TODAY IN MILITARY HISTORY
22 October
◆1777 British General William Howe requested that he be relieved. This request will be accepted.
◆1824 The Tennessee Legislature adjourned ending Davy Crockett's state political career. Crockett died at the legendary siege of the Alamo in 1836.
◆1836 Sam Houston was inaugurated as the first constitutionally elected president of the Republic of Texas.
◆1846 Miss Lavinia Fanning Watson of Philadelphia christens the sloop-of-war Germantown, the first U.S. Navy ship sponsored by a woman.
◆1861 The 1st telegraph line linking West & East coasts was completed.
◆1862 Battle at Old Fort Wayne, Indian Territory (Oklahoma). Brig. Gen. James G. Blunt and his troops attacked Col. Douglas H. Cooper and his Confederate command on Beatties Prairie near Old Fort Wayne at 7:00 am on October 22, 1862. The Confederates put up stiff resistance for a half hour, but overwhelming numbers forced them to retire from the field in haste, leaving artillery and equipage behind. This was a setback in the 1862 Confederate offensive that extended from the tidewater in the east to the plains of the Indian Territory of the west.
◆1917 U.S.A. seized raw material for war that had been purchased and stored by Germans in the U.S.A. during the first two years of the war.
◆1917 5th & 6th Marines and 6th Machine Gun Battalion become part of the AEF.
◆1918 Fierce fighting by the Americans on both banks of Meuse, north of Verdun and in the Woevre in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. III and V Corps had secured the Bois de Foret and Bois des Rappes and had pushed to the norther and westen limits of the Bois de Bantheville. First Army prepares for final assault on Sedan.
◆1918 The new Army Air Service (forerunner of the U.S. Air Force) was organized. Calling for volunteers, First Lieutenant Reed Chambers, who was mobilized with a Tennessee National Guard unit, joined up. He was assigned to the newly organized 94th “Hat-in-the-Ring” Pursuit Squadron, soon to become nationally famous for the headlines some of its members, including Chambers, would generate by their combat exploits over “no man’s land” in France. Among the men serving in this squadron was Captain Eddie Rickenbacker, who would earn numerous awards for valor, including the Medal of Honor. Chambers, while not receiving the Medal of Honor, was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross with an Oak Leaf Cluster (2nd Award) for his success in shooting down enemy aircraft. His most remarkable feat occurred on this date when he downed two German Folker D-VII’s (often regarded as the best airplane used in the war) in less than five minutes. He ended the war as an ‘ace’ with a total of five kills, and remained in the Air Service at least as late as 1920.
◆1942 On Guadalcanal, the Japanese attack again over the Matanikau River with a strong force of tanks and infantry. They are thrown back with heavy losses due mainly to the effectiveness of the American artillery.
◆1942 To safeguard this Allied nation against a possible Japanese attack, the Guard’s 43rd Infantry Division (CT, ME, RI, VT) arrives to act as a garrison and to begin its jungle training before later deployments to combat in the Northern Solomon Islands, New Guinea and the Philippines.
◆1944 On Leyte, US 10th and US 24th Corps both record advances. The US 7th Division, on the right flank, approach Abuyog. The Japanese fleet assembled at Brunei sets sail for the Philippines with the intention of destroying the American invasion fleet. The Center Force (Admiral Kurita) includes 5 battleships (including Yamato and Musashi), 12 cruisers and 15 destroyers. The Southern Force (Admiral Nishimura) includes 2 battleships, 1 cruiser and 4 destroyers. It is to rendezvous with the 2nd Striking Force (Admiral Shima) from Japan.
◆1951 First of seven detonations, Operation Buster-Jangle nuclear test. This was a test of the Petite Plutonium fission bomb, designed by Ted Taylor. It consisted of a standard 60 inch, 10,000 lb. implosion system with the plutonium core reduced to what was estimated to be close to the minimum amount of fissile material for an appreciable yield. This was the lowest yield design yet tested, with a predicted yield of only 200 tons. It was a fizzle - the first actual failure of any U.S. nuclear device (the 18th exploded by the U.S.), and the first known failure of any nuclear device. Rather than being a sign of ineptness, this failure was indicative of the increasingly aggressive (and thus risky) U.S. experimental approach to weapon development. It established a close lower bound on the minimum amount of plutonium that could be used in a weapon to produce a significant yield, an important benchmark in weapon design. This was inadvertently a "zero yield" test. The device achieved supercriticality and produced detectable nuclear output, but the energy produced was negligible compared to the high explosive used. The tower was damaged but largely intact from the test. The first attempt to fire this device (on 19 October) was a true failure - nothing happened. The problem was traced to the control circuitry.
◆1952 USAF ace Major Robinson "Robbie" Risner, flying an F-86 Sabre out of the 4th Fighter-Interceptor Wing, claimed his sixth MiG-15 of the war.
◆1954 As a result of the Geneva accords granting Communist control over North Vietnam, U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower authorized a crash program to train the South Vietnamese Army.
◆1955 The prototype of the F-105 Thunder Chief made its maiden flight.
◆1962 President John F. Kennedy announced that missile bases had been discovered in Cuba and they had the potential to attack the United States with nuclear warheads. Kennedy ordered a naval and air blockade on further shipment of military equipment to Cuba. The Russians had previously agreed not to bring new offensive weapons into Cuba, but after hearing Kennedy's announcement, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev refused to cooperate with the quarantine. Following a confrontation that threatened nuclear war, Kennedy and Khrushchev agree on October 28 on a formula to end the crisis. On November 2 Kennedy reported that Soviet missile bases in Cuba are being dismantled.
◆1968 Apollo 7 returned safely, splashing down in the Atlantic Ocean.
◆1972 Operation Linebacker I, the bombing of North Vietnam with B-52 bombers, ended. The U.S. ended all tactical air sorties into North Vietnam above the 20th parallel and brought to a close Linebacker I operations. This “gesture of good will” in terminating the bombing above the 20th parallel was designed to help promote the peace negotiations being held in Paris. US tactical air sorties during Linebacker I operations helped to stem the flow of supplies into NVN, thereby, limiting the operating capabilities of North Vietnam's invading army. During the five and one-half month period of Linebacker I, the Navy contributed more than 60 percent of the total sorties in North Vietnam, with 60 percent of this effort in the "panhandle", two large regions between Hanoi and the DMZ. Tactical air operations were most intense during the July-September quarter with 12,865 naval sorties flown. Most attack sorties in North Vietnam fell into two classes--armed reconnaissance and strike. The former was usually directed against targets of opportunity with three main areas proscribed--near Hanoi, Haiphong and the Chinese border. Strike operations were preplanned and usually directed at fixed targets. Most types of fixed targets, not associated with armed reconnaissance, required approval by the Commander-in-Chief, Pacific, or by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, prior to attack. Principal Navy aircraft were the A-7 and A-6, which accounted for roughly 60 and 15 percent of the Navy's attack sorties, respectively. About 25 percent of the Navy's effort was at night. Carriers participating in the initial May-June operations from Yankee Station were Constellation, Coral Sea, Hancock, Kitty Hawk, Midway and Saratoga.