1954

Articles from 1954

End of Invasion: July 4, 1863 (National Park Service, 1954)

In just two paragraphs this author beautifully summed up the immediate aftermath of that remarkable battle:

Late on the afternoon of July 4, Lee began an orderly retreat. The wagon train of wounded, 17 miles in length, guarded by Imboden’s cavalry, started homeward through Greenwood and Greencastle. At night, the able-bodied men marched over the Hagerstown Road by way of Monterey Pass to the Potomac…


From Amazon: Retreat from Gettysburg: Lee, Logistics, and the Pennsylvania Campaignstyle=border:none


Click here to read about the 1913 Gettysburg Reunion.

End of Invasion: July 4, 1863 (National Park Service, 1954) Read More »

The Battle of Gettysburg: Day One (National Park Service, 1954)

An account of the inconclusive first day at Gettysburg:

The two armies converge on Gettysburg – The men of Heth’s division, leading the Confederate advance across the mountain, reached Cashtown on June 29. Pettigrew’s brigade was sent on to Gettysburg the following day to obtain supplies, but upon reaching the ridge a mile west of the town, they observed a column of Union cavalry approaching…


Click here to read a Confederate perspective of the first day at Gettysburg.


It was on the first day at Gettysburg that the Confederates made a terrible mistake. Read about it here.

The Battle of Gettysburg: Day One (National Park Service, 1954) Read More »

1863: A Poor Summer for the Rebels (National Park Service, 1954)

For Jefferson Davis and his confederates, the double disasters of Gettysburg and Vicksburg that came with the summer of 1863 spelled doom for the Rebel cause. Writing in his diary during those canicular days was Confederate General Josiah Gorgas (1818 – 1883) who succinctly summarized the meaning of these two major defeats:

Events have succeeded one another with disastrous rapidity. One brief month ago we were apparently at the point of success. Lee was in Pennsylvania, threatening Harrisburg, and even Philadelphia… Today absolute ruin seems to be our portion. The Confederacy totters to its destruction.

1863: A Poor Summer for the Rebels (National Park Service, 1954) Read More »

A Hidden Nazi Army? (Quick Magazine, 1954)

In the chaos and confusion of 1945 Berlin the whereabouts of Gestapo General Heinrich Müller was lost; many believe he had been killed or committed suicide. Another report had it that Müller had been captured with the Africa Korps by the British and subsequently made good his escape into Syria. In an issue of the Soviet newspaper Izvestia that appeared on newsstands at the end of July, 1950, it was reported that while residing in the Middle East he had converted to Islam, changed his name to Hanak Hassim Bey and was amassing an army of German veterans in order to march on Israel. The attached notice seems to be based on the Izvestia article.

Distrusting Germans was a common pastime for many people in the Twentieth Century; some thirty years earlier a similar article was published about this distrust.
Here is another article about escaped Nazis.


When a Nazi converted to Islam it was undoubtedly the work of Haj Amin Al-Husseini. Click here to read about him.

A Hidden Nazi Army? (Quick Magazine, 1954) Read More »

The Rangers of Pointe du Hoc (Collier’s Magazine, 1954)

The triumphs of the U.S. Army 2nd Ranger Battalion on the cliffs of Pointe du Hoc on D-Day stand as a testament to the superb combat leadership skills of Lt. Colonel James E. Rudder (1910 – 1970), who is the subject of the attached article. As a participant in the planning the Allied invasion of Normandy, General Omar Bradley recognized that the German heavy guns situated above and between the Omaha and Utah beaches had to be silenced if the landings were to be successful; Bradley selected Rudder and his group to do the job, later remarking that this order was the most difficult he had ever, in his entire career, given anybody.

Written ten years after that historic day, this article is about Rudder’s return to Omaha Beach with his young son, and his recollections of the battle that was fought.

A good read; an even more in-depth study regarding the assault on Pointe du Hoc can be found at Amazon: Rudder’s Rangers.


More about Rangers can be read here…

The Rangers of Pointe du Hoc (Collier’s Magazine, 1954) Read More »

Willie Mays (Quick Magazine, 1954)

Illustrated with nine pictures, this article briefly tells the story of baseball legend Willie Mays (b. 1931) and the Summer of 1954 when sportswriters credited him alone for having raised the athletic standards of his team, The New York Giants (the team won the World Series that year):

A 23-year-old Alabaman with a laugh as explosive as his bat, Willie has electrified N.Y. Giants fans as no man has done since Mel Ott (1909 – 1958)… Statistics don’t begin to give a real picture of Willie’s value. He adds drama to baseball in a way that defies fiction.

Willie Mays (Quick Magazine, 1954) Read More »

Weapons and Tactics at Gettysburg (National Park Service, 1954)

The weapons and tactics used at the Battle of Gettysburg were in no way different from those brought into use during other parts in the war. Just as war has always been practiced, weapons influence tactics and this article lists a variety of Civil War rifles and artillery pieces that were put to use during that three day battle. The author also goes to some length describing the manner in which Civil War regiments and brigades marched into battle and the deployment of their supporting artillery batteries.

Weapons and Tactics at Gettysburg (National Park Service, 1954) Read More »

Weapons and Tactics at Gettysburg (National Park Service, 1954)

The weapons and tactics used at the Battle of Gettysburg were in no way different from those brought into use during other parts in the war. Just as war has always been practiced, weapons influence tactics and this article lists a variety of Civil War rifles and artillery pieces that were put to use during that three day battle. The author also goes to some length describing the manner in which Civil War regiments and brigades marched into battle and the deployment of their supporting artillery batteries.

Weapons and Tactics at Gettysburg (National Park Service, 1954) Read More »