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The Birth of American Air Intelligence
The Birth of American Air Intelligence
I started my Air Force career as an imagery intelligence analyst (also known as a “1N1X1” or a “squint”). It was my job to examine images taken by any of a plethora of “overhead” military platforms (U2 spy planes, as one example) and determine what was going on in them. American intelligence collection capability is truly amazing, and the origins of airborne intelligence collection were…
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Five Military Intelligence Successes that Changed the Course of War (Revisited)
Five Military Intelligence Successes that Changed the Course of War (Revisited)
I wrote an earlier version of this article for Yahoo! News several years ago. At the time, the media were reporting on some purported American intelligence failures in the Middle East. The appropriateness (and the conclusions being drawn) aside, I was motivated to highlight some of the significant (acknowledged) successes that American and Allied intelligence agencies had accomplished over the…
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The Museum of the United States Air Force, Memphis Belle, and the Evolution of Air Intelligence
The Museum of the United States Air Force, Memphis Belle, and the Evolution of Air Intelligence
Recently I’ve started doing something that I’ve wanted to do for years: I’ve become a volunteer at the Museum of the United States Air Force, located in Dayton, Ohio.* Once or twice per month, I get to spend several hours within this fine institution, walking among the legacies of the men and women who created modern air power. It’s an incredible experience, and if you haven’t visited, you need…
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#OTD in 1862 the 11th Kentucky Cavalry was mustered into Federal service. (Video Log 1)
Check out @FogAndFriction’s Tweet: https://twitter.com/FogAndFriction/status/911230093137035264?s=09
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Lost Soldiers Series: 11th Kentucky Cavalry Regiment (Union) - Company A
Lost Soldiers Series: 11th Kentucky Cavalry Regiment (Union) – Company A
This unidentified soldier wears a uniform similar to one worn by another soldier of the 10th Kentucky Cavalry. [Unidentified soldier in Union uniform with stocked Colt pistol, Remington, and cavalry saber]. United States, None. [Between 1862 and 1863] Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2011648543/. (Accessed September 13, 2017.
Company A
In the summer…
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The Civil War Soldiers and Sailors Database
The Civil War Soldiers and Sailors Database
As a lead-in to a more analytical article I plan on posting here toward the end of the month (hopefully), I thought it’d be useful to highlight this wonderful tool. The National Park Service’s Civil War Soldiers and Sailors Database (CWSS)is a thing of beauty. With a little info on a relative or subject of interest (say, a surname, a state, and on what side the subject fought), one can find…
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75th Anniversary of the Doolittle Tokyo Raid
75th Anniversary of the Doolittle Tokyo Raid
In early morning on April 18, 1942, a small Japanese vessel detected a large American
” Take off from the deck of the USS HORNET of an Army B-25 on its way to take part in first U.S. air raid on Japan.” Doolittle Raid, April 1942. 80-G-41196. National Archives Identifier: 520603
naval force powering toward Tokyo. That the Americans were intent on attacking the Empire was without question: the…
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Lost Soldiers: Company D, 11th Regiment Kentucky Cavalry (Part 2)
Lost Soldiers: Company D, 11th Regiment Kentucky Cavalry (Part 2)
On December 7, 1862, in the early morning hours, Confederate forces led by General John Hunt Morgan launched a surprise attack on approximately 2,000 Union soldiers situated at Hartsville, Tennessee. The Union soliders, which included Company E of the 11th
Memphis Daily Appeal (Memphis, Tennessee) Sat, Dec 20, 1862 · Page 2
Kentucky Cavalry (the rest of the regiment evidently remained at…
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“Some people say you achieve immortality through your children,” said the minstrel. “Yeah?” said Cohen. “Name one of your great-granddads, then.” The Last Hero, by Terry Pra…
A forgotten solider and an attempt to get to know someone largely lost to history. #CivilWar #History
Lost Soldiers: Company D, 11th Regiment Kentucky Cavalry
Lost Soldiers: Company D, 11th Regiment Kentucky Cavalry
“Some people say you achieve immortality through your children,” said the minstrel.
“Yeah?” said Cohen. “Name one of your great-granddads, then.”
The Last Hero, by Terry Pratchett.
In the early summer of 1862, 10 days before the first anniversary of the savage battle of
Lieutenant Colonel Milton Graham
Bull Run during the opening days of the Civil War, Captain Milton Graham worked to assemble a…
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Happy Veteran’s Day
To those who have served and sacrificed so much, now and in the past, thank you.
I’ve spent part of this month visiting Civil War sites that are off the beaten path, or at least not as well known as the major battlefields. One of these sites, Fort Duffield, is perched on a hill…
Visiting some lesser-known Civil War sites. This one is in West Point, KY, just 30 miles from Louisville.
I’ve spent part of this month visiting Civil War sites that are off the beaten path, or at least not as well known as the major battlefields. One of these sites, Fort Duffield, is perched on a hill in West Point, Kentucky, about 30 miles southwest of Louisville. Hastily built over the late-fall and early-winter of 1861-62 at the mouth of the Salt River where it springs out from the Ohio, the purpose of the fort was to defend Louisville and to protect Union supply lines vital to securing the Commonwealth as well as operations in Tennessee.
As the Union started to actively unravel in April 1861, the fate of the slave owning Border States was of particular concern to Washington. Kentucky harbored both passionate Confederate and Union sentiments, and so defense of key cities such as Louisville was as important as it was problematic. A number of fortifications were constructed in and around the city, eventually including a site on Pearman Hill, which provided good over-watch of the Ohio and Salt Rivers.[1] In the relative quiet following the first battle at Bull Run, however, there appeared to be disagreement on the severity of the Confederate threat. By 26 Sept, 1861, when Brigadier General O.M. Mitchell arrived in Louisville, he wrote that the city was in a state of excitement as rumor of attack by Confederate General Buckner had just reached them. Days later, the Daily Democrat ran an article indicating that rebel forces were rumored to the south of West Point, but proclaimed confidence in the growing Union presence in the vicinity of where Fort Duffield would soon be built.[2] And while General Sherman also believed Buckner could target some area near the mouth of Salt River, General Buell soon dismissed the need for it, informing General McClellan that he was not at all worried about threats to Louisville, although the “little work at the mouth of the Salt River…does no harm.”[3]
The Daily Democrat, 29 Sept 1861.
Later, in 1862, Buell may have rued those comments as the Confederate army under Braxton Bragg maneuvered through Kentucky and appeared to threaten Louisville. Although Bragg instead moved to Bardstown, Buell was compelled to rush to Louisville’s defense. Nevertheless, by the end of that year, Fort Duffield would be effectively abandoned.
Earthen Wall, part of the remains of Fort Duffield.
No major battles were fought at Fort Duffield, although it may have helped shape how the war in the west played out, as its placement and soldiers (about a regiment in strength) certainly would have been taken into consideration by any potential rebel action. But the story of Fort Duffield is important, as it reveals the human cost of the rapid militarization that the states underwent in the first days of the conflict. To the west of the fort is an area that is believed to have been a parade ground used by the forces garrisoned there. Today, this patch of ground is a memorial to the 30+ soldiers from the 9th Michigan Infantry Regiment who died erecting Duffield. (Note that the official web site and early publications state that over 60 men perished. This number is evidently overstated, and updates are being worked into the official documentation). Disease and a harsh winter took a devastating toll. A look at the headstones there show the men dying between late October 1861 and February 1862, when the fort was completed.
It’s believed that most of fallen were removed and buried in their home towns. The headstones remain as a memorial.
I had the privilege of speaking with the man who has been tending to the site for 20 years. I’m omitting his name, since I forgot to ask permission to share it. But I was struck with the love he clearly had for maintaining this small corner of American history. I told him how impressive his work was, how pleasant the memorial for those who died building the fort. He simply said the most important thing is that “they aren’t forgotten.”
Take a look at the park’s website: Fort Duffield.
[1] James T.R. Jones, A Brief History of Civil War Fort Duffield, West Point, Kentucky, http://fortduffield.com/A%20Brief%20History%20of%20Fort%20Duffield%20by%20James%20T.%20R.%20Jones.pdf, accessed 7/24/2016.
[2] United States War Department, War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series 1 Volume IV (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1880 -1891), 275.
[3] United States War Department, War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series 1 Volume IV (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1880 -1891), 336.
Remembering Fort Duffield I’ve spent part of this month visiting Civil War sites that are off the beaten path, or at least not as well known as the major battlefields.
The Day a Typhoon Nearly Wiped Out the US Third Fleet http://dlvr.it/LpS8bk
This photo makes me queasy.
“On behalf of the American people, I condemn in the strongest terms what appears to be a horrific terrorist attack in Nice, France, which killed and wounded dozens of innocent civilians. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and other loved ones of those killed, and we wish a full recovery for the many wounded. I have directed my team to be in touch with French officials, and we have offered any assistance that they may need to investigate this attack and bring those responsible to justice. We stand in solidarity and partnership with France, our oldest ally, as they respond to and recover from this attack.
On this Bastille Day, we are reminded of the extraordinary resilience and democratic values that have made France an inspiration to the entire world, and we know that the character of the French Republic will endure long after this devastating and tragic loss of life.” —President Obama on the attack in Nice, France
Happy 240th Birthday, U.S. Marine Corps!
On November 10, 1775, the Continental Congress approved the formation of two battalions of Marines:
On the 10th of November 1775 Congress resolved that two Battalions of Marines be raised, consisting of one Colonel, two Lieutenant Colonels, two Majors, and other Officers as usual in other regiments; that they consist of an equal Number of privates with other Battalions; that particular care be taken, that no Person be appointed to Officers, or inlisted into said Battalion[s], but such as are good Seamen or so acquainted with maritime Affairs, as to be able to serve to Advantage by Sea when required: that they be inlisted and commissioned to serve for and during the present War between Great Britain and the Colonies, unless dismissed by order of Congress; that they be distinguished by the names of the first and second Battalions of American Marines, and that they be considered as part of the number which the Continental Army before Boston is ordered to consist of. Ordered that a Copy of the above, be transmitted to the General.
- “[10th of November 1775] ,” Founders Online, National Archives. Source: The Adams Papers, Diary and Autobiography of John Adams, vol. 3, Diary, 1782–1804;
More vintage World War II Marine Corps Posters in the National Archives Catalog!
Spent Labor Day at the National Museum of the United States Air Force. This display is part of the Southeast Asia War Gallery. It tells of the origin of Operation Safe Side, the USAF'S own light infantry force tasked with defending air bases. I have a very personal interest here, as I served in the reactivated Safe Side security forces squadron during the mid-2000s, tasked with base defense in Iraq. It's an incredible heritage and I'm proud to have been a part of Safe Side's recent history.
