Tag: Royal navy

Battles of December 15 plus museums and artwork information

Battles of December 15 including descriptions of the battles, geographic locations, associated artwork, and museums where a person can find associated artifacts and artwork.

1. Battle of Nashville

  • Date: December 15–16, 1864
  • War: American Civil War
  • Cause: Confederate General John Bell Hood attempted to reclaim Nashville, Tennessee, and cut off Union supply lines to force General William T. Sherman to withdraw from Georgia. Union General George H. Thomas, after weeks of preparation, launched a massive attack to destroy Hood’s Army of Tennessee.
  • Result: A decisive Union victory. The Confederate Army of Tennessee was routed and effectively destroyed as a fighting force for the remainder of the war.

Location:

  • General: Nashville, Tennessee, USA
  • Coordinates: 36°06′36″N 86°47′33″W

Art & Artifacts:

  • Painting: The Battle of Nashville
    • Artist: Howard Pyle
    • Year: 1906
  • Museums:
    • Tennessee State Museum (Nashville, TN): Holds a vast collection of Civil War uniforms, weapons, and flags related to the western theater.
    • Minnesota State Capitol (St. Paul, MN): The original Howard Pyle painting hangs in the Governor’s Reception Room.
    • Battle of Nashville Monument Park: Preserves key locations of the battlefield.

Recommended Book:

2. Battle of Fredericksburg

  • Date: December 11–15, 1862 (The battle concluded with the Union withdrawal on Dec 15)
  • War: American Civil War
  • Cause: Union General Ambrose Burnside attempted to cross the Rappahannock River and race toward the Confederate capital of Richmond. He was delayed by pontoon bridges, allowing General Robert E. Lee to entrench his army on high ground behind Fredericksburg.
  • Result: A major Confederate victory. The Union army suffered staggering casualties in futile frontal assaults against Marye’s Heights and was forced to retreat across the river on December 15.

Location:

  • General: Fredericksburg, Virginia, USA
  • Coordinates: 38°17′42″N 77°28′12″W

Art & Artifacts:

  • Painting: The Battle of Fredericksburg
    • Artist: Carl Röchling
    • Year: Circa 1890s
  • Museums:
    • Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park (VA, USA): Maintains the battlefield, Sunken Road, and Chatham Manor.
    • National Museum of Civil War Medicine (Frederick, MD): Contains artifacts related to the medical treatment of the thousands wounded at this battle.

Recommended Book:

3. Battle of Colenso

  • Date: December 15, 1899
  • War: Second Boer War
  • Cause: British General Sir Redvers Buller launched a frontal assault to cross the Tugela River and relieve the besieged town of Ladysmith. The Boers, led by Louis Botha, were heavily entrenched and camouflaged on the opposite bank.
  • Result: A decisive Boer victory. The British suffered heavy casualties and lost many field guns. It was one of the three defeats during the British “Black Week.”

Location:

  • General: Colenso, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
  • Coordinates: 28°44′20″S 29°49′49″E

Art & Artifacts:

  • Painting: The Last Shot at Colenso
    • Artist: Richard Caton Woodville
    • Year: 1900
  • Museums:
    • Colenso Museum (R.E. Stevenson Museum) (Colenso, South Africa): Houses specific artifacts and memorabilia from the battle.
    • National Army Museum (London, UK): Holds significant collections of Boer War art and weaponry.

Recommended Book:

4. Battle of St. Lucia (Battle of the Cul de Sac)

  • Date: December 15, 1778
  • War: American Revolutionary War (Anglo-French War)
  • Cause: A British fleet under Admiral Samuel Barrington captured the island of St. Lucia to monitor the French base at Martinique. A much larger French fleet under Count d’Estaing arrived to retake the island.
  • Result: A British victory. Despite being heavily outnumbered, Barrington anchored his ships in a defensive line across the Cul de Sac bay and repelled two massive French attacks, securing the island.

Location:

  • General: Grand Cul de Sac Bay, St. Lucia, Caribbean
  • Coordinates: 14°01′01″N 60°58′59″W

Art & Artifacts:

  • Painting: Barrington’s Action at St Lucia, 15 December 1778
    • Artist: Dominic Serres
    • Year: 1780
  • Museums:
    • National Maritime Museum (Greenwich, UK): Houses the original Serres painting and ship models from the era.
    • Pigeon Island National Landmark (St. Lucia): Contains ruins of the 18th-century forts and batteries used during the conflict.

Recommended Book:

5. Battle of Mount Austen

  • Date: December 15, 1942 – January 23, 1943 (Offensive began Dec 15)
  • War: World War II (Pacific Theater)
  • Cause: As part of the Guadalcanal Campaign, U.S. forces (specifically the Army’s XIV Corps) launched an offensive to eliminate pockets of entrenched Japanese resistance in the hills overlooking Henderson Field.
  • Result: A hard-fought American victory. The capture of Mount Austen and the “Gifu” strongpoint secured the airfield from artillery fire and paved the way for the final Japanese evacuation of the island.

Location:

  • General: Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands
  • Coordinates: 9°28′00″S 159°58′00″E

Art & Artifacts:

  • Sketch/Art: Privates Driving Down a Jeep Trail from Mt. Austen (Combat Art)
    • Artist: Howard Brodie
    • Year: 1942
  • Museums:
    • National WWII Museum (New Orleans, LA, USA): Features extensive exhibits on the Guadalcanal campaign.
    • Solomon Islands National Museum (Honiara, Guadalcanal): Displays war relics recovered from the jungle battlefields.

Recommended Book:

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Tags: military museum, military artwork, battles, Military History, War History, Battle Art, War Paintings, Military Art, December 15, Civil War, Boer War, Royal Navy

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20th century military history book – “Saving Israel” (Stackpole Books, 2020) – Boaz Dvir interview

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Check out this book here   https://amzn.to/2ZnM73r

Boaz Dvir is a journalist, writer, and filmmaker. He spent ten years researching the creation of the Israeli Air Force in 1948. He produced a documentary on the subject titled “A Wing and a Prayer” which was shown on PBS. He then wrote a book on the subject. We spoke about the Israeli Air Force of 1948, the secret methods needed to create it, the writing of the book, and what it took to research it.

(THE AUDIO PLAYER IS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POST.)

0:51 – Boaz talks about why he wrote this book.

3:41 – Boaz talks about how the Israelis were armed with Nazi weapons in 1948.

4:25 – Boaz summarizes what led up to the Arab-Israeli War of 1948.

7:35 – Boaz talks about what he focuses on in the book.

12:32 – Boaz talks about how the Arab were threatening to annihilate the Israelis.

14:41 – Boaz talks about the US Army flight engineer who started the operation to arm Israel.

19:59 – Boaz talks about how the Jewish-American underground set up an airline to fly people into Israel.

23:05 – Boaz talks about how Adolf became an international arms smuggler.

26:54 – Boaz talks about military resistance to the smuggling of weapons.

31:41 – Boaz talks about what the Israeli Air Force consisted of before the 1948 war and what had been created by the end of the war.

32:58 – Boaz talks in detail about the planes they brought into Israel.

35:35 – Boaz talks about the initial operations on both sides during the 1948 war.

39:22 – Boaz talks about the air war during the 1948 war and the initial Arab advantage.

41:54 – Boaz talks about how Israel used Nazi weapons in the 1948 war.

45:14 – Boaz talks about the research he did for the book.

49:10 – Boaz talks about coming across one of the old C-47s used in the 1948 war.

51:19 – Boaz talks about how amazing it was to talk to the US WWII veterans.

54:26 – Boaz talks about the emotional responses to this subject matter.

54:53 – Boaz talked about his surprise at US antagonism towards Israel in 1948.

59:10 – Boaz talks about how the USSR indirectly armed Israel.

1:04:01 – Boaz talks about influence of Jewish Russians on Israel.

1:05:22 – Boaz talks about the British pilots who flew against Israel and the shoot-down of a British reconnaissance plane.

1:08:21 – Boaz talks about the two types of Egyptian pilots that the Israeli pilots faced in 1948.

1:09:52 – Boaz talks about the victims of the war.

1:17:14 – Boaz talks about how the people in his book were innovative.

1:22:30 – Boaz can be found on facebook at Boaz Dvir and on twitter @BoazDvir.

 

Links of interest

https://amzn.to/2ZnM73r

https://rowman.com/ISBN/9780811737265/Saving-Israel-The-Unknown-Story-of-Smuggling-Weapons-and-Winning-a-Nation%E2%80%99s-Independence

https://twitter.com/boazdvir?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

For more “Military History Inside Out” please follow me at www.warscholar.org, on Facebook at warscholar, on twitter at Warscholar, on youtube at warscholar1945 and on Instagram @crisalvarezswarscholar. Or subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify

 

Guests: Boaz Dvir

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: military, history, military history, conflict, war, interview, non-fiction book, tags: Israel, Holocaust, Arab-Israeli war, Nazi, Palestine, Jewish, United Nations, US Army Air Force, aviation, neutrality act, WWII, world war two, Britain, Trans-Jordan, ATC, concentration camp, RAF, Royal Navy, arms smuggling, arms embargo, Egypt, Iraq, Hawaii, US Navy, FBI, Czechoslovakia, California, New Jersey, 1948 war, dogfighting, pilots, Negev, B-17, El Al, Tel Aviv, Messerschmitts, Nazi, Spitfires, Syria, flight logs, Israeli Air Force museum, greatest generation, Soviet Union, Stalin, Ben Gurion, Cairo, P-51, Panama, Wing and a Prayer, PBS

 

Check out this book here   https://amzn.to/2ZnM73r

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

20th Century conflict – “The Oil Wars Myth (Cornell University Press, 2020) – Emily Meierding interview

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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Check out this book here   https://amzn.to/3elj3PK

Emily Meierding has studied history and political science. She wrote her first book thinking she would prove that a number of wars have been started over oil and found the opposite. We spoke about the book and the research she did for it.

(The audio player is at the bottom of this post.)

0:47 – Emily talks about how she got into writing on oil and international wars.

1:33 – Emily talks about the wars she looking into including WWII and the Gulf War. She looked at conflicts from 1912 to 2010.

3:35 – Emily talks about Japan and WWII and other cases where oil was a goal versus other factors.

6:20 – Emily talks about the Falklands War.

7:59 – Emily talks about conflict in 1912 and on.

9:10 – Emily talks about how WWI affected government ideas about oil and war.

11:29 – Emily talks about peacetime activities to ensure energy security.

12:41 – Emily talks about US goals in the Iraq War.

14:56 – Emily talks about how she divided wars into four categories in relation to oil.

19:44 – Emily talks about Saddam going to war for survival.

20:30 – Emily talks about the Iran-Iraq war.

22:09 – Emily talks about Saudi Arabia and disputes with Yemen.

23:13 – Emily talks about African wars and oil.

25:01 – Emily talks about the influence of oil companies in war.

27:55 – Emily talks about why the wars for oil myth exists and persists.

31:57 – Emily talks about what she used for her research.

33:02 – Emily talks about some work she did in Africa.

34:42 – Emily talks about Iraq and the invasion of Kuwait.

39:11 – Emily talks about her strong interest in the subject matter.

43:58 – Emily talks about the [prevalence] strength of the oil myth over time.

45:37 – Emily talks about US plans to invade Saudi Arabia during the 70s oil crisis.

49:45 – Emily is on twitter @emeierding and on emilymeierding.net

 

Links of interest

https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501748288/the-oil-wars-myth/

http://emilymeierding.net/Welcome.html

https://twitter.com/emeierding

For more “Military History Inside Out” please follow me at www.warscholar.org, on Facebook at warscholar, on twitter at Warscholar, on youtube at warscholar1945 and on Instagram @crisalvarezswarscholar. Or subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify

Guests: Emily Meierding

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: military, history, military history, conflict, war, interview, non-fiction book, oil, international war, WWII, world war two, gulf war, falklands war, China, Germany, Japan, coal, Great Britain, Royal Navy, Iran, Mesopotamia, Iraq, Chaco War, South China Sea, Persian Gulf War, Kuwait, Saddam Hussein, Iran-Iraq war, Africa, Nigeria, Cameroon, Iran-Contra, Russia, biofuel, Saudi Arabia, USSR

Check out this book here   https://amzn.to/3elj3PK

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.