18 September
1502 – Christopher Columbus landed at Costa Rica on his 4th & last voyage.
1634 – Anne Hutchinson, the first female religious leader in American colonies, arrived at the Massachusetts Bay Colony with her family. She preached that faith alone was sufficient for salvation. As her following grew, she was brought to trial and found guilty of heresy against Puritan orthodoxy and banished from Massachusetts. She left with 70 followers to Providence, Rhode Island, Roger Williams’s colony based on religious freedom.
1679 – New Hampshire became a county of Massachusetts Bay Colony.
1755 – Ft. Ticonderoga was established in NY.
1758 – James Abercromby was replaced as supreme commander of British forces after his defeat by French commander, the Marquis of Montcalm, at Fort Ticonderoga during the French and Indian War.
1759 – Quebec surrendered to the British and the Battle of Quebec ended. The French surrendered to the British after their defeat on the Plains of Abraham.
1789 – It was bound to happen sometime, and on September 18, 1789, with the nation’s finances in something of a mess, the government took out its first loan. Under the supervision of newly appointed Treasury Secretary, Alexander Hamilton, the government took a little under a year to pay back the loan of $191,608.81.
1793 – President George Washington laid the foundation stone for the U.S. Capitol on Jenkins Hill.
1850 – The U.S. Congress passes the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850. The Fugitive Slave Law or Fugitive Slave Act was passed by the United States Congress as part of the Compromise of 1850 between Southern slave-holding interests and Northern Free-Soilers. This was one of the most controversial elements of the 1850 compromise and heightened Northern fears of a “slave power conspiracy”. It required that all escaped slaves were, upon capture, to be returned to their masters and that officials and citizens of free states had to cooperate in this law. Abolitionists nicknamed it the “Bloodhound Law” for the dogs that were used to track down runaway slaves.
1862 – Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s army pulls away from Antietam Creek, near Sharpsburg, Maryland, and heads back to Virginia. The day before, Lee’s force had engaged in the biggest one-day battle of the Civil War against the army of General George B. McClellan. The armies struggled to a standstill, but the magnitude of losses forced Lee to abandon his invasion of Maryland. The significance of the battle was not Lee’s withdrawal, but McClellan’s lack of pursuit. When Lee settled into a defensive line above Antietam Creek on September 16, he had only about 43,000 troops. McClellan had around 50,000 in position on September 17, with many more on the way. On September 18, the armies remained in their positions without fighting. By this point, Lee was highly vulnerable. His army had its back to the Potomac River, just a few miles away, and a quarter of his force had been lost in the previous day’s battle. And after more than two weeks of marching, his men were tired. McClellan, on the other hand, welcomed an additional 12,000 troops on September 18, with another 24,000 who had seen little or no action the day before, to join his original force.
But, although he outnumbered Lee’s troops by almost three times, McClellan did not pursue Lee. In fact, despite constant urging from President Lincoln and Chief of Staff Henry Halleck, McClellan did not move toward Virginia for over a month. McClellan overestimated the size of Lee’s force, assuming that Lee had nearly 100,000 troops in his command, and insisted that the fall of Harpers Ferry, Virginia, on September 15 allowed an additional 40,000 Confederate troops—in his inflated estimation—to fight at Antietam. It should be noted that while McClellan’s soldiers were extremely fatigued after the Battle of Antietam, which was the bloodiest day of the war, it would be difficult to rally them for another attack; but certainly not impossible. Instead, Lee was allowed to escape with his command intact. A chance to destroy the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia was lost, and the war lasted another two and a half years.
1863 – Union cavalry troops clashed with a group of Confederates at Chickamauga Creek.
1864 – Battle of Martinsburg West Virginia.
1873 – The U.S. bank Jay Cooke & Company declares bankruptcy, triggering a series of bank failures, the beginning of the Panic of 1873. Known as the Long Depression in Europe where it began, the Panic of 1873 was a financial crisis that triggered a depression that lasted from 1873 until 1879, and even longer in some countries. The Panic was known as the “Great Depression” until the events in the early 1930s took precedence. The Panic of 1873 and the subsequent depression had several underlying causes, of which economic historians debate the relative importance. Post-war inflation, rampant speculative investments (overwhelmingly in railroads), a large trade deficit, ripples from economic dislocation in Europe resulting from the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871), property losses in the Chicago (1871) and Boston (1872) fires, and other factors put a massive strain on bank reserves, which plummeted in New York City during September and October 1873 from $50 million to $17 million.
1921 – John Glenn, astronaut, was born.
1924 – After seven years of occupation, the last Marines departed the Dominican Republic.
1931 – The Mukden Incident was initiated by the Japanese Kwangtung Army in Mukden. It involved an explosion along the Japanese-controlled South Manchurian Railway. It was soon followed by the Japanese invasion of Manchuria and the eventual establishment of the Japanese-dominated state of Manchukuo. The neutrality of the area, and the ability of Japan to defend its colony in Korea, was threatened in the 1920s by efforts at unification of China. Within three months Japanese troops had spread out throughout Manchuria, an occupation that finally ended at the conclusion of the Second World War in 1945.
1936 – Squadron 40-T, based in the Mediterranean, established to protect U.S. interests and citizens around Iberian peninsula throughout the Spanish Civil War.
1939 – President Roosevelt directs enlistment of 2,000 new Coast Guardsmen and opens two new training stations.
1941 – U.S. Navy ships escort eastbound British trans-Atlantic convoy for first time (Convoy HX-150). Although the U.S. Navy ships joined HX-150, which left port escorted by British ships on 16th, on night of 17 September, the official escort duty began on 18th.
1941 – President Roosevelt requests an additional $5,985,000,000 for Lend-Lease Aid to Britain from Congress.
1941 – Phase 1 of the combined Second and Third Army Maneuvers opens when the ‘Red Army’ attacks the ‘Blue Army’ southeast of Shreveport. This set of wargames, along with those held by the First Army in the Carolina’s in November, mark the largest such operations ever held by the U.S. Army in peacetime. These maneuvers included a total of 15 Army divisions, ten of which were from the Guard; they were: 27th (NY), 31st (AL, FL, LA, MS) {the only Guard division to also participate in the First Army Maneuvers in the Carolina’s later this autumn}, 32nd (MI, WI), 33rd (IL), 34th (IA, MN, ND, SD), 35th (KS, MO, NE), 36th (TX), 37th (OH), 38th (IN, KY, WV), 45th (AZ, CO, NM, OK). In addition, twelve Guard aerial observation squadrons and numerous other non-divisional units participated.
1942 – On Guadalcanal, six transports arrive bringing supplies and the US 7th Marine Regiment. The American base now has 23,000 men and adequate supplies.
1943 – American planes from the carriers Lexington, Princeton and Belleau Wood attack the island of Tarawa. Admiral Pownall commands the carrier force.
1944 – American B-17 bombers drop 1284 containers of supplies to the embattled Polish Home Army (AK) in Warsaw. Only 228 fall on territory still controlled by the Poles. This is the only major supply drop, by the western Allies, allowed by the Soviets. The US planes land on Soviet territory after completing their mission.
1944 – Operation Market Garden continues. The British 30th Corps reaches the troops of the US 101st Airborne Division at Eindhoven and Veghel. There is increasing resistance from German forces. To the north, the US 82nd and British 1st Airborne Divisions continue to resist.
1944 – On Peleliu, American marines attempt to expand their attacks on Mount Umurgrobol. Japanese forces repulse the marines with heavy losses. On Angaur, US forces advance toward the center of the island. Japanese forces harass the movement.
.
1502 – Christopher Columbus landed at Costa Rica on his 4th & last voyage.
1634 – Anne Hutchinson, the first female religious leader in American colonies, arrived at the Massachusetts Bay Colony with her family. She preached that faith alone was sufficient for salvation. As her following grew, she was brought to trial and found guilty of heresy against Puritan orthodoxy and banished from Massachusetts. She left with 70 followers to Providence, Rhode Island, Roger Williams’s colony based on religious freedom.
1679 – New Hampshire became a county of Massachusetts Bay Colony.
1755 – Ft. Ticonderoga was established in NY.
1758 – James Abercromby was replaced as supreme commander of British forces after his defeat by French commander, the Marquis of Montcalm, at Fort Ticonderoga during the French and Indian War.
1759 – Quebec surrendered to the British and the Battle of Quebec ended. The French surrendered to the British after their defeat on the Plains of Abraham.
1789 – It was bound to happen sometime, and on September 18, 1789, with the nation’s finances in something of a mess, the government took out its first loan. Under the supervision of newly appointed Treasury Secretary, Alexander Hamilton, the government took a little under a year to pay back the loan of $191,608.81.
1793 – President George Washington laid the foundation stone for the U.S. Capitol on Jenkins Hill.
1850 – The U.S. Congress passes the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850. The Fugitive Slave Law or Fugitive Slave Act was passed by the United States Congress as part of the Compromise of 1850 between Southern slave-holding interests and Northern Free-Soilers. This was one of the most controversial elements of the 1850 compromise and heightened Northern fears of a “slave power conspiracy”. It required that all escaped slaves were, upon capture, to be returned to their masters and that officials and citizens of free states had to cooperate in this law. Abolitionists nicknamed it the “Bloodhound Law” for the dogs that were used to track down runaway slaves.
1862 – Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s army pulls away from Antietam Creek, near Sharpsburg, Maryland, and heads back to Virginia. The day before, Lee’s force had engaged in the biggest one-day battle of the Civil War against the army of General George B. McClellan. The armies struggled to a standstill, but the magnitude of losses forced Lee to abandon his invasion of Maryland. The significance of the battle was not Lee’s withdrawal, but McClellan’s lack of pursuit. When Lee settled into a defensive line above Antietam Creek on September 16, he had only about 43,000 troops. McClellan had around 50,000 in position on September 17, with many more on the way. On September 18, the armies remained in their positions without fighting. By this point, Lee was highly vulnerable. His army had its back to the Potomac River, just a few miles away, and a quarter of his force had been lost in the previous day’s battle. And after more than two weeks of marching, his men were tired. McClellan, on the other hand, welcomed an additional 12,000 troops on September 18, with another 24,000 who had seen little or no action the day before, to join his original force.
But, although he outnumbered Lee’s troops by almost three times, McClellan did not pursue Lee. In fact, despite constant urging from President Lincoln and Chief of Staff Henry Halleck, McClellan did not move toward Virginia for over a month. McClellan overestimated the size of Lee’s force, assuming that Lee had nearly 100,000 troops in his command, and insisted that the fall of Harpers Ferry, Virginia, on September 15 allowed an additional 40,000 Confederate troops—in his inflated estimation—to fight at Antietam. It should be noted that while McClellan’s soldiers were extremely fatigued after the Battle of Antietam, which was the bloodiest day of the war, it would be difficult to rally them for another attack; but certainly not impossible. Instead, Lee was allowed to escape with his command intact. A chance to destroy the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia was lost, and the war lasted another two and a half years.
1863 – Union cavalry troops clashed with a group of Confederates at Chickamauga Creek.
1864 – Battle of Martinsburg West Virginia.
1873 – The U.S. bank Jay Cooke & Company declares bankruptcy, triggering a series of bank failures, the beginning of the Panic of 1873. Known as the Long Depression in Europe where it began, the Panic of 1873 was a financial crisis that triggered a depression that lasted from 1873 until 1879, and even longer in some countries. The Panic was known as the “Great Depression” until the events in the early 1930s took precedence. The Panic of 1873 and the subsequent depression had several underlying causes, of which economic historians debate the relative importance. Post-war inflation, rampant speculative investments (overwhelmingly in railroads), a large trade deficit, ripples from economic dislocation in Europe resulting from the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871), property losses in the Chicago (1871) and Boston (1872) fires, and other factors put a massive strain on bank reserves, which plummeted in New York City during September and October 1873 from $50 million to $17 million.
1921 – John Glenn, astronaut, was born.
1924 – After seven years of occupation, the last Marines departed the Dominican Republic.
1931 – The Mukden Incident was initiated by the Japanese Kwangtung Army in Mukden. It involved an explosion along the Japanese-controlled South Manchurian Railway. It was soon followed by the Japanese invasion of Manchuria and the eventual establishment of the Japanese-dominated state of Manchukuo. The neutrality of the area, and the ability of Japan to defend its colony in Korea, was threatened in the 1920s by efforts at unification of China. Within three months Japanese troops had spread out throughout Manchuria, an occupation that finally ended at the conclusion of the Second World War in 1945.
1936 – Squadron 40-T, based in the Mediterranean, established to protect U.S. interests and citizens around Iberian peninsula throughout the Spanish Civil War.
1939 – President Roosevelt directs enlistment of 2,000 new Coast Guardsmen and opens two new training stations.
1941 – U.S. Navy ships escort eastbound British trans-Atlantic convoy for first time (Convoy HX-150). Although the U.S. Navy ships joined HX-150, which left port escorted by British ships on 16th, on night of 17 September, the official escort duty began on 18th.
1941 – President Roosevelt requests an additional $5,985,000,000 for Lend-Lease Aid to Britain from Congress.
1941 – Phase 1 of the combined Second and Third Army Maneuvers opens when the ‘Red Army’ attacks the ‘Blue Army’ southeast of Shreveport. This set of wargames, along with those held by the First Army in the Carolina’s in November, mark the largest such operations ever held by the U.S. Army in peacetime. These maneuvers included a total of 15 Army divisions, ten of which were from the Guard; they were: 27th (NY), 31st (AL, FL, LA, MS) {the only Guard division to also participate in the First Army Maneuvers in the Carolina’s later this autumn}, 32nd (MI, WI), 33rd (IL), 34th (IA, MN, ND, SD), 35th (KS, MO, NE), 36th (TX), 37th (OH), 38th (IN, KY, WV), 45th (AZ, CO, NM, OK). In addition, twelve Guard aerial observation squadrons and numerous other non-divisional units participated.
1942 – On Guadalcanal, six transports arrive bringing supplies and the US 7th Marine Regiment. The American base now has 23,000 men and adequate supplies.
1943 – American planes from the carriers Lexington, Princeton and Belleau Wood attack the island of Tarawa. Admiral Pownall commands the carrier force.
1944 – American B-17 bombers drop 1284 containers of supplies to the embattled Polish Home Army (AK) in Warsaw. Only 228 fall on territory still controlled by the Poles. This is the only major supply drop, by the western Allies, allowed by the Soviets. The US planes land on Soviet territory after completing their mission.
1944 – Operation Market Garden continues. The British 30th Corps reaches the troops of the US 101st Airborne Division at Eindhoven and Veghel. There is increasing resistance from German forces. To the north, the US 82nd and British 1st Airborne Divisions continue to resist.
1944 – On Peleliu, American marines attempt to expand their attacks on Mount Umurgrobol. Japanese forces repulse the marines with heavy losses. On Angaur, US forces advance toward the center of the island. Japanese forces harass the movement.
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