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© 2013 KentuckyGuard
Story by John Trowbridge, Kentucky National Guard
In recognition of February as Black History Month kentuckyguard.com is publishing a series of articles honoring African-American men and women who are significant figures in Kentucky’s military history. The following is one such story ….
Corporal Andrew Jackson Smith posthumously received the Medal of Honor 137 years after his actions at the Battle of Honey Hill, South Carolina,
FRANKFORT, Ky. — On January 16, 2001, two Medal of Honor presentations were made by President Bill Clinton at the White House. The first, to the descendants of Corporal Andrew Jackson Smith, 137 years after his actions at the Battle of Honey Hill, South Carolina, and former President Theodore Roosevelt was also posthumously awarded the medal at the same ceremony, for his actions during the Spanish-American War.
Andrew Jackson Smith was born into slavery on September 3, 1843 at Grand Rivers, Ky., the son of Susan, a slave, and Elijah Smith, a slave owner. Upon the outbreak of the Civil War, Elijah Smith joined the Confederate military, with the intention of taking 19-year-old Andrew along with him. When Andrew Smith learned of this, he and another slave ran away, walking 25 miles through the rain before presenting themselves to a Union Army regiment, the 41st Illinois Infantry, in Smithland.
A historical marker honoring Corporal Andrew Jackson Smith. Smith died in 1932 and was buried in the Mount Pleasant African American Cemetery in Lyon County, Kentucky. The cemetery is located in the Land Between the Lakes National Park that straddles both Kentucky and Tennessee.
Smith was taken in by the 41st Illinois and became a servant to Maj. John Warner at the regiment’s post in nearby Paducah. Among Smith’s duties were, in the event of Warner’s death, to return his belongings to his home in Clinton, Il.. On March 10, 1862, the regiment moved out to Pittsburg Landing, Tn., where it took part in the Battle of Shiloh a month later. During the fighting, Smith supplied Warner with fresh horses after the officer had two mounts shot out from under him. Smith was then struck by a spent minie ball that entered his left temple, rolled just under the skin, and stopped in the middle of his forehead. The bullet was removed by the regimental surgeon, leaving Smith with only a scar.
By November 30, 1864, Smith was serving as a corporal in the 55th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. On that day, both the 55th and its sister regiment, the 54th Massachusetts, participated in the Battle of Honey Hill in South Carolina. The two units came under heavy fire while crossing a swamp in front of an elevated Confederate position. When the 55th’s color bearer was killed, Smith took up the Regimental Colors and carried them through the remainder of the fight. It was for this action that Smith was later awarded the Medal of Honor.
It’s interesting to note that Smith’s regimental commander had recommended him for the Medal of Honor shortly after the battle, but it never came to fruition. It was only after family members brought it to the attention of state officials just a few years ago that the process was completed.
Smith was promoted to color sergeant before leaving the Army. After the war, he returned to Kentucky, where he bought and sold land. He died at age 88, on March 4, 1932, and was buried in Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Grand Rivers, Ky.
The Civil War Medal of Honor.
Smith’s official Medal of Honor citation reads:
Corporal Andrew Jackson Smith, of Clinton, Illinois, a member of the 55th Massachusetts Voluntary Infantry, distinguished himself on 30 November 1864 by saving his regimental colors, after the color bearer was killed during a bloody charge called the Battle of Honey Hill, South Carolina. In the late afternoon, as the 55th Regiment pursued enemy skirmishers and conducted a running fight, they ran into a swampy area backed by a rise where the Confederate Army awaited. The surrounding woods and thick underbrush impeded infantry movement and artillery support. The 55th and 54th regiments formed columns to advance on the enemy position in a flanking movement. As the Confederates repelled other units, the 55th and 54th regiments continued to move into flanking positions. Forced into a narrow gorge crossing a swamp in the face of the enemy position, the 55th’s Color-Sergeant was killed by an exploding shell, and Corporal Smith took the Regimental Colors from his hand and carried them through heavy grape and canister fire. Although half of the officers and a third of the enlisted men engaged in the fight were killed or wounded, Corporal Smith continued to expose himself to enemy fire by carrying the colors throughout the battle. Through his actions, the Regimental Colors of the 55th Infantry Regiment were not lost to the enemy. Corporal Andrew Jackson Smith’s extraordinary valor in the face of deadly enemy fire is in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon him, the 55th Regiment, and the United States Army.
The following is a compilation of significant dates in our commonwealth’s military history. For more on the legacy of our Citizen-Soldiers and Airmen, visit the Kentucky National Guard eMuseum.
Battle of Fallen Timbers - August 20, 1794
August 1, 1864 – Daniel Weisiger Lindsey is appointed Adjutant General of Kentucky by Gov. Thomas E. Bramlette.
August 2, 1990 – Operation Desert Shield began.
August 3, 1795 – Treaty of Peace between the United States and the Allied Indian Tribes of the Northwest, signed at Greenville, in Ohio (Treaty of Greenville).
August 4, 1790 – U.S. Coast Guard established
August 5, 1864 - U.S. Navy Landsman Daniel Noble, a native of Bath County, Ky., a crewmen of the U.S.S. Metacomet aided in the rescue of the U.S. Monitor Tecumseh when that vessel was struck by a torpedo in passing enemy forts in Mobile Bay, Ala. Noble braved the enemy fire which was said by the admiral to be “one of the most galling” he had ever seen and aided in rescuing from death ten of the crew of the Tecumseh, thereby eliciting the admiration of both friend and foe. Noble receives the Medal of Honor for his actions. (Civil War)
August 5, 1891 - Cpl. Franklin McDonald from Bowling Green, Ky., a Soldier with Company G, 11th U.S. Infantry defended a mail coach from an attack by Kiowa Indians near Fort Griffin, Texas. He receives the Medal of Honor for his gallantry in action. (Indian Wars)
August 4, 1950 – Defense of Pusan/Naktong Perimeter began (Korean War)
August 5, 1968 – Death of Capt. Robert W. “Buz” Sawyer killed in an aircraft crash near Kansas City, Missouri in a RF-101 “Voodoo.” He was a member of the 165th Tactical Recon Sq on federal duty at Richards-Gabeur AFB, Missouri during the Pueblo call up.
August 7, 2002 – Death of Tech. Sgt. Christopher A. Matero and TSgt. Martin A. Tracy, Combat Controllers for the 123rd Special Tactics Flight of the Kentucky Air National Guard both perished when a U.S. Air Force MC-130H crashed during a training flight in Puerto Rico.
August 7, 1792 – Purple Heart Medal established
August 7, 1871 – U.S. and State Guard troops were called at Frankfort, Paris and Lexington, following rioting and shootings at polling locations.
August 7, 1942 – Battle of Guadalcanal (World War II)
August 9, 2001 – Dean Allen Youngman is appointed Adjutant General of Kentucky by Gov. Paul E. Patton.
August 12, 1782 – Battle of the Upper Blue Licks between Captain John Holder and a party of Kentuckians and a band of marauding Wyandotte Indians (Early Indian Wars)
Thomas Shaw
August 12, 1881 - Thomas Shaw, a native of Covington, Ky., while serving with K Company, 9th U.S. Cavalry forced the enemy back after stubbornly holding his ground in an extremely exposed position and prevented the Native Americans superior numbers from surrounding his command. Shaw receives the Medal of Honor for his actions. (Indian Wars)
August 12, 1952 – Battle of Bunker Hill (Hill 122) began (Korean War)
August 14, 1945 – Japan Surrendered, ending World War II.
August 15, 1782 – Siege of Bryan’s Station by Capt. William Caldwell and a combined force of Indians and Canadians. Siege lasted until 17 August 1782 (Early Indian Wars)
Black and white Nagel & Weingaertner lithograph of the women of Bryant’s Station, Ky supplying the garrison with water and defeating the stratagem of the Indians led on by Simon Girty the renegade 1782. You can see indians spying behind a tree.
August 15, 1851 – Col. William L. Crittenden, of Louisville, Capt. Victor Kerr, and 48 others, nearly all Kentuckians under his command-deceived by Gen. Lopez into the belief that the “patriots” of Cuba were engaged in a revolution for freedom-engage in an armed expedition which invades the island; two days after landing, they are attacked by 700 Spanish troops, and after a gallant fight captured, and, next day, shot; of 80 others of his command, captured with him 77 were afterward shot. The U.S. Government promptly dispatch the steam frigate Saranac, to inquire into the circumstances.
August 15, 1944 – Allied Invasion of Southern France (World War II)
August 18, 1951 – Battle of Bloody Ridge began (Korean War)
August 19, 1782 – Battle of Blue Licks, Kentucky. On a hill next to the Licking River in what is now Robertson County, a force of about 50 British rangers and 300 American Indians ambushed and routed 182 Kentucky militiamen killing some 64. It was the worst defeat for the Kentuckians during the war (Considered the last battle of the American Revolution)
Battle of Blue Licks - August 19, 1782
August 19, 1881 - Sgt. Brent Woods from Pulaski County, Ky., a member of Company B, 9th U.S. Cavalry saved the lives of members of his detachment during fighting against Native Americans in New Mexico. He receives the Medal of Honor for his actions. (Indian Wars)
August 20, 1794– Battle of Fallen Timbers. Gen. “Mad” Anthony Wayne defeats nearly 2000 Indians and 70 Canadians. Gen. Charles Scott, with 1600 Kentucky volunteers were part of this command (Early Indian Wars)
August 22, 1869 – Three companies of volunteer soldiers or state militia, 95 men in all, leave Louisville for Lebanon, to take care of the “Regulators,” whose depredations in that region are again making life unbearable.
Staff Sgt. Nicholas Carnes
August 26, 2007 – Staff Sgt. Nicholas Carnes of Ludlow (Kenton County) was killed by small arms fire during a firefight in the village of Lewanne Bazaar, Paktika Province, Afghanistan. Carnes, 25, was assigned to Battery A, 2nd Battalion, 138th Field Artillery, based in Carrollton, Ky. Carnes deployed with his unit in March of 2007 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Carnes was awarded the Bronze Star Medal, the Purple Heart, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal and the Kentucky Distinguished Service Medal for his service in Afghanistan. A member of the Kentucky Army National Guard since 1999, Carnes is the fourteenth Kentucky Guard Soldier to lose his life as the result of combat action in the global war on terror. He was the second Soldier to be killed in Afghanistan (Global War on Terrorism)
August 29, 1952 – Korean War’s Largest Air Raid (Korean War)
August 31, 1847 – Requisition upon Kentucky for two more regiments of infantry for service in the Mexican War. Before September 20th they are reported and organized, 3rd Kentucky Regiment under command of Col. Manlius V. Thomson of Georgetown and 4th Kentucky Regiment under command of Col. John S. Williams of Winchester (Mexican-American War)
This July we proudly celebrate Independence Day and our Nation’s 238th birthday. And we continue to honor Kentucky’s military history each month with important dates and events that have helped shape our Commonwealth and our country.
The following is a compilation of significant dates in our commonwealth’s military history. For more on the legacy of our Citizen-Soldiers and Airmen, visit the Kentucky National Guard eMuseum.
George Rogers Clark and the capture of Kaskaskia, July 4, 1778.
July 1-3, 1863 - Battle of Gettysburg, Pa. The turning point in the American Civil War.
July 1, 1898 - 1st Lt. Benjamin Hardaway from Benleyville, Ky., with the 17th U.S. Infantry assists in rescuing wounded Soldiers under heavy enemy fire at El Cany, Cuba during the Spanish-American War. He is awarded the Medal Honor for his actions. - Pvt. James Nash from Louisville, Ky., with the 10th U.S. Infantry is also awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions at Santiago, Cuba.
July 1, 1942 – Tech. Sgt. Berchell Keeling, Company D, 192nd Light Tank Battalion (Harrodsburg Tankers) died at Camp Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija, Philippines of dysentery (World War II)
July 1, 1945 – Borneo campaign ended unopposed (World War II)
July 1, 1970 – Siege of Fire Base Ripcord began (Vietnam War)
July 1, 1955 – Units of Kentucky Air National Guard were redesignated as fighter-interceptor outfits.
July 2, 1926 – U.S. Army Air Corps established.
July 2, 1950– Korean War’s only U.S. Sea Battle (Korean War)
July 2, 1951 – 1st. Lt. Eugene Louis Ruiz was the first combat casualty from the Kentucky Air National Guard’s 123rd when he was shot down in Korea, as a member of the 45th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron of the 543rd Tactical Support Group (Korean War)
July 2, 1967 – Operation Buffalo began (Vietnam War)
July 2, 1969 – Sgt. James Allen Wray, formerly Battery C, 2nd Battalion, 138th Field Artillery, was killed while serving with Battery B, 1st Battalion, 40th Field Artillery, 108th Artillery Group (Vietnam War)
July 3, 1863 - Pvt. Oliver Rood, a native of Franklin County, Ky., while serving with the 20th Indiana Volunteer Infantry, captures the flag of the 21st North Carolina Infantry during the Battle of Gettysburg, Pa. He is awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions.
July 3, 1942 – Pvt. Edward George Willis, Headquarters Company, 192nd Light Tank Battalion (Harrodsburg Tankers) died at Camp Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija, Philippines of dysentery (World War II)
July 3, 2005 – Sgt. Ryan Jay Montgomery, of Greensburg, Kentucky was killed in Iraq when his up-armored HUMVEE encountered an improvised explosive device (IED) while returning from a convoy escort mission near Baghdad. At the time of his death, Montgomery was assigned to B Battery 1st Battalion, 623rd Field Artillery (Global War on Terrorism)
July 4, 1776 - The Continental Congress approves the final wording of the Declaration of Independence. The original draft was submitted on July 2nd, but Congress finally agreed on changes and edits two days later. Day becomes a national holiday in 1870.
July 4, 1777 – Second attack on Boonesborough by Indians (Early Indian Wars)
July 4, 1778 – Kaskaskia surprised and captured by George Rogers Clark and his men (Revolutionary War).
July 4, 1863 – Battle of Tebb’s Bend, Taylor County, Kentucky (Civil War)
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1st Battalion, 623rd Field Artillery in the “Smoke Valley”, South Korea, 1952.
July 5, 1952 – Kentucky’s 1st Battalion, 623rd Field Artillery, armed with eighteen 155mm towed howitzers, moves into “Smoke Valley,” South Korea in support of X Corps in holding operations against Communist Chinese assaults. During this period it will earn a Republic of Korea Unit Citation for its fire support of South Korea troops in repelling an enemy assault. In October the battalion, the last Guard artillery unit deployed to Korea, will see hard fighting and earns a Navy Unit Commendation embroidered PANMUNJOM for firing missions in support of the 1st Marine Division (Korean War)
July 5, 1950 – Battle of Osan (Korean War)
July 8, 1942 – Sgt. Jennings Bryan Scanlon, Headquarters Company, 192ndLight Tank Battalion (Harrodsburg Tankers) died at Camp Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija, Philippines of dysentery. (World War II)
July 8, 1998 – Maj. Robert Stephen Hacker, a member of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 201st Engineer Battalion of the Kentucky Army National Guard, died of injuries received in a vehicle accident while on active duty in the Esmeraldas Province of the South American nation of Ecuador.
July 9, 1918 – Army Warrant Officer Corps birthday.
July 9, 1966 – Battle of Minh Thanh Road (Vietnam War)
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Theodore O’Hara
July 10, 1867 – Death of Theodore O’Hara in Alabama.
July 10, 1943 – Operation Husky (World War II)
July 12, 1870 - Cpl. John Given, a native of Davies County, Ky., with Company K, 6th U.S. Cavalry, dies in action against a numerically superior hostile force of Native Americans at Wichita River, Texas. His gallantry in action on this day earns him the Medal of Honor.
July 12, 1942 – 1st Sgt. Yandell Terhune, of Company D, 192nd Light Tank Battalion (Harrodsburg Tankers) died at Camp Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija, Philippines of dysentery (World War II)
July 13, 1892 – Pvt. Almyr Sherrell Edwards of Company G, 3rd Regiment Kentucky State Guard died while on state active duty. His unit activated on July 11, 1892 at the request of the mayor of Paducah in response to a riot by an armed group of citizens intent on freeing a suspect from the local jail, On that day an African American, Thomas Burgess, was arrested on charges of being a “sneak thief” (burglar). The African American community believed that this individual was going to be unfairly convicted, and a group tried to release him from the jail, dispersing once daylight hours came, peaceably. The next evening they returned near midnight, armed, and then commenced firing on the jail and the guardsman who were defending it. During a short firefight Edwards was mortally wounded. Newspaper accounts of the time reflect a tense state of race relations during these events in Paducah. A monument in honor of Edwards was dedicated on July 13, 1893. The monument was believed to have been moved to its current location after the 1939 floods and it is now located in Caldwell Park at 14th & Park Ave in Paducah.
July 13, 1950 – Battle of Kum River began (Korean War)
July 13, 1953 – Battle of Kumsong River Salient began (Korean War)
July 13, 1995 – Sgt. 1st Class Charles Sidney “Chuck” Fitch Sr. died of a massive heart attack following a PT test. Fitch enlisted in the Kentucky Army National Guard in September of 1988. Fitch became an Active Guard Reserve (AGR) in September 1991 serving as a Recruiting and Retention NCO until his death.
July 15, 1916 – Pvt. Kenneth Witty of Hopkinsville, Christian County, died while on federal active duty of typhoid pneumonia at Fort Thomas, Kentucky. He was part of the Kentucky National Guard contingent called to federal duty to patrol a sixty mile stretch of the border between Fort Bliss and Fort Hancock during the Mexican Punitive Expedition. He enlisted in Company D, 1st Battalion, 3rd Regiment on June 21, 1916.
July 15, 1951 – 1st Lt. George Conder perished during a massive flight demonstration when two F-51s collided in mid-air.
July 15, 1970 – Pfc. Lanny Kay Brown, of Monticello (Wayne County) died during Annual Training at Fort Knox. He was a member of C Battery, 1st Battalion, 623rd Field Artillery. Brown was standing inside a squad tent in the unit bivouac area at approximately 8:30 p.m. during a violent thunderstorm when he was electrocuted by a lightning strike. Brown joined the Kentucky Army National Guard on June 12, 1968.
July 16 – Atomic Veterans Day – First Nuclear Bomb Test; Code name “Trinity”
July 16, 1968 – Operation Kingfischer began (Vietnam War)
July 16, 1836 – Gov. Morehead, at the request of President Jackson, issues his proclamation calling for 1,000 mounted Kentuckians, to rendezvous in Frankfort by August 17, to proceed to Camp Sabine, and protect the southwestern frontier. Before August 3, 45 companies tender their services, but only 10 are accepted, one each from Franklin, Henry, Shelby, Madison, Harrison, Oldham, Gallatin, Woodford, Jefferson, and Fayette counties. The governor appoints Leslie Combs, of Fayette, colonel, Thomas A. Russell, of Fayette, lieutenant colonel, and George Boswell, of Shelby, major. Before they commence their march, orders are received for their discharge.
July 17, 1789 – Chenoweth Station Massacre, Shawnee Indians attacked the settlement of Capt. Richard Chenoweth killing 3 of his children and another man. Chenoweth and 3 other children were wounded, his wife was shot with an arrow tomahawked and scalped, but did not perish.
Thomas Cruse, Owensboro native and Medal of Honor recipient.
July 17, 1882 - 2nd Lt. Thomas Cruse, a native of Owensboro, Ky., with the 6th U.S. Cavalry in action at Big Dry Fork, Arizona Territory, gallantly charged hostile Native Americans, and with his carbine compelled a party of them to keep under cover of their breastworks, thus being enabled to recover a severely wounded soldier. He is awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions. Cruse was a 1879 graduate of West Point and retired from the Army as a brigadier general.
July 17, 1952 – Battle for Old Baldy began (Korean War)
July 19, 1950 – Battle of Taejon began (Korean War)
July 20, 1847 – Remains of Col. William R. McKee, Lt. Col. Henry Clay, Jr., Capt. William T. Willis, Capt. William H. Maxey, Adjutant E.M. Vaughn, Lt. James Powell and 11 privates who fell in battle during the Mexico War are interred in the state cemetery at Frankfort. 20,000 people were present, including several hundred of the returned Soldiers from the Mexican War.
July 22, 1864 – Battle of Intrenchment Creek, part of Atlanta Campaign. Kentucky Orphan Brigade suffers heavy casualties (Civil War)
July 22, 1946 – Organization of the units of the Kentucky Air National Guard authorized by the War Department. Organizational authority was extended in October and December during the process of organizing and manning the Kentucky Air National Guard.
July 22, 1942 – Staff Sgt. Wallace Denny, Company D, 192nd Tank Battalion (Harrodsburg Tankers) died at Camp Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija, Philippines of dysentery (World War II)
July 22, 1977 – Staff Sgt. Joseph M. McHenry, of Owensboro (Daviess County) and Pfc. Danny Edwin Rowan, of Hartford (Ohio County) died in a ¼ -ton jeep accident during a convoy from Fort Hood, Texas to Home Station for the CSC, 2nd Battalion, 123rd Armor in Owensboro. McHenry and Pfc. Danny Rowan were traveling eastbound on Interstate 30 near Mt Vernon, in Franklin County, Texas at approximately 1:10 p.m. local time when the left rear tire blew out causing the vehicle to go out of control.
July 22, 1991 – Tech. Sgt. David A. Atkinson, of Louisville (Jefferson County) died about 8 p.m. during an airborne training exercise at Hurlburt Field near Fort Walton Beach Florida. Atkinson was performing a “high-opening” jump from about 12,500 feet. Atkinson was a member of the 123rd Tactical Airlift Wing Combat Control Team of the Kentucky Air National Guard.
Clockwise, from top: UN forces reach the 38th parallel; F-86 Sabre fighter aircraft in Korean combat; Incheon harbor, starting point of the Battle of Inchon; Chinese soldiers welcomed home; Marines over the top of the Incheon seawall.
July 24, 1953 – Final U.S. Ground Combat of Korean War began (Korean War)
July 27, 1953– Korean War ended.
July 27 - National Korean War Veterans Armistice Day.
July 27, 2009 – Pfc. Timothy J. Rogers, of Corbin, Whitley County, died as the result of a traffic accident while on the way home from annual training. He was a member of Company B, 1st Battalion, 149th Infantry.
July 28, 1942 – Pvt. Fred C. Leonard, Jr., Headquarters Company, 192nd Light Tank Battalion (Harrodsburg Tankers) died at Camp Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija, Philippines of cerebral malaria (World War II)
July 31, 1813 – Kentucky Governor Isaac Shelby issues call for volunteers to revenge hundreds of Kentuckians massacred at the River Raisin (present-day Monroe, MI). Shelby would go on to lead the Kentucky troops himself at the Battle of the Thames while still serving as governor (War of 1812)
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The following is a compilation of significant dates in our nation’s and the commonwealth’s military history. For more on the legacy of our Citizen-Soldiers and Airmen, visit the Kentucky National Guard eMuseum.
Normandy invasion, D-Day, June 6, 1944.
The crest for Army National Guard units of the Commonwealth of Kentucky includes fifteen stars, a reference to Kentucky being the fifteenth state admitted to the Union.
June 1, 1792 – Kentucky’s Birthday – Kentucky became the 15thstate of the United States of America.
June 1, 1942 – Technical Sgt. Johnnie Bottoms, Headquarters Company, 192nd Light Tank Battalion (Harrodsburg Tankers) died at Calauan Camp #3 – Old Bilibid Prison, Rizal Manila Philippines. (World War II)
June 1, 1969 – Sgt. Bertram A. “Sonny” Carr, Louisville, Ky., of B Battery 2nd Battalion, 138th Field Artillery was killed near Hamburger Hill. He was originally a member of Service Battery. (Vietnam War)
June 2, 1942 – Pvt. Willard Emmal Foster, Headquarters Company, 192nd Light Tank Battalion (Harrodsburg Tankers) died of dysentery at Camp O’Donnell, Capas, Tarlac, Philippines. (World War II)
June 3, 1942 – Battle of Midway began. (World War II)
June 6, 1944– D-Day Invasion of Europe. (World War II)
Sgt. Hezakiah Franklin Sallee
June 6, 1944 – Sgt. Hezakiah Franklin “Heze” Sallee of Company D, 192nd Light Tank Battalion (Harrodsburg Tankers) died in coal mining accident at Japanese Prisoner of War Camp Fukuoku-17, Nagasaki, Japan. (World War II)
June 6, 1952 – Operation Counter began. (Korean War)
June 8, 1864 – John H. Morgan raided Mt. Sterling, took Lexington, thence to Georgetown and Cynthiana, thence through Flemingsburg and West Liberty into the State of Virginia. (Civil War)
June 9, 1969 – Kentucky Air National Guard returned home from its duties during the Pueblo Crisis (Korea) and was released from active duty in ceremonies in Louisville. During the recall period of 17 months the wing flew 19,715 tactical flying hours from a total of 11,561 sorties. The 165th Squadron alone processed 257,200 prints and 284,251 feet of film and flew 4,438 recon sorties totaling 7,192 hours.
June 10, 1951 – Battle for the Punchbowl began. (Korean War)
June 10, 1953 – Siege of Outpost Harry began. (Korean War)
June 11, 1960 – The Kentucky Air National Guard facility at Standiford Field was dedicated to the honor of a former member of the unit, Capt. John William Shewmaker, killed in Korea Oct. 23, 1951, while flying with the 111th Fighter- Bomber Squadron. Members of the family were guests of the Kentucky Air National Guard for the occasion.
Staff Sgt. Harold Brown
June 11, 1969 – Staff Sgt. Harold Milton Brown, Mt. Washington, Ky., formerly Battery C, 2nd Battalion, 138th Field Artillery was killed by rocket fire while in a bunker in Chu Lai while serving with Battery C, 1st Battalion, 82nd Artillery, Americal Division. (Vietnam War)
June 13, 1942 – Pvt. Herbert C. Steele of Company D, 192nd Light Tank Battalion (Harrodsburg Tankers) died of dysentery at Camp O’Donnell, Capas, Tarlac, Philippines. (World War II)
June 14 – Flag Day
June 14, 1775 – U.S. Army founded.
June 14, 1920 – Col. Isaac Wilder is appointed Adjutant General of Kentucky, by Governor Edwin P. Morrow. Wilder resigned the position two days later.
June 15, 1950 – Governor Clements issues an executive order appointing Brig. Gen. Roscoe L. Murray to the rank of major general conforming to general assembly’s change to KRS 36.030 raising the rank of the adjutant general from brigadier general to major general. This is the first time in the history of the Commonwealth that the adjutant general was granted the rank of major general.
June 16, 1920 – James Madison DeWeese is appointed adjutant general of Kentucky for the second time by Governor Edwin P. Morrow.
June 18, 1812– U.S. Congress declared war against England. (War of 1812)
Lt. General Simon Buckner
June 18, 1945 – During action on Okinawa. Lt. Gen. Simon B. Buckner Jr. became the highest ranking American general officer killed in action during WWII. The Kentucky native was the son of Confederate General and Kentucky Governor Simon B. Buckner. In 1954 Congress posthumously promoted him to the rank of general. (World War II)
June 19, 1969 – C Battery, 2nd Battalion, 138thField Artillery attacked on Tomahawk Hill by North Vietnamese Army sappers. Other 2ndBattalion batteries at nearby firebases were shelled by the NVA so that they could provide little or no fire support for C Battery. Pfc. Joseph R. McIlvoy, Mackville, Ky., Specialist Four Ronald E. Simpson, Bardstown, Ky., Specialist Four David B. Collins, Bardstown, Ky., Sgt. James T. Moore, Bardstown, Ky., 1st Sgt. Luther M. Chappel, Worthville, Ky., were killed in the attack. When Firebase TOMAHAWK was attacked during the early morning hours in a pouring rain, sappers infiltrated the base and during the attack threw some 150 satchel charges into the bunkers in addition to firing rocket propelled grenades (RPG). The battle went on some two hours before the NVA were forced to retreat. The attack destroyed an ammunition storage area, four of the six M-109 self-propelled howitzers, nine bunkers, the mess hall, dining tent, maintenance building, four ammunition carriers, three 2 1/2-ton trucks, two 3/4-ton trucks, and three jeeps. The Battery had nine men killed; five of them were from Kentucky and the other four were non-Guard replacements from various, non-Kentucky, locations. The unit also suffered 37 wounded. A platoon of infantrymen from the 101stAirborne Division was providing perimeter security for the firebase and four of the 101st soldiers were killed and another 13 wounded. Senior Commander in Vietnam, General Creighton Abrams, said the 2ndBattalion 138th Field Artillery, was “one of the best trained, and absolutely the best maintained battalion-sized unit in Vietnam.” (Vietnam War)
June 20, 1792 – Governor Isaac Shelby signs act establishing the Kentucky Militia.
June 21, 1871 – Reunion at Paris, Ky., of 69 soldiers of the War of 1812; their combined ages equal 5,487.
June 21, 1871 – Capt. Thomas S. Theobald, of Frankfort, aged 79, receives a pension certificate as a veteran of the War of 1812, the first issued to a Kentuckian, and entitling him to $8 per month. He was First Lieutenant in Morrill’s company of Kentucky Mounted Rifles.
June 22, 1780 – Capture by Capt. Henry Bird and British-Canadian-Indian army, of Ruddle’s and Martin’s Stations, on upper waters of Licking River. (Early Indian Wars)
June 22, 1942 – Pledge of Allegiance recognized by Congress.
June, 1944 – GI Bill signed into law.
June 24 – Kentucky National Guard Day in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. On this day in 1792 Governor Shelby established how the Kentucky Militia was to be organized.
June 24, 1792 – Kentucky Militia is organized by Governor Shelby.
June 25, 1850 – Construction of Kentucky’s Battle Monument completed in the state cemetery at Frankfort.
The Battle of Little Bighorn, June 25, 1876
June 25, 1876 - During the Battle of Little Bighorn, Madison County, Ky.-native, Pvt. William Harris and Pvt. George Scott of Lancaster County, Ky. bring water to Soldiers while under enemy fire. Their actions earn them both the Medal of Honor. Both are among the 263 Soldiers of the 7th Cavalry killed in the battle.
June 25, 1950 – Korean War began.
June 28, 1914 – World War I began in Europe after Archduke Francis of Austria and wife were assassinated.
June 29, 1846 – Appointment by President Polk of William O. Butler, of Carroll County, Kentucky to be major general of volunteers. Butler was the son of Kentucky’s first adjutant general, P.P. Butler. Butler State Park in Carrollton is named in honor of William O. Butler. (Mexican War)
June 29, 1950 – First U.S. ground forces arrive in Korea. (Korean War)
The following is a compilation of significant dates in our nation’s and the commonwealth’s military history. For more on the legacy of our Citizen-Soldiers and Airmen, visit the Kentucky National Guard eMuseum.
The Battle of Palo Alto, May 8, 1846
May 1, 1970– Cambodia Campaign began (Vietnam War)
May 2-3, 1863 – Battle of Chancellorsville, Virginia (Civil War)
May 2, 1936 – First records of Kentucky National Guardsmen assisting in the security of Churchill Downs for the Kentucky Derby.
May 2, 1945 – German unconditional surrender to Italian Allies (World War II)
Siege of Fort Meigs, Ohio, May 5, 1813
May 5, 1813 – Brig. General Green Clay, with 3,000 Kentuckians, reaches besieged Fort Meigs, Ohio. On orders from General William Henry Harrison divides his force, his part of the force cuts their way through the enemy’s lines into the fort. 800 Kentuckians, under Col. Wm. Dudley, are order to cross the Maumee River and attack the guns and spike them so they can no longer fire. Once this was accomplished, the militia pursues what appears to be retreating Indians under the leadership of Tecumseh. After they entered the woods, the Indians counterattacked while the British forces swung around their flanks cutting most off from the river. Only about 150 escaped with the remainder being killed or captured. Of those captured, about 50 were murdered by the Indians before Tecumseh put a stop to it. The British, without use of their artillery, soon lifted the siege and moved back into Canada (War of 1812)
May 5, 1942 – Fall of Corregidor (World War II)
May 5, 1968 – Mini-Tet began (Vietnam War)
May 8, 1846 – General Zachary Taylor defeats the Mexicans at Palo Alto (Mexican-American War)
Pvt. Roy Goodpaster
May 8, 1945 – Pvt. Roy Edward Goodpaster, Company D, 192nd Light Tank Battalion (Harrodsburg Tankers) died at Camp Moji Hospital Fukuoka #4 Kyushu Island Japan of wounds received aboard the “Hell Ships” Oryoku Maru & Enoura Maru (World War II)
May 8, 1945 – VE (Victory Europe) Day, Germany’s Unconditional Surrender Signed (World War II)
May 8, 1972 – U.S. Navy mined North Vietnamese ports (Vietnam War)
May 9, 1781 – McAfee Station, along Salt River attacked by over 150 indians. Only 13 men and their families inside who kept up a gallant defense for near 1/2 day until help arrived from nearby Harrodsburg. One settler killed at onset of action, 1 minor wounded. As pursuit was made the Indians made a stand at the ford of the river 1 more killed and 1 injured when thrown from horse. (Early Indian Wars)
May 9, 1846 – General Zachary Taylor defeats the Mexicans at Resaca de la Palma (Mexican-American War)
May 9, 1868 – Kentucky Legislature to present a Gold Medal to Samuel Hatfield, of Floyd County, another survivor of the Kentuckians who assisted in achieving Perry’s victory on Lake Erie, September 10, 1813.
Daniel Boone gravesite, Frankfort Cemetery
May 9, 1868 – Kentucky Legislature appropriates funding to repair monument over Daniel Boone’s grave, which had been defaced by Federal soldiers during the war.
May 10, 1773 – The McAfee Company (James Jr., Robert, & George McAfee along with James McCoun Jr. and Samuel Adams) left Virginia on a 4-month expedition into Kentucky . Explored lands along Ohio & Kentucky Rivers. descended the Kentucky to where Frankfort now is located, continued exploration of Henry, Franklin, Anderson, & Mercer Counties. Eventually making land claims along Salt River.
May 10, 1863 – Confederate General “Stonewall” Jackson dies from wounds after being fired upon by his own men a week earlier. (Civil War)
May 10, 1969 – Battle for Hill 937, nicknamed Hamburger Hill (Vietnam War)
May 10, 1972 – Operation Linebacker (Vietnam War)
May 11, 1871 – Re-interment at Crab Orchard, Lincoln, County, of the unknown Southern soldiers who fell at the Battle of Wildcat Mountain, in 1862.
Pfc. Wesley Hungate
May 12, 1942 – Pfc. Wesley Davis Hungate, Company D, 192nd Light Tank Battalion (Harrodsburg Tankers) died at Camp O’Donnell, Capas, Tarlac, Philippines of dysentery while a Japanese prisoner of war (World War II)
May 13, 1846 – Congress of the United States declares war on Mexico. Maj. Gen. E.P. Gaines makes a requisition on the Governor of Kentucky for 4 regiments of volunteers, comprising 2,400 men (Mexican War)
May 13, 1968 – 2nd Battalion, 138th Field Artillery entered active duty and served 11½ months in Vietnam. Kentucky was only one of two states to have both Air and Army Guard units called up in 1968 (the other being Kansas). Kentucky was the only state to have both Air and Army mobilized units deploy overseas (Vietnam War and Pueblo Call-up)
May 16, 1861 – Kentucky proclaimed its neutrality. (Civil War)
May 17 – Armed Forces Day.
May 17, 1846 – Governor Owsley issues a proclamation, appealing to Kentuckians “to form themselves into volunteer companies,” and to report to him forthwith (Mexican War)
May 18, 1846 – The Louisville Legion, offer their services to the governor, and are accepted (Mexican War)
May 19, 1942 – Sergeant Ben R. Devine, Company D, 192nd Tank Battalion (Harrodsburg Tankers) died at Camp O’Donnell, Capas, Tarlac, Philippines of dysentery while a Japanese prisoner of war (World War II)
May 20, 1777 – St. Asaph’s or Logan’s Fort or Logan’s Station resists attack by Indians (Early Indian Wars)
William Horsfall
May 21, 1862 – William H. Horsfall from Campbell County, Ky., a 15-year-old drummer with Company G, 1st Kentucky Infantry, saves the life of a wounded officer lying between the lines of fire at Corinth, Miss. Horsfall received the Medal of Honor for his actions. (Civil War)
May 22, 1846 – Formal proclamation of Governor Owsley for two regiments of infantry or riflemen, and one of cavalry, for the service of the United States against Mexico (Mexican-American War)
May 24, 1946 – The 359th Fighter Group was redesignated as HQ, 123rd Fighter Group, and allotted to the Air National Guard of Kentucky, together with its colors and World War II battle participation credits. The 368th Fighter Squadron was also allotted to the KyANG with its colors and record, and redesignated as the 165th Fighter Squadron.
P-51 Mustang of the 359th Fighter Group
May 25, 1921 – Private Manley Vaughan, Troop C, 53rd Machine Gun Squadron, Louisa, Kentucky, was killed near Borderland W. Va. Kentucky National Guard soldiers from Louisa, Morehead and London were on state active duty from May 14, to June 4, 1921 along the Kentucky – West Virginia border in connection with a coal strike in the Tug River District.
May 26, 1846 – Governor Owsley announces, that the requisition upon Kentucky for troops is full (Mexican War)
May 26, 1871 – Confederate Memorial Day inaugurated, commemorating the occasion when Jefferson Davis was freed from prison.
May 27, 1778 – George Rogers Clark and men camp on Corn Island, at Falls of the Ohio (Louisville).
Sgt. Chales Clinton Fleek
May 27, 1969 – Sgt. Charles Clinton Fleek from Petersburg, Ky. smothered the blast of an enemy hand grenade with his body, sacrificing his life to protect those around him fighting in Bihn Duong Province, Vietnam. Fleek was awarded the Medal of Honor for his gallantry and willing self-sacrifice. (Vietnam War)
May 30 – Memorial Day
May 30, 1806 - In Logan County, Ky., future president Andrew Jackson participates in a duel, killing Charles Dickinson, a lawyer regarded as one of the best pistol shots in the area. The proud and volatile Jackson, a former senator and representative of Tennessee, called for the duel after his wife Rachel was slandered as a bigamist by Dickinson, who was referring to a legal error in the divorce from her first husband in 1791. Jackson met his foe at Harrison’s Mills on Red River in Logan, Kentucky, on May 30, 1806. In accordance with dueling custom, the two stood 24 feet apart, with pistols pointed downward. After the signal, Dickinson fired first, grazing Jackson’s breastbone and breaking some of his ribs. However, Jackson, a former Tennessee militia leader, maintained his stance and fired back, fatally wounding his opponent. It was one of several duels Jackson was said to have participated in during his lifetime, the majority of which were allegedly called in defense of his wife’s honor. None of the other rumored duels were recorded, and whether he killed anyone else in this manner is not known. In 1829, Rachel died, and Jackson was elected the seventh president of the United States.
May 30, 1868 – By proclamation of General John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic, the first major Memorial Day observance is held to honor those who died “in defense of their country during the late rebellion.” Known to some as “Decoration Day,” mourners honored the Civil War dead by decorating their graves with flowers. On the first Decoration Day, General James Garfield made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery, after which 5,000 participants helped to decorate the graves of the more than 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers buried in the cemetery. The 1868 celebration was inspired by local observances that had taken place in various locations in the three years since the end of the Civil War. In fact, several cities claim to be the birthplace of Memorial Day, including Columbus, Mississippi; Macon, Georgia; Richmond, Virginia; Boalsburg, Pennsylvania; and Carbondale, Illinois. In 1966, the federal government, under the direction of President Lyndon B. Johnson, declared Waterloo, New York, the official birthplace of Memorial Day. They chose Waterloo–which had first celebrated the day on May 5, 1866–because the town had made Memorial Day an annual, community-wide event, during which businesses closed and residents decorated the graves of soldiers with flowers and flags. By the late 19th century, many communities across the country had begun to celebrate Memorial Day, and after World War I, observers began to honor the dead of all of America’s wars. In 1971, Congress declared Memorial Day a national holiday to be celebrated the last Monday in May. Today, Memorial Day is celebrated at Arlington National Cemetery with a ceremony in which a small American flag is placed on each grave. It is customary for the president or vice president to give a speech honoring the contributions of the dead and to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. More than 5,000 people attend the ceremony annually. Several Southern states continue to set aside a special day for honoring the Confederate dead, which is usually called Confederate Memorial Day.
Memorial Day - the last Monday in May
Story by John Trowbridge, Kentucky National Guard
In recognition of March as Women’s History Month kentuckyguard.com is publishing several articles honoring women who are significant figures in Kentucky’s military history. The following is one such story ….
FRANKFORT, Ky. — Mary Edwards Walker is the only woman veteran to be awarded the Medal of Honor. Her medal is credited to the Commonwealth of Kentucky due to the fact that she officially entered the service at Louisville, KY.
Walker was born on November 26, 1832 in Oswego, New York, into an abolitionist family. She became an early advocate for Women’s Rights. In June 1855 Mary, the only woman in her class, became the second woman to graduate from a medical school in the nation when she graduated from the Syracuse Medical College, the nation’s first medical school which accepted women and men on an equal basis.
In 1856 she married another physician, Albert Miller, wearing trousers and a man’s coat and kept her own name. Together they set up a medical practice in Rome, NY, but the public was not ready to accept a woman physician, and their practice floundered. They were divorced 13 years later.
When the Civil War began in 1861, she went to Washington and attempted to join the Union Army. Denied a commission as a medical officer, she volunteered, serving as an acting assistant surgeon — the first female surgeon in the US Army. As an unpaid volunteer, she worked in the US Patent Office Hospital in Washington. Later, she worked as a field surgeon near the front lines for almost two years, including Fredericksburg and Chattanooga after the Battle of Chickamauga.
In September 1863, Walker was finally appointed assistant surgeon in the Army of the Cumberland. She made herself a slightly modified officer’s uniform to wear, in response to the demands of traveling with the soldiers and working in field hospitals. Later she was appointed assistant surgeon of the 52nd Ohio Infantry. During this assignment it is generally accepted that she served as a spy for the Union Army. She continually crossed Confederate lines to treat civilians. She was taken prisoner in 1864 by Confederate troops and imprisoned in Richmond, VA for four months until she was exchanged, with two dozen other Union doctors, for 17 Confederate surgeons.
She was released back to the 52nd Ohio as a contract surgeon, but spent the rest of the war practicing at the Louisville Female Prison Hospital and an orphan’s asylum in Tennessee. She was paid $766.16 for her wartime service. Following the war she would receive a pension from the Federal government for her wartime service which would eventually be $20 per month.
On November 11, 1865, President Andrew Johnson signed a bill awarding Dr. Mary Edwards Walker the Medal of Honor for Meritorious Service, in order to recognize her contributions to the war effort.
After the war, Walker became a writer and lecturer, touring the states and abroad on women’s rights, dress reform, health and temperance issues. Tobacco, she said, resulted in paralysis and insanity. Women’s clothing, she said, was immodest and inconvenient. She was elected president of the National Dress Reform Association in 1866. Walker prided herself by being arrested numerous times for wearing full male dress, including wing collar, bow tie, and top hat. In 1872 in Oswego, Mary E. Walker attempted to vote, one of many women who made the attempt over the years on the road to full suffrage. In 1890, Mary declared herself a candidate for Congress in Oswego. The next year, she campaigned for a U.S. Senate seat and, the following year, paid her way to the Democratic National Convention.
In 1917 her medal, along with the medals of 910 others was taken away when Congress revised the Medal of Honor standards to include only “actual combat with an enemy.” She refused to give back her Medal of Honor, wearing it every day until her death in 1919. President Jimmy Carter reinstated Walker’s medal posthumously in 1977, citing her “distinguished gallantry, self-sacrifice, patriotism, dedication and unflinching loyalty to her country, despite the apparent discrimination because of her sex.”
She died in Oswego, Ny. on February 21, 1919 and is buried in the Rural Cemetery on the Cemetery Road. Ironically, the 19th Amendment giving women the vote was ratified that same year.
In 1982, the US Postal Service issued a 20¢ stamp honoring Dr. Mary Walker. The stamp commemorates the first woman to have been awarded the Medal of Honor and the second woman to graduate from a medical school in the United States.
DR. MARY E. WALKER
Rank and organization: Contract Acting Assistant Surgeon (civilian), U. S. Army. Places and dates: Battle of Bull Run, July 21, 1861; Patent Office Hospital, Washington, D.C., October 1861; Chattanooga, Tenn., following Battle of Chickamauga, September 1863; Prisoner of War, April 10, 1864-August 12, 1864, Richmond, Va.; Battle of Atlanta, September 1864. Entered service at: Louisville, Ky. Born: 26 November 1832, Oswego County, N.Y.
Citation: Whereas it appears from official reports that Dr. Mary E. Walker, a graduate of medicine, “has rendered valuable service to the Government. and her efforts have been earnest and untiring in a variety of ways,” and that she was assigned to duty and served as an assistant surgeon in charge of female prisoners at Louisville, Ky., upon the recommendation of Major Generals Sherman and Thomas, and faithfully served as contract surgeon in the service of the United States, and has devoted herself with much patriotic zeal to the sick and wounded soldiers, both in the field and hospitals, to the detriment of her own health, and has also endured hardships as a prisoner of war four months in a Southern prison while acting as contract surgeon; and Whereas by reason of her not being a commissioned officer in the military service, a brevet or honorary rank cannot, under existing laws, be conferred upon her; and Whereas in the opinion of the President an honorable recognition of her services and sufferings should be made: It is ordered, That a testimonial thereof shall be hereby made and given to the said Dr. Mary E. Walker, and that the usual medal of honor for meritorious services be given her.
Story by John Trowbridge, Kentucky National Guard
In recognition of February as Black History Month kentuckyguard.com is publishing a series of articles honoring African-American men and women who are significant figures in Kentucky’s military history. The following is one such story ….
Corporal Andrew Jackson Smith posthumously received the Medal of Honor 137 years after his actions at the Battle of Honey Hill, South Carolina,
FRANKFORT, Ky. — On January 16, 2001, two Medal of Honor presentations were made by President Bill Clinton at the White House. The first, to the descendants of Corporal Andrew Jackson Smith, 137 years after his actions at the Battle of Honey Hill, South Carolina, and former President Theodore Roosevelt was also posthumously awarded the medal at the same ceremony, for his actions during the Spanish-American War.
Andrew Jackson Smith was born into slavery on September 3, 1843 at Grand Rivers, Ky., the son of Susan, a slave, and Elijah Smith, a slave owner. Upon the outbreak of the Civil War, Elijah Smith joined the Confederate military, with the intention of taking 19-year-old Andrew along with him. When Andrew Smith learned of this, he and another slave ran away, walking 25 miles through the rain before presenting themselves to a Union Army regiment, the 41st Illinois Infantry, in Smithland.
A historical marker honoring Corporal Andrew Jackson Smith. Smith died in 1932 and was buried in the Mount Pleasant African American Cemetery in Lyon County, Kentucky. The cemetery is located in the Land Between the Lakes National Park that straddles both Kentucky and Tennessee.
Smith was taken in by the 41st Illinois and became a servant to Maj. John Warner at the regiment’s post in nearby Paducah. Among Smith’s duties were, in the event of Warner’s death, to return his belongings to his home in Clinton, Il.. On March 10, 1862, the regiment moved out to Pittsburg Landing, Tn., where it took part in the Battle of Shiloh a month later. During the fighting, Smith supplied Warner with fresh horses after the officer had two mounts shot out from under him. Smith was then struck by a spent minie ball that entered his left temple, rolled just under the skin, and stopped in the middle of his forehead. The bullet was removed by the regimental surgeon, leaving Smith with only a scar.
By November 30, 1864, Smith was serving as a corporal in the 55th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. On that day, both the 55th and its sister regiment, the 54th Massachusetts, participated in the Battle of Honey Hill in South Carolina. The two units came under heavy fire while crossing a swamp in front of an elevated Confederate position. When the 55th’s color bearer was killed, Smith took up the Regimental Colors and carried them through the remainder of the fight. It was for this action that Smith was later awarded the Medal of Honor.
It’s interesting to note that Smith’s regimental commander had recommended him for the Medal of Honor shortly after the battle, but it never came to fruition. It was only after family members brought it to the attention of state officials just a few years ago that the process was completed.
Smith was promoted to color sergeant before leaving the Army. After the war, he returned to Kentucky, where he bought and sold land. He died at age 88, on March 4, 1932, and was buried in Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Grand Rivers, Ky.
The Civil War Medal of Honor.
Smith’s official Medal of Honor citation reads:
Corporal Andrew Jackson Smith, of Clinton, Illinois, a member of the 55th Massachusetts Voluntary Infantry, distinguished himself on 30 November 1864 by saving his regimental colors, after the color bearer was killed during a bloody charge called the Battle of Honey Hill, South Carolina. In the late afternoon, as the 55th Regiment pursued enemy skirmishers and conducted a running fight, they ran into a swampy area backed by a rise where the Confederate Army awaited. The surrounding woods and thick underbrush impeded infantry movement and artillery support. The 55th and 54th regiments formed columns to advance on the enemy position in a flanking movement. As the Confederates repelled other units, the 55th and 54th regiments continued to move into flanking positions. Forced into a narrow gorge crossing a swamp in the face of the enemy position, the 55th’s Color-Sergeant was killed by an exploding shell, and Corporal Smith took the Regimental Colors from his hand and carried them through heavy grape and canister fire. Although half of the officers and a third of the enlisted men engaged in the fight were killed or wounded, Corporal Smith continued to expose himself to enemy fire by carrying the colors throughout the battle. Through his actions, the Regimental Colors of the 55th Infantry Regiment were not lost to the enemy. Corporal Andrew Jackson Smith’s extraordinary valor in the face of deadly enemy fire is in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon him, the 55th Regiment, and the United States Army.
The following is a compilation of significant dates in our Commonwealth’s military history. For more on the legacy of our Citizen-Soldiers and Airmen, visit the Kentucky National Guard eMuseum.
Battle of Buena Vista, Mexico, Feb. 22-23, 1847.
February 1 – National Freedom Day. Honors the signing by President Abraham Lincoln of a resolution that later became the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Lincoln signed the Amendment outlawing slavery on Feb. 1, 1865
February 3, 1900 – Daniel Ray Collier and John Breckinridge Castleman serve simultaneously as Adjutant General of Kentucky following the disputed 1900 governor’s election. Collier was the re-appointed Adjutant General under Gov. William S. Taylor, he remained in office in the Old Capitol, until May 22, 1900, at which time he yielded the office to General Castleman in compliance with a U.S. Supreme Court order.
February 4, 1818 – $300.00 appropriated to pay for a plan for a state armory in Kentucky.
February 4, 1917 – Harold Hite of Company A, 3rd Kentucky Infantry Regiment died of Pneumonia while on Federal Duty during the Mexican Border Campaign.
February 5, 1951 – Battle of Hill 440 began (Korean War)
The siege of Fort Henry on the Tennessee River, February, 1862.
February 6, 1862 – Fall of Fort Henry on the Tennessee River, followed by Fort Donelson on the Cumberland River, Tennessee. (Civil War)
February 6, 1992 – Kentucky Air National Guard C-130 crash in Evansville, IN. Maj. Richard A. Strang, Capt. Warren G. Klingaman, Lt. Vincent D. Yancar, Master Sgt. William G. Hawkins and Master Sgt. John M. Medley perished during a training flight, when their Kentucky Air National Guard Lockheed C-130B struck Drury’s Inn Motel and then crashed into JoJo’s restaurant exploding into flames. Eleven persons on the ground were killed.
February 8, 1778 – Daniel Boone and 27 men with him captured at Blue Licks by Indians.
John Adair
February 10, 1816 – Gen. John Adair receives “the highest approbation and thanks of the legislature” of Kentucky, for his gallantry at the battle of New Orleans, and more particularly for the deep interest he took in vindicating a respectable portion of the troops of Kentucky from the inappropriate imputation of cowardice, most unjustly thrown upon them” by Gen. Andrew Jackson.
February 11, 1860 – Gov. Beriah Magoffin of Kentucky directed to procure suitable gold medals, to present, in the name of the state, to each of the surviving Kentucky volunteers in the Battle of Lake Erie on September 10, 1813.
February 11, 1917 – Capt. Estel E. Owsley, Company H, 2nd Kentucky Infantry Regiment from Middlesboro died at Fort Thomas, Kentucky. He took ill on the trip from El Paso, TX to Kentucky as the unit returned from federal duty on the Mexican border.
February 12, 1973 – Operation Homecoming began (Vietnam War)
February 13, 1957 – United States Property & Fiscal Officer (USP&FO) Kentucky offices and warehouse facilities located on Bowman Field was destroyed by fire. Total property loss exceeded $250,000.
February 15, 1898 – Sinking of the USS Maine in Havana Harbor, Cuba. (Spanish-American War)
February 16, 1951– Siege of Wonsan began. (Korean War)
P-51 Mustangs of the Kentucky Air National Guard.
February 16, 1947 – Federal recognition of the Kentucky Air National Guard units granted by National Guard Bureau. Original units of the Kentucky Air National Guard were: HQ, 123rd Fighter Group; HQ Detachment, 223rd Air Service Group; Detachment A, 223rd Air Service Group; 165th Fighter Squadron; 165th Utility Flight; 165th Weather Station.
February 19, 1849 – Act passed directing the “the following names of battles and campaigns be inscribed upon the bands of the State Military Monument (Frankfort cemetery): Boonesborough, Blue Licks, Estill’s Defeat, St. Clair’s Defeat, Harmar’s Defeat, Wayne’s Campaign, Indian Wars, Tippecanoe, Raisin, Mississiniwa, Fort Meigs, Thames, New Orleans, Monterey, Cerro Gordo, Buena Vista, Mexico; that the names of such distinguished citizens of Kentucky as fell in said battles, campaigns and Indian Wars be inscribed on the shaft, beneath said bands; and that the dedication on the monument shall show that it is erected by a grateful country in honor of the private soldiers, equally with that of the officers.”
February 19, 1945 – US Marines landed on Iwo Jima. (World War II)
February 20, 1850 – From the Kentucky Legislature. The thanks and gratitude of the people of Kentucky, and a sword, tendered to Sgt. William F. Gaines of Georgetown, “the boy defender of the glorious banner of the 2nd Regiment of Kentucky Infantry, at the Battle of Buena Vista;” his name to be inscribed on a plate of metal, and attached to the flagstaff of the colors.
February 22, 1917 – 1st Sgt. William C. Liles of Company H, 3rd Kentucky Infantry Regiment from Hartford, Ohio County, Kentucky died of pneumonia while on active federal duty near El Paso, TX. Liles joined Company H when it was formed in 1906. (Mexican Punitive Expedition)
February 22, 1967 – Operation Junction City began. (Vietnam War)
February 22-23, 1847 – Gen. Zachary Taylor, after two days of severe fighting, wins a great victory over the Mexican Army at Buena Vista — A small American army under the command of Gen. Taylor defeats a much larger force commanded by Gen. Santa Anna, President of Mexico. About ninety percent of Taylor’s army was composed of state volunteer (Guard) units, several of which were heavily engaged in the fight. The 2nd Kentucky Volunteer Infantry’s, second in command, Lt. Col. Henry Clay, Jr. (son of the famous former Secretary of State and Speaker of the House of Representatives) was killed while leading his men in blunting the Mexican assault. The 1st Mississippi Rifles, under the command of Col. Jefferson Davis (a Kentuckian and future U. S. Secretary of War and President of the Confederacy) and the 2nd Kentucky Cavalry charged into the flank of the Mexicans routing them off the field. (Mexican-American War)
Death of Henry Clay Jr. at the Battle of Buena Vista, Mexico, Feb. 23, 1847.
February 23, 1847 – Resolutions passed by the Kentucky Legislature, complimentary to the Louisville Legion, and to Gens. Zachary Taylor and William O. Butler for their gallantry in Mexico, and directing the presentation of a sword to each of those generals, and to the widow of Maj. Philip Norbourne Barbour. Barbour fell at Monterey, and his body was directed to be buried in the state cemetery at Frankfort (Mexican-American War)
February 23, 1854 – Kentucky Legislature directs a sword to be presented to Henry E. Read, of Larue County, late ensign in Col. Andrews’ regiment of voligeurs, for gallant services in bearing the flag of his country through all the battles in the valley of Mexico, until he fell covered with wounds under the walls of Chapultepec.
Iconic photograph by Joe Rosenthal of Marines raising American flag on Mt. Suribachi, Iwo JIma, Feb. 23, 1945.
February 23, 1945 – U.S. Marines raised flag on Mt. Suribachi at the Battle of Iwo Jima. (World War II)
February 23, 1969 – Post-Tet Offensive began (Vietnam War)
U.S. military tanks and armored vehicles cross the desert near the Kuwaiti border during Desert Storm, Feb. 24, 1991.
February 24, 1991 – Operation Desert Storm ground campaign began.
February 25, 1848 – $15,000 appropriated to pay for a military monument in the state cemetery, “to commemorate the deeds of Kentucky’s gallant dead.”
February 25, 1871 – In making excavations at Monroe, Michigan, 30 human skulls and numerous bones were exhumed, the remains of Kentuckians massacred following the disastrous battle of the River Raisin.
February 26, 1991 – Battle of 73 Easting (Desert Storm)
February 27, 1991 – Battle of Medina Ridge (Desert Storm)
February 27, 1991 – Battle of Norfolk (Desert Storm)
February 28, 1847 – Gen. Alexander Doniphan (born, Maysville, Ky.) defeats the Mexicans at Sacramento, in Chihuahua. (Mexican-American War)
February 28, 1867 – Dr. John M. Johnson, petitions the Kentucky Legislature an appropriation for the purpose of re-interring, in cemetery grounds at Atlanta, Georgia, the Kentucky Confederate dead who fell at Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, Dalton, Atlanta, Decatur, Jonesboro, and in East and Middle Tennessee; about 300 identified and 200 unidentified.
Kentucky Guardsmen assist with the recovery efforts following the Prestonburg bus crash, Feb. 28, 1958.
February 28, 1958 – Prestonsburg School Bus Disaster – What was then called the “worst traffic accident involving school children in the history of the United States” happened near Prestonsburg, Ky., when a school bus containing 48 children hit a wrecker and swerved into the flood swollen Levisa Ford of the Big Sandy River and disappeared. Twenty-two children escaped the bus before it sank and was swept away. The last body was not recovered until May 10th. The Kentucky National Guard assisted with the recovery operations.
The following is a compilation of significant dates in our Nation’s and commonwealth’s military history. For more on the legacy of our Citizen-Soldiers and Airmen, visit the Kentucky National Guard eMuseum.
Battle of New Orleans, 1815
Brig. Gen. John Kerr
January 1, 1891 - Capt. John Kerr from Lexington, Ky., while serving with the 6th U.S. Cavalry, led his troop against hostile Sioux Indians on the north bank of the White River, South Dakota, and forced the Sioux tribe to retreat back into the Pine Ridge Agency. For his distinguished bravery, Kerr received the Medal of Honor. The Hutchinson Station, Ky., resident graduated from West Point in 1870 and also was awarded the Silver Star for gallantry in action in 1898 during the Spanish American War.
January 1, 1953 – Units of the 123rd Fighter- Interception Wing, including Group Headquarters and the 165th Squadron were redesignated as fighter-bomber units.
January 1, 1962 - Navy SEAL teams established by President John F. Kennedy
January 1, 1968 – Assault on Fire Base Burt (Vietnam War)
January 4, 1863 - Confederate General Roger Weightman Hanson dies at Murfreesboro, Tennessee. His death was a result of wounds sustained two days earlier at the Battle of Stones River. Hanson was born in 1827 in Clark City, Tennessee. He served during the Mexican War and was a lawyer and a colonel in the Kentucky State Guard before the Civil War. He joined the Confederate army in September 1861 and received a commission as colonel in the 2nd Kentucky. He was assigned to Fort Donelson on the Cumberland River and when Union General Ulysses S. Grant captured the post on February 16, 1862, Hanson was sent to a Federal prison. He was exchanged after eight months and placed in command of the “Orphan Brigade.” The Orphan Brigade was a unit composed of 5,000 Kentucky residents who were cut off from their homes by the Union occupation of their state.
January 4, 1912 – William Birch Haldeman is appointed Adjutant General of Kentucky by Gov. James B. McCreary.
January 7, 1815 – 2,500 Kentucky militia, under Maj. Gen. John Thomas, less than one-fourth of them armed (as their arms were on flat-boats, not yet arrived), reach New Orleans. (War of 1812)
Capt. Thomas Mantell
January 7, 1948 – Capt. Thomas Francis Mantell Jr., was killed while on a training flight with three other P-51Ds (Mustang). Mantell was directed by flight tower at Godman Field, Ft. Knox, to pursue an unidentified flying object. While in pursuit of the object, his aircraft crashed near Franklin, Simpson County, Ky. Capt. Mantell was the first flight casualty of the Kentucky Air National Guard.
January 8, 1815 – American victory at the Battle of New Orleans. (War of 1812)
January 8, 1967 – Operation Cedar Falls (Vietnam War)
January 11, 1862 – Gunboat action at Columbus, Kentucky. (Civil War)
Union gunboats on the Mississippi River near Columbus, Ky., during the Civil War.
January 12, 1945 – 1st Lt. George A. Vanarsdale, Headquarters Company, 192nd Light Tank Battalion (Harrodsburg Tankers) died when the Japanese “Hell Ship” Enoura Maru was sunk (World War II)
January 13, 1917 – Lt. Nathaniel Gibson Hale of Murray’s L Company, Third Kentucky Infantry died of an accidental gunshot wound. Hale was in his tent at the regimental camp, Camp Owen Bierne, some two miles from Fort Bliss, near El Paso, TX. He was part of the Kentucky National Guard contingent called to federal duty to patrol a sixty mile stretch of the border between Fort Bliss and Fort Hancock during the Mexican Punitive Expedition. Hale belonged to the Murray unit, joining as a Pvt. on June 22, 1912. He was promoted to Sgt. and 1st Sgt. and elected 1st Lt. on July 10, 1914.
January 17, 1991 – Operation Desert Storm began
January 18, 1813 – Battle of Frenchtown, Michigan Territory (Monroe, MI) (War of 1812)
Battle of Mill Springs, Ky., 1862
January 19, 1862– Battle of Mill Springs, Pulaski County (Civil War)
January 20, 1968 – Battle of Khe Sanh began (Vietnam War)
January, 1847 – Maj. John P. Gaines and Capt. Cassius M. Clay, with 30 Kentucky cavalry, along with 50 Arkansas cavalry, are surrounded at Encarnacion by an overwhelming force of Mexican cavalry, and compelled to surrender, taken to the city of Mexico, and imprisoned (Mexican-American War)
January 21, 1839 – The “Louisville Legion,” of dragoons, artillery, infantry and riflemen, authorized as part of the Kentucky Militia.
Massacre at the River Raisin, Mich., 1813
January 22-23, 1813 – Battle of the River Raisin, disastrous defeat and massacre of Kentucky troops. “Remember the Raisin” would become the battle cry of Kentucky troops during the remainder of the war in the northwest (War of 1812)
January 22, 1944 – Allies land at Anzio, Italy (World War II)
January 23, 1937 – Sgt. Thomas J. “Tommy” Brown of Madisonville, drowned while on state active duty in response to the flood of 1937. He was assigned to Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 149th Infantry from Madisonville. He is the only known Kentucky National Guardsman who perished on duty during the great flood of 1937. According to newspaper accounts, Brown and 2ndLt. James L. Moore, Pvt. C. W. Anthony and a civilian, Emmett Ashby, were in a boat that lost its stern from vibrations from an outboard motor and quickly sank by the stern throwing all four into the nine-foot deep water. The other three were able to swim to shallow waters but did suffer from exposure and shock. Brown was last seen clinging to the boat bow debris before he sank from sight. The Guardsmen were on a survey mission to assess conditions in Ashbyburg and Jewel City area and Ashby was catching a ride to Ashbyburg in hopes of getting another ride closer to his home. Brown was a butcher in civilian life and was married and had one child. Brown’s battalion commander, Oren Coin, wrote a letter to a legislative committee on the widow’s behalf in December of 1937 seeking some sort of relief for his family. Sgt. Brown’s death most likely was the beginning of the push for the state’s death gratuity for Kentucky National Guardsmen who die on State Active Duty missions.
January 24, 1955 – Col. Philip P. Ardery, senior commander of the Kentucky Air National Guard since its founding, was promoted to the rank of Brig. Gen., the first Kentucky Air Guard member to wear the star of a general officer.
January 25, 1944 – Gustavus Herbert May is appointed Adjutant General of Kentucky by Gov. Simeon Willis.
January 25, 1951 – Operation Thunderbolt began (Korean War)
A Kentucky Air National Guard RF-101 Voodoo explodes shortly after take off at Itazuke Air Base, Japan.
January 26, 1968 – All units of the Kentucky Air National Guard except state Headquarters were called to federal service. Kentucky is only one of two states to have both Air and Army Guard units called up in 1968 (the other being Kansas). Kentucky was the only state to have both Air and Army mobilized units deploy overseas. The 165th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron was assigned, along with two other Air National Guard recon squadrons to a rotation scheme which had each squadron assigned for 60-90 days to the Panama Canal, Alaska and Itazuke Air Base in Japan. During these missions their RF-101 Voodoo jets would photograph areas of interest looking for Soviet, or in the case of Japan, North Korean, naval activity. While the 165th was stationed in Japan in the spring of 1969 one of its pilots, Captain William Seiber, was almost killed when his plane exploded upon take off. The unit returned home and was released from active duty on June 9, 1969. (Pueblo Call-up/Vietnam War)
January 27, 1943 – Sgt. Elzie E. Anness, Headquarters Company, 192nd Light Tank Battalion (Harrodsburg Tankers) died at Camp Tanagawa, Osaka, Japan of dysentery (World War II)
January 28, 1957 – 1st Lt. Owen W. Turner, of Pleasure Ridge (Jefferson County) died when his burning plane crashed near Piedmont, Alabama, some sixty miles west of Atlanta. Turner was flying a T-28 from the Naval Air Station at Atlanta for a navigational proficiency flight to Standiford Field. Turner decided to return to Atlanta because of worsening weather conditions in his flight path. Turner joined the Kentucky Air National Guard in 1948 and was a member of the 165th Fighter Interceptor Squadron.
January 27, 1973 – Signing of Vietnam Peace Accord (Vietnam War)
January 29, 1828 – Preston S. Loughborough is appointed Adjutant General of Kentucky by Gov. Joseph Desha.
January 30, 1968 – Tet Offensive began (Vietnam War)
2nd Lt. Archibald Rue
January 31, 1945 – 2nd Lt. Archibald B. “Arch” Rue, Company D, 192nd Light Tank Battalion (Harrodsburg Tankers) died at Camp Fukupka #3 Yawata, Kyushu, Japan of acute colitis (World War II)
January 31, 1956 – Col. Lee J. Merkel, veteran commander of the Kentucky Air National Guard’s base and vice commander of the 123rd Fighter-Interceptor Wing, was killed in an air crash of an F-51 Mustang 10 miles north of Bedford, In.
January 31, 1968 – Battle of Hue began (Vietnam War)
The following is a compilation of significant dates in our Nation’s and our commonwealth’s military history. For more on the legacy of Kentucky’s men and women in uniform, visit the Kentucky National Guard eMuseum.
A Kentucky Guardsman with the 149th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade waves the Kentucky flag at the border crossing into Kuwait, Dec.2, 2011, as part of one of the last Kentucky convoy out of the country. (Kentucky National Guard photo by Capt. Andrea Hahn)
Pfc. Alva Holland
December 1, 2009 – Pfc. Alva Lorenzy Holland, of Bellevue, Ky. (Campbell County) was on active duty status when he was killed in a motorcycle accident. Holland was en route to 149th Vertical Engineer Construction Company of Cynthiana when the accident occurred. Holland was a medical assistant at a chiropractic center in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was a 2004 graduate of Bellevue High School. Holland was a medic in the Kentucky National Guard’s 149th Vertical Engineer Construction Company. Holland volunteered for an active duty deployment in February, 2010 with the 2123rdTransportation Company.
December 2, 2011 - Last Soldiers of the 149th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade leave Iraq. They are among the final U.S. Forces to exit the country following the nearly nine-year war. (Operation New Dawn)
December 6, 1776 – Kentucky County established by Virginia, out of part of Fincastle County.
December 7 – National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, observed in remembrance of the December 7, 1941 attack.
December 7, 1971 – Richard L. Frymire is appointed Adjutant General of Kentucky by Gov. Wendell H. Ford. He would be re-appointed by Gov. Julian Carroll. Frymire, the former commander of the 165th Rac. Recon. Sq. became the first member of the Kentucky Air National Guard to serve as Adjutant General of Kentucky.
December 7, 1987 – Michael Walker Davidson is appointed Adjutant General of Kentucky by Gov. Wallace G. Wilkinson.
Front page of the Courier Journal, Louisville, Ky., Dec. 8, 1941.
December 8, 1941 – The United States declared war on Japan (World War II)
December 8, 1941 – Initial Japanese attack on the Philippine Islands. Co. D, 192nd Tank Battalion (aka “The Harrodsburg Tankers”), come under attack. (World War II)
December 8, 1959 – Arthur Young Lloyd is appointed Adjutant General of Kentucky by Gov. Bert T. Combs and re-appointed by Gov. Edward T. Breathitt.
Maj. Gen. Billy G. Wellman
December 8, 1977 – Billy Gene Wellman is appointed Adjutant General of Kentucky by Gov. Julian M. Carroll. He would be re-appointed to the position by Govs. John Y. Brown, and Martha Layne Collins.
December 9, 1947 – Roscoe Lee Murray is appointed Adjutant General of Kentucky by Gov. Earle C. Clements and re-appointed by Gov. Lawrence W. Wetherby.
December 9, 1990 – 1st Battalion, 623rd Field Artillery federally activated for Operation Desert Shield/Storm.
December 9, 2003 – Donald C. Storm is appointed Adjutant General of Kentucky by Gov. Ernest Fletcher.
December 10, 1829 – Peter Dudley is appointed Adjutant General of Kentucky by Gov. Thomas Metcalf. Dudley would be re-appointed to the position by Governors John Breathitt, James T. Morehead, James Clark, Charles A. Wicklife, Robert P. Letcher, William Owsley, John J. Crittenden, and John L. Helm.
December 10, 1895 – Daniel Ray Collier receives his first appointment as Adjutant General of Kentucky from Gov. William O. Bradley. He received a second appointment on November 1, 1898, from Gov. William S. Taylor. Collier was re-appointed Adjutant General under Gov. William S. Taylor on December 13, 1899, following the contested governor’s election, and continued to hold office simultaneously with John B. Castleman from February 3, 1900 while the two candidates disputed the issues in the courts. Collier remained in office in the Old Capitol, serving under Taylor, until May 22, 1900, at which time he yielded the office to General Castleman in compliance with a U.S. Supreme Court order.
December 10, 1903 – William Purcell Dennis (Percy) Haly is appointed Adjutant General of Kentucky by Gov. J.C.W. Beckham.
December 10, 1939 – John Arthur Polin is appointed Adjutant General of Kentucky by Gov. Keen Johnson.
December 10, 1950 – Wonsan-Hungnam Campaign ended. (Korean War)
Maj. Gen. Robert DeZarn
December 10, 1991 – Robert Louis DeZarn is appointed Adjutant General of Kentucky by Gov. Brereton C. Jones.
December 11, 1923 – Jouett Henry Adjutant General of Kentucky by Gov. William J. Fields.
December 11, 1935 – George Lee McClain is appointed Adjutant General of Kentucky by Gov. Albert B. (Happy) Chandler.
December 11, 1941 – The United States declared war on Germany and Italy. (World War II)
December 11, 1951 – Jesse Scott Lindsay is appointed Adjutant General of Kentucky by Gov. Lawrence W. Wetherby.
December 11, 2006 – Staff Sgt. Thomas W. Clemons, Falls of Rough, (Grayson County) Ky., died as he was preparing to go on patrol with his team near Ad Diwaniyah, Iraq, when he succumbed to a heart attack. A member of the Kentucky Army Guard since August 2000, Clemons deployed in March 2006 to Iraq with Company B, 2nd Battalion, 123rdArmor.
Staff Sgt. Thomas Clemons
December 11, 2007 – Our current Adjutant General, Maj. Gen. Edward W. Tonini is appointed to the role by Gov. Steve Beshear.
December 12, 1967 – Allan Kenneth Carrell is appointed Adjutant General of Kentucky by Gov. Louie B. Nunn.
December 12, 1985 – Gander, Newfoundland airplane crash. Upon leaving the Gander airfield, a military chartered Arrow Air DC-8 left from Gander headed for Fort Campbell, Kentucky, the plane crashed shortly after take-off, killing all 256 people aboard. Two hundred forty-eight members of the 101st Airborne Division and eight crewmembers died.
December 12, 1995 – John Russell Groves, Jr. is appointed Adjutant General of Kentucky by Gov. Paul E. Patton.
December 13, 1636 - General Court of the Massachusettes Bay Colony ordered the organization of the Colony’s militia companies into three regiments: The North, South and East Regiments. The colonists had adopted an English militia system in which all males, aged 16-60 were required to possess arms and participate in the defense of the community. The roots of the modern day National Guard.
Pvt. Willard Yeast
December 13, 1907 – Philip Preston Johnston is appointed Adjutant General of Kentucky by Gov. Augustus E. Wilson.
December 13, 1955 – John Jacob Bethurum Williams is appointed Adjutant General of Kentucky by Gov. Albert B. Chandler.
December 13, 2003 - Deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein captured near his home town of Tikrit, Iraq by U.S. Forces.
December 14, 1927 – William Henry Jones, Jr. is appointed Adjutant General of Kentucky by Gov. Flem D. Sampson and re-appointed to the position by Gov. Ruby Laffoon.
December 14, 1944 – Staff Sgt Joseph Baxter Million, and Pvt. Willard R. Yeast, both of Company D, 192nd Light Tank Battalion (aka “The Harrodsburg Tankers”) died when they were burned to death during the Palawan Island Massacre. (World War II)
December 14, 2002 – Carrollton National Guard Armory named in honor of Robert “Goose” Caldwell.
Caldwell Armory, home of Alpha Battery, 2/138th FIeld Artillery
December 16, 1944 – Battle of the Bulge began (World War II)
December 16, 1951 – 1st Lt. Lawrence Bertrand Kelly of Louisville (Jefferson County) died in Korea while serving on active duty flying an F-80 with the 80th Fighter Bomber Squadron, 8th FTR Bomb Group. He was declared missing on this date and his status was changed from MIA to KIA on December 31, 1953. Prior to his active service he was a member of the Kentucky Air National Guard. (Korean War)
December 17, 1861 – Battle of Rowletts Station (Hart County) (Civil War)
December 17, 1989 – Operation Just Cause (Panama).
Battle of Mississinewa, Ind.
December 17-18, 1812– Battle of Mississinewa (near Marion, In.) (War of 1812)
December 18, 1972 – Operation Linebacker II (Christmas Bombing) (Vietnam War)
December 20, 1919 – James Madison DeWeese receives his first appointment as Adjutant General of Kentucky, his second appointment is June 16, 1920, by appointments made by Gov. Edwin P. Morrow.
December 22, 1921 – Newport Rolling Mills Strike Duty – The Kentucky National Guard under command of Col. Henry H. Denhardt, who later became Adjutant General, ordered by Gov. Edwin P. Morrow to quiet rioting and wide-spread violence. The first troops arrived on the morning of December 24th to sound of gunfire. The strike continued into 1922.
December 22, 1921– Cpl. Edward Vivion Trisler, of Company D, 192nd Light Tank Battalion died on 23 December 1942 at Camp Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija, Philippines of dysentery.
Pvt. Robert Brooks
December 23, 1941 – The main parade grounds at Fort Knox named Brooks Field in honor of Private Robert H. Brooks of Sadieville, first Armored Force casualty of World War II, killed in the Philippines while serving with Co. D, 192nd Tank Battalion. (World War II)
December 24, 1921 – Pvt. Robert Deaton, a member of Company G, 149th Infantry, Barbourville, Ky., was accidentally killed at the corner of Powell and Brighton streets in Covington, while on state active duty during steel strikes at Newport. While he and Sgt. Charles Black were on duty, Sgt. Black became suddenly ill and about to fall, in recovering his balance his right arm knocked Deaton’s revolver from his holster. The revolver fell to the street discharging the cartridge. The bullet struck the right side of Deaton’s neck. He was rushed to the hospital but bled to death on the way. Col. H. H. Denhardt, commanding the troops made an investigation and pronounced the death accidental. Denhardt would later serve as Adjutant General.
December 24, 1964 – USAF began strikes on Laos. (Vietnam War)
December 25, 1846 – Gen. Alexander W. Doniphan (formerly of Mason County, Ky.) defeats the Mexicans at Bracito. (Mexican-American War)
December 27, 1860 – Major Robert Anderson (of Kentucky), U.S. Army, in command in Charleston harbor, burns the inside of Fort Moultrie, spikes the guns, and retires, with his band of 80 men, to Fort Sumter. (Civil War)
December 29, 1776 – McClellan’s fort (Georgetown) attacked by Indians. (Early Indian Wars)
December 29, 1862 - U.S. Army Col. James Williamson from Adair County, Ky., while serving with the 4th Iowa Infantry, led his regiment against a superior force, strongly entrenched, and held his ground when all support had been withdrawn during the Battle of Chickasaw Bayou, Miss. Williamson received the Medal of Honor for his actions.
December 31, 1946 – President Harry S. Truman officially proclaims the end of hostilities in World War II.
