The Military History Thread

[Ennath]

April 27, 1945
Battle of Davao

On March 10, 1945, Douglas MacArthur, Field Marshal of the Philippine Army and Commander of the U.S. Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE), ordered Lt. Gen. Robert Eichelberger, commanding US 8th Army, to reclaim Mindanao the southernmost major island of the Philippines, from the Japanese.

The campaign for Mindanao posed a great challenge, primarily for 3 reasons: the inhospitable geography, the extensive Japanese defenses and the strength and condition of the Japanese forces, which contained a significant percentage of combat troops remaining in the Philippines. The topography is generally rugged and mountainous. Thick rain forests and crocodile-infested rivers covered much of the terrain, the rest either lake, swamp or grassland which was dense with groves of abaca trees. The few unpaved roads further complicated the problem of troop movement.

The strongest of the Japanese defenses were concentrated around the Davao Gulf area, which was heavily mined to counter an amphibious landing, and in Davao City, the island’s largest and most important city. The Japanese, anticipating being eventually driven from the city, prepared defensive bunkers inland where they could consolidate their forces to prolonging the campaign as long as possible.

Eichelberger designated the operation to X Corps (Franklin Sibert), with Roscoe Woodruff’s 24th Infantry Division and Clarence Martin’s 31st Infantry Division as principal combat units. Amphibious Task Group 78.2 (Albert Noble) was tasked to carry 24th Division and X Corps headquarters to the assault beaches.

The assault on Mindanao began on March 10. By April 17, the Americans, joined now by units of Philippine irregulars, had secured much of the central part of the island, having destroyed Japanese units the in Malaybalay and Cabacan sectors. By late in the month, the Americans were preparing for the move on Davao.

Defending the city was Japanese 100th Division (Jiro Harada). Headquartered on the peak of the Shrine Hills, west from the city center, it had a commanding view of Davao Gulf. The Right Sector Unit of 5 infantry battalions was anchored at Catigan, 13 miles southwest of the city center. The Left Sector Unit of 4 battalions was in the hills 12 miles north of Davao. The center, overlooking Libby Airdrome, was manned by 3 battalions. There was an extensive tunnel network in the city’s hills to shelter from American firepower. Gen. Gyosaku Morozumi was in general command on the island.

The battle began on April 27 when the first elements of 24th Division reached what is now Digos, then part of Santa Cruz town. The division had moved westward across Mindanao so rapidly that the Allies were almost on top of the Japanese before Morozumi learned too late that the western landing was, in fact, not diversionary as he had believed. The Americans quickly overran the Japanese defenses at Digos, which were designed only to repel a seaborne assault, not one from the rear. 24th Division then quickly turned north and headed toward Davao City, 30 miles away. They spread out along the coast, while units advancing north towards Davao reached the western outskirts of the city on May 1.

After 2 days of air and naval bombardment, the the first combat elements of 24th Division entered Davao City against less opposition than had been expected. Most of the city was secured by the end of the 4th. However, in the rush to the city, 100th Division’s main defenses outside the city had been ignored. These would now need to be eliminated.

This was the hardest part of the battle. Visibility in the heavy growth was poor (rarely over 10 feet) and men had to force their way through the dense undergrowth. No breeze ever reached through the gloomy expanse of green, and more men - American, Filipino and Japanese - fell from the heat than bullets. While the infantry sought out the Japanese defenses, platoons and squads worked through the jungle to seek out bunkers and spider holes.

Fighting progressed slowly, but the Americans and Filipinos were making headway. On May 17, after being exhausted and bloodied during the fighting in Mintal village, 24th Division, with fresh reinforcements, renewed its offensive, with 21st and 34th Regiments attacking the Japanese center, the 34th east of the Talomo river and the 21st west. At the same time, 19th Regiment, supported by the guerrilla 107th Division, attacked northwards from the city center. On May 28, 34th Infantry linked up with the 21st east of Tugbok, west from the city center.

Meanwhile, US naval forces had their own problems in Davao Gulf. Japanese suicide boats began harassing American shipping in the area, operating from their base at Piso Point, on the eastern shore of the gulf. Piso Point is strategically located, with many overhanging trees providing camouflage. Some of the US troops were given the mission of eliminating this base. On May 10, Edgar Hoagland, the naval officer of 24th Division, was given a special task to survey the area for potential Japanese around the city, including Piso Point. After tips from local guerrillas, he was able to pinpoint the location of the Japanese base fairly closely. On May 14, Hoagland, together with ensign John Adams, USNR and their PT boats, attacked the base and destroyed it; the garrison was wiped out and the boats there burned.

On May 29, the 19th Infantry started from the coast north of the city and, with guerrilla units coming from the west, cracked the Japanese positions west of the city center, capturing the villages of Tacunan, Ula, Matina Biao, Magtuod, and attacking towards Mandug. 34th Infantry attacked Harada’s second line of defense the next day, and the capture of Mandug on June 9 marked the collapse of 100th Division. The 21 Infantry took Wangan on the same day. On the 10th, the beaten Japanese 100th Division withdrew into the mountains of Bukidnon.

With most of Davao, including the whole of the city proper now under Allied control, most Japanese units west of the city were now isolated, and Allied troops began mopping-up operations in several sectors in the city and province. Piecemeal resistance west of the city was among the last in the Philippine islands during the war.

The fighting around Davao City from late April to mid-June cost 24th Infantry Division some 350 dead and 1615 wounded, while the Japanese suffered about 4500 killed and 30 captured. By the time it left the city, Japanese 100th Division had been nearly destroyed. Thousands of civilians were killed, injured, missing or made homeless.

[Ennath]

973
Fall of Fraxinetum

According to Liudprand of Cremona, in about 889 a ship carrying 20 adventurers from Pechina near Almería in what was then called Al-Andalus anchored in the Gulf of St-Tropez in Provence. They were called muwallad, that is, converts to Islam who spoke both Latin and Arabic. They built a stone fortification at Fraxinetum and protected their outposts by cultivating thorny bushes. Other adventurers from Muslim Spain soon joined them, raiding in the surrounding areas.

The region around Fraxinetum was known in contemporary sources as Djabal al-Qilal (“mountain of many peaks”) and is depicted on Arab maps of the period as an island. The area controlled by Fraxinetum included St-Tropez, its gulf and hinterland, as well as Ramatuelle and its peninsula. Ship wrecks in the area indicate that Fraxinetum may have been a center of trade as well as of piracy.

Between 900 and 910 and between 925 and 940 the Saracens raided throughout Provence. In 911, they reached the Alpine passes. They usually avoided attacking walled towns but attacked isolated villas and monasteries. They raided from the Rhone as far east as the Italian riviera, to Albenga and St. Remo, and north to the Alpine valleys of Piemont, where they pillaged the monasteries of San Dalmazzo near Coni and Novalaise near Suse.

In 931 King Hugh of Italy, with the help of some Byzantine ships, attacked Fraxinetum. The Byzantines were able to destroy the Muslim ships with Greek fire, while Hugh’s troops entered the town. However, in 941 Hugh allowed the Muslims of Fraxinetum to harass the Alpine passes for his own political ends in his struggle with Berengar of Ivrea.

It was assumed by Emperor Otto I that the Umayyad Caliph of Cordoba, Abd-ar-Rahman III, was sovereign over Fraxinetum, and he sent John of Gorze as ambassador in 953 to demand the cessation of the pirates’ activities. It is unlikely, however, that the pirates regarded Fraxinetum as part of the Caliph’s territory.

In 973, the Saracens captured Mayeul, the Abbot of the Monastery at Cluny, and held him for ransom, which was paid. The monks responded, however, once their abbot was released, by stirring up Provence against the Andalusian menace. The peasantry and the nobles were united in their antipathy towards the Andalusis and together implored their ruler, William I, Count of Arles, to act against them.

William, equally disturbed by the treatment of the abbot, raised a feudal host and took the offensive. His army consisted not only of men from Provence, but also the lower Dauphiné and Nice. William's strategy was simple: he struck directly at the heart of Saracen Provence with the whole of his force. This did not go unnoticed by the Andalusis, who went out to meet the Provencal army in the Alps. They were defeated in a series of 5 battles at Embrun, Gap, Riez, Ampus, and Cabasse. Thoroughly beaten back, the Saracens assembled in an open plain called Tourtour not far from Fraxinetum. There, the 6th and final battle of the war was fought. William defeated the Andalusis in the field and chased them back to Fraxinetum, where they sheltered while the Provencals rested.

After a brief pause, William launched an assault on Fraxinetum, led by the lords of Levens, Aspremont, Gilette, Beuil, and Sospel. The fortress fell and the remainder of the Muslim army fled to a nearby forest, where they were soon overcome and entirely captured or killed. The survivors were forcibly baptized and enslaved; the remaining Saracens in Provence fled the region.

The expulsion of the Saracens in 973 became an epic event in the history and legends of Provence. William became known as the William the Liberator. He distributed the lands taken from the Saracens between Toulon and Nice to his entourage. His descendants became the recognized leaders of Provence, above the other counts of the region.

During the long period of war and banditry in Provence, the population had retreated to walled cities, maritime trade was rare, and little new art or architecture, other than fortification, was created. The Provencal language was formed, based on Latin and closer to Latin than the French spoken in northern France. In the 11th century Provencal terms began to appear, mixed with Latin, in documents.

[Ennath]

April 28, 1955
Battle of Saigon

Cochinchina in southern Vietnam in the 1920s-30s featured a criminal underworld based in and around the marshy lowlands southeast of Cholon. This area was traditionally infested with river pirates, bandits and assassins. Their place of refuge was the Rung Sat or “Jungle of Killers” region, from which they launched their sorties. Here gangs and criminal families held absolute sway, forging links through intermarriage, criminal association and anti-French activities with Chinese Triads and Vietnamese secret societies.

Several notable gangs and criminal families were located in the region of Binh Xuyen hamlet, south of Cholon. In the early 1920s these, together with escaped contract laborers from the rubber plantations on the Rung Sat’s northern fringe, and Cholon street thugs, formed a loose coalition some 200-300 strong. These forces ultimately came under the patronage of a powerful underworld figure named Duong Van Duong, also known as Ba Duong or Bach Ba (Uncle Three) who made his home in Binh Xuyen. Thus was the “Binh Xuyen” criminal collective born: “Armed with old rifles, clubs, and knives, and schooled in Sino-Vietnamese boxing, they extorted protection money from the sampans and junks that traveled the canals on their way to the Cholon docks. Occasionally they sortied into Cholon to kidnap, rob, or shake down a wealthy Chinese merchant. If too sorely pressed by the police or the colonial militia, they could retreat through the streams and canals south of Saigon deep into the impenetrable Rung Sat Swamp at the mouth of the Saigon River, where their reputations as popular heroes among the inhabitants, as well as the maze of mangrove swamps, rendered them invulnerable to capture.”

In the late 1920s or early 1930s a young street hoodlum from the outskirts of Cholon named Le Van Vien (Bay Vien) entered the Binh Xuyen milieu and gradually came to prominence under Ba Duong’s influence. Hunted by the French in the 1930s, Bay Vien and a number of his cohorts were eventually captured and sentenced to confinement in the penal colony on Con Son Island. Ba Duong, meanwhile, had become a labor broker for the Japanese and entered into a relationship with the Japanese secret service. Arrangements were made for the kempei tai (Japanese secret police) to free Binh Xuyen personnel from Con Son in 1941. Thereafter, under Japanese patronage, the Binh Xuyen rapidly grew both in organization and influence.

Bay Vien escaped Con Son in early 1945 and returned to Saigon, where he engaged in insurgent politics in collusion with Ba Duong and the Japanese. When the Japanese took over from the Vichy administration in March 1945, jailing all French police, the Binh Xuyen were given amnesty and Bay Vien was installed as a police official by the newly established government of Emperor Bao Dai.

In August 1945, the Viet Minh chief of Cochinchina, Tran Van Giau, formed an alliance with Bay Vien and Ba Duong against the French. Following the British supported French counter-coup in September, the Viet Minh withdrew from Saigon, leaving Bay Vien as military commander of Saigon-Cholon with a force of 100 men. Bay Vien promptly formed an alliance with Lai Van Sang’s 2000-man student group, the Avant-Garde Youth. Together with a number of Japanese deserters, they engaged the French. By the end of October, they were pushed back to the Rung Sat in a waterborne retrograde action, in which a key element was the deployment of some 250 stay-behind agents. These engaged in a ruthless campaign of terror and extortion. A constant influx of men, money and materiel quickly established the Binh Xuyen as a well-armed, disciplined force of approximately 10,000 men.

A dispute arose between Ba Duong and the Viet Minh in January 1946 and in February, Ba Duong was killed in strafing raid by French aircraft. Sensing a shift in the political tide, Bay Vien seized the opportunity to consolidate his hold on the Binh Xuyen and achieve dominance. He then began secret negotiations with the French Deuxieme Bureau (Military Intelligence) for exclusive rights to territory in Saigon, ultimately leading to a March 1948 agreement which was formalized on June 16, 1948 (the VM attacked the Binh Xuyen in the Rung Sat during mid-1948, forcing them out of their bases - which pushed the gang further into the French camp). The French government announced that it “had decided to confide the police and maintenance of order to the Binh Xuyen troops in a zone where they are used to operating.” Thereafter the French turned over Saigon block-by-block and by April 1954, Lai Van Sang was director-general of police and the Binh Xuyen controlled not only the Saigon-Cholon capital region but a 60-mile strip between Saigon and Vung Tau, exercising full political and economic control.

Thus, the Viet Minh was unable to conduct a single terror bombing in Saigon between 1952 and 1954. What's more, the Binh Xuyen offered a solution to a problem which had recently beset French intelligence. From 1951, French intelligence had tried, very successfully, to establish maquis in the Highlands of Laos and Tonkin. In order to guarantee the loyalty of the Highland populations, they had to buy their only cash crop - opium. Since the colonial administration had abolished its own Opium Monopoly in 1946, the Binh Xuyen provided an obvious outlet. Furthermore, this also solved most of the clandestine funding problems since the Deuxième Bureau received a cut of the proceeds.

The Binh Xuyen continued to control their zone after the French left. This posed a problem for the new president of the Republic of Vietnam, Ngo Dinh Diem. By this time, Bay Vien had 5 regular battalions and 2 battalions of public security shock troops, totaling some 25,000 men.

At midnight, March 29-30, 1955, explosions rocked Saigon as the Bình Xuyen responded to Diem’s removal of its police chief. 200 Bình Xuyen troops launched an attack on VNA (Vietnamese National Army) headquarters. The clashes were inconclusive, with the VNA suffering 6 deaths and their opponents 10. Diem determined to break this semi-independent force. Gen. Duong Van Minh (“Big Minh”) was given command of Operation Rung Sat.

The final battle between Diem’s VNA and the Bình Xuyen began on April 28 at mid-day. After initial small-arms fire and mortar exchanges, the VNA resorted to the heaviest artillery in its arsenal. This coincided with growing calls from within the Eisenhower administration to oust him because Eisenhower believed that he was unable to subdue the Bình Xuyen and unify the country. By evening, a large part of the inner city was engulfed in house-to-house combat. A square mile of the city, around the densely populated inner-city Chinese district of Cholon where the Bình Xuyen had a stronghold, became a free-fire zone. The densely crowded area saw some 500-1000 deaths and up to 20,000 civilians made homeless in the cross-fire. Observers described fighting from both sides as lacking strategy and relying on brute-force attrition tactics. One of the few maneuvers considered tactical was an attempt by the VNA to cut off Bình Xuyen reinforcements by demolishing the bridge across the Saigon-Cholon canal. This was made moot when the Bình Xuyen threw pontoon bridges across the canal. It appeared that the conflict would be determined by the side which was able to absorb the greater number of losses.

In Washington, Secretary of State John Foster Dulles phoned Chief of Staff J. Lawton Collins to suspend moves aimed at replacing Diem. Eisenhower had determined that these were to be put on hold pending the outcome of the VNA operation. Collins and Dulles clashed in the National Security Council meeting, with Collins vehemently calling for Diem to be removed. Collins continued to argue that the attempt to destroy the Bình Xuyen by force would produce a civil war. The NSC endorsed Dulles’ position.

After 48 hours of combat, the VNA began to gain the upper hand. Le Grand Monde, previously Bay Vien’s largest gambling establishment, and temporarily serving as a Bình Xuyen citadel, was overrun by Diem’s paratroopers after a struggle which caused heavy losses on both sides. The VNA then stormed one of the most heavily fortified strongholds, the Petrus Ky High School in Cholon. By the time Collins had arrived in South Vietnam on May 2, the battle was almost won. The Bình Xuyên forces were broken and in retreat and their command posts leveled.

Bay Vien escaped to Paris to live out his life on the profits of his criminal ventures, along with many of the Binh Xuyen leadership (and apparently many of the Saigon police files). The VNA pursued the Binh Xuyen remnants into the Mekong Delta near the Cambodian border, where they were soon broken. The organization’s army was disbanded and its vice operations collapsed. Diem’s power was secure - for the time being.

[Ennath]

April 29, 1862
Fall of New Orleans

At the start of the American Civil War New Orleans was the largest city in the Confederacy. Her position near the mouth of the Mississippi had turned her into a major international port, where the goods of the northwest and cotton from Louisiana and Mississippi could be transferred to ocean going ships from the low draught riverboats. In May 1861, Union General-in-Chief Winfield Scott devised the “Anaconda Plan” (see posting) for defeating the Confederacy, which called for the blockade of the Southern coast as well as the capture of the Mississippi River. This latter move was designed to split the Confederacy in two and prevent supplies from moving east and west. The first step to securing the Mississippi was the capture of New Orleans.

The city’s defenses were concentrated downriver, at Fort Jackson and Fort St. Philip, themselves 30 miles upstream from the many mouths of the Mississippi. The river itself provided an additional defense in the form of sandbars that form at the various mouths. These prevented the largest Union ships from entering the river, and even slowed down the carefully picked fleet that did capture the city. It was the sandbar that protected New Orleans from an early attack by David Porter, who spent most of 1861 with the squadron blockading the Mississippi. While there he developed a plan that he hoped would result in the capture of the city. In November his ship, the Powhatan, returned to New York. Porter was ordered to report to the Navy Department in Washington. He took this chance to explain his plan to Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles, who took it to President Lincoln. The idea of opening the Mississippi had been in their minds since the start of the war, and they quickly approved Porter’s plan. With Lincoln’s support, the plan was approved, and work began on finding the ships and men he would need.

Porter’s plan required an army 20,000 strong, needed to occupy New Orleans, and hopefully also Vicksburg, further up the river in Mississippi. The navy would provide a fleet of gunboats with at least 200 guns and a fleet of mortar boats, capable of bombarding Forts Jackson and St. Philip. In the end, the expedition was launched with an army 6000 strong under Gen. Benjamin Butler, a gunboat fleet carrying 166 guns and 26 howitzers and a mortar fleet 19 strong. Finally, the expedition needed a commander. Porter recommended his foster brother, Flag Officer David Farragut, a veteran of southern birth, who had come north at the outbreak of the war and offered his services. Farragut established his base of operations at Ship Island off the coast of Mississippi. Assessing the Confederate defenses, Farragut initially planned to reduce the forts with mortar fire before advancing his fleet upriver.

The Confederates had also been busy. Their defense plans were hampered by the fact that the leadership in Richmond believed that the greatest threats to the city would come from the north. As such, military equipment and manpower were shifted north up the Mississippi. In southern Louisiana, the defenses were commanded by Maj. Gen. Mansfield Lovell who had his headquarters in New Orleans. Immediate oversight of the forts fell to Brig. Gen. Johnson Duncan. Ft. Jackson mounted 74 guns and Ft. St. Philip another 52. Supporting the static defenses was the River Defense Fleet consisting of 6 gunboats, 2 gunboats from the Louisiana Provisional Navy, and 2 gunboats from the Confederate Navy, all converted river steamers. They supported the ironclad Louisiana (12) and ironclad ram Manassas (1). The former, while a powerful ship, was not complete and was used as a floating battery during the battle. Though numerous, the Confederates forces on the water lacked a unified command structure. Passage of the river itself was obstructed by 8 hulks moored in the river and connected by a heavy chain, with the gaps closed by log rafts. Fire rafts had also been prepared.

Farragut arrived off the Mississippi on February 20, 1862, on his flagship, USS Hartford, and by mid-March he was ready to move. Farragut began moving his ships over the bar at the river mouth on March 18. Here complications were encountered as the water proved shallower than expected. As a result, the passage took 12 days and the steam frigate Colorado (52 guns) had to be left behind. Rendezvousing at Head of Passes, Farragut’s ships and Porter's mortar boats moved upriver towards the forts. Sending forward a detachment from the US Coast Survey, Farragut made determinations on where to place the mortar fleet.

The Union fleet was finally ready to move on April 16. That day Farragut, though skeptical of their effectiveness, moved the mortar boats to within 3 miles of the forts; the bombardment began on April 18. On the first day of the bombardment, Ft. Jackson was set on fire. Porter’s preparation had been meticulous, and the majority of the thousands of shells that the mortar boats fired hit their target. Ft. St. Philip suffered much less damage, as it was almost out of the mortars’ effective range.

Farragut was not quite ready to risk running his ships past the forts. His main concern now was the line of hulks chained across the river. On the night of April 20, sailors from 3 gunboats rowed forward and opened a gap in the barricade, creating a clear channel on the left (eastern) side of the river, nearest to Fort St. Philip.

By April 23, the constant bombardment was beginning to take its toll on the mortar fleet, which was beginning to run out of ammunition, though only 1 had been sunk. Farragut, impatient with the results, began planning to run his fleet past the forts, ordering his captains to drape their vessels in chain, iron plate, and other protective materials. Farragut divided his fleet into 3 divisions for the dash past the forts. He had to be talked out of leading the first division himself, and eventually agreed to lead the second, which contained his 3 heaviest ships. At 2:00 AM on April 24, the Union fleet began moving upstream, with the first division coming under fire at 3:15. At the same time part of the mortar fleet opened a new bombardment of Ft. Jackson, preventing it from doing much damage during the upcoming battle. Racing ahead, the first division was soon clear of the forts and engaged with the Confederate fleet.

By the time Farragut had got past Ft. St. Philip, the battle between the fleets was almost over. Farragut’s division devoted some time to attacking Ft. St. Philip, with the intention of knocking her guns out of action at least for long enough for the third division to get past safely. After succeeding in this, Farragut passed on beyond the forts. At this point he came close to disaster. As his flagship, Hartford (22) cleared the forts, it was forced to turn to avoid a Confederate fire raft and ran aground. Seeing the ship in trouble, the Confederates redirected the fire raft towards Hartford, which caught fire. However, the crew was able to extinguish the flames quickly and back the ship out of the mud.

Most ships of the third division got past the badly damaged Confederate forts without any problems. Three of the slowest found themselves stuck below the forts at daylight, and had to beat a hasty retreat under fire from the remaining guns in the forts.

Above the forts, the Union ships encountered the River Defense Fleet and Manassas. While the gunboats were easily dealt with, Manassas attempted to ram USS Pensacola (17). but missed. Moving downstream, Manassasattempted to pass between the forts to attack the mortar fleet, but was fired on by her own side, and forced to turn back. Her next target was USS Brooklyn (21). Ramming the Union ship, Manassasfailed to strike a fatal blow as it hit Brooklyn’s full coal bunkers. During this the only gun on the Manassas was put out of action. This marked the end of her career. She was now downstream of the Union fleet, and could not make enough speed against the current to successfully ram. As a result, its captain ran it aground where it was destroyed by Union gunfire.

Having successfully cleared the forts with minimal losses, Farragut began steaming up to New Orleans, arriving in the afternoon of April 25. The city was unexpectedly vulnerable. The troops that had been defending the gulf coast had been taken north to help defend Tennessee. The situation rapidly descended into farce. Farragut sent an officer to the city hall with a demand for the surrender of New Orleans. The mayor passed the responsibility for this on to Gen. Lovell, but he replied that he and his men were leaving the city, and therefore it was not his to surrender. The next day Farragut made a formal demand for surrender. Mayor Monroe again refused. At this point only the mob seemed to be willing to fight for the city, but even they soon ran out of enthusiasm. Finally, on April 29, Farragut sent a small force to the custom house, where they hoisted the stars and stripes, before moving on the city hall where they pulled down the recently adopted state flag of Louisiana, but prudently did not raise the stars and stripes in the face of a vast but sullen mob. During this time, the garrisons of the Fts. Jackson and St. Philip, now cut off from the city, surrendered. The city was finally secured on May 1, when Butler’s army arrived and took over control from the marines.

The battle to capture New Orleans cost Farragut a mere 37 killed and 149 wounded. For Lovell, the fighting along the river cost him around 782 killed and wounded, as well as approximately 6000 captured. The loss of the city effectively ended Lovell’s career.

Farragut’s fleet continued upriver, capturing Baton Rouge and Natchez, but the expedition had one more major target - Vicksburg. It was not yet that strongly fortified, but was in a naturally strong position. Butler’s army was much smaller than the 20,000 originally called for, so when Farragut reached Vicksburg the garrison was more than strong enough to resist any attack he could make. Even so, he persisted until July 26, when he finally had to abandon the attack as the water level in the Mississippi began to fall.

The capture of New Orleans was one of the most significant events of the civil war. The Confederacy lost her biggest city and main port, an important center of ship building, and, most importantly, entry to the Mississippi. Union warships were able to patrol all but 200 miles of the river. New Orleans went on to be an important center for northern trade. While the mob had been strongly pro-Confederate when Farragut’s fleet appeared, New Orleans had many pro-Union men (or at least many who were willing to go along in return for the chance to trade). There was also a large free black community which went on to provide several regiments for the Union armies.

[Ennath]

April 30, 1837
Battle of Jamrud

Accounts of this battle often seem like two different actions as both sides claimed a great victory, This is an attempt to reconcile the accounts.

Since the consolidation of the Sikh Empire in Punjab, Maharajah Ranjit Singh had turned the wave of invasions back on Afghanistan. The Afghans had been losing long held territories to the Sikhs over the preceding years due to internal conflicts, and had seen their once mighty empire shrink with the loss of the Punjab region, Multan, Kashmir, Derajat, Hazara and Peshawar. In the winter of 1836-37, a Sikh force occupied Jamrud, a small fort at the mouth of the Khyber Pass, famous as the route for invaders from Central India and Afghanistan into India. Ranjit Singh realized the importance of the Khyber Pass and deputed his chief general Hari Singh Nalwa to capture the pass and continue on to Kabul. The capture of Jamrud marked the high point of Sikh conquest.

In the beginning of 1837, the bulk of the Sikh army was recalled to Lahore, the capital, to take part in the celebrations of the wedding of the grandson of Ranjit Singh. Hari Singh himself fell sick and retired for rest and recuperation. Mahan Singh Mirpuri was left in effective command of the 800 man garrison. The Afghan Amir Akbar Khan learned of this and decided the time was ripe to recapture Jamrud. The Amir ordered his son Mohammed Akbar Khan to retake the pass, reinforcing his army with a detachment under his eldest son, Mohammed Afzal Khan. The force numbered about 25,000 men, with plentiful artillery.

The Afghan army encamped at the mouth of the Khyber Pass, and every day skirmishes took place between the Afghans and the Sikh garrison at Jamrud. The Amir considered it proper that his sons should have some person of good judgment to regulate their conduct , so he sent his minister Mirza Abdul Sami Khan to join his sons. The fort was besieged, and the garrison prevented from fetching any water or grass from outside the citadel. Despite heavy bombardment and severe damage to the walls, the Sikhs inside the fort held out. Inside the fort things were getting desperate as water and food supplies were running low and the Sikhs inside desperately needed to pass information to Hari Singh at Peshawar. A volunteer, a young girl named Harsharan Kaur decided to volunteer. Disguised as a boy she made her way through the lines at night and reached Peshawar. Hari Singh now assembled a relief force of some 10,000 men and, though sick, decided to lead the army himself.

In the early hours of April 30, the relief army arrived at Jamrud, taking the Afghans by surprise. The Afghan guns were captured, and they began to flee. The only detachment which stood firm was that of Mohamed Afzal Khan, the Amir’s eldest son who, keeping together a body of 2000 men, showed a bold front. Hari Singh, finding him inflexible, unexpectedly wheeled round, and, observing the Afghans occupying small rises in the Pass, fell on their them instead. The Sikhs were able to drive the Afghans from their positions capturing 14 guns. The Sikhs pursued, but suffered heavy loss from a cavalry rearguard. With this, some of the fleeing Afghans rallied and drove the Sikhs back to Jamrud fort, where they dug in. Most of the lost guns were retaken. Hari Singh was mortally wounded and died later that day.

The result of the battle is disputed. Some contend the failure of the Afghans to take the fort as a victory for the Sikhs. Some state an Afghan victory in turning back the Sikh pursuit. Perhaps, neither side could claim a clear victory. This has not prevented both Indian and Pakistani historians from trying.

[Ennath]

1094
El Cid at Valencia

Born in 1043, Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar was the son of a distinguished knight in the service of King Ferdinand I of Castile and Leon. When his father died, the 15-year-old boy became a ward of Prince Sancho, Ferdinand’s oldest son. Raised in the royal court and trained as a knight, Rodrigo grew skilled with the lance and broadsword and won a fearsome reputation as king’s champion in single combats. After Ferdinand died in 1065, a dynastic war broke out (see posting War of the Three Sanchos), with Alfonso, Sancho’s brother, challenging for the crown. Rodrigo distinguished himself fighting as Sancho II’s alférez (royal marshal), but Alfonso triumphed when his brother was assassinated in 1072. Though Rodrigo dutifully served the new king, he never won Alfonso’s full confidence and was banished in 1081. Becoming a mercenary, he joined the service of al-Mu’tamin, emir of the northeastern kingdom of Zaragoza, where he led a retinue of 2000 freelance Christian cavalry along with al-Mu’tamin’s Muslim troops. It was probably al-Mu’tamin who made him a lord, bestowing the Arabic honorific as-sayyid, or El Cid in Spanish.

Alfonso VI, meanwhile, set out to unite all Iberia under his rule. Since the 8th century, a powerful caliphate governed Muslim Spain, al-Andalus, until 1031, and its fall splintered the region into independent but weak Arab-ruled taifas. Capitalizing on this fracture, Leon-Castile and other burgeoning Christian kingdoms in the north began to force the taifas to pay tribute or hire Christian mercenaries for protection.

Alfonso declared himself emperor of all Spain in 1077 and increased his tribute demands. In turn, taifa princes petitioned bin Tashufin, the conquering Almoravid Berber leader in Morocco, for help. Bin Tashufin initially resisted, but in 1085, Alfonso conquered Toledo, the largest city in Muslim Spain made it his capital. With that, bin Tashufin decided that his duty to protect or extend the bounds of Islam obligated him to intervene. On July 30, 1086, he crossed the Strait of Gibraltar with 4000 men. A few days later, he appeared at a large Seville mosque and summoned the Muslims of al-Andalus to jihad. Alfonso scraped up all the men-at-arms he dared from Leon-Castile, perhaps as few as 2500, plus crusaders from Italy and France, and headed south. On October 23 the armies met at Sagrajas, a few miles east of Badajoz. In a bitter, drawn-out battle with heavy losses on both sides, bin Tashufin’s army crushed Alfonso, who was wounded and narrowly escaped with 500 knights. Bin Tashufin was unable to follow up his triumph; uprisings in Morocco forced his return to Africa. Nevertheless, Sagrajas weakened Alfonso, and taifa rulers entered into alliances with bin Tashufin.

In the wake of the defeat, Alfonso lifted Rodrigo’s banishment and assigned him a key role. The king wanted to regain control of Valencia, the important commercial and cultural center in the east. Alfonso believed the people of Valencia and the small taifas in eastern Iberia might welcome a new ruler. About half were Mozarabs, Christians who favored Arabic speech, dress, and customs. The Andalusian Muslims, meanwhile, split into pro- and anti-Almoravid factions. As part of his reconciliation with Alfonso, Rodrigo won the right to keep lands he seized. Within 6 years, he had established a protectorate over much of the coast. The climax of his campaign came in May 1094, when he occupied Valencia after an 11-month siege, evicted the governing pro-Almoravid faction, and assumed the reins of power.

About this time, bin Tashufin obtained a fatwa that legitimized the annexation of Andalusia’s 20-odd taifas to his empire. Valencia was the key to his strategy; if he could control it, he could pressure Alfonso in Toledo, as well as al-Mu’tamin in Zaragoza, the last independent taifa. In August 1094, a huge Almoravid army crossed at Gibraltar. Among the transport ships were galleys towing palm-trunk rafts carrying elephants. Bin Tashufin appointed his nephew, Abu Abdullah bin Muhammad, to lead the campaign. The army was divided into 2 roughly equal corps. The first, under Muhammad’s command, was to take Valencia and rid bin Tashufin of the pesky Cid.

This force enjoyed several advantages over the defenders. It likely boasted 25,000 or more men, while El Cid’s striking force numbered fewer than 4000 mounted men-at-arms. Many Almoravid warriors were religious fanatics who, assured of eternal reward in the hereafter, fought to the death. Christian noblemen, meanwhile, typically surrendered when faced with hopeless circumstances, expecting to be ransomed. The European armies did enjoy one advantage. Their principal tactic was the large-scale heavy-cavalry charge. Launched at a critical moment, with the full weight of men and mounts, and backed by crossbow fire, the charge often made defending formations break and run. Since his armies first faced this charge at Sagrajas, bin Tashufin had modified his tactics to defeat it. Some 80% of the Almoravid army was mounted, but because chain armor was expensive, most were light cavalry. Rather than going head-to-head, his men fought in skirmishing attacks in which their more agile Berber horses out-turned the knights’ destriers. The mounted skirmishers would lure impulsive knights into the spear lines of Berber infantry; the light horse would also dart in close to bring down knights’ horses, spoiling a charge as it formed. Once these tactics had softened the enemy, the Almoravids’ limited armored cavalry might spearhead a charge of their massed light cavalry.

Given the Almoravids’ numerical superiority, convention suggested that Rodrigo fight defensively. But he believed he had to destroy bin Tashufin’s army to remove the threat to Valencia. That meant taking the enemy by surprise outside the city walls. Instinctively he found a weakness in what was supposed to be the Almoravid army’s strength - its strict tactical organization and tight control. He concluded that if he could attack before they had organized and deployed, his knights’ advantages - skill at arms, quality and weight of weapons, armor, and mounts, and individual élan - might carry the day. To attack before the Almoravids could deploy, Rodrigo would have to draw them to a field of battle away from their siege cordon at Valencia. 4 miles up the Río Turia and northwest of the city lay the plain of El Cuarte. The Turia fed a network of canals and ditches, beyond which stretched meadows and groves of carob trees. Rodrigo presumed the Almoravids would make their base camp at El Cuarte because the valley was the only place with sufficient forage for their horses, mules, camels, and elephants. To make sure, he had anti-Almoravid Muslims meet the enemy quartermasters, pretend to welcome them as liberators, and direct them there. Unknown to the Almoravids, the early autumn regularly saw heavy rains in the area around Valencia. And when the rains arrived as late as October, they typically began with a deluge, triggering floods that wiped out harvests.

When spies advised that the Almoravids would reach Valencia in the middle of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Rod*rigo saw another way to tip the balance. During Ramadan, Muslims abstained from eating and drinking between sunrise and sunset. After fasting all day, observants usually slept late after a long night of heavy eating, a routine that often left them lethargic and irritable. Rodrigo realized that the Almoravids would be at their most vulnerable at the end of Ramadan, October 14. Almoravid quartermasters arrived at El Cuarte in mid-September; the column of soldiers, women, children, servants, pack trains, and animal herds took another 15 days to arrive. Not a drop of rain had fallen for months, and market gardeners and Valencia’s citizens kept an eye on the sky as October arrived.

Muhammad presented himself at Valencia’s main gate in early October. The city, Muhammad said, should surrender without delay. El Cid, however, stood firm. This first encounter concluded with Muhammad ordering elephants to push forward 6 wheeled belfries built at El Cuarte. Rawhides covered the front and sides for protection against flaming arrows. The following day, Muhammad strengthened the cordon around the city. On each of the next 8 days, the Almoravid general came to the gate to renew his surrender demand, taunt Rodrigo for delaying, and admonish Valencia’s Muslims for collaborating with the infidel. On the 10th day, Valencia’s market gardeners called Rodrigo’s attention to birds appearing from unusual directions and flying so low that they grazed the ground, a sign that the overdue rains were about to begin. That night, the sky filled with black clouds.

At dawn, the rain began. Just inside the city’s main gate, 130 handpicked knights under Alvar Hañez waited, dismounted. Roused at 3 AM for a special Mass, the rest now sat mounted, standing by at the northwestern gates. As the sun rose, the west-facing gate opened a crack and Alvar’s knights slipped out. Standing shoulder to shoulder in a single rank, they made a formidable shield wall. Struggling awake from their Ramadan slumber, the Almoravid sentries squinted into the rising sun. Now Álvar’s knights reached the closest siege tower, setting it alight. Berber attempts to interfere were ineffective.

Meanwhile, behind the walls of Valencia, Rodrigo had divided his main force in 2. He personally led the lead element through the gates at the trot. The knights charged through the pandemonium that was now the Almoravid cordon, overrunning the Berber positions. When the knights had passed through the cordon, they rallied around Rodrigo’s banner. Then, with the bewildered Berbers facing this group, the second wing smashed into them from the rear. The rain now turned into a downpour, and Rodrigo wheeled and led his knights at the gallop toward the camp at El Cuarte. Leaderless and without orders, Berber cavalrymen seized mounts and set off in wild pursuit. As they arrived at El Cuarte, they were shaken by the spectacle. The Turia, swollen by water surging down from the mountains, had become a torrent, carrying away pavilions, supply wagons, and stores, as Rodrigo had ordered the irrigation weirs opened. As the Almoravid horse streamed onto the plain, Rodrigo’s force stormed out from the groves at the charge.

Even as the Almoravids struggled to meet this new assault, their situation took another turn for the worse. Alvar and his knights, who had remained outside the walls to round up surrendering Muslim warriors, now rode up and fell on them with such force that organized resistance crumbled, with Muhammad the first to take flight. Panicked Berbers drowned; elephants flailed about as they sank into newly formed swamps, killing or injuring others. Muhammad was captured, and while bin Tashufin refused to ransom him, Rodrigo freed him anyway. The abundant booty made Rodrigo and his knights rich. Even though Alfonso had not delivered assistance in time, Rodrigo, ever the loyal vassal, sent him Muhammad’s great camel-skin tent, with poles of precious woods worked in gold, along with 1000 Berber horses.

Rodrigo established the high-water mark for the Muslim advance in the Iberian Peninsula. In the years after the battle, he captured the last two Moorish castles in the region and defeated another Almoravid invasion. All the while, he evenhandedly ruled a region of Muslims and Christians. He died peacefully in bed in 1099. But when the Spaniards needed a national hero during the next few centuries as they battled the Muslims, the legend of El Cid Campeador would inspire them. In one apocryphal story, El Cid was killed in a siege, but still scared off the enemy when he was lashed to his horse and sent out to face the battle lines. That myth endured for generations, and became the climax of the Charlton Heston movie, with the hero in full armor and fearsome even in death.

[Ennath]

May 1, 1863
Battle of Chancellorsville

In late April 1863, the Army of the Potomac, under Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker, took the offensive against the Army of Northern Virginia, under Gen. Robert E. Lee. Hooker's bold and aggressive plan was a double envelopment of Lee’s forces. Hooker would lead around 65,000 troops on a 25 mile march northwest, turning south to cross the Rappahannock and Rapidan Rivers, turn east, and then would be able to strike Lee’s army in its rear. Maj. Gen. John Sedgewick would command 59,000 at Fredericksburg. He was to feint an attack on Lee’s front while Hooker moved his army into place. Hooker hoped that Lee would think that Sedgewick’s movement was the main attack. Maj. Gen. George Stoneman would lead about 10,000 cavalry in a raid deep into Lee’s rear, generally following the tracks of the Virginia Central Railroad. Unfortunately, Hooker kept only 1000 cavalry with his army to scout his route and provide flank security. Hooker believed that faced with these multiple threats, Lee would have to abandon his defensive line along the Rappahannock or be trapped by superior forces and destroyed. All of this depended on the element of surprise for the plan to work. Hooker wanted to strike at Lee while a sizable portion of Lee’s army was detached under James Longstreet to Newport News to watch for a possible Union attack from the coast.

Stoneman was originally scheduled to start from Falmouth, Virginia on the 13th, and cross the Rappahannock, but a heavy storm flooded the river and made a crossing impossible for 2 weeks. As a result, the cavalry crossed the river on the 29th with the rest of the army. The raid was an unrelieved failure. The column under William Averell spent most of its time at Rapidan Station worrying about phantom Confederate cavalry and was recalled by Hooker on May 2. He was subsequently relieved and replaced by Alfred Pleasonton. Stoneman, with John Buford and David Gregg, destroyed some railroad track and other property, but their efforts had no lasting effects.

On April 27–28, Hooker led his 4 corps across the Rappahannock and Rapidan in several places, most of them near the confluence of the 2 rivers and Chancellorsville, which was little more than a large mansion, owned by the Chancellor familyIn the meantime, Sedgwick crossed the Rappahannock at Fredericksburg. After starting his movements, Hooker was said to have remarked “May God have mercy on General Lee, for I will have none.”

By April 30, Hooker had enveloped the Confederate left flank, interposing his army some 10 miles behind Lee’s lines at Fredericksburg. Lee had anticipated some kind of Union movement to force his army out of its position, and had decided to wait and see what Hooker had planned before he made his decision. Lee had received reports that Sedgewick had built some pontoon bridges south of Fredericksburg across the Rappahannock. When there was no major Union advance across the bridges, Lee decided that this was only a feint. Once he discerned that Hooker had divided his army, Lee left a force of 10,000, under Jubal Early, behind to defend Fredericksburg while the rest of the army, some 50,000 strong, advanced against Hooker in the Wilderness. Passing the Rapidan, the Federals concentrated near Chancellorsville on April 30.

On May 1, the Confederates marched west. The Federals abandoned the Wilderness, moving into open country. About 2 miles from the woodline, they met “Stonewall” Jackson’s corps, and skirmishing erupted along the lines. As Hooker moved toward Fredericksburg on the Orange Turnpike, the Federals encountered increasing resistance. The Union and Confederate troops clashed on the Chancellorsville front, with some Union forces actually pushing their way out of the impenetrable thickets and scrub pine in the area. Hearing reports of a large Confederate force, Hooker seemed to lose his nerve and ordered his army to suspend the advance and to concentrate again at Chancellorsville. Over the protests of his corps commanders, he abandoned the initiative to Lee, losing his best chance to win the battle. Pressed closely by Lee, Hooker ordered his men into a defensive posture in the Wilderness and had them dig in for the night.

Lee planned an attack for the next day. Cavalry chief J.E.B. Stuart had provided Lee with some important information. Stuart had found out that the Union right flank was open and unanchored. Jackson proposed a risky plan; Lee would split his force, with Jackson taking his II Corps (28,000) around to attack the Union right. This would roll up the flank and cut off the Union line of retreat at the river fords. Lee would command the rest of the army, facing Hooker’s front. For the plan to work, several things had to happen. First, Jackson's 10-mile long column had to reach the Union right undetected. Second, Lee had to hope that Hooker stayed on the defensive. Third, Early would have to keep Sedgwick bottled up at Fredericksburg. And finally, when Jackson launched his attack, he had to hope that the Union forces would be caught by surprise.

On May 2, Jackson planned to move out at 4:00 AM to get to the Union right flank. It took longer than anticipated to find a route. His forces finally set out at 8:00. Stuart’s cavalry, moving at Jackson’s flanks, kept the Union forces from spotting the long march, which took almost all day. Around midafternoon, Hooker received reports of large numbers Confederates spotted in front of the Union line. He thought that Lee was retreating and the spotted Confederates were Lee’s rear guard. Therefore, he did not contemplate an all-out attack, sending only III Corps (Daniel Sickles) forward to investigate. Sickles captured a handful of Confederates and then stopped, with Jackson’s force already having passed by.

At Fredericksburg, Sedgwick and Hooker were unable to communicate due to the failure of telegraph lines between the two. Hooker finally got an order to Sedgwick late in the evening, ordering him to attack. Sedgwick failed to do so because he had believed that Early’s force was larger than his.

Maj. Gen. Oliver Howard, whose XI Corps was posted at the far right of the Union line, failed to make any provision for defense in case of an attack, despite orders from Hooker. The Union right was not anchored on any natural obstacle, and the only defense against a flank attack was 2 cannon pointing out into the Wilderness.

Jackson had wasted several hours of daylight positioning his troops for the attack while still in the Wilderness. At around 5:00 PM, with only 2 hours of daylight left, his men advanced out of the Wilderness and hit Howard’s corps, catching it totally by surprise. Most of the Union soldiers were resting or cooking dinner. The Federals were overrun and as soon as a defensive line could be set up, it was swept away by the advance. The heavy brush and looming darkness slowed the Confederate momentum. Federal artillery fire slowed them even further. However, over 4000 Union soldiers were taken prisoner.

By nightfall, Jackson’s corps had advanced more than 2 miles and was separated from Lee only by Sickles’ corps. Hooker, concerned about Sickles’ ability to hold what was now a salient into the Confederate lines, pulled the III Corps back to Chancellorsville that night. This reunited Jackson with Lee, and it gave them control of an elevated clearing in the woods known as Hazel Grove, one of the few places in which artillery could be used effectively. Union troops rallied and counterattacked. The Confederates halted about 7:15 PM to reorganize and readjust their lines. Disorganization on both sides and darkness ended the fighting. Having won a huge victory that day, Jackson wanted to press his advantage before Hooker and his army could regain their bearings and plan a counterattack, which might succeed due to Union numbers. He and his aides left to scout the Union lines and plan a night attack.

While returning from the night reconnaissance, Jackson and his staff came under fire from his own advance pickets, unaware that their general was out that night. Several men were shot from their horses. When one of Jackson's men yelled to cease fire, the pickets fired a second volley. Jackson was shot twice in his left arm and once in his right hand and 2 of his aides were killed. Maj. Gen. A.P. Hill, Jackson’s second-in-command, took over command. He was soon injured by some shrapnel. This kept him from being able to walk so he passed command to Stuart. Jackson was carried from the field and sent to the hospital at Wilderness Tavern. He had to have his left arm amputated and died of pneumonia on May 10. Lee was devastated by this loss and issued General Order No. 61, stating Jackson's death to his army. His remains were taken to Richmond and lay in state. The body was then taken to Lexington were he was buried.

On May 3, Lee realized that he was in trouble. Unless he could reunite his split army, Hooker could counterattack and destroy his force. Stuart launched a massive assault all along the front. Hooker withdrew from Hazel Grove, where he had a few guns and infantry. The Confederates occupied the hill and set up their artillery.

Hooker again called on Sedgwick to break through and attack Lee’s rear. Once again, Sedgwick delayed until it was too late. He finally attacked Early’s position and broke through, but it was too late in the day to help Hooker. Hooker suffered a minor injury when a Confederate cannonball hit a wooden pillar he was leaning against at his headquarters. At first, his staff thought that he was killed. Although practically incapacitated, he refused to turn over command to Darius Couch, the second-in-command.

Fierce fighting broke out when Stuart launched another massive assault against the Union lines, which were slowly crumbling from the pressure and a lack of resupply and reinforcements. By the afternoon, the Confederates had captured Chancellorsville, and Hooker withdrew his army a mile and entrenched in a defensive U with his back to the river at United States Ford, the last remaining line of retreat.

Lee left Stuart to keep Hooker holed up while he took the rest of his force towards Fredericksburg to help Early. Sedgwick was reinforced by John Gibbon’s division. They crossed the Rappahannock, assaulted the Confederate entrenchments on Marye’s Heights. Late that afternoon, Confederate Maj. Gen. Lafayette McLaws met Sedgewick’s advance division near Salem Church on the Orange Turnpike and halted it. On May 4, Early also came up. Attacked furiously on 3 sides, Sedgewick wisely abandoned any idea of joining Hooker. Instead, he swung his corps around toward the Rappahannock to project his flanks and that night crossed the river at Scott’s Ford. Hooker made no move to help Sedgewick at any time. The outnumbered Confederates withdrew and regrouped west and southeast of town.

Hooker wanted Sedgwick to hold the ford, so that Hooker could withdraw from the Chancellorsville area and re-cross at Banks' Ford to fight again. When he learned that Sedgwick had retreated back over the river, Hooker felt he was out of options. He decided that his only option was to order a retreat of his force as well. On May 5, Hooker's army recrossed to the north bank of the Rappahannock during the night. Lee had won a significant victory and Hooker had suffered an embarrassing defeat. Despite being outnumbered 5-2, Lee had won arguably his greatest victory. Hooker lost the battle through communications problems, the incompetence of some of his leading generals, and through some serious errors of his own.

The Army of the Potomac lost 1606 men killed, 9762 wounded and 5919 captured/missing. The Confederates lost 1665 killed, 9081 wounded and 2018 captured/missing, losses they could ill afford. The North was shocked and dismayed by the defeat. Lincoln was quoted as saying, “My God! My God! What will the country say?” He relieved Hooker of his command on June 28.

[Ennath]

May 2, 1941
Iraq Campaign

Although Iraq was technically independent at the beginning of WWII, by treaty it was still very much subject to British influence. The RAF maintained bases at Habbaniya (between Ramadi and Falluja) and Shaibah (near Basra) - both were on the peacetime air route to India - and retained transit rights for troops.

In 1939, King Feisal II was only 4 years old, so a Regency had been established under Adb al-Ilah. The Prime Minister was Nuri as-Sa’id who was pro-British but also very much a nationalist. Increasingly, however, power was being gathered by the pan-Arabist - and fiercely anti-British - Rashid Ali al-Gaylani and a cabal of 4 colonels dubbed the “Golden Square”

Per provisions of the Anglo-Iraq treaty, Iraq broke relations with Germany in September 1939. By March 1940, though, Rashid Ali had become prime minister. Although he and the pan-Arabists had no particular love for Germany or Italy, they realized that in the prevailing world situation the Axis offered the best opportunity for support in achieving pan-Arabist anti-colonial political goals. Consequently, when Italy entered the war in June 1940 Iraq did not sever relations. The Italian Legation in Baghdad became a center for stirring up trouble, aided by the presence of Amin al-Huseini, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, who had fled to Iraq in 1939 after the failure of his anti-British revolt in Mandatory Palestine. By December, British demands for removal of Rashid Ali were increasingly strident, and in January he was replaced with General Taha el Hashimi, another pan-Arabist but rather more palatable to London.

Rashid Ali and the Golden Square conspired to regain power. On March 31, 1941, learning of a plot to arrest him, the Regent fled to Basra and took refuge aboard a British warship. At the beginning of April the Golden Square seized power and installed Rashid Ali as “Chief of the National Defense Government”. (Among the coup plotters was Col. Khairallah Talfa, uncle of Saddam Hussein.) Seeking to control the situation, the British on April 16 informed the Iraqi government that, per treaty terms, British troops would be landing at Basra and moving through Iraq en route to Palestine. No objections were raised in Baghdad. The next day British troops arrived by air from Karachi to reinforce the garrison at Shaibah and cover Basra. On April 18, Indian 20th Infantry Brigade, along with HQ Indian 10th Division, arrived by sea at Basra from India. On April 27, Rashid Ali declared that no additional British troops would be allowed into Iraq until the current formations had departed. British infantry began shuttling by air from Shaibah to reinforce Habbaniya; approximately 400 troops were airlifted north. That night the British ambassador informed the Iraqi government that additional troops would be landing at Basra.

On the night of April 29-30, Iraqi troops surrounded RAF Habbaniya. The base housed No. 4 Service Flying Training School inside a steel fence-enclosed compound along the Euphrates. This unit mustered 32 Audaxes, 29 Oxfords, 9 Gladiators, 8 Gordons, 3 Valentia transports, a Blenheim and a few Harts. By mid-1941 standards, this was a pitiful handful of no real combat value. For base defense, Habbanyia fielded the 400 newly arrived troops (of the 1st King’s Own), a small battalion of native levies (mainly Assyrian, but including Kurds), and 18 RAF armored cars. There were also wives and families of the garrison.

The Iraqi armed forces included 4 infantry divisions (1 at Kirkuk watching the Kurds, 2 in Baghdad, and 1 south of Baghdad), a mechanized brigade (16 light tanks, 14 armored cars, and 2 battalions of trucked infantry), 4 river gunboats, and 60 aircraft (miscellaneous British, American, and Italian models). Iraqi troops occupied positions on the escarpment overlooking the Habbanyia airfield, barely 1000 yards from the perimeter; this force eventually numbered some 9000 troops with 50 guns. Although no hostile action was initiated, the British commander, Air Vice Marshal H. G. Smart, was warned that firing would commence if aircraft attempted to take off.

Smart elected to take the initiative. At dawn on May 2, his aircraft attacked Iraqi positions on the escarpment. The Iraqis replied with AA fire and shelled the cantonment, while Iraqi fighters from Baghdad attempted to intervene. Despite the extremely vulnerable position of the base, the Iraqis attempted no ground assault. Within 24 hours of taking action, the besieged British had the upper hand. Their antique flying machines controlled the air and their tiny ground force began to send out raiding parties. On the night of May 5-6, they attacked the escarpment and forced withdrawal of the superior Iraqi force. By May 7, the siege of Habbaniya had ended.

On May 2, Rashid Ali appealed to Hitler for armed support, and the Axis began to make moves to assist. During May 5 and 6, a “preliminary agreement” was reached between Germany and Vichy by which “three-quarters of the [Vichy] war material assembled in Syria under control of the Italian Armistice Commission [is] to be transported to Iraq and the German Air Force granted landing facilities in Syria.” On May 9, German aircraft began to land on Syrian airfields. On the 13th the first German aircraft flew into Mosul and the first trainload of war material arrived from Syria in the same city. The next day Allied aircraft began raids on Axis aircraft on Vichy fields in Syria.

Indian brigades continued to land at Basra and began to push slowly north. On May 7-8, Ashar, near Basra was captured, and, as a result, Basra was occupied without a fight. However, some resistance from Iraqi police and Army units continued until May 17. It was flood season in Iraq, and the difficulty of northward movement from Basra by rail, road, or river towards Baghdad halted further operations in the south.

From Palestine, Habforce - comprised mainly of British 4th Cavalry Brigade (newly motorized), plus elements of the Arab Legion and the Transjordan Frontier Force, and numerous drivers from Jewish Palestine - was organized and set out to relieve Habbaniya. It crossed the desert via the oil pipeline route (including some of the pumping stations, such as H3) but did not arrive at Habbaniya until May 18, by which time the garrison had already lifted the siege.

On May 19, Allied forces at Habbaniya began a slow advance on Baghdad, still heavily outnumbered. Axis aircraft continued to arrive, including Italians. Axis air operations were, however, greatly hampered by lack of suitable amounts and grades of aviation fuel. The next British objective was Fallujah. Another Iraqi brigade was isolated behind the British at Ramadi, but was ignored in favor of the advance toward Baghdad. After British aircraft dropped bombs and leaflets calling for surrender, the British attacked Fallujah. The Assyrian Levies captured the vital bridge there in 30 minutes. The city was secured soon after. On May 22,, Iraqi 6th Infantry Brigade, of 3rd Infantry Division, a counterattacked at Fallujah. Reaching the outskirts, they were ejected by the British riposte. The British then pressed on toward Baghdad.

Although, the British force numbered less than 1600 men and Baghdad was defended by a full division, some 20,000 Iraqis, the British forged ahead, although suffering a check at Abu Ghraib. On the 30th, the British were on the outskirts of Baghdad. At this point, Rashid Ali fled. The revolt collapsed and on May 31, an armistice was declared. The remaining Axis aircraft and ground personnel withdrew.

The Iraqi forces in the vicinity still greatly outnumbered the British and the British decided not to occupy Baghdad immediately. On June 1, Prince 'Abd al-Ilah returned to Baghdad as the Regent and the monarchy and a pro-British government were put back in place. In the immediate aftermath, Baghdad was torn apart by rioting and looting (the Farhud), directed at the Jewish Quarter. Some 120 Jews were killed and 850 injured before the Iraqi police were ordered to restore order with live ammunition.

Iraq, now firmly under British control, declared war against the Axis powers early in 1943. Rashid Ali escaped to Germany where, as a guest of the Fuhrer and rival to another guest, the Grand Mufti, he spent the rest of the war broadcasting to the Arab world and planning to regain power when German pincers from Egypt and the Caucasus finally met at the Persian Gulf. He survived the war and escaped to Saudi Arabia where he was granted asylum, returning to Iraq after the 1958 revolution. After scheming to seize power, he died in 1965. In more recent years various points of interest in and around Baghdad have been named after him.

[Ennath]

May 3, 1849
May Uprising in Dresden

The Paris Revolution of February 1848 sparked revolutions elsewhere. In the German states, revolutions began in March, starting in Berlin and spreading across the other states of Germany. The heart of the revolutions was in Frankfurt, where the newly formed National Assembly, the Frankfurt Parliament, met in St Paul’s Church from May 1848, calling for a constitutional monarchy to rule a new, united German nation. To form the Assembly, near-democratic elections had taken place across the German states; the majority of the members were Saxon democrats. On March 28, 1849 the Assembly passed the first Reichsverfassung (constitution) for Germany, and in April 1849, King Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia was offered the crown.

Despite its apparent progress, the National Assembly really depended upon the cooperation of the old leaders and Emperor; this became all too clear when an indignant Friedrich Wilhelm refused to accept the crown, on the grounds that his crown came from God, not from parliaments. Movements sprang up across the German states to force through the new constitution, but the National Assembly disintegrated. In Saxony, King Frederick Augustus II had never recognized the constitution, and now also disbanded the Saxon parliament.

In Württemberg the more radical elements of the National Assembly formed a rump parliament in Stuttgart, which was defeated by Prussian troops. At the same time, the people of Saxony began to react to the repression of the democratic movement - the May Uprising began.

At first, the Saxon town councilors attempted to persuade Frederick Augustus to accept the constitution in public speeches. The municipal guards who should have controlled them were on their side and made an address to the King, also calling for acceptance of the constitution. The King was unyielding, however, and called them to order. This led to further unrest, which in turn caused the king to bring in Prussian troops; the situation exploded.

On May 3, the municipal guards were told to go home, but the town councilors organized them into defensive units to stop the expected Prussian intervention. As popular anger grew, the government withdrew into the castle and the armory, protected by Saxon troops. The municipal guards were undecided whether or not to support the rebels, who threatened to use explosives to get the government out. In response, Saxon troops fired on the crowd. Within hours the city was in chaos, with 108 barricades erected. In the early hours of May 4, the king and his ministers managed to escape and fled to the fortress of Königstein.

Three members of the dissolved parliament now became the leaders of the revolution: Samuel Tzschirner, Karl Todt and Otto Heubner formed a provisional government. Their aim was to force the acceptance of the constitution. Tzschirner called in another member, Alexander Heinze, to organize the fighting and bring in more communal guards and volunteers from outside Dresden. Reinforcements joined the revolutionaries from as far away as Chemnitz, Zwickau and Marienberg, and the struggle grew extremely violent. The Saxon troops were also backed up by arriving Prussians. They planned to encircle the rebels and corner them on the Altmarkt (Old Market), but the number of barricades meant they had to fight for every street, even in the houses. Recent studies place the number of revolutionaries at around 3000, compared with 5000 government troops from Saxony and Prussia. The rebels were also largely untrained, disorganized and short of weapons. On May 9, the majority (1800) were forced to flee. Most of the others gave up, and the rest were tracked down to the Frauenkirche and arrested.

The struggle left some Dresden buildings in ruins: the old Opera, two sides of the Zwinger and six houses were burned down. The number of dead rebels is uncertain but in 1995 the figure was estimated at around 200; 8 Saxon and 23 Prussian soldiers died.

Tzschirner, Heubner and Todt escaped. Among those on the wanted list was composer Richard Wagner, who was present and supported the rising. He escaped to Switzerland. From 1849 the German states saw a sharp rise in emigration as thousands deserted their homeland for political reasons, many of them artists, writers and other well-educated, prominent members of society. The revolution had a slight effect on the political system, in that the nobility lost some of its power in the lower house, but otherwise was a complete failure.

[Ennath]

1338
Channel Campaign

In 1338, with the Hundred Years War just a year old, the French government was facing a severe threat on 2 sides. On the south were the English territories of Gascony and Aquitaine, from which raids could be launched into the French heartlands, and where the boundary was both poorly defined and relied far more on the allegiance of local lords than upon national designations. To the northeast, the situation was even more grim, with the English funded armies of, Hainaut, Brabant and even the Holy Roman Empire either preparing or threatening invasion of France’s northern provinces.

However, King Edward III, the leader of this loose coalition, had one very serious problem. In spite of England’s huge revenue from control of the wool industry, his treasury was bankrupt. Without English funding, his coalition would collapse but such huge spending requirements were needed to maintain the army building in Flanders that by 1338, after just one campaign, he was unable to continue fighting without borrowing enormous sums from Italian bankers at ruinous interest (which he would later default on, prompting an enormous financial crash in Italy). Edward’s concerns were common knowledge to other heads of state and the French government saw that by destroying English ports and shipping, they could gain such a stranglehold both on the wool trade and the shipping of reinforcements that Edward might be forced to abandon his invasion plans.

At the beginning of February, King Philip VI appointed a new Admiral of France, Nicholas Béhuchet, who was instructed to wage economic warfare against England. On March 24, he began his campaign, leading a fleet of small coastal ships across the Channel into the Solent where they burnt the vital port-town of Portsmouth. The town was unwalled and undefended and the French were not suspected as they sailed towards the town with English flags flying. The result was disaster for Edward, as the town’s shipping and supplies were looted, the stores and docks burnt and those of the population unable to flee were killed or taken as slaves. No English ships were available to contest their passage from Portsmouth and none of the militias intended to form in such an instance made an appearance. The fleet then sailed to the Channel Islands, which had already suffered minor attacks, but now faced a major threat, Jersey being invaded and the entire eastern half of the island reduced to ruins, only Mont Orgueil holding out. The raid had been predicted by intelligence officers in the royal household, but defensive measures were woefully inefficient and efforts to intercept the attack failed.

The raid caused panic in southern England and prompted a flurry of expensive defense precautions, further reducing Edward’s ability to threaten France from the continent. Devon and Cornwall refused to supply materials or money for the war for the rest of the year, insisting they were needed to defend themselves. Such precautions were not misplaced; dozens of merchants and landlords in Normandy, Picardy and Brittany bought coastal craft and equipped them for war resulting in pinprick raids and piracy along the English coastline. This also affected the other theater of war, as French and Castilian ships attacked grain, trade and payroll ships between England and Bordeaux, reducing that city and the region it governed to near mutiny, especially after a large food convoy was badly damaged in an action off Talmont on August 23.

The campaign at sea began again in September, when a large French and Italian fleet descended on the Channel Islands, under Robert Bertrand, Marshal of France. Sark fell without a fight and Guernsey was captured after a brief campaign. Most of the Channel Islands garrison was in Jersey to prevent another raid there, and the few that were sent to Guernsey and Sark were captured at sea. Messengers from the islands were also captured, preventing the English government from discovering what had happened for over a week. On Guernsey, Castle Cornet and Vale Castle were the only points to hold out. Neither lasted long as both were undermanned and unprovisioned. The garrisons were put to death. A brief naval battle was fought between Channel Islanders in coastal and fishing vessels and Italian galleys, but despite 2 of the Italian ships being sunk, the Islanders were defeated with heavy casualties. Guernsey would remain occupied until its defense became untenable in the aftermath of the battle of Sluys (1340, see posting).

The next target was the supply lines between England and Flanders Over 40 large ships were gathered at Harfleur and Dieppe and used to attack a small English fleet off Cadsand. The 5 large vessels were loading trade goods off the island and were surprised and overwhelmed, including Edward III’s flagships Cog Edward and Christopher. The crews and a party of reinforcements who were captured were all executed and the ships added to the French fleet. A few days later on October 5, this force conducted its most damaging raid, landing several thousand French, Italian and Castilian sailors close to Southampton and assaulting it from both land and sea. The town walls were old and crumbling and direct orders to repair them had been ignored. Most of the militia and citizens fled, only the castle garrison holding out for a brief while until a force of Italians breached the defenses. The scenes of Portsmouth were repeated as the entire town was razed, thousands of pounds worth of stores and shipping taken back to France and captives massacred or taken as slaves. The following day militia bands began to harass the French on the outskirts and the French departed, leaving behind the burning town, which was further damaged by brigands who came to loot before the local authorities could return.

An early winter forced a pause and 1339 saw a vastly different situation, as English towns had taken the initiative over the winter and prepared organized militias to drive off raiders more interested in plunder than battle. Control of these militias was placed in the hands of several leading Earls, who were warned that if they failed to defend their stretch of coastline there would be penalties. Although piracy was still a serious problem, with ships burnt and crews massacred as far north as the Bristol Channel, the large scale raids of 1338 were over. An attack on Jersey failed as the island was now too strongly defended and attacks on Harwich, Southampton again and Plymouth were driven off with heavy losses, the mercenary elements in the French force unwilling to risk a large scale battle. Hastings was burnt to the ground, but it was little more than a fishing village at the time and did not represent a major success. The combined fleet was reduced to attacking fishing boats and parading bodies through the streets of Calais.

An English fleet had also been constituted over the winter and this was used in an effort to gain revenge on the French by attacking their coastal shipping. The result was an embarrassing disaster as the mercenary captains of the fleet realized that more money could be made by attacking and looting the Flemish convoys of Edward’s allies, forcing him to pay a huge amount of compensation and endure severe diplomatic embarrassment. This force did prove vital, though, in July, when 67 French and mercenary vessels attempted to attack the Cinque Ports. The expedition was met by organized militia at Sandwich and turned towards Rye, burning several small villages on the way but failing to land at the town. There the English fleet under Robert Morley caught up with them, forcing the French to flee back across the Channel. This scare had been too much for the Genoese who made up the most experienced part of the French fleet, and they demanded more pay. King Philip VI responded by imprisoning 15 of them, whereupon the others simply returned to Italy, at a stroke costing the French their best sailors and ships as well as two thirds of their navy.

The English soon heard of this development, Morley taking his fleet to the French coast, burning the towns of Ault and Le Tréport and foraging inland, ravaging several villages and provoking a panic to mirror that at Southampton the year before. He also surprised and destroyed a French fleet in Boulogne harbor. English and Flemish merchants rapidly fitted out raiding ships and soon coastal villages and shipping along the North and even the west coasts of France were under attack. The Flemish navy was also active, sending a fleet against the important port of Dieppe in September and burning it to the ground. These successes did much to rebuild morale in England and the Low Countries as well as repair England’s battered trade. It did not however have anything like the financial impact of the earlier French raids as France’s continental economy could survive depredations from the sea much better than the maritime English. The following year however, a naval operation would have a significant effect on the war and provide the first major clash or arms when the English and French fleets met at the battle of Sluys. The victory of the English there, helped substantially by the Italian desertion the year before, would provide naval superiority in the Channel for decades to come resulting in the English ability to invade France at several points at once, an advantage that would prove vital in the longer war.