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The FReeper Foxhole Remembers The Battle of Glorieta Pass (March 26-29 1862) - Nov. 20th, 2003
National Park Service ^

Posted on 11/20/2003 12:00:45 AM PST by SAMWolf



Lord,

Keep our Troops forever in Your care

Give them victory over the enemy...

Grant them a safe and swift return...

Bless those who mourn the lost.
.

FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer
for all those serving their country at this time.


...................................................................................... ...........................................

U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues

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The Battle of Glorieta Pass:
A Shattered Dream

A peaceful ranch, once a stage stop on the Santa Fe Trail, rests in a circular valley clasped by steep mountains. Spanish conquistadors named these mountains Sangre de Cristo, "blood of Christ," but in 1862, it was the blood of warring brothers that bathed the land near Pigeon's Ranch.


(Roy Anderson, artist; Courtesy of Pecos National Historical Park)


This battle--the Battle of Glorieta Pass--represented the high water mark for a bold Confederate offensive into Union Territory on the western frontier. Here volunteers from Colorado clashed with tough Texans intent on conquering New Mexico. Victory here would be a necessary prelude to detaching the western states from the Union and expanding the Confederacy to the Pacific Ocean. Referred to as the "Gettysburg of the West" by many historians, this running battle along canyon and ridge from March 26-28, 1862 culminated in the retreat back to Texas of the invading Confederate forces. Glorieta Pass was another great turning point in the Civil War, the battle that shattered the western dreams of the Confederate States of America.

The Gettysburg of the West


The trans-Mississippi West, New Mexico Territory in particular, was far removed from many of the passions and issues that defined the Civil War for people east of the Mississippi River. For large areas of the West that were recently won from Mexico or still organized under territorial government--where people were still struggling to survive in hostile environments--arguments over secession and states rights may have seemed rarified. Nonetheless, men answered the call to join eastern armies, so the frontier armies were drastically reduced. Indian raids began to increase as some tribes seized the chance to regain lost territory while others turned to raiding for subsistence, their U.S. treaty allotments having been disrupted by the war. Yet, the Civil War was not strictly an eastern war, and in 1862 Confederate forces invaded New Mexico Territory.


Major John M. Chivington and First Colorado Volunteers on the edge of Glorieta Mesa overlooking Confederate supply wagons at Johnson's Ranch (courtesy Peter de La Fuente, Wyeth Hurd Gallery, Santa Fe)


Henry Sibley, who resigned his commission in the U.S. Army to join the Confederate Army, realized that the void created in the West could be an opportunity for the South. After raising a brigade of mounted Texas riflemen during the summer of 1861, Sibley led his 2,500 men to Fort Bliss and launched a winter invasion up the Rio Grande Valley.

Colonel Edward Canby, who had been appointed the Union Commander of the Department of New Mexico in June 1861, anticipated the invasion and had already begun to consolidate his 2,500 regular army troops. By early 1862, Canby had almost 4,000 soldiers he could put into the field.

Sibley's Brigade approached Canby's Union forces near Fort Craig in south-central New Mexico. Threatening to cut off the fort by controlling a nearby ford, Sibley drew Canby's soldiers out from the fort and engaged them in a closely contested battle at Valverde on February 21, 1862. The smaller Confederate force prevailed against Canby's troops, who retreated to the security of nearby Fort Craig. Sibley believed the U.S. forces had been defeated too soundly to present a rear-guard threat, so he advanced north. The Confederates occupied Albuquerque on March 2. Sibley then sent the Fifth Texas Regiment, commanded by Major Charles Pyron, to the unprotected territorial capital of Santa Fe. The few Union troops retreated to Fort Union, destroying ammunition and supplies.


Maj. John M. Chivington, First Colorado Volunteers, led Union flanking maneuver during Battle of Glorieta Pass (courtesy Denver Public Library, Western History Collection).


The only thing that appeared to be standing between Sibley's Confederate Brigade and Colorado was Fort Union, the major army depot on the Santa Fe Trail. By seizing the supplies and weapons kept at Fort Union, the Confederates would be able to continue their march north through Raton Pass to Denver, the territorial capital of Colorado.

The First Colorado Volunteers, an infantry brigade of 950 miners, were quickly organized under the command of Colonel John P. Slough. They marched the 400 miles from Denver through the deep snow of Raton Pass to Fort Union in only 13 days, arriving at the fort on March 10. After a brief rest and re-supply, Slough defied orders to remain at Fort Union. Joined by some regular army troops and New Mexico volunteers, Slough's 1,350 soldiers departed Fort Union on March 22, and they followed the Santa Fe Trail westward to meet the enemy. By March 25, the Union advance troops, under the command of Major John M. Chivington, set up Camp Lewis at Kozlowski's Stage Stop east of Glorieta Pass, a gap in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.

Meanwhile, Pyron's Fifth Texas Regiment had left Santa Fe, following the Santa Fe Trail eastward, marching on Fort Union. After following a southward swing through Glorieta Pass, he intended to join with other Confederate troops. Pyron's Texans camped at Johnson's Ranch in Apache Canyon, just west of Glorieta Pass, unaware of the Union troops only nine miles away.


3rd Cavalry Supply Wagons relocate to support the Regiment near Glorieta Pass, New Mexico Territory, March 1862


On the morning of March 26, 1862, a scouting party of Colorado Volunteers led by Chivington left Camp Lewis to locate the Texans. They discovered and captured a Confederate scouting party in Glorieta Pass, then ran into the main body of the Confederate force in Apache Canyon, about 16 miles east of Santa Fe. A two-hour scrimmage, known as the Battle of Apache Canyon, ensued. Although Chivington captured 70 Confederate soldiers, he fell back to Pigeon's Ranch. By evening, both sides called a truce to tend to their wounded.

The following day, when Union spies notified Colonel Slough that the Confederates had been reinforced, Slough decided to divide his forces. Slough's 900 soldiers would proceed west along the Santa Fe Trail and block Glorieta Pass, while Chivington and Lieutenant Colonel Manuel Chavez of the New Mexico Volunteers would take 450 men over Glorieta Mesa to attack the Confederate right flank or rearguard. Colonel Scurry decided to leave his supply train at Johnson's Ranch and march his 900 men eastward along the Santa Fe Trail the next morning to force the battle where he wanted it.

On the morning of March 28, Slough's men broke ranks near Pigeon's Ranch to fill their canteens at Glorieta Creek. Scurry's quickly advancing Confederates came upon the Union troops and opened fire on them. The Union soldiers quickly formed a defensive line along Windmill Hill, but an hour later, fell back to Pigeon's Ranch.


Map Key:

Battle of Apache Canyon--March 26, 1862:

A. Upper Battlefield--2:30 to 3:00pm
Union troops under Chivington encounter Confederate vanguard under Pyron. Confederates retreat. Union forces pursue the Confederates.
B. Lower Battlefield--3:30 to 4:30pm
Chivington continues flanking strategy. Fierce fighting erupts. Pyron's forces retreat to Johnson's Ranch. Chivington withdraws to Kozlowski's Stage Stop.

Battle of Glorieta Pass (Pigeon's Ranch Action)--March 28, 1862:
1. 8:00am--Union forces advance toward Confederates in Apache Canyon.
2. Confederates advance through Glorieta Pass.
3. Opening Action--10:00am to 11:00am
Confederates under Scurry, Union under Slough engage.
4. Main Battle--Noon to 4:00pm
Slough establishes strong defense. Scurry attacks. Slough pulls back to third position.
5. Third Position--4:00 to 5:00pm
Union holding action repulses Confederate's final charge. Slough pulls troops back to Kozlowski's Stage Stop.

Battle of Glorieta Pass (Canoncito Action)--March 28, 1862:
I. Chivington's flanking movement.
II. Chivington reaches the edge of the mesa overlooking Johnson's Ranch.
III. Union troops attack up canyon. Union forces burn wagons and supplies.
IV. Remaining Confederates escape towards Santa Fe.


Scurry's Confederate soldiers faced the Union artillery at Pigeon's Ranch and Artillery Hill for three hours, and finally outflanked the Union right. From Sharpshooter's Ridge they could fire down on the Union troops, so Slough ordered another retreat, setting up a third battle line a short distance east of Pigeon's Ranch. The Texans charged the line shortly before sunset. Slough ordered his soldiers back to Camp Lewis leaving the Confederates in possession of the field. Both sides were exhausted after six hours of fighting, each having sustained more than 30 killed and 80 wounded or missing.


(Photo by Ben Wittide; Courtesy Museum of New Mexico, Neg. No. 15783)
The first known photographs of the battlefield sites in Apache Canyon and Glorieta Pass were taken in 1880. This 1880 photo shows Pigeon's Ranch much the same as it probably appeared on March 28, 1862. The Santa Fe Trail runs in between ranch structures. Initial contact between the Texans and Pike's Peak miners occurred half a mile up the trail towards Glorieta Pass and west of the ranch, in the area shown in the upper right hand corner of the picture. Colonel Slough pulled his forces back to form a second defensive line of battle anchored at the center around the ranch buildings


Believing he had won the battle, Scurry soon received devastating news. After a 16-mile march through the mountains, the Union force led by Major Chivington had come upon the Confederate supply train at Johnson's Ranch. They had driven off the few guards, slaughtered 30 horses and mules, spiked an artillery piece, taken 17 prisoners, and burned 80 wagons containing ammunition, food, clothing, and forage. Scurry was forced to ask for a cease-fire.

Lacking vital supplies, Scurry could no longer continue his march on Fort Union so he retreated to Santa Fe. Two weeks later, General Sibley ordered his army to retreat from Santa Fe and relinquished control of Albuquerque. There was no further Confederate attempt to invade the western territories. The Battle of Glorieta Pass had decided conclusively that the West would remain with the Union.

Thanks to FReeper Colorado Tanker for suggesting this thread




TOPICS: VetsCoR
KEYWORDS: civilwar; colorado; freeperfoxhole; glorietapass; michaeldobbs; newmexico; veterans; warbetweenstates
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Henry Hopkins Sibley dreamed of fulfilling his nation's destiny of spanning the American continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Sibley's nation was the Confederate States of America, and Confederate President Jefferson Davis shared Sibley's vision of southern Manifest Destiny. If Sibley could overcome the weak Union forces in their isolated forts, the Confederacy might conquer the vast New Mexico Territory (consisting of modern New Mexico and Arizona). Once New Mexico was conquered, the doors to Colorado Territory with its rich gold and silver mines would be opened. Sibley's dream culminated with the invasion and conquest of California.



President Davis authorized General Sibley to raise volunteers for the Confederate Army of New Mexico. He assumed command on December 14, 1861, and marched the Fourth, Fifth, and Seventh Texas Mounted Riflemen westward from San Antonio to Fort Bliss, outside of El Paso. On January 18, 1862, the Confederacy declared that the southern half of the United States' New Mexico Territory would become the Confederate Territory of Arizona. Sibley ordered his men to move north towards Albuquerque, launching a winter invasion up the Rio Grande valley.

The troops encountered major obstacles that they had not foreseen, including cold weather and a barren and dry landscape. The Hispanic population of New Mexico viewed the Confederate forces as thieves who would steal their livestock, food, and money. Small, detached units had even more to fear from the Apache who killed a number of Texas volunteers. Most crucially, Sibley miscalculated the determination of the quickly assembled Union volunteers of the western territories to halt the Confederate advance. In Glorieta Pass, New Mexico, on March 28, 1862, the dream of a Confederate Western Empire gave way.


General Henry H. Sibley


The Santa Fe Trail was crucial to the Battle of Glorieta Pass. This commercial route from Independence, Missouri to Santa Fe, New Mexico, received official sanction for legal use in 1821, when Mexico won its independence from Spain. It immediately became the principle trade and travel route between the United States and the northern province of Mexico, Chihuahua.

In 1862, Confederate general Henry Sibley planned to follow the Santa Fe Trail north from Texas, capture Fort Union in New Mexico Territory, and then march up the trail to invade Colorado. The First Colorado Volunteers traveled down the Santa Fe Trail to Fort Union, and then followed it west to Glorieta Pass, a gap in the Sangre de Cristo mountains.

1 posted on 11/20/2003 12:00:45 AM PST by SAMWolf
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To: snippy_about_it; PhilDragoo; Johnny Gage; Victoria Delsoul; Darksheare; Valin; bentfeather; radu; ..
Reports of the Battle of Glorieta Pass


Colonel John P. Slough, a Denver attorney turned soldier, was commanding officer of the First Colorado Infantry. He dispatched his battle report to Colonel Edward S. Canby the day after the fight at Pigeon's Ranch.


Col. John P. Slough, First Colorado Volunteers, Commander of Union troops during Battle of Glorieta Pass (courtesy Colorado Historical Society).


Kozlowski's Ranch, March 29, 1862

COLONEL: Learning from our spies that the enemy, about 1000 strong, were in the Apache Canon [sic] and at Johnson's Ranch beyond, I concluded to reconnoiter in force, with a view of ascertaining the position of the enemy and of harassing them as much as possible; hence left this place with my command, nearly 1,300 strong, at 8 o'clock yesterday morning. To facilitate the reconnaissance I sent Maj. J.M. Chivington...with about 430 officers and picked men, with instructions to push forward to Johnson's. With the remainder of the command I entered the canon, and had attained but a short distance when our pickets announced that the enemy was near and had taken position in a thick grove of trees, with their line extending from mesa to mesa across the canon, and their battery, consisting of four pieces, placed in position. I at once detailed a considerable force of flankers, placed the batteries in position, and placed the cavalry--nearly all dismounted--and the remainder of the infantry in position to support the batteries.


Sharpshooters Ridge Col. John Slough posted Capt. Charles Walker and Company E. Third Cavalry on the crest of sharpshooters ridge. Although it was a good position to defend from attack with its large rocks, almost vertical south face and steep eastern slope, the Federals were driven off by Maj. Pyron and the Second Texas Mounted Rifle. Most of the federal defenders of sharpshooters ridge were able to escape as the Confederates took the ridge. Walker's men mounted their horses and escorted Col. Slough east back along the Santa Fe Trail to another defensive position


Before the arrangement of my forces was completed the enemy opened fire upon us. The action began about 10 o'clock and continued until after 4 p.m. The character of the country was such as to make the engagement of the bushwhacking kind. Hearing of the success of Major Chivington's command, and the object of our movement being successful, we fell back in order to our camp. Our loss in killed is probably 20...; in wounded probably 50...; in missing probably over 100. In addition we took some 25 prisoners and rendered unfit for service three pieces of their artillery. We took and destroyed their train of about 60 wagons, with their contents, consisting of ammunition, subsistence, forage, clothing, officers' baggage, etc.... During the engagements the enemy made three attempts to take our batteries and were repelled in each with severe loss.


Reenactors on Sharpshooter's Ridge above Pigeon's Ranch, Glorieta Battlefield


The strength of the enemy, as received from spies and prisoners, in the canon was altogether some 1,200 or 1,300, some 200 of whom were at or near Johnson's Ranch, and were engaged by Major Chivington's command. The officers and men behaved nobly. My thanks are due to my staff officers for the courage and ability with which they assisted me in conducting the engagement. As soon as all the details are ascertained I will send an official report of the engagement.

After the retreat of his army to Santa Fe from the battlefield at Glorieta Pass, Colonel Scurry reported what he considered a Confederate victory to General Sibley.


Col. William Scurry, Fourth Texas Mounted Volunteers, Commander of Confederate troops during the Battle of Glorieta Pass (courtesy National Archives).


Santa Fe, N. Mex., March 30, 1862

GENERAL: I arrived here this morning with my command and have taken quarters for the present in this city. I will in a short time give you an official account of the battle of Glorieta, which occurred on day before yesterday, in the Canon [sic] Glorieta, about 22 miles from this city, ...when another victory was added to the long list of Confederate triumphs.

The action commenced at about 11 o'clock and ended at 5:30, and, although every inch of the ground was well contested, we steadily drove them back until they were in full retreat our men pursuing until from sheer exhaustion we were compelled to stop.


Johnson's Ranch Major Chivington's Federal party hiked down the steep mountainside above the campsite to burn the Confederate wagon train parked in the creek bottom


Our loss was 33 killed and I believe, 35 wounded. ...Major Pyron had his horse shot under him, and my own cheek was twice brushed by a Minie ball, each time drawing blood, and my clothes torn in two places. I mentioned this simply to show how hot was the fire of the enemy when all of the field officers upon the ground were either killed or touched....

Our train was burned by a party who succeeded in passing undiscovered around the mountains to our rear. ...The loss of the enemy was very severe, being over 75 killed and a large number wounded.

The loss of my supplies so crippled me that after burying my dead I was unable to follow up the victory. My men for two days went unfed and blanketless unmurmuringly. I was compelled to come here for something to eat. At last accounts the Federalists were still retiring towards Fort Union. The men at the train blew up the limber-box and spiked the 6-pounder I had left at the train, so that it was rendered useless, and the cart-burners left it.

...From three sources, all believed to be reliable, Canby left Craig on the 24th. Yours in haste, W.R. SCURRY

P.S. I do not know if I write intelligently. I have not slept for three nights, and can scarcely hold my eyes open. W.R.S

Additional Sources:

history.sandiego.edu
www.npca.org
pgnagle.com
www.civilwaralbum.com

2 posted on 11/20/2003 12:01:26 AM PST by SAMWolf (100,000 lemmings can't be wrong.)
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To: All
Combatants' Accounts


Alfred B. Peticolas, a young lawyer, enlisted in the Fourth Texas Mounted Volunteers in Victoria, Texas in May 1861. Sergeant Peticolas recorded the call Colonel Scurry's troops answered to march to the support of Major Pyron at Apache Canyon the evening of Wednesday, March 26, 1862.



Laid over today and waited for the 3rd Regt. Towards evening it came in and two or three hours after, an express from Major Pyron came in informing us that he had been attacked by a large body of Pike's Peak men during the day; that he had gotten the best of the engagement and had fallen back to wood and water, which he would hold till we came up to him. The order was immediately given, and in an hour after we received the express, we were all under way. This, however, made it about 8 o'clock when we started, and we were told that the distance we had to go was 12 miles, but before it was walked we found it to be at least 15. Pyron had two men killed and 3 wounded.

The forces were about 350 on our side, 3 or 4 companies of the 2nd Regt, and from 600 to 1000 of the enemy. We started off at a brisk gait and made the first six miles of our journey in a very little time, but footsore and weary we did not travel from that point so fast as we had been doing, but there was no murmuring at our suffering, and on the want of comfort on this our forced march, but every man marched bravely along and did not complain at the length of the road, the coldness of the weather, or the necessity that compelled the march.

We passed over a very steep pass in the mountains not far from a ranch buried in a circular valley in the bosom of the mountains, and as the ascent and descent was extremely difficult, we were nearly two hours crossing, and while the command was waiting for the artillery and ammunition wagons to cross over, they made large fires at the foot of the pass and warmed chilled hands and feet. About ½ past 3 we reached a ranch down the canion [sic] and were directed to get wood wherever we could and make fires. Now we had not blankets, and Jones proposed to me to go and try and get into a house to sleep, which I succeeded in doing. He and I slept together on the floor with no bedding, and only a few articles of women's wearing apparel which we found scattered round the house.


Ovando J. Hollister was living in the mining district of South Clear Creek, Colorado, in the summer of 1861, and enlisted in Captain Sam H. Cook's company of mounted volunteers. He served with the First Colorado Volunteers from the time of its organization through its campaign in New Mexico and return to Denver. Hollister sustained injuries during the campaign that rendered him an invalid unfit for military duty in January 1863. He described the forced winter march by the Colorado Volunteers from Denver to Fort Union to meet the advancing Confederate forces.



The teams, relieved of their loads, took aboard a full complement of passengers, leaving, however, between three and four hundred to foot it. Away into the wee hours of morning did we tramp, tramp, tramp, --the gay song, the gibe, the story, the boisterous cheer, all died a natural death. Nothing broke the stillness of night but the steady tramp of the men and the rattle of the wagons. We were now to prove the sincerity of those patriotic oaths so often sworn, and right nobly was it done. At length the animals began to drop and die in harness, from overwork and underfeed, which forced us to stop. But for this, we would doubtless have made Union without a halt. Col. Slough rode in the coach. That never stops between Red River and Union. Why should we? Thirty miles would not more than measure this night's march, in which the men proved their willingness to put forth every exertion on demand. But feeling as they did, that there was no call for it but the Colonel's caprice, their 'curses were not loud but deep.' During the halt, they hovered over the willow brush fires or shivered under their scanty blankets, nursing their indignation by the most outrageous abuse of everything and everybody. A soldier would grumble in heaven. As it is all the solace they have for their numerous privations and vexations, and is very harmless, let them growl.

At the first sign of daylight "Assembly" sounded as shrilly as if waking to renewed exertion the iron sinews of a steam engine, instead of a weary mass of human energy scarcely composed to rest. But it was none the less inexorable, and satisfying nature with a crust of hard bread, we were on the road again.


3 posted on 11/20/2003 12:01:47 AM PST by SAMWolf (100,000 lemmings can't be wrong.)
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To: All


Veterans for Constitution Restoration is a non-profit, non-partisan educational and grassroots activist organization. The primary area of concern to all VetsCoR members is that our national and local educational systems fall short in teaching students and all American citizens the history and underlying principles on which our Constitutional republic-based system of self-government was founded. VetsCoR members are also very concerned that the Federal government long ago over-stepped its limited authority as clearly specified in the United States Constitution, as well as the Founding Fathers' supporting letters, essays, and other public documents.





Tribute to a Generation - The memorial will be dedicated on Saturday, May 29, 2004.





Actively seeking volunteers to provide this valuable service to Veterans and their families.



4 posted on 11/20/2003 12:02:16 AM PST by SAMWolf (100,000 lemmings can't be wrong.)
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To: SAMWolf; snippy_about_it; bentfeather; Darksheare; Johnny Gage; Light Speed; Samwise; ...
Good morning everyone at the Foxhole!

Howdy troops and veterans!
THANK YOU for serving the USA!


5 posted on 11/20/2003 12:35:05 AM PST by radu (May God watch over our troops and keep them safe)
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To: carton253; Matthew Paul; mark502inf; Skylight; The Mayor; Prof Engineer; PsyOp; Samwise; ...



FALL IN to the FReeper Foxhole!



Good Thursday Morning Everyone

If you would like added to our ping list let us know.

6 posted on 11/20/2003 2:45:59 AM PST by snippy_about_it (Fall in --> The FReeper Foxhole. America's History. America's Soul.)
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To: radu
Good morning radu.
7 posted on 11/20/2003 2:46:31 AM PST by snippy_about_it (Fall in --> The FReeper Foxhole. America's History. America's Soul.)
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To: snippy_about_it
Good morning, Snippy and everyone at the Freeper Foxhole.
8 posted on 11/20/2003 3:34:00 AM PST by E.G.C.
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To: SAMWolf; colorado tanker
Good morning SAM.

Good thread. I never really thought much about the west as far as involvement in the Civil War. I knew about the States Rights issue for the newly forming western territories and the concerns Davis and the South had but never thought about whether there were western battles.

Good idea tanker. It seems to me the Confederates had so much going on in the east they couldn't put much effort in the west although for the Confederates it was a good idea in concept, to expand west.
9 posted on 11/20/2003 3:39:40 AM PST by snippy_about_it (Fall in --> The FReeper Foxhole. America's History. America's Soul.)
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To: E.G.C.
Good morning EGC. Mild day today, mid 50's but only 36 this morning.

I loaded my windows updates this morning. :)
10 posted on 11/20/2003 3:46:28 AM PST by snippy_about_it (Fall in --> The FReeper Foxhole. America's History. America's Soul.)
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To: snippy_about_it
Present!
11 posted on 11/20/2003 4:05:00 AM PST by manna
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To: SAMWolf

Today's classic warship, USS Florida (BB-30)

Florida class battleship
displacement. 21,825 t.
length. 521'6"
beam. 88'3"
draft. 28'4"
speed. 21 k.
complement. 1,001
armament. 10 12", 16 5", 2 21" tt.

The USS Florida (BB-30) was launched 12 May 1910 by New York Navy Yard, sponsored by Miss E. D. Fleming, daughter of a former Florida governor; and commissioned 15 September 1911, Captain H. S. Knapp in command.

After extensive training in the Caribbean and Maine coastal waters, Florida arrived in Hampton Roads, Va., 29 March 1912 to join the Atlantic Fleet as flagship of Division 1. Regularly scheduled exercises, maneuvers, fleet training and target practice, and midshipmen training cruises took the new battleship to many east coast ports and into Caribbean waters. Early in 1914 tension heightened between the United States and factions in Mexico and Florida arrived off Vera Cruz on 16 February remaining there during the ensuing occupation. She steamed to New York in July to resume regular Fleet operations and in October was transferred to Division 2.

Following United States entry into World War I, Florida completed exercises in the Chesapeake Bay and proceeded with Battleship Division 9 to join the British Grand Fleet at Scapa Flow, Orkney Islands, on 7 December 1917. She participated in the Grand Fleet's maneuvers and evolutions, and performed convoy duty with the 6th Battle Squadron through the remainder of the war. She rendezvoused with the Grand Fleet on 20 November 1918 when it met to escort the German High Seas Fleet into the Firth of Forth.

Florida joined the escort for George Washington, President Woodrow Wilson embarked, as she proceeded into Brest, France on 12 and 13 December 1918. She participated in the grand Victory Naval Review in the North River, New York City, in late December and then returned to Norfolk 4 January 1919 to resume peace time operations. During May she cruised to the Azores and took weather observations for the first aerial crossing of the Atlantic achieved that month by seaplanes.

Florida's operations during the remaining years of her career were highlighted by participation in the tercentenary celebrations in August 1920 of the Pilgrim's landing at Provincetown, Mass., a diplomatic voyage to South American and Caribbean ports with Secretary of State R. Lansing embarked, service as flagship for Commander, Control Force, U.S. Fleet, amphibious operations with Marines in the Caribbean, and midshipman training cruises. She was decommissioned at Philadelphia 16 February 1931 and scrapped under the terms of the London Naval Treaty of 1930.

12 posted on 11/20/2003 4:30:52 AM PST by aomagrat (IYAOYAS)
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To: manna
Good morning manna.
13 posted on 11/20/2003 4:37:01 AM PST by snippy_about_it (Fall in --> The FReeper Foxhole. America's History. America's Soul.)
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To: aomagrat
Good morning aomagrat.
14 posted on 11/20/2003 4:38:38 AM PST by snippy_about_it (Fall in --> The FReeper Foxhole. America's History. America's Soul.)
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To: snippy_about_it
If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you. —Matthew 5:29


Leave no unguarded place,
No weakness of the soul,
Take every virtue, every grace,
And fortify the whole.  Wesley

To avoid being tempted by forbidden fruit, stay away from the devil's orchard.

15 posted on 11/20/2003 4:42:18 AM PST by The Mayor (Through prayer, finite man draws upon the power of the infinite God.)
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To: The Mayor
Good morning Mayor.
16 posted on 11/20/2003 5:07:00 AM PST by snippy_about_it (Fall in --> The FReeper Foxhole. America's History. America's Soul.)
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To: snippy_about_it; SAMWolf; colorado tanker
Mornin' Snippy, Sam & Colorado,

Thanks CT and Sam for the great articles. Most people forget, or never knew, there were battles in the West.

17 posted on 11/20/2003 5:48:41 AM PST by SCDogPapa (In Dixie Land I'll take my stand to live and die in Dixie)
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To: snippy_about_it; SAMWolf; radu; bentfeather
I seem to be having some difficulty Cap'n!
________________________________
18 posted on 11/20/2003 5:54:38 AM PST by Darksheare (Proving that there are alternate perceptions of surreality Since Oct 2, 2000.)
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To: snippy_about_it; SAMWolf
Morning!
19 posted on 11/20/2003 5:56:32 AM PST by The Mayor (Through prayer, finite man draws upon the power of the infinite God.)
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To: SCDogPapa
Morning SCDP, I didn't know. I learn something new every day here!
20 posted on 11/20/2003 6:02:05 AM PST by snippy_about_it (Fall in --> The FReeper Foxhole. America's History. America's Soul.)
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