HOME :: PUBLICATIONS :: From Pensacola to Shuri Castle, by MILITARY HISTORY, W. THOMAS SMITH, JR.

From Pensacola to Shuri Castle

by MILITARY HISTORY, W. THOMAS SMITH, JR. May 28, 2010
This Week in American Military History:
 
May 23, 1862: Confederate forces under the command of Maj. Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson strike, outmaneuver, and – with textbook coordination of infantry, cavalry, and artillery – decisively defeat Union Army forces under Col. John R. Kenly at Front Royal, Virginia.
 
May. 24, 1818: Gen. (future U.S. pres.) Andrew Jackson and his expeditionary army march into Spanish-controlled Florida, easily capturing the Gulf-coastal town of Pensacola.
 
Col. José Masot, the Spanish governor, retreats to nearby Fort San Carlos de Barrancas (originally built by the British as “the Royal Navy Redoubt”) where he briefly puts up a token resistance – to save face – before hoisting the white flag there, too.
 
May. 26, 1917: U.S. Army Gen. John Joseph “Black Jack” Pershing is named commander-in-chief of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF), which is destined for European combat the following year.
 
May. 27, 1967: USS John F. Kennedy (CV 67) – the last conventionally powered American aircraft carrier – is launched.
 
May 28, 1918: Almost one year to the day after Pershing is named commander-in-chief of the AEF, elements of the soon-to-be-famous 1st Infantry Division, (“the Big Red One”) under the command of Lt. Gen. Robert Lee Bullard launch the first major attack by U.S. forces in World War I near the French town of Cantigny. In doing so, the Americans strike and the defeat a far-more experienced German army under the command of General Oskar von Hutier.
 
The attack opens in the wee hours with a two-hour artillery bombardment. Then at 6:45 a.m., whistles are blown along the American trench lines, and soldiers from the division’s 28th Infantry Regiment – destined to become known as the “Lions of Cantigny” – clamber over the top and into the open. Supported by French aircraft, tanks, and mortar and flame-thrower teams – the Americans advance over a distance of 1,600 yards in three waves at marked intervals behind a creeping artillery barrage. By 7:20 a.m., the German lines are reached.
 
Fighting is grim; one American sergeant will write: “About twenty Dutchmen [Germans] came out of the holes, threw down their rifles and stood with their hands up. The doughboys didn't pay any attention to this but started in to butcher and shoot them. One of the doughboys on the run stabbed a Dutchman and his bayonet went clear through him.” In the town, the Germans are flushed from hiding places in shops and houses. French soldiers with flamethrowers are called up to assist in clearing the cellars of buildings.

Lt. Clarence Huebner (destined to command the 1st Infantry Division in the next great war, and rise to the rank of Lt. Gen.) watches in horror as one of his badly burned enemies rushes from a flamed-out cellar. It was “just as I had seen rabbits in Kansas come out of burning straw stacks,” he will recall.
 
The Germans – who, like so many others throughout history, had dismissed the Americans as not having the stomach for real fighting – develop a quick respect for their new foe.
 
Bullard’s headquarters will issue a statement, a portion of which reads: “The moral effects to flow from this proof of reliability in battle of the American soldiers, far outweighs the direct military importance of the actions themselves.”
 
May. 28, 1980: The first female midshipmen graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis.

 

 

May 29, 1945: Elements of the famous 1st Battalion, 5th Marines capture Shuri Castle – the palace of the Ryukyu kings for centuries – during the Battle of Okinawa.

 
 
(AUTHOR NOTE: I served on Okinawa and as a rifle-squad leader with 1/5. But the Battle of Okinawa took place 14 years before I was born.)
 
Let's increase awareness of American military tradition and honor America’s greatest heroes by supporting the Medal of Honor Society's 2010 Convention to be held in Charleston, S.C., Sept. 29 – Oct. 3, 2010 (for more information, click here).
 
FamilySecurityMatters.org Contributing Editor W. Thomas Smith Jr. is a former U.S. Marine infantry leader and shipboard counterterrorism instructor, who writes about military/defense issues and has covered conflict in the Balkans, on the West Bank, in Iraq and Lebanon. Visit his website at uswriter.com.

Military History, a series by Maj. W. Thomas Smith, Jr.

W. Thomas Smith Jr. is director of the Counterterrorism Research Center of the Family Security Foundation. He is is an author, New York Times bestselling editor, columnist, war correspondent, military analyst, field-grade officer in the S.C. Military Dept., former SWAT team officer in the nuclear industry, and former U.S. Marine rifle-squad leader and shipboard counterterrorism instructor, Smith writes about military/defense issues and has covered conflict in the Balkans, on the West Bank, in Iraq and Lebanon. He is the author of six books, and his articles have appeared in USA Today, George, U.S. News & World Report, BusinessWeek, National Review Online, CBS News, Townhall.com, The Washington Times, and others.



blog comments powered by Disqus

The #twittergulag saga continues: @gopfirecracker suspended, others still trapped

May 21, 2012  11:54 PM

#freegopfirecracker #freegopfirecracker #freegopfirecracker #freegopfirecracker— Dale Holt (@DaleHolt8) May 22, 2012 Come on conservatives! Everyone rallied around @ChrisLoesch when he was suspended! Now its @gopfirecracker so stand up! #freegopfirecracker— Schmoop (@RGSchmoop) May 22, 2012 Hey @twitter and @support – #FreeGOPfirecracker's account has been suspended. Please fix this mishap. Thank you.— Gabriella Hoffman (@Gabby_Hoffman) May 22, 2012 [...]

Cory Booker tweets #IStandWithObama; Hashtag hijackers flood the zone

May 21, 2012  11:39 PM

Newark, N.J., Mayor Cory Booker, the Democrat who defended Bain from the Obama campaign's attacks yesterday morning, has been backpedaling more furiously than a clown on a high wire. Tonight, in an effort to mollify his critics on the Left, he posted four tweets that included the hashtag #IStandWithObama. Conservatives immediately took over the #IStandWithObama hashtag to mock President Obama, and within an hour it became a trending topic.

Cory Booker tries to clear up his position on Bain attacks

May 21, 2012  10:25 PM

Cory Booker continued his quest to run screaming away from the apparently too candid comments he made on Meet the Press on Sunday. Despite attempts earlier today to #FreeCoryBooker from those trying to force him to apologize Booker went on the Rachel Maddow show to do everything he could to walk back what he said. Que the mockery.

Obama's 'When you're president' picture spawns hashtag

May 21, 2012  09:59 PM

"When you're president, as opposed to the head of a private equity firm, then your job is not simply to maximize profits. Your job is to figure out how everybody in the country has a fair shot." -Barack Obama Cue #WhenYouArePresident

Obama takes anti-Romney rant to Twitter

May 21, 2012  09:49 PM

It started off this morning with a video of a woman named Valerie from Indiana posted by Barack Obama’s official Twitter account. 12 hours, 12 tweets and a failed hashtag later, Obama’s reelection team took the day to tweet ongoing misinformation about Mitt Romney’s record in the private sector, specifically Bain Capital’s work with the [...]

FSM Archives

  FSM Archive   Search Must Reads
More in PUBLICATIONS ( 1 OF 25 ARTICLES )