Show rJ Ho lf i IJ l c cj j 1 By ELMO SCOTT WATSON T WAS named for tor Au Augustus Augustas Caesar Roman Boman emperor and great military leader because it had been a lucky month for tor him this month which we now know as August Although the ther r 1 United States has never prided itself Itsell upon Imperialism as did this ancient conqueror the conqueror the name Itself means Imperial the Imperial the fact remains that August has been an important month in American military history It is doubtful if It there have been in any other single month In the year as many important engagements engagements engagements engage engage- ments with the enemy as ns there have during this one Heitmans Heitman's Historical Register and Dictionary Diction DIction- ary of the United States Army Anny Army 1903 lists no less than major battles skirmishes and other actions In which troops of ot our regular army Gave been engaged during August Add to this number the record of Important engagements durIng during dur dur- ing fag our colonial history and It Is easy to see why the characterization Au August st Month of Battles is isan isan an n apt one Every day In the month is the annl- annl ersary of some stirring military event as witness August 1 ln In In 1813 this day saw an on army of ot 1200 British and Indians led by General Proctor surround Ft Stephenson or Lower Sandu Sandusky ky on the present site of Fremont Ohio It was defended 1 by y men of the Seventeenth and Twenty fourth Infantries commanded by bj Capt George Geore Crogan Croan birthday ane and who had hod Just passed his twenty first six of his subordinates as youthful as himself They held the fort against repeated assaults on this day y and the next and when Proctors Proctor's army finally nally retreated the state of Ohio was delivered from the fear of or a British conque conquest t. t On August 1 end and 2 1832 1532 awa away up In the northwestern corner of Illinois an army commanded command d by Gen Henry Atkinson fought the engagement known knO as the Battle of Bad Axe river with the Sac and Fo Fox warriors of Chief Black mack Hawk and virtually ended the Black Hawk awk war August 2 Out 2 Out on the plains of or W Wyoming near Ft It Phil Kearny of tragic memory In the year 1867 1801 32 2 white men command command- commanded ed by Col J. J J W. W Powell of the Twenty seventh seventh Infantry I crouched down behind the scanty shelter of some wagon some wagon boxes arranged In the form of an oval Around them raged a torrent of or howling blood mad blood Chief blood savages Chief Red Clou Clouds Cloud's s 's Oglala Sioux Iou h in number Charge after charge of these Indians the finest r warriors of the western plains was hurled back by bythe of rifle the steady stream Black Hawk fire which wreathed the ImprovIsed Improvised Im- Im corral with a cloud of smoke e. e When the battle was over the 32 defenders had lost 2 killed and 2 wounded The loss of the Indians in killed and was 1137 No wonder the Wagon-Box Wagon fight has bas come down In history as aa asan an account that reads like a story of Cortez Cortex 1 I August 3 On 3 On this day in 1809 1569 Companies E B Band and F of the Twenty second second Infantry and a group of Indian scouts fought an engagement near Ft Stevenson Steven Ste son Bon In North Dakota with the hostile Sioux vho who were WE're swarming about that post From Its founding Ft Stevenson Steven Steven- r son was in an almost perpetual perpetual perpetual per per- state of siege and the R t white man who ventured out from Its walls went to certain k r death The only exception to this rule was the case of the famous scout Yellowstone r Kelly who acted as mall mail carrier carrIer carrier car car- rier between the Missouri Marinas Willett river posts in those days whose escapes were more thrilling than anything which can come from the imagination of ot a Wild West dime novelist August 4 One One hundred and fifty years ago on this date an army of British Tories and Indians commanded by Col Barry St St. Leger appeared before Ft II i Schuyler ler the former Ft u Stanwix on the present site sites s of Rome nome N. N Y T. It was defended defended de de- de fended tended by Continental troops commanded by Col Peter 6 Gansevoort and Col Marinus If It St St. Leger captured the fort he could sweep down the Mohawk valley and ravage this Granary of the Revolution y ir ri tion Join Burgoyne at Albany Albany Al Al- s bany and with him march Red Cloud south to Join General Howe in the stroke that would put an end to the Revolution But Dut Ft Schuyler held hehl out throughout the siege and the patriot cause was os saved August 5 out 5 Out In the wilds of western Pennsylvania Pennsyl Pennsyl- vanla vania one hot summer night In 1763 1163 a little army of British regulars and Colonials Co Co- commanded b by Col Henry Bouquet a Swiss soldier soldier sol sol- dier of fortune found themselves themselves them them- them selves In a desperate predicament s ment went They were marching to the relief of Ft Pitt a fron- fron otter outpost which was besieged be- be by Indians A large force torce of ot warriors had been sent rent to intercept Bouquets Bouquet's troops They were surrounded surround ed d and there was no hope for relief They must fight their way war out Defeat Detent meant mas mas- David d Farragut were seere Fight their way out they did The next morning by a brilliant stroke of strategy which should give Bouquet a place vInce with the great captains of ot American history the Indians were overwhelmingly defeated and his soldiers continued their triumphant marc march to Ft FL Pitt The battle of Bushy Run nun was one of ot the most mOlt decisive ever scored by white man over O r red d. d On this day also August 5 G In the tho year 1864 Admiral David Farragut won on his great victory at atthe atthe atthe the Battle of Mobile bay during the Civil war August 6 While While Col Barry St St. Le Leger r was layIng layIng lay- lay Ing lag siege to Ft Schuyler ler an army of ot New York YorkI I militia was marching to Its relief It was commanded commanded com com- ed by Gen Oen Nicholas Herkimer who had arranged arranged arranged ar ar- ranged with Colonel Gansevoort for tor a sortie from froma a the fort at the same time that Herkimer advanced j- j b with his troops to tp tp attack St St. Leger Unfortunately the well-laid well plans were upset by the rashness r l L r rand and Impatience of ot Herkimer's officers and men who demanded to be led against the foe toe imme Imme- And so they fell tell Into into and on the bloody Woody field of Oriskany August 6 0 1777 1771 they won a victory victory- but at nt the fearful price of ot one- one fourth of ot all their number August 7 In In the fastnesses of ot the Sierra Madre mountains in Sonora Mexico on this day In 1885 detachments of ot troops G Ot H. H j I It and K of ot the Fourth cavalry caval caval- ry accompanied by a party I of Indian scouts killed 5 hostile hostile hos hos- tU tile Chiricahua Apache Indi Indians Indians j ans and captured 15 women and children This may not sound like an Important vie vic victory tory but to anyone who knows of the hardships suffered suf sut- suffered by American soldiers in their campaigns against these S Shuman human tigers the warriors of ot the notorious Geronimo it was a victory of ot no mean Joseph Brant proportions It proved that the American soldier COULD run to earth these elusive enemies and it sounded sounded the knell to to the thelast thelast thelast last Important Indian uprising in the West August 8 On On this date began a n campaign by a detachment of ot Company A of ot the Twenty third Infantry and a group of ot Indian scouts In the Juniper Juniper Juniper Juni Juni- per mountains In Idaho which did not end for nearl nearly a month But when it did end the soldiers had rounded up the last stragglers of the hostile Flutes upon whom General Crook had Inflicted the crushing defeat earlier In the year August 9 Fifty Fifty years sears ago Au August st 9 J 1877 the Big nIg H Hole le river In Montana was the sc scene ne of o one i of the ments menus In the history of the West Chief Joseph the h 1 matchless leader of ot the Nez 5 Perces during his epic flight from his home in Oregon to s Canada was attacked at this place by Gen GeD John Gibbon I and his troops of ot the Second ii cavalry and Seventh infantry s Despite the surprise of ot the attack Joseph quickly rallied w. r-w. his warriors handled them so soIL IL skillfully that he beat oft off Gibbons Gibbon's attack and continued Chief Joseph his flight It was here that this Indian leader proved once more how well he deserved the title of The Indian Napoleon August 10 10 10 This Is s the anniversary of the Battle of f Wilsons Wilson's Creek in Missouri one of ot the few tew important Civil war battles fought In that state It was both a victory and a defeat for tor the Union army They drove the Confederates from the field but could not hold it and were forced to retreat They lost their leader Gen Nathaniel Lyon who was shot from his horse near the close of ot the battle But they won a moral victory for after this battle thousands of ot MIssourIans who had been wavering decided derided to stand by the Union August 11 This This is the anniversary of two Important Important important Im Im- Indian battles In the West In 1823 CoL Cot Henry Leavenworth ascended the Missouri river with a force of soldiers and trappers and Sioux allies to punish s. s the for their treacherous treacherous treacherous erous behavior toward representatives representatives representatives of the Rocky Mountain MountaIn Mountain Moun Moun- v z tain Fur company The campaign cam cam- ended on August 11 S when a treaty of ot peace was signed Fl Fifty ty years later theof the banks of ot the Yellowstone river In Montana saw a war party of ot Sioux attacking Col George A. A Custers Custer's Tom Custer Seventh cavalry Custer with witha a small detachment was far tar In advance of ot the regiment regIment regiment reg reg- when the Indians attacked and only the speed of ot his horse and the quick wit of ot his brother Capt Tom Custer saved him from the fate which overtook him less than three years later on the Big Little Horn In Montana r c August 12 On 12 On this date In 1676 1616 the first great Indian war wat in America came to an end endt when King Philip the Indian leader was shot down by bya a man of ot his own race who had led Capt BenjamIn Benjamin Benjamin Ben Ben- jamin Church to Philips Philip's hiding place In a swamp near his old home Mt 1 Hope Hove Massachusetts August 13 13 New New England has reason to remember remember ber her this date because In n 1776 1116 James Burnham Burnham Burnham Burn- Burn ham a Maine veteran of r the French and Indian Wars w 4 with 16 of ot his comrades by armed only with flintlock 3 muskets opened fire upon ar a r n British warship off Goat island 4 ty with such deadly effect that 5 17 sailors were killed d before i the British commander gave orders to weigh anchor and fir sail away S' S August 14 14 On this date in int t 1 1900 the Allied armies entered Peking China and when the St Stars rs and Stripes was carried carried car car- Kin King g Philip p ried through the gates of that city with the flags of ot other nations it meant the end of the Boxer uprising and safety for tor the whites who had been In such deadly peril for tor forso forso torso so long August 15 ln In In 1812 on this day a little army of whites was marching along what Is now Michigan an I avenue in Chicago Out of the sand hills along the lake lakeshore lakeshore lakeshore shore dashed a war party of fierce who opened fire upon the column There was a short sharp struggle ant and when It ended more than half halt of ot the whites had bad been killed The remainder remainder remainder remain remain- der were prisoners and the theFt Ft Dearborn massacre was history August 16 Up Up in the hills hlll of ot Vermont years ago on s this date August 16 16 1777 Frank Norm Gen John Stark Stork won a abrIl- abrIl brilliant bril- bril Hunt victory over the tho force torce of British and Hessians Hessians Hes Hes- sl ns led by Colonel Cole Baume Baumet a victory which contributed to the downfall of General Burgoyne Three years later near Camden S. S C. C General Gates who had conquered Burgoyne suffered d defeat fent at nt the hands of th British Lord alUs Thus did Gates' Gates northern willows turn Into southern weeds J Q August 17 This This Is the anniversary ol ot toe the on one oc occasion when the Indian won a victory over his hia enemy the Iron Horse Borse On this date In 1867 1807 a war party of ot wrecked a train near noar Plum Creek Neb and plundered the contents of ot the cars But In the midst ot of their exultant dance a force torce of ot the famous Pawnee scouts t led by MaJ F Frank ank North and his brother Capt Luther North appeared on the scene w J Jand i and put an end t to their re rev s 1 s August 18 The 18 The streets of ot the toe sleepy py old town of ot Santa Anth Anthony w Wayne Wayno Fe Fes N N. M. M resounded to the hoof beats of American cavalry on August Augu t 18 1846 Gen Stephen Stevhen W W. Kearney and his dragoons entered the city and raised the Stars and Stripes proclaiming the Southwest American territory August This 19 19 Is the annl ersary of ot two famous engagements In 2 lt saw Daniel B Boone one and his Kentuckians disastrously defeated by the Indians and a few tew British at the Battle of ot Blue Licks Ky a defeat caused by tho same rashness upon the part of ot headstrong men that brought disaster disaster disaster dis dis- aster to General Herkimer's army at at Oriskany five years earlier In 1812 It saw v one of ot the greatest victories ever eyer won by the Constitution when her guns humbled the British ship Guerriere August 20 He 20 He put the horses horse's hoof hoot on the moccasin and at the Battle of ot Fallen Timbers in Ohio on Au August st 20 1704 1794 Gen Anthony Wayne the Mad Anthony Wayne of ot Stony Point fame tame inflicted a aa a f crushing defeat upon uvon the warriors warriors warriors war war- of ot the confederated 9 tribes in the Old Northwest and brought peace at ot last to the harried frontier w I August 21 21 Ot 21 Of all the In Inv IndIvIduals Individuals whom whom whom- the title of ot guerilla has made famous famous- or rather Infamous the infamous the name of ot Charles leads all the rest During tl the e Civil war Kansas suffered from the scourge of ot war in many ways but its most appalling appalling ap ap- ap- ap palling disaster was raid on Lawrence La on A August gust 21 1853 when citizens fell victims to his ferocity making SD sO widows and orphans August 22 Thelast The last great uprising of ot the Indian tribes of the Southwest took place in 1874 1814 On August 22 of ot that year there was a hot engagement at the Wichita agency participated In by troops C F H and L Tenth cavalry and I Fifth FIrth Infantry Eventually however however however how how- ever the uprising was quelled queUed by Gen Nelson A. A Miles and his foot toot cavalry the Fifth infantry in a brilliant campaign campaign campaIgn cam cam- 1 in the staked plains of y Texas August 23 One One of ot the most serious Indian uprisings in Israel Putnam t American history was that f which occurred among the Sioux of ot Minnesota under under under un un- un- un der the leadership of Chief Little Crow In 1862 Hundreds of ot citizens were killed before Defore the Indians Indiana were defeated and one of the high spots of this way war was the attack upon New Ulm mm August 23 1862 August 24 Once 24 Once in history the capitol of ot our country was captured by bythe the enemy This occurred I on Au August st 24 1814 when a British army entered Washington close upon the heels of the fleeing President and other high government officials The Tho Invaders applied the torch and flames consumed the capItol the Presidents President's |