The Military History Thread

[Ennath]

June 17, 1876
Battle of the Rosebud

In 1874, the discovery of gold in the Black Hills caused the US government to attempt to buy the Hills from the Indians. The US ordered all bands of Lakota and Cheyenne to come to the agencies on the reservation by January 31, 1876 to negotiate the sale. A few bands did not comply and when the deadline passed the US undertook to force Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, and their followers onto the reservation. The first expedition against the recalcitrant Indians in March 1876 was a failure, ending in the Battle of Powder River.

In June, the army renewed the fight with a 3-pronged invasion of the Bighorn and Powder river country. Col. John Gibbon led a force from the west; Gen. Alfred Terry (with Lt-Col. George Custer) came from the east; and Gen. George Crook advanced north from Ft. Fetterman, Wyoming. Crook’s force, called the Bighorn and Yellowstone Expedition, consisted of 993 cavalry and mule-mounted infantry, 197 civilian packers and teamsters, 65 Montana miners, 3 scouts, and 5 journalists. Crook's much-valued chief scout was Frank Grouard. Among the teamsters was Calamity Jane (Martha Jane Canary), disguised as a man.

Crook reached the Tongue River on June 8. Crazy Horse had warned that he would fight if “Three Stars” [Crook] crossed the Tongue and on June 9 the Indians launched a long distance attack, firing into the army camp and wounding 2 men. Crook and his men waited near the Tongue for several days for Crow and Shoshone warriors to join his army. 175 Crow and 86 Shoshone showed up on June 14 with Frank Grouard. They welcomed the opportunity to strike a blow against their old enemies although they warned Crook that the Lakota and Cheyenne were as “numerous as grass.”

On June 16, leaving his wagon and pack train behind with most of the civilians as guard, Crook, with the Crow and Shoshone in the lead, advanced north beyond the Tongue to the headwaters of Rosebud Creek. His intention to make a quiet march was spoiled when the Crow and Shoshone encountered a buffalo herd and shot many of them. Crook anticipated that he would soon find a large Indian village on Rosebud Creek to attack, but the Indian village was on Ash Creek, to the west. Crook also anticipated the usual Indian tactics of hit-and-run encounters and ambushes, not a pitched battle. The Indian force of almost 1000 men under Crazy Horse set out from their village on June 16 in the middle of the night to seek out the soldiers on the Rosebud. They rode all night, rested their horses for a couple of hours, then continued, making contact with Crook's scouts at about 8:30 AM, June 17.

Crook’s column marched north along the south fork of the Rosebud. The soldiers, particularly the mule-riding infantry, were fatigued from the previous day’s 35 mile march and the early morning reveille at 3:00. At 8:00., Crook stopped to rest his men and animals. Although deep in hostile territory, Crook made no special dispositions for defense. The Crow and Shoshone scouts remained alert while the soldiers rested. Soldiers in camp began to hear gunfire coming from the bluffs to the north, but initially thought it was the Crow shooting buffalo. As the intensity increased, 2 Crows rushed up shouting, “Lakota, Lakota!” By 8:30, the Sioux and Cheyenne had hotly engaged Crook’s Indian allies on the high ground north of the main body. Heavily outnumbered, the Crow and Shoshone fell back toward camp, but their fighting withdrawal gave Crook time to deploy.

The battle which ensued would last for 6 hours and consist of disconnected actions, charges and counter-charges, the forces spread out over a fluid 3-mile front. The soldiers could fend off assaults by the Indians and force them to retreat but could not catch and destroy them.

Crook initially directed his forces to seize the high ground north and south of the Rosebud. He ordered Captain van Vliet with 2 troops of cavalry to occupy the high bluffs south of the Creek to guard against attack from that direction. In the north, Major Chambers with 5 companies of infantry and Captain Noyes with 3 cavalry troops, formed a dismounted skirmish line and advanced. Their progress was slow due to flanking fire the high ground to the northeast. To accelerate the advance, Crook ordered Captain Anson Mills, commanding 6 troops of cavalry, to charge the Lakota. Mills’ mounted charge unnerved the Indians and they withdrew along the ridge line. Mills quickly re-formed three troops and led another charge, driving the Indians northwest again to the next hill. Preparing to drive the Indians from there, Mills received orders to halt and assume a defensive posture. Chambers and Noyes led their forces forward in support and joined Mills on top of the ridge. The bulk of Crook’s command, joined by the packers and miners, occupied a hill they called Crook’s Hill.

Crook’s initial charges secured key terrain but did little damage. Assaults scattered the Indians but they did not quit the field. After falling back, the Lakota and Cheyenne kept firing from a distance and attacked several times in small parties. When counterattacked, the warriors sped away. He believed incorrectly that the unusual tenacity of the Indians was based on defense of their families in a nearby village. He ordered Mills and Noyes to withdraw from Crook’s Hill and swing east to follow the Rosebud north to find the suspected village. He recalled van Vliet's battalion from the south side of the Rosebud to reinforce him on Crook’s Hill.

While Mills and Noyes made their way up the Rosebud, searching for a village that did not exist, the situation of Lt-Col. William Royall, Crook’s second in command, had worsened. Royall had pursued the Indians attacking the camp with 6 troops of cavalry. He advanced rapidly along the ridge line to the northwest to a point about a mile away from Crook and separated by the valley of Kolmarr Creek. The Indians shifted their main effort away from Crook and concentrated on Royall, who was in danger of being cut off. Seeing this danger, Crook sent orders to Royall to withdraw to Crook’s Hill. Royall sent only 1 troop, claiming later his forces had been too hotly engaged to withdraw.

Royall’s situation continued to worsen, and he tried to withdraw across Kollmar Creek, but Indian fire was too heavy. Next, he began to withdraw southeast along the ridge line. A large group of Sioux and Cheyenne broke off from the fight against Crook and charged boldly down the valley, all the way to the Rosebud, but the Crow and Shoshone arrived and drove the Lakota and Cheyenne back. Crook also sent 2 infantry companies to occupy a nearby hill to aid Royall with long-range rifle fire. The Lakota and Cheyenne did not attempt any serious attacks on the infantry, respecting the longer range of their rifles as compared to the carbines the cavalry carried.

At 11:30, Royall continued his withdrawal and assumed a new defensive position. He was under attack on 3 sides. Crook realized that Royall needed help that only Mills, descending Rosebud Creek 2-3 miles away, could provide. Crook sent orders to Mills redirecting him west to attack the rear of the Indians pressing Royall. At approximately 12:30, Royall began another withdrawal into Kollmar ravine. His cavalry remounted and prepared to ride through gunfire to reach the relative safety of Crook’s main position. As the cavalry began their dash, the Crow and Shoshone scouts counter-charged the pursuing Lakota and Cheyenne and relieved much of the pressure. The infantry provided covering fire from the northeast side of the ravine. Royall’s command suffered most of the US casualties during the battle. Mills arrived too late to assist the withdrawal, but his unexpected appearance caused the Lakota and Cheyenne to break contact and retire from the battlefield. The cavalry pursued, but soon gave up the chase. The battle of the Rosebud was over by 2:30.

By the standards of Indian warfare, the Battle of the Rosebud was a long and bloody engagement. Estimates of casualties vary widely. Crook said he had 10 killed and 21 wounded. His aide John Bourke added that 4 of the wounds were mortal and gave total casualties as 57. Frank Grouard said that 28 soldiers were killed and 56 wounded. Estimates of Crow killed range from 1 to 5 and Shoshone from 1 to 8. The Lakota and Cheyenne casualties are likewise uncertain with estimates of the number killed ranging from 10 to 100. The Crow reportedly took 13 scalps (although scalps might be cut into pieces and divided among warriors). Crazy Horse reportedly later said that the Lakota and Cheyenne casualties were 36 killed and 63 wounded. How he came up with such a precise number is unknown, as it seems unlikely that the Indians compiled a statistical record of casualties among the 8 or so bands plus the Cheyenne and a few Arapaho who participated.

Crook claimed victory by virtue of occupying the field at the end of the day, but his actions belie his claim. Concerned for his wounded and short on supplies, Crook retraced his steps to his camp on Goose Creek, near Sheridan, Wyoming, and remained there immobile for 7 weeks awaiting reinforcements. He would play no role in the Battle of the Little Bighorn 8 days later. Crook’s Crow and Shoshone allies left for their homes shortly after the battle.

[Ennath]

June 18, 860
Rus Raid on Constantinople

The Swedish Vikings known as Varangians, whom the Greeks called Ros or Rus, are first mentioned in the Life of St. George of Amastris, a hagiographic work whose dating is debated. These Rus were bent on taking over the land of the eastern Slavs and would give their name to Russia. The Byzantines had come into contact with the Rus by 839. The exceptional timing of the attack suggests the Rus had been informed of the city’s weakness, demonstrating that the lines of trade and communication did not cease to exist in the 840s and 850s. Nevertheless, the threat from the Rus in 860 came as a surprise; the Byzantines had no reason to suspect any hostility.

But the Rus were only waiting for an opportunity. Two leaders, Askold and Dir, had set themselves up in Kiev and looked south across the Black Sea to Constantinople, the “Queen of Cities,” known to them as Miklagard (Big City) and to their Slav subjects as Tsargard (Caesar City).

The Vikings’ opportunity came in 860 when Emperor Michael III was away campaigning against the Arabs along the Syrian border, where he suffered a severe defeat due to his military incompetence (no doubt aided by his constant drunkenness). Michael had taken with him all the elite army formations normally stationed in and around Constantinople, leaving behind only the normal city garrison under the command of City Prefect Nicetas Oryphas. The capital’s extensive suburbs and the thickly settled shores and islands of the Sea of Marmara were therefore left virtually defenseless. The Byzantine fleet was also absent, having sailed in support of operations against Arabs in the eastern Mediterranean and farther west against Danish Viking raids that had penetrated as far as Italy.

Suddenly, “like a swarm of wasps,” at sunset on June 18, 860, the Viking fleet of 200 ships sailed into the Bosporus. As many as 20,000 Rus surged ashore, but Oryphas was an able man and shut the gates of the capital just in time. While this saved the city from falling to the Vikings’ bold rush, it left the suburbs and hinterland unprotected. Eastern Orthodox Patriarch Photios later wrote of the “wholesale massacres” conducted by the Vikings as they looted and razed the suburbs. The nine islands in the Sea of Marmara were devastated. Vikings took the 22 servants of the former Patriarch Ignatius aboard their ships and hacked them to death with axes.

Oryphas showed vigor and skill in the defense of the city and later became one of the greatest Byzantine admirals. Photios, one of the most revered patriarchs and the leading intellectual of his age, played a vital role by keeping Constantinople’s population from panicking through his example and exhortations. The great walls of the city, created in the 5th century by Theodosius II, were proof against the Vikings, who had no siege skills. This allowed time for the highly developed Byzantine military signal system to alert the emperor, who rode at breakneck speed back to the defense of his capital city. When he reached the Bosporus, he found his way barred by Viking ships. But at night aboard a fishing boat, he slipped through the unsuspecting enemy fleet.

The invasion continued until August 4, shortly after the emperor’s return, when, in another of his sermons, Photios thanked heaven for miraculously relieving the city from such a dire threat. Some sources credited a miraculous storm that battered the Rus fleet. Perhaps the invaders were sated with loot and concluded that they had no chance of breaking into the city. Whatever the reason, by early August the Vikings were gone. The Byzantines had barely begun to recover when a Danish Viking fleet operating in the Mediterranean the next year sailed up the Dardanelles, the western entrance to the Sea of Marmara, to further ravage the already blackened shores up to Constantinople’s walls.

Askold and Dir returned to Kiev laden with treasure, only to be murdered some years later by Oleg of the Rurikid Dynasty, who founded the first Russian state, Kievan Rus. Emperor Michael III suffered a similar fate; he was assassinated in 867. His incompetence, wanton behavior and drunkenness made him a liability to the state. Basil I, whom Michael had made co-emperor in 866, had Michael murdered as he lay in a drunken stupor.

[Ennath]

June 19, 1944
Battle of the Philippine Sea

In May 1944, in preparation for the attack on the Marianas which was imminent, the Japanese assembled practically all the heavy units of their fleet in the Sulu Sea. Their plan to defend the Marianas line was code named A-Go. Having recovered from earlier carrier losses in the 1942 campaigns, the Japanese felt ready for a new challenge to the growing American strength.

On June 11-12, US carrier aircraft began attacking Saipan, Tinian and Guam in the Marianas, the next targets for invasion. In response, Adm. Soemu Toyoda, Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet, initiated A-Go. Concentrated in Vice Adm. Jisaburo Ozawa's 1st Mobile Fleet, this force was centered on 9 carriers (5 fleet, 2 light and 2 seaplane) and 5 battleships. Admiral Takeo Kurita led the van force, with the seaplane carriers, a light carrier, and 4 of the battleships. Adm. Ozawa led the main force with the rest of the ships. In every category, they were outmatched by the Americans.

Steaming into the Philippine Sea, Ozawa counted on support from Vice Adm. Kakuji Kakuta’s land-based planes in the Marianas and nearby groups. Unfortunately, the recent operations of the American carriers had drastically reduced these land-based forces but the local commanders left their superiors in ignorance of this.

Alerted to Ozawa's sailing by US submarines, Adm. Raymond Spruance, commander of US 5th Fleet, had Vice Adm. Marc Mitscher's Task Force 58 (TF-58) formed near Saipan to meet the Japanese advance. Consisting of 15 carriers in four groups and 7 fast battleships, TF-58 was intended to deal with Ozawa, while also covering the landings on Saipan. The Americans spent June 14-17 replenishing as the Japanese steamed east from the Philippines. The Japanese carriers were sighted on the 15th on their way through San Bernardino Strait while some of the battleships were spotted east of Mindanao. On June 16-17 the Japanese linked up and refueled and were sighted twice more. The Americans were therefore well informed as to the general Japanese intentions.

On the 18th, the US naval forces rendezvoused west of the Marianas in the Philippine Sea as the Japanese continued to approach. Late in the evening Japanese scout planes sighted the American fleet. This was the only advantage that the Japanese had and came about principally because their scout planes had a longer range. The Japanese planned to launch their strike early the next day at very long range and then fly the planes on to Guam where the local forces could protect and refuel them. They would then attack again on the return journey. The glaring weakness in this plan was that the air forces on Guam had suffered seriously from recent American attacks and failed to inform the fleet of this.

Around midnight on June 18, Adm. Chester Nimitz, Commander-in-Chief of the US Pacific Fleet, alerted Spruance that Ozawa’s main body had been located approximately 350 miles west-southwest of TF-58. Realizing that continuing to steam west could lead to a night encounter, Mitscher asked permission to move just far enough west to be able to launch an air strike at dawn. Concerned about being lured away from Saipan and opening the door for the Japanese to slip around his flank, Spruance denied Mitscher’s request, stunning his subordinate and his aviators. Knowing that battle was imminent, TF-58 deployed with its battleships to the west to provide an AA shield. Around 5:50 AM on June 19, an A6M Zero from Guam spotted TF-58 and radioed a report to Ozawa before being shot down. Operating on this information, Japanese aircraft began taking off from Guam. To meet this threat, a group of F6F Hellcat fighters was launched.

Arriving over Guam, they became engaged in a large aerial battle which saw 35 Japanese aircraft shot down. Fighting for over an hour, the American planes were recalled when radar reports showed inbound Japanese aircraft. These were the first wave of aircraft from Ozawa’s carriers which had launched around 8:30 AM. While the Japanese had been able to make good their losses in carriers and aircraft, their pilots were green and lacked the skill and experience of their American counterparts. Consisting of 69 aircraft, the first Japanese wave was met by 220 Hellcats approximately 55 miles from the carriers.

Committing basic mistakes, the Japanese were knocked from the sky in large numbers with 41 of the 69 aircraft being shot down in less than 35 minutes. Their only success were hits on the battleships South Dakota and Indiana and light damage to the carriers Bunker Hill and Wasp, along with a cruiser and a destroyer. At 11:07, a second wave of Japanese aircraft appeared, numbering 109 planes. Engaged 60 miles out, the Japanese lost around 70 aircraft before reaching TF-58. While they managed some near misses, they failed to score any hits. By the time the attacked ended, 97 Japanese aircraft had been downed. A third wave of 47 aircraft was met at 1:00 PM with 7 aircraft being downed. The remainder either lost their bearings or failed to press their attacks. Ozawa’s final attack consisted of 82 aircraft. 49 failed to spot TF-58 and continued on to Guam. The rest attacked as planned, but sustained heavy losses and failed to inflict any damage. Arriving over Guam, the first group was attacked by Hellcats as they attempted to land at Orote. During this engagement, 30 of the 42 were shot down. The Japanese lost about 240 aircraft overall, to 29 American. The Japanese had been defeated so easily that the day was dubbed by the American airmen and gunners “The Great Marianas Turkey Shoot”.

The Japanese had not yet realized the extent of their losses and began to withdraw temporarily to refuel. They believed that most of their aircraft had landed safely on Guam.

As Ozawa’s aircraft were launching, his carriers were being stalked by American submarines. The first to strike was USS Albacore which fired a spread of torpedoes at the carrier Taiho. Ozawa’s flagship, Taiho was hit by one which ruptured 2 aviation fuel tanks. A second attack came later in the day when USS Cavella struck the carrier Shokaku with 4 torpedoes. As Shokaku was dead in the water and sinking, a damage control error aboard Taiho led to a series of explosions which sank the ship. These had been two of the largest and most effective Japanese ships.

Recovering his aircraft, Spruance again held off turning west in an effort to protect Saipan. Making the turn at nightfall, his search aircraft spent most of June 20 trying to locate Ozawa’s ships. Finally around 4:00 PM, a scout from USS Enterprise located the enemy. Making a daring decision, Mitscher launched an attack at extreme range and with only hours remaining before sunset. Reaching the Japanese fleet, the 550 American aircraft met only 35 defending fighters, and broke through to sink 2 oilers and the carrier Hiyo in exchange for 20 aircraft. In addition, hits were scored on the carriers Zuikaku, Junyo, and Chiyoda, as well as the battleship Haruna.

Flying home in the darkness, the attackers began to run low on fuel and 72 were forced to ditch. To ease their return, Mitscher daringly ordered all of the lights in the fleet turned on despite the risk of alerting enemy submarines to their position. Landing over a 2-hour span, the aircraft set down wherever was easiest with many landing on the wrong ship. During the night the Japanese retired and were not followed.

The battle cost the Americans 123 aircraft; only 16 flyers and 33 aircrew were not recovered. The Japanese lost 3 carriers, 2 oilers, and approximately 600 aircraft. By contrast with the Americans, the Japanese saved almost none of their pilots and although they still had a significant force of ships they could not possibly train enough men to operate their aircraft. While many criticized Spruance for not being aggressive enough, he was commended by his superiors for his performance. The Battle of the Philippine Sea was the last of the great carrier air battles and signaled the death of Japanese naval aviation.

[Ennath]

1895
Mazrui Rebellion

After their expulsion from Mombasa by Seyyid Said of Zanzibar in 1837, 2 branches of the Omani-descended Mazrui clan had continued to hold out in the strongholds at Gazi and Takaungu, north of their former capital. In the 1890s they came under the control of the Imperial British East African (IBEA) Company, but soon became disaffected due to the activities of missionaries and the growing threat to slavery. The British represented the Mazrui simply as bandits and slavers, but from the Swahili point of view they were the legitimate rulers, tracing their ancestry back to Hamis, founder of the Takaungu Mazruis in the 1830s.

When Hamis’ son Selim died early in 1895 the Company ignored the normal rules of succession and appointed a pro-British Arab as chief of Takaungu. The rightful heir, Selim’s nephew Mbarak, moved to the nearby settlement of Gonjoro and assembled an army of 1200 men. A combined Company and Zanzibari expedition soon drove him from Gonjoro and he fled to Gazi to join the Mazrui chief there, the veteran rebel Mbarak of Gazi. This Mbarak was first reluctant to support his namesake as he knew that Gazi, being on the coast and thus in range of British gunboats, was untenable in the event of hostilities. Nevertheless, when a naval expedition from Mombasa under Sir Arthur Hardinge approached to arrest the rebels, Mbarak decided to join them and fled to the stronghold of Mwele, 5 days march to the west.

Rear Adm. Rawson, operating in conjunction with a contingent of the Zanzibari Army under Gen. Mathews, was sent to capture Mwele. The Illustrated London News, recounting the campaign, described the elderly and reluctant Mbarak of Gazi as “the head of a confederation of predatory tribal chieftains, who dodges about from one stockaded camp or rude fortress to another, beaten repeatedly wherever he chooses to await an attack, and escapes being caught by a timely retreat into pathless tropical jungles.” In fact, he was still only 18 miles inland. The British force comprised the 1st class protected cruiser St. George, the 3rd class cruisers Phoebe, Blonde and Barrosa, and the torpedo cruiser Raccoon, 400 sailors and marines from these ships, 60 Sudanese askaris, 50 local askaris, a 7-pounder field gun, a rocket tube, 2 Maxim guns and 800 porters. It is not reported exactly how many Zanzibaris accompanied them, but as the Illustrated London News gives a total of 600 for the sailors, marines, Sudanese and Zanzibaris, there must have been around 90. They were commanded in action by another British officer, J.W. Tritton. There was a preliminary reconnaissance by an additional 150 Sudanese. The main body formed a column extending about 3 miles on the march.

Early on August 16, while the head of the column was crossing a shoulder of Ndolo Mountain (but the rear had not yet left camp) it was ambushed at 2 points simultaneously. At the front the enemy opened fire from cover at a range of 30 yards, but were eventually driven off by Maxim and artillery fire. The other attack also failed, although Gen. Mathews was wounded. The next day the expedition reached Mwele from the west. The stronghold was in fact a cluster of 48 separate stockades hidden in dense forest on top of a hill. A preliminary bombardment was attempted with the single field gun and a few rockets, but this was obviously hopeless; the entire position was 3 miles in circumference, and only 2 of the stockades were visible from below the hill. Rawson therefore sent part of his force, comprising sailors, marines and a Maxim gun, under the command of Captain MacGill, round to the eastern side of the hill while he prepared to attack simultaneously from the west.

Mbarak of Takaungu, on whose behalf the revolt had begun, had already fled, but Mbarak of Gazi made a determined resistance. The Arabs opened fire from the stockades at 50-80 yards and it was soon clear that a frontal assault would fail. Though only 1 man was killed, there were numerous wounded. The sailors and Sudanese then forced their way through the jungle and outflanked each stockade in turn, eventually forcing the defenders to flee after 2 hours’ fighting. More than a ton of gunpowder, as well as other ammunition, was captured. Rawson then ordered the defenses destroyed and avenues to be blown in the surrounding forest with guncotton in order to prevent the position being reoccupied.

Two months later, however, the Arabs had rallied, and the country around Mombasa was in open revolt. On October 17, the Zanzibari garrison at Gazi sallied out to attack a stockade at Mgobani. They were routed, and their British commander, Captain Lawrence, was shot dead. Soon afterwards, a British tax collector based at Takaungu, with only 50 men, defeated 200 rebels at Mtawpa, 12 miles from Mombasa. The situation remained critical, however, with most of the coastal peoples now coming out in support of the Mazruis.

By the end of 1895, despite the replacement of Company rule by a formal Protectorate, effective British authority on the coast was confined to the ports. The naval brigade was irresistible in battle, but it could not operate far from the sea, nor move fast enough to bring the rebels to bay. On December 10, therefore, 300 Indian soldiers were landed to support the navy. Their first operation was a failure; they landed at Mtawpa and quickly drove off the enemy, but on following them inland were deliberately led astray by their guides and narrowly escaped destruction from thirst. During the next 3 months the Indians, reinforced by an additional battalion in March 1896, quartered the area in several columns, but Mbarak and the other rebels avoided pitched battles, instead harassing the rearguards and slipping between the columns to attack undefended towns in the rear. Typical of numerous actions was one on April 4, 1896, when a battalion under Col. Pearson stormed the village of Mweni in a carefully prepared night attack to discover that the only inhabitant was an old woman.

However, the Mazruis were gradually being weakened by exhaustion and the destruction of their plantations and on April 20, Mbarak gave up the struggle. He crossed the border and surrendered to the Germans, who allowed his followers to settle in Uzaramo.

[Ennath]

June 20, 1967
Aden Police Mutiny

In 1962 the British Crown Colony of Aden became partially self-governing, before being incorporated into the Federation of South Arabia the following year. In addition to British units, Aden and the hinterland territories making up the Protectorate were garrisoned by a number of locally recruited units under British and Arab officers. On June 1, 1967 these were amalgamated to form the South Arabian Army (SAA). The SAA numbered about 15,000 troops with its own artillery, armor and engineers. It had been commanded by British officers up until 1967 when, because of the imminent British withdrawal, Arab officers replaced the British. Within the ranks of the SAA there were large elements of nationalist FLOSY (Front for the Liberation of Occupied South Yemen) and NLF (National Liberation Front) supporters. During 1967 the British Government was not entirely sure where the SAA’s loyalties lay. Since 1931 a gendarmerie style force called the Aden Armed Police had been responsible for maintaining order in Aden itself.

In June 1967 the Arab armies took a terrible beating from the Israeli Army during the Six Day War. This Arab defeat strained relations between the Arabs and the British in Aden as many Arabs thought that Britain, along with the United States, had aided Israel. With British withdrawal from Aden pending, nationalist sentiment and concern for their own future spread amongst the personnel of the locally recruited army and police units organized by the British. This was exacerbated by the suspension of 3 Arab colonels.

On the morning of June 20, 1967 Arab soldiers of the SAA Army mutinied, setting fire to their barracks. The fire was quickly put out and the suspended colonels reinstated but trouble quickly spread. Arab soldiers broke into the armory and started fighting each other in tribal groups. Discipline broke down completely and the Arab and British SAA officers locked themselves in the camp guardroom. The mutineers then attacked a truck containing men of 60 Squadron, Royal Corps of Transport, killing 8 of the soldiers. The mutineers then attacked Radfan Camp, killing a soldier, 2 policemen and a civil servant. British troops of the King’s Own Royal Border Regiment and the Queen’s Dragoon Guards subsequently put down the SAA mutiny, rescuing officers from the camp guardroom. However unrest had spread to the Aden Armed Police (AAP) who seized their barracks in the Crater District of Aden and fired on a passing patrol of British troops, killing most. The AAP, together with armed nationalist fighters, then proceeded to occupy the Crater. 22 British soldiers had been killed in a series of separate clashes throughout the day and the district was abandoned.

The Armed Police Mutiny could not have happened at a worse time. The changeover of battalions, affecting a 10-day period, thwarted any positive action until early July. FLOSY and NLF flags flew over the Crater, and arms were being openly distributed. The roadblocks, at the Marine Drive and Main Pass routes into the Crater, were being sniped at with monotonous regularity, particularly in the period just before last light. The observation posts on the high volcanic rim surrounding three sides of the Crater were being fired on by snipers with rifles, automatics, and rockets.

On July 3, the newly arrived Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders under Lt-Col. Colin “Mad Mitch” Mitchell attacked into the Crater, supported by the Queen’s Dragoon Guards. At 1900, after the usual evening recce by terrorist cars on Sera Island, the Commanding Officer gave the order to advance and at the same time instructed the Pipe Major to sound the Regimental Charge, and continue with the Regimental Marches. Pipe Major Robson came under fire, together with the leading elements of B Company, and Tac HQ, which necessarily had to travel well forward to exercise the direct and personal leadership vital for the control of this battle. Because of the dark, only the armored cars were ordered to return, the fire, which they did with the immediate effect of silencing the machine guns which engaged the leading Argylls from the area of the Sultan of Labej’s Palace. Crater

B Company moved cautiously, but by 2000 had secured observation posts on the Legislative Council Buildings and the Chartered Bank. The next part of the operation was to take the Treasury. The building was guarded by the Armed Police, and there was no indication which way they would react. The Second in Command, Major Crowe, with Sgt Allison of the Intelligence Section, was ordered to accompany the D Company party which was to seize the Treasury, so that he could negotiate with the AAP in Arabic and try to avoid bloodshed. The Battalion had now run out of the agreed limits of exploitation. The Commanding Officer asked for and obtained permission to carry on with Phase 2 of the original plan, the move to the Crater Police Station. Major Robertson was ordered to take a mixed infantry/armored force, together with the Arabic speaking group, to negotiate with the Civil Police. This part of the operation was again accomplished without a hitch. By the early hours of July 4, it was obvious that the aggressive attack had demoralized the rebels. Mopping up continued through the 5th.

The Argylls remained in control of the district for the 5 months remaining until the final British withdrawal from Aden. On November 7, the SAA, now renamed the Arab Armed Forces of Occupied South Yemen, rallied to the National Liberation Front in a brief civil war with FLOSY. Following the NLF victory, the former SAA and AAP became the regular armed forces of the newly independent People's Democratic Republic of Yemen.

The significance of the mutiny lay less in its immediate impact, which was limited to part of Aden town itself and quickly contained, than its clear illustration of the fragility of the South Arabian Federation. Intended as a conservative grouping of Crown Colony and inland Federation local rulers, the Federation could not hope to survive the withdrawal of British forces.

[haroldeye]

I met a Lt Col from the Argylls in a bar one night. Turned out he was Mad Mitches driver whilst they were in Aden. Apparently Lt Col Mitchell believed he was bullet proof and was never far from the sharp end. His driver was under no such illusion.

[Dr Pepper]

The man himself-'Mad Mitch'-going for broke in Crater-in light of Harold's comment above...Mitch himself is driving....his front seat passenger doesn't seem too happy...

[Ennath]

June 21, 1128
Battle of Thielt

In February 1128, a rebellion broke out against William Clito, Count of Flanders, son of Duke Robert of Normandy. On March 30 the communes of Ghent and Bruges chose Thierry of Alsace as count, and 2 important barons, Daniel of Termonde and Iwain of Alost, did homage to him. These powerful nobles brought him the support of some of the Flemish knights, and in addition the rebels could soon count on help from Lille and Ypres, which supported the new count, secretly at first, then openly. Armed conflict broke out between William, supported by most of the knights, and Thierry, the candidate of the towns, helped by a minority of the feudal vassals.

On June 18-19, Thierry gathered a strong army at Ghent. This escorted a siege train to Axpoel, near Thielt, to besiege the fortified manor of the knight Fulk, a supporter of William. The men of Bruges arrived on the 20th, led by their burgrave, Gervase of Praat, whose contingent was also reinforced by men from the coast.

But William Clito had observed these movements and went out at once to scout out the terrain and the enemy army. The next day he collected his knights at dawn. They made their confessions together to the abbot of Oudenburg and the count and his men made a vow to protect the Church and poor from then on. They then advanced to the relief of Fulk’s manor.

The exact strength of the armies is not known. William probably had somewhere in the order of 450 knights, Thierry perhaps 300. There were a few hundred infantry in Thierry’s army as well, but these played little part in the battle.

It seems that William arrived at the field of battle with a plan in mind. The previous day’s reconnaissance had given him some idea of enemy strength. He knew that they were faced with the difficult task of fighting while maintaining a siege. While both armies deployed in 3 divisions (“battles”), William hid his third battle in ambush behind the hill he had scouted the day before. The remaining 2, under William and Riquart of Woumen, would briefly attack, then pull back to the hill, drawing Thierry’s knights away from his infantry and into an ambush, defeating them in detail. The infantry could not keep up with the knights, who themselves would becomes disordered during the pursuit.

William and Riquart appeared on the hill with their battles. As soon as Thierry observed this, he also deployed in 3 battles, 1 under himself and Gervase and 1 under an allied Count Frederick. The foot were in reserve. Daniel of Termonde would lead Thierry’s knights in pursuit.

Once in position, both front lines charged with couched lances. Daniel hoped for a quick breakthrough, but Frederick was unhorsed at the first shock. On the other side, Riquart shared the same fate, being taken prisoner and fettered. William realized that he could not led his men get too deeply committed and that if he pressed too much, he would have to deal with the enemy infantry; he therefore gave the signal to retreat. Daniel began his pursuit advancing to the top of the hill only to meet an unpleasant surprise; he was attacked by a fresh, well-ordered company of 150 knights.

William rallied his retreating men and re-entered the fight. Daniel’s pursuit now turned into a disorderly flight. William and his knights continued on to face a surprised Thierry and his foot soldiers. Panic broke out among the inexperienced infantry, who swept Thierry away with them in their flight. He reached Bruges with only 10 knights.

William decided to take a risk to turn his tactical victory into a decisive success. He ordered his knights to discard their armor so as to ride faster and take more prisoners before they could rally. The pursuit was a calamity for the Brugeois.

William seemed established as count of Flanders, but only 2 months later he died of blood poisoning caused by a scratch in the hand, and Thierry was able to claim the county unopposed.

[Ennath]

June 22, 1679
Battle of BothwellBridge

Following the Restoration of King Charles II, the Presbyterians in Scotland were increasingly persecuted for their beliefs, and a small armed rising had been put down in 1666. Although some Presbyterian ministers were “Indulged” by the government from 1669, allowing them to retain their churches without having to accept Episcopacy, the more hard-line elements continued to hold illegal outdoor meetings, known as conventicles. These were often broken up by squads of government dragoons.

Following the assassination of Archbishop James Sharp on Magus Muir on May 3, 1679, and the Declaration of Rutherglen, the Covenanters were on the verge of open rebellion. A large conventicle was planned to take place at Loudoun Hill, on the boundary of Ayrshire and Lanarkshire, in defiance of government persecution of the Covenanters. On the morning of Sunday June 1, the Rev. Thomas Douglas allegedly broke off his sermon with the words “Ye have got the theory, now for the practice”, when it was reported that the dragoons of John Graham of Claverhouse were heading to the area. Claverhouse, better known to his enemies as ‘Bluidy Clavers’, had recently been appointed captain, with a mission to disperse conventicles in southwest Scotland.

A group of around 200 armed Covenanters moved east to a boggy moor near the farm of Drumclog. Commanded by Robert Hamilton of Preston, the army took up a strong position behind a bog. Claverhouse’s force arrived, but was unable to engage due to the ground conditions. For some time groups of skirmishers exchanged fire, and Claverhouse felt he was gaining the upper hand. However, he was still unable to get close to the Covenanters without becoming bogged down. At this point, the Covenanters decided to press the attack. William Cleland led a force around the bog and advanced rapidly. Despite heavy fire from the government troops, the attack was entirely successful. Claverhouse’s force broke, and the dragoons were soon routed from the battlefield, leaving 36 dead.

Following this initial success the Covenanters spent the next few weeks building their strength, as did the government. King Charles’ illegitimate son James, Duke of Monmouth was sent north to take command, and a force of militia was raised.

The Covenanters had established their camp on the south bank of the Clyde, north of Hamilton. The rebels numbered around 6000 men, but were poorly disciplined and deeply divided by religious disagreements. They had few competent commanders, being nominally led by Hamilton, although his rigid stance against the Indulged ministers only encouraged division. The preacher Donald Cargill and William Cleland, victor of Drumclog, were present, as were David Hackston of Rathillet and John Balfour of Kinloch, who were among the group who murdered Archbishop Sharp. The government army numbered around 5000 regular troops and militia, and was commanded by Monmouth, supported by Claverhouse and the Earl of Linlithgow. The royalist troops were massed on the northern or Bothwell bank of the river Clyde on sloping ground that included a field that has since become known, ironically enough, as the Covenanters Field - not because the battle was fought there but because for many years it was the venue for a conventicle organized by the Scottish Covenanters Memorial Association.

The battle centered on the narrow bridge across the Clyde, the passage of which Monmouth was required to force in order to come at the Covenanters. Hackston led the defense of the bridge and had some success in the initial skirmishes at the bridge itself. But his men lacked artillery and ammunition, and were forced to withdraw after around an hour. Once Monmouth’s men were across, the Covenanters were quickly routed. Many fled into the parks of nearby Hamilton Palace, seat of Duchess Anne, who was sympathetic to the Presbyterian cause, and it was in this area that the final engagements took place. The numbers of covenanters who were killed varies widely with estimates ranging from 7 to 700 according to the Scottish Battles Gazetteer. Around 1200 were taken prisoner. There were few government casualties.

The prisoners were taken to Edinburgh and held on land beside Greyfriars Kirkyard, an area now known as the Covenanters’ Prison. Many remained there for several months, until the last of them were transported to the colonies in November. However, a later shipwreck allowed 48 of the 257 prisoners to escape. All those who had taken part on the Covenanter side were declared rebels and traitors, and the repression during this period has become known as “the Killing Time” in Covenanter histories. A core of hard-line rebels remained in arms, and became known as the Cameronians after Richard Cameron their leader. Cameron was killed in a skirmish at Airds Moss the next year, but his followers were eventually pardoned on the accession of William III in 1689.

[Ennath]

513 BC
Darius’ Scythian Expedition

According to Herodotus, Persian King Darius I wished to exact revenge on the Scythians for an invasion they had launched into Media a century earlier. The campaign is seen by some as an instance of unadulterated expansionism, that Darius simply wanted to expand his rule as far as possible and bring all the areas around the Black Sea under Persian control. According to another theory, the campaign was mainly exploratory. On the other end of the spectrum, some believe Darius’ objectives were much more modest, i.e. the subjection of Thrace and making the Ister (modern Danube) his northern natural frontier in Europe; the advance beyond this point was a colossal display of force intended for the Scythians, discouraging any thoughts of intervening in Thrace or flanking the Persian army during its planned invasion into mainland Greece.

Darius crossed the Black Sea at the Bosporus using a bridge of boats. He invaded Scythia with his general Megabazus, but the Scythians evaded major combat, using feints and retreating eastwards while laying waste to the countryside, blocking wells, intercepting convoys, destroying pastures and continuous skirmishes against Darius’ army. Seeking to force a decisive action, Darius pushed deep into Scythian lands, mostly in what is modern-day Ukraine, where there were no cities to conquer and few supplies to forage. In frustration Darius sent a letter to the Scythian ruler Idanthyrsus to fight or surrender. The ruler replied that he would not stand and fight with Darius, unless the Persians found and desecrated the graves of the Scythians’ forefathers. Until then, they would continue their strategy as they had no cities or cultivated lands to lose.

Despite the tactics of the Scythians, Darius' campaign was so far relatively successful. As presented by Herodotus, the tactics of the Scythians resulted in the loss of their best lands and damage to their loyal allies. The fact is thus that Darius held the initiative. As he moved east into cultivated lands, he remained resupplied by his fleet and lived to an extent off of the land. While moving east, he captured the large fortified city of the Budini, one of the allies of the Scythians, and burnt it.

Darius ordered a halt at the banks of the Oarus, where he built “eight great forts, some eight miles distant from each other”, no doubt as a frontier defense. This evidently was as far east as Darius intended to go, at least for the time being. After chasing the Scythians for a month, Darius’ army was suffering losses due to fatigue, privation and sickness. Concerned about losing more of his troops, Darius halted the march at the banks of the Volga and headed back towards Thrace. He had failed to bring the Scythians to a direct battle, and until he did so he did not have much reason to secure the conquered territories. The initiative still lay with him. The tactics of evasion and scorched earth were continued by the Scythians, damaging their economy for years. Darius had failed too as still he wasn't able to bring on a direct confrontation. However, he had conquered enough Scythian territory to force the Scythians to respect Persian power.

As the Cambridge History states, Darius inflicted widespread damage on the Scythians and their allies, weakened the prestige of the Royal Scythians especially, and upset the balance of power among the various peoples of the region. But because he failed to bring the Scythians to battle, he was unable to secure any territorial gains and he did not even complete the building of the forts at what could have been a frontier. The campaign was little more than an expansive stalemate. Some form of Persian authority perhaps remained after Darius withdrew, for the “Scythians across the Sea” are mentioned at Naqsh-e Rustam as one of the peoples the king conquered outside of Persia. Persian rule could have never extended beyond the Danube in any strength, however.