Militant April
** The Harding Project also invites you to read this masterful exploration of beards and lethality by Rob Rose at West Point’s Modern War Institute.**
On this first of April, we travel back into the archives to Major John A. Reichley’s piece, “Militant April”, in the April 1979 issue of Military Review. Not an April Fools Joke, Riley’s piece explores the surprisingly number of military events in our fourth month.
As Riley opens:
THOUGHTS of April traditionally bring to mind income tax, rain and practical jokes. But the fourth month has seen much more than its fair share of military events throughout our nation's history. Some are immortal, while others are easily forgettable-or long forgotten.
As a former resident of Lexington, Massachusetts, I’m well aware that the “shot heard ‘round the world” was fired in my hometown, but what else? Riley’s lighthearted article shows us all the April events—and shows that professional journal articles can take a variety of forms.
Soon, readers of the Army’s articles will be able to link directly to specific articles from the Army’s archives. Today, click the link and read the whole article starting on page 20 if you want all the details.
A few fun excerpts:
The Louisiana Purchase.
The Louisiana Purchase was agreed upon on 30 April 1803, and the famed Lewis and' Clark-Army officers-soon set off on their famous expedition
The Civil War
April was a significant month throughout the Civil War, literally from beginning to end. The first cannon shot shattered the stillness at Fort Sumter, South Carolina, in the early morning of 12 April 1861.
The Battle of Okinawa
In the Pacific, the Tenth Army hit the beaches' on Okinawa, considered by the Japanese to be home soil, and began the biggest battle of the Pacific, ultimately in· volving almost 550,000 Americans.
Nuclear Power
Energy became a national concern. The Army unveiled its first nuclear reactor on 29 April 1957 at Fort Belvoir, Virginia.
And many other events. Happy April Fools Day!
I also commend to your attention Dublin’s Easter Rising of a 1916, an early modern urban battle featuring house to house fighting, mouse-holing, long range sniping, artillery, and automatic weapons versus bolt action rifles and hand grenades. Plus improvised apcs.