Military History Anniversaries 16 thru 31 July

Events in History over the next 15 day period that had U.S. military involvement or impacted in
some way on U.S military operations or American interests

Jul 16 1779 American Revolution: Light infantry of the Continental Army seize a fortified British
Army position in a midnight bayonet attack at the Battle of Stony Point. Casualties and losses: US 98
Great Britain 624.
Jul 16 1861 Civil War: At the order of President Abraham Lincoln, Union troops begin a 25 mile
march into Virginia for what will become The First Battle of Bull Run, the first major land battle of
the war.
Jul 16 1927 Nicaragua: Augusto Csar Sandino leads a raid on U.S. Marines and Nicaraguan
Guardia Nacional that had been sent to apprehend him in the village of Ocotal, but is repulsed by one
of the first divebombing attacks in history.
Jul 16 1945 Manhattan Project: The Atomic Age begins when the United States successfully
detonates a plutoniumbased test nuclear weapon at the Trinity site near Alamogordo, New Mexico.

Jul 16 1945 WW2: The Heavy Cruiser USS Indianapolis (CA35) leaves San Francisco with parts
for the atomic bomb "Little Boy" bound for Tinian Island. This would be the last time the
Indianapolis would be seen by the Mainland as she would be torpedoed by the Japanese Submarine I
58 on July 30 and sink with 880 out of 1,196 crewmen.
Jul 16 1945 WW2: the leaders of the three Allied nations, Winston Churchill, Harry S. Truman and
Joseph Stalin, meet in the German city of Potsdam to decide the future of a defeated Germany.
Jul 16 1950 Korean War: ChaplainMedic massacre American POWs were massacred by North
Korean Army.
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Jul 16 1960 Cold War: USS George Washington a modified Skipjack class submarine successfully
test fires the first ballistic missile while submerged.
Jul 17 1898 SpanishAmerican War: U.S. troops take Santiago de Cuba.
Jul 17 1944 Port Chicago disaster: Near the San Francisco Bay, two ships laden with ammunition
for the war explode in Port Chicago, California, killing 320.

Cleaning up the damage at the remains of the pier.

Jul 17 1944 WW2: Napalm incendiary bombs are dropped for the first time by U.S. P-38 pilots on a
fuel depot at Coutances, near Saint-L, France.
Jul 17 1945 WW2: The leaders of the three Allied nations, Winston Churchill, Harry S. Truman and
Joseph Stalin, meet in the German city of Potsdam to decide the future of a defeated Germany.
Jul 17 1966 Vietnam: Ho Chi Minh orders a partial mobilization of to defend against American
airstrikes.
Jul 18 1863 Civil War: Battle of Fort Wagner/Morris Island the first formal African American
military unit, the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, fails in their assault on Confederateheld
Battery Wagner. Casualties and losses: US 1,515 - CSA 174.
Jul 18 1914 The U.S. Congress forms the Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps, giving definite status
to aircraft within the U.S. Army for the first time.
Jul 18 1942 WW2: German Me262, the first jetpropelled aircraft to fly in combat, makes its first
flight.
Jul 18 1971 Vietnam: New Zealand and Australia announce they will pull their troops out of
Vietnam.
Jul 19 1863 Civil War: Morgan's Raid - At Buffington Island in Ohio, Confederate General John
Hunt Morgan's raid into the north is mostly thwarted when a large group of his men (750) are
captured in the Battle of Buffington Island while trying to escape across the Ohio River.
Jul 19 1942 WW2: Battle of the Atlantic - German Grand Admiral Karl Dnitz orders the last Uboats to withdraw from their United States Atlantic coast as a result of American antisubmarine
countermeasures.
Jul 20 1864 American Civil War: Battle of Peachtree Creek - Near Atlanta, Georgia, Confederate
forces led by General John Bell Hood unsuccessfully attack Union troops under General William T.
Sherman. Casualties and losses: US 1,900 - CSA 2,500.
Jul 20 1917 WWI: Draft lottery held; #258 is 1st drawn.
Jul 20 1944 WW2: Adolf Hitler is wounded in an assassination attempt by German Army officers.
Jul 20 1950 Cold War: In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Harry Gold pleads guilty to spying for the
Soviet Union by passing secrets from atomic scientist Klaus Fuchs.

Harry Gold, center, being led into Federal Court, May 1950.

Jul 20 1950 Korean War: First engagement between United States and North Korean forces. The
U.S. Armys Task Force Smith is pushed back by superior forces in the Battle of Osan. Casualties and
losses: US 163 - NKA 157.
Jul 20 1964 Vietnam War: Viet Cong forces attack the capital of Dinh Tuong Province, Cai Be,
killing 11 South Vietnamese military personnel and 40 civilians (30 of which are children).
Jul 20 1997 - The fully restored USS Constitution (aka Old Ironsides) celebrates her 200th birthday
by setting sail for the first time in 116 years.
Jul 21 1861 Civil War: In the first major battle of the War, Confederate forces defeat the Union
Army along Bull Run near Manassas Junction, Virginia. The battle becomes known as Manassas by
the Confederates, while the Union calls it Bull Run. Casualties and losses: US 2,896 = CSA 1.892.
Jul 21 1944 WW2: U.S. Army and Marine forces land on Guam in the Marianas.
Jul 21 1954 Vietnam: The French sign an armistice with the Viet Minh that ends the war but divides
Vietnam into two countries.
Jul 22 1775 American Revolution: George Washington took command of the Continental Army.
Jul 22 1814 Five Indian tribes in Ohio make peace with the United States and declare war on
Britain.
Jul 22 1942 WW2: The United States government begins compulsory civilian gasoline rationing
due to the wartime demands.
Jul 22 1943 WW2: Allied forces capture the Italian city of Palermo.
Jul 22 1966 Vietnam: B52 bombers hit the DMZ between North and South Vietnam for the first
time.
Jul 22 1976 Japan completes its last reparation to the Philippines for war crimes committed during
the imperial Japan's conquest of the country in the Second World War.
Jul 22 1987 Gulf War: U.S. began escorting reflagged Kuwaiti tankers in Persian Gulf.
Jul 22 2003 OIF: Members of 101st Airborne of the United States, aided by Special Forces, attack
a compound in Iraq, killing Saddam Hussein's sons Uday and Qusay, along with Mustapha Hussein,
Qusay's 14year old son, and a bodyguard.
Jul 23 1942 WW2: The German offensives Operation Edelweiss and Operation Braunschweig
begin.
Jul 23 1944 WW2: US forces invade Japaneseheld Tinian.
Jul 23 1962 The Geneva Conference on Laos forbids the United States to invade eastern Laos.
Jul 24 1814 War of 1812: General Phineas Riall advances toward the Niagara River to halt Jacob
Brown's American invaders.
Jul 24 1864 Civil War: Battle of Kernstown Confederate General Jubal Anderson Early defeats
Union troops led by General George Crook in an effort to keep them out of the Shenandoah Valley.
Casualties and losses: US 590 - CSA 718.

Jul 24 1943 WW2: Operation Gomorrah begins: British and Canadian planes bomb Hamburg by
night, those of the Americans by day. By the end of the operation in NOV. 9,000 tons of explosives
killed 40,000-50,000 civilians leaving 1 million homeless and destroyed 280,000 buildings.

Typical bomb damage in the Eibek district of Hamburg, 1944 or 1945

Jul 24 1990 Gulf War: U.S. warships in Persian Gulf placed on alert after Iraq masses nearly 30,000
troops near its border with Kuwait.
Jul 25 1783 American Revolution: The war's last action, the Siege of Cuddalore, is ended by
preliminary peace agreement. Casualties and losses: GB 1,000 - FR 1,000.
Jul 25 1814 War of 1812: Battle of Lundy's Lane reinforcements arrive near Niagara Falls for
General Riall's British and Canadian forces and a bloody, allnight battle with Jacob Brown's
Americans commences at 1800; the Americans retreat to Fort Erie. Casualties and losses: UK/BC 878
- US 858.
Jul 25 1861 Civil War: The United States Congress passes the CrittendenJohnson Resolution,
stating that the war is being fought to preserve the Union and not to end slavery.
Jul 25 1898 After over two months of seabased bombardment, the United States invasion of Puerto
Rico begins with U.S. troops led by General Nelson Miles landing at the harbor of Gunica, Puerto
Rico.
Jul 25 1944 WW2: Allied forces begin the breakthrough of German lines in Normandy.
Jul 25 1946 Cold War: Operation Crossroads: an atomic bomb is detonated underwater in the
lagoon of Bikini atoll.
Jul 25 1969 Vietnam: U.S. President Richard Nixon declares the Nixon Doctrine, stating that the
United States now expects its Asian allies to take care of their own military defense. This is the start
of the "Vietnamzation" of the war.
Jul 25 1990 Gulf War: U.S. Ambassador tells Iraq, US won't take sides in IraqKuwait dispute.
Jul 25 2010 Afghanistan: WikiLeaks published 75,000 classified documents about the War in
Afghanistan, one of the largest leaks in U.S. military history.
Jul 26 1861 Civil War: George B. McClellan assumes command of the Army of the Potomac
following a disastrous Union defeat at the First Battle of Bull Run.
Jul 26 1863 Civil War: Morgan's Raid ends At Salineville, Ohio, Confederate cavalry leader John
Hunt Morgan and 360 of his volunteers are captured by Union forces.
Jul 26 1941 WW2: in response to the Japanese occupation of French IndoChina, US President
Franklin D. Roosevelt orders the seizure of all Japanese assets in the United States.
Jul 26 1944 WW2: USS Robalo (SS273) sunk by a mine off western Palawan, Philippines. 74
killed, 4 POWs later died.
Jul 26 1945 WW2: The US Navy cruiser USS Indianapolis arrives at Tinian with parts of the
warhead for the Hiroshima atomic bomb.
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Jul 26 1947 Cold War: U.S. President Harry S. Truman signs the National Security Act of 1947 into
United States law creating the Central Intelligence Agency, United States Department of Defense,
United States Air Force, Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the United States National Security Council.
Jul 27 1778 American Revolution: First Battle of Ushant British and French fleets fight to a
standoff. Casualties and losses: GB 1,196 - FR 539.
Jul 27 1861 Civil War: Confederate troops occupy Fort Fillmore, New Mexico.
Jul 27 1929 The Geneva Convention of 1929, dealing with treatment of prisoners-of-war, is signed
by 53 nations.
Jul 27 1942 WW2: Allied forces successfully halt the final Axis advance into Egypt.
Jul 27 1944 WW2: U.S. troops complete the liberation of Guam.
Jul 27 1953 Korea: Fighting in the Korean War ends when the United States, the People's Republic
of China, and North Korea sign an armistice agreement. Syngman Rhee, President of South Korea,
refuses to sign but pledges to observe the armistice.
Jul 27 1964 Vietnam: President Lyndon Johnson sends an additional 5,000 advisers to South
Vietnam bringing the total number of United States forces in Vietnam to 21,000.
Jul 27 1995 The Korean War Veterans Memorial is dedicated in Washington, D.C.

Jul 28 1854 USS Constellation (1854), the last allsail warship built by the US Navy, is
commissioned.
Jul 28 1864 Civil War: Battle of Ezra Church Confederate troops make a third unsuccessful
attempt to drive Union forces from Atlanta, Georgia.
Jul 28 1914 WWI: War begins when AustriaHungary declared war on Serbia followed by Germany
declaring war on France (3 AUG). On 4 AUG Germany invaded Belgium, Britain declared war on
Germany, and President Woodrow Wilson declared policy of U.S. neutrality.
Jul 28 1945 A B25 bomber crashes into the 79th floor of the Empire State Building in New York
City, killing 14 and injuring 26.
Jul 28 1965 Vietnam: U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson announces his order to increase the number
of United States troops in South Vietnam from 75,000 to 125,000.
Jul 29 1862 Civil War: Confederate spy Belle Boyd was arrested by Union troops after her lover
turned her in.

Jul 29 1915 U.S. Marines land at PortauPrince to protect American interests in Haiti.
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Jul 29 1950 Korean War: After four days, the No Gun Ri Massacre ends when the US Army 7th
Cavalry Regiment is withdrawn. The U.S. Army cites the number of South Korean refugee casualties
as "unknown."
Jul 29 1965 Vietnam War: the first 4,000 101st Airborne Division paratroopers arrive in Vietnam,
landing at Cam Ranh Bay.
Jul 29 1967 Vietnam: The aircraft carrier USS Forrestal in Gulf of Tonkin is hit by a series of
chain-reaction explosions caused by an unusual electrical anomaly on its flight deck, Casualties and
losses: 134 killed, 161 injured, $100 million damage.

USS Forrestal on fire, the worst US carrier fire since WWII; USS Rupertus (DD-851) maneuvers to within 20 ft to use fire
hoses.

Jul 30 1863 Indian Wars: Chief Pocatello of the Shoshone tribe signs the Treaty of Box Elder,
agreeing to stop the harassment of emigrant trails in southern Idaho and northern Utah.
Jul 30 1864 Civil War: Battle of the Crater Union forces attempt to break Confederate lines at
Petersburg, Virginia by exploding a large bomb under their trenches. Casualties and losses: US 3,798
- CSA 1,491.
Jul 30 1919 USS G2 (SS27) foundered and sunk in Long Island Sound. 3 died.
Jul 30 1942 FDR signs bill creating women's Navy auxiliary agency (WAVES).
Jul 30 1944 WW2: U.S. 30th division reaches suburbs of StLo Normandy.
Jul 30 1945 WW2: After delivering parts of the first atomic bomb the U.S. cruiser Indianapolis is
torpedoed and sunk by Japanese submarine I-58. 880 die.
Jul 31 1777 American Revolution: The U.S. Second Continental Congress passes a resolution that
the services of Marquis de Lafayette "be accepted, and that, in consideration of his zeal, illustrious
family and connections, he have the rank and commission of majorgeneral of the United States.
Jul 31 1813 American Revolution: British invade Plattsburgh NY.
Jul 31 1942 WW2: USS Grunion (SS216) sunk by gunfire from torpedoed Japanese transport
Kashima Maru; 10 miles north Segula, near Kiska Island, Aleutians. 70 killed.
Jul 31 1948 USS Nevada (BB-36) is sunk by an aerial torpedo after surviving hits from two atomic
bombs (as part of post-war tests) and being used for target practice by three other ships.
Jul 31 1991 Senate votes to allow women to fly combat aircraft.

[Source: Various July 2016 ++]