Visit to Grant's Canal

I created a post about Grant's Canal several years ago. I got to visit the last remaining part in April 2014.  The canal is just off I-20 on the Louisiana side of the Mississippi across from Vicksburg, Mississippi. The canal had plenty of water seeing that it had rained the day before. Some photos I have seen elsewhere of the canal show it dry. If you make it to Vicksburg, be sure to visit Vicksburg National Park, the National Cemetery, and the amazing USS Cairo display, in addition to the canal.

Battles of Saratoga

The battles of Saratoga marked a turning point in the American War of Independence. More of a mini-campaign than single battle, Saratoga was actually two major battles, with multiple skirmishes in between. The two main battles were fought 18 days apart on the same ground near Saratoga, New York.


British general John Burgoyne was attempting to drive down from Canada through the heart of New York in an effort to cut the colonies in two. The campaign started out well for Burgoyne. On September 19, 1777 he defeated American forces under Horatio Gates at the Battle of Freeman's Farm. This engagement is also considered the first Battle of Saratoga.

Logistical problems and attrition would lead to Burgoyne's downfall. By October 7th he only had about 5,000 combat-ready troops. The Battle of Bemis Heights, or the Second Battle of Saratoga, was fought that day. Over 8,000 American troops led by Gates and Benedict Arnold took to the field. British grenadiers opened the battle at 2 p.m. A charge by the grenadiers was broken up by short-range fire. Burgoyne lost 400 men and six of ten field pieces in the first hour. Agitated, Arnold led a successful attack on Breymann's Redoubt as darkness descended. Burgoyne retreated northward, but his dwindling army was soon surrounded. He surrendered his army on October 17th at Saratoga.


Not only did Saratoga prevent the British from cutting the colonies in two, it encouraged the French to enter the war on the side of the Americans. The War of American Independence turned decidedly in the favor of the Americans. The battlefield is preserved as Saratoga National Historic Park.

The Siege of Bastogne ranks high on any list of American military triumphs. In late 1944 Nazi Germany was in retreat, pursued from the east by Stalin's Red Army and from the west by a coalition of American, British and minor allies. Out of desperation, Hitler launched what would prove to be the final German offensive of the war, in hope of securing a favorable settlement with the Western Allies before the Russians reached Berlin.

The German name for the operation, Unternehmen Wacht am Rhein, meant "Operation Watch on the Rhine." The Germans decided to attack along a lightly defended area of the Allied line in the Ardennes Forest in Belgium. Launched on December 16th, Germans armored columns plunged westwards in hope of recapturing the port city of Antwerp. 

The 101st Airborne Division, along with various other units, was stationed in a the small village of Bastogne. One look at the map tells everything one needs to know—all roads led to Bastogne. Heinrich Freiherr von Lüttwitz, commanding the 26th Volksgrenadier, 2nd Panzer, and Panzer-Lehr divisions was tasked with capturing the town before pushing onward. The attack caught the Americans off guard and the Germans succeeding in surrounding the village on the 20th.

The Americans held on tenaciously. Finally, on the 22nd the Germans sent forward a flag of truce to offer the Americans and ultimatum. Brigadier General Anthony McAuliffe, acting officer since Major General Maxwell D. Taylor was at a conference in America, allegedly crumpled the German paper while saying "Ah, nuts!" The offhand remark became the basis for McAuliffe's reply: "To the German Commander, NUTS! The American Commander." 

Air-dropped supplies kept the Americans supplied until General George Patton's 3rd Army punched through the line. The 101st was ordered to go on the offensive, pushing the Germans back to their starting point by January 17, 1945. Patton received many of the headlines and much of the glory, but the 101st boys see it differently. They thought they were fine and that Patton was simply a late comer.

The Battle of Borodino

Napoleon might have met his ultimate fate at Waterloo, but it was the Russian Campaign that proved to Europe that the Little Corporal could be undone. Napoleon missed a glorious opportunity to destroy the Russian army at Borodino that proved to be the last offensive action of his invasion of Russia.

The French Grande Armée entered Russia in June 1812 and steadily advanced. On August 29th, General Mikhail Kutuzov took over command of Russian forces. The Russians wisely retreated towards Moscow. Kutusov realized that the time had come to offer battle, if only to bolster the morale of his troops. He chose to make his stand at Borodino. The Russians began to construct a line with earthworks, including three arrow-shaped "Bagration fléches" named after General Pyotr Bagaration.

Despite attrition from the tiring campaign, the French Army was still the finest in Europe. A tense but futile attempt to stop or delay the French at the Shevardino Redoubt left the Russian army in confusion. The battle, fought on September 7, 1812, quickly became a defensive effort on the part of the Russians.

Repeated, heavy attacks eventually drove the Russians from Bagration's fléches, but smoke, dust and exhaustion prevented the French from advancing and destroying Bagration's army. Napoleon, sick with a cold and far from the battlefield refused to release the Imperial Guard, his last reserve.

The fiercest fighting took place at the Raevsky redoubt. The position changed hands a number of times as each offensive and counteroffensive added to the mounting toll of casualties. The Russians abandoned the redoubt for good when a division of French cuirassiers, along with Polish and Saxon cavalry squadrons shared and captured the contested area. Casualty estimates vary widely, but it is likely that more 70,000 men were captured, wounded or killed in the epic struggle.

Despite the slaughter, the Russian army had survived and Napoleon's had suffered losses that could not be replaced so far from home. A French victory, some scholars believe it could easily have been a glorious Russian victory if Kutuzov had better placed his forces. Napoleon would make it to Moscow, but with a greatly weakened army. After his eventual retreat, less than 10% of Napoleon's 286,000 troops would cross the Russian border alive. 

The Battle of Smolensk

Smolensk has been the site of a number of key battles in history. In 1941 the German Wehrmacht was dealt its first serious delay during Operation Barbarossa at Smolensk. In 1943 Soviet forces methodically cleared Smolensk of the German occupation force on their way to Berlin.

In 1812 Smolensk was the site of the first major battle of Napoleon's Russian Campaign. As can be seen from the map, Smolensk was a small but heavily-fortified city of about 13,000 souls. General Barclay de Tolly was in charge of Russian forces in the region. General Pytor Bagration corps was actually in the city. 

On August 14, 1812 Napoleon ordered his marshals to cross the Dneiper River and race to the city, intending to capture it without a fight. Poor communication allowed Bagration, against orders, to slip into the city. Two days later Napoleon assaulted the city in an effort to lure out the Russians. An intense artillery barrage soon had the city in flames. A lack of siege equipment, including ladders, hampered the French effort. On the 17th Tolly ordered the city abandoned in order to save the army. Though Napoleon succeeded in capturing the city, its destruction meant it was useless as a base of operations. French losses exceeded 4,000, with the Russians suffering at least 6,000. Some estimates double the numbers for both sides.

The Battle of New Orleans

The War of 1812 should have never happened. Enraged by the British practice of impressment, trade restrictions, and support of Native Americans, U.S. President James Madison convinced Congress to declare war. Signing the declaration on June 18, 1812, Madison would not learn for weeks, due to slow communications, that new Prime Minister Lord Liverpool was seeking to avoid war.

The war was fought in three theaters: At sea, along the northern border and in Canada, and along the American Gulf Coast. The most significant land battle was for New Orleans. Ironically, like the start of the war, this battle should have never took place. The Treaty of Ghent, signed on December 24, 1814 officially ended the war. News of the war's end would not reach Louisiana until February of the following year.

In December 1814 a British fleet laden with 8,000 soldiers moved against New Orleans. Capture of the city, strategically located near the mouth of the Mississippi River would have threatened the entire Louisiana Territory and the course of Manifest Destiny that would fuel American expansion in the 19th century.

General Andrew Jackson was charged with the defense of the city. British troops disembarked onto the west coast of the Mississippi on December 23rd. A quick movement by General John Keane might have easily resulted in capture of the city. A spoiling attack by Johnson's forces (technically a British victory) unnerved Keane enough to delay until all his forces arrived at the beginning of the new year. The Americans used the time wisely, converting a canal into a strong defensive line.

The main attack got under way before light on the morning of January 8th. British soldiers, hemmed in by the Mississippi on one side and swamps on the other, bravely crossed the open field towards the American positions. Despite having superior numbers and reaching several American positions along the bank of the river, the British attack never truly stood a chance. Two large assaults were repelled. Americans suffered 71 casualties; the British a staggering 2,042.

The battle secured American rights to the Louisiana Territory and made Andrew Jackson a national hero. In 1828 Jackson would be elected president, serving as one of the most memorable presidents in American history. The battle also bolstered American morale and unity, propelling the young nation into a time of great growth and optimism known as the "Era of Good Feelings."

The battle was the subject of a song, The Battle of New Orleans, written by Jimmy Driftwood and made popular when recorded by Johnny Horton in 1959.

The map is from The Library of Congress.

The Battle of the Bulge

Hitler was desperate. The summer of 1944 witnessed the crumbling of German armies on both the Eastern and Western Fronts. With the Western Allies having gained a solid foothold in France, Germany was being squeezed into submission. german resistance began to stiffen during the fall but something had to be done. Hitler stunned his generals with an audacious plan, "Wacht Am Rhein" (Watch on the Rhine), in which Wehrmacht forces would once more assume the offensive.

Though Hitler's thoughts were rarely grounded in reality, he was correct in believing that he would receive better terms from the Western Allies than Stalin—3 1/2 long years of brutal warfare left the Russians only desiring revenge. Hitler's plan called for the massing of what new forces could be scrapped together and focusing an attack against the lightly-defended Ardennes forest in an effort to recapture the Belgian port city of Antwerp. Hitler's prayer was that the Wallies resolve might waver and seek an armistice favorable to Germany, allowing Hitler to focus only on the Russian threat.

The attack was set for mid-December, counting on poor weather that would ground the Wallies superior air support. Launched on December 16th, German forces quickly overran the sparsely-populated American front lines. Problems soon developed. Lacking precious fuel, German plans depended on capturing American fuel dumps. once the alarm was raised, American troops began destroying bridges and setting up roadblocks in which a handful of soldiers held up the German columns on the narrow forest roads. The village of Bastogne proved to be a major stumbling block, with roads extending out like the legs of a spider, Bastogne was a key position. The Germans encircled the city, but never forced the surrender of the defending 101st Airborne Division. Falling behind schedule, lacking fuel, clearing weather allowing Allied air support, and with reinforcements racing to the front, the attack not only failed to reach Antwerp but at its greatest extent still fell short of the Meuse River. The Germans merely created a "bulge" in the Allied lines (see map above).

Though the American forces were under General Omar Bradley, British general Bernard Montgomery was given temporary command of units that had been isolated by the German incursion. General George Patton's Third Army swung up from the south to help relieve the siege of Bastogne and by the end of December German forces were in retreat back towards their starting line. On January 1, 1945 Hitler ordered the Luftwaffe to stage a large raid known as "The Great Blow." 800 planes took to the air in the last German air offensive. Despite destroying 200 Allied aircraft, the Germans lost over 300 and the Luftwaffe never flew in significant numbers again. By mid-January the Germans were back at their starting lines but fewer in men and equipment. The end of the Thousand-year Reich was just months away.

An excellent resource on this and other WW2 topics is Famous Men of the Second World War.