Question of the Hour

[geo]

16700 sabres.... gotta be Russian

 

[vonGarvin]

For all you mounted (or once mounted) types:
What is considered to be the last major cavalry battle, who were the commanders, and what eventual fate befell them both?

I hope googlings isn't cheating

Anyway, I was thinking of something in Ukraine (the Ukraine?  The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic?) in late 1944 between the rogue Ukrainian Nationalists fighting the Soviets (long after the Wehrmacht had been evicted); however, I was in error.

Komarow, Poland, 1920.  Soviets led by Semyon Budyonny (Семён Михайлович Будённый in Cyrillic).  Budyonny was in charge of the Ukrainian Defence during Barbarossa (1941) and replaced by Timoshenko.  Though responsible (by following Stalin's orders) for the loss of brazillians of soldiers, he was spared the fate of death/banishment and retired as "Hero of the Soviet Union"
Poles led by Jozef Pilsudski, a Polish nationalist who was responsible in great part for Polish independance and maintainance thereof in the turbulent days of the 1920's and 30's.  He died in 1935.

 

[3rd Herd]

Blood Rank?  Is that the US Army/USMC habit of slapping the rank badge pins into someone's flesh, particularly if they seem to be the sort that was looking for the promotion? 

Blood rank originates in the 1920's and refers to the colour of rank chevrons found on USMC enlisted personal. The term blood rank refers directly to the fact that many promotions in this period were won at the cost of severe causalities. Today the tradition lives through as mentioned above the pounding on of new rank.

 

[redleafjumper]

LCol Patterson was in fact the slayer of the famous Tsavo Lions that killed an estimated 140 or more people in Kenya during the construction of the  rail bridge over the Tsavo River.  He also was the chief engineer of the bridge building project.

 

[Rhibwolf]

Von Garvin, good work on the the cav. question.  Always neat to see how some soviet heroes make the "cut" and some just get cut.

***What was considered to be the decisive factor in the 1864 Battle of Königgrätz?

 

[Danjanou]

Von Garvin, good work on the the cav. question.  Always neat to see how some soviet heroes make the "cut" and some just get cut.

***What was considered to be the decisive factor in the 1864 Battle of Königgrätz?

Prussians had breachloaders, Austrians still equipped with muzzle loaders

 

[redleafjumper]

The other factors, besides the use of the breechloading rifle, were the first use of rifled cannon and the use of the telegraph in ordering troop movements.  It was deemed to be a triumph of military science and technology.

Koniggratz was in 1866, not 1864.

 

[redleafjumper]

Who wrote these words (besides me just now!) and on what occasion:

"My General, - I can say: I came, I saw and I was defeated..."

 

[Rhibwolf]

Koniggratz was in 1866, not 1864.

oh dopey me! sorry for the fat fingers.  Good answer readleafjumper.

 

[Rhibwolf]

Not having much luck with this one: Veni vidi victus sum
JEB Sutart courted his wife on horseback rides for two months, saying "I came, I saw, I was conquered."
At the inauguration of the Hoover Dam, President Roosevelt said, "I came, I saw, I was conquered."

Can you give a hint?

 

[redleafjumper]

A hint?  Okay, while I have written the phrase in English, it was originally written in French.  That should help a great deal.

 

[redleafjumper]

No bites?  Okay, here's another hint: 

In the words of the German historian:  "With the defeat of an entire army the Napoleonic dynasty in France crumbles for the third time to the dust."

That's a pretty good hint, so I expect someone should get this fairly quickly now.

 

[Danjanou]

That would probably make it the Franco-Prussian War 1870-71 and I would say the Prussian victory at Sedan 1-2 Sept1870 which say Napoleon III and over 100,000 of his troops captured.

 

[redleafjumper]

Good work Danjanou, it is definitely Sedan, so who said those words (It wasn't Napoleon III)?

 

[Cloud Cover]

Feeling melancholy earlier today looking at all the garbage lying about in the provincial park near my house:

Q: This iconic musical artist wrote a hit song with portions of his lyrics detailing, in part, the loneliness, scared feelings and rumours affecting a soldier on the battlefield. Hint: the song mentions a retreat, although the song only dealt tangentially with warfare.  

A: Artist, song, subject matter, year of original release, and for bonus points name the band he played it with in 1995 in Berlin, Germany.

For extra bonus points- which English trio released a beautiful sounding all vocal version of the song.  

 

[Cloud Cover]

Good work Danjanou, it is definitely Sedan, so who said those words (It wasn't Napoleon III)?

Foch?

 

[redleafjumper]

It wasn't Foch - as a third hint, consider who the commanders were at Sedan...

 

[redleafjumper]

No nibbles, so I reveal that it was General de Wimpffen in his letter to Count Palikao, French Minister of War in September of 1870.  It was definitely not a google friendly question!

 

[redleafjumper]

A bit quiet here for a day or two, so here's another quick and easy question:

In WW2, Canada issued a set of postage stamps to promote the war effort.  What were the denominations and subjects of each of those stamps?

 

[muffin]

A bit quiet here for a day or two, so here's another quick and easy question:

In WW2, Canada issued a set of postage stamps to promote the war effort.  What were the denominations and subjects of each of those stamps?

They were for $0.38 and the grouping was called "The Second World War - Reluctantly at War Again"

Each Stamp had a caption:

- Air Training Plan
- Convoy System Established
- Canada Declares War
- The Army Mobilizes

muffin