Your Regularly Scheduled December 26

An interesting event today, especially taken together with the earlier special report.  It was on this date in 1799 that the funeral was held for George Washington (he died on the 14th of December).  Normally, this wouldn't be that interesting, but the funeral was significant for a line from the eulogy given by Henry Lee.  Lee tells the mourners something that they all knew, but nobody had put into words:  That Washington was "first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen."  Well spoken, Henry.  Well spoken.

In the winter of 1846, the Donner Party is trapped in the snows of the Sierra Nevadas.  Not sure why it shows up today specifically, but it does. They of course wind up eating those folks who had already died.  I don't know why- I mean, if they had Donner with them, they could just eat him:  reindeer meat is tasty!  

A while ago we spoke of the Trent Affair, where a British ship was stopped and boarded by the US Navy in 1861.  The ship was releases (a legal blunder), but two passengers were taken off- James Mason and John Slidell, who were headed to Europe to represent the Confederacy in Britain.  Oops.  The whole incident gets ugly, as it was clearly a violation of international law (my understanding is that if the ship had been seized and taken as a prize of war, it would have been legal).  The US and Britain make a lot of warlike gestures, or at least Britain does.  In the end, the two men are released, and things get a lot friendlier.  And by the way, they're released on this date.  See how I tied it all together there at the end?

In 1944, the troops of the 101st Airborne have been trapped in Bastogne for a while, as the Germans try to capture the town.  Bolstered by the response to the German surrender offer a few days ago, the men hold on despite being cold and badly outnumbered.  On this date, troops of Patton's Third Army break through and end the siege.  Not that the defenders needed to be rescued THAT badly, mind you.  But it's better than being isolated.  This linkup culminates Patton's incredibly feat of turning around a major force and having them attack into a completely different direction in a short span of time.  There are those who think that it was Patton's finest moment in the entire war.  Which is saying quite a lot, so if you don't think it sounds that impressive, remember that a lot of people who are experts on military matters think more of the maneuver than you.  So who knows best?

And there we have it.