The Interesting Story of Col. Eugene Lietensdorfer-- Part 1: Member of the Austrian and French Armies

Still from the Small Wars Journal on the First Barbary War.

This was a man of many, many stories indeed.

He was William Eaton's chief of staff during the march on Derna.  Eaton had met Lietensdorfer in Cairo.  But how Lietensdorfer  had come to be in Cairo is an interesting story in itself.

His real name  was Gervasso Prodasio Santuari and he was 33 years old Italian from a village  near Trent in the Tyrol.  His parents had wanted him to become a priest but he quit school at the age of seventeen, got married, and then joined the Austrian Army in its campaign against the Turks.

He fought at Belgrade from 1789 to 1790. and continued serving in the Austrian Army  during the siege of Mantua.  But in 1797, the Austrian collapsed, surrendering to Napoleon.

Santuari did not wish to remain with the losers, so he changed his name to Carlo  Hossando and joined the French Army.

A Man of Two Armies.  --Cooter

America's "Doughboys"-- Part 2: Doughboys Eventually Became G.I.s in World War II

Indeed, the term was still in use for American military up to the early part of World War II.    There was a song from 1942 called "Johnny Doughboy Found a Rose in Ireland." and a musical film the same year called "Johnny Doughboy."

However, this term was eventually replaced by the tern "G.I." meaning "Government Issue."

Although the word is most-connected with American soldiers in World War I, its origins are unclear.

During the Napoleonic Wars British sailors and soldiers in Spain certainly knew about fried flour dumplings called "doughboys," which eventually became doughnuts as we know them.

A non-military origin possibility might also have been from the apprenticed boys to bakers during the era who would have, of course, been called "dough-boys."  Also, in 19th century America, the term "doughboy" could mean stupid.

Neither an Apprentice or Stupid Be I.  (Well, Sometimes the Latter.)  --Cooter

Spain Gets the Gold (and Silver)

From the Feb. 25, 2012, The West (Australia) AFB "Spain to receive shipwreck treasure after legal battle."

Tons of gold and silver from a Spanish ship that sank in 1804 and was discovered by a U.S. deep sea exploration company are on its way to Spain aboard two military planes. (You don't want those pesky pirates getting it, you know.)

This ends a five-year legal battle between the Florida-based Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. and Spain over treasure taken from the Spanish frigate Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes, the most valuable treasure discovered in history, some 49,000 pounds of gold and silver.

A British warship sank it off the Portuguese coast near the Strait of Gibraltar during the Battle of Cape Santa Maria in October 1804. (I've never heard of this battle, but expect it had something to do with the Napoleonic Wars.)

Odyssey discovered the shipwreck in May 2007 and shipped the treasure to the United States without notifying the Spanish government.

Roughly $500 million in coins, minted in Peru, were stored in a warehouse in Tampa along with religious images.

Spain wanted the treasure back for some reason and courts said it had to be returned. (Hopefully, there was a finder's fee in there somewhere.)

Of course, remembering the Spanish stole the gold and silver from the Indians.

 --Cooter