.It's just as well as I don't think I could have flown it smoothly with only one arm and leg. But I would have tried. Yes, indeed, I would have tried.Though the airplane bore the name Corsair II in honor of her great uncle, the F4U Corsair, the nickname the A-7 took in practice was SLUF. Short for, Short Little Ugly...Feller. Yet, I distinctly remember seeing A-7s in service and to me, there was nothing ugly about them. The thick-set, high..."

3. Profile 54 - "105" as Flown by the Sdang by wily1@mac.com (JSM)

"There's a bitter-sweet tinge to this bird. At once, it's an F-16; arguably the definitive dogfighting jet. At the same time, it's...well...probably the definitive dogfighting jet. In other words, the F-16 may be the apex of the breed.A conversation I had last week will explain my opinion better. An aviation enthusiast asked me, So. In the future, are you going to start drawing Predator Drones and Control Trucks? We had a good laugh. But he may be right. Technology has advanced to the point where we don't need butts in cockpits any more. Instead, we..."

4. Profile 55 - "Little Horse as Flown by Ken Dahlberg (Sort Of) by wily1@mac.com (JSM)

"The nose! And a fine nose at that.Did you ever read that story, The Blind Men and the Elephant? In case you haven't, a number of blind men stumble across an elephant. One finds the trunk, another finds the tail, another a leg, another...and they all attempt to describe what they've found. One says, It's a snake! Another exclaims, It's a tree! It's a rock! You get it.Though they're experiencing the same thing, it's also clear they're not.History is like that, too. To understand what history is saying, you must step back, feel around in the dark for another..."

5. Profile 56 - "?????" as Flown by Ken Dahlberg by wily1@mac.com (JSM)

"Busy week, it's Friday and I've got a little time...and a pencil. Hence the Study of the P-47 above. It's a 'Bolt from the 353rd Fighter Squadron of the 354th Fighter Group.A few years ago, I was a guest to a demonstration of low-level flying, featuring a P-47. We were at a place called Bodney in East Anglia, England; our hosts were pilots, crew and staff of the 352nd Fighter Group. My vantage point was one that wouldn't have flown here in the States. The P-47 came down low and the action was not 'out..."

Post-Cold-War

1. Book Review: Voices From Iraq: a People’s History, 2003-2009 by n/a

"Book Review: Voices From Iraq: A People’s History, 2003-2009 by Mark Kukis Published by Columbia University Press (May 4, 2011), 240 pages, ISBN-10: 0231156928 Reviewed by Michael Few Download the Full Article: Book Review: Voices From Iraq: A People’s History, 2003-2009 Ultimately, the American intervention in Iraq is one small trajectory along the arc of nation and state development in the land that claims the birthplace of civilization. As with every human endeavor, this arc is fraught with tragedy, triumph, violence, resistance, and hope. The current history of the intervention remains American-centric examining what United States..."

Misc/Thematic

1. How Do You Say ‘Bollocks’ in Aztec? War Is Political and It Should Be, Too. So Deal With It. | Kings of War by n/a

"I just finished reading the latest offering from the US Army War College’s Strategic Studies Institute, entitled The New Aztecs: Ritual and Restraint in Contemporary Western Military Operations. I must say that I profoundly disagree with its author. He misunderstands several of his key premises, including Clausewitz’s fundamental dictum. What is more, I think that the piece is a thinly veiled polemic which unhelpfully encourages an essentially militaristic perspective on the conduct of contemporary war. "

2. USS Scorpion Project 2011 Day by Day: Week Two by Underwater Archaeology

" Monday, 11 July - Today was a very exciting day for the project as archaeologists from UAB, MHT and MSHA began active excavation of the wreck believed to be War of 1812 block sloop Scorpion, captained by the US Navy hero Joshua Barney. While the river bottom in this stretch of the Patuxent is only [...] ..."