tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31246093.post8945409314200898602..comments2024-03-21T14:41:14.622-07:00Comments on Graphic Firing Table: Decisive Battles: Bunker Hill 1775FDChiefhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10607785969510234092noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31246093.post-82558201164409815112010-07-06T22:07:29.578-07:002010-07-06T22:07:29.578-07:00Chief;
You are right about the Spitfire. I mispok...Chief;<br /><br />You are right about the Spitfire. I mispoke. A closer reading of Chris Ward showed me the error of my ways. The Spitfire galley in Narragansett Bay was an American galley with that name. <br /><br />To make the issue even more confused, Ward says the Americans had a gondola (or gunboat) called Spitfire in Lake Champlain at the battle of Valcour Island.<br /><br />Interesting ship.<br /><br />mikemikenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31246093.post-64631196006932488932010-07-03T05:19:07.643-07:002010-07-03T05:19:07.643-07:00I may have mentioned this before, but I think you&...I may have mentioned this before, but I think you'd do well to publish this good stuff somewhere.<br /><br />You would be doing the public a favor.<br /><br />Olbermann highlighted this last night, labeling the 26% of Americans who could not tell what country we fought against in the War for Independence the "Worst Persons in teh World".<br /><br />http://tinyurl.com/2u4us9l<br /><br />I gotta tell ya, there's work to be done!<br /><br />bb<br /><br />bbbasilbeastnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31246093.post-86104986032927715402010-07-03T01:17:48.554-07:002010-07-03T01:17:48.554-07:00Oh, and I checked on HMS Somerset, and it looks li...Oh, and I checked on HMS Somerset, and it looks like you are correct, and the old battleship was included in the barrage on 17 JUN. I have corrected the post.FDChiefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10607785969510234092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31246093.post-19866248101933625932010-07-03T01:04:51.135-07:002010-07-03T01:04:51.135-07:00Mike: Still not sure on the "Spitfire"....Mike: Still not sure on the "Spitfire". It seems to have been a ship of some sort, so I don't think the galley idea works. And floating batteries wouldn't have been named, so that doesn't sound right. Still working on that one.<br /><br />Not sure whether it was the time or the place but the New England colonies in 1775 seem to have been full of characters like Old Put and Pomeroy. I suspect it had something to do with the frontier being so close, and the French & Indian War so recent. Seems like there were some pretty tough guys around Boston, even in those days.FDChiefhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10607785969510234092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31246093.post-66639337591202211152010-07-01T21:13:20.357-07:002010-07-01T21:13:20.357-07:00That is a great post for Independence Day, Chief.
...That is a great post for Independence Day, Chief.<br /><br />Christopher Ward (no relation to Artemus that I know of) in his book on the Revolution cites the ‘Spitfire’ as being a galley that also served at Providence. Perhaps it was one of those floating batteries with oars that you showed a picture of? He also cites the 68-gun ‘Somerset’ as being in on the bombardment of the redoubt.<br /><br />Ward also mentions another general, the 70-year-old Brigadier Seth Pomeroy. At 70 he was not in the chain of command, but gave freely of his advice. It was said that he and Putnam were the two that successfully argued for a redoubt on Breeds Hill. Pomeroy on a horse decided to dismount and walked across Charleston Neck out to the scene of the action while it was under fire so as not to get the horse killed since it was borrowed. He fought in the ranks at the redoubt. Later during the fallback from the top of Breeds Hill he walked backwards slowly while facing the Brit advance holding his shattered musket.<br /><br />Putnam as you implied was not general officer material. But what a hell of a soldier he was. They claim he rode 100 miles in eight hours for the Battle of Lexington. He was at the Battle of Chelsea Creek before Breeds Hill. Later in the war he was at Umawaqua (spelling?), Connecticut’s Valley Forge, and quelled a mutinous regiment by himself by talking to them quietly. And the story of his escape from the Brits at Greenwich by riding at a gallop down ‘Breakneck Hill’ has been repeated 100 times in Hollywood Westerns – he did it at 60. His exploits in the French&Indian War are also the stuff of a separate epic. He was at Montreal and Havana. He was almost burned at the stake by the Caughnawaga Mohawks. My favorite story is the one of his “powderkeg duel” with an arrogant British major. True or not, what a story!!!<br /><br />mikemikenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31246093.post-46685172866454933652010-06-30T14:22:40.636-07:002010-06-30T14:22:40.636-07:00Agreed.Agreed.Barry DeCiccohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04735814736387033844noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31246093.post-88164387872500893962010-06-29T09:34:11.978-07:002010-06-29T09:34:11.978-07:00Superb as ever chief, don't stop writing them!...Superb as ever chief, don't stop writing them!Don Francisconoreply@blogger.com