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The Battle

Battle Prep

After a noontime meal of hardtack dipped in honey, washed down with lemonade, Carl and I went to rouse Dave and Ed. They were the other two members of our outfit that made it to this event. Dave is the leader of our group and the owner of the cannon.

Our field piece is an original 1834 cast iron six pounder made at the Fort Pitt Foundry. We are not sure of its history, but judging by the wear, it saw a lot of action. Its a pretty typical sort of gun for the trans-Mississippi theatre. It weighs about two tons with the carriage and other equipment. Surpisingly well balanced, it can be pivoted by two men, or by one with use of the aiming spike. It cost about $20,000.00 with trailer and limber box. Dave's wife left him for a half a year when she found out what he'd spent the family's bank account on. She finally took pity on him and came back, since Dave is one of the worst cooks in the world, and was starving in their little country home.

When we first got it the tube was rifled to put spin on a projectile for greater accuracy and range. All cannon used in re-enactment must be sleeved thus converting them to smoothbore. This done by rule and for reasons of saftey.

Nonetheless, we did fire it once with projectiles composed of orange juice cans filled with concrete. I may have already related what happened elsewhere, but suffice it to say that we did kill one cow and damaged a barn on the far side of the lake Dave lives at. We stenciled a Holstein on the side of our limber box to denote the kill. The farmer whose property we bombarded wasn't pleased, even though the cow was old and soon to be sent to a rendering plant. It cost us $1500.00 to hear the old girl bark once more before we had it sleeved. Not worth it, but its a good story to explain the cow stencil to the curious.

Dave and Ed had already moved the cannon into the position occupied by the artillery at the original battle. Carl and I joined them, and after a bit of joshing around, we assumed our respective positions. I won't go into a great deal of detail about cannon drill. It's always somewhat different depending upon where we're at. The National Park Service has their own way of doing things and other outfits have their rules too. Here at Athens we were taking the part of a rather un-drilled and inexperienced crew. None of the cannon balls fired during the actual battle landed in Missouri. They all went beyond the river into Iowa. One even went clear through a house and across the river.

This time my position was that of #3 man. I was at the left front next to the muzzle. My job was to take the charge from the Powder Monkey's satchel and, turning inward, load the 'pill' in the barrel then step back outside the wheel. After the pill is rammed to the breech by #2 (Carl) on my right, I pick up my implement, (in this case I was using the 'worm'. It's a long staff with a corkscrew device on the end). Carl and I face each other standing outside of the wheel. At the command "PRICK AND PRIME!" #2 takes his vent pick and sticking it down the vent hole breaks open the powder bag in the breech. He yells,"GOOD POWDER!' and then #1 inserts a friction primer into the vent hole and attaches the lanyard to it. He nods off #2 who then backs away. At the command, "READY!' we all lean towards the rear holding one hand over the ear closest to the gun. Then comes the command, "FIRE!". #1 pulls on the lanyard with a quick jerk and hopefully the gun fires. I then go to the front and using the worm remove any residue from the barrel. Then Carl swabs it out with a wet sponge rammer while I await another round from the Monkey.

A good crew can fire three or four rounds a minute. In real battle that was important in keeping the infantry from being able to load for volley fire and advancing on the position. Accurate cannon fire is devastating to attacking ground forces, and accounted for most of the carnage in the Civil War.

We practiced our drill for about a half hour then went to the shade of the trees nearby, had a smoke or two and awaited the arrival of the infantry and the signal to begin hostilities. (The 'Skedaddle' on tomorrow's thread)

Click here for a link to Part 1 in case you missed it

On This Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on September 29:
1511 Michael Servetus Spain, physician (Christianism Rostituta)
1755 Robert Lord Clive, founded British empire in India
1758 Horatio Nelson Burnham Thorpe Britain, naval hero at Trafalgar
1838 Henry Hobson Richardson US Romanesque revival architect
1858 Rudolf Diesel, engineer, was born. (diesel engine)
1895 Joseph Banks Rhine Penn, parapsychologist (Extra-Sensory Perception)
1901 Enrico Fermi Italy, physicist, gone fission (Nobel-1938)
1902 Miguel Alem n president of Mexico (1946-52)
1907 Gene Autry Tioga Tx, cowpoke/singer/actor/Calif Angels owner
1907 Michael Shepley Plymouth England, actor (Dick & the Duchess)
1907 Richard Harkness Artesian SD, newscaster (Story of the Week)
1908 Greer Garson North Ireland, actress (Pride & Prejudice)
1912 Michelangelo Antonioni Ferrara Italy, director (Blow-up)
1913 Stanley E Kramer producer/director (On the Beach)
1915 Brenda Marshall Phillipines, actress (Sea Hawk, Paris After Dark)
1916 Trevor Howard England, actor (Mutiny on Bounty, Ryan's Daughter)
1919 Masao Takemoto Japan, gymnast (Olympic-gold-1960)
1923 O.A. "Bum" Phillips football coach (Houston Oilers/New Orlean Saints)
1924 Steve Forrest Huntsville Tx, actor (Ben-Dallas, SWAT)
1925 John Tower (Sen-R-Tx)
1927 Adhemar Ferreira da Silva Brazil, triple jumper (Olympic-gold-52, 56)
1927 Paul McCloskey (Sen-R-Calif)
1929 Bob Newhart Oak Park Ill, actor/comedian (Bob Newhart Show)
1930 Richard Bonynge Sydney Australia, conductor (Aust Orch Sydney-1976)
1931 Anita Ekberg Sweden, actress (La Dolce Vita, War & Peace)
1935 Jerry Lee Lewis singer (Great Balls of Fire, Breathless)
1939 Larry Linville Ojai Calif, actor (Frank Burns-M*A*S*H, Blue Movie)
1939 Mylene Demongeot Nice France, actress (Just Another Pretty Face)
1942 Ian McShane Blackburn England, actor (Roots, Bare Essence)
1942 Jean-Luc Ponty France, fusion violinist (Frank Zappa)
1942 Madeline Kahn Boston Mass, actress (Young Frankenstein, High Anxiety)
1942 William Nelson (Rep-D-Fla), astronaut (STS 61C)
1943 Lech Walesa Popowo Poland, leads Polish Solidarity (Nobel 1983)
1948 Bryant Gumbel New Orleans La, sportscaster/TV host (Today Show)
1948 Mark Farner Mich, guitar/vocalist (Grand Funk Railroad-Locomotion)
1948 Viktor Krovopouskov USSR, sabres (Olympic-gold-1976, 1980)
1956 Sebastian Coe England, 1500m runner (Olympic-gold-1980, 84)
1960 Wendy White Atlanta Ga, tennis player
1966 Jill Whelan Oakland Calif, actress (Vicki-Love Boat)
1970 Emily Lloyd actress (Wish You Were Here)

Deaths which occurred on September 29:
1197 Emperor Henry VI dies in Messina, Sicily.
1560 Gustaaf I, king of Sweden (1523-60), dies
1800 William Billings, US composer (Rose of Sharon), dies at 53
1895 Louis Pasteur dies
1902William Topaz McGonagall, affectionately remembered to this day as one of Britain's worst (if not the worst) poets, died in Edinburgh, Scotland
1913 Rudolph C K Diesel, German constructer (Diesel Motor), dies at 55
1959 Harold Huber actor (I Cover Times Square), dies at 49
1962 Patrick Corry developed self-rotating rock drill, dies in the Bronx
1964 Robert Burton actor (Dr Gordon-Kings Row), dies at 69
1970 Edward Everett Horton actor/narrator (Bulwinkle Show), dies at 84
1975 Casey Stengel NY Yankee manager (1949-60), dies in Glendale at 85
1978 Pope John Paul I
1986 Betty Kean actress (Amy Tucker-Leave it to Larry), dies at 69
1987 Henry Ford II dies in Detroit at 70
1988 Charles Addams cartoonist (Addams Family), dies at 76 of heart attack
1989 A.A. Busch Jr brewer/baseball owner (St Louis Cards), dies at 90
1997 Roy Lichtenstein, pop artist, dies of pneumonia at 73
1998 Former Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley died at age 80.
2000 Lt. Bruce Joseph Donald died when his F/A-18C Hornet fighter crashed into the Persian Gulf.
2001 Nguyen Van Thieu (b.1923), former President of South Vietnam, dies

Take A Moment To Remember
GWOT Casualties

Iraq
29-Sep-2003 3 | US: 3 | UK: 0 | Other: 0
US Sergeant Darrin K. Potter Baghdad (Abu Ghuraib Prison - near) Hostile - vehicle accident
US Sergeant Andrew Joseph Baddick Baghdad (Abu Ghuraib Prison - near) Hostile - vehicle accident
US Staff Sergeant Christopher E. Cutchall Al Habbaniyah - Anbar Hostile - hostile fire

29-Sep-2004 3 | US: 2 | UK: 0 | Other: 1
UKR Lieutenant Colonel Oleh Tikhonov Wasit Province Non-hostile - vehicle accident
US Staff Sergeant Mike A. Dennie Balad (31st CS Hospital) - Salah ad Din Non-hostile - vehicle accident
US Private 1st Class Joshua K. Titcomb Ramadi - Anbar Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack

Afghanistan
09/29/03 Parker, Kristian E. Private 1st Class 23 Army National Guard 205th Engineer Battalion Non-hostile - non-combat related injuries Qatar (Camp AS Sayliyah) Slidell Louisiana
09/29/03 O'Neill, Evan W. Private 1st Class 19 Army 1st Bat., 87th Inf. Reg., 10th Mountain Division Hostile fire Shkin, Paktika Province, Afghanistan Haverhill Massachusetts

09/29/04 Rogers, Alan L. Staff Sergeant 49 Army National Guard 1st Battalion, 211th Aviation Regiment Non-hostile - non-combat related injuries Bagram Air Base Kearns Utah

http://icasualties.org/oif/
Data research by Pat Kneisler
Designed and maintained by Michael White
//////////
Go here and I'll stop nagging.
http://soldiersangels.org/heroes/index.php

On this day...
0235 St Pontianus ends his reign as Catholic Pope
0440 Pope Leo I the Great, installed
0855 Benedict III begins his reign as Catholic Pope
1187 Saladin's army marches into Jerusalem
1349 People of Krems Austria accuse Jews of poisoning the wells
1364 Battle of Auray, English forces defeat French at Brittany
1399 Richard II of England is deposed. His cousin, Henry of Lancaster, declares himself king under the name Henry IV
1513 Spanish explorer Vasco Nunez de Balboa discovers the Pacific Ocean.
1567 Huguenots try to kidnap king Charles IX
1650 Henry Robinson opens 1st marriage bureau (England)
1785 Chaidic sect is excommunicated in Cracow Poland
1789 1st congress adjourns

1789 US War Dept established a regular army

1793 Tennis is 1st mentioned in an English sporting magazine
1829 London's Metropolitan Police Force (Scotland Yard) goes on duty
1849 1st passenger train service to Peekskill NY (New Haven Railroad)
1850 Mormon leader Brigham Young is named the first governor of the Utah Territory
1853 Emigrant ship "Annie Jane" sinks off Scotland, drowning 348
1859 Great auroral display in US
1862 Union general Jefferson C. Davis shoots and kills a fellow general (General William Nelson) in a dispute at a hotel during the Civil War.
1864 Christian A. Fleetwood awarded the Medal of Honor at the Battle of Chaffin's Farm, Virginia
(http://www.medalofhonor.com/ChristianAFleetwood.htm)
1879 NL owners meeting in Buffalo adopt the reserve clause, giving each team exclusive rights to their players
1890 1st pro baseball game, NY Metropolitans beat the Washington Nationals 4-2 in 5 innings at the Polo Grounds in NYC
1892 1st night football game played (Mansfield, Penn)
1907 Construction begins on Washington National Cathedral
1911 Yanks steal 15 bases & get 13 walks, beating Browns 16-12; with a major-league record 6 stolen bases in 1 inning
1915 A hurricane claims 275 in the Mississippi Delta (And where was George Bush?)
1915 Phila Phillies clinch their 1st pennant
1918 Allied forces scored a decisive breakthrough of the Hindenburg Line
1918 Lt. Frank Luke Jr. against orders destroys 3 German balloons and downed 2 pursuing fighters in a final flight of vengeance for the loss of his wingman Lt. Joseph Wehner. Luke received a posthumous medal of honor
1920 Babe Ruth sets then home run season record at 54
1923 Steinhart Aquarium in Golden Gate Park opens to public
1927 Ruth ties record by hitting grand slams in consecutive games
1928 Yanks (17) Tigers (28) set 9 inning hit record (45)-Tigers win 19-10
1930 1st Canadian football game played under lights, Hamilton-UBC
1936 Radio used for 1st time for a presidential campaign
1940 1st US merchant ship "Booker T Washington" commanded by a black captain (Hugh Mulzac), launched at Wilmington Delaware
1941 30,000 Jews are killed in Kiev by the SS.
1941 Heavyweight Champ Joe Louis KOs Lou Nova in 6
1943 Eisenhower & Italian Marshal Pietro Badoglio sign an armistice
1943 Adolf Hitler's book Mein Kampf is published in the United States.
1944 Soviet troops invade Yugoslavia
1946 1st time NL pennant ends in a tie (Cards & Dodgers)
1946 Al Couture knockouts Ralph Walton in Lewiston Maine in 10 secs
1946 Los Angeles (previously Cleveland) Rams play 1st NFL game in LA
1951 1st color telecast of football game on network, Phila (CBS)
1951 S B Nicholson discovers 12th satellite of Jupiter
1953 AL approves Balt group purchase of St Louis Browns for $2,475,000
1953 Milton Berle Show premiers
1953 "Make Room for Daddy," starring Danny Thomas, premieres on ABC-TV
1954 Willie Mays famous over-the-shoulder catch of Vic Wertz' 460' drive
1957 NY Giants play & lose their last game at Polo Grounds (9-1 to Pitts)
1959 Sultan of Brunei promulgates a constitution
1962 Launch of Alouette 1, 1st Canadian satellite (on US Delta rocket)
1963 2nd session of Ecumenical council, `Vatican II,' opens in Rome
1963 Card's Stan Musial's final game, gets his 3,630th hit
1963 Houston Colt .45 John Paciorek goes 3 for 3 in his only game
1963 Rolling Stones 1st tour (opening act for Bo Diddley & Everly Bros)
1965 Ralph Boston of the US, sets then long jump record at 27' 4 3/4"
1965 St L Cards Charlie Johnson passes for 6 touchdowns vs Cleve (49-13)
1968 Chuck Latourette, sets NFL record 47.7 yd punt return avg (3 punts)
1969 "Love American Style," premiers on ABC
1969 Steve O'Neal of NY Jets, kicks longest NFL punt; 98 yards vs Denver
1973 Balt Orioles pull their 5th triple play (5-4-3 vs Detroit)
1973 Insurance ind announces auto racers get into more highway accidents
1973 Soyuz 12 returns to Earth
1976 Jerry Lee Lewis, attempting to shoot soda bottles hits his bass player Norman Owens twice in the chest
1977 Muhammad Ali won a unanimous, 15-round decision over Earnie Shavers
1977 Soviet space station Salyut 6 launched into Earth orbit
1979 Gold hits record $400.20 an ounce in Hong Kong
1979 Pope John Paul II becomes 1st pope to visit Ireland
1982 Cyanide laced Tylenol capsules kills 7 in Chicago
1983 1st time Congress invokes War Powers Act
1985 "MacGyver," starring Richard Dean Anderson, debuts on ABC-TV
1986 Cubs Greg Maddux defeats Phillies Mike Maddux (1st rookie brothers)
1986 USSR releases US journalist Nicholas Daniloff confined on spy charges
1987 NY Yankee Don Mattingly hits record 6th grand slam of the year
1988 26th Space Shuttle mission, Discovery 7 launched
1988 Florence Griffith Joyner of USA sets the 200m woman's record (21.34)
1988 UN peacekeeping forces win Nobel Peace prize
1990 Washington National Cathedral construction is completed after 83 years
1991 US beats Europeans 14« to 13« to capture the Ryder's cup
1995 OJ Simpson trial sent to the jury
1997 Jury selection in Terry Nichols Okla bombing trial begins
2001 Some 7,000 people marched for peace in Washington DC while an estimated 7-10 thousand marched in San Francisco. They marched to mourn terrorist victims, and to urge the nation to heal poverty and injustice that fuels global violence instead of focusing on military revenge.
(moral midgets on parade)
2004 Mike Melvill piloted SpaceShipOne, designed by Burt Rutan, climbed to 337,500 feet in the 1st leg of an attempt to capture the $10 million X Prize. The prize required a 2nd success within 2 weeks

Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Bhutan : Dhimbhulhami Tsechhu
Paraguay : Battle of Boquer¢n Day (1930)
US : Gold Star Mother's Day (Last Sunday in September) (Sunday)
Brunei : Constitution Day
India : Durga Puja
Ancient Greece : Feast of Nemesis
Cable Television Month

Religious Observances
RC, Ang, Luth : Feast of SS Michael, Gabriel, Raphael & all angels

Religious History
1770 The day before his death at age 56, English revivalist George Whitefield prayed: 'Lord Jesus, I am weary in thy work, but not of it.'
1803 The first Roman Catholic Church in Boston was formally dedicated. (Catholics had not been permitted any religious freedom within this predominantly Puritan colony prior to the Massachusetts Constitution of 1780.)
1967 Swiss Reformed theologian Karl Barth wrote in a letter: 'God has very different people who like one another to different degrees.'
1970 The New American Bible was published by the St. Anthony Guild Press. It represented the first English version Roman Catholic Bible to be translated from the original Biblical Greek and Hebrew languages. (The Rheims-Douai Version of 1610 had been based on Jerome's Latin Vulgate.)
1990 In Washington, DC, the National Cathedral (officially, the Cathedral Church of St. Peter and St. Paul) was completed after 83 years of construction. Begun in 1907, the Gothic edifice had been used in its incomplete form since 1912.

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.
Additional information supplied by the author. Contact via

Ind. Man Falls Asleep While Siphoning Gas

Sep 29, 7:04 AM (ET)

MUNCIE, Ind. (AP) - A man was charged with theft after authorities said he fell asleep while siphoning gasoline into a 55-gallon tank.
The gas station manager called police after noticing the man's white van Tuesday.

Officers found him asleep inside the van next to a 55-gallon tank and a battery-operated pump. A hose from the pump led to the gas station's underground tank.
"That's a lot of gas," Police Chief Joe Winkle said. "I'm sure he felt like this would be a pretty good heist for himself."
Winkle said investigators were working to confirm the man's identity.

With regular unleaded at the station selling for $2.67, the tank would have held nearly $150 worth of fuel.

Thought for the day :
"You don't know a ladder has splinters until you slide down it."
"Bum" Phillips