USS Winslow (TB-5)-- Part 4: Post War Service

The Winslow was returned to full commission by 30 June 1901 and assigned to the Naval Torpedo Statopn at  Newport, spending then next  three years training naval officers and enlisted men the techniques of torpedo firing and helping them polish their skills in gunnery and shopboard engineering.

Most likely, she also participated in some work to improve the "automotive" torpedo.

Not much is known as to her activities between July 1904 and February 1906, but probably spent the majority of it in reserve or out of commission on New York.  The Winslow was recommissioned at New York Navy Yard on 16 February 1906 and steamed south to Norfolk where she was placed in the Reserve Torpedo Flotilla.

Sometime in 1909, she was transferred to Charleston, S.C., but remained in reserve.

On 1 June 1909, she was turned over to the Massachusetts Naval Militia at Charlestown and later moved north to Boston where she served as a school ship for volunteer seaman for a local  naval militia until the following  November.  

On 2 November 1909, the Massachusetts Naval Militia returned the Winslow to the Navy and she was in Boston Navy Yard in reserve until the summer of 1010.  She was then placed out of commission at Boston and sold  in 1911.

Sometime around October 1923, the Winslow, along  with other decommissioned vessels, was scuttled near Sagamore Hill, Oyster Bay, Long Island to form a breakwater.

--Cooter

Andrew Pickens, Patriot Commander at Battle of Kettle Creek-- Part 1

 From American Battlefield Trust.

(September 13, 1739 to August 11, 1817)

The son of Scots-Irish immigrants, Andrew Pickens was born September 13, 1739, in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.  When he was a teenager,  his family moved to the Waxhaws region of South Carolina.

From 1760-61, Pickens fought in the Cherokee War, serving as an officer in a provincial regiment.  In 1764, he moved to Abbeville, South Carolina, where, a year later, he married  Rebecca Calhoun, the aunt of future pro-slavery politician John C. Calhoun.

When rebellion against Britain broke out in 1775, Pickens was made a captain of militia.  That autumn he took part in a campaign against Loyalists in the South Carolina backcountry and fought in the Siege of Ninety Six, the first major engagement of the revolution outside of New England.

In  the autumn 1776, Pickens served in an expedition that destroyed dozens of Cherokee towns.

--Cooter

Battle of Princeton-- Part 2: From Defeat, Washington Gets a Victory

When the Americans spotted the British troops around William Clarke's farm, Washington detached Hugh Mercer's brigade to investigate.  Mercer ran headlong into the 17th Foot Regiment, firmly stationed behind a fence at the end of Clarke's orchard.  In the ensuing volleys,  Mercer was wounded and his men routed by a bayonet charge.

With the British on the verge of splitting his army, Washington quickly detached  John Cadwalader's  Philadelphia Associatiors (militia) to plug the gap.  These green troops fought valiantly, but were also broken by British bayonets.

With the battle, and the war, hanging in the balance, Washington personally led fresh troops onto the field while grapeshot and canister battery from Joseph  Moulder's artillery forced the British back towards Clarke's farmhouse.  Washington's counterattack broke the British line, which quickly turned into a route.

Further nearer the town, two smaller engagements at Frog Hollow and on the grounds of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University), also resulted in a British retreat.

Washington had won a great victory, defeating a smaller force of British regulars, but British Colonel Mawhood was also praised for delaying the Americans long enough to rescue most of his supplies.

--Brock-Perry

USS Montgomery (C-9)-- Part 3: Commissioned and Decommissioned a Whole Bunch

In April 1899, the Montgomery transferred  to the South Atlantic Squadron and operated along the Atlantic coast of South America. In July 1900, she was import to Uruguay with Commander John Merrill as her commanding officer.

 Decommissioned at New York City 15 September 1900 and recommissioned  15 May 1902 and assigned to the Caribbean Division, North Atlantic Squadron and operated in the West Indies until decommissioned again at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 15 September 1904.

The Montgomery was recommissioned yet again 2 January 1908 and  operated in the Fifth Naval District as a torpedo experimental ship.  From 1914 to  1918, she was with the Maryland  Naval Militia.  Renamed the Anniston  14 March 1918, she was assigned to  Division 2, American Patrol Detachment, for patrol and escort duty along the  Atlantic coast and the Caribbean.

Decommissioned at Charleston, South Carolina, for a last time on 16 May 1918,  the Anniston was struck from  the Navy List 25 August 1919 and sold 14 November 1919.

--Cooter

Blacks Serving in U.S. Military Over the Years-- Part 2: The American Revolution and the War of 1812

American Revolution

Southern colonies, fearing  that armed slaves would lead to revolts, opposed the use of slaves in Patriot militia, though some would serve in isolated instances.

The British, however, recruited heavily in the South, promising freedom for any slave who fought for them with the Loyalists.   Consequentially, while an estimated 9,000 black soldiers and sailors fought for the Americans, some 20,000 fought for the British.

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Post Revolution and War of 1812

After the American revolution, Blacks were pushed out of the U.S. military.  The Federal Militia Acts of 1792, specifically  prohibited black service in the U.S. Army.

As a result, few Blacks  participated on the side of the United States during the War of 1812.  Only Louisiana  was allowed to have separate black militia units in that conflict.

Due to a severe manpower shortage, the U.S. Navy accepted free black recruits.  Some 15% to 20% of Navy manpower  was made up of them.  Some slaves also served in the British Army and Navy in anticipation of freedom.

Blacks Serving In U.S. Military Over the Years: The American Revolution

From the Feb. 23, 2021, U.S. Army "African American service and racial integration in the U.S. military" by Dr. Paul-Thomas Ferguson.

Formal black service in the U.S. military dates from the American Revolution.  Many freemen and some slaves already served in Northern colonial militias to protect their homes against Indian attack.  Their numbers rose in 1770 after Crispus Attucks, a black man believed to be the first casualty at the Boston Massacre, was killed.

Commanding general of the Continental Army, George Washington, was initially against recruiting black soldiers, but military necessity later made him relent.

 The most prominent group of black soldiers served in the 1st Rhode Island Regiment.   Enough black and Indian soldiers were recruited to eventually make up half of its 225 men.  This regiment achieved its greatest fame protecting  the Continental army's withdrawal from Aquidneck island during the Battle of Rhode Island in 1778.

Wilmington, North Carolina's Revolutionary Anniversaries Upcoming in 2021: The American Revolution

From the December 21, 2020, Wilmington (NC) Star-News "Battleship North Carolina, Wilmington  Ten among major  2021 anniversaries" by Hunter Ingram.

Okay, 2020 has not been such a wonderful year, but there are some interesting and noteworthy  anniversaries that took place in Wilmington, N.C., coming up next year.

These are ones dealing with the American Revolution:

JANUARY:  

The 240th anniversary of the British capturing Wilmington during the American Revolution.  In April, one of the region's leading Patriots, Cornelius Harnett, would die on his birthday after being held in a roofless prison by the British in downtown Wilmington.

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FEBRUARY:

The 255th anniversary of the Stamp Act Rebellion at Brunswick Town:  One of the earliest acts of rebellion in the colonies against the British crown.  The rebellion, which started with protests the preceding fall, saw Patriots holding future Royal Governor William Tyron under house arrest until he met their demands to stop the Stamp Act, which was a new tax on the colonists.

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FEBRUARY:

The 245th anniversary of the Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge on Feb. 27, 1776:  The swift battle  saw the clash between North Carolina Patriot and Loyalist militias.  The Loyalist militia was aided by the Scottish Highlanders.  This took place in present-day Pender County.

The Patriot victory kept the British from invading the South for three years.  Today, the site is today the Moore's Creek U.S. National Military Park.

--Cooter

America's Long Line of Presidential Military Heroes-- Part 2: Jackson and Tippecanoe Too

Military heroism helped a number of presidents win office.  Andrew Jackson, the first president born in a log cabin, gained fame for his victory over the British at the Battle of New Orleans.  William Henry Harrison was so linked to a particular battle that it could serve as his name --  his 1840 campaign slogan was  "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too" referring to the 1811 battle against a confederation of Indians at the confluence of the Tippecanoe and Wabash rivers in Indiana.

Many presidents not generally remembered as soldiers, in fact did serve.  Abraham Lincoln was an Illinois militia captain during the Black Hawk War.

And sometimes "service" is a broad term -- seven presidents claimed to have fought in the Civil War, though that includes Andrew Johnson, who was military governor of Tennessee  in 1862.

--CootPres

The Rainbow Division-- Part 1: World War I

In the last post, I wrote about a reunion of the 1st Company, Virginia Coast Artillery, having been in World War I as part of the Rainbow Division of Gen. Douglas MacArthur.

I did some follow up on the Rainbow Division.

From Wikipedia.

It still exists and is the 42nd Army Division.

When the United States declared war on Germany in 1917, it federalized National Guard units.  Then Major Douglas MacArthur suggested to William A, Mann, head of the Militia Bureau, that another division be formed from several states.

--Cooter

About a DeKalb Local Armory in 1917

From the May 31, 2017, MidWeek  "Looking Back."

1917, 100 Years Ago.

"Although the local DeKalb (Illinois) men who have been pushing the project have not given up, present indications are that the matter of the purchase of the armory building by the state of Illinois for the use of the local militia contingent will have to go over for  the present session of legislature."

Remember, we were on the eve of World War I for our country in May 1917.

--Cooter

Looking Back to 1916: Those Joing the Military Will Have Their Jobs Waiting for Them When They Return

From the July 26, 2016 MidWeek (DeKalb County, Illinois) "Looking Back."

1916, 100 Years Ago.

"A communication was received today by the employees of the Chicago & Northwestern railroad yesterday from the head office stating that any man enlisting in the militia or regular army of the state or United States would be granted a leave of absence upon application to his foreman for same and that his position would be open for him when he returns."

Preparing for War.  --Cooter

Illinois' Camp Logan-- Part 2: So, What Are "Butt Houses?"

From the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

By 1892, with no major world threats around, 1/3 of Illinois' militia were stationed around Chicago where the need for a quick deployment was needed in case of labor strife  In 1892, the Illinois state legislature purchased a 220-acre tract of land in a desolate area north of Chicago on the shore of Lake Michigan for construction of a rifle range and a training area.  An additional 40 acres were purchased in 1899.

Construction of buildings began in 1893.  By 1900, 4 regimental barracks, range offices, a headquarters office, mess hall, kitchen, tool house, barn, 8 butt houses (equipment storage sheds incorporated into an earthen/concrete berm, or "butt" behind the targets on the range).

--DaCoot

Think Beyond BBQ on This Fourth-- Part 1: The Reading

From the July 3, 2015, Chicago Tribune by Ron Grossman.

While you're enjoying all the festivities that go along with our country's birthday all those years ago, take a moment to thank John Adlum from York, Pennsylvania, and others from back then who wrote:  "On the morning of the seventh of July, the four companies of the town militia was paraded when the Declaration of Independence was read.  Mr. Smith (who signed it) made a speech...and then threw up his hat and hurrahed for liberty and independence.  The militia on parade and others attending followed their example."

Thanks to Congress, we know how other Americans felt back then.  A half century later, legislation was enacted to provide pensions for those who fought in the Revolutionary War.  Determining who was eligible wasn't easy as documentary evidence was scarce.  Citizen soldiers had drifted in and out of the militias and applicants for pensions had to submit an affidavit of their experience.

These are preserved in the National Archives and of great interest to historians.  It tells us more of the story and from a more common reference point, not just the generals and statesmen.

And, a Happy Birthday to the U.S..