Al Nofi's CIC
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Issue #73, April 5, 2002 |
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This Issue...
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Infinite Wisdom
"Money, money, and yet more money."
--Gian-Jacopo Trivulzio,
Marshal of France, 1499,
when asked by Louis XII what
he needed for a campaign in Italy |
La Triviata
- The average age of a flag officer in the French Navy in 1749 was 69.
- To provide security for Federal installations during World War I, the U.S. Army formed the "United States Guards," a quasi-military organization recruited from men unfit for active duty, which by the Armistice had attained a strength of some 27,750 officers and enlisted personnel, in 48 of a planned 70 battalions.
- The first steam ship in the Royal Navy, HMS Lightning, was acquired in 1824, as a yacht for the Duke of Clarence, in his capacity as Lord High Admiral of England.
- Of 187,121 horses that Napoleon took with him on his invasion of Russia in June of 1812, only about 1,600 survived to cross the Berezina on December 13th.
- During the Civil War the Confederate Navy made six attempts to sink Union warships using a spar torpedo, only one of which was successful, in contrast to the U.S. Navy's one try, one sinking.
- The only Marines to make combat parachute jumps during World War II were those working for the O.S.S., including the actor Sterling Hayden.
- Between 1792 and 1800 French commerce raiders took about 500 British-owned commercial vessels, slightly more than were lost to the hazards of the sea in the same period, which still left Britain and its dependencies with a total of 17,885 merchant ships.
- Historically, loses among cavalry horses while on campaign have run about a third greater than losses among the troopers.
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