Other Facts About the Battle of Princeton

From the Mt. Vernon Organization.

**  WEATHER:  21 degrees at 8 am  "Fair & Frosty."    Some reported "shin deep snow" on the Clarke Farm battlefield.

**  STRENGTHS:    American - 4,500 est. with 35 artillery pieces.  British - 1,200 est. with  6 to 9 artillery pieces.

**  CASUALTIES:  Exact numbers are not known and estimates vary.  Fischer reports 232 killed and wounded for the British with maybe another  200 to 300 captured.  American losses were likely 31-37 killed, upwards of  37 wounded and 1 captured.

**  At the time of the battle, Princeton University was known as the College of New Jersey.  The name was changed to Princeton in 1896.

**  The Continental Congress convened in Nassau Hall from June 30, 1783, to November 4, 1783.  Congress moved here from Philadelphia to avoid risk from mutinous Continental  Army officers in and near Philadelphia.

--Cooter

These Are the Wars the U.S. Has Fought-- Part 2: The World Wars, Korea and Vietnam

**  WORLD WAR I (1917-1918)

The U.S. declared war on Germany April 6, 1917.

A total of 4,734,991 Americans served.     There were 116,516 killed and 204,002 wounded.

**  WORLD WAR II   (1941-1945)

16,112,566 Americans were called into service.  

405,339 were killed and 670,846 wounded.

******************************

**  KOREAN WAR   (1950-1953)

The Republic of Korea (South Korea) versus the Democratic  People's Republic of Korea (North Korea).  The United States and United Nations countries supported South Korea and China and the Soviet Union supported North Korea.

The war ended with an armistice that persists to this day.

5,720,000 Americans fought.

54,246 died and 103,284 were wounded.

**  VIETNAM WAR  (1955-1975)

There is some discussion as to when the war began for the United States.

It was North Vietnam (Communists) versus South Vietnam supported by the United States.

It really picked up for the U.S. after what was called the Gulf of Tonkin Incident.

In this war, 8,744,000 served and 90,220 died and 153,303 were wounded.

--Cooter

These Are the Wars the U.S. Has Fought-- Part 1 (With Casualties)

From the November 12, 2021, CVBJ.biz.

**   WAR OF INDEPENDENCE  (1775-1783) 

Estimated 184,000 to 250,000 Americans    4,435 killed, 6,188 wounded

**   ANGLO-AMERICAN WAR  (War of 1812)  (1812-1815)

286,730 Americans served   2,260 deaths, 4,505 wounded

**   MEXICAN-AMERICAN WAR   (1846-1848)

78,718 Americans served   13,283 died, 4,152 wounded

**   CIVIL WAR  (1861-1865)

2,213,363 Americans served in Union forces   364,511 dead    Between 600,000 and 1,500,000 Americans fought for the Confederacy    133,821 died

**   SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR   (1898)

306,760 Americans served   2,446 killed, 1,662 wounded

--Cooter

U.S. Presidents Who Served Under Four Years-- Part 2: Harrison and Garfield

1.  WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON  (March to April 1841)

Served the very least amount of time.  The ninth president and at age 68, the oldest to be elected at the time.  Shortly after his inauguration, he developed pneumonia and died April 4, 1841, exactly a month after taking office.  Better known for fighting Indians and his service in the War of 1812.

2.  JAMES A. GARFIELD (March-September 1881)

Served as a general in the Civil War.  Elected the 20th President of the U.S., he took office in March 1881.  Strong believer in social reforms and education for Blacks.

Shot in the back at a railroad station in July 1881 and died of wound-related causes 79 days later on September 19.  At the time, he was the second president to be assassinated.

Harrison and Garfield are the only presidents to serve less than a year.

--Cooter

Jacob Smith's Wounds

By the 1902 court martial, Jacob Smith had received three wounds during his war service:

**  Scar from a saber cut on the head which he received  in July 1861 in Barboursville, Virginia.

**  April 7, 1862, wounded by Minie ball in hip.  It was still in his hip in 1902.

**  Still had a bullet in his body  from a wound at El Caney in Cuba during the Spanish-American War.

A Walking Bullet.  --Cooter

Doughboy Convalescents Going Through DeKalb in 1919

From the February 27, 2019, MidWeek  (DeKalb County, Illinois)  "Looking Back."

1919, 100 Years Ago.

"A special train of soldier lads went through here yesterday afternoon about four o'clock going west with Camp Dodge, Iowa, as their destination.

"The soldier lads were convalescents, as many of them were seen  with bandages on their  arms and heads and it is probable, they are some of the more recently returned boys  from over there, who 'got theirs'  from stray Hun bullets."

--Cooter

End of War, Nov. 1, 1918: Casualties

ARMISTICE ENDS WORLD WAR I

2,171,560 Americans serve on Europe (1.39 million see active service on the front).

Casualties:

53,513 combat deaths

63,195 other deaths (mostly due to pneumonia and influenza)

204,002 wounded in action

58,000 gas casualties (2,000 fatal).

Canned Fruit for Wounded Soldiers in 1918

From the September 19, 2018, MidWeek  (DeKalb County, IL)  "Looking Back."

1918, 100 Years Ago.

"A barrel of canned fruit is to be made up by the ladies of Clare and sent to the Wesley hospital for the benefit of wounded soldiers.

"You may bring the fruit any time before the first of October to the home of Mrs. J.A. Daley and exchange it for an empty fruit can."

All For the War Effort.  --Cooter

Clinton Rosette Glidden-- Part 2: A Glidden Connection

Ancestry lists him as Clinton Rosette Glidden and that he lived from 1897 to 18 July 1919 and died in France.  In this case, he died a year after he was wounded.  I would think it would have been a 1918 death from the wound.

His parents were Varnum Alexander Glidden and Susie Stewart.

These Gliddens were related to Joseph Farwell Glidden of barbed wire fame..  As a matter of fact, Varnum Alexander Glidden names one of his sons Joseph Farwell Glidden.

--Cooter

WW I, August 1918: Offensives Leading To the End of the War

AUGUST 18, 1918 to NOVEMBER 11, 1918

OISE-AISNE OFFENSIVE

28th, 32nd, 77th, 88th (artillery) and 93rd  (370th Infantry) Infantry Divisions participate.

U.S. casualties:  1,919 Killed in Action, 8,248 Wounded in Action.


AUGUST 19, 1918 to NOVEMBER 11, 1918

BELGIUM: YPRES-LYS OFFENSIVE

27th, 28th (artillery) 30th, 37th and 91st Infantry Divisions drive to the Scheldt River.

U.S. casualties:  894 Killed in Action, 3,002 Wounded in Action

These two operations brought about the Armistice ending the war.

--Cooter

WW I, August 8-Nov. 11 1918: The Somme Offensive

AUGUST 8 TO NOVEMBER 11, 1918  Belgium

The 27th and 30th Infantry Divisions hold the East Poperingh Line and fight the Battle of Vierstraat Ridge.

The 33rd and 80th Infantry Divisions also serve in the offensive.

U.S. casualties:

3,221 Killed in Action
12,428 Wounded in Action

--Cooter

Fort Washington-- Part 4: Molly Pitcher?

Margaret Corbin of Virginia was at the battle.  She has been recognized as the first female soldier to fight for the American Army.

She was married to James Corbin of the First Company of Pennsylvania Artillery.  When her husband was killed in the assault on Fort Washington, she loaded and fired her husband's cannon.

Although severely injured, Margaret Corbin survived the battle but never fully recovered from her wounds and was unable to use her left arm.  She is at least one of the women, if not the woman, who inspired the legend of Molly Pitcher.

--Cooter

World War I Chronology, May 1918: Battle of Cantigny

From the April 2017 VFW magazine.

MAY 3-4--  18th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division loses 200 KIA and 600 WIA gassed in one night of shelling in the Picardy Sector

MAY 27-JUNE 5--  AISNE DEFENSIVE   U.S. 2nd and 3rd Infantry Divisions participate.  Stop German advance on Paris.

MAY 28--    BATTLE OF CANTIGNY   First U.S. offensive action of the war.  3,150 men of the 28th Infantry, 1st Division, sustain 187 KIA, 636 WIA in capturing Cantigny and 200 German POWs.

--Cooter

World War I Chronology, October 1917-- Part 2: Marines Organized, First U.S. Artillery Fire

OCTOBER 23--  U.S. 5th and 6th Marine Regiments in France are organized as the 4th Marine Brigade, part of the Army's 2nd Infantry Division.

OCTOBER 23--  C Battery, 6th Field Artillery, 1st Infantry Division, fires the first U.S. artillery shells of World War I.  The same day, D.H. harden, of the 26th Infantry, becomes the first U.S. combat soldier wounded in action on the Front.

--Cooter

World War I Chronology, 100 Years Ago This Month

SEPTEMBER 5, 1917

FIRST AEF WIA ON FRONT

Two members of the 11th Engineers of teh American Expeditionary Force (AEF) are wounded in action (WIA) by German shellfire at Gouzeaucourt --  the first Americans wounded while serving with a United States on the front lines of battle.

--Cooter

Chronology of World War I, June 1917

JULY 9

In the Pacific, the German commerce raider Wolff captures and sinks the American bark Beluya.  Fourteen people, including two women, are taken prisoner.

JULY 14

FIRST U.S. LAND CASUALTY OF WORLD WAR I

(Dr.) Louis J. Genelba is wounded in action by a shell splinter while serving with the British Medical Corps at Arras, France.

JULY 31

Armed American oil tanker Montano is torpedoed and sunk off the coast of Ireland:  16 crew members and eight Navy gunners drown.

--Cooter