A Native American Timeline-- Part 7: Dawes Act, Wounded Knee and the Choctow Telephone Squad in WW I

**  FEBRUARY 8, 1887:  President Grover Cleveland  signs the Dawes Act, giving the U.S. president authority  to divide up land allotted to Indians in reservations to individuals.

**  DECEMBER 15, 1890:  Sitting Bull is killed  during a confrontation with Indian police in Grand River, South Dakota.

**  DECEMBER 29, 1890:    U.S. armed forces  surround Ghost Dancers Big Foot near Wounded Knee Creek in South Dakota, demanding the surrender of their weapons.  An estimated 150 Indians are killed in what became known as the Wounded Knee Massacre. along with 25 men of the cavalry.

**  JANUARY 29, 1907:  Charles  Curtis becomes the first  Indian U.S. Senator.

**  SEPTEMBER 1918:  Choctow soldiers use their native language to transmit secret messages for U.S. troops during  World War I's Meuse-Argonne Offensive on the Western Front.  The Choctow Telephone Squad provide Allied forces with a critical edge over the Germans.

I had heard of the  Navajo Code Talkers, but not these men.  Interesting.

--Cooter

Top Ten WW I Movies, Ranked

From the Dec. 26, 2019, Collider by Brendan Michael.

I am just listing them.  Go to the site for details.

10.  The Water Deviner

9.  Sergeant York

8.  They Shall Not Grow Old

7.  War Horse

6.  The African Queen

5.  Gallipoli

4.  All Quiet On the Western Front

3.  Paths of Glory

2.  1917   I am really looking forward to this movie next year.

1.  Lawrence of Arabia

--Cooter

WW I Ending-- Part 3: Allies Break Through Hindenburg Line and German Army Retreating

OCTOBER 5, 1918

The Allies break through the last remnants of the Hindenburg Line.

OCTOBER 6 AND 7, 1918

The state of Yugoslavia proclaimed signalling the beginning of the break up of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in central Europe which had existed for six centuries.

Poland proclaims itself independent from the Russian Empire.

OCTOBER 13, 1918

The German Army  involved in a general retreat from a 60-mile  portion of the Western Front. in France.

OCTOBER 23, 1918

Wilson informs Germany that any negotiations could not include current German military leaders.    Ludendorf disavows this and is forced to resign by the Kaiser.  Civilians are now to do most of the negotiating.  This was the basis of the military's "stab-in-the-back" defense after the war.  They had been sold out by the civilians.

--Cooter

Battle of Amiens: The "Black Day of the German Army"

From Wikipedia.

The Battle of Amiens is also known as the Third Battle of Picardy.  It took place August 8-12, 1918. and was the opening phase of The Allied Hundred Days Offensive, that ultimately led to the end of World War I with the Armistice on November 11.

Allied forces advanced seven miles on the first day.  This essentially put an end to the trench warfare.

The battle is also notable in regards to the morale of both sides, especially with the large numbers of German soldiers who surrendered.  This led German hero and general Erich Ludendorf to describe the first day of battle as "The Black Day of the German Army."

Amiens was also the first battle involving large armored warfare with tanks punching holes through the German lines.

DaCoot

The Second Battle of the Somme

From Wikipedia.

This was the offensive mentioned in the previous post.

Was fought on the Western Front 21 August to 2 September 1918 in the basin of the River Somme.  It was one of a series of Allied counterattacks after the German Spring Offensive of that year.  This battle formed the central part of the Allied final drive that led to the Armistice.

U.S. casualties:  11,500
British casualties:  5,600

German casualties:  Heavy    6,000 taken prisoner.

--DaCoot

Second Battle of the Marne July 18 to August 6, 1918: Began 100 Years Ago

The previous post mentioned this battle as the Aisne-Marne Offensive.

This was the last major German offensive on the Western Front during World War I.  The attack failed when an Allied counterattack, supported by several hundred tanks, overwhelmed the Germans on their right flank, inflicting many casualties.

The German defeat marked the beginning of the relentless Allied advance that resulting in the Armistice with  Germany about 100 days later.

There were, on the Allied side, 44 French, 8 American, 4 British and 2 Italian divisions,408 heavy guns, 360 field batteries and 346 tanks,

German strength:  52 divisions, 609 heavy guns and 1,047 field batteries

CASUALTIES:

France:  95,165 dead or wounded
Britain:  16,552 dead or wounded
USA:  12,00 dead or wounded
Italy:  9,00 dead or wounded

GERMAN CASUALTIES:

139,000 dead or wounded, 29,367 captured, 793 guns lost

Some Jawdropping Numbers.  --DaCoot

100th Aero Squadron of World War I

From Wikipedia.

Part of the U.S. Army in World War I.  Ordered to the Western Front and boarded the SS Tuscania 23 January 1918.  Torpedoed 5 February and ship sunk but most of the 100th rescued.

Reformed in England as assigned as Day Bombardment Squadron for long-range bombing attacks on roads, railroads and massed troop formations.

However, just before its first scheduled combat mission the war ended with the 1918 Armistice.  Returned to the States in June 1919 and demobilized.  The group was never reactivated.

--DaCoot

World War I Chronology, February 1918-- Part 2: U.S. Fighter Squadron Arrives

FEBRUARY  18--  The first U.S. fighter squadron, the 95th Aero (Pursuit), arrives in France.

FEBRUARY 23--  U.S. forces reinforce the French in the Chemin des Dames Sector.

FEBRUARY 26-  The first German gas attack launched U.S. troops on the Western Front results in a 95 percent casualty rate.

--Cooter

World War I Chronology, January 1918-- Part 2: U.S. Forces on Western Front

JANUARY 15--  U.S. forces enter the front line on the Western Front, replacing the French forces northwest of Toul.

JANUARY 26--  The U.S. Tank Corps is created.

--Cooter

Dead German World War I Soldiers Found-- Part 2

Also found in the trench segment were personal possessions, boots, helmets, weapons, wine bottles and spectacles. Most items were very well-preserved. Everything collapsed within a few seconds. They never had a chance.

Lots of photographs accompanied the article.

The 300 foot tunnel was found 18 feet beneath the surface near the town of Carspach in the Alsace region of France.

The names of the men are known, including Musketeer Martin Heidrich, 20; Private Harry Bierkamp, 22 and Lt. August Hutten, 37. Their names are inscribed on a nearby German war memorial.

Dead World War I German Soldiers Found-- Part 1

From the February 11, 2012 (U.K.) Telegraph "German soldiers preserved in World War I shelter discovered after nearly 100 years."

Twenty-one German soldiers have been found in a perfectly preserved shelter discovered 94 years after their deaths. They were part of a total of 34 buried at the site after it took a direct hit by an Allied shell in 1918.

Thirteen were recovered at that time, but the soil was too unsettled and dangerous to look for the others. French archaeologists stumbled across their remains while doing excavations along the lines of the former Western Front. This search was required by the French government in preparation for a road project.

Many of the skeletal remains were found in exactly the spot they were in when death exploded on them. Some were sitting upright on a bench and another was lying in bed.

World War I's "Lost Army"

From January 6, 2008, Telegraph.co.uk.

Archaeologists believe they might have found the final resting site of 399 soldiers killed and missing in a battle in northern France in 1916. These men were killed in a frontal attack at Fromelles July 19-20, 1916. This is the biggest grave find since 1920 when efforts to locate bodies lost along the Western front ended.

They believe that a Corporal Adolf Hitler participated in the action along with his unit.

The attack came a s a way to divert German troops from the Somme and took place across open ground by 5,500 Australian and 1,500 British troops against heavily fortified German positions.

The bodies were recovered by the Germans and names and belongings passed on to the Red Cross to be returned to their families. Where they were buried was not known all these years.

But, archaeologists believe they have found it next to an area called Pheasant Wood.

Never Stop Looking for the Missing. --Cooter