https://thisdayinusmilhist.wordpress.com/2014/10/05/october-5/5 October
1775 – George Washington writes a letter to the President of the Continental Congress reporting that a trusted Son of Liberty, Dr. Benjamin Church, was sending information to the British. As early as 1774, information about the Sons of Liberty was being leaked to British General Thomas Gage. Church seems like the probable culprit. Moreover, in the weeks before Lexington and Concord, Church provided Gage with information about colonial plans and supplies. Yet still Church managed to keep the trust of Patriots. After Lexington and Concord, Church insisted upon going to Boston to obtain medical supplies. Paul Revere later learned that Church had been seen leaving Gage’s residence in Boston. Church claimed that he had been taken a prisoner and then released, but (at least as he told the story many years later) Revere was doubtful. Church gained a new position as chief physician of the new Continental army at about this time. He was sent to Philadelphia and seems to have lost contact with Gage. Church attempted to re-establish contact. It proved to be a mistake. Church wrote a letter in code and asked his mistress to deliver it to one of several people. Unfortunately for Church, his mistress did not follow the instructions she’d been given. She instead delivered the letter to a baker named Godfrey Wainwood (or Wenwood). Wainwood was suspicious and never delivered the letter. Several weeks later, the mistress wrote him about it. Wainwood became even more suspicious and he turned the letter in to local officials. The letter was decoded. Dr. Church’s mistress was questioned and revealed that Church was the author. A court martial was held on October 4. Church claimed that he’d been trying to help the Patriot effort by “impress[ing] the Enemy with a strong Idea of our Strength & Situation in order to prevent an Attack at a Time when the Continental Army was in great Want of Ammunition.” The court of inquiry was unimpressed. It found that Church was guilty of “criminal Correspondence with the Enemy.” Washington wrote Congress the next day, seeking direction on what to do next. Congress had not yet enacted the death penalty for spying. Instead, it resolved that “Dr. Church be close confined in some secure gaol in the colony of Connecticut, without the use of pen, ink, and paper, and that no person be allowed to converse with him. . . .” Church’s health suffered in confinement. He was eventually paroled and set sail for the West Indies in the hopes that he could restore his health. That did not go so well for him, either. His ship was lost at sea and Church was never seen again.
1775 – Meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the 2d Continental Congress used the word “Marines” on one of the earliest known occasions. It directed General George Washington to secure two vessels on “Continental risque and pay”, and to give orders for the “proper encouragement to the Marines and seamen” to serve on the two armed ships.
1804 – Robert Parker Parrott (d.1877), Inventor (Parrot Gun – 1st machine gun), was born. Robert P. Parrott is known to many Civil War artillery researchers and collectors for his inventions of the projectile and cannon which bear his name. He was born in Lee, New Hampshire. Parrott would graduate 3rd in his class at West Point Military Academy in 1824. He was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the 3rd U.S. Artillery and was assigned to the southeastern states where he participated in the Creek Indian War. He was later assigned as assistant to the Chief of the Ordnance Bureau and, later, as an inspector of ordnance at the West Point Foundry at Cold Spring, New York. The foundry was a private firm and administered by civilians. Parrott, by this time a captain, resigned his rank and accepted the civilian position of superintendent of the foundry, October 31, 1836. Parrott served the foundry well during the next 41 years. He became the lessee and operator of the foundry and experimented with the manufacturing of artillery. As a private citizen Parrott was able to experiment with cannons and projectiles without the usual red tape involved in government foundries. His accomplishments during his tenure included the perfection of a rifled cannon and its corresponding projectile (both named after him) patented in 1861, and the Parrott sight and fuse which were developed during the Civil War years. The fact that his foundry was used to manufacture his weapons is proved by the letters WPF (West Point Foundry) found on the Parrott gun tube, along with his initials RPP. Parrott’s cannons were distinguished by a single reinforcing band around the breech of the iron tube. His first rifled cannon design, a 10-pounder (2.9-inch caliber), was turned out in 1860. By the next year he had developed the 20-pounder (3.67-inch caliber) and 30-pounder (4.2-inch caliber) versions, among other models. In 1864 the 3-inch Parrott rifle replaced the 10-pounder (2.9-inch caliber) rifle. In 1867, Parrott turned the operation of the foundry over to other parties, but he continued to experiment with projectiles and fuses until his death on December 24, 1877.
1813 – The Battle of the Thames was decisive in the War of 1812. The U.S. victory over British and Indian forces near Ontario at the village of Moraviantown on the Thames River is known in Canada as the Battle of Moraviantown. Some 600 British regulars and 1,000 Indian allies under the command of Colonel Henry Procter and Shawnee leader Tecumseh were greatly outnumbered and quickly defeated by U.S. forces, an army of 3,500 troops, under the command of Maj. Gen. William Henry Harrison. The British army was retreating from Fort Malden, Ontario after Oliver Hazard Perry’s victory in the Battle of Lake Erie. Tecumseh convinced Colonel Procter to make a stand at Moraviantown. The American army won a total victory. The British soldiers fled or surrendered. The Indians fought fiercely, but they lost heart and scattered after Tecumseh died on the battlefield. Richard Johnson probably killed the Indian leader. The Battle of the Thames was the most important land battle of the War of 1812 in the American Northwest. General Harrison’s victory marked the end of Tecumseh’s Confederacy and the downfall of the Indians in Ohio.
1830 – The 21st president of the United States, Chester Arthur, was born. Vice President and 21st President of the United States; born in Fairfield, Franklin County, Vt.; attended the public schools and graduated from Union College, Schenectady, N.Y., in 1848; became principal of an academy in North Pownal, Vt., in 1851; studied law; admitted to the bar in 1854 and commenced practice in New York City; took an active part in the reorganization of the State militia; during the Civil War, served as acting quartermaster general of the State in 1861; commissioned inspector general, appointed quartermaster general with the rank of brigadier general, and served until 1862; resumed the practice of law in New York City; appointed by President Ulysses Grant as collector of the port of New York 1871-1878; resumed the practice of law in New York City; elected Vice President of the United States on the Republican ticket with President James A. Garfield for the term beginning March 4, 1881; upon the death of President Garfield, became President of the United States on September 20, 1881, and served until March 3, 1885; returned to New York City where he died November 18, 1886; interment in the Rural Cemetery Albany, N.Y.
1857 – The City of Anaheim, California is founded. Founded by fifty German families in 1857 and incorporated as the second city in Los Angeles County on March 18, 1876,[1] Anaheim developed into an industrial center, producing electronics, aircraft parts and canned fruit. It is the site of the Disneyland Resort, a world-famous grouping of theme parks and hotels which opened in 1955, Angel Stadium of Anaheim, Honda Center and Anaheim Convention Center, the largest convention center on the West Coast.
1863 – Confederate ship David seriously damages USS New Ironsides with a spar torpedo off Charleston, South Carolina.
1864 – At the Battle of Allatoona Pass, a small Union post was saved from Lt. Gen. John Bell Hood’s army. 1/3 of Union troops died repulsing Southern forces. General Alexander P. Stewart [CS] advanced from the hills of west Cobb County and gained the Western and Atlantic Railroad in early October, 1864. As they moved northwest his Rebels battled the Union garrisons established by General William Tecumseh Sherman to protect his all-weather lifeline. With cavalry sweeping Stewart’s front, the Confederates easily defeated Yankees stationed at Big Shanty (now Kennesaw), Moon’s Station and Acworth on October 3rd. Less than 500 men defended the three arrisons. Working through the night the Confederates tore up track for eight miles north of Big Shanty. On October 4th General Samuel French (of Stewart’s Corps) received orders instructing him to advance on Allatoona Pass, fill it with “…logs, brush, rails, dirt…” then continue on to the Etowah Bridge and destroy it. As is typical with virtually all of John Bell Hood’s battles after his assumption of command of the Army of Tennessee, his descriptions of the events vary greatly from the description given by the participants. The Confederate Army had a significant portion of northwest Georgia within striking distance and the bulk of the Union Army either behind it in Atlanta and Kennesaw or further north in Tennessee. Less than a week earlier General George Thomas had moved north of Dalton to protect Sherman’s supply line while troops under the command of John Corse moved to Rome. President Jefferson Davis told about the plans for Hood’s Army in a speech given at Macon and a similar speech given to the troops at Palmetto. Newspapers carried the information to General Sherman. As the Western and Atlantic Railroad winds towards Chattanooga it passes through Allatoona Pass, a man-made gorge drilled deep into a high ridge in the rugged mountains east of Cartersville, Georgia. Sherman had avoided a direct assault on the pass during the Atlanta Campaign, having made a note of the impressive defensive nature of the pass while stationed in Georgia in 1844. The evening of October 3rd, 1864, Sherman realized that Hood’s objective was the storehouses at Allatoona, bursting with rations for the Union Army in Atlanta. His order to Corse to advance from Rome to Allatoona with a division arrived in Rome early October 4th. Corse began to move men and munitions east to the pass, arriving early on October 5th with about 1,000 men. This doubled the size of the garrison. As senior officer, Corse assumed command from Colonel John Tourtellotte. A message was sent to Sherman. Now standing beside the signalman at the top of Kennesaw Mountain he made out the message “Corse is here” then remarked, “He will hold it; I know the man.” Two fortified areas (“…two small redoubts” according to Sherman) at the top of the ridge both east and west of the railroad tracks had been built by Confederate forces and reenforced by Union soldiers after their capture on June 1, 1864 during the Atlanta Campaign. An outer defensive position was added, about 100 feet from the eastern fort and the fort itself was modified into the shape of a star so that troops within the fort could support each other during an assault. A wooden plank spanned the distance between the two hills above the tracks so that soldiers would not have to climb down the hill and back up to get across the pass. This bridge would play an important role in the battle. The Confederates were approaching Allatoona Pass at 3:00am on the morning of October 5th, 1864 and had deployed to the west of the Star Fort by 8:00am. Troops to the north of the fort were delayed. Frantic dispatches were signaled to from a crow’s nest near the eastern redoubt to Kennesaw Mountain asking, “Where is General Sherman?” Sherman had indicated that help was on the way, but it would be up to Corse and his men to hold the forts although outnumbered 3 to 2. At 8:30 Samuel French’s adjutant advanced towards the Union position under a flag of truce and presented a surrender demand to an officer of the 93rd Illinois Regiment. It was passed up to General Corse at a position near the inner wall of the western fort. The adjutant waited, leaving when he felt no response was forthcoming. Corse’s reply would not be known to the Confederates until after the war was over. During the truce some Confederates may have tried to gain a better position for the coming assault, which was clearly against the established rules of warfare. Regardless of the attempt to better their position, at 10:30am the Rebels began the assault. Originally, a brigade under the command of Claudius Sears was to attack the ridge from the north. Getting impatient with a delay, French ordered Confederate forces to the west of the fort to move east along the Alabama Road towards the fort on the western side of Allatoona Pass. They faced a series of impediments to their advance including abatis and debris. After the abatis lay the outer wall of the fort. The men of the 93rd Illinois had greeted French’s adjutant at this spur only a short time before under a flag of truce. Withering fire had halted the initial Rebel advance when a second attack was launched on the Federal left, centering on the point where the outside wall of the fort crossed the Alabama Road. Fierce hand-to-hand combat marked this battle for Rowett’s Redoubt, which Union soldiers named for an injured commander. As the Rebels overran the Federal’s first line of defense, Claudius Sears began a belated attack up the north side of the mountain. The Confederates advanced across a broad front, forcing Corse to withdraw to the Star Fort and pressuring the Eastern Redoubt. It was now 11:00am. Quickly Union soldiers worked to strengthen the perimeter of the Star Fort. Over the next two and a half hours Confederate forces would attack four times. During these attacks a brave private kept the Star Fort supplied with ammunition by repeatedly crossing the wooden footpath between the two sides of Allatoona Pass. At 1:00pm Corse was hit in the face with a bullet and command passed to the somewhat less injured Colonel Richard Rowett, who had led the fighting at the outer redoubt. The final assault occurred at 1:30pm. Now attention turned to Samuel French. The able Confederate commander had been repulsed repeatedly while assaulting the Star Fort. He had reason to believe a large Federal force was advancing on his position, as reported by his cavalry. And he knew that Sherman had signaled “Hold the fort, we are coming.” Without much of choice, he retreated from Allatoona without a victory, without rations and without 1,000 of the men he began with. As he withdrew, French launched an attack against a blockhouse on Allatoona Creek about 2 miles south of the pass. After setting the structure on fire, he captured four officers and 85 men who were stationed there. Fearing the approach of the Union Army, French left abruptly.
1877 – Nez Perce Chief Joseph and 418 survivors were captured in the Bear Paw mountains and forced into reservations in Kansas. They surrendered in Montana Territory, after a 1,700 -mile trek to reach Canada fell 40 miles short. Nez Perce Chief Joseph surrendered to General O.O. Howard and Colonel Nelson Miles at the Bear Paw ravine in Montana Territory, saying, “Hear me, my chiefs, my heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more, forever.” When Joseph’s father died in 1871, Joseph was elected to succeed him. He inherited not only a name but a situation made increasingly volatile as white settlers continued to arrive in the Wallowa Valley. Joseph staunchly resisted all efforts to force his band onto the small Idaho reservation, and in 1873 a federal order to remove white settlers and let his people remain in the Wallowa Valley made it appear that he might be successful. But the federal government soon reversed itself, and in 1877 General Oliver Otis Howard threatened a cavalry attack to force Joseph’s band and other hold-outs onto the reservation. Believing military resistance futile, Joseph reluctantly led his people toward Idaho. Unfortunately, they never got there. About twenty young Nez Percé warriors, enraged at the loss of their homeland, staged a raid on nearby settlements and killed several whites. Immediately, the army began to pursue Joseph’s band and the others who had not moved onto the reservation. Although he had opposed war, Joseph cast his lot with the war leaders. What followed was one of the most brilliant military retreats in American history. Even the unsympathetic General William Tecumseh Sherman could not help but be impressed with the 1,400 mile march, stating that “the Indians throughout displayed a courage and skill that elicited universal praise… [they] fought with almost scientific skill, using advance and rear guards, skirmish lines, and field fortifications.” In over three months, the band of about 700, fewer than 200 of whom were warriors, fought 2,000 U.S. soldiers and Indian auxiliaries in four major battles and numerous skirmishes. By the time he formally surrendered on October 5, 1877, Joseph was widely referred to in the American press as “the Red Napoleon.” It is unlikely, however, that he played as critical a role in the Nez Percé’s military feat as his legend suggests. He was never considered a war chief by his people, and even within the Wallowa band, it was Joseph’s younger brother, Olikut, who led the warriors, while Joseph was responsible for guarding the camp. It appears, in fact, that Joseph opposed the decision to flee into Montana and seek aid from the Crows and that other chiefs — Looking Glass and some who had been killed before the surrender — were the true strategists of the campaign. Joseph died in 1904.
1882 – Robert Goddard (d.1945), American rocket scientist, was born. He received 214 patents for rocket systems and components. American physicist who is looked upon as one of the three main founders of modern rocketry, along with Tsiolkovsky and Oberth. Goddard launched the first liquid-fueled rocket on March 16, 1926. The flight lasted just 2.5 seconds, reaching an altitude of 12.3 meters and landing (crashing, actually) 55.2 meters from the launch site in his Aunt Effie’s cabbage patch. In 1920, the Smithsonian Institution published Goddard’s paper on rocket concepts, “A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes.” Towards the end of his article, Goddard began to hint at his thoughts for the future by detailing his plans for launching a small, unmanned rocket that would be sent to Earth’s Moon, wherein it would strike the surface and explode its payload of flash powder, so that observers with telescopes could see where the rocket had landed. Goddard was cautious not to mention flights to Mars or any other planet, as any celestial object beyond the Moon was considered by many scientists at that time to be too far away from Earth to ever be reached by humans. Goddard suddenly found himself ridiculed by the press. The prestigious New York Times dismissed Goddard’s ideas and said that he didn’t even possess an elementary knowledge of physics. The Times’ editor incorrectly thought that rockets could not work in space. He thought the exhaust from the vehicle would have nothing to push against; he did not realize that the rocket exhaust would be acting against the inner walls of the rocket itself, thus creating the required reaction. Luckily, aviator Charles Lindberg took an interest in Goddard’s concepts and decided to help finance his work on rockets. Lindberg also convinced philanthropist Daniel Guggenheim to help fund Goddard and move his entire operation to Eden Valley near Roswell, New Mexico. There, Goddard could test his new developments in the comparative safety and peace of the wide open desert. Here in the desert, Goddard did some of his best work, testing parachute systems to recover rockets and their payloads, constructing stabilizing fins and gyroscopes to keep rockets flying straight, and even putting simple meteorological instruments aboard some flights to study the weather. Despite all this work, Goddard and his rockets were generally unknown to the American public, and many of his ideas went unrecognized until several decades after his death in 1945. Ironically, his ideas did not go unnoticed by the Germans, particularly Wernher von Braun who took Goddard’s plans from various journals and incorporated them into building the A-4 series of rockets–better known as the V-2–which constantly struck at Europe in the last two years of World War Two. The Army also adopted only one major and direct facet of Goddard’s concepts in his lifetime, the antitank weapon known as the bazooka. Eventually, the United States Patent Office would posthumously recognize 214 patents in all for various rocket designs invented by Goddard. Every liquid-fueled rocket that flies is based on Goddard’s original innovations.
1912 – Leon, Nicaragua, was captured by Marines after a short battle.
1913 – Trial of OWL. The first airplane purchased by the U.S. Navy was a Curtiss Model E hydroaeroplane and was given the Navy designation A-1 in early 1911. The Navy purchased a second Model E in July 1911, with a more powerful 80-horsepower Curtiss OX engine, and designated it the A-2. It was also known as the OWL, standing for Over Water and Land. Modifications of the A-2 by the Navy led to re-designations of E-1 and later AX-1. These modifications, done at the Curtiss plant at Hammondsport, New York, included moving the seats from the lower wing to the float and enclosing the crew area with a fabric-covered framework, giving the aircraft the appearance of a short-hull flying boat. The OWL, with its modified float, was developed into a true flying boat (the entire fuselage being a hull as opposed to mounting the aircraft on a separate float) by Curtiss in 1912, first with the Model D Flying Boat, and then a refined version, the Model E. The Model E Flying Boat was the first truly practical flying boat. It was powered by either a 60- or a 75-horsepower Curtiss V8 engine. Both the U.S. Army and Navy purchased Curtiss Model E Flying Boats, the Navy designating it the C-1.
1915 – Germany issued an apology and promises for payment for the 128 American passengers killed in the sinking of the British ship Lusitania.
1916 – Corporal Adolf Hitler was wounded in WW I.
1937 – Saying, “the epidemic of world lawlessness is spreading,” President Roosevelt called for a “quarantine” of aggressor nations.1938 – The first members are enrolled in the Coast Guard Reserve.
1940 – The Tripartite Pact is condemned by Navy Secretary Knox and he announces that he is calling up some of the naval reserve.
1942 – Aircraft from the carrier Hornet attack Japanese shipping gathering off Bougainville, but achieve only slight success.
1943 – Patrol Squadron 6 (VP -6 CG) was officially established. This was an all Coast Guard unit. Its home base was at Narsarssuak, Greenland, code name Bluie West -One. It had nine PBY -5A’s assigned. CDR Donald B. MacDiarmid was the first commanding officer. As additional PBY’s became available, the units area of operation expanded and detachments were established in Argentia, Newfoundland and Reykjavik, Iceland, furnishing air cover for US Navy and Coast Guard vessels. Hundreds of rescue operations were carried out during the 27 months the squadron was in operation.
1947 – The first televised White House address is given by U.S. President Harry S. Truman.
1950 – Eighth Army issued its operations order for the movement across the 38th parallel. Eighth Army anticipated strong resistance at the parallel and a stubborn defense of the North Korean capital of Pyongyang.
1951 – The ROK 3rd Infantry Division recaptured Pohang -Dong.
1951 – Having experienced heavy fighting to secure the central positions of Line Jamestown where no less than four 3rd Infantry Division soldiers earned the Distinguished Service Cross in a three -day period, the key Hill 477 was taken without a shot fired. Battle-weary troops of the 7th Infantry Regiment were pleasantly surprised.
1957 – Minitrack, a satellite tracking net developed by the Naval Research Laboratory, becomes operational. This network, with stations from Maine to Chile, tracked the Vangard satellite.
1963 – Three days after Kennedy orders Lodge not to pursue the encouragement of a coup that they though had been canceled, Lodge reports to Kennedy that the coup is on. General Minh, meeting with CIA officer Lucien Conein, asks for assurances that the US will not act to thwart a coup and that economic and military aid will continue. Kennedy approves, cautioning that the United States should avoind getting involved with operational details. Conein keeps in touch with rebel activity through meetings with General Tran Van Don. in the wake of another Buddhist monk’s self-immolation, intensified political repression including the arrest of scores of children and the reaction to it, US officials from Kennedy on down attempt to control US newsmen in Saigon without success. Lodge’s dismissal of Saigon CIA chief John Richardson, who has doubts about the coup, encourages the dissident generals.
1965 – U.S. forces in Saigon received permission to use tear gas.
1969 – A Cuban defector entered US air space undetected and landed his Soviet -made MiG -17 at Homestead Air Force Base near Miami, Florida, where the presidential aircraft Air Force One was waiting to return President Richard M. Nixon to DC.
1970 – British trade commissioner James Richard Cross was kidnapped in Canada by militant Quebec separatists; he was released the following December.
1975 – Democratic Senator Frank Church of Idaho charged that the CIA tried to kill Cuban President Fidel Castro during the administrations of three US presidents.
1986 – American Eugene Hasenfus was captured by Sandinista soldiers after the weapons plane he was flying in was shot down over southern Nicaragua.
1990 – NASA astronaut and Coast Guard CDR Bruce Melnick made his first space flight when he served as a Mission Specialist aboard the space shuttle Discovery on Space Shuttle Mission STS -41, which flew from 6 to 10 October 1990. Discovery deployed the Ulysses spacecraft for its five -year mission to explore the polar regions of the sun. CDR Melnick was the first Coast Guardsman selected by NASA for astronaut training.
1991 – Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev announced sweeping cuts in nuclear weapons in response to President Bush’s arms reduction initiative.
1993 – Army Gen. John Shalikashvili was confirmed by the Senate to head the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
1993 – China set off an underground nuclear blast, ignoring a plea from President Clinton not to do so.
1995 – Pres. Clinton announced that a cease -fire was agreed on in Bosnia to start on Oct 10, and that combatants would attend talks in the US. Bosnia’s combatants agreed to a 60-day cease-fire and new talks on ending their three and a-half years of battle.
1996 – A bomb exploded in the mayoral offices of French Prime Minister Alain Juppe. There were no casualties. A Corsican separatist group later claimed responsibility.
1997 – In Algeria armed men attacked a school bus near Blida. The driver attempted to run their roadblock but crashed and 16 children were killed by the attackers.
1998 – In Congo rebels under Arthur Mulunda said they were within 12 miles of Kindu. The rebels were backed by troops and equipment from Rwanda and Uganda.
1999 – Initial indictments in a Russian money-laundering scheme were handed up. A former bank of NY vice president, her husband, and a Russian business associate were accused of conspiracy to transmit about $7 billion illegally.
1999 – In Chechnya Russian troops seized the northern third of the country. A suspected Russian artillery shell hit a busload of people and killed 40 people, mostly women and children.
1999 – Kofi Annan presented a UN plan to take full control of East Timor and guide the territory to nationhood over 2 -3 years.
1999 – In Kosovo at least one Serb was killed when ethnic Albanians attacked a Russian-Serb convoy. The Albanians had gathered for the funeral of 18-28 countrymen found in a mass grave the previous week.
2002 – Foreign ministers from six Pacific nations (Australia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand and East Timor) ended a day of talks in Indonesia’s ancient royal capital Yogyakarta, vowing to fight terrorism together.
2002 – Israeli soldiers enforcing a curfew shot Amer Hashem, a 15-year-old Palestinian boy in Nablus, during clashes with stone-throwing protesters. It was the eve of an international round of peace diplomacy.
2002 – In Latvia the pro-business New Era party appeared set to win the most seats in parliamentary elections to choose the government that will lead this ex-Soviet republic into the European Union and NATO. Einars Repse led polls for election as prime minister.
2002 – Rwanda withdrew its last troops from neighboring Congo, with some 1,100 soldiers marching in single file out of the war-ravaged country.
2003 – Israeli warplanes bombed the Ein Saheb base northwest of Damascus, Syria, in retaliation for a suicide bombing at a Haifa restaurant. Israeli military called it an Islamic Jihad training base. Residents later told the Associated Press the camp was abandoned years ago.
2004 – Interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi said negotiators hammered out the basis for an agreement to end fighting with followers of radical Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. 2 car bombs exploded in the insurgent stronghold of Ramadi, killing four Iraqis and prompting clashes between U.S. troops and gunmen. 10 Iraqi policemen, including a lieutenant colonel, were killed in two separate attacks south of Baghdad.
2005 – U.S. Marine Leandro Aragoncillo is indicted for espionage, accused of passing classified information from the Vice President’s office to the Philippines
2006 – NATO expands its security mission to the whole of Afghanistan, taking command of more than 13,000 U.S. troops in the east of the country.
2013 – American SEALS launched an amphibious raid on the town of Baraawe, Somalia engaging with al-Shabaab militants and inflicting some casualties on them before withdrawing.
Congressional Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
CROFT, JAMES E.
Rank and organization: Private, 12th Battery, Wisconsin Light Artillery. Place and date: At Allatoona, Ga., 5 October 1864. Entered service at: Janesville, Wis. Birth: England. Date of issue: 20 March 1897. Citation: Took the place of a gunner who had been shot down and inspired his comrades by his bravery and effective gunnery, which contributed largely to the defeat of the enemy.
ANDERSON, JAMES
Rank and organization: Private, Company M, 6th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Wichita River, Tex., 5 October 1870. Entered service at: – – – – – -. Birth: Canada East. Date of issue: 19 November 1870. Citation: Gallantry during the pursuit and fight with Indians.
BOWDEN, SAMUEL
Rank and organization: Corporal, Company M, 6th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Wichita River, Tex., 5 October 1870. Entered service at: – – – – – -. Birth: Salem, Mass. Date of issue: 19 November 1870. Citation: Gallantry in pursuit of and fight with Indians.
BURKARD, OSCAR
Rank and organization: Private, Hospital Corps, U.S. Army. Place and date: At Leech Lake, Minn., 5 October 1898. Entered service at: Hay Creek, Minn. Born: 21 December 1877, Achern, Germany. Date of issue: 21 August 1899. Citation: For distinguished bravery in action against hostile Indians. [Note: This, the last Medal of Honor won in an Indian campaign, was awarded for an action during the uprising of Chippewa Indians, on Lake Leech, northern Minnesota, 5 October 1898.]
DOSHIER, JAMES B.
Rank: Post Guide during Indian Wars. Place: Holliday Creek, Texas. Little Wichita River. Date: 5 October 1870. Entered service: Fort Richardson, Texas. Born: Warren County, Tennessee, 2 May 1820. G.O. No. – – – – – Issue date: 19 November 1870. Issue place: – – – – – Citation: Gallantry in action and on the march.
(In 1916, the general review of all Medals of Honor deemed 900 unwarranted. This recipient was one of them. In June 1989, the U.S. Army Board of Correction of Records restored the medal to this recipient.)
GRIMES, EDWARD P.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company F, 5th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Milk River, Colo., 29 September to 5 October 1879. Entered service at: – – – – – -. Birth: Dover, N.H. Date of issue: 27 January 1880. Citation: The command being almost out of ammunition and surrounded on 3 sides by the enemy, he voluntarily brought up a supply under heavy flre at almost point blank range.
JOHNSON, HENRY
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company D, 9th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Milk River, Colo., 2 -5 October 1879. Entered service at: – – – – – -. Birth: Boynton, Va. Date of issue: 22 September 1890. Citation: Voluntarily left fortified shelter and under heavy fire at close range made the rounds of the pits to instruct the guards, fought his way to the creek and back to bring water to the wounded.
KEATING, DANIEL
Rank and organization: Corporal, Company M, 6th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Wichita River, Tex., 5 October 1870. Entered service at: – – – – – -. Birth: Ireland. Date of issue: 19 November 1870. Citation: Gallantry in action and in pursuit of Indians.
MOQUIN, GEORGE
Rank and organization: Corporal, Company F, 5th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Milk River, Colo., 29 September to 5 October 1879. Entered Service at: – – – – – – – – -. Birth: New York, N.Y. Date of issue: 27 January 1880. Citation: Gallantry in action.
WELCH, MICHAEL
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company M, 6th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Wichita River, Tex., 5 October 1870. Entered service at: – – – – – -. Birth: Poughkeepsie, N.Y. Date of issue: 19 November 1870. Citation: Gallantry in action.
WILSON, BENJAMIN
Rank and organization: Private, Company M, 6th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Wichita River, Tex., 5 October 1870. Entered service at: – – – – – -. Birth: Pittsburgh, Pa. Date of issue: 19 November 1870. Citation: Gallantry in action.
BALCH, JOHN HENRY
Rank and organization: Pharmacist’s Mate First Class, U.S. Navy. Place and date: Vierzy, France, and Somme -Py, France, 19 July and 5 October 1918. Entered service at: Kansas City, Mo. Born: 2 January 1896, Edgerton, Kans. Citation: For gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty, with the 6th Regiment, U.S. Marines, in action at Vierzy, on 19 July 1918. Balch unhesitatingly and fearlessly exposed himself to terrific machinegun and high -explosive fire to succor the wounded as they fell in the attack, leaving his dressing station voluntarily and keeping up the work all day and late into the night unceasingly for 16 hours. Also in the action at Somme -Py on 5 October 1918, he exhibited exceptional bravery in establishing an advanced dressing station under heavy shellfire.
ELLIS, MICHAEL B.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company C, 28th Infantry, 1st Division. Place and date: Near Exermont, France, 5 October 1918. Entered service at: East St. Louis, Ill. Born: 28 October 1894, St. Louis, Mo. G.O. No.: 74, W.D., 1919. Citation: During the entire day’s engagement he operated far in advance of the first wave of his company, voluntarily undertaking most dangerous missions and single -handedly attacking and reducing machinegun nests. Flanking one emplacement, he killed 2 of the enemy with rifle fire and captured 17 others. Later he single -handedly advanced under heavy fire and captured 27 prisoners, including 2 officers and 6 machineguns, which had been holding up the advance of the company. The captured officers indicated the locations of 4 other machineguns, and he in turn captured these, together with their crews, at all times showing marked heroism and fearlessness.
*CORRY, WILLIAM MERRILL, JR.
Rank and organization: Lieutenant Commander, U.S. Navy. Place and date: Near Hartford, Conn., 2 October 1920. Born: 5 October 1889, Quincy, Fla. Accredited to: Florida. Other Navy award: Navy Cross. Citation: For heroic service in attempting to rescue a brother officer from a flame -enveloped airplane. On 2 October 1920, an airplane in which Lt. Comdr. Corry was a passenger crashed and burst into flames. He was thrown 30 feet clear of the plane and, though injured, rushed back to the burning machine and endeavored to release the pilot. In so doing he sustained serious burns, from which he died 4 days later.
*KRAUS, RICHARD EDWARD
Rank and organization: Private First Class, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve. Born: 24 November 1925, Chicago, Ill. Accredited to: Minnesota. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving with the 8th Amphibious Tractor Battalion, Fleet Marine Force, in action against enemy Japanese forces on Peleliu, Palau Islands, on 5 October 1944. Unhesitatingly volunteering for the extremely hazardous mission of evacuating a wounded comrade from the front lines, Pfc. Kraus and 3 companions courageously made their way forward and successfully penetrated the lines for some distance before the enemy opened with an intense, devastating barrage of hand grenades which forced the stretcher party to take cover and subsequently abandon the mission. While returning to the rear, they observed 2 men approaching who appeared to be marines and immediately demanded the password. When, instead of answering, 1 of the 2 Japanese threw a hand grenade into the midst of the group, Pfc. Kraus heroically flung himself upon the grenade and, covering it with his body, absorbed the full impact of the explosion and was instantly killed. By his prompt action and great personal valor in the face of almost certain death, he saved the lives of his 3 companions, and his loyal spirit of self -sacrifice reflects the highest credit upon himself and the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his comrades.
