Veterans...Get the hell in here now!

BarnBuster

Virtually Unknown Member
Today in Military History:
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"In Appomattox Court House, Virginia, on April 9, 1865, Robert E. Lee surrenders his 28,000 Confederate troops to Union General Ulysses S. Grant, effectively ending the American Civil War. Forced to abandon the Confederate capital of Richmond, blocked from joining the surviving Confederate force in North Carolina, and harassed constantly by Union cavalry, Lee had no other option.
In retreating from the Union army’s Appomattox Campaign, the Army of Northern Virginia had stumbled through the Virginia countryside stripped of food and supplies. At one point, Union cavalry forces under General Philip Sheridan had actually outrun Lee’s army, blocking their retreat and taking 6,000 prisoners at Sayler’s Creek. Desertions were mounting daily, and by April 8 the Confederates were surrounded with no possibility of escape. On April 9, Lee sent a message to Grant announcing his willingness to surrender. The two generals met in the parlor of the Wilmer McLean home at one o’clock in the afternoon.

Lee and Grant, both holding the highest rank in their respective armies, had known each other slightly during the Mexican War and exchanged awkward personal inquiries. Characteristically, Grant arrived in his muddy field uniform while Lee had turned out in full dress attire, complete with sash and sword. Lee asked for the terms, and Grant hurriedly wrote them out. All officers and men were to be pardoned, and they would be sent home with their private property–most important, the horses, which could be used for a late spring planting. Officers would keep their side arms, and Lee’s starving men would be given Union rations.

Shushing a band that had begun to play in celebration, General Grant told his officers, “The war is over. The Rebels are our countrymen again.” Although scattered resistance continued for several weeks, for all practical purposes the Civil War had come to an end."

 

smokinrav

Well-Known Member

cannabineer

Ursus marijanus
I remember that on the evening news :(
When I was nine, a friend of my parents was moving back to Germany. She gave them a stack of National Geographic, 1963 to 1970. They gave them to me. I remember the very first article I read was about the loss of 593.

It was months before I found the pictorial feature on some Amazon tribe that was still almost pristine. They wore a belt of some sort.
 

curious2garden

Well-Known Mod
Staff member
When I was nine, a friend of my parents was moving back to Germany. She gave them a stack of National Geographic, 1963 to 1970. They gave them to me. I remember the very first article I read was about the loss of 593.

It was months before I found the pictorial feature on some Amazon tribe that was still almost pristine. They wore a belt of some sort.
ROFLMAO you were a bit slow :)
 

BarnBuster

Virtually Unknown Member

DarkWeb

Well-Known Member
I saw that last night on the news.
 

BarnBuster

Virtually Unknown Member
Today in Military History:

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On April 18, 1942, 16 American B-25 bombers, launched from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet 650 miles east of Japan and commanded by Lieutenant Colonel James H. Doolittle, attack the Japanese mainland.

The now-famous Tokyo Raid did little real damage to Japan (wartime Premier Hideki Tojo was inspecting military bases during the raid; one B-25 came so close, Tojo could see the pilot, though the American bomber never fired a shot)–but it did hurt the Japanese government’s prestige. Believing the air raid had been launched from Midway Island, approval was given to Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto’s plans for an attack on Midway–which would also damage Japanese “prestige.” Doolittle eventually received the Medal of Honor.


 
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