APRIL 7 — 1777 Gen. Washington starts getting warnings about Brritish movement from the Culper Spy Ring; 1954 Domino Theory laid out; 1873 Happy Birthday John McGraw; 1970 John Wayne wins Oscar
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APRIL 7
script data-ad-client="ca-pub-8113795558250501" async src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script>1777 Gen. Washington begins receiving Intel about British operations from the Culper Ring.
1777 was not going well for the Continental Army during the American Revolution. The British had taken New York, and were looking to take Philadelphia. It seemed the British had snuffed out the colonists hope for independence once and for all. Washington, commander of the Continental Army, attempted espionage early on by sending Yale graduate Nathan Hale into British occupied New York to get intelligence. Within a week, Hale was caught and hanged.
Washington knew he would need a network and a ring would be assembled made up of people Washington never actually knew. It wasn’t easy getting it setup, because spying was not a gentleman’s game, and it lacked honor. Besides, we were told Washington never told a lie. He had an undisciplined army, no money and low on gear, trying to fight the most powerful army in the world. Of course he lied!
The Culper ring managed to distract the Hessian army in Trenton, allowing Washington to attack and reclaim the city, exposed a British attempt to counterfeit American money and prompted Congress to retired current bills in circulation, they ratted on Benedict Arnold and prevented West Point from being handed to the British, as well as stop the British from sabotaging the French fleet when the French arrived. If it weren’t for the Culper ring, the Revolution most likely would have been squished to a rebellion.
It began with the recommendation of future first chief justice of the United States John Jay, who at the time was directing a counterintelligence operation called the New York State Committee and Commission for Detecting and Defending Conspiracies. Very conveniently, John’s brother was a master at cryptography, and he would become an essential member of the ring.
John had recommended a merchant named Nathanial Sackett to organize the ring. Washington wrote Sackett a letter in February 1777 offering $50 per month, huge money back then, in exchange for the unit that would provide the “advantage of obtaining the earliest and best intelligence of the designs of the Enemy.” General Washington assembled Sackett, along with his military head of intelligence General Charles Scott and Captain Benjamin Tallmadge, who would run the Culper ring. Sackett was never very good at his role, however, and on this date in 1777 he wrote to General Washington warning of an attack on Philadelphia.
There was no counterintelligence and the information was basically useless. Though Sackett would be fired, the Culper Ring, that had begun forming with Tallmadge in charge, would continue on.
1776-US Navy captures first British warship.
So class, who can tell me who is the Father of the American Navy? Hint- I’m not talking about John Paul Jones, I’m talking about the other father. He was appointed Captain in the Continenal Navy on December 7, 1775, and along with John Paul Jones, was the first to raise an American flag on a ship.
On April 7, 1776, Barry was commandor of the Lexington when he took command of British warship HMS Edward off the coast of Virginia. He served with distinction throughout the American Revolution. He hd success with the Lexinton at sea, and on land , he raised a volunteer force to assist General Washinton in the surprisingly successful Trenton, NJ campaign of 1776-77.
After Barry retired from the Navy, he became the first commissioned naval officer in America, at the rank of commodore, receiving his commission from President George Washington. In 1981 President Reagan declared Commodore John Barry Day to honor a man he called one of the earliest and greatest American patriots, a man of great insight who perceived very early the need to American power on the sea.
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1954 – Happy birthday, Domino Theory.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower coined that phrase during his speech about the fall of French Indochina to the communists, thus creating a domino effect in southeast asia. Chairman Mao Zedong led a communist backed government in China, and that was a big loss to the United States. Korea had also partially fallen under Soviet domination at the end of WWII and was split up into the North and South parts of Korea in 1953. And then the French lost complete colonial control in early 1954 effect in southeast Asia. Chairman Mao Zedong led a communist backed government in China, and that was a big loss to the United States. Korea had also partially fallen under Soviet domination at the end of WWII and was split up into the North and South parts of Korea in 1953.
And then the French lost complete colonial control in early 1954 when the Japanese took control of the area led by Ho Chi Minh, and then the French had to pull out after the battle of Dien Bien Phu. So President Eisenhauer gave his speech in Geneva, and he said “You have broader considerations that might follow what you would call the falling domino principle. You have a row of dominoes setup, you knowck over the first one,and wat will happen to the last one is a certainty that it will go over very quickly, beginning with the loss of Indochina, Burma, Thailand, the Penninsula, and Indonesia following. Even Japan, which needed Southeast Asia for trade,would be in jeopardized.
1873-Haopy Birthday Little Napolean.
John Mcgraw, one of the winningestmanagers in Major League Baseball history was born in Truxton, NY. He was also one helluva player. He might very well be the reason why Baseball has more than one umpire that monitors what happens in the field basepaths. He was notorious for tripping, blocking and impeding a baseruner in any way he could while the umpire was distracted by the flight of the ball. As a manager, his 2,763 wins is the second overall behind only Connie Mack (2,669 wins). So here’s to you, mugsy. The best player to become a great manager in the history of baseball.
1970 – John Wayne gets his first, and only Oscar for True Grit. About damn time. The Academy had failed to even nominate Wayne for any of his most famous movies, including Stagecoach, Red River, The Quiet Man,the Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, and especially The Searchers. Long overdue.