Showing results for "Civil War Echoes"

Civil War Echoes: The Hitless Wonders

Until this year, the largest mismatch between the records of the teams in the World Series was the 1906 Series, which pitted the Chicago Cubs against the Chicago White Sox. The White Sox won the title despite batting only .198; ever after, the team was known as the Hitless Wonders.   The White Sox also […]

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Civil War Echoes: The Keystone Division

  The Pennsylvania National Guard’s 28th Infantry Division is the oldest division in the United States Army. It’s formation was the result of Civil War veterans, and (like many National Guard units) it is an echo of the Civil War.

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Civil War Echoes: The Invasion of Okinawa

75 years ago today American forces invaded Okinawa. I blogged about the battle’s significant Civil War connections last year.

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Civil War Echoes: Thomas Cook

Many readers have no doubt seen the news of the demise of the travel company Thomas Cook. Some may not be aware of the long history of the company, or its tie to the Civil War. Thomas Cook founded his eponymous excursion company in 1841 as a way to create opportunities for Britons of all […]

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Civil War Echoes: The Golden Spike

150 years ago today, at 12:47 PM local time, the Golden Spike was driven near Promontory Point, Utah. This ceremony (pictured) completed the Transcontinental Railroad by joining the Central Pacific and Union Pacific. At least two noteworthy Civil War veterans were there.

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Civil War Echoes: The Battle of Okinawa

Today 74 years ago Operation Iceberg, the invasion of Okinawa, got underway as the first of 183,000 soldiers and Marines of U.S. Tenth Army swarmed ashore at Hagushi on the island’s west coast. It was the largest amphibious operation of the Pacific War, and the largest sea-air-land battle in history. Over the next three months, […]

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Civil War Echoes: The Greatest Raid of All

One hundred years ago today, construction began on USS Buchanan (DD-131), a destroyer named for Franklin Buchanan, the first superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy and later first admiral in the Confederate States Navy. She later played a role in one of the most famous raids of World War II. Buchanan served a routine career […]

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Civil War Echoes: Manila Bay 1898

Today in 1898, 120 years ago, the Asiatic Squadron under Commodore George Dewey entered Manila Bay seeking to destroy the Spanish flotilla anchored inside near Cavite. Dewey’s ships sailed past Corregidor, an island that would mean much more in U.S. military history later. Shortly after dawn, the Americans opened fire and by lunchtime had wrecked […]

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Civil War Echoes: A Death in Ireland

Britain’s Prime Minister during the Civil War years was Henry John Temple, the 3d Viscount Palmerston. His grandfather received a grant of land in County Sligo, Ireland on the Mullaghmore Peninsula, which overlooked an inlet that fed into the Atlantic Ocean. The estate, sized at 10,000 acres, remained largely vacant until the 3d Viscount decided […]

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