Siege of Port Hudson
Port Hudson protected a difficult stretch of the Mississippi River. Farragut’s March passage preceded Banks’s land siege, whose costly assaults and prolonged investment ended with the Confederate surrender on July 9, 1863.
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Sinking of battleship Yamato
As fighting raged around Okinawa, one of the largest battleships ever built, the Japanese Yamato, steamed south on what was essentially a one-way mission. The plan called for Yamato and a small escort force to reach Okinawa, beach the ship, and fight as a coastal battery in a desperate attempt to blunt the American invasion. United States Navy carrier task forces detected the sortie and launched waves of aircraft tha
Sinking of the Lusitania
On May 7th, 1915, the British liner Lusitania approached the coast of Ireland, carrying civilians, including many American passengers, through waters patrolled by German submarines. When a German U-boat torpedoed the ship, the blast and a rapid list sent the liner under in a matter of minutes, leaving thousands in the water and claiming well over a thousand lives. Among the dead were American men, women, and children
Sinking of the Troopship Dorchester
In the frigid, dark waters of the North Atlantic, war at sea often struck suddenly and without mercy. In the early hours of February 3rd, 1943, the American troopship Dorchester, carrying more than nine hundred soldiers, seamen, and civilian workers, was torpedoed by a German submarine while en route to Greenland. The blast knocked out power and communication, and the ship began to list and sink in bitter cold, far f
Sinking of USS Indianapolis
As the Pacific war neared its end, the heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis completed a secret mission: delivering components of the first atomic bomb to a base on Tinian. After departing without a dedicated escort, the ship steamed west toward the Philippines. Shortly after midnight on July 30th, a Japanese submarine fired torpedoes that tore into the cruiser’s side. The ship sank in minutes, and around a thousand sailors
Sinking of USS Squalus off New Hampshire
The technological face of United States naval power carried its own risks, even in peacetime. On May 23rd, 1939, the submarine USS Squalus submerged for a test dive off the New Hampshire coast and suffered a catastrophic failure in one of its main air and water systems. Seawater flooded aft compartments, sending the boat to the bottom in cold, dark water with part of the crew trapped inside.
Skirmish at Jumonville Glen
In late May of 1754, a young Virginia officer named George Washington led colonial troops and Native allies through the forests of the Ohio Country. Near a small encampment of French soldiers at a place later called Jumonville Glen, his party launched a surprise attack that killed or captured most of the detachment, including its commander.
Son Tay raid
A story of a precision raid, a missing prize, and how a failed rescue still reshaped a distant war.
South Carolina secedes from the Union
When delegates in South Carolina voted on December 20th, 1860 to leave the Union, they set in motion a crisis that would soon reshape the United States military.
Spanish-American War armistice
Jumping ahead to August 12th, 1898, American and Spanish representatives signed a protocol that halted fighting in the Spanish-American War. In a conflict that had opened only a few months earlier with battles around Cuba and the Philippines, United States forces quickly destroyed Spanish naval squadrons and seized key positions.
St. Clair’s Defeat on the Wabash
On this day a fledgling United States Army marched into disaster along the Wabash River in the Northwest Territory.
Star of the West incident
In the tense weeks after South Carolina seceded, a small Union relief ship named Star of the West steamed toward Charleston Harbor. Its mission was to bring supplies and reinforcements to Major Robert Anderson’s garrison at Fort Sumter. On January 9th, 1861, as the ship approached the harbor’s defenses, shore batteries manned in part by South Carolina forces and cadets from the state’s military academy opened fire.
Street Fighting in Hue
During the Tet Offensive, a coordinated series of attacks launched by North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces, the ancient imperial city of Hue became one of the most hotly contested urban battlefields of the war. By February 8th, 1968, American Marines and soldiers, together with South Vietnamese units, were fully engaged in a block-by-block struggle to retake neighborhoods and key government sites inside the city.
Submarine USS F-4 lost off Hawaii
Early American submarines were experimental craft, operating at the edge of the technology of their day. On March 25th, 1915, the USS F-4, a small submarine of the F-class, sank during a routine dive near Honolulu, taking her crew with her to the bottom in relatively deep water. Investigators concluded that corrosion and battery problems contributed to hull failure, allowing seawater to flood the boat.
Surrender at Appomattox Court House
In a small Virginia village, General Robert E. Lee met General Ulysses S. Grant to discuss terms, bringing the main Confederate field army in Virginia to surrender. Lee’s forces had been worn down by siege, shortages, and constant pressure, and the attempt to slip westward had been cut off by Union pursuit.
Surrender at Bennett Place
As the Civil War drew to a close, one of the largest remaining Confederate armies faced hard realities in the Carolinas. Near a small farm called Bennett Place, outside Durham Station in North Carolina, General Joseph E. Johnston met repeatedly with Union General William Tecumseh Sherman. After the shock of President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination complicated negotiations, the two commanders eventually agreed on new
Surrender at Fort Donelson
On February 16th, 1862, Confederate forces at Fort Donelson on the Cumberland River surrendered to Union troops under Brigadier General Ulysses S. Grant, marking one of the first major Union victories in the Western Theater of the Civil War. The campaign had begun with the capture of nearby Fort Henry earlier that month, opening the Tennessee River and rattling Confederate defenses in the region.
Surrender at Saratoga
On this day General John Burgoyne’s British army laid down its arms to American forces near Saratoga, New York, ending a failed campaign to cut New England off from the other colonies.