The Military History Thread

[Ennath]

February 23, 1847
Battle of Buena Vista

After the Battle of Monterrey and the end of the armistice, Major General Zachary Taylor's Army of Occupation with General William Worth's 1000 men advanced onto undefended Saltillo on November 16, despite orders to halt any movement further south, considering it vital to cover the approaches to Monterrey. Taylor then directed General John Wool from Monclova to Parras, the objective being control of that agricultural area. Wool's force moved to Agua Nueva, south of Saltillo, on December 21, to counter rumors of impending attack. By this time, many of Taylor’s best troops had been reassigned to Scott’s coming invasion of central Mexico. By early 1847 he had only some 4500 men, many of them untested volunteers.

In mid-August 1846 Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna returned from exile in Cuba and quickly assumed command of the Mexican army, abandoning any pretense of reconciling with the US. He swiftly raised an army of 25,000 men, many of whom were trained soldiers. He marched north, hoping to crush Taylor. It was a risky move, as by then he was aware of Scott’s planned invasion from the east. Santa Anna rushed his men north, losing many to attrition, desertion and illness along the way. He even outpaced his supply lines - his men had not eaten for 36 hours when they met the Americans in battle; he promised them American supplies after their victory.

Taylor learned of Santa Anna's advance and deployed near the Buena Vista ranch a few miles to the south of Saltillo. There, the Saltillo road was flanked on one side by a plateau accessed by several small ravines. It was a good defensive position, although Taylor had to spread his men thinly to cover it all and he had little in the way of reserves. Santa Anna's army departed San Luis Potosí on January 27 with 21,600 men, and reached Encarnacion, south of Saltillo, with 15,200 men on February 20. They arrived near Saltillo on February 22. Santa Anna sent Taylor a note demanding surrender as the soldiers skirmished. Taylor predictably refused.

After dark, Taylor, escorted by the Mississippi Rifles of Col. Jefferson Davis, checked on the Saltillo garrison, but returned by 9 AM on the morning of Feb. 23. During the night, Brigadier General Manuel Micheltorena moved five 8-pounders above the American left, intending to flank them along the high ground the next morning at daylight.

Santa Anna launched his attack on the 23rd. His plan of attack was direct: he would send his best forces against the Americans along the plateau, using the ravines for cover when he could. He also sent an attack along the main road to keep as much of Taylor’s force as possible occupied. Pedro de Ampudia's brigade started the assault, supported by Lombardini's and Pacheco's divisions, while Moras demonstrated against the American right. The 2nd Indiana faced a force of 7000 Mexicans, prompting Wool to send the 2nd Illinois and Thomas Sherman's battery in support. The Hoosiers, after taking 90 casualties, broke and fled, forcing the 2d Illinois in a slow fighting withdrawal, and Marshall's men to flee northward to the Buena Vista hacienda. Juvera's cavalry was able to turn the American left flank and head for Buena Vista.

Davis' Mississippians were ordered to shield Buena Vista along with the Arkansas and Kentucky cavalry, the 3d Indiana, and Capt. Enoch Steen's dragoons. The American left was thus strengthened, the center still held and the right was still solid. At the hacienda, Yell's men held, although he was killed, and Steen's dragoons were able to split Juvera's column, forcing the advance portion past the hacienda and under fire from Sherman's battery, while the dragoons threw the rest into confusion. Davis' men then sent the Mexicans fleeing, although he was wounded in the heel.

Santa Anna renewed the attack on the main US position, led by Gen. Francisco Perez with artillery support. They were met at 5 PM by fire from O'Brien's and Thomas' guns and two Illinois regiments and a Kentucky regiment. An artillery battery under Capt. Braxton Bragg then arrived with orders to “maintain the position at all costs”. Taylor rode over to Bragg, and after a brief conversation in which Bragg replied he was using single canister shot, Taylor ordered “double-shot your guns and give 'em hell, Bragg”. Perez's attack was broken and the fighting ended as heavy rain fell over the field.

During the night, the Mexicans disengaged and retreated. They were battered and hungry and Santa Anna didn't think they would hold for another round of combat. His had lost 591 killed, 1048 wounded and 300 captured; another 1500 or so deserted. The Americans had lost 267 killed, 387 wounded and 6 missing. Taylor led his army back to Nueva, he did not pursue Santa Anna any further south.

Buena Vista was the last major battle in northern Mexico. The American army would remain, but took no further offensive action: the Americans would pin their hopes for victory on Scott's planned invasion of Mexico City. Santa Anna had taken his best shot at Taylor's army; he would now move south and try and hold off Scott. Although he didn’t know it, he had missed his best chance to alter the course of the war.

[Ennath]

February 24, 1634
Assassination of Wallenstein

Born in Bohemia on September 24, 1583, Albrecht von Wallenstein was the son of a minor noble family. Initially raised as a Protestant by his parents, he was sent to a Jesuit school by his uncle after their death. While there he professed to convert to Catholicism, though he subsequently attended the Lutheran University of Altdorf in 1599. Following additional schooling at Bologna and Padua, von Wallenstein joined the army of Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II. Fighting against the Ottomans and Hungarian rebels, he was commended for his service at the siege of Gran.

Returning home to Bohemia, he married the wealthy widow Lucretia Nikossie von Landeck. Inheriting her fortune and estates in Moravia upon her death in 1614, Wallenstein used it buy influence. After fitting out a company of 200 cavalry, he presented it to Archduke Ferdinand of Styria for use against the Venetians. In 1617, Wallenstein married Isabella Katharina. With the outbreak of the Thirty Years' War in 1618, von Wallenstein declared his support for the Imperial cause.

Forced by the rebels to flee his lands in Moravia, he brought the province's treasury to Vienna. Equipping a regiment of cuirassiers, Wallenstein joined the army of Karel Bonaventura Buquoy and saw service against the Protestant armies of Ernst von Mansfeld and Gabriel Bethlen. Winning notice as a brilliant commander, Wallenstein was able to recover his lands after the Catholic victory at the Battle of White Mountain in 1620. He also benefited from the favoritism of Ferdinand who had ascended to post of Holy Roman Emperor in 1619.

Through the emperor, von Wallenstein was able to acquire the large estates that had belonged to his mother's family as well as huge tracts of confiscated land. Adding these to his holdings, he reorganized the territory and named it Friedland. In addition, military successes brought titles with the emperor making him an imperial count palatine in 1622, and a prince a year later. With the entry of the Danes into the conflict, Ferdinand found himself without an army under his control to oppose them. While the army of the Catholic League was in the field, it belonged to Maximilian of Bavaria.

Seizing the opportunity, von Wallenstein approached the emperor in 1625, and offered to raise an entire army on his behalf. Elevated to Duke of Friedland, Wallenstein initially assembled a force of 30,000 men. On April 25, 1626, his new army defeated a force under Mansfield at the Battle of Dessau Bridge. Operating in conjunction with the Count of Tilly's Catholic League Army, he campaigned against Mansfeld and Gabor. In 1627, his army swept through Silesia clearing it of Protestant forces. In the wake of this victory, he purchased the Duchy of Sagan from the emperor.

The next year, von Wallenstein's army moved into Mecklenburg in support of Tilly's efforts against the Danes. Named Duke of Mecklenburg for his services, he was frustrated when his siege of Stralsund failed, denying him access to the Baltic and the ability to confront Sweden and the Netherlands at sea. He was further distressed when Ferdinand announced the Edict of Restitution in 1629. This called for the return of several principalities to Imperial control and the conversion of their inhabitants to Catholicism.

Though von Wallenstein personally opposed the edict, he began moving his army to enforce it, angering many of the German princes. This was hampered by the intervention of Sweden and the arrival of its army under the gifted leadership of King Gustavus Adolphus. In 1630, Ferdinand called a meeting of the electors at Regensburg with the goal of having his son voted as his successor. Angered by Wallenstein's arrogance and actions, the princes, led by Maximilian, demanded the commander's removal in exchange for their votes. Ferdinand agreed and riders were sent to inform von Wallenstein of his removal.

Turning his army over to Tilly, he retired to Friedland. While he lived on his estates, the war went badly for the emperor as the Swedes crushed Tilly at Breitenfeld in 1631. The following April, Tilly was defeated at killed at Rain. With the Swedes in Munich and occupying Bohemia, Ferdinand recalled Wallenstein. Returning to duty, he swiftly raised a new army and cleared the Saxons from Bohemia. After defeating the Swedes at Alte Veste, he encountered Gustavus Adolphus' army at Lützen in November 1632. In the battle that ensued, Wallenstein's army was defeated but Gustavus Adolphus was killed. Much to the emperor's dismay, Wallenstein did not exploit the king's death, but rather retreated into winter quarters.

When the campaign season began in 1633, he mystified his superiors by avoiding confrontation with the Protestants. His apparent unwillingness to attack caused much concern in Vienna and in Spain. At this time the dimensions of the war grew more European. Wallenstein had, in fact, started preparing to desert the Emperor; he continued angry at Ferdinand's refusal to revoke the Edict of Restitution. Rumor had it that he was preparing to force peace on the Emperor in the interests of united Germany, at the same time trying to stay loyal to the Emperor as far as possible. With this apparent plan he entered into negotiations with Saxony, Brandenburg, Sweden, and France. But, apparently, the Hapsburgs' enemies tried to draw him to their side. In any case, he gained little support. Anxious to make his power felt, he at last resumed the offensive against the Swedes and Saxons, winning his last victory at Steinau on the Oder in October. He then resumed negotiations.

In December Wallenstein retired with his army to Bohemia, around Pilsen. Vienna soon definitely convinced itself of his treachery, a secret court found him guilty, and the Emperor looked seriously for a means of getting rid of him (a successor in command, the future emperor Ferdinand III, was already waiting). Wallenstein was aware of the plan to replace him, but felt confident that when the army came to decide between him and the Emperor the decision would be in his favor.

On January 24. 1634 the Emperor signed a secret patent (shown only to certain of Wallenstein's officers) removing him from his command. Finally an open patent charging Wallenstein with high treason was signed on February 18 and published in Prague. In the patent, Ferdinand ordered Wallenstein brought under arrest to Vienna, dead or alive. Losing the support of his army, Wallenstein now realized the extent of his peril, and on February 23, with a company of some 100 men, he went from Pilsen to Cheb, hoping to meet the Swedes under Duke Bernhard. After his arrival at Cheb, however, certain senior Scottish and Irish officers in his force assassinated him on the night of February 24-25. To carry out the assassination, a regiment of dragoons under the command of an Irish Colonel Walter Butler and the Scots Colonels Walter Leslie and John Gordon first fell upon Wallenstein's trusted officers Adam Trczka, Vilem Kinsky, Christian Illov and Henry Neumann at Cheb Castle (which had come under the command of John Gordon himself), and massacred them. Trczka alone managed to fight his way out into the courtyard, only to be shot down by a group of musketeers. A few hours later, an Irish captain, Walter Devereux, together with a few companions, broke into the burgomaster's house at the main square where Wallenstein had his lodgings (again courtesy of John Gordon), and kicked open the bedroom door. Devereux then ran his halberd through the unarmed Wallenstein, who, roused from sleep, is said to have asked in vain for quarter.

The Emperor may not have commanded the murder, nor even desired it, but he had given free rein to the party who he knew wished “to bring in Wallenstein, alive or dead.” After the assassination, he rewarded the murderers with honor and riches.

[Ennath]

February 25, 1779
Capture of Vincennes

The Illinois country was a vaguely defined region which included much of the present US states of Indiana and Illinois. In 1778, the population of the Illinois country consisted of about 1000 people of European descent, mostly French-speaking, and about 600 slaves. Thousands of American Indians lived in villages concentrated along the Mississippi, Illinois, and Wabash Rivers. The British military presence was sparse; most of the troops had been withdrawn in 1776 to cut back on expenses. Philippe-Francois de Rastel de Rocheblave, a French-born soldier, was hired by the British to be the local commandant. Stationed at Kaskaskia, Rocheblave reported to Henry Hamilton at Detroit, and frequently complained that he lacked the money, resources, and troops needed to administer the region.

When the American Revolutionary War began, the British originally sought to keep American Indians out of the war, but in 1777 Hamilton received instructions to recruit and arm Indian war parties to raid the Kentucky settlements, opening a western front in the war with the rebel colonists. George Rogers Clark, a 25-year old major in the Virginia militia, believed that he could end the raids on Kentucky by capturing the British posts in the Illinois country and then moving against Detroit. In April, Clark sent two spies into the Illinois country. They returned after two months and reported that the fort at Kaskaskia was unguarded, that the French-speaking residents were not greatly attached to the British, and that no one expected an attack from Kentucky. Clark wrote a letter to Governor Patrick Henry of Virginia in which he outlined a plan to capture Kaskaskia. Although Henry initially expressed doubts about whether the campaign was feasible, Clark managed to win his confidence.

Publicly, Clark was authorized to raise men for the defense of Kentucky. In a secret set of instructions from Governor Henry, Clark was instructed to capture Kaskaskia and then proceed as he saw fit.

Governor Henry commissioned Clark as a lieutenant colonel in the Virginia militia and authorized him to raise seven companies of 50 men each. This force, later known as the Illinois Regiment, was a Virginia state unit and thus not a part of the Continental Army. To maintain secrecy, Clark did not tell any of his recruits that the purpose of the expedition was to invade the Illinois country. For a variety of reasons, Clark was unable to raise all 350 men authorized. His recruiters had to compete with recruiters from the Continental Army and from other militia units. Some believed that Kentucky was too sparsely inhabited to warrant the diversion of manpower, and recommended that it should be evacuated rather than defended. Settlers in the Holston valley were more concerned with Cherokees to the south than with Indians north of the Ohio. Although some Pennsylvanians enlisted, the longstanding boundary dispute between Pennsylvania and Virginia meant that few Pennsylvanians volunteered for what was perceived as a campaign to protect Virginia territory.

After repeated delays to allow time for more men to join, Clark left by boat on May 12, 1778, with about 150 men, later joined by a couple of dozen more. On June 28, the Illinois Regiment reached the mouth of the Tennessee River, where they landed on an island and prepared for the final stage of the journey. Normally, travelers going to Kaskaskia would continue to the Mississippi and then paddle upstream to the village. Because Clark hoped to take Kaskaskia by surprise, he decided to march his men across what is now the southern tip of Illinois and approach the village by land, a journey of about 120 miles.

They arrived outside Kaskaskia on the night of July 4. Thinking they would have arrived sooner, the men had carried only four days worth of rations; they had gone without food for the last two days of the 6-day march. They crossed the Kaskaskia River about midnight and quickly secured the town without firing a shot. At Fort Gage, the Virginians captured Rocheblave, who was sleeping in his bed when the Americans burst in. The next morning, Clark worked to secure the allegiance of the townspeople, a task made easier because Clark brought news of the Franco-American alliance. Father Pierre Gibault, the village priest, was won over after Clark assured him that the Catholic Church would be protected under the laws of Virginia. Rocheblave and several others deemed hostile were kept as prisoners and later sent to Virginia.

Clark soon extended his authority to the nearby French settlements. The towns offered no resistance, and within 10 days more than 300 people had taken the American oath of allegiance. On July 14, Gibault and a few companions set out on horseback for Vincennes. There, most of the citizens agreed to take the oath of allegiance, and the local militia garrisoned Fort Sackville. Gibault returned to Clark in early August to report that Vincennes had been won over and that the American flag was now flying at Fort Sackville. Clark dispatched Captain Helm to Vincennes to take command of the Canadien militia.

In Detroit, Hamilton learned of Clark's occupation of the Illinois country by early August. Determined to retake Vincennes, Hamilton gathered about 30 British soldiers, 145 Canadien militiamen, and 60 Indians. On October 7, Hamilton's force began the journey of more than 300 miles to Vincennes. Coming down the Wabash, they stopped at Ouiatanon and recruited Indians who had declared allegiance to the Americans after Clark's occupation of the Illinois country. By the time Hamilton entered Vincennes on December 17, so many Indians had joined the expedition that his force had increased to 500 men. As Hamilton approached Fort Sackville, the Canadien militia under Captain Helm deserted, leaving the American commander and a few soldiers to surrender. The townsfolk promptly renounced their allegiance to the United States and renewed their oaths to King George. After the recapture of Vincennes, most of the Indians and Detroit militia went home. Hamilton settled in at Fort Sackville for the winter with a garrison of about 90 soldiers, planning to retake the remaining Illinois towns in the spring.

On January 29, 1779, Francis Vigo, an Italian fur trader, came to Kaskaskia to inform Clark about Hamilton's reoccupation of Vincennes. Clark decided that he needed to launch a surprise winter attack before Hamilton could recapture the Illinois country in the spring. On February 6, he set out for Vincennes, a journey of about 180 miles, with about 170 volunteers, nearly half of them French militia from Kaskaskia. Captain Bowman was second-in-command on the expedition, which Clark characterized as a "forlorn hope." While Clark and his men marched across country, 40 men left in an armed row-galley, which was to be stationed on the Wabash River below Vincennes to prevent the British from escaping by water.

The Americans reached the Embarras River on February 17. They were now only 9 miles from Fort Sackville, but the river was too high to ford. They followed the Embarras down to the Wabash, where the next day they began to build boats. Spirits were low; they had been without food for last two days, and Clark struggled to keep men from deserting. On February 20, 5 hunters from Vincennes were captured while traveling by boat. They told Clark that his little army had not yet been detected, and that the people of Vincennes were still sympathetic to the Americans. The next day, Clark and his men crossed the Wabash, leaving their packhorses behind. They marched towards Vincennes, sometimes in water up to their shoulders. The last few days were the hardest. Crossing a flooded plain about 4 miles wide, they used the canoes to shuttle the weary from high point to high point. Shortly before reaching Vincennes, they encountered a villager known to be a friend, who informed Clark that they were still unsuspected. Clark sent the man ahead with a letter to the inhabitants, warning them that he was just about to arrive with an army, and that everyone should stay in their homes unless they wanted to be considered an enemy. The message was read in the public square. No one went to the fort to warn Hamilton.

Clark and his men marched into Vincennes at sunset on February 23. Taking advantage of a slight elevation of land which concealed his men but allowed their flags to be seen, Clark maneuvered his troops to create the impression that 1000 men were approaching. While Clark and Bowman secured the town, a detachment was sent to begin firing at Fort Sackville. Despite the commotion, Hamilton did not realize the fort was under attack until one of his men was wounded by a bullet coming through a window.

Clark had his men build an entrenchment 200 yards in front of the fort's gate. While men fired throughout the night, small squads crept up to within 30 yards of the walls to get a closer shot. The British fired their cannon, destroying a few houses in the town but doing little damage to the besiegers. Clark's men silenced the cannon by firing through the fort's portholes, killing and wounding some of the gunners. At about 9:00 AM on February 24, Clark sent a message to the fort demanding Hamilton's surrender. Hamilton declined, and the firing continued for another two hours until Hamilton sent out his prisoner, Captain Helm, to offer terms. Clark sent Helm back with a demand of unconditional surrender within 30 minutes, or else he would storm the fort. Helm returned before the time had expired and presented Hamilton's proposal for a three-day truce. This too was rejected, but Clark agreed to meet Hamilton at the village church.

Before the meeting, the most controversial incident in Clark's career occurred. Unaware that Clark had retaken Vincennes, a war party of Indians and Canadiens came into town. There was a skirmish, and Clark's men captured 6. Two of the prisoners were Canadiens and were released at the request of the villagers and one of Clark's Canadien followers. Clark decided to make an example of the remaining 4 Indian prisoners. They were made to sit down in view of the fort and then tomahawked to death; the bodies were scalped and then thrown into the river. Although Hamilton did not witness the executions, he later wrote that Clark had killed one or more of the Indians with his own hands. Some historians believe that Hamilton exaggerated because, after being imprisoned by the Americans for war crimes, he had motivation to make his captors seem even worse. Clark did not claim to have been one of the executioners, but he wrote about the killings without apology, believing them to be justifiable revenge for murdered Kentucky settlers and a means to intimidate Indians into stopping their raids.

At the church, Clark and Bowman met with Hamilton and signed terms of surrender. At 10:00 AM on February 25, Hamilton's garrison of 79 men marched out of the fort. Clark's men raised the American flag over the fort and renamed it Fort Patrick Henry. A team of Clark's soldiers and local militia was sent upriver on the Wabash, where a supply convoy was captured, along with British reinforcements. Clark sent Hamilton, 7 of his officers, and 18 other prisoners to Williamsburg. Canadiens who had accompanied Hamilton were paroled after taking an oath of neutrality.

In the coming years of the war, Clark attempted to organize a campaign against Detroit, but each time the expedition was called off because of insufficient men and supplies. Meanwhile, settlers began to pour into Kentucky after hearing news of Clark's victory. In 1779, Virginia opened a land office to register claims in Kentucky, and settlements such as Louisville were established. After learning of Clark's initial occupation of the Illinois country, Virginia had claimed the region, establishing Illinois County, Virginia. In early 1781, Virginia resolved to hand the region over to the central government, paving the way for the final ratification of the Articles of Confederation. These lands became the Northwest Territory of the United States.

[Historian]

Originally Posted by Originally posted by Ennath

February 22, 1797
Battle of Fishguard

Thus ended the last battle on British soil.

Oddly enough, (and I think I've told this story in the WW2 thread), if you want to dignify a skirmish between little more than a platoon of British infantry and the crew of a downed German bomber with the title 'Battle', there is an incident that some say is a much more recent claimant to that title- the so-called 'Battle of Graveney Marsh', on 27th September 1940.

After being badly shot-up by RAF fighters while returning from a raid on London, a Ju88 was forced to crashland on the Graveney marshes between Faversham and Whitstable on the North Kent Coast. This stretch of coastline was guarded by 1st Bn. London Irish Rifles, a small detachment of whom were billeted in a seafront pub not far from the crash site.

Hearing the bomber come down, their Sergeant despatched a few of his men to take charge of the crash site and pick up the crew, and reported the incident to his CO, Capt John Cantopher, when he arrived on a routine inspection shortly after.

As Cantopher and the Sergeant were discussing the incident, the sound of gunfire suggested the men sent to locate the crashed bomber had run into trouble, and they gathered up the rest of the platoon and rushed off to investigate.

Arriving at the scene, they were met by a hail of machine gun fire- it seemed that rather than surrender, Unteroffizer Fritz Ruhlandt and his crew had opted to fight it out with the bomber's machine-guns, their pistols, and supposedly, an MP40 carried on board.

Dividing his small force into two, Cantopher ordered one group to lay down covering fire, while the other used a drainage ditch to outflank the Germans. After a brief exchange of fire, in which one of the German airmen
was slightly wounded, the bomber crew surrendered.

As the London Irish were about to march their prisoners away, an overheard conversation between the crew (IIRC Cantopher spoke fluent German) revealed that before surrendering, the Germans had activated the demolition charges in their crashed aircraft.

Cantopher rushed back to the wreck, climbed into the cockpit and defused the charges, an act which earned him a decoration for bravery.

The Germans were marched back to the pub, where they apparently shared a few beers with their captors, while they waited for transport to a POW camp

At least, that's the 'official' story, as told in the regimental history- but I've also read an account by a historian who interviewed Ruhlandt and his crew some years ago, which suggested it may all have been a bit of a
misunderstanding- According to this version of events, the Germans had demounted the guns from the bomber to use as part of their effort to destroy it, and when the approaching London Irish heard MG fire, they naturally assumed it was aimed at them, returned fire, and the incident escalated from there...

[DonnyJoe]

[DonnyJoe]

For some reason I couldn't add any text to my picture post.
Some years back my wife and I visited the George Rogers
Clark National Historical Park in Vincennes,IN while passing
through there on vacation. The memorial is on what is believed
to be the original site of Fort Sackville. The rotunda contains
a statue of Clark and large murals along the wall depicting the
battle and surrender of the fort. There is also a statue of
Francis Vigo,who aided the Americans with information and
money,on the grounds by the river front.

Next door is the Basilica of St. Francis Xavier Church which is
built on the original site when it was established in 1732. Out
front is a statue of Father Gibault who also aided Clark. The
church grounds also contains the French and Indian Cemetery
where some Revolutionary War veterans are buried and a
marker for Major Bowman although it's believed he is buried
somewhere along the Wabash River.

The Lincoln Memorial Bridge is on the street right in front of
the Clark Memorial. It's the spot where a young Lincoln and
his family crossed the Wabash River when moving from Spencer
County Indiana to Illinois. On the Illinois side of the bridge is a
stone monument recording the event.

Lastly across the street is a memorial to all four ships which
have been named "Vincennes". The first was the first U.S.
Navy ship to circumnavigate the Earth. The second was a heavy
cruiser sank at the Battle of Savo Island in WWII. The third
was a light cruiser replacement built during WWII. The forth
was the Aegis class cruiser involved in the accidental shoot
down of the Iranian airliner.

Hope you enjoy the pictures.

[Ennath]

February 26, 1936
Revolt in Tokyo, Part 1

By the early 1930s, officers in the Japanese high command had become split into two main informal groups: the Imperial Way faction, which emphasized the importance of Japanese culture, spiritual purity over material quality, and the need to attack the Soviet Union and the Control faction, which supported central economic and military planning (total war theory), technological modernization, mechanization, and expansion in China. The Imperial Way was dominant from 1931 to 1934, occupying most significant staff positions, but many of its members were replaced by Control officers following War Minister Araki's resignation.

Army officers were divided between those whose education had ended at the Army Academy and those who had advanced on to the prestigious Army War College. The latter group formed the elite of the officer corps, while officers of the former group were effectively barred by tradition from advancement to staff positions. A number of these lesser-privileged officers formed the army's contribution to the young, highly politicized group often referred to as the “young officers”. The young officers believed that the problems facing the nation were the result of Japan straying from the kokutai (roughly signifying the relationship between the Emperor and the state). The privileged classes exploited the people, leading to widespread poverty in rural areas, and deceived the Emperor, usurping his power and weakening Japan. The solution, they believed, was a Showa Restoration modeled on the Meiji Restoration of 70 years earlier. By rising up and destroying the “evil advisers around the Throne”, the officers would enable the Emperor to re-establish his authority. The Emperor would then purge Western ideas and those who exploited the people, restoring prosperity to the nation.

The loose-knit group varied in size, but is estimated to have had roughly a 100 regular members, mostly officers in the Tokyo area. Its informal leader was Mitsugi Nishida. Nishida, a former army lieutenant, had become a prominent member of the civilian nationalist societies that proliferated from the late 1920s. Involved to at least some extent in most of the political violence of the period, the army and navy members of the group split and largely ended their association with civilian nationalists after 1931. It had sympathizers among the general staff and imperial family, most notably Prince Chichibu, the Emperor's brother, who was friends with Nishida. Despite being fiercely anti-capitalist, it had also managed to secure irregular funding from zaibatsu leaders who hoped to shield themselves. Imperial Way officers shielded the group and provided it with access while they in exchange benefited from their perceived ability to restrain the radical officers.

The early 1930s were marked by a series of violent outbursts by the young officers and other nationalists, notably the 1932 assassination of Prime Minister Inukai. The ringleaders received relatively light punishments. The direct prelude, however, was the 1934 Military Academy Incident, in which 2 prominent “young officers” were arrested for planning a coup. The military court investigating the incident found there was insufficient evidence to indict, but the 2 officers were suspended by the army. The two were convinced that the incident was a Control attack on the young officers and began circulating a pamphlet calling for a “housecleaning” of the army. They were then expelled from the service.

It was at this time that the last Imperial Way officer in a prominent position, Gen. Mazaki, was forced from office. The young officers were enraged by Mazaki's removal as he had become the focus of their hopes. On August 12, 1935, Lt. Colonel Saburo Aizawa, a “young officer” and a friend of Mazaki, murdered Tetsuzan Nagata, head of the Control faction, in his office in retaliation. Aizawa's public trial (which began in January 1936) became a media sensation as Aizawa and the young officer leadership, in collusion with the judges, turned it into a soapbox from which their ideology could be broadcast. Aizawa's supporters in the mass media praised Aizawa's “morality and patriotism”, and Aizawa himself came to be seen as “a simple soldier who sought only to reform the army and the nation according to the true National Principle.”

The uprising was planned in a series of meetings held on February 18-22 by Mitsugi Nishida, Yasuhide Kurihara, Teruzo Ando, Hisashi Kono, Takaji Muranaka, and Asaichi Isobe. The plan was relatively simple. The officers would assassinate their most prominent enemies (Prime Minister Keisuke Okada, Finance Minister Takahashi Korekiyo and 5 others), secure control of the administrative centers of the capital and the Imperial Palace, and then submit their demands (the dismissal of certain officers and the appointment of a new cabinet led by Mazaki). They had no longer term goals, believing that those should be left to the Emperor. It is believed that they were prepared to replace Hirohito with Prince Chichibu if necessary, however.

From the 22nd on, the 7 leaders managed to convince 18 other officers to join the uprising with varying degrees of enthusiasm. NCO’s were informed on the night of the 25th, hours before the attacks started. Although the officers insisted that all NCOs participated voluntarily and any orders given were merely pro forma, many of the NCOs argued later that they had been in no real position to refuse to participate. The soldiers themselves, 70% of whom were less than a month out of basic training, were not told anything before the coup began, though many were (according to the officers) enthusiastic once the uprising began.

The bulk of the rebel force was made up of men from the 1st Division's 1st Infantry Regiment (11th and MG companies; 456 men) and 3rd Infantry Regiment (1st, 3rd, 6th, 7th, 10th, and MG companies; 937 men). The only other significant contribution was 138 men from the 3rd Imperial Guard Regiment. Including officers, civilians, and men from other units, the total size of the “Righteous Army” was 1558 men.

[Ennath]

February 26, 1936
Revolt in Tokyo, Part 2

It snowed heavily on the night of the 25th, covering Tokyo. This heartened the rebel officers because it reminded them of the 1860 Sakuradamon Incident in which imperial supporters assassinated the chief adviser to the Shogun, in the name of the Emperor. The rebel troops, divided up into 6 groups, assembled their troops and left their barracks between 0330 and 0400. The attacks occurred approximately simultaneously at 0500.

Troops surrounded the Prime Minister’s residence and forced the guards to open the gates. Upon entering the compound and attempting the find the Prime Minister, however, they were fired upon by 4 policemen. These were killed after wounding 6 of the rebel soldiers, but the gunfire succeeded in warning Okada of the danger. He was spirited into hiding by his brother-in-law, Col. Denzo Matsuo. Matsuo, who was said to have resembled Okada, was then discovered and killed by the troops. The soldiers compared Matsuo's wounded face to a picture of the Prime Minister and concluded that they had succeeded in their mission. Okada would escape the next day, but this fact was kept a secret and he played no further role in the incident. Meanwhile, several small groups killed 3 of the 6 remaining officials targeted for assassination.

Another 160 men moved to seize the War Ministry, the War Minister’s residence and the General Staff Office. During this period, a number of officers sympathetic to the rebels were admitted. They urged War Minister Kawashima to accept their demands. Shortly before 0900, Kawashima stated that he needed to speak with the Emperor and left for the palace.

At approximately 1000, 60 men and traveled from the Prime Minister's Residence to the offices of the Asahi Shimbun, a prominent liberal newspaper. Charging into the building, the officers forced the employees to evacuate while yelling that the attack was divine retribution for being an un-Japanese newspaper. They then overturned and scattered the paper's type trays, temporarily preventing the newspaper from publishing. Following the attack, the men distributed copies of the uprising's manifesto to nearby newspapers and then returned to the Prime Minister's Residence.

75 men entered the palace grounds at 0600. The unit was the scheduled emergency relief company and the commander of the palace guard, Maj. Kentaro Homma, was told that they had been dispatched to reinforce the gates because of the attacks earlier that morning. Homma had been informed of the attacks, so he found the arrival unsurprising. The new men were assigned to help secure the Sakashita Gate, the main entrance to the grounds directly in front of the Emperor's residence. The rebel plan had been to secure the Sakashita Gate, then use flashlights to signal the nearby rebel troops at police headquarters to join them. Having gained control over access to the Emperor, the rebels would then be able to prevent anyone but those they approved of from seeing him. The signals broke down, however, and by 0800 Homma had learned of the plan. The rebel commander was ordered at gunpoint to leave the palace grounds. He did so, joining others at the Prime Minister's residence. His soldiers remained at the gate until they were relieved at 1300, at which point they returned to their barracks.

The Palace learned of the uprising when Capt. Ichitaro Yamaguchi, a supporter of rebel officers and duty officer for the 1st Infantry Regiment, informed his father-in-law Gen. Shigeru Honjo, the Emperor's chief aide-de-camp and member of the Imperial Way, at about 0500. Honjo then contacted his subordinates and the chief of the military police and headed to the Palace. The Emperor himself learned of the incident at 0540 and met with Honjo shortly after 0600. He told Honjo to end the incident, although he was not specific as to how. The Emperor’s chief advisors took a hard line, however, insisting that the revolt must be suppressed and the current government upheld. Hirohito hardened his position.

War Minister Kawashima met with the Emperor at 0930 and read the officers’ manifesto and demands aloud and then recommended the Emperor form a new cabinet to. The Emperor refused and demanded that Kawashima suppress the rising. When the remaining members of Okada's government, unaware that he was alive, attempted to resign that afternoon, Hirohito told them he would not allow it until the uprising had been defeated.

The Supreme Military Council (SMC) held an unofficial meeting in the afternoon. The SMC, while a prestigious part of the army, had little function in peacetime and had therefore become a body to which high-ranking officers could be appointed without actually granting them power. For this reason, by 1936 a number of Imperial Way generals, including Araki and Mazaki, had been made members. The authority of the meeting was disputed; it had not been convened by the Emperor, and some argued that it had no authority. Araki countered that the “elders of the army” had a moral obligation to resolve the situation.

Despite the Emperor's order to Kawashima that the uprising be suppressed, Araki proposed that a message be drafted to the rebels. This message, which came to known as the “Minister of War’s Proclamation” has become a point of controversy (it was issued in Kawashima's name because of the unofficial nature of the SMC meeting). Araki and other participants argued later that it had been intended to persuade the officers to surrender. Others interpreted it as an endorsement of the uprising. The message was brought to the rebels in the Ministry of War, who were pleased but somewhat confused by its vagueness. Another ambivalent action was to order a state of “wartime emergency” in the area. This placed rebel troops within the chain of command and charged with maintaining law and order. Thus, the rebel officers were no longer acting illegally by occupying their positions. As with the earlier Minister of War's Proclamation, this order was later justified as an attempt to convince the rebel officers to end their occupation. The officers were, however, encouraged and convinced that they were on the verge of success.

The situation of the rebels, however, was less secure than it seemed. The Emperor and Court had taken a hard line against them, but the rebels faced important opposition within the military as well, especially from the General Staff and Navy. They called in reinforcements from outside Tokyo. The navy assembled 40 warships in Tokyo Bay and marines were dispatched to defend naval installations in the city. By evening, the rising had stalemated. Negotiations began, but no agreement was reached.

The Emperor had, by the end of the 27th, become increasingly impatient with the failure of the military to suppress the uprising as he had ordered. The General Staff and Martial Law HQ decided to release the imperial command at 0500 on the 28th. From this point on formal documents, which had previously used “uprising”, the word chosen by the rebel officers themselves, began to use the word “rebellion” instead.

An envoy visited the Ministry of War at 1200 and told the rebel officers that the issuance of the imperial command for force was merely a matter of time and that they should “take responsibility”. He said that the officers should commit suicide and the NCO’s take the soldiers back to their barracks. Not all the rebels were prepared to commit suicide. By 1330, they had decided to fight. At 2300, orders went out to loyal units to begin preparations at 0500 on the 29th for a general attack.

By the morning of the 29th, the rebel army of less than 1500 was surrounded by more than 20,000 loyal troops and 22 tanks. By 0530 all civilians in the surrounding areas had been evacuated. From 0800 the army began a major propaganda push. 3 planes scattered leaflets from the air, a giant ad balloon adorned with the words “The Imperial Command has been issued, do not resist the Army colors!” was suspended nearby, and a series of radio broadcasts were made. These efforts, together with the hopeless odds, had a devastating effect. Desertions began shortly after midnight; by 1000, many were gone.

Realizing the hopelessness, by noon all the officers but one had released their soldiers. The last followed suit at 1300 and unsuccessfully attempted suicide by shooting himself in the head. The rest assembled at the Ministry of War. Two committed suicide. The remaining officers were arrested by the military police at 1800. They were all stripped of their ranks.

All 1483 rebels were interrogated, but only 124 were charged. The trials took nearly 18 months and, in the end, 75 were convicted; the 19 officers were shot by firing squad.

[Ennath]

February 27, 1900
Surrender at Paardeberg

An earlier British attempt to relieve Kimberley, led by Lieutenant General Lord Methuen, had been defeated by the Boers under Cronjé and Koos de la Rey at the Battle of Magersfontein on December 11, 1899 with heavy casualties. Over the next two months, the front south of Kimberley stagnated. A substantial Boer detachment under De la Rey was sent to Colesberg where, in contrast to the situation elsewhere, the Boers were being driven back by a roughly equal British force. Cronjé's remaining forces were weakened by lack of grazing for their horses. Many of the Boer fighters' families joined Cronjé's main encampment at Jacobsdal. The presence of large numbers of non-combatants with their slow-moving ox-drawn wagons would later prove a fatal handicap to Cronjé.

Field Marshal Sir Frederick Roberts had been appointed to command the British forces in South Africa in December 1899, succeeding General Sir Redvers Buller. Like Buller, Roberts at first intended to make a direct thrust on the Boer capitals of Bloemfontein and Pretoria, using the central railway line from Cape Town to the two capitals as his line of communication. Also like Buller, he found on arrival in South Africa that public opinion both in Britain and South Africa was clamoring for the relief of British forces besieged at Ladysmith, Kimberley and Mafeking and was forced to modify his plans.

Leaving Buller in command of the attempt to relieve Ladysmith, Roberts collected large numbers of reinforcements which had recently arrived in South Africa. He intended to outflank the Boer left and pass his cavalry around them to relieve Kimberley, while his infantry secured vital fords behind. Roberts had two infantry divisions (the 6th and the 7th) each of two infantry brigades, and a mounted division of three brigades under Major General John French. Another infantry division (the 9th, under Lieutenant General Henry Edward Colville) was formed during the campaign.

While Methuen's 1st Division demonstrated against the Boer entrenchments at Magersfontein and the Highland Brigade of Hector MacDonald marched 20 miles westward to Koedoesberg and fixed the Boers' attention to their right flank, Roberts's main force began marching east in secret, late on February 11. By the evening of the 12th, his leading horsemen had secured fords across the first obstacle, the Riet River. The next day, the British mounted force made a grueling march of 30 miles under a blazing sun to capture fords across the Modder. The effect of the heat was made worse when the dry grass of the veldt caught fire from a carelessly discarded match. French's division had to wait at the fords during the next day until the leading infantry reached them, after making an equally exhausting march. Luckily for the British, the move had taken the Boers by surprise and they did not move in strength to defend the fords or the hills nearby.

Early on February 15, French's division began the final march to relieve Kimberley. Only scattered and disorganized Boers opposed them, and the enormous mass of British horsemen broke through, concealed in the dust cloud they created. Late that evening they reached Kimberley, where they were greeted with cheering crowds. The final day's ride had crippled most of French's division. Most of his regular cavalry carried too much equipment and their unacclimatized horses (and those of the horse artillery) were exhausted. His effective force was reduced to two regiments of New Zealand and Australian light horse, and two “brigades” (actually battalions) of mounted infantry. French was to further tire his men on February 16 by futile attempts to intercept one of the Boers' Creusot 40-pounder siege guns (nicknamed "Long Tom") which was withdrawing to the north.

Meanwhile, Cronjé's men, some 5000 strong, finally evacuated their laager at Jacobsdal. Their position at Magersfontein was no longer relevant and they were in danger of being besieged in Jacobsdal by the British 7th Division (Charles Tucker), which had turned west from Klip Drift. On the night of the 15th, the large convoy of Boer ox-wagons passed between the rear of French's division and the outposts of Thomas Kelly-Kenny's 6th Division at the Modder fords. Throughout the next day, Boer mounted rearguards prevented 6th Division (with only one understrength mounted infantry unit) overtaking them. On the 17th, the Boer wagons reached the crossing of the Modder at Paardeberg Drift. They were starting to cross the river when a force of 1500 British mounted troops, almost all of French's fit horses and men who had covered the 40 miles from Kimberley in another desperately tiring march, opened fire unexpectedly from the north, causing confusion.

Cronjé decided to form a laager and dig in on the banks of the Modder. His reasons are unclear. The British, with 15,000 men, outnumbered his force significantly and enjoyed overwhelming superiority in artillery. All the British would have to do was lay siege to the Boer position. On the other hand, the British had insufficient cavalry and it would have been an easy matter for Cronjé to brush them aside and link up other Boers east of the Modder, under noted commander Christiaan De Wet who were only 30 miles away to the south-east and other forces under Chief Commandant Ignatius Ferreira a similar distance to the north.

Kelly-Kenny had a sound plan to lay siege to Cronjé and bombard his force into surrender. However, Roberts was down with a chill, and his Chief of Staff, Herbert Kitchener, was now in overall command. He had different plans, and overruled Kelly-Kenny. He ordered his force into a series of uncoordinated frontal assaults against the Boer laager. This was despite the fact that the cost of frontal assaults against entrenched Boers had been demonstrated time and again the preceding months. It was no different this time. The British attack was shot down. It is thought that not a single British soldier got within 200 yards of the Boer lines. By nightfall on February 18, some 303 troops were killed and 906 wounded. Judged by British casualties it was the most severe reverse of the war and became known as Bloody Sunday.

Kelly-Kenny had warned Kitchener not to leave "Kitchener's Kopje" undefended. Possession of the kopje was essential to guard the southeast of the British position and prevent Cronjé's escape. But Kitchener, in his zeal for an all-out attack, had left the kopje defended by only a handful of volunteer colonists. De Wet was therefore able to take the kopje with little resistance. The strategic picture had now changed dramatically. De Wet could now make the British position on the south east bank of the Modder untenable, and the Boers now commanded a swathe of front stretching from the north east right through to the south east. As darkness fell, Kitchener ordered his troops to dig in where they were. Few received these orders and fewer still obeyed them. Desperately thirsty and exhausted, the surviving British trickled back into camp.

However, Cronjé and his men had been in retreat for several days with the British snapping at their heels. While casualties from the bombardment had been reduced to around 100 dead and 250 wounded by the soft bank of the Modder, the horses, oxen and wagons had no trenches in which to shelter. Many wagons were destroyed. Ammunition exploded and stores were ruined. For many of the Burghers, these wagons carried all their worldly goods. The loss of their horses was even worse, for the horse was almost as important to the fighting ability of a Boer as his Mauser rifle. The morale in Cronjé's laager was desperate.

As the sun came up on the morning of February 19, General Roberts arrived on the scene. He initially urged a resumption of the frontal assaults, but Cronjé requested a cease-fire to bury the dead. The British refused and Cronjé replied "If you are so uncharitable as to refuse me a truce as requested, then you may do as you please. I shall not surrender alive. Bombard as you will." The truce talks had taken much of the day and there was no time for any more assaults.

The following day Roberts and Kitchener again planned to launch more assaults, but were firmly resisted by the other British senior officers. By February 21, Roberts was intent on withdrawing, but this would have allowed Cronjé to escape. The Boers withdrew first. De Wet, faced with an entire British division who might be reinforced at any time, and fearing for his men's safety, withdrew from the southeast. Ferreira's forces, which might have supported De Wet, had been left without direction after Ferreira was accidentally shot dead by one of his own sentries. Cronjé had inexplicably refused to abandon his laager. Now De Wet had to abandon Cronjé. Roberts sent Kitchener off to guard and repair the railway.

Cronjé's encampment was subjected to an increasingly heavy bombardment, as more guns (including a battery of 5-inch medium howitzers and another of 1-pounder "pom-poms") joined the British forces. Almost every draft animal was killed, and the stench and flies became unbearable. On the last night of the battle, February 26, the Royal Canadian Regiment, having lost more than 70 soldiers in an earlier charge, were again called to take the lead in the routine daily battalion rotation. Instead of another charge the next morning as was expected, the Canadians, with the help of Royal Engineers, advanced at night towards the Boer camp, then set about digging trenches on high ground 65 yards from the Boer lines. On February 27, the Boers woke up staring into the muzzles of Canadian rifles and surrendered. Cronjé surrendered with 4019 men and 50 women; around 10% of the Boers' entire army were now prisoners and the road to Bloemfontein, capital of the Orange Free State, was open.

[Ennath]

February 28, 1986
Battle of Zhawar

The Mujahideen base at Zhawar, in Paktia Province, served as a storage facility for supplies and equipment being transferred from Pakistan to the various guerrilla groups in the region. It also served as a training and command facility. The Mujahideen had dug tunnels up to 1500 feet into the Sodyaki Ghar mountain, with accommodations including a mosque, a hospital and a garage to house the two T-55 tanks that had been captured from the DRA (Democratic Republic of Afghanistan) in 1983.

The troops defending the base numbered 500, and they were armed with a D-30 howitzer, several BM-21 multiple rocket launchers and five heavy machine-guns for air defense. Additionally, other Mujahideen groups were active in the area, and they participated in the defense of the base when necessary. These groups were part of various movements, though all in theory came under the authority of regional commander Jalaluddin Haqqani.

The first attempt on Zhawar was launched in September 1985 by elements of the 12th and 25th DRA divisions, supported by Soviet airpower, at a time when the major Mujahideen commanders were absent, including Haqqani, who was performing the Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca. The DRA forces were at first successful, capturing the village of Lezhi and killing a Mujahideen commander. Very soon the attack was halted at the Manay Kandow pass, which had been heavily fortified. For 10 days the defenders held out, but were finally forced to withdraw, under heavy airstrikes by Soviet aircraft. This enabled the DRA forces to cross the pass and capture the Tor Kamar position, overlooking Zhawar, from where they could direct artillery fire at the Mujahideen base. At this point the Mujahideen launched a counterattack, led by their two T-55 tanks. The DRA were caught by surprise, as they had not expected to meet armor, and fell back after heavy losses. Finally after 42 of days fighting, the DRA units withdrew to their bases. This victory considerably boosted the morale of the Mujahideen.

The second offensive was conducted on a larger scale, and eventually involved 12,000 troops, including 2200 Soviets, led by DRA General Nabi Azimi, with Soviet General Victor Trofimenko serving as advisor. The attackers were organized in an eastern combat group (7th and 14th Infantry Divisions and the 666th Air Assault Regiment) and a western combat group (8th and 25th Infantry Divisions). The 38th Commando Brigade was to make a an air assault onto Dawri Gar mountain which rose 11,800 feet above sea level and towered over Zhawar. The commando group had little experience in air assault missions, and the first lift was scheduled to go in before sunrise as the ground assault began.

The offensive began on February 28, 1986, a short while after General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev had announced the decision to withdraw Soviet troops from Afghanistan. Thus the Soviet units were initially confined to supporting the Afghan offensive.

On the 28th of February, DRA forces, covered by Soviet aviation, began to move out of Gardez to the combat zone. Their movement was aided by two Soviet battalions, which occupied the dominant terrain between Kharzun and Matwarkh. However, when units of the DRA force arrived at Matwarkh, they halted and stayed there for about a month, marking time. Taking advantage of this passivity, the Mujahideen began to shelling them. The operation began to show signs of breaking down. 25th Infantry Division had moved out of Khost and, after engaging the Mujahideen and looting and destroying 4 villages, moved to secure the Naray pass so the composite DRA force could move into the Khost valley. The weather was wet snow mixed with rain and a strong wind. After several days, the composite force moved into the valley and prepared for the offensive.

Sometime around midnight on April 2, the DRA began a 2-hour bombardment of the target area. Then six Mi-8 helicopters flew from Khost to insert the initial assault group of the 38th Commando Brigade. The commandos landed without opposition, but the ground assault ran into immediate, heavy resistance from Mujahideen defending Dawri Gar mountain. The ground advance was forced to halt.

Despite all the Mujahideen fire, the air assault group commander reported that the firing was far from his location. This was because they had overshot their target and landed some 3 miles inside Pakistan. It was intended to withdraw the force, but it was soon surrounded and locked in combat. The botched air assault was made worse when Azimi and Trofimenko committed the rest of the brigade – not onto the original target of Dawri Gar, but into the open terrain around Zhawar itself.

The Mujahideen were taken by surprise and the remainder of 38th Commando Brigade landed at 7 dispersed landing zones around Zhawar, some within a mile of the Pakistani border. Most of the helicopters landed on the high ground to the west of Zhawar. Mujahideen gunners destroyed many helicopters while they were on the ground. Following the air assault, Soviet jet aircraft bombed and strafed Mujahideen positions. Mujahideen air defense was not very effective. Instead of defending in positions being pounded by air attack, the Mujahideen went on the offensive and attacked the landing zones. They quickly overran four and captured many of the DRA commandos. Mujahideen reinforcements moved from Miram Shah in Pakistan and took the commandos from the rear. The commandos were trapped between two forces and were killed or captured. By the end of the day, 530 had been captured. One group of commandos on high ground held out for 3 days before they were finally overrun. Of the 32 helicopters assigned to the mission, only 8 survived.

Meanwhile, Soviet aircraft with smart munitions made attack runs on the caves. Since the caves faced southeast toward Pakistan, the Soviet aircraft overflew Pakistan in order to get at the south face with the smart weapons. One of the caves, containing the radio bunker, was collapsed, trapping 150 men. A second strike followed with conventional ordnance, but these blasted away the rubble at the cave mouth and the trapped men escaped.

7th and 14th Divisions tried to link up with the already destroyed air assault-force. In the course of 3 days, they used up their entire supply of ammunition and lost control. By the end of the April 9, they pulled back to their start points.

The Soviet and DRA military leadership were now in damage control mode. A reinforcing regiment each from the DRA 11th and 18th Divisions and 21st Mechanized Brigade arrived along with DRA 203rd Separate Spetsnaz Battalion and 37th Commando Brigade. Following urgent requests from the DRA leadership, 5 battalions of Soviet forces were sent to Khost and Tani on April 5-9. Soviet Forward Air controllers were assigned to work with Afghan FAC’s and the reinforcing Soviet unit commanders were assigned to work with the Afghan division commanders. Valentin Varennikov arrived to take charge.

While this refitting, restructuring and replanning was going on, the Communists kept the pressure on the Mujahideen with round-the-clock air strikes and artillery. This heavy fire increased on the morning of 17 April.

The renewed ground attack began on the morning of April 17. 25th Division led the assault in the west and the 14th Division led in the east. Eastern group began its attack at 0630 and the western group began at 1030. The Mujahideen had fortified Dawri Gar and could cover most of the slopes with fire. Multiple attacks on the mountain failed. When the artillery fire preparation would start, the Mujahideen would shelter in caves and when the preparation ceased, they reoccupied their firing positions and repulsed the attack. Eventually, elements of the 25th launched an attack without artillery preparation. The Mujahideen were taken by surprise and the summit fell. The Mujahideen evacuated Zhawar and fell back into the higher mountains and slowly the DRA/Soviet force moved through the Manay Kandow pass. The Mujahideen were unable to evacuate most of their stores. They pulled out the two T-55 tanks and fought the advancing column for awhile before abandoning the tanks in the foothills. The Soviet/DRA forces entered Zhawar at noon on April 19.

After 57 days of campaigning, the DRA and Soviets held Zhawar for only 5 hours. In addition to the standard mines and booby traps, they planted seismic-detonated mines and sprinkled butterfly bombs over the area. The Mujahideen returned to Zhawar on the following day. The first Mujahideen to enter the area were killed by seismic mines. They withdrew and fired into the area to set off the seismic mines, then began the slow process of finding the rest of the mines manually. They also pushed forward from Zhawar to retake Lezhi and other areas. Since the DRA was only in Zhawar for 5 hours, they did not manage to destroy the caves, but collapsed some entrances. Weapons that were stored in some of the caves were still intact and useable.

Mujahideen casualties were 281 killed and 363 wounded. DRA and Soviet losses are unknown, but the Mujahideen destroyed a number of helicopters and captured 530 personnel of the 38th Commando Brigade.

The DRA celebrated the fall of Zhawar with parades and medals. But Zhawar was back in full operation within weeks. Having been trapped in the caves, the Mujahideen learned to make connecting tunnels between caves. In retrospect, the battles of Zhawar seem to have been exercises in futility, but at the time, they were considered tests of whether the DRA could stand up to the Mujahideen after the Soviet withdrawal.