Phoebe Ann Mosey (1860 – 1926), popularly known as ‘Annie Oakley’, was a sharpshooter who starred for 17 years in Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West Show. It is said that, while performing in Berlin in 1887, she shot off the tip of a cigarette clenched between the teeth of the future Kaiser Wilhelm II. You can read more about Annie by clicking here.
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The long delay in posting is due to my having surgery on 9/28.
Check out these free on-line lectures from the museum in November:
November 5th 7 PM CST The Legacy of Col. Charles Young (Youtube)
November 14th 2 PM CST Italian Nationalism to Fascism (Zoom)
November 16th 7 PM CST Naval Reduction Treaties (Youtube)
Winston Churchill’s Soldiers
The brainchild of Winston Churchill, First Lord of the Admiralty, the Royal Naval Division (RND) was formed in 1914. It was comprised of eight battalions of reserve sailors not needed for sea service and four battalions of Royal Marines, scrounged up from each Marine depot. The RND eventually numbered about 8,000 men, which was under-manned compared to army divisions of the time, which at full strength had around 12,000. The ‘sailor’ battalions were named after famous admirals: Anson, Benbow, Collingwood, Drake, Hawke, Hood, Howe and Nelson. The Marine battalions were titled after their respective depots: Chatham, Deal, Plymouth and Portsmouth.
Due to a shortage of steel during the war, the United States Shipping Board (USSB) contracted for about 700 steam-powered cargo ships to have hulls made from wood. Shipyards on the Sabine River in Texas took on some of these contracts. So the big news in Orange, Texas in May, 1918 was the launching of the City of Bonham, which was the first of 12 very large wooden cargo ships ordered by the USSB. The Bonham was built according to A.M. Daughtery’s plans and was exactly like his ships War Marvel and War Mystery, both of which had been built in Orange for the British Cunard Line. With a displacement of 4,700 tons, they were the largest wooden cargo ships that would ever be built, although by war’s end wooden ships as big as 7,300 tons had been ordered.
Although the Secretary of War had pledged to bring all of the dead home back in 1917, in 1919 all space on ships was needed to bring the living home. A rousing disagreement then started up over what to do. Many felt that the dead should be buried in beautiful cemeteries in Europe, figuratively resting amongst their comrades. Congressional debate went back and forth with the final result being a Solomonic policy: the next of kin could choose whether to have their fallen buried in one of the new cemeteries in Europe, or they could have the remains returned to the U.S. and buried at the government’s expense. The result was that 30,922 were buried in the cemeteries and about 44,000 remains were repatriated.
Congressional Gold Medal Awarded to the 369th Infantry, the “Harlem Hell Fighters”
Although the 369th Regiment Armory still stands at 142d St. and Fifth Ave. in New York, the regiment itself was disbanded in 1946 and its heritage passed to other units, now the 369th Sustainment Brigade, NY National Guard. The original 369th Infantry, widely known as “The Harlem Hell Fighters”, served with the French in WW1, and has been awarded the Congressional Gold Medal (CGM).
Coming up are:
Tuesday September 7th WW1 Changed Us 7:00 PM CDT
Monday September 13th The Confidence Men 7:00 PM CDT
Registration is necessary. Go to https://my.theworldwar.org/events?view=list&span=month&k=public%20programs
Recently we posted about Dennis Cross, his blog and his new book version on the blog. You can read this post by clicking here.
Dennis has released the second volume of his work, which covers the months from June 1914 through April 1917. You can get these books from Amazon and they’re free if you’re a Kindle Unlimited member.
The Lore of the Corps
“Retreat? Hell, we just got here.” So said Capt. Lloyd Williams, Virginia Tech Class of 1909, who was commanding the 51st Co., 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment (2/5 Marines) at Belleau Wood. You can read more about this incident by clicking here.
Formed in 1917, the 2/5 Marines went on to become the most decorated battalion in USMC history. They are on active duty as a part of the 1st Marine Division.
On Thursday August 5th at &:00 PM CDT: Pershing Lecture Series presentation Embattled Weimar
This event is free but requires registration. You can do so by clicking on this link.
