America bombs Rome
On this day in 1943, the United States bombs railway yards in Rome in an attempt to break the will of the Italian people to resist as Hitler lectures their leader, Benito Mussolini, on how to prosecute the war further.
On July 16, President Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill appealed to the Italian civilian population to reject Mussolini and Hitler and “live for Italy and civilization.” As an “incentive,” American bombers raided the city, destroying its railways. Panic broke out among the Romans. Convinced by Mussolini that the Allies would never bomb the holy city, civilians poured into the Italian capital for safety. The bombing did more than shake their security in the city — it shook their confidence in their leader.
The denizens of Rome were not alone in such disillusion. In a meeting in northern Italy, Hitler attempted to revive the flagging spirits of Il Duce, as well as point out his deficiencies as a leader. Afraid that Mussolini, having suffered successive military setbacks, would sue for a separate peace, leaving the Germans alone to battle it out with Allied forces along the Italian peninsula, Hitler decided to meet with his onetime role model to lecture him on the manly art of war. Mussolini remained uncharacteristically silent during the harangue, partly due to his own poor German (he would request a translated synopsis of the meeting later), partly due to his fear of Hitler’s response should he tell the truth — that Italy was beaten and could not continue to fight. Mussolini kept up the charade for his German allies: Italy would press on. But no one believed the brave front anymore. Just a day later, Hitler secretly ordered Field Marshal Erwin Rommel to take command of the occupied Greek Islands, better to “pounce on Italy” if and when Mussolini capitulated to the United States. But within a week, events would take a stunning turn.
“America bombs Rome.” 2008. The History Channel website. 18 Jul 2008, 04:56 http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=Article&id=6524.
1525 – The Catholic princes of Germany formed the Dessau League to fight against the Reformation.
1799 – The Rosetta Stone, a tablet with hieroglyphic translations into Greek, was found in Egypt.
1848 – The Women’s Rights Convention took place in Seneca Fall, NY. Bloomers were introduced at the convention.
1870 – France declared war on Prussia.
1942 – German U-boats were withdrawn from positions off the U.S. Atlantic coast due to effective American anti-submarine countermeasures.
1943 – During World War II, more than 150 B-17 and 112 B-24 bombers attacked Rome for the first time.
1974 – The House Judiciary Committee recommended that U.S. President Richard Nixon should stand trial in the Senate for any of the five impeachment charges against him.
1975 – The Apollo and Soyuz spacecrafts separated after being linked in orbit for two days.
1985 – Christa McAuliffe of New Hampshire was chosen to be the first schoolteacher to ride aboard the space shuttle. She died with six others when the Challenger exploded the following year.
1989 – 112 people were killed when a United Airline DC-10 airplane crashed in Sioux City, Iowa. 184 people did survive the accident.
Massachusetts begins ill-fated Penobscot expedition
On this day in 1779, Massachusetts, without consulting either Continental political or military authorities, launches a 4,000-man naval expedition commanded by Commodore Dudley Saltonstall, Adjutant General Peleg Wadsworth, Brigadier General Solomon Lovell and Lieutenant Colonel Paul Revere. The expedition consisted of 19 warships, 24 transport ships and more than 1,000 militiamen. Their objective was to capture a 750-man British garrison at Castine on the Penobscot Peninsula, in what would later become Maine. The expedition arrived on July 25 and proceeded to launch a series of inconclusive land attacks, leaving Patriot naval forces underutilized and allowing the British plenty of time to send for reinforcements. The land commander, Brig. Gen. Lovell, began to retreat at the arrival of Sir George Colliers seven British warships, expecting Saltonstall to engage in a naval battle. Saltonstall, however, did not fight for long: the naval engagement concluded in total disaster on August 14, when Saltonstall surprised both Patriot and British commanders by fleeing upriver and burning his own ships. The Patriots lost in excess of 470 men, as well as numerous Continental Navy and Massachusetts ships that were burned during the retreat. The British achieved their victory at a cost of only 13 men. Saltonstall and Paul Revere later faced court martial because of the fiasco. Saltonstall lost his commission, but Revere won acquittal. By contrast, Peleg Wadsworth, who served as Reveres second-in-command, won acclaim for his performance in the engagement. He had organized the retreat, which was the only well-executed aspect of the mission. Wadsworth’s family continued to play a celebrated role in American history: his grandson was the famed poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The failed Penobscot expedition was considered the worst naval disaster in American history until the surprise Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, more than 160 years later.
“Massachusetts begins ill-fated Penobscot expedition .” 2008. The History Channel website. 18 Jul 2008, 04:57 http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=Article&id=50382.
Morgan’s raiders defeated at Buffington Island
Confederate General John Hunt Morgan’s raid on the North is dealt a serious blow when a large part of his force is captured as they try to escape across the Ohio River at Buffington Island, Ohio. Cut off from the south, Morgan fled north with the remnants of his command and was captured a week later at Salineville, Ohio.
“Morgan’s raiders defeated at Buffington Island.” 2008. The History Channel website. 18 Jul 2008, 04:57 http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=Article&id=2252.
