Military History Anniversaries 15 Nov thru 14 DecSignificant events in U.S. Military History for the next 30 days are:

Nov 15 1777 – American Revolution: After 16 months of debate the Continental Congress approves the Articles of Confederation.

Nov 15 1864 – Civil War: Union General W.T. Sherman's troops set fires that destroy much of Atlanta Georgia as he began his march to the sea in an effort to cut the Confederacy in two.

Nov 15 1942 – WW2: The Battle of Guadalcanal ends in a decisive Allied victory. Nov 15 1960 – Cold War: The first submarine with nuclear missiles, USS George Washington,

takes to sea from Charleston, South Carolina. Nov 15 1969 – Vietnam: A quarter of a million anti–War demonstrators march in Washington,

D.C. Nov 15 1969 – Cold War: The Soviet submarine K–19 collides with the American submarine

USS Gato in the Barents Sea. Nov 16 1776 – American Revolution: British and Hessian units capture Fort Washington from

the Patriots. Nov 16 1776 – American Revolution: The United Provinces (Low Countries) recognize the

independence of the United States Nov 16 1863 – Civil War: Battle of Campbell's Station near Knoxville, Tennessee - Confederate

troops unsuccessfully attack Union forces. Casualties and losses: US 400 - CSA 570. Nov 16 1943 – WW2: American bombers strike a hydro-electric power facility and heavy water

factory in German-controlled Vemork, Norway Nov 16 1944 – WW2: Operation Queen, the costly Allied thrust to the Rur, is launched.

Casualties and losses: US & UK ~38,500 - Ger ~35,500. Nov 16 1943 – WW2: USS Corvina (SS–226) torpedoed and sunk by Japanese submarine I 176

south of Truk. 82 killed Nov 16 1944 – WW2: Dueren, Germany is completely destroyed by Allied bombers. Nov 16 1945 – Cold War: Operation Paperclip – The United States Army secretly admits 88

German scientists and engineers to help in the development of rocket technology. Nov 17 1970 – Vietnam: Lieutenant William Calley goes on trial for the My Lai massacre.

Nov 17 1856 – Indian Wars: On the Sonoita River in present-day southern Arizona, the United States Army establishes Fort Buchanan in order to help control new land acquired in the Gadsden Purchase.

1

Nov 17 1863 – Civil War: Siege of Knoxville begins with Battle of Campbell's Station near Knoxville TN – Confederate troops unsuccessfully attack Union forces.

Nov 17 1913 – The first ship sails from Atlantic to Pacific oceans via the Panama Canal. Nov 17 1943 – WW2: American bombers strike a hydro–electric power facility and heavy water

factory in German–controlled Vemork, Norway. Nov 17 1944 – WW2: Operation Queen, the costly Allied thrust to the Rur river was launched Nov 17 1945 – Cold War: Operation Paperclip – the United States Army secretly admits 88

German scientists and engineers to help in the development of rocket technology. Nov 17 1967 – Vietnam War: Acting on optimistic reports that he had been given on November

13, U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson tells the nation that, while much remained to be done, "We are inflicting greater losses than we're taking...We are making progress."

Nov 17 1969 – Cold War: Negotiators from the Soviet Union and the United States meet in Helsinki to begin SALT I negotiations aimed at limiting the number of strategic weapons on both sides.

Nov 18 1909 – Two United States warships are sent to Nicaragua after 500 revolutionaries (including two Americans) are executed by order of José Santos Zelaya.

Nov 18 1961 – United States President John F. Kennedy sends 18,000 military advisors to South Vietnam.

Nov 19 1861 – Civil War: Julia Ward Howe writes "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" while visiting Union troops.

Nov 19 1861 – Civil War: The Confederate raider Nashville captured and burned the Union clipper ship Harvey Birch in the Atlantic Ocean.

Nov 19 1863 – Civil War: Lincoln delivers the "Gettysburg Address" at the dedication of the National Cemetery at the site of the Battle of Gettysburg.

Nov 19 1943 – WW2: USS Sculpin (SS–191) damaged by Japanese destroyer Yamagumo and later scuttled north of Truk. 12 killed, 51 POWs later died and 21 POWs survived.

Nov 19 1944 – WW2: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt announces the 6th War Loan Drive, aimed at selling US$14 billion in war bonds to help pay for the war effort.

Nov 19 1950 – US General Dwight D. Eisenhower becomes Supreme Commander of NATO-Europe.

Nov 19 1979 – Iran hostage crisis: Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini orders the release of 13 female and black American hostages being held at the US Embassy in Tehran.

Nov 20 1776 – American Revolution: British forces land at the Palisades and then attack Fort Lee. The Continental Army starts to retreat across New Jersey.

2

Nov 20 1943 – WW2: U.S. Marines landed on Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands, one of the bloodiest campaigns waged by American forces against the Japanese in the Pacific.

Nov 20 1945 – WW2: Trials against 24 Nazi war criminals start at the Palace of Justice at Nuremberg.

Nov 20 1950 – Korea: U.S. troops push to the Yalu River, within five miles of Manchuria. Nov 20 1962 – Cuban Missile Crisis: In response to the Soviet Union agreeing to remove its

missiles from Cuba, U.S. President John F. Kennedy ends the quarantine of the Caribbean nation. Nov 20 1969 – Vietnam War: The Plain Dealer publishes explicit photographs of dead villagers

from the My Lai massacre in Vietnam. Nov 21 1864 – Civil War: From Georgia, Confederate General John B. Hood launches the

Franklin–Nashville Campaign into Tennessee Nov 21 1967 – Vietnam: American General William Westmoreland tells news reporters: "I am

absolutely certain that whereas in 1965 the enemy was winning, today he is certainly losing." Nov 21 1969 – U.S. President Richard Nixon and Japanese Premier Eisaku Sato agree in

Washington, D.C. on the return of Okinawa to Japanese control in 1972. Under the terms of the agreement, the U.S. is to retain its rights to bases on the island, but these are to be nuclear-free.

Nov 21 1970 – Vietnam: Operation Ivory Coast – A joint Air Force and Army team raids the Son Tay prison camp in an attempt to free American prisoners of war thought to be held there.

Nov 21 1985 – United States Navy intelligence analyst Jonathan Pollard is arrested for spying after being caught giving Israel classified information on Arab nations. He is subsequently sentenced to life in prison.

Nov 22 1812 – War of 1812: In a 1250 man punitive expedition against a Native American coalition of 3 tribes supported by Great Britain seventeen Indiana Rangers are killed and 3 are wounded at the Battle of Wild Cat Creek. Indian casualties are unknown.

Nov 22 1864 – Civil War: Sherman's March to the Sea: Confederate General John Bell Hood invades Tennessee in an unsuccessful attempt to draw Union General William T. Sherman from Georgia.

Nov 22 1943 – WW2: War in the Pacific – U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Chinese leader Chiang Kai–Shek meet in Cairo, Egypt, to discuss ways to defeat Japan (see Cairo Conference)

Nov 22 1977 – Vietnam: U.S. loses its first B-52 of the war. The eight-engine bomber was brought down by a North Vietnamese surface-to-air missile near Vinh on the day when B-52s flew their heaviest raids of the war over North Vietnam.

Nov 23 1863 – Civil War: Union forces win the Battle of Orchard Knob, Tennessee.

3

Nov 23 1863 – Civil War: The 3rd Battle of Chattanooga in Tennessee, one of the most decisive battles of the War, begins. Union forces led by General Ulysses S. Grant reinforce troops at Chattanooga, Tennessee and counter-attack Confederate troops.

Nov 23 1914 – Mexican Revolution: The last of U.S. forces withdraw from Veracruz, occupied seven months earlier in response to the Tampico Affair.

Nov 23 1941 – WW2: U.S. troops move into Dutch Guiana, by agreement with the Netherlands Government in exile, to guard the bauxite mines to protect aluminum ore supplies from the mines in Surinam.

Nov 23 1943 – WW2: Tarawa and Makin atolls fall to American forces. Nov 23 1968 – Vietnam: Battle of Nui Chom Mountain. The 4th Bn, 31st Infantry, 196th Inf Bde

fought and destroyed the 21st NVA Regiment on Nui Chom Mountain southwest of Da Nang in a fierce six day battle.

Nov 24 1943 – WW2: The USS Liscome Bay is torpedoed near Tarawa and sinks with nearly 650 men killed.

Nov 23 1944 – WW2: The first bombing raid against Tokyo is carried out by 88 American aircraft from Saipan.

Nov 24 1979 – The United States admits that thousands of troops in Vietnam were exposed to the toxic Agent Orange.

Nov 25 1758 – French and Indian War: British forces capture Fort Duquesne from French control. Fort Pitt is built nearby and it grows into modern Pittsburgh.

Nov 25 1783 – American Revolution: The last British troops leave New York City three months after the signing of the Treaty of Paris.

Nov 25 1863 – Civil War: Battle of Missionary Ridge - At Missionary Ridge in Tennessee, Union forces led by General Ulysses S. Grant break the Siege of Chattanooga by routing Confederate troops under General Braxton Bragg. Casualties and losses: US 5,824 - CSA 6,667.

Nov 25 1864 – Civil War: A group of Confederate operatives calling themselves the Confederate Army of Manhattan starts fires in more than 20 locations in an unsuccessful attempt to burn down New York City.

Nov 25 1876 – Indian Wars: In retaliation for the American defeat at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, United States Army troops sack Chief Dull Knife's sleeping Cheyenne village at the headwaters of the Powder River.

Nov 25 1940 – WW2: First flight of the deHavilland Mosquito and Martin B–26 Marauder. Nov 25 1952 – Korean War: After 42 days of fighting, the Battle of Triangle Hill ends as

American and South Korean units abandon their attempt to capture the "Iron Triangle". Casualties and losses: US 1,540 TOK 4,689 - CH 11,529.

Nov 26 1941 – WW2: The Japanese fleet departs from the Kuril Islands en route to its attack on Pearl Harbor.

Nov 26 1950 – Korea: Troops from the People's Republic of China launch a massive counterattack in North Korea against South Korean and United Nations forces (Battle of the Ch'ongch'on River & Battle of Chosin Reservoir), ending any hopes of a quick end to the conflict. Casualties and losses: Est. UN 11,000 - CH 40,000 & UN 17,843 - CH 48,156.

Nov 26 1968 – Vietnam: USAF helicopter pilot James P. Fleming rescues an Army Special Forces unit pinned down by Viet Cong fire and is later awarded the Medal of Honor.

4

Nov 27 1863 – Civil War: Confederate cavalry leader John Hunt Morgan and several of his men escape the Ohio Penitentiary and return safely to the South.

Nov 27 1863 – Civil War: Battle of Mine Run - Union forces under General George Meade position against troops led by Confederate General Robert E. Lee. Confederate victory. Casualties and losses: US 1282 - CSA 680.

Nov 27 1868 – Indian Wars: Battle of Washita River - United States Army Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer leads an attack with 503 soldiers on 150 Cheyenne warriors and 100 women and soldiers living on reservation. Casualty estimates vary.

Nov 27 1901 – The U.S. Army War College is established. Nov 27 1950 – Korea: East of the Choosing River, Chinese forces annihilate an American task

force. Nov 27 1965 – Vietnam: The Pentagon tells U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson that if planned

operations are to succeed, the number of American troops in Vietnam has to be increased from 120,000 to 400,000.

Nov 28 1862 – Civil War: In the Battle of Cane Hill, Union troops under General James G. Blunt defeat General John Marmaduke's Confederates. Casualties and losses: US 40 - CSA 45.

Nov 28 1941 – WW2: The aircraft carrier USS Enterprise departs from Pearl Harbor to deliver F4F Wildcat fighters to Wake Island. This mission saves the carrier from destruction when the Japanese attack.

Nov 28 1943 – WW2: Tehran Conference - U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin meet in Tehran, Iran to discuss war strategy.

Nov 28 1964 – Vietnam: National Security Council members agree to recommend that U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson adopt a plan for a two-stage escalation of bombing in North Vietnam.

Nov 29 1776 – American Revolution: The Battle of Fort Cumberland, Nova Scotia comes to an end with the arrival of British reinforcements.

Nov 29 1847 – Indian Wars: Whitman Massacre - Missionaries Dr. Marcus Whitman, his wife Narcissa, and 15 others are killed by Cayuse and Umatilla Indians, causing the Cayuse War.

Nov 29 1864 – Indian Wars: Sand Creek Massacre – Colorado volunteers led by Colonel John Chivington massacre at least 150 Cheyenne and Arapaho noncombatants inside Colorado Territory.

Nov 29 1864 – Civil War: Battle of Spring Hill – Confederate advance into Tennessee misses opportunity to crush Union army. Gen. Hood angered, leads to Battle of Franklin. Union victory. Casualties and losses: US 350 - CSA 500.

5

Nov 29 1872 – Indian Wars: The Modoc War begins with the Battle of Lost River when U.S. troops attempt to relocate them. Casualties and losses: US 7 - Modacs 5.

Nov 29 1950 – Korea: North Korean and Chinese troops force United Nations forces to retreat from North Korea.

Nov 29 1971 – Vietnam: Americal Division stands down and departs. They suffered 4,041 casualties during 2,111 days of combat.

Nov 30 1782 – American Revolution: Treaty of Paris - In Paris, representatives from the United States and the Kingdom of Great Britain sign preliminary peace articles (later formalized as the 1783 Treaty of Paris).

Nov 30 1864 – Civil War: Battle of Franklin – The Confederate Army of Tennessee led by General John Bell Hood mounts a dramatically unsuccessful frontal assault on Union positions with Hood losing six generals and almost a third of his troops. Casualties and losses: US 2,326 - CSA 6,252.

Nov 30 1942 – WW2: Guadalcanal Campaign Battle of Tassafaronga – A smaller squadron of 8 Japanese destroyers defeats a US cruiser force of 5 cruisers and 4 destroyers. Casualties and losses: US 1 cruiser sunk, 3 cruisers heavily damaged, & 395 killed - JP 1 destroyer sunk & 197 killed.

USS Minneapolis at Tulagi with torpedo damage a few hours after the battle

Nov 30 1950 – Korea: President Truman declares that the United States will use the A–bomb to get peace.

Nov 30 1972 – Vietnam: White House Press Secretary Ron Ziegler tells the press that there will be no more public announcements concerning American troop withdrawals from Vietnam due to the fact that troop levels are now down to 27,000.

Nov 30 1981 – Cold War: In Geneva, representatives from the United States and the Soviet Union begin to negotiate intermediate-range nuclear weapon reductions in Europe (the meetings ended inconclusively on Dec 17).

Nov 30 1995 – Official end of Operation Desert Storm. Dec 01 1918 – WWI: An American army of occupation enters Germany.

6

Dec 01 1921 – The first helium-filled balloon, a U.S. Navy C-7 dirigible, flew from Hampton Roads, VA to Bolling Field, Washington, D.C.

Dec 01 1941 – WW2: Emperor Hirohito of Japan gave the final approval to initiate war against the United States.

Dec 01 1959 – Cold War: Opening date for signature of the Antarctic Treaty, which sets aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve and bans military activity on the continent.

Dec 01 1964 – Vietnam: U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson and his top–ranking advisers meet to discuss plans to bomb North Vietnam.

Dec 01 1969 – Vietnam: America’s first draft lottery since 1942 is held. Dec 02 1775 – The USS Alfred becomes the first vessel to fly the Grand Union Flag (the

precursor to the Stars and Stripes); the flag is hoisted by John Paul Jones. Dec 02 1899 – Philippine-American War: The Battle of Tirad Pass, termed "The Filipino

Thermopylae", is fought. Casualties and losses: US 11 ~ RP 52. Dec 02 1942 – World War II: During the Manhattan Project, a team led by Enrico Fermi initiates

the first self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction. Dec 02 1943 – WW2: A Luftwaffe bombing raid on the harbor of Bari, Italy, sinks numerous

cargo and transport ships (18), including an American Liberty ship, the John Harvey, with a stockpile of World War I era mustard gas.

Dec 02 1944 – WW2: General George S. Patton’s troops enter the Saar Valley and break through the Siegfried line.

Dec 02 1962 – Vietnam War: After a trip to Vietnam at the request of U.S. President John F. Kennedy, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield becomes the first American official to comment adversely on the war's progress.

Dec 03 1775 – The USS Alfred became the first vessel to fly the Grand Union Flag (the precursor to the Stars and Stripes); the flag is hoisted by John Paul Jones.

Dec 03 1950 – Korea: The Chinese close in on Pyongyang, Korea, and UN forces withdraw southward. Pyongyang falls 2 days later.

Dec 03 1942 – WW2: U.S. planes make the first raids on Naples, Italy. Dec 04 1783 – At Fraunces Tavern in New York City, U.S. General George Washington bids

farewell to his officers. Dec 04 1864 – Civil War: Sherman's March to the Sea – At Waynesboro, Georgia, forces under

Union General Judson Kilpatrick prevent troops led by Confederate General Joseph Wheeler from interfering with Union General William T. Sherman's campaign destroying a wide swath of the South on his march to the Atlantic Ocean from Atlanta, Georgia.

Dec 04 1942 – WW2: Carlson's patrol during the Guadalcanal Campaign ends. Dec 04 1992 – Somalia: Operation Restore Hope - President George H. W. Bush orders an

intervention force of 28,000 U.S. troops to Somalia in Northeast Africa to try to provide a secure environment for United Nations humanitarian relief operations.

Dec 05 1775 – American Revolution: At Fort Ticonderoga, Henry Knox begins his historic 300 mile 50 day transport of 59 pieces of artillery weighing 60 tons to Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Dec 05 1943 – WW2: U.S. Army Air Force begins attacking Germany's secret weapons bases in Operation Crossbow

Dec 05 1944 – WW2: Allied troops occupy Ravenna.

7

Dec 05 1965 – Vietnam: First Medal of Honor for action in Vietnam awarded to Army Capt. Roger Donlon

Dec 06 1917 – WWI: USS Jacob Jones is the first American destroyer to be sunk by enemy action when it is torpedoed by German submarine SM U–53. She sank in 8 minutes with the loss of 66 officers and men and without issuing a distress call. The German sub commander after taking two badly injured Jacob Jones crewmen aboard his submarine, radioed the American base at Queenstown with the coordinates for the survivors.

Dec 06 1941 – WW2: President Franklin D. Roosevelt issues a personal appeal to Emperor Hirohito to use his influence to avoid war.

Dec 07 1776 – American Revolution: Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette arranges to enter the American military as a major general.

Dec 07 1862 – Civil War: Battle of Prairie Grove, Arkansas. Casualties and losses: US 1,251 – CSA 1,317.

Dec 07 1917 – WWI: The United States declares war on Austria–Hungary with only one dissenting vote in Congress.

Dec 07 1941 – WW2: The Imperial Japanese Navy attacks the United States Pacific Fleet and its defending Army Air Forces and Marine air forces at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, causing a declaration of war upon Japan by the United States. Japan also invades Malaya, Thailand, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and the Dutch Ea

Dec 07 1942 – WW2: The U.S. Navy launches USS New Jersey, the largest battleship ever built. It displaced 45,00 tons, was 887ft long, had a beam of 87 ft, draft of 28.9 ft, speed of 33 knots, and complement of 1,921 officers and men.

Dec 08 1861 – Civil War: CSS Sumter captures the whaler Eben Dodge in the Atlantic. The American Civil War is now affecting the Northern whaling industry.

Dec 08 1941 – WW2: Roosevelt declares war on Japan noting the previous day’s events mark it as a date that will live in infamy.

8

FDR delivers the Infamy speech to Congress

Dec 08 1943 – WW2: U.S. carrier–based planes sink two cruisers and down 72 planes in the Marshall Islands.

Dec 08 1944 – WW2: The United States conducts the longest, most effective air raid on the Pacific island of Iwo Jima.

Dec 08 1965 – Vietnam: Operation Tiger Hound – Aerial raids begin to interdict the Ho Chi Minh Trail to reduce North Vietnamese infiltration down the trail into South Vietnam. Became Operation hunt after 1968.

Dec 09 1775 – American Revolution: British troops lose the Battle of Great Bridge, and leave Virginia soon afterward. Casualties and losses: US 1 – GB 62 to 102.

Dec 09 1835 – The Texan Army captures San Antonio, Texas. Dec 09 1941 – WW2: The 19th Bombardment Group attacks Japanese ships off the coast of

Vigan, Luzon Dec 09 1946 – Subsequent Nuremberg Trials: The beginning of a series of 12 trials begin for war

crimes the United States authorities held in their occupation zone in Nuremberg, Germany after the end of World War II. These trials were held before US military courts, not before the International Military Tribunal, but took place in the same rooms at the Palace of Justice.

Dec 09 1946 – Subsequent Nuremberg Trials: The "Doctors' Trial" begins for prosecuting physicians and officers alleged to be involved in Nazi human experimentation and mass murder under the guise of euthanasia. The trial lasted until August 20, 1947. Of the 23 defendants, seven were acquitted and seven received death sentences; the remainder received prison sentences ranging from 10 years to life imprisonment.

Dec 09 1950 – Cold War: Harry Gold gets 30 years imprisonment for passing atomic bomb secrets to the Soviet Union during World War II.

Dec 09 1992 – Operation Restore Hope: U.S. Marines land in Somalia to ensure food and medicine reaches the deprived areas of that country.

Dec 10 1864 – Civil War: Sherman's March to the Sea – Major General William Tecumseh Sherman's Union Army troops reach the outer Confederate defenses of Savannah, Georgia.

Dec 10 1898 – Spanish American War: The U.S. and Spain sign the Treaty of Paris, officially ending the war and ceding Spanish possessions, including the Philippines, to the United States.

Dec 10 1941 – WW2: Battle of the Philippines - Imperial Japanese forces under the command of General Masaharu Homma land on the Philippine mainland at Luzon.

9

Dec 11 1862 – Civil War: Union General Ambrose Burnside occupies Fredericksburg and prepares to attack the Confederates under Robert E. Lee. The battle ends two days later with the bloody slaughter of onrushing Union troops at Marye's Heights.

Dec 11 1941 – WW2: Germany and Italy declare war on the United States, following the Americans' declaration of war on the Empire of Japan in the wake of the attack on Pearl Harbor. The United States, in turn, declares war on them.

Dec 11 1941 – WWW: OPA ordered the temporary end of tire sales while it created 7,500 unpaid, volunteer three-person tire ration boards around the country

Dec 12 1781 – American Revolution: Second Battle of Ushant - A British fleet led by HMS Victory defeats a French fleet and captures 15 transports,1,062 soldiers & 548 seamen.

Dec 12 1862 – Civil War: USS Cairo sinks on the Yazoo River, becoming the first armored ship to be sunk by an electrically detonated mine.

USS Cairo Ironclad

Dec 12 1863 – Civil War: Orders are given in Richmond, Virginia, that no more supplies from the Union should be received by Federal prisoners.

Dec 12 1937 – USS Panay incident: Japanese aircraft bomb and sink U.S. gunboat USS Panay on the Yangtze River in China.

Panay underway during the standardization trial off Woosung, China, on 30 August 1928

10

Dec 12 1941 – WW2: Fifty–four Japanese A6M Zero fighters raid Batangas Field, Philippines. Jesús Villamor and four Filipino fighter pilots fend them off; César Basa becomes the first Filipino pilot killed in combat.

Dec 12 1941 – WW2: USMC F4F Wildcats sink the first 4 major Japanese ships off Wake Island. Dec 12 1942 – World War II: German troops begin Operation Winter Storm, an attempt to relieve

encircled Axis forces during the Battle of Stalingrad. Dec 13 1775 – The Continental Congress authorizes the building of 13 frigates. Dec 13 1774 – Mass militiamen successfully attacked arsenal of Ft. William and Mary Dec 13 1862 – Civil War: At the Battle of Fredericksburg, Confederate General Robert E. Lee

defeats the Union Major General Ambrose E. Burnside. Casualties and losses: US 12,863 – CSA 5,377.

Dec 13 1964 – Vietnam: North Vietnamese commence attack on Phuoc Long Province. Decisive North Vietnamese victory.

Dec 14 1814 – War of 1812: The Royal Navy seizes control of Lake Borgne, Louisiana. Dec 14 1964 – Vietnam: Operation Barrel Roll – Covert U.S. Air Force 2nd Air Division (later

the Seventh Air Force) and U.S. Navy Task Force 77, interdiction and close air support campaign conducted in the Kingdom of Laos begins. Limited tactical U.S. success but strategic failure.

Dec 15 1864 – Civil War: In the 2 day Battle of Nashville, Union forces under George H. Thomas almost completely destroy the Army of Tennessee under John B. Hood. Casualties and losses: US 3.061 - CSA Approx. 6,000.

Dec 15 1942 – WW2: The Battle of Mount Austen, the Galloping Horse, and the Sea Horse begins during the Guadalcanal campaign. Casualties and losses: US Est. 250 – Japan Est. 2,700 to 3,300.

[Source: Various Nov 2014 ++]

11