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CONFEDERATE
HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION OF BELGIUM |
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NEXT MEETINGS |
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Saturday 18 May 2024 at 10 AM |
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ON THE
FOOTSTEPS OF THE 3rd US ARMORED DIVISION
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Activity organized by Jean-Claude-Janssens:
In the footsteps of the 3rd US Armored Division
'Spearhead' on the northern salient of the Ardennes front,
December 1944. A drive in the north of the
province of Luxembourg between Hotton and the Baraque de
Fraiture, through the villages of Soy, Erezée and Manhay
where the battles took place. |
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The tour will focus on the
memorials and heavy weapons displayed in the various
villages where the 3rd Armored Division saw action.
Lunch in a local restaurant.
Guided visit of the
Manhay
History 44 Museum. |
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Price of the excursion:
€ 60 all included. More details on the French page of this website or
upon request. Reservation a must by email at
d.decleer@scarlet.be
before 13 May at the latest. |
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Saturday June 15, 2024 from 11.30 AM |
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As in previous editions, the
annual CHAB BBQ will take place at noon at the club house of the
Hoegaarden hockey club. This year, Hubert Leroy
and Dominique De Cleer will prepare a traditional
menu. Aperitif of the house – Chicken skewer with coriander and
lime – Pure fillet of beef with Provencal herbs, potatoes,
salads and dressings – Trio of artisanal fruit tarts – Coffee/Tea. Price of the meal
(drinks not included): CHAB
members: € 35 - non-members: € 45. Please register with our
secretary Dominique De Cleer, either by tel. at 0475-773460 or
preferably by e-mail at d.decleer@scarlet.be, and pay the amount
of your meal to the CHAB bank account BE90 3100 9059 2632 with
the mention CHAB BBQ before 10 June 2024, at
the latest. |
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CHAB NEWS END
OF PUBLICATION NOTICE |
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The CHAB committee
wishes to inform its foreign and American
friends that due to severe budget constraints,
the English version of the CHAB News is
no longer published. However, the French
version of our quarterly remains available to
the contributing members of our
association. Thank you for your understanding.
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CROSSING THE TENNESSEE |
CUSTER & HIS WOLVERINES |
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In October of 1862 General Nathan Bedford
Forrest was headquartered in Murfreesboro,
assigned with the task of organizing and
recruiting a new cavalry brigade. The brigade
he had previously organized and equipped out
of his own resources had been reassigned to
another officer. His successful exploits with
his old cavalry brigade had made him well
known throughout the south, as well as in the
north. General Forrest’s popularity was such
that young men from the middle counties of
Tennessee flocked to join his command, and
within six weeks southern saddles were filled
with a formidable force of eager Tennessee
volunteers. Three regiments of Tennessee
troops, the 4th Alabama Cavalry, two companies
of Kentuckians, and one battery of artillery
combined to form Forrest’s new brigade.
Forrest petitioned General Bragg to equip his
new brigade with modern weapons, as nearly
half of the brigade carried no other arms
other than personal shotguns, squirrel rifles,
and 400 old flintlock muskets. Bragg responded
that he had no arms to give, and to prepare
for an expedition where better weapons would
be captured from the enemy. Soon General
Forrest was ordered to march to Columbia,
cross the Tennessee River, and raid into the
heart of Grant’s US Army of 27,000 troops in
west Tennessee and northern Mississippi.
Forrest’s plan was to break Grant’s
communications, wreck his supply lines,
destroy railroads, create fear and confusion
among Union officers and troops, and raise
hell generally. Crossing the Tennessee River
was the first big challenge as the river level
was high and Grant had five gunboats
patrolling the waters with the specific task
of preventing any southern incursion. On the
10th of December the expedition began. Forrest
arrived at the river town of Clifton on the
15th and hid his brigade well back from the
banks, sending sentries up and down the river
to warn of any approaching Union gunboats. The
work of crossing the river began at once,
mostly at night. Ferryboats would run back and
forth, eventually carrying 2100 men, horses,
and seven artillery pieces across the
three-fourths mile wide river. By the 17th,
Forrest and his brigade had successfully
crossed without the knowledge of the enemy.
Once across, General Forrest’s strategy was to
bluff the Federals into believing that a huge
Confederate force was now approaching them. A
number of kettle drums were pounded by men in
different parts of his column, making it sound
like a large army of infantry was moving. Soon
Grant began receiving panicked reports of a
southern force of ten to twenty thousand men
advancing after crossing the river. Forrest’s
men had their first engagement near Lexington
and drove the Federals from their positions
capturing 158 prisoners, six officers, and two
cannons. Forrest continued his expedition
going from town to town defeating any federal
opposition they ran across, capturing
supplies, new arms, equipment, and burning
what was left. At Rutherford station two
federal companies were captured and bridges,
trestles, and rails were destroyed from
Trenton to Kenton station. By Christmas,
Forrest’s brigade had made a “clean sweep”
destroying the Mobile and Ohio Railroad from
Jackson and as far north as Moscow, Kentucky
without a yard of trestlework standing. But
now General Forrest’s scouts reported that a
huge federal force of General Grant’s infantry
were in pursuit. It was time for Forrest to
complete the circle and make a dash back to
the Tennessee River and home. Heavy snow
impeded easy movement on the muddy roads.
Forrest and his men were nearly surrounded at
the battle of Parker’s Crossroads by an
unexpectedly large force of federal infantry
but were able to escape. After marching all
night General Forrest sent his younger brother
Major Jeffrey Forrest at first light ahead to
the river to prepare for the crossing. Jeffrey
dispatched scouts up and down the river to
watch for Union gunboats. Two flat boats had
been successfully hidden from the gunboats and
made ready. There was no time to bail out and
re-float the ferries which had been sunk on
purpose, after the previous crossing. Troops
rapidly constructed rafts of fence rails and
logs that would hold five to ten men. As
company after company arrived at the river,
horses were unsaddled and equipment, saddles,
blankets, and guns were piled onto the rickety
boats. Horses were made to swim across the
river with some stout young men guiding them
from their backs. Small fires and dry clothes
would quickly warm them on the far banks. Over
two thousand horses made the cold swim in the
swift-flowing water. This remarkable feat took
ten hours for two thousand men, horses, six
pieces of artillery, a train of wagons and
captured stores to cross the river. The
incredible expedition cemented General
Forrest’s reputation as one of the
Confederacy’s great leaders.
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© All copyrights reserved
by John Paul Strain Historical Art
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On July 3, 1863, the
epic battle of Gettysburg was raging across
the fields and hills of Pennsylvania for the
third day. Brigadier General George A.
Custer, commanding the Michigan Cavalry
Brigade, was one of the key officers that
would play a crucial role in the day’s
events. During the war, 23-year-old Custer
had eleven horses shot out from under him,
including two that day at Gettysburg. His
uncanny ability to avoid certain death in
battle was often referred to by his men as
“Custer Luck”. Custer never ordered his men
to go into battle without himself leading
the engagement. Such was the case when he
was ordered to attack with his Michigan
Brigade at a critical moment of the battle.
General Lee had ordered General JEB Stuart’s
cavalry to flank Union forces and attack
them from the rear, while General Pickett’s
infantry would attack along Cemetery Ridge.
Stuart’s cavalry were known as “The
Invincibles” as they never lost in
battle. Custer positioned his 7th Michigan
regiment in line for an attack against
Stuart’s oncoming formations. Out in front
of his men, Custer shouted, “Come on,
you Wolverines!” as the line moved
forward, first at a walk, then at a trot,
and finally at a full gallop. Waves of
cavalrymen collided in furious hand to hand
fighting with carbines, pistols, and sabres.
Custer’s horse was shot out from under him.
Quickly he commandeered a bugler’s horse,
and Custer would personally take down
General Stuart’s flag bearer. Stuart then
sent General Wade Hampton’s Brigade into the
fray. This time Custer led his 1st Michigan
Regiment in another charge, and once again
came the cry “Come on, you Wolverines!”
A Pennsylvania trooper described the scene.
“As the two columns approached each
other, the pace of each increased, when
suddenly a crash, like the falling of
timber, betokened the crisis. So sudden and
violent was the collision that many horses
were turned end over end and crushed their
riders beneath them.” Custer’s second
horse was killed in the clash, but
miraculously he was unhurt. Stuart’s cavalry
then withdrew from the field, unable to
break through. Confederate forces under
General George Pickett were also unable to
break through the Union position at Seminary
Ridge. Lee had sent 12,500 men in nine
infantry brigades across open fields for
three-quarters of a mile under withering
Union fire. Of the soldiers who participated
in “Pickett’s Charge” 6,555 were either
killed, wounded or captured. Lee’s army
could not afford such losses. The next day,
July 4th, General Lee ordered his Army of
Northern Virginia to begin withdrawing from
Gettysburg, when Major General George
Meade’s Army of the Potomac did not
counterattack. Lee’s route for his army’s
retreat was southwest through Fairfield and
over Monterey Pass to Hagerstown, and then
crossing the Potomac. Early on July 4
General Meade dispatched his cavalry
brigades to strike the enemy’s rear lines of
communication and “harass and annoy him
as much as possible in his retreat.” US
Brigadier General Judson Kilpatrick’s
cavalry division, which included Custer and
his Michigan regiments, were ordered to
locate and destroy “a heavy train of
wagons” spotted to the southwest
heading towards Monterey Pass. The late
afternoon of July 4 found Custer and his
Wolverines about to be engulfed by heavy
rainstorms as they continued their pursuit
of Lee’s army. They would meet again, this
time at Monterey Pass.
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© All copyrights reserved
by John Paul Strain Historical Art
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For information or online orders: |
www.johnpaulstrain.com |
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