tmh (01/08/83)
1. George was a good strategic general, but a poor
tactical one and lost the majority of the battles he
fought. His two greatest victories, Trenton and
Princeton, used tactics more infamous than the
Japanese at Pearl Harbor (he attacked Xmas day a
thing outrageous considering the religious nature of
the people involved and the nature of warfare in the
eighteenth century). George in regular battles
tended to loose control of his troops unlike
Nathatnial Greene who could maintain control even in
forests (i.e. Guilford Courthouse). When it came to
strategy, however, George was a good general, vis a
vis his placement of guns above Boston Harbor to
force the British out.
2. He could speak English fluently. His two
predecessors were raised in Hanover and spoke German
as their native tongue. This is one of the causes
of the American Revolution, because for the fifty
years previously the English government had
virtually allowed the Colonies to run themselves due
to the communications difficulty (The court had used
Latin which neither the party spoke very well,
George III had insisted that the colonies start
paying for their own defense, hence the taxes
imposed.)
3. There was one attack, it lasted about one hour, and
(Mexican Army Records indicate that) there were
fewer Mexican dead (but more dead and wounded) than
Texan dead (partily because the Mexicans were told
to offer no quarter). The Alamo, while a heavily
defended point, (it had more poundage of cannon per
foot of wall than any other fort in existence, but
not enough men to man them and the cannon mix was
also motly being what ever could be scrapped
together) had two blind sides which the Mexicans
came over and was critically under garrisoned. The
Mexicans were trained soldiers, fairly well equipped
and led. The Texans for the most part were
untrained in standard warfare, siege warfare and
were not equipped with military weapons i.e.
bayonets don't fit on civilian weapons (for example
the much praised Kentucky long rifle was unable to
hold a bayonet and took over a minute to load as the
ball had to be spun down the barrel while the
contemporary military musket could get three (less
accurate, but as deadly) shots in the same period).
In fact the ease with which the Alamo and Goliad
fall causes Santa Anna to get over confident and
leaves him open at San Jancito to an suprise attack
(only just over one third of the Mexican army at the
Alamo is defeated, however it is the force commanded
by Santa Anna himself who is also President of
Mexico i.e. Santa Anna loses the war because he is
captured and forced to free Texas). The reason the
Alamo seems to hold out for so long is that counting
starts from the time the first Mexican soldiers show
up in San Antonio. The Mexican army also has just
marched across several hundred miles of desert and
needs to rest, regroup, let stragglers catch up,
build up supplies and find out what is going on.
San Antonio fits the bill, even with the Alamo, as a
tiny garrison isn't going to sortie against
thousands, so the Mexicans wait until they are good
and ready to attack and then overwhelm the garrison.
4. The last royal Napoleon died a Lieutenant in the
British Army during the Zulu war. He had insisted
on being allowed to go to war (against his mother's
and Vicki's wishes) and was killed when on patrol.
The patrol was eating lunch when the Zulus showed
up. While he was trying to mount his horse it
bolted and dragged him into the band of Zulus.
5. Benedict Arnold. He led the assault that took the
British main redoubt and caused the British defeat.
He lost his foot doing this. Arnold later turns
coat when his debtors threaten to throw him into
debtors prison (he had been at war for three years
and the bills piled up) and he can't get congress to
put them off until the war is over. He, in
desperation for cash, tries to sell West Point to
the British.
6. Robert E. Lee. Lee refused as he felt he would have
to follow the dictates of his state. It should be
remembered that the Civil War was fought over States
Rights vs Federal Rights and not about slavery
(except that slavery was the source of the rights
dispute).
7. Abraham Lincoln. Pickett was last in his class.
8. Napoleon started as a Lieutenant of the Artillery
(not counting his cadet training) and proved himself
during the siege of Toulon. It should be remembered
that Napoleon was of noble decent, but his family
was no longer wealthy and he as many impoverished
nobles of the time turned to the military. His
skill in mathematics placed him in the artillery.
9. He was James Cooks sailing master (a master being of
course a sailing expert who was not considered ready
or suitable to be a Captain i.e. hold a command in
the Navy). Cook himself was a sailing master (not
suitable as a Captain during the war as he was a
civilian "drafted" for duty) during the Seven Years
(French and Indian) War and it was his charting of
the Saint Lawrence river around Quebec that got him
promoted to Captain and chosen to lead the
exploration expedition. It is also interesting to
note that Cook never lost a man to scurvy on his
voyages at a time when 30% losses to scurvy were
common (he force fed his men sauerkraut since it
also contained vitamin C and didn't spoil like
citrus fruits).
10. Custer was a Lieutenant Colonel, which allowed him
to be second in command of a regiment (i.e. the 7th
Cavalry). The post civil war army however
frequently tapped the first in command to run army
departments or other bureaucratic functions, hence
Custer's command at the Little Big Horn. He was
allowed to maintain his brevet title of general,
from the Civil War, as a matter of etiquette.
As a final note I'm open to debate on any of my answers
and can site sources for most of them, if your interested.
You'll have to find the sources yourselves though!
Till next time,
Tom Harris
ihldt!tmh
Bell Labs,Napervillepaul (01/09/83)
I liked the "trivia" but to my mind "historic trivia" is an oxymoron. On the other hand, there is a sizable constituency for the point of view that "historic trivia" is a rendundancy. I am a retrained historian, if you hadn't guessed. As an aside, a great to the nth grandfather of mine served under Custer during the war against Mexico in the 1840's time frame. ~v (whoops)