This week in military history

[oldfart]

This week marks an unprecedented series of anniversaries in military history.

50 years ago: This week would seem quiet in 1964, until August 2 when the USS Maddox conducting signals intelligence connected with supporting South Vietnamese raids on the North Vietnamese coast picked up three boats of Torpedo Squadron 135 and an exchange of fire ensued. Within days LBJ would use this as the casus belli to send a half million US troops to Vietnam.

100 years ago: Following the assassination of the heir to the Austrian throne Franz Ferdinand, Austria delivered the July Ultimatum that triggered WWI. The deadline was 5:00 P.M. July 25, 1914.

150 years ago: In the American Civil War Western Theatre Gen Sherman had been maneuvering against the newly appointed Confederate General John Bell Hood. Having failed to take Atlanta by assaulting the city from the north and east, he decided upon the strategy of shifting his entire army group to the west. The first battle resulting from this change was the battle of Ezra Church on July 28, 1864 in which Hood lost 3000 troops (almost five times the Union losses) in an attack to protect his supply lines and stop the Union movement. This failure ultimately doomed Atlanta.

In the Eastern Theatre at the same time Grant had decided on a diversion to thin the lines before his big attempt to break through to Richmond. The result was the First Battle of Deep Bottom on July 27 and 28 in which Hancock and Sheridan attacked and total casualties were 488 Union and 679 Confederate. The attack served its purpose as Lee transferred troops to cover that sector. On July 30 a massive explosion at 4:44 A.M. started the Battle of the Crater, one of the leading Union debacles of the Civil War.

200 years ago: Napoleon had abdicated, and Wellington forwarded 15,000 troops to Canada for an invasion of New York in what Americans call the War of 1812. The British commander Gen Prevost had a decisive advantage in men, but was reluctant to expose his flanks, so he delayed until a 36 gun warship (HMS Confiance) could be completed to dominate Lake Champlain. He then pushed his naval commander into an ill-considered naval battle and left him without proper support which he had promised. On Sept 11, 1814 ensued the naval Battle of Plattsburgh which was the greatest American naval victory for the war. The Court of Inquiry determined that Provost was to blame, but he suddenly died shortly before his court martial.

 

[gipper]

This week marks an unprecedented series of anniversaries in military history.

50 years ago: This week would seem quiet in 1964, until August 2 when the USS Maddox conducting signals intelligence connected with supporting South Vietnamese raids on the North Vietnamese coast picked up three boats of Torpedo Squadron 135 and an exchange of fire ensued. Within days LBJ would use this as the casus belli to send a half million US troops to Vietnam.

100 years ago: Following the assassination of the heir to the Austrian throne Franz Ferdinand, Austria delivered the July Ultimatum that triggered WWI. The deadline was 5:00 P.M. July 25, 1914.

150 years ago: In the American Civil War Western Theatre Gen Sherman had been maneuvering against the newly appointed Confederate General John Bell Hood. Having failed to take Atlanta by assaulting the city from the north and east, he decided upon the strategy of shifting his entire army group to the west. The first battle resulting from this change was the battle of Ezra Church on July 28, 1864 in which Hood lost 3000 troops (almost five times the Union losses) in an attack to protect his supply lines and stop the Union movement. This failure ultimately doomed Atlanta.

In the Eastern Theatre at the same time Grant had decided on a diversion to thin the lines before his big attempt to break through to Richmond. The result was the First Battle of Deep Bottom on July 27 and 28 in which Hancock and Sheridan attacked and total casualties were 488 Union and 679 Confederate. The attack served its purpose as Lee transferred troops to cover that sector. On July 30 a massive explosion at 4:44 A.M. started the Battle of the Crater, one of the leading Union debacles of the Civil War.

200 years ago: Napoleon had abdicated, and Wellington forwarded 15,000 troops to Canada for an invasion of New York in what Americans call the War of 1812. The British commander Gen Prevost had a decisive advantage in men, but was reluctant to expose his flanks, so he delayed until a 36 gun warship (HMS Confiance) could be completed to dominate Lake Champlain. He then pushed his naval commander into an ill-considered naval battle and left him without proper support which he had promised. On Sept 11, 1814 ensued the naval Battle of Plattsburgh which was the greatest American naval victory for the war. The Court of Inquiry determined that Provost was to blame, but he suddenly died shortly before his court martial.

That is a lot of anniversary's.

Bad times all...and all caused by or resulted from idiotic actions taken by warmongering fools.

 

[Mad Scientist]

50 years ago: This week would seem quiet in 1964, until August 2 when the USS Maddox conducting signals intelligence connected with supporting South Vietnamese raids on the North Vietnamese coast picked up three boats of Torpedo Squadron 135 and an exchange of fire ensued. Within days LBJ would use this as the casus belli to send a half million US troops to Vietnam.

What a coincidence! I was at Arlington Cemetery today and I noticed Robert McNamara's headstone for the first time. I go at least once a year to visit my Grampa who is interred there.

In 1995 McNamara met with a N. Vietnamese General and the both agreed that the Gulf of Tonkin even never happened as reported.

In fact, It never happened.

Watch the excellent documentary of Robert McNamara "Fog of War" for the video proof.

 

[oldfart]

50 years ago: This week would seem quiet in 1964, until August 2 when the USS Maddox conducting signals intelligence connected with supporting South Vietnamese raids on the North Vietnamese coast picked up three boats of Torpedo Squadron 135 and an exchange of fire ensued. Within days LBJ would use this as the casus belli to send a half million US troops to Vietnam.

What a coincidence! I was at Arlington Cemetery today and I noticed Robert McNamara's headstone for the first time. I go at least once a year to visit my Grampa who is interred there.

In 1995 McNamara met with a N. Vietnamese General and the both agreed that the Gulf of Tonkin even never happened as reported.

In fact, It never happened.

Watch the excellent documentary of Robert McNamara "Fog of War" for the video proof.

I've seen the McNamara interview. Thanks for bringing it up. I was deliberately obtuse in the OP because the subject is so sensitive to many people. There were actually two "incidents" with the second one two days later, which is generally conceded to be totally bogus, attributed to "Tonkin ghosts" on American radar. In the first, what is undisputed is that the Maddox was in the area in support of a South Vietnamese raid and the cover story was that the operation was a part of the DESOTO program which involved US Navy ships obviously entering waters more than three miles but less than 12 miles claimed by many nations with the intention of being an provocation. The three NVA torpedo boats were in the area and an exchange of fire ensued. Four Vietnamese sailors were killed, and some damage was done to an American aircraft. A single 14.5 mm round hit the destroyer.

LBJ in his address to the nation failed to mention that the Maddox report stated it fired three warning shots, and proceeded to claim that the Vietnamese fired first. This was a deliberate lie, either by Johnson or by the military. The Vietnamese reported they had been fired upon by hostile forces in Vietnamese waters.

Ironically the intelligence officer on duty at the Pentagon when the reports came in was Daniel Ellsburg. So the Gulf of Tonkin incident may also have played a significant role in the release of the Pentagon papers, as Ellsburg knew from the inception that that the story had been manipulated.

 

[Steven_R]

James Stockdale was one of the pilots above the "battle" and said he fired where the destroyers fired, but he never saw anything. The PT boats were "phantoms".

 

[whitehall]

This week marks an unprecedented series of anniversaries in military history.

50 years ago: This week would seem quiet in 1964, until August 2 when the USS Maddox conducting signals intelligence connected with supporting South Vietnamese raids on the North Vietnamese coast picked up three boats of Torpedo Squadron 135 and an exchange of fire ensued. Within days LBJ would use this as the casus belli to send a half million US troops to Vietnam.

100 years ago: Following the assassination of the heir to the Austrian throne Franz Ferdinand, Austria delivered the July Ultimatum that triggered WWI. The deadline was 5:00 P.M. July 25, 1914.

150 years ago: In the American Civil War Western Theatre Gen Sherman had been maneuvering against the newly appointed Confederate General John Bell Hood. Having failed to take Atlanta by assaulting the city from the north and east, he decided upon the strategy of shifting his entire army group to the west. The first battle resulting from this change was the battle of Ezra Church on July 28, 1864 in which Hood lost 3000 troops (almost five times the Union losses) in an attack to protect his supply lines and stop the Union movement. This failure ultimately doomed Atlanta.

In the Eastern Theatre at the same time Grant had decided on a diversion to thin the lines before his big attempt to break through to Richmond. The result was the First Battle of Deep Bottom on July 27 and 28 in which Hancock and Sheridan attacked and total casualties were 488 Union and 679 Confederate. The attack served its purpose as Lee transferred troops to cover that sector. On July 30 a massive explosion at 4:44 A.M. started the Battle of the Crater, one of the leading Union debacles of the Civil War.

200 years ago: Napoleon had abdicated, and Wellington forwarded 15,000 troops to Canada for an invasion of New York in what Americans call the War of 1812. The British commander Gen Prevost had a decisive advantage in men, but was reluctant to expose his flanks, so he delayed until a 36 gun warship (HMS Confiance) could be completed to dominate Lake Champlain. He then pushed his naval commander into an ill-considered naval battle and left him without proper support which he had promised. On Sept 11, 1814 ensued the naval Battle of Plattsburgh which was the greatest American naval victory for the war. The Court of Inquiry determined that Provost was to blame, but he suddenly died shortly before his court martial.

The 8/2/64 was barely "an exchange of fire". One round was found imbedded in the Maddox superstructure. LBJ used the 8/4/64 alleged confrontation when the Maddox and another destroyer claimed they were being threatened by light craft out at sea. Subsequent investigation revealed that the crisis declared by LBJ was bogus but by that time it was too late and Troops were already committed. LBJ received little criticism by the liberal media at the time.