[Featured image: “Remember the Maine!” USS Maine in Havana harbor, shortly before the explosion]
1862: A week after Brig. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and Flag Officer Andrew H. Foote capture Fort Henry, the combined force has besieged nearby Fort Donelson (Tenn.). The Confederate defenders manage to drive off Foote’s gunboats, but are surrounded by Grant’s soldiers. On this date, Brig. Gen. John B. Floyd attempts a breakout, hoping to open an escape route to Nashville. Grant’s men drive the Confederates back to the fort, and the next day accept the surrender of some 12,000 soldiers.
After his victories at Forts Henry and Donelson, Grant has given the North control of both the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers in the first major victories for the Union. He earns the nickname “Unconditional Surrender” Grant and a promotion to major general.
1898: A terrific explosion rips through the bow of USS Maine anchored in Havana Harbor, Cuba. Within minutes, 260 U.S. sailors and Marines – two-thirds of the battleship’s crew – are dead.
Convinced that the explosion (the cause of which is still being debated) is the result of a mine or the work of Spanish saboteurs, American newspapers will demand vengeance. America will soon be at war with Spain.
1944: When the Fifth Air Force attack planes and bombers target the Papua New Guinea island of New Ireland, several planes are shot down. Lt. Nathan G. Gordon and his eight-man PBY “Catalina” seaplane crew are dispatched to rescue the downed airmen. Despite very rough seas and being targeted by heavy, close-range enemy fire, Gordon and his crew make multiple landings, saving 15 officers and men.
Gordon is awarded the Medal of Honor and his crew are each awarded the Silver Star.
In Italy, 254 B-17 and B-25 bombers of the Twelfth Air Force destroy the centuries-old abbey atop Monte Cassino. Believing the Germans had been using the historic landmark as an observation post, General Sir Harold Alexander, the Commander-in-Chief of Allied Armies in Italy, had ordered its destruction. Although the Germans avoided using the site before the bombing, they occupy the ruins following its destruction.
The ruined abbey atop Monte Cassino in 1944 (Source: DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University)
After several bloody assaults on Monte Cassino, the Allies finally prevail in May, but at the heavy cost of well over 50,000 casualties.
