Sherman A1
Sherman A1's JournalFirst Battle of Newtonia, September 30, 1862 in Newton County, Missouri.
Location: Newton County
Campaign: Operations North of Boston Mountains (1862)
Date(s): September 30, 1862
Principal Commanders: Brig. Gen. Friedrich Salomon [US]; Col. Douglas H. Cooper [CS]
Forces Engaged: Two brigades, Army of Kansas (1,500) [US]; Cooper's Division [CS]
Estimated Casualties: 345 total (US 245; CS 100)
Description: Following the Battle of Pea Ridge, in March 1862, most Confederate and Union troops left northwestern Arkansas and southwestern Missouri. By late summer, Confederates returned to the area, which caused much apprehension in nearby Federally-occupied Springfield, Missouri, and Fort Scott, Kansas. Confederate Col. Douglas Cooper reached the area on the 27th and assigned two of his units to Newtonia where there was a mill for making breadstuffs. In mid-September, two brigades of Brig. Gen. James G. Blunt’s Union Army of Kansas left Fort Scott for Southwest Missouri. On the 29th, Union scouts approached Newtonia but were chased away. Other Union troops appeared in nearby Granby where there were lead mines, and Cooper sent some reinforcements there. The next morning, Union troops appeared before Newtonia and fighting ensued by 7:00 am. The Federals began driving the enemy, but Confederate reinforcements arrived, swelling the numbers. The Federals gave way and retreated in haste. As they did so, some of their reinforcements appeared and helped to stem their retreat. The Union forces then renewed the attack, threatening the enemy right flank. But newly arrived Confederates stopped that attack and eventually forced the Federals to retire again. Pursuit of the Federals continued after dark. Union gunners posted artillery in the roadway to halt the pursuit. As Confederate gunners observed the Union artillery fire for location, they fired back, creating panic. The Union retreat turned into a rout as some ran all the way to Sarcoxie, more than ten miles away. Although the Confederates won the battle, they were unable to maintain themselves in the area given the great numbers of Union troops. Most Confederates retreated into northwest Arkansas. The 1862 Confederate victories in southwestern Missouri at Newtonia and Clark’s Mill were the South’s apogee in the area; afterwards, the only Confederates in the area belonged to raiding columns.
Result(s): Confederate victory
CWSAC Reference #: MO016
Preservation Priority: II.3 (Class C)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Newtonia_I
http://www.cr.nps.gov/hps/abpp/battles/mo016.htm
It's National Coffee Day (9/29)
Here is one link to where you might find a free cup of coffee today.
http://faithfulprovisions.com/2012/09/24/free-coffee-on-national-coffee-day-2012-september-29th/ 
The Army's secret Cold War experiments on St. Louisans
St. Louis (KSDK) - Lisa Martino-Taylor is a sociologist whose life's work has been to uncover details of the Army's ultra-secret military experiments carried out in St. Louis and other cities during the 1950s and 60s.
She will make her research public Tuesday, but she spoke first to the I-Team's Leisa Zigman.
The I-Team independently verified that the spraying of zinc cadmium sulfide did take place in St. Louis on thousands of unsuspecting citizens. What is unclear is whether the Army added a radioactive material to the compound as Martino-Taylor's research implies.
"The study was secretive for reason. They didn't have volunteers stepping up and saying yeah, I'll breathe zinc cadmium sulfide with radioactive particles," said Martino-Taylor.
Army archive pictures show how the tests were done in Corpus Christi, Texas in the 1960s. In Texas, planes were used to drop the chemical. But in St. Louis, the Army placed chemical sprayers on buildings and station wagons.
Documents confirmed that city officials were kept in the dark about the tests. The Cold War cover story was that the Army was testing smoke screens to protect cities from a Russian attack. The truth, according to Martino-Taylor was much more sinister.
"It was pretty shocking. The level of duplicity and secrecy. Clearly they went to great lengths to deceive people," she said.
By making hundreds of Freedom of Information Act requests, she uncovered once-classified documents that confirm the spraying of zinc cadmium sulfide.
Martino-Taylor says the greatest concentration was centered on the Pruitt-Igoe housing complex, just northwest of downtown St. Louis in the Carr Square neighborhood. It was home to 10,000 low income people. An estimated 70 percent she says were children under the age of 12.
"This was a violation of all medical ethics, all international codes, and the military's own policy at that time," said Martino-Taylor.
More at link
http://www.ksdk.com/news/article/339573/3/I-Team-The-Armys-secret-Cold-War-experiments-on-St-Louisans-
St. Louis County voters may be asked to decide on banning speed cameras
ST. LOUIS COUNTY • A quiet movement to let voters decide whether to ban most speed enforcement cameras in St. Louis County — including inside municipalities — is itself picking up speed.
The idea appears to have started with county Police Chief Tim Fitch. In an internal memo dated Aug. 29, he asked legal counsel whether County Council members could propose such a ballot initiative.
Fitch proposes continuing to allow cameras only in active school and construction zones.
Should the measure play out as it has in similar elections elsewhere across the country, companies providing speed camera service will lobby lawmakers, but the voters likely will support a ban anyway.
The list of lobbyists for camera companies operating in the St. Louis area reads like a who's who of Democratic powerhouses, holding the purse strings to campaign funds. And St. Louis County has a Democratic majority on its council.
But that doesn't seem to deter council Chairman Mike O'Mara, D-Florissant, who said he would support Fitch's request.
"I respect his opinion as the top law enforcement person in St. Louis County," O'Mara said in an interview this week. "And like him, I don't like speed cameras that are only being used as money grabs."
However, County Executive Charlie A. Dooley was lukewarm Wednesday, saying he would rather see the issue addressed at the state level.
"I'm not sure the county would have jurisdiction over municipal issues like this," Dooley said. "I understand where the chief is coming from, but I'm hesitant about the legality of interjecting the county into these affairs."
County Counselor Pat Redington, who works for Dooley, said Wednesday that Fitch's inquiry is "under review." She said the soonest it could go before voters is April.
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/county-voters-may-be-asked-to-decide-on-banning-speed/article_99bee88e-153e-59d3-ac11-88d708bd0156.html
Sep 27, 1864: Confederate guerillas sack Centralia, Missouri
A guerilla band led by William "Bloody Bill" Anderson sacks the town of Centralia, Missouri, killing 22 unarmed Union soldiers before slaughtering more than 100 pursuing Yankee troops.
The Civil War in Missouri and Kansas was rarely fought between regular armies in the field. It was carried out primarily by partisan bands of guerilla fighters, and the atrocities were nearly unmatched. In 1863, Confederate marauders sacked Lawrence, Kansas, and killed 250 residents.
In 1864, partisan activity increased in anticipation of Confederate General Sterling Price's invasion of the state. On the evening of September 26, a band of 200 Confederate marauders gathered near the town of Centralia, Missouri. The next morning, Anderson led 30 guerillas into Centralia and began looting the tiny community and terrorizing the residents. Unionist congressmen William Rollins escaped execution only by giving a false name and hiding in a nearby hotel.
Meanwhile, a train from St. Louis was just pulling into the station. The engineer, who spotted Anderson's men destroying the town, tried to apply steam to keep the train moving. However, the brakeman, unaware of the raid, applied the brakes and brought the train to a halt. The guerillas took 150 prisoners from the train, which included 23 Union soldiers, and then set it on fire and opened its throttle; the flaming train sped away from the town. The soldiers were stripped and Anderson's men began firing on them, killing all but one within a few minutes. The surviving Yankee soldier was spared in exchange for a member of Anderson's company who had recently been captured.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/unarmed-yankees-are-massacred-in-centralia
http://mocivilwar150.com/history/battle/218
Maplewood, MO Passes Ordinance To Prevent LGBT Discrimination
MAPLEWOOD, MO (KTVI) – Controversy at Maplewood City Hall Tuesday night, as an ordinance to prevent LGBT discrimination narrowly passed in a 4 to 3 vote.
During public comments, about a dozen people made passionate pleas for both sides of the issue. One resident said the ordinance isn’t about whether folks think homosexuality is right or wrong; it’s about stopping bullying and hate crimes.
Some who spoke out against the ordinance say it isn’t right for the city to force beliefs on its residents. Maplewood resident Karen Lightfoot was one of them. She says, “I am disappointed. I think in the long run the city’s going to regret this. I think there will be lawsuits.”
Maplewood City Councilman Tim Dunn, who spearheaded the effort to pass the ordinance, isn’t surprised by the controversy. He explains, “America’s still a bit puritanical, those words just get people uneasy. So am I surprised? No.”
More at link
http://kplr11.com/2012/09/25/maplewood-passes-ordinance-to-prevent-lgbt-discrimination/
Sep 26, 1864: Rebels begin attack against Fort Davidson, Missouri
On this day in 1864, Confederate General Sterling Price invades Missouri and engages Union pickets near Fort Davidson at Pilot Knob. Price's troops captured the fort within two days and scattered the Union defenders, but also suffered heavy losses. Going into the battle, the Confederate military fortunes were at an all-time low, and Price had hoped the mission would destabilize Missouri just prior to the fall elections and give new hope to the Confederate cause. He also hoped to capture one of the major cities in Missouri and secure supplies for his troops. However, he failed to achieve these goals.
Price mounted his campaign from Pocahontas, Arkansas, and entered Missouri in mid-September. After encountering the Union pickets on September 26, he hurled his 12,000 troops at lightly defended Fort Davidson on September 27. By the following day, the Confederates had driven the 1,400 Yankee defenders away, but the attack was costly. Some 1,000 of Price’s troops were killed or wounded, and the Confederates gained little in the way of strategic value or political impact.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/battle-at-pilot-knob-missouri
Visited this park a few years ago with a friend and found it to be a pretty cool place. The gentleman running the center was exceptionally kind and helpful. As there were just a few of us there at the time, he was able to spend time with us describing the battle site. I highly recommend visiting if you are a Civil War or History buff.
http://mostateparks.com/park/fort-davidson-state-historic-site
Sen. Roy Blunt pledges to work for Rep. Todd Akin's election
And so they start to fall in line......JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - A month after calling on Congressman Todd Akin to drop out of Missouri's U.S. Senate race, the state's incumbent Republican senator now says he'll work for Akin's election.
Sen. Roy Blunt was among several leading Missouri Republicans who urged Akin in August to quit his challenge to Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill. The pressure followed Akin's televised comment that women's bodies can avert pregnancy from what he called "legitimate rape."
Akin has remained in the race and was campaigning Tuesday when a final deadline for him to withdraw came and went.
http://www.ksdk.com/rss/article/340248/3/Blunt-pledges-to-work-for-Akins-election
Todd Akin: Constituents Who Want My Attention Should ‘Write Me A Decent Check’
Rep. Todd Akin’s (R-MO) Senate campaign has struggled to rebound after his claim that women could not get pregnant from “legitimate rape” led to a drop in fundraising and GOP establishment support. A new recording released by his opponent, Democratic incumbent Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO), won’t do much to help him. In the recording, taken in May, Akin suggests that the best way to get his attention is to make a donation to his campaign.
http://thinkprogress.org/election/2012/09/24/902481/todd-akin-constituents-who-want-my-attention-should-write-me-a-decent-check/
Parents: Mentally-challenged daughter threatened after homecoming nomination
PACIFIC, Mo. (KMOV) -- The parents of a mentally-challenged teen say their daughter was threatened after she was nominated homecoming queen at Pacific High School.
According to the 15-year-old girl’s parents, Rickie and Tonya Tanner, they became suspicious after their daughter came home and told them she had been elected to the school’s homecoming court. The parents said their daughter has the mentality of a 10-year-old.
They looked into the nomination and discovered students had been threatening on social media to throw eggs at the girl if she attended the school’s homecoming parade this Saturday.
They told News 4 school officials did not react to the incident until they went public with the story on Facebook.
The district Superintendent Randy George says he is now investigating.
“There’s procedures on the process we follow if we get a bullying report, we did not get that report, I was notified about something about it on the internet and that’s the reason we started looking into it,” he said.
The Tanners said they are keeping their daughter home and would like to see the homecoming parade cancelled. Their daughter had not yet made plans to return to school.
“If a whole group of people is capable of this type of plot and plan and they executed it enough to get her nominated, that tells me this whole environment is tainted, that these kids are in and there needs to be a message sent to the kids and they need to learn a life lesson, this just isn’t for my kid,” said Tonya Tanner.
http://www.kmov.com/news/local/Parents-Students-threatened-mentally-challenged-daughter-after-being-elected-Pacific-HS-homecoming-queen-171035161.html
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