This month in military history: May 2014

Military history timeline

 

Events in May without enough information on the exact day of the event

633 – Battle of Walaja; Battle of Ullais (Islamic Conquest of Persia)

 Sword handle and chapes, gold, from Iran, the Sasanian Dynasty, 600-650

This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

Author: Quadell 

1254 – Seventh Crusade ends 
1344 – Battle of Stephaniana (Byzantine civil war of 1341-1347) 
1405 - Battle of Pwll Melyn (Owain Glyndwr’s Revolt)

 Owain Glyndŵr at City Hall, Cardiff, Wales; Photo by Seth Whales

1427 – Second War in Lombardy begins 
1576 – Siege of Mitsuji (Ishiyama Hongan-ji War) 
1583 – Battle of Shizugatake (Japan)

 1883 by Utagawa Toyonobu - An ukiyo-e of Battle of Shizugatake

1590 – Third siege of Odawara begins (Japan)

Today in military history: May 1, 2014

Military history timeline

 

1187 – Battle of Cresson (Third Crusade)

 1490 - Embarquement of King Philipp II of France for the Third Crusade (1190)

1778 – Battle of Crooked Billet (American Revolutionary War) 
1781 – Action of 1 May 1781 (American Revolutionary War) (Naval) 
1782 – Second Battle of Tucson (Apache-Mexico Wars) 
1858 – Battle of Grahovac ends (Montenegro) 
1863 – Battle of Chancellorsville begins; Battle of Fort Gibson, MS; Battle of Chalk Bluff begins (US Civil War) 
1898 – Battle of Manila Bay (Spanish-American War) (Naval) 
1904 – Battle of Yalu River ends (Russo-Japanese War)

 1904 - Japanese Troops Landing on the Bay of Nampho before the Battle of Yalu River (1904)

1915 – Battle of Eski Hissarlik (WWI) 
1938 – Battle of Xuzhou ends (Second Sino-Japanese War) 
1941 – Battle at Rutba (WWII) 
1942 – Japan takes Mandalay (WWII) 
1945 – Tito’s partisans take Trieste; Battle of Halbe ends; Battle of Tarakan begins (WWII) 
1950 – Landing Operation on Hainan Island ends (Chinese Civil War) 
1951 – Attack on Hwachon Dam (Korean War) (Naval) 
1972 – First battle of Quang Tri ends (Vietnam War) 
1995 – Operation Flash begins (Croatian War of Independence) 
2004 – First Battle of Fallujah ends (Iraq War)

 U.S. Marines with Company A, 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 

fire against terrorists operating in Fallujah, Iraq April 7, 2004

Today in military history: April 30, 2014

Military history timeline

 

1305 – Catalan Company battle with the Alans (Turkey)

 Santa Caterina del Sasso (Varese). Refectory - Fragment of a fresco (14th century) showing soldiers

This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share 

Alike 3.0 Unported, 2.5 Generic, 2.0 Generic and 1.0 Generic license.

Author: Wolfgang Sauber

1524 – Battle of Sesia Romagnano (Italy) 
1781 – Battle of Fort Royal ends (American Revolutionary War) (Naval) 
1794 – Battle of Boulou (War of the Pyrenees) 
1803 – Louisiana Purchase Treaty between the US and Napoleon signed  
1848 –Skirmish of Pastrengo (First Italian War of Independence)  
1849 – Battle in Rome (First Italian War of Independence 
1860 – Second Battle of Fort Defiance (Navajo Wars)

 Circa 1865 - Navajo War Chief Barboncito

1861 – Federals evacuate Fort Washita and the Indian Territory (US Civil War)  
1863 – Stoneman cavalry raid begins (US Civil War); Battle at Camerone (Second Franco-Mexican War)  
1865 – Confederates in Alabama and Mississippi agree to truce (US Civil War)   
1904 – Battle of the Yalu River begins (Russo-Japanese War) 
1942 – Destruction of Telavag (WWII) 
1943 – Operation Husky corpse released near Spanish port (WWII) 
1945 – Adolf Hitler commits suicide; Battle of Triest begins; Mar Ostrava taken (WWII) 
1951 – CCF Offensive stopped north of Seoul (Korean War) 
1952 – Wonsan Harbor Naval duel (Korean War) 
1967 – Operation Francis Marion ends (Vietnam War) 
1968 – Battle at Dai Do (Vietnam War) 
1972 – North Vietnam invades South Vietnam (Vietnam War)

 12 February 1973 - Viet Cong soldiers carry a litter with injured American POW, Capt. David Earle Baker, (captured 27 June 1972) from the hospital tent to the release point. American and South Vietnamese prisoners were exchanged for Viet Cong and North Vietnamese prisoners.

1975 – 1975 Spring Offensive ends; Operation Frequent Wind ends; Saigon taken (Vietnam War)

Today in military history: April 29, 2014

1019 - Battle of Monte Levunium (Komnenian Restoration) 
1587 - Frances Drake raids Cadiz (Anglo-Spanish War) 
1615 – Battle of Kashii (Siege of Osaka)

 Early 17th century - Fall of Osaka Castle in Summer Battle of Osaka in May, 1st year of Genna (1615)

1616 – Battle of Euboea (Mediterranean) (Naval) 
1758 – Battle of Cuddalore (Seven Years’ War) (Naval) 
1781 – Battle of Fort Royal begins (American Revolutionary War) (Naval) 
1794 – Battle of Mouscron ends (French Revolutionary Wars) 
1813 – Raid at Frenchtown, MD (War of 1812) 
1814 – Naval Battle at Cape Canaveral (War of 1812) 
1856 – Battle at Four Creeks (Tule River War) 
1862 – New Orleans taken; Battle at Bridgeport (US Civil War) 
1916 – Siege of Kut Al Amara ends (WWI); Easter Uprising ends (Ireland)

 1919 - Study of 'a British Maurice Farman Attacked by a German Fokker 

While Dropping Sacks of Corn on Kut-el-amara during the Siege of 1916'

1945 – German forces in Italy surrender; Venice, Allanmyo and Nyaunbglebim taken; Dachau camp liberated; Last convoy battle of WWII begins in Arctic (WWII) 
1951 – CCF First Spring Offensive ends (Korean War) 
1965 – US troops invade the Dominican Republic (Dominican Civil War) 
1970 – Cambodian Incursion begins (Vietnam War) 
1975 – Operation Frequent Wind begins (Vietnam War)

 29 April 1975 - A Marine provides security as Sikorsky CH-53 helicopters land at the Defense Attaché Office compound. Military helicopters dropped the ground security component at landing zones. Once on the ground they set up security positions.

New archaeology research related to military history: Ancient Levant battleaxes and Ancient Central Asian composite bows

Archaeometry has a study by D. Rosenberg^, R. Shimelmitz, T. M. Gluhak, and A. Assaf about ancient basalt handaxes found in northern Israel.  The authors point out that the axes were not made from locally found basalt but rather brought in from other areas.  The address the implications of this discovery.

Archaeometry also presents an article by S. Shalev, E. N. Caspi,, S. Shilstein, A. M. Paradowska, W. Kockelmann, T. Kan-Cipor Meron, and Y. Levy about Bronze Age battleaxes from Israel.  The authors study thirteen Middle Bronze Age II battleaxes found in ancient graves and present their findings on the metal. 

Battle aze from the Middle Bronze age found in Tel Rumeida (Hebron) Israel/Palestine

This file is licensed under the Creative Commons  

Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. Author: Sariel shalev

Archaeology, Ethnology and Anthropology of Eurasia presents an article by Y.S. Hudiakov, K.Sh. Tabaldiev, A.Y. Borisenko, and K.T. Akmatov on ancient composite bow parts found in Kyrgyzstan.  The authors analyzed the horn plates that were discovered and reconstructed the wooden core of the bows and the placement of the plates.  The bows were found to be of the period of about 3^rd century BC to 3^rd century AD and the authors determined what was considered the most efficient placement of the plates. 

 

A reproduction Hunnu bow from unknown time period hangs on display 

inside the National Museum of Mongolian History in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

New military history research: Concentration camps during WWII

Holocaust Genocide Studies presents three articles of interest:

T. Fielder Valone addresses the wartime persecution of Jews in Lithuania from the few sources of information available.

Jovan Byford contrasts the collected testimonies from survivors of the Jasenovac concentration camp.  The camp was not a German run but rather established and run by Croatians.  Byford compares the approaches taken by US oral historians and Serbian oral historians in regards to this camp.

 Between 1941-1945: Ustasa's demonstrate sawing off a Serb 

(Branko Jungić from village Grabovac, near Bosanksa Gradiška) man's head.

Michael Fleming addresses the idea that the West did not have good information about the existence of Auschwitz during the war.  Fleming states the Polish government in exile had information which was provided to Western governments but the information was restricted in circulation.  Fleming argues that English and Polish histories on this topic must be linked together to gain a better understanding about the history of what was known about the camp.

 April 24, 1945 - SS First Lieutenant Franz Hossler in front of a truck of deceased prisoners from German concentration camps he helped supervise including Auschwitz.

Today in military history: April 28, 2014

1487 – Battle of Ponte di Crevola (Transalpine campaigns)

 15th century drawing of a soldier

1503 – Battle of Cerignola (Second Italian War) 
1592 – Battle of Ch’ungju (Imjin War)
1760 – Battle of Sainte-Foy (French and Indian War)
1858 – Battle of Grahovac begins (Montenegro) 
1862 – Forts Jackson and St. Philip surrender (US Civil War)

1862 - "Reconnaissance of Forts Jackson and St. Philip, on the Mississippi, 

by Gun-boats from Flag-officer Farragut's Squadron"

1915 – First battle of Krithia (WWI) 
1937 – Air raids on Guernica ends (Spanish Civil War) 
1945 – Mussolini and mistress captured and killed; Allies take Brescia, Bergamo, Allessandria, and Augsburg  (WWII) 
1947 – Battle of Tang’erli ends (Chinese Civil War) 
1972 – Fire Base Bastogne falls (Vietnam War)

 M-107 firing, Battery C, 1st Battalion, 83d Field Artillery, at Fire Support Base Bastogne, Vietnam

1978 – Saur Revolution ends (Afghanistan)

Today in military history: April 27, 2014

1296 – Battle of Dunbar (also Spottismuir) (First War of Scottish Independence)

 About 1731 - "Portrait of John Balliol," mezzotint, by British printmaker William Robins.

  

1423 – Battle of Horic (Hussite Wars) 

1522 – Battle of Bicocca (Italian War of 1521-1526) 

1777 – Battle of Ridgefield (American Revolutionary War) 

1799 – Battle of Cassano (French Revolutionary Wars) 

1805 – US takes Derna (First Barbary War) 

1808 – Battle of Revolax (Finnish War) 

1813 – Battle of York (War of 1812)

 The death of American brigadier general Zebulon Pike at the Battle of York on 27 April 1813. This scene shown in this American print of 1839 bears little resemblance to the actual 1813 fortifications at York, while the town itself was actually out of sight further to the east.

1941 – Germans enter Athens (WWII) 

1943 – British take Djebel Bou Aoukaz (WWII) 

1945 – Allies take Prenzlau, Angermunde, Genoa, and Baguio (WWII)  

1947 – Battle of Tang’erli begins (Chinese Civil War) 

1975 – Saigon encircled (Vietnam War) 

1978 – Saur Revolution begins (Afghanistan)  

  Day after Saur revolution in Kabul

This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

Author: Cleric77

Today in military history: April 26, 2014

1289 – Siege of Tripoli ends (Lebanon)  
1794 – Battle of Mouscron begins (French Revolutionary Wars)
1836 – Battle of Terapegui (First Carlist War) 

1862 – Skirmish at Neosho, MO; Siege of Fort Macon ends (US Civil War) 

1863 – Attack at Cape Girardeau, MO (US Civil War) 

1865 – Gen Johnston surrenders a second time under new terms (US Civil War)

about 1860-1865 - Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, C.S.A

1937 – Air raids on Guernica begin (Spanish Civil War)

 Lithographs by Francisco Mateos (1894-1976) L'état major 1937 - 

Art laying the blame of the raids on Guernica with clergy supporting Franco

This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Author: dalbera from Paris, France

  

1941 – Dessie taken by Allies (WWII) 

1944 – Australians take Alexishafen (WWII) 

1945 – Allies take Stettin, Bremen, Regensburg; Battle of Baguio; Battle of Berlin begins (WWII)

 April 1945 photo by Wilfried Woscidlo - Volksturmmann with 

Raketen-Panzer-Büchse in Schützenloch auf freiem Feld

This file is licensed under the 

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Germany license.

Attribution: Bundesarchiv, Bild 146-1985-092-29 / 

Woscidlo, Wilfried / CC-BY-SA

   

1961 -  Algiers putsch ends (Algerian War) 

2007 – Battle of Mogadishu ends (Somalia)

New military history research: French military in Vietnam and the Vietnam air war

The Journal of Vietnamese Studies presents two articles of interest:

A study by Holly High, James R. Curran and Gareth Robinson looks into the contents of two large databases containing information on the air war over Southeast Asia.  The authors point out that this was the first war to “go digital” and the records maintained can provide a wealth of information on operations conducted. 

 1960s - Da Nang Air Base during the Vietnam War.  

Revetments shown provide protection against mortar and rocket attacks.

Jean Michaud studies a 1906 French military ethnography of Colonial Upper Tonkin in Northern Vietnam covering 1897 to 1904.  Michaud examines a public version of the ethnography and also a lesser known more military focused version. 

 Arrival at the “Porte de Chine” of the military commander of Guangxi, Marshal Su Yuan Chuan and his official entourage on 16 July 1900. The procession of sedan chairs, guarded by soldiers, had just passed through the outer gatehouse into French Indo-China (Vietnam). Marshal Su had been invited as a guest to celebrate the inaugural train of the railway connecting Hanoi with Dang Dong, close to the Nam-Quan frontier post between China and Vietnam.

Today in military history: April 25, 2014

1185 – Battle of Dan-no-ura (Genpei War) (Naval) 

 1845-1846 print by Utagawa Kuniyoshi -
General Taira no Tomomori ties himself to an anchor so that he may die by 

his own hand and not from enemy action during the battle at Dan-no-ura.

1464 – Battle of Hedgeley Moor (Wars of the Roses) 

1607 – Battle of Gibraltar (Eighty Years’ War) (Naval) 

1622 – Battle of Wiesloch (Thirty Years’ War) 

1626 – Battle at Dessau Bridge (Thirty Years’ War) 

1643 – Battle of Sourton Down (First English Civil War) 

1707 – Battle of Almansa (War of the Spanish Succession)

 1709 painting by Buonaventura Ligli (Ventura Lirios) y Filippo Pallotta - Battle of Almansa

  

1781 – Battle of Blanford; Battle of Hobkirk’s Hill (American Revolutionary War) 

1846 – Thornton Affair (Mexican-American War) 

1862 – Capture of New Orleans, LA; Surrender of Fort Macon, NC (US Civil War) 

1864 – Battle of Marks’ Mill, and Moro Bottom, AK (US Civil War) 

1875 –Pecos River skirmish (poss. Red River Indian War) 

1915 – Landing at Cape Helles; Landing at Anzac Cove begins (WWI)  

1936 – Battle of the Ogaden ends (Second Italo-Abyssinian War) 

1945 – Red Army surrounds Berlin, Pillau, Mantua, Verona, Parma, Perwegen taken; (WWII) 

1947 – Battle of Niangziguan ends (Chinese Civil War) 

1951 - Battle of Imjin River ends; Battle of Kapyong ends (Korean War)

Men of the 3rd Ranger Company, 3rd Infantry Division, adjust their gear 

before undertaking a dawn patrol across the Imjin River, Korea. 17 April 1951

  

1959 – Rebels attack Panama (Panama) 

2007 – Battle of Thoppigala begins (Sri Lankan Civil War)

New military history research: Ancient Rome and Greece

Five articles of interest from Classical Quarterly on literature related to ancient war:

Deboray Kamen writes on a 4^th century BC speech by Demosthenes deriding Aeschines and his service to Philip of Macedon.

Jeffrey Murray discusses Diodorus Siculus’ account of the Battle of Thermopylae.  Murray examines the source of Siculus’ account since it so markedly differs from more well known accounts of the battle.

Seven iron arrowheads and spearheads were found in the Koinos hill, 

where the last defenders of the Thermopyles fell.

This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Author: Therese Clutario

Louise Hodgson examines the opening of the Res Gestae and asks why Octavian points out he was nineteen when he raised forces to save Rome.  Hodgson points out that nineteen is too young for various reasons to do what he did and yet Octavian makes a strong point about his age.   

Bridget Martin takes up the task of examining the blood sacrifice scene in Odyssey and asks why those dead who are not involved with providing a prophecy to Odysseus drink the sacrificial blood.

Kenneth R. Jones examines the date of a poem purported to have been written shortly after the Island of Rhodes successfully resisted a siege in the 4^th century BC.  Jones argues that the poem could have been written much later than during the time of the successful resistance and puts forth his arguments. 

 1745 - Copper engraved view of the town & the Colossus of Rhodes.  

This a fanciful representation of the statue which fell in 226 BC.

Today in military history: April 24, 2014

1541 - Battle of Sahart (Portuguese-Ottoman War) 

1547 – Battle of Muhlberg (Schmalkaldic War)

 

1548 painting by Titian - Johann Friedrich made prisoner following the Battle of Muhlberg

1592 – Battle of Sangju (Imjin War) 

1778 – North Channel Naval Duel (American Revolutionary War) 

1862 – Farragut runs the gamut of New Orleans (US Civil War) 

1877 – Russo-Turkish war begins; North martial rule of South ends (Post-US Civil War) 

1885 – Battle of Fish Creek (North-West Rebellion) 

1916 –Easter Uprising begins (Ireland)

 Guinness Improvised Armored Car, Dublin, Easter Rising 1916

  

1920 – Poland attacks Ukraine (Polish-Soviet War) 

1943 – German SS begins full operations against Jewish resistance in Warsaw ghetto (WWII) 

1945 – Dessau on the Elbe, Ferrar, La Spezia taken by Allies (WWII) 

1947 – Battle of Niangziguan begins (Chinese Civil War) 

1949 – Taiyuan Campaign ends (Chinese Civil War) 

1965 – Military coup in Dominican Republic (Dominican Civil War)

 G.I.'s playing baseball with Dominican kids. Santo Domingo, May 5., 1965

  

1967 – Battle of Hills 881 and 861 begin (Vietnam War) 

1970 – Operation Patio begins (Vietnam War)(Air) 

1971 – North Vietnam troops attack US bases throughout South Vietnam (Vietnam War)

1980 – US hostage rescue operation Desert One catastrophe (Iranian Revolution)

 "Wreckage at Desert One", Iran (April 1980) where eight Americans died.