OCTOBER 17 — 1779 Gen. Washington gives orders to the newest member of his spy ring; 1835 Texas Rangers; 1989 World Series interrupted by the Loma Preita Earthquake; 1981 Happy birthday UFC champ Hollie Holm
OCTOBER 17
1777 – Third battle of Saratoga.
…Horacio Gates and Benedict Arnold V John Burgoyne. Result: British surrender. What happened in Saratoga is considered by many historians to be the turning point for the colonists in the American Revolution. The American colonists defeated the British in Princeton and Trenton, and the British were dumbfounded by these American victories.
The British sent out three armies: Burgoyne would lead 8,000 troops from Canada, Barry St. Leger would march in his men from east of Ontario, and General William Howe moving north from NYC. The idea, after two years of battling the Patriots, was to cut off the armies of New England from the other colonies. But the plan didn’t work. Howe had bigger interests in capturing Philadelphia, which he did and kept his troops there for the winter.
Benedict Arnold, at the time fighting for the colonists, repulsed St. Leger. So Burgoyne attempted to accomplish the mission by himself, and took over Ft. Ticonderoga. But Johnny Burgoyne lagged his extravagant army’s movements, and the bright redcoats of the British army’s uniforms were under constant harassment. On September 19, the Battle of Freemans’ Farm, or the 1st Battle of Saratoga, took place leading Burgoyne to retreat his troops. October 7, Benedict Arnold repulsed the British recon forces in the Battle of Bemis Heights, aka the 2nd Battle of Saratoga. Burgoyne retreated, minus 86% of his command captured, to Saratoga, near the Hudson River, and that’s when Gates and Arnold surrounded him. Eggs Benedict Arnold actually defied Gate’s order to pull back and instead took control and as he shouted, “Victory or death!” seized the British lines.
Burgoyne retreated with bullet holes in his hat and jacket, his army now broken. It’s worth noting that Benedict Arnold received a bullet wound in the same leg he received another one previously in the assault on Quebec. Burgoyne’s retreat hadn’t gone too far, being intercepted by militia from New Hampshire just waiting for them. Game over. On October 17, 1777, the British would surrender an entire army of over 5,000 to the Americans. Word spread around the American colonies, just in time to offset the major setbacks from Brandywine as well as the fall of Philadelphia to Gen. Howe.
One American soldier acknowledged, “It was a glorious sight to see the haughty Britons march out & surrender their arms to an army which but a little before they despised and called poltroon.” I guess a poltroon is a coward. Meanwhile in France, Ben Franklin was paying a visit to King Louis XVI, who agreed as a result of this battle, to RECOGNIZE the United States not only like the Boss that the US is, but also as a French ally, to whom the French would supply financial and military aid. I more Revolution news…
1779 — General Washington gives orders to his new member of his Culper Spy Ring.
And I found it! There’s a copy on founders.archive.gov. The Culper Ring is not talked about very much, though it played just as important of a role in the American Revolution as the French or Robert Morris, the financier of the Revolution. Without the Culper Ring Washington would likely have lost the war, since the spy ring was responsible to key moments in Washington’s decision making.
In 1779 when the British Redcoats had taken over New York, a young man named Robert Townsend unexpectedly joined. He was a shy and quiet man who wouldn’t be expected to be the face of the man who would single-handedly change the course of history with his intelligence.
When he joined he wanted his identity to only be revealed by the member of the ring who recruited him; Abraham Woodhull, and the courier who delivered Townsends messages through its line of other spies who routed the information across the South Connecticut to the hands of Washington. But once Washington was informed of his arrival, he gave clear instructions.
It’s a log letter so I’ll have to paraphrase, but Washington was looking for the movements by land and water in and about the City, especially how the transports are secured against an attempt to destroy them, a detailed description of the place where the Works cross the Island in the rear of the city, how many soldiers, canon and how big, and whether redoubts were open or closed next to the city.
As I said it is quite lengthy, and Washington goes on for several pages looking for specifics in and around the city. Townsend would beer brilliant in his role, eventually getting a job at a local New York printing press which would give him an excuse to ask questions and not draw suspicion.
It really is an interesting letter and provides a profound look into how General Washington would arrange his plans to beat the British.
1931 – Al Capone is arrested.
…This legendary gangster earned the nick name Scarface when he was a bouncer at a bar in Manhattan, by insulting a patron and was attacked by her brother. Capone moved to Chicago and made it big during the prohibition era by bootlegging, well, booze between 1920-1933. He avoided time in jail by bribing city officials and became Chicago’s main crime boss by destroying his competitors. But not all Federal Agents could be bribed. The Untouchables was a team of agents led by Elliot Ness who couldn’t be corrupted. Like Batman. Ness and his team caught up to Scarface and nailed him for tax-evasion, since that was the only charge that would stick.
He was sentenced to 11 years in prison and fined $80,000. When he began his sentence he was already showing signs of syphilis, gonorrhea, and cocaine withdrawals. Being accused of getting preferential treatment while in prison, Capone was moved to Alcatraz to finish his sentence, which he did. He was released from jail and died from a stroke at age 47 on January 25, 1947.
1981 happy birthday Holly the Preacher’s Daughter Holm.
If I was 15 years old there would be no doubt I’d have at least three of her posters on my wall. Former UFC women’s Bantamweight Champ, former pro boxer and kick boxer, the preacher’s daughter can get one in a lot of trouble if he doesn’t mind his Ps and Qs if you know what I mean.
Hottie Holly defender her title 18 times in three weight classes and she’s a two-time Ring magazine fighter of the years, she’s ranked by BoxRec as being the tenth best female professional boxer of all time.
Her career highlight was probably in 2015 when she beat the champ Ronda Rousey, the first time by the way Rousy was beaten by anybody, and it happened in from over 56,000 people in Melbourne Australia.. She’s originally from Albuquerque New Mexico and yes, she is literally the daughter of a preacher. Happy birthday Holly!
1835 – Texas Rangers become legit.
…They were men who could not be stampeded, according to Col. Homer Garrison, who served as director of Public Safety in Texas. According to texasranger.org, they are compared to the greats of the FBI, Scotland Yard, and Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Ranger Capt. Bob Crowder says “A Ranger is an officer who is able to handle any given situation without any definite instructions from his commanding officer, or higher authority. This ability must be proven before a man can become a Ranger.”
1973 – OPEC declare oil embargo.
…The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries began prohibiting selling oil the any nation that supported Israel during the recent Yom Kippur Wars, meaning America. Like much of the resto f his foreign diplomacy, the peanut farmer President Jimmy carter was unable to negotiate this one. Prices tripled in some cases. The embargo finally ended in March 1974.
17 1989 — World Series is interrupted by the Loma Preita Earthquake.
Just briefly. The Oakland As and San Francisco Giants were playing ball in the battle of the bay at Candlestick Park when a 6.9 magnitude shook the city, killing 67 people, injuring thousands, and costing over $5B.
C’mon God!
It’s game 6 of the World Series, and the game was supposed to start in 20 minutes. Actually it did. The quake was centered around the Santa Cruz mountains, about an hour or two depending on traffic south of the city, but the 880 freeway essentially would collapse, killing 63.
Also known as the San Francisco-Oakland earthquake and the World Series Earthquake, it became the first major disaster to really be caught live on camera due to the media surrounding the ballgame.