Download Military History Anniversaries 15 Nov thru 14 Oct

Military History Anniversaries 15 Nov thru 14 Oct
Significant events in U.S. Military History for the next 30 days are:
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Nov 15 1777 – American Revolution: After 16 months of debate the Continental Congress approves the
Articles of Confederation.
Nov 15 1864 – Civil War: Union General W.T. Sherman's troops set fires that destroy much of Atlanta
Georgia as he began his march to the sea in an effort to cut the Confederacy in two.
Nov 15 1942 – WW2: The Battle of Guadalcanal ends in a decisive Allied victory.
Nov 15 1960 – Cold War: The first submarine with nuclear missiles, USS George Washington, takes to sea
from Charleston, South Carolina.
Nov 15 1969 – Vietnam: A quarter of a million anti–War demonstrators march in Washington, D.C.
Nov 15 1969 – Cold War: The Soviet submarine K–19 collides with the American submarine USS Gato in
the Barents Sea.
Nov 16 1943 – WW2: USS Corvina (SS–226) torpedoed and sunk by Japanese submarine I 176 south of
Truk. 82 killed
Nov 16 1944 – WW2: Dueren, Germany is completely destroyed by Allied bombers.
Nov 16 1945 – Cold War: Operation Paperclip – The United States Army secretly admits 88 German
scientists and engineers to help in the development of rocket technology.
Nov 17 1776 – American Revolution: Hessian mercenaries capture Fort Washington from the Patriots.
Nov 17 1970 – Vietnam: Lieutenant William Calley goes on trial for the My Lai massacre.
Nov 17 1856 – Indian Wars: On the Sonoita River in present-day southern Arizona, the United States Army
establishes Fort Buchanan in order to help control new land acquired in the Gadsden Purchase.
Nov 17 1863 – Civil War: Siege of Knoxville begins with Battle of Campbell's Station near Knoxville TN
– Confederate troops unsuccessfully attack Union forces.
Nov 17 1913 – The first ship sails from Atlantic to Pacific oceans via the Panama Canal.
Nov 17 1943 – WW2: American bombers strike a hydro–electric power facility and heavy water factory in
German–controlled Vemork, Norway.
Nov 17 1944 – WW2: Operation Queen, the costly Allied thrust to the Rur river was launched
Nov 17 1945 – Cold War: Operation Paperclip – the United States Army secretly admits 88 German
scientists and engineers to help in the development of rocket technology.
Nov 17 1967 – Vietnam War: Acting on optimistic reports that he had been given on November 13, U.S.
President Lyndon B. Johnson tells the nation that, while much remained to be done, "We are inflicting
greater losses than we're taking...We are making progress."
Nov 17 1969 – Cold War: Negotiators from the Soviet Union and the United States meet in Helsinki to
begin SALT I negotiations aimed at limiting the number of strategic weapons on both sides.
Nov 18 1909 – Two United States warships are sent to Nicaragua after 500 revolutionaries (including two
Americans) are executed by order of José Santos Zelaya.
Nov 18 1961 – United States President John F. Kennedy sends 18,000 military advisors to South Vietnam.
Nov 19 1861 – Civil War: Julia Ward Howe writes "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" while visiting
Union troops.
Nov 19 1861 – Civil War: The Confederate raider Nashville captured and burned the Union clipper ship
Harvey Birch in the Atlantic Ocean.
Nov 19 1863 – Civil War: Lincoln delivers the "Gettysburg Address" at the dedication of the National
Cemetery at the site of the Battle of Gettysburg.
Nov 19 1943 – WW2: USS Sculpin (SS–191) damaged by Japanese destroyer Yamagumo and later scuttled
north of Truk. 12 killed, 51 POWs later died and 21 POWs survived.
Nov 19 1944 – WW2: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt announces the 6th War Loan Drive, aimed at
selling US$14 billion in war bonds to help pay for the war effort.
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Nov 20 1943 – WW2: U.S. Marines landed on Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands, one of the bloodiest
campaigns waged by American forces against the Japanese in the Pacific.
Nov 20 1945 – WW2: Trials against 24 Nazi war criminals start at the Palace of Justice at Nuremberg.
Nov 20 1950 – Korea: U.S. troops push to the Yalu River, within five miles of Manchuria.
Nov 20 1962 – Cuban Missile Crisis: In response to the Soviet Union agreeing to remove its missiles from
Cuba, U.S. President John F. Kennedy ends the quarantine of the Caribbean nation.
Nov 21 1864 – Civil War: From Georgia, Confederate General John B. Hood launches the Franklin–
Nashville Campaign into Tennessee
Nov 21 1970 – Vietnam: Operation Ivory Coast – A joint Air Force and Army team raids the Son Tay
prison camp in an attempt to free American prisoners of war thought to be held there.
Nov 22 1812 – War of 1812: Seventeen Indiana Rangers are killed at the Battle of Wild Cat Creek.
Nov 22 1864 – Civil War: Sherman's March to the Sea: Confederate General John Bell Hood invades
Tennessee in an unsuccessful attempt to draw Union General William T. Sherman from Georgia.
Nov 22 1943 – WW2: War in the Pacific – U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister
Winston Churchill, and Chinese leader Chiang Kai–Shek meet in Cairo, Egypt, to discuss ways to defeat
Japan (see Cairo Conference)
Nov 22 1977 – Vietnam: U.S. loses its first B-52 of the war. The eight-engine bomber was brought down
by a North Vietnamese surface-to-air missile near Vinh on the day when B-52s flew their heaviest raids of
the war over North Vietnam.
Nov 23 1863 – Civil War: Union forces win the Battle of Orchard Knob, Tennessee.
Nov 23 1863 – Civil War: The Battle of Chattanooga in Tennessee, one of the most decisive battles of the
War, begins. Union forces led by General Ulysses S. Grant reinforce troops at Chattanooga, Tennessee and
counter-attack Confederate troops.
Nov 23 1914 – Mexican Revolution: The last of U.S. forces withdraw from Veracruz, occupied seven
months earlier in response to the Tampico Affair.
Nov 23 1941 – WW2: U.S. troops move into Dutch Guiana, by agreement with the Netherlands
Government in exile, to guard the bauxite mines to protect aluminum ore supplies from the mines in
Surinam.
Nov 23 1943 – WW2: Tarawa and Makin atolls fall to American forces.
Nov 23 1968 – Vietnam: Battle of Nui Chom Mountain. The 4th Bn, 31st Infantry, 196th Inf Bde fought
and destroyed the 21st NVA Regiment on Nui Chom Mountain southwest of Da Nang in a fierce six day
battle.
Nov 24 1943 – WW2: The USS Liscome Bay is torpedoed near Tarawa and sinks with nearly 650 men
killed.
Nov 23 1944 – WW2: The first bombing raid against Tokyo is carried out by 88 American aircraft from
Saipan.
Nov 24 1979 – The United States admits that thousands of troops in Vietnam were exposed to the toxic
Agent Orange.
Nov 25 1940 – WW2: First flight of the deHavilland Mosquito and Martin B–26 Marauder.
Nov 26 1941 – WW2: The Japanese fleet departs from the Kuril Islands en route to its attack on Pearl
Harbor.
Nov 26 1950 – Korea: Troops from the People's Republic of China launch a massive counterattack in North
Korea against South Korean and United Nations forces (Battle of the Ch'ongch'on River and Battle of
Chosin Reservoir), ending any hopes of a quick end to the conflict.
Nov 26 1968 – Vietnam: USAF helicopter pilot James P. Fleming rescues an Army Special Forces unit
pinned down by Viet Cong fire and is later awarded the Medal of Honor.
Nov 27 1863 – Civil War: Confederate cavalry leader John Hunt Morgan and several of his men escape the
Ohio Penitentiary and return safely to the South.
Nov 27 1863 – Civil War: Battle of Mine Run - Union forces under General George Meade position against
troops led by Confederate General Robert E. Lee.
Nov 27 1868 – Indian Wars: Battle of Washita River - United States Army Lieutenant Colonel George
Armstrong Custer leads an attack on Cheyenne living on reservation.
Nov 27 1901 – The U.S. Army War College is established.
Nov 27 1950 – Korea: East of the Choosing River, Chinese forces annihilate an American task force.
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Nov 27 1965 – Vietnam: The Pentagon tells U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson that if planned operations
are to succeed, the number of American troops in Vietnam has to be increased from 120,000 to 400,000.
Nov 28 1862 – Civil War: In the Battle of Cane Hill, Union troops under General James G. Blunt defeat
General John Marmaduke's Confederates.
Nov 28 1941 – WW2: The aircraft carrier USS Enterprise departs from Pearl Harbor to deliver F4F Wildcat
fighters to Wake Island. This mission saves the carrier from destruction when the Japanese attack.
Nov 28 1943 – WW2: Tehran Conference - U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister
Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin meet in Tehran, Iran to discuss war strategy.
Nov 28 1964 – Vietnam: National Security Council members agree to recommend that U.S. President
Lyndon B. Johnson adopt a plan for a two-stage escalation of bombing in North Vietnam.
Nov 29 1776 – American Revolution: The Battle of Fort Cumberland, Nova Scotia comes to an end with
the arrival of British reinforcements.
Nov 29 1847 – Indian Wars: Whitman Massacre - Missionaries Dr. Marcus Whitman, his wife Narcissa,
and 15 others are killed by Cayuse and Umatilla Indians, causing the Cayuse War.
Nov 29 1864 – Indian Wars: Sand Creek Massacre – Colorado volunteers led by Colonel John Chivington
massacre at least 150 Cheyenne and Arapaho noncombatants inside Colorado Territory.
Nov 29 1864 – Civil War: Battle of Spring Hill – Confederate advance into Tennessee misses opportunity
to crush Union army. Gen. Hood angered, leads to Battle of Franklin.
Nov 29 1872 – Indian Wars: The Modoc War begins with the Battle of Lost River.
Nov 29 1950 – Korea: North Korean and Chinese troops force United Nations forces to retreat from North
Korea.
Nov 29 1971 – Vietnam: Americal Division stands down and departs.
Nov 30 1782 – American Revolution: Treaty of Paris - In Paris, representatives from the United States and
the Kingdom of Great Britain sign preliminary peace articles (later formalized as the 1783 Treaty of Paris).
Nov 30 1864 – Civil War: Battle of Franklin – The Army of Tennessee led by General John Bell Hood
mounts a dramatically unsuccessful frontal assault on Union positions with Hood losing six generals and
almost a third of his troops.
Nov 30 1942 – WW2: Guadalcanal Campaign Battle of Tassafaronga – A smaller squadron of Japanese
destroyers defeats a US cruiser force.
Nov 30 1950 – Korea: President Truman declares that the United States will use the A–bomb to get peace.
Nov 30 1972 - Vietnam: White House Press Secretary Ron Ziegler tells the press that there will be no more
public announcements concerning American troop withdrawals from Vietnam due to the fact that troop
levels are now down to 27,000.
Nov 30 1981 - Cold War: In Geneva, representatives from the United States and the Soviet Union begin to
negotiate intermediate-range nuclear weapon reductions in Europe (the meetings ended inconclusively on
Dec 17).
Nov 30 1995 – Official end of Operation Desert Storm.
Dec 01 1918 – WWI: An American army of occupation enters Germany.
Dec 01 1941 – WW2: Emperor Hirohito of Japan gave the final approval to initiate war against the United
States.
Dec 01 1959 – Cold War: Opening date for signature of the Antarctic Treaty, which sets aside Antarctica as
a scientific preserve and bans military activity on the continent.
Dec 01 1964 – Vietnam: U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson and his top–ranking advisers meet to discuss
plans to bomb North Vietnam.
Dec 01 1969 – Vietnam: America’s first draft lottery since 1942 is held.
Dec 02 1943 – WW2: A Luftwaffe bombing raid on the harbor of Bari, Italy, sinks numerous cargo and
transport ships, including an American Liberty ship, the John Harvey, with a stockpile of World War I era
mustard gas.
Dec 02 1944 – WW2: General George S. Patton’s troops enter the Saar Valley and break through the
Siegfried line.
Dec 03 1775 – The USS Alfred became the first vessel to fly the Grand Union Flag (the precursor to the
Stars and Stripes); the flag is hoisted by John Paul Jones.
Dec 03 1950 – Korea: The Chinese close in on Pyongyang, Korea, and UN forces withdraw southward.
Pyongyang falls 2 days later.
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Dec 03 1942 – WW2: U.S. planes make the first raids on Naples, Italy.
Dec 04 1864 – Civil War: Sherman's March to the Sea - At Waynesboro, Georgia, forces under Union
General Judson Kilpatrick prevent troops led by Confederate General Joseph Wheeler from interfering with
Union General William T. Sherman's campaign destroying a wide swath of the South on his march to the
Atlantic Ocean from Atlanta, Georgia.
Dec 04 1942 – WW2: Carlson's patrol during the Guadalcanal Campaign ends.
Dec 05 1943 – WW2: U.S. Army Air Force begins attacking Germany's secret weapons bases in Operation
Crossbow
Dec 05 1944 – WW2: Allied troops occupy Ravenna.
Dec 05 1965 – Vietnam: First Medal of Honor for action in Vietnam awarded to Army Capt. Roger
Donlon
Dec 06 1917 – WWI: USS Jacob Jones is the first American destroyer to be sunk by enemy action when it
is torpedoed by German submarine SM U-53.
Dec 06 1941 – WW2: President Franklin D. Roosevelt issues a personal appeal to Emperor Hirohito to use
his influence to avoid war.
Dec 07 1862 – Civil War: Battle of Prairie Grove, Arkansas. Casualties and losses: US 1,251 - CSA 1,317.
Dec 07 1917 – WWI: The United States declares war on Austria–Hungary with only one dissenting vote in
Congress.
Dec 07 1941 – WW2: The Imperial Japanese Navy attacks the United States Pacific Fleet and its defending
Army Air Forces and Marine air forces at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, causing a declaration of war upon Japan
by the United States. Japan also invades Malaya, Thailand, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and the Dutch Ea
Dec 07 1942 – WW2: The U.S. Navy launches USS New Jersey, the largest battleship ever built.
Dec 08 1861 – Civil War: CSS Sumter captures the whaler Eben Dodge in the Atlantic. The American
Civil War is now affecting the Northern whaling industry.
Dec 08 1941 – WW2: Roosevelt declares war on Japan noting the previous day’s events mark it as a date
that will live in infamy.
Dec 08 1943 – WW2: U.S. carrier–based planes sink two cruisers and down 72 planes in the Marshall
Islands.
Dec 08 1944 – WW2: The United States conducts the longest, most effective air raid on the Pacific island
of Iwo Jima.
Dec 08 1965 – Vietnam: Operation Tiger Hound - Aerial raids begin to interdict the Ho Chi Minh Trail to
reduce North Vietnamese infiltration down the trail into South Vietnam. Became Operation hunt after
1968.
Dec 09 1775 – American Revolution: British troops lose the Battle of Great Bridge, and leave Virginia
soon afterward. Casualties and losses: US 1 - GB 62 to 102.
Dec 09 1835 – The Texan Army captures San Antonio, Texas.
Dec 09 1941 – WW2: The 19th Bombardment Group attacks Japanese ships off the coast of Vigan, Luzon
Dec 09 1950 – Cold War: Harry Gold gets 30 years imprisonment for passing atomic bomb secrets to the
Soviet Union during World War II.
Dec 09 1992 – Operation Restore Hope: U.S. Marines land in Somalia to ensure food and medicine reaches
the deprived areas of that country.
Dec 10 1861 – Civil War: the Confederate States of America accept a rival state government's
pronouncement that declares Kentucky to be the 13th state of the Confederacy.
Dec 10 1864 – Civil War: Sherman's March to the Sea - Major General William Tecumseh Sherman's
Union Army troops reach the outer Confederate defenses of Savannah, Georgia.
Dec 10 1898 – Spanish American War: The U.S. and Spain sign the Treaty of Paris, ending the war and
ceding Spanish possessions, including the Philippines, to the United States.
Dec 10 1941 – WW2: Japanese troops invade the Philippine island of Luzon.
Dec 11 1862 – Civil War: Union General Ambrose Burnside occupies Fredericksburg and prepares to
attack the Confederates under Robert E. Lee. The battle ends two days later with the bloody slaughter of
onrushing Union troops at Marye's Heights.
Dec 11 1941 – WW2: Germany and fascist Italy declare was on America. The U.S. reciprocates.
Dec 12 1862 – Civil War: USS Cairo sinks on the Yazoo River, becoming the first armored ship to be sunk
by an electrically detonated mine.
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Dec 12 1863 – Civil War: Orders are given in Richmond, Virginia, that no more supplies from the Union
should be received by Federal prisoners.
 Dec 12 1937 – USS Panay incident: Japanese aircraft bomb and sink U.S. gunboat USS Panay on the
Yangtze River in China.
 Dec 12 1941 – WW2: Fifty-four Japanese A6M Zero fighters raid Batangas Field, Philippines. Jesús
Villamor and four Filipino fighter pilots fend them off; César Basa becomes the first Filipino pilot killed in
combat.
 Dec 12 1941 – WW2: USMC F4F Wildcats sink the first 4 major Japanese ships off Wake Island.
 Dec 13 1775 – The Continental Congress authorizes the building of 13 frigates.
 Dec 13 1774 – Mass militiamen successfully attacked arsenal of Ft. William and Mary
 Dec 13 1862 – Civil War: At the Battle of Fredericksburg, Confederate General Robert E. Lee defeats the
Union Major General Ambrose E. Burnside. Casualties and losses: US 12,863 - CSA 5,377.
 Dec 13 1964 – Vietnam: North Vietnamese commence attack on Phuoc Long Province. Decisive North
Vietnamese victory.
 Dec 14 1814 – War of 1812: The Royal Navy seizes control of Lake Borgne, Louisiana.
 Dec 14 1964 – Vietnam: Operation Barrel Roll - Covert U.S. Air Force 2nd Air Division (later the Seventh
Air Force) and U.S. Navy Task Force 77, interdiction and close air support campaign conducted in the
Kingdom of Laos begins. Limited tactical U.S. success but strategic failure.
 Dec 15 1864 – Civil War: In the 2 day Battle of Nashville, Union forces under George H. Thomas almost
completely destroy the Army of Tennessee under John B. Hood. Casualties and losses: US 3.061 - CSA
Approx. 6,000.
 Dec 15 1942 – WW2: The Battle of Mount Austen, the Galloping Horse, and the Sea Horse begins during
the Guadalcanal campaign. Casualties and losses: US Est. 250 - Japan Est. 2,700 to 3,300.
[Source: Various Nov 2013 ++]
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