Today in History for Jan. 13, 2016

Quincy A. Gillmore

Jan. 13, 1128 - The military order Knights Templar was granted a papal sanction, declared to be an army of God by Pope Honorius II.

Jan. 13, 1776 - In the early morning hours of this day, British forces raided Prudence Island, Rhode Island, in an effort to steal a large quantity of sheep. But, upon landing on the island’s southern beaches, the British were ambushed by fifteen Minutemen from Rhode Island’s Second Company led by Captain Joseph Knight, who had been tipped off to the Brits’ plans and rowed across Narragansett Bay from Warwick Neck the previous morning. A brief but deadly battle ensued before the British were forced to retreat. Three British marines were killed and seven injured during the ambush. Two Minutemen were wounded; one died and the other was taken prisoner.

Jan. 13, 1807 - Union General Napoleon Bonaparte Buford was born in Woodford, Kentucky. During the Civil War, Buford held many commands in the West and was a hero at the Battle of Belmont, Missouri.

Jan. 13, 1830 – The Great Fire of New Orleans, Louisiana began.

Jan. 13, 1840 – Confederate soldier Walter Newton Duke was born. He enlisted in Co. D. of the 5th Alabama Regiment (later Co. C after April 27, 1862) on March 16, 1861. He was listed as sick at St. Frances de Sales Hospital between March 1, 1862 and Aug. 31, 1862. He was taken prisoner at South Mountain, Md. on Sept. 14, 1862, forwarded to Ft. Delaware, Del. on Oct. 2, 1862 and to Aikens Landing for exchange on Nov. 10, 1862. He was a patient at Winder General Hospital No. 4 from Nov. 3, 1862 to Dec. 16, 1862. He was taken prisoner at Gettysburg on July 4, 1863 and forwarded to Ft. Delaware on July 7, 1863 and arrived on July 12, 1863. He arrived at Point Lookout, Md. on Oct. 23, 1863 and was paroled on Feb. 18, 1865. He died on Dec. 16, 1922 and was buried in Ramah Cemetery at Teneha in Shelby County, Texas.

Jan. 13, 1852 – While drifting slowly in the Pacific doldrums, two New Bedford whaling vessels, the Monongahela and the Rebecca Sims, supposedly encountered a huge sea serpent that was over 100 feet long and about 50 feet in diameter. Its color was a brownish gray with a light stripe about three feet wide running its full length. Its neck was 10 feet around, and it supported a grotesque head that was 10 feet long and shaped like that of a gigantic alligator.

Jan. 13, 1861 – During the Civil War, President James Buchanan received envoys from both Union Major Robert Anderson (commander at Fort Sumter, S.C.) and South Carolina governor, Francis W. Pickens, regarding the status of Fort Sumter. President Buchanan, while trying not to provoke South Carolina authorities, stated that Fort Sumter would not be turned over to them.

Jan. 13, 1862 – During the Civil War, the Burnside Expedition arrived off of Hatteras Inlet, N.C., and proceeded into Pamlico Sound. President Abraham Lincoln appointed Edwin Stanton as the new Federal Secretary of War.

Jan. 13, 1863 – During the Civil War, a Federal expedition began from Helena, Ark. up the White River. The USS Columbia also ran aground off the coast of North Carolina and was burned by the Confederates a few days later. A skirmish was also fought near Hamburg, Tenn.

Jan. 13, 1863 - During the Civil War, a three-day Federal reconnaissance began between Murfreesborough to Versailles, Tenn. A seven-day Federal reconnaissance began from Nashville to Cumberland River Shoals, Tenn. A Federal operation began between Yorktown and West Point, Va.

Jan. 13, 1864 - A two-day Federal reconnaissance began from Pin Bluff to Monticello, Ark. President Abraham Lincoln ordered Major Generals Quincy A. Gillmore in Florida and Nathaniel P. Banks in New Orleans, La. to proceed in constructing free governments in the states of Florida and Louisiana. Skirmishes were also fought at Ragland Mills, Ky.; at Collierville, Sevierville and at Schultz’s Mill, on Cosby Creek Tenn.; near Ely's Ford, Va.

Jan. 13, 1865 – Federal operations began against Fort Fisher, N.C. Shelling continued and Federal infantry was put ashore. At Tupelo, Miss., Confederate Lieutenant General John Bell Hood resigned as commander of the Confederate Army of Tennessee.

Jan. 13, 1865 - Lt. Commander Stephen B. Luce, whose ship, the USS Pontiac came and supported Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman‘s troops’ movement across the Savannah River at Sister’s Ferry, Ga., as they continued to move toward Charleston wrote: “After hearing General Sherman’s clear exposition of the military situation, the scales seemed to fall from my eyes.....it dawned on me that there were certain fundamental principles....of general application whether the operations were on land or sea.” Luce in later years was the primary force in founding what a later generation would call the Naval War College.

Jan. 13, 1865 - In North Carolina, Union forces began a massive three-day bombardment at Fort Fisher.

Jan. 13, 1870 – The stockholders of the Monroeville Academy met at the Monroe County Courthouse at 4 p.m.

Jan. 13, 1880 - Internationally known folklorist Ruby Pickens Tartt was born in Livingston, Ala. Tartt chronicled the folk music and slave narratives of Sumter County, helping preserve the culture by recording folk performances and writing stories and articles on the subject. Her work with experts John A. Lomax and Harold Courlander brought African American folklore to international prominence. The culture she helped preserve continues to affect the world of folk music and folk culture as her notes, the songs, the singers, the stories and the storytellers are rediscovered by a new generation of scholars and musicians.

Jan. 13, 1906 – A head-on collision between two trains took place on the Southern Alabama division of the Louisville & Nashville railroad about two miles north of Monroe Station at about 5 a.m. One of the trains was a northbound logging train of 11 empty cars belonging to the Bear Creek Mill Co. The other train was a southbound “special” train carrying the “Little Johnny Jones” theatrical company from Selma to Pensacola. That train consisted of two baggage cars, a day coach and two Pullman luxury cars.

Jan. 13, 1906 - Hugh Gernsback of the Electro Importing Company advertised radio receivers for sale for the price of just $7.50 in "Scientific American" magazine.

Jan. 13, 1910 – The first public radio broadcast took place as a live performance of the opera “Cavalleria rusticana” was sent out over the airwaves from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York, New York.

Jan. 13, 1915 – The Evergreen Courant reported that Brooklyn, Ala. merchant E.N. Amos had entered bankruptcy.

Jan. 13, 1916 – The Conecuh Record reported that a Butler County, Ala. grand jury did not indict W.J. Travis for killing Dr. Nall “a short time ago” in McKenzie.

Jan. 13, 1916 – The Conecuh Record reported that the First National Bank of Evergreen (Ala.) had elected its board of directors and officers for the ensuing year during a recent meeting. Those directors and officers included Robt. F. Croom, president; Lewis Crook, active vice-president; C.R. Taliaferro, vice-president; J.D. Wright, cashier. The Record also reported that, during recent board meeting, the Peoples Bank of Evergreen had also elected directors and officers for the coming year. They included President, C.P. Deming; vice-president and cashier, A. Cunningham; assistant cashier, C.P. Deming Jr. and Byron Tisdale. W.B. Ivey was added to the board of directors.

Jan. 13, 1916 – The Conech Record reported that Conecuh County Sheriff Williams killed a “mad dog” a few days before.

Jan. 13, 1916 – The Conecuh Record reported that the Equalization Board was in session that week.

Jan. 13, 1916 – The Conecuh Record reported that a “white man” killed Wade Longmire a few days before, and the killing reported grew out of a dispute over a debt.

Jan. 13, 1916 – The Conecuh Record reported that the Martin Drug. Co. had sold out to Betts & Newton.

Jan. 13, 1916 – The Monroe Journal reported that Monroe County (Ala.) Education Superintendent J.A. Barnes had “invested in a brand new car and will now better than ever be enabled to make close and efficient supervision of rural schools.”

Jan. 13, 1929 - Nearly 50 years after the famous gunfight at the O.K. Corral, Wyatt Earp died quietly in Los Angeles at the age of 80.

Jan. 13, 1935 – A plebiscite in Saarland shows that 90.3 percent of those voting wish to join Nazi Germany.

Jan. 13, 1937 – The “Allen Treasure,” $2,700 in pre-Civil War gold coins were discovered beneath a smoke house in the Clarke County community of Rockville, Ala.

Jan. 13, 1955 – Astronomer Morris K. Jessup, the author of “The Case for the UFO,” received a letter from a man who identified himself as “Carlos Allende.” In the letter, Allende informed Jessup of the “Philadelphia Experiement.”

Jan. 13, 1955 – Novelist Jay McInerney was born in Hartford, Conn.

Jan. 13, 1957 – Short-story writer Lorrie Moore was born in Glen Falls, N.Y.

Jan. 13, 1962 - In the first Farm Gate combat missions, T-28 fighter-bombers were flown in support of a South Vietnamese outpost under Viet Cong attack. By the end of the month, U.S. Air Force pilots had flown 229 Farm Gate sorties. Operation Farm Gate was initially designed to provide advisory support to assist the South Vietnamese Air Force in increasing its capability. The 4400th Combat Crew Training Squadron arrived at Bien Hoa Airfield in November 1961 and began training South Vietnamese Air Force personnel with older, propeller-driven aircraft. In December, President John F. Kennedy expanded Farm Gate to include limited combat missions by the U.S. Air Force pilots in support of South Vietnamese ground forces. By late 1962, communist activity and combat intensity had increased so much that President Kennedy ordered a further expansion of Farm Gate. In early 1963, additional aircraft arrived and new detachments were established at Pleiku and Soc Trang. In early 1964, Farm Gate was upgraded again with the arrival of more modern aircraft. In October 1965, another squadron of A-1E aircraft was established at Bien Hoa. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara approved the replacement of South Vietnamese markings on Farm Gate aircraft with regular U.S. Air Force markings. By this point in the war, the Farm Gate squadrons were flying 80 percent of all missions in support of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN). With the build up of U.S. combat forces in South Vietnam and the increase in U.S. Air Force presence there, the role of the Farm Gate program gradually decreased in significance. The Farm Gate squadrons were moved to Thailand in 1967, and from there they launched missions against the North Vietnamese in Laos.

Jan. 13, 1966 – The Evergreen Courant reported that David L. Burt Jr. of Evergreen, Ala. had sold an Aberdeen-Angus bull to Nathaniel McMillan of Repton.

Jan. 13, 1966 – The Evergreen Courant reported that the Evergreen (Ala.) Kiwanis Club had recently installed its new slate of officers. They were Otis Bell, president; Lamar Rogers, vice president; Delma Bowers, treasurer; and Horace Deer, secretary.

Jan. 13, 1966 – The Evergreen Courant reported that Fireman Apprentice Frederick W. Salter, USN, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Brooks Salter of Rt. 2, Evergreen, Ala., was back on station off the coast of Vietnam aboard the attack aircraft carrier USS Ticonderoga, after a nine-day visit to Yokosuka, Japan. The visit gave Ticonderoga’s crew and air squadrons a rest after two months of operations with the Seventh Fleet in the South China Sea.

Jan. 13, 1968 – Johnny Cash gave his legendary live performance at Folsom Prison in Folsom, Calif.

Jan. 13, 1972 – George C. Wallace of Alabama declared himself a Democratic candidate for U.S. President, entering the field with George McGovern, 1968 nominee Hubert Humphrey, and nine other Democratic opponents.

Jan. 13, 1972 – President Richard Nixon announced that 70,000 U.S. troops will leave South Vietnam over the next three months, reducing U.S. troop strength there by May 1 to 69,000 troops. Since taking office, Nixon had withdrawn more than 400,000 American troops from Vietnam. With the reduction in total troop strength, U.S. combat deaths were down to less than 10 per week. However, Nixon still came under heavy criticism from those who charged that he was pulling out troops but, by turning to the use of air power instead of ground troops, was continuing the U.S. involvement in Vietnam rather than disengaging from the war. The last American troops would be withdrawn in March 1973 under the provisions of the Paris Peace Accords.

Jan. 13, 1976 – Actor Michael Peña was born in Chicago.

Jan. 13, 1977 – The Evergreen Courant reported that five persons had been arrested and charged with the burglary of the County Line Discount Package Store on U.S. Highway 84, outside Repton, Ala., on the Conecuh-Monroe county line. The burglary took place around midnight on Jan. 4, 1977.

Jan. 13, 1977 – The Evergreen Courant reported that Evergreen High School’s boys basketball team improved to 6-2 on the season with a 72-58 win over T.R. Miller. Senior center Marion Stanton led Evergreen with a double double, scoring 15 points and grabbing 16 rebounds.

Jan. 13, 1978 – National Baseball Hall of Fame manager Joe McCarthy died at the age of 90 in Buffalo, N.Y. During his career, he managed the Chicago Cubs, the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1957.

Jan. 13, 1983 - Weather observer Earl Windham reported a low of 23 degrees in Evergreen, Ala.

Jan. 13, 1986 - "The Wall Street Journal" printed a real picture on its front page. The Journal had not done this in nearly 10 years. The story was about artist, O. Winston Link and featured one of his works.

Jan. 13, 2005 - Major League Baseball adopted a steroid-testing program that suspended first-time offenders for 10 days and randomly tested players year-round.

Jan. 13, 2005 - Concert and operatic star Nell Rankin died in New York at age 81. The Montgomery, Ala. native made her stage debut in Wagner's Lohengrin in Zurich, Switzerland in 1949.

Jan. 13, 2005 - The NFL fined Randy Moss of the Minnesota Vikings $10,000 for pretending to pull down his pants and moon the Green Bay Packer crowd during a playoff win the previous weekend.

Jan. 13, 2006 – A tornado destroyed the Belleville, Ala. fire station and left a path of debris and structural damage a half-mile wide and a mile long along U.S. 84. One death occurred, three homes were destroyed, and 15 structures were damaged.