The Patriot Files :: Dedicated to the preservation of military history

Roxbury July 18 1775 To my Dear wife & Children I Received yours which I Prize next to your Person. The welfare of our family I understand is good. You tell me John is fat & Rugged which I Rejoice to hear & Prize above gold. The Rest of our Children I Don’t mention be Cause I Left them well.

Note: by Lt. Samuel Cooper, Second Connecticut Regiment 13898 Reads

Diary: Colonel Elisha Porter, 1776 - The Invasion of Canada

Friday evening, Jan. 19th., I was appointed to command the Reg. then ordered to be raised to march to Canada.

20th. and 21st. went to Cambridge to procure stores.

22nd. Received my Commission from the Council and set out about 8 o’c in the evening, came to Weston at Baldwins.

13548 Reads

My Gulf War Experience

This is a little bit of my recollection of our adventure to a far and exotic land. Once upon a time, wait a minute, let me try this another way. I was a Marine Sergeant stationed at Camp Pendleton when Iraq invaded Kuwait in August of 1990. At the time I was a student at the 1st Marine Division's Scout Sniper School. My unit 2nd Battalion 5th Marines took about a week to recall their troops from various schools and temporary duties.

14359 Reads

Three Man Patrol

Between Charlie and the jungle, things had been pretty hard on us. We were very short-handed. My squad was down to three men, counting myself. Yes, just me and two other guys. Our company had encountered a major trail that was extremely, heavily traveled. We called in on the field radio to report this major trail and were told to wait to be joined by the Tiger Force. (a hard core, elite, special fighting unit of the 101st Airborne).

Note: by Sarge Lintecum 10023 Reads

Testimony from a Survivor

I, with about five hundred other prisoners of war, arrived at Elmira about the first of August, 1864, after a confinement of forty five days at Point Lookout. I spent the first day in a thorough examination of my new abode, and its advantages as a home until fortune would release me from its durance. It contained several acres of ground, enclosed by a plank fence about fourteen feet high; some three feet from the top on the outside ran a narrow footway, or parapet, of plank, supported by braces.

Note: by Sergeant G. W. D. Porter, 44th Tenn. Infantry Regiment, CSA 9027 Reads

99th New York Infantry Regiment

January, 1861 1 Very cold last night but the sun shines out very warm and brightly today. Considerable ice running in the river. A very small school today. Some are sick and some are taking a New York holiday. I have never before been so unsettled about the future as I am at the commencement of this New Year.

Note: by Eugene Goodwin, 99th New York Infantry Regiment 20031 Reads

Reflections of a Gun Crewmember

Our gun batteries were equipped with M7 track vehicles in the States, long before we deployed overseas! The M105 howitzers were mounted on the M7 with very minor modifications, and very little addtional training was needed, other than the driver and assitant driver, for this new and unique addition to the 29th. All of the other crew responsiblities remained essentially the same as if it were a trail drawn howitzer.

Note: by Irving Smolens, B Bty, 29th Field Artillery 11924 Reads

We Captured a Town

On April 20, 1945 the Russians were firing artillery into and around the prison forced labor camp near Juderbog, Germany, where I was confined with a number of the privates and PFC’s. The attack including blowing down one of the fences of the compound. As a result, we decided to escape the prison encampment and work our way back to the American lines, which we accomplished in five days, walking cross-country across Germany.

Note: by Pendleton Woods 10278 Reads

13th Bomb Squadron

I spent only a short time in Korea but my Korean service stands as an important part of my life. I well remember there were times near sunrise when my crew on the west coast and another crew from the 17th Bb Gp on the east coast were the northernmost Americans and stood symbolically alone between Communism and Democracy.

Note: by Charles Hinton 11712 Reads

Battle Report, Bull Run

Headquarters Department Northeastern Virginia, Arlington, VA, August 4, 1861. Colonel:
I have the honor to submit the following report of the battle of the 21st of July, near Manassas, Va. It has been delayed till this time from the inability of the subordinate commanders to get earlier a true account of the state of their commands.

Note: by Brigadier General Irvin McDowell 14896 Reads

Australian Imperial Forces

1915 AUSTRALIA
BROADMEADOWS -- AT SEA
March 17 Left MILDURA for BROADMEADOWS camp. Was in P1 Coy. for 5 weeks thence in signallers of the newly formed 24th Bn. Spent Easter at Wrays GEELONG.

Note: by Thomas Reginald Part, H.Q.D. 24th Bn. 6th Inf. Bn. 2nd Div., AIF 25522 Reads

The Capture of Fort Donelson, Part II

There are few things connected with the operations against Fort Donelson so relieved of uncertainty as this: that when General Grant at Fort Henry became fixed in the resolution to undertake the movement, his primary object was the capture of the force to which the post was intrusted. To effect their complete environment, he relied upon Flag-Officer Foote, whose astonishing success at Fort Henry justified the extreme of confidence.

Note: by General Lew Wallace 10443 Reads

Dumbo

Take five dumb bombs, one dumb A6 (non-system), one dumb target, and one dumb way to fight a war. Add a large portion of luck. What's the result? An averted disaster. But leaving a crew who will be able to fly another day and an Intruder still around to fly in harms way.

Note: By Captain Bill Kretschmar (retired), VMA (AW) 533 MAG 12, 1st MAW, Chu Lai, RVN, September, 1967 I Corps, South Vietnam 9001 Reads

Chosin Reservoir

First served in Korea right after the end of World War II, from 1946 to 1948 with the following units. 1. 754 Tank BN, 7th Div. 2. Co "G" 2nd BN, 32nd Inf Regt, 7th Division. Started my tour of duty at Sui Saik, about 13 miles south of Seoul. Then moved up to Munsan next to the Imjim River, then up to Kaesong (now in hands of North Korea), and Onjin (a small pennsula of South Korea).

Note: by Clyde H. Queen, Sr 12963 Reads

Fredricksburg, December,1862 or Buck's Baby

Buck Denman, a Mississippi bear hunter and a superb specimen of manhood,was color sergeant of the Twenty-first and a member of [Lane]Brandon's (Confederate) company.He was tall and straight,broad shouldered and deep-chested,had an eye like an eagle and a voice like a bull of Bashan,and was full of pluck and power as a panther.

Note: by Major Robert Stiles. 8444 Reads

If you enlisted in the military today, which service would you choose?