#107 regiment

[amarriageoftrueminds]

If The Howlies were real...

I've been thinking about Steve's time during the war, and wondering if anyone has any headcanons about, eg. where he was stationed, how exactly the Howling Commando mission planning went, etc?

In the comics, Steve isn't assigned to the 107 but to the 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division (aka the ‘Big Red One’.)

They were part of D-Day landings, on Omaha Beach.

In deleted scenes / clips from the Smithsonian, it’s implied that Steve was also a part of D-Day: 

(That’s General Eisenhower, the Supreme Commander.)

(These landing craft 👆 were only used at D-Day. Although it’s possible this is propaganda footage of a rehearsal.)

If the Howlies had the same set up as the 26th, then Steve and the guys would’ve been stationed in Swanage, Dorset:

(Members of ‘A’ Company 26th Infantry Regiment US Army, billeted at Craigside in the High Street opposite Purbeck House Hotel, Swanage, around 1943 – 44.)

That’s 114 miles south west of Camp Griffiss in Bushy Park, Teddington, where General Eisenhower had his SHAEF HQ, starting from January 1944

(before that his HQ was at No.20 Grosvenor Square, Mayfair, in London -- aka ‘Little America’ or ‘Eisenhower Platz’ -- a couple of miles northwest of Churchill’s War Rooms, which inspired the underground bunker HQ seen in CATFA.)

Thousands of American troops, including the 26th Infantry, started arriving in Dorset in November 1943 -- which is also when Steve arrived in England after rescuing the 107!

While in Dorset, the US troops were largely engaged in rehearsing for Operation Overlord, aka D-Day. 

One such rehearsal was the disastrous Operation Smash, on the 18th April, 1944, which was a live-ammunition practice for beach landings at Normandy. (Disastrous because six men accidentally drowned when their Valentine semi-submersible tank... sank.)

Operation Smash was staged in Studland Bay (that’s 4.5 miles north of Swanage). Present to observe were: Winston Churchill, King George VI, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, and Acting Admiral Louis Mountbatten. They did so from ‘Fort Henry,’ a 90 foot long bunker (built and named by Canadian engineers in 1943 -- so it would’ve been there by the time Steve n’ Co got there -- and it’s still there today!) overlooking the bay. 

The US troops moved on from Swanage in late April 1944, and departed England entirely (from nearby places like Weymouth, Poole Quay, Portland Harbour, etc.) on 5th June 1944. D-Day was on the 6th.

In the deleted scene from Avengers, Steve is clearly shown crossing  the Ludendorff Bridge:

...But this is impossible!

Because that bridge (at Remagen) was only captured on the 7th of March 1945:

(9th Armored Division in Remagen, Germany, recorded 9th March, 1945).

...and Steve had already crashed the Valkyrie 6 days prior!

(So unless that bridge was captured earlier, possibly because of Steve n’ Co., that footage can’t be right! 

CATFA does have a habit of putting the US Army in places they had no business being yet at that time of the war -- i.e. showing the US Army right up at the North of Italy, when in reality the Nazis still held it. 

(In fact, Mussolini’s Nazi puppet republic, the Republic of Salò, was nicknamed after a lake in Brescia... which is 200-ish miles further south than the US Army are shown in November ‘43.)

So I guess it’s possible that Steve & Co really were in Remagen, Germany, and crossing the Ludendorff Bridge before March ‘45! 

Or (perhaps more likely) we’re supposed to read is as some generic bridge in Western Europe, captured on D-Day.

.

Where exactly the Hydra factories were (and thus most Howlie missions) is not categorically stated. However, what Steve says / taking rough guesses from the map we see in Krausberg...

...it looks like the Howlies would’ve had missions in: Italy, France, (then) Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Greece. 

(The script also mentions Belgium and Russia, which are neither shown on the map nor mentioned. However, there is a shot of them creeping through snowy forests, which looks very much like the Ardennes. That might put them in Belgium as part of the Battle of the Bulge -- which in turn gives us a date that could be the ‘difficult winter’ mentioned in the Smithsonian footage.)

If the Howlies were an active team from say 14th November 1943 -- 1st March 1945 (when Steve went down in the Valkyrie) 

That’s 473 days / or 1 year, 3 months, 15 days / or 15 months, 15 days.

If they had 9 missions total during that time...

6 Hydra factories around Europe

+ 1 winter mission to save over a 1000 men (as mentioned in Smithsonian; could be Battle of the Bulge? 🤔)

+ 1 D-Day mission (possibly including amphibious landings &/or bridge captures)

+ 1 Zola-capture mission, probably somewhere in the Alps. 

+ 1 Valkyrie mission makes 10.

...That would give them 52.5 days (less than two months) to both plan, travel in and out, and execute each mission. That seems like a pretty tight turnaround, especially if each factory was different enough to warrant a new/fresh plan. 

(One difficulty never mentioned because their raids are relegated to a montage: the fact that Hydra factories appear to be staffed by slave labour. Means the Howlies can’t just bust in guns blazing! Or, at least, I don’t think Steve would stand for it. They’d have to free the workers first, and hopefully they’d be workers both physically capable and willing to join in the fight.)

In the film, they are never shown being back in the UK between these missions,  right up until the last Valkyrie mission in 1945, and dialogue seems to suggest there hasn’t been any personal contact between them and the HQ staff in between. (It does seem a bit nuts to be shipping them out and back every time, rather than just keeping them on the continent. Also nuts to be planning their most important Valkyrie mission only the day before. But anyway...) 

In order to take part in D-Day, they had to have been back to England at least once, to receive those highly classified orders and to rehearse (can’t be discussing details of D-Day over radio!) 

Also, they couldn’t have been allowed to go haring off attacking Hydra bases any old where, because it might have been inconvenient for D-Day (ie. if the Nazis increased defenses in certain places just because Captain America had been sighted there recently.)

TPTB could have used the Howlies as a diversion, sending them on dummy missions designed to make the Nazis think D-Day is going to happen somewhere else. I think Greece and Italy would be a great way to convince the Nazis that an invasion will be coming from the south, not the north! They could even have used doubles of the Howlies to throw the Nazis off the scent, as part of the Ghost Army (they did this IRL with Bernard Montgomery!) 

Maybe the SSR would be advised to keep the Howlies’ real missions as far away from Normandy as possible, earlier on, and then the reverse right before D-Day? (ie. damage Hydra’s factories that are nearest to Normandy, close to D-Day, so that they can’t supply weapons and don’t have enough time to rebuild).

Other possibilities: 

If they were not stationed in the UK between missions, and weren’t with the US Army of occupation (because it hadn’t invaded that part yet) Steve & Co. might have been living undercover in Nazi-occupied territory in the run up to missions against local Hydra bases (in, eg. France and Poland. Chance for Frenchy to get his Maquis on!) Very dangerous, very nerve-wracking, very Inglourious Basterds of them. Also potentially very dangerous for the locals, too, since there would surely be reprisals against them after any successful anti-Hydra attack. 

IRL There was a concentration camp called Terezin in Czechoslovakia, near-ish where that one Hydra base is shown. (It’s the one that the Nazis famously filmed a propaganda movie in, after cleaning it up and deporting a bunch of people to Auschwitz to seemingly reduce overcrowded living conditions, to fool the visiting Red Cross.) So Steve and the Howlies might have gone off-mission to go and liberate that; could be that was a source of slave labour for the nearby Hydra factory. (From a character POV, Terezin was known for having a big artistic culture among the inmates, and surely Steve would feel empathy for those used in propaganda, having been made to do that himself.)

Logically speaking, I would’ve expected that last Hydra base to be in Holland or Denmark -- not Greece -- to complete the ring of bases formed around Germany. 🤔 Maybe even more likely to be Denmark, since the Tesseract (which kicked off the whole Hydra supremacy thing) was discovered in Tønsberg, SE Norway.

[captain-price-unofficially]

4.2-inch (107 mm) mortars from 1st Battalion Manchester Regiment 'D' Company fire on 2nd SS Panzer Korps' positions in and around Brettevillette. 4 July 1944

[er1chartmann]

Adolf Hitler's time-line

This is Adolf Hitler, The Fuhrer, timeline:

1889: He was born in Vienna.

1892: the family moved to Passau, Germany, where the future dictator acquired his Low-Bavarian accent that would accompany him in the orations of his future political life.

1894: the family returned to Austria, moving to Leonding

1895: His father moved to Hafeld, near Lambach, where he was active in beekeeping. The move to Hafeld coincided with the beginning of intense father-son conflicts

1896 ( i don't know the exact year, sorry): Once he reached school age, Hitler instead began to attend the Volksschule, in nearby Fischlham

1897: the family moved to Lambach

1898: the family returned permanently to Leonding

1900: his younger brother Edmund died of measles

1900: ignoring his son's desire to attend a classical high school and become an artist, Alois forced Hitler to enroll at the Realschule in Linz

1903: Alois died of a pulmonary hemorrhage.

1908: His mother, Klara, dies.

1908: Hitler left his home for Vienna, where he had vague hopes of becoming an artist

1910: He lost his orphan's pension.

1912: he moved to Liverpool, where his half-brother Alois had in the meantime achieved a considerable fortune thanks to the opening of two restaurants in the English city

 1913: He returned to Vienna. It was in Vienna that Hitler began to approach anti-Semitism.

1913: Hitler moved to Munich to avoid military service in the Austro-Hungarian army.

1914: Hitler enlisted as a volunteer at the age of 25 in Kaiser Wilhelm II's Bavarian army, being assigned to the 1st Company of the 16th "List" Infantry Regiment, belonging to the 6th Reserve Division. His future Reichsleiter Rudolf Hess also served in that same regiment

1916:  He was wounded in the left thigh by a grenade splinter during the Battle of the Somme and was hospitalized for two months in the military hospital in Beelitz, 50 kilometers south of Berlin.

1916: He was decorated with the Iron Cross second class

1917: Five months later, he returned to the battlefield and fought all the bloodiest battles on the Flanders front, including the Battle of Arras and the Battle of Passchendaele.

1917: He was wounded by shrapnel in a trench in the village of Marcoing during the Battle of Cambrai-San Quentin in France

1918: He was later temporarily poisoned by a mustard gas attack, which left him blind for three days. He was immediately admitted to Pasewalk Military Hospital where, according to some sources, he learned the news of the German defeat on November 9th.

1919: He returned to Munich

1919: Fascinated by his speech, Anton Drexler, the founder and secretary of the party, enrolled him, without even consulting him, in the party as member number 555.

1919: He met Dietrich Eckart for the first time

1919: Hitler's first known anti-Semitic work, known as the Gemlich letter, was written.

1920: He was discharged from the army

1921: He was sentenced to three months in prison (of which only one was served) for having personally led an SA attack on a rally, which culminated in the attack of the speaker, a Bavarian federalist named Ballerstedt.

1923: Hitler and other extremists attempted the failed Munich Putsch.

1924: He was sentenced to five years in prison in Landsberg am Lech prison and here he wrote Mein Kampt (my battle)

1924: He was released after just nine months in prison.

1925: The first part of Mein Kampf was published

1925: Hitler established the SS

1928: The Nazi Party failed miserably in the 1928 elections

1930: Hitler assumed the position of Oberste SA (supreme leader), entrusting the position of military commander (Stabschef) of the SA to Ernst Röhm

1930: the Nazi Party suddenly rose from obscurity and gained over 18% of the vote and 107 seats in the Reichstag, making it the second largest political force in Germany

1931: His niece Geli (they were supposedly having an affair) commits suicide.

1932: the Nazis achieved their best result, winning 230 seats and becoming the party with a relative majority; Thanks to this victory, Hitler also managed to finally obtain German citizenship.

1933: He was appointed Chancellor of Germany

1933: Using the pretext of the Reichstag fire, Hitler issued the "Reichstag fire decree" on 28 February 1933, less than a month after taking office. The decree suppressed most of the civil rights guaranteed by the 1919 constitution of the Weimar Republic in the name of national security.

1933: Dachau concentration camp opens its doors

1934: After Hindernburg's death, Hitler, who was the Chancellor, could not also become President of the Reich (head of State), created a new position for himself, that of Führer, which in practice allowed him to combine the two roles. He was Führer und Reichskanzler (Reich leader and chancellor). From 1934 until his death there was no Reich President in Germany.

1935: The Nuremberg Laws were proclaimed

1935: he had to have a polyp removed from his throat, which led to relapses later

1935: Hitler repudiated the Treaty of Versailles, reintroducing conscription in Germany.

1936: Hitler violated the treaty of Versailles again by occupying the Rhineland demilitarized zone.

1936: when the Spanish civil war broke out, Hitler sent troops to help Francisco Franco's rebels

1936: On Goebbels' idea, Hitler hosted the 11th Olympiad in Berlin

1936: There was the signing of a friendship treaty between the Kingdom of Italy and Germany in Berlin

1937: Hitler held a secret meeting in the Reich Chancellery, in which he declared his plans for the acquisition of "living space" for the German people.

1938: With a plebiscite Austria joined Germany (the so-called Anschluss) and Hitler, who thus laid the foundations of Greater Germany, made a triumphal entry into Vienna

1938: This led to the Munich Agreement of September 1938 in which the United Kingdom and France, with the mediation of Mussolini, weakly gave in to his demands to avoid war, thus "sacrificing" Czechoslovakia, which was occupied.

1939: The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact is signed.

1939: The Germans enter Prague, occupying Czechoslovakia.

1939: The military alliance with Fascist Italy known as the Pact of Steel takes shape.

1939: The Second World War begins with the Invasion of Poland

1940: Germany invaded Denmark and Norway

1940: The Battle of Britain, the only Nazi failure of that period, ends.

1940: In May, a flash offensive began that quickly swept through the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and France.

1940: The Auschwitz concentration camp opens its doors.

1941: Yugoslavia and Greece are invaded.

1941: Martin Bormann gives him Blondi.

1941: Operation Barbarossa began.

1941: The Nazi state declares war on the USA

1942: The Wannsee Conference was held by Reinhard Heydrich.

1943: The Battle of Stalingrad, considered by many historians as a turning point in ww2, ends.

1944: The allies land in Normandy

1944: Claus Von Stauffenberg planted a bomb with the intent to kill Hitler in Operation Valkyrie. The operation failed.

1945: He married Eva Braun.

1945: He killed himself.

Sources:

Wikipedia: Adolf Hitler

Military Wiki: Adolf Hitler

Hitler and his loyalists by Paul Roland

I DON'T SUPPORT NAZISM,FASCISM OR ZIONISM IN ANY WAY, THIS IS JUST AN EDUCATIONAL POST

[nintendowife]

I finished Etrian Odyssey Nexus on Nintendo 3DS a week ago. Excellent game, though at some point I felt like it was a bit too lengthy. It took me 107 hours to clear the 13 labyrinths and defeat the final boss.

I named my guild "Aelfendir" and this was my final team.

Fleurelis Class: Sovereign/Ninja Atk + Def buffs to party and elemental endows. Ninja as a subclass with clone skill allowed for 2 buffers at the same time!

Aevintyr Class: Hero/Highlander When Sovereign's clone was not needed, Hero could spawn an Afterimage to deal additional damage. Regiment Rave (melee cut/fire attack to 1 enemy at end of turn, grows stronger as allies do more damage to that target) was pretty good for high dmg. Subclass Highlander's passive skills were for extra atk and def.

Panda Class: Protector/Shogun Interestingly my tank was possibly my best damage dealer. I made them a Vampire which gave +100 HP and 10% boost to all base stats. Vampire regens HP each turn at night but during the day takes damage each turn and also when walking in labyrinths. Vampire paired nicely with subclass Shogun's passive skill Avidya Sight (all ATK increases at night). Shield Flare (until end of next turn, taking damage will trigger a ranged fire counterattack) was the secret sauce of this character. When the Protector was hit with multi-hit skills, Shield Flare hit back for each hit! It also did 4000+ dmg as the last hit to kill the final boss, even with atk reduction debuff.

Plyyshi Class: Arcanist/Medic The swiss knife for debuffs, status ailments, binds and healing. The circle skills healed party each turn and Medic as a subclass gave access to more powerful healing skills and bind/status removal.

Azrael Class: Zodiac/Shogun Multi-Strike Ether allowed Meteor to hit up to 15 times. Shogun's Avidya Sight was great for atk boost at night.

At some point in the game I also used a Highlander/Gunner which was a high risk, high reward type of character. High atk and skills that drain HP from party to boost damage. I felt the subclass Gunner's Multi-Shot (may use attack skills a second time) made the character extra risky for the final boss as the HP draining skills can trigger twice too, leaving the party at very low HP, so I went with Hero instead.

I managed to defeat the final boss on my first try, which I didn't expect. I was struggling a bit as its skills squished 2-3 of my characters with one hit a couple of times during the fight and due to this I missed the opportunity to use Zodiac's powerful Force Boost skill as well.

Etrian Odyssey Nexus has a fantastic art style and the soundtrack is really good. Especially the boss fights had great music. The character customization here is true peak level - so many options my head was spinning! You can pick the base class for the character (and later a subclass), freely pick a portrait from any class's portrait selections, hair and eye color can be freely selected with RGB slider, skin color can be picked from a palette, and there's a large selection of character voices to choose from. I spent several hours creating my characters as I had even purchased an extra portraits DLC. Skills can be selected from a skill tree and each character has 4 slots for equipment too.

The dungeon crawling gameplay had a good challenge level (I played on Basic difficulty which is the default) and mapping the labyrinths was satisfying. Sometimes when I started playing it was hard to put the game down.

I recommend Etrian Odyssey Nexus for people who love to build a party from scratch and come up with good strategies to take on challenging bosses.

[contrequirose]

What a failure. 99 by May 6th. Three weeks: 21 days: 12 pounds. Not possible. I fucked up. Let's aim for 107 by April 23rd, 105 by May 6th, 102 by May 14th, 99 by May 20th. I run 5-6 miles per day, eat lettuce, toss the ice cream in my freezer. No more cheese. Save money on food. I replace thoughts of food with 5 tone-it-up exercises.

Regimented. 7am run/yoga, 8am ekg, 12:30 note-writing coffee without food, 6pm run, no dinner, 10pm Seroquel. Yes, I'm going back to it. My new rule is no food from the clinic lounge.

[likea-black-widow-baby]

🦀 time for crab 🦀🦀

today i summoned 107 crabs and caught 1 💰 of them. look at them all!

🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 🦀 💰

One of the 107th regiment never came home 😔

[sargeanttincanman]

Hello.

You may or may not already know who I am, but if not, here's my life. (I guess).

My name is Sargeant James Buchanan Barnes, but if you call me anything but Bucky I will sick my man on you.

I was born on March 10th 1917, I'm technically 107 (I know, I'm a fossil), but for the amount of life I've actually lived, I'm around 33-34. I enlisted the U.S Army in December of 1941 and was assigned as part of the 107th Infantry Regiment. I climbed the ranks to Sargeant.

I was deployed to Europe in June of 1943. Me and most of the 107th were captured by a terrorist organization called HYDRA around October of '43, where we were weeded out until I was selected and taken away from the 107th. I don't remember much about my time captive, just a lot of pain, being strapped to a table and receiving what I think were electric shocks.

In November of 1943 my good friend friend Captain Steve Rogers helped me and the 107th to break out. Or so I was told.

Records said I spent a couple years helping Steve and a group called 'The Howling Commandos' take down HYDRA bases before I fell off a train. I don't remember that last part.

HYDRA found me and experimented on me for years. I believe it took around twenty years for me to finally break down. I'm unsure though. I spent the next 50-ish working for HYDRA as an assassin called 'The Winter Soldier', apparently I– The Winter Soldier killed at least 24 people... I don't remember much about that either, just occasional nightmares.

Around 2014 I started remembering things with the help of Steve and some of his teammates. 2016 I was framed for a bombing in Vienna while I was in Romania.

Blah, blah, blah, I went to Wakanda, got my mind fixed (kinda), and then fought a giant grape before turning into dust in 2018. That shit was scary.

2023 I'm back. I fight the grape again. We win.

Then I join forces with Sam Wilson, who is now my husband. Apparently in some universes Steve left while Tony and Nat died? That didn't happen. They are all well alive.

----------------------------------

Anyways, me and Sam are married, we live in Louisiana a few blocks away from Sarah's place. We have a cat named Alpine (although she's more my cat than Sam's) and a Tibetan Mastiff named Whitney, because Sam really likes Whitney Houston (I'm not really sure who she is???). And, no, me and Sarah were never a thing. That's weird. I didn't know I was 'flirting'.

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 4.22

1500 – Portuguese navigator Pedro Álvares Cabral lands in Brazil (discovery of Brazil). 1519 – Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés establishes a settlement at Veracruz, Mexico. 1529 – Treaty of Zaragoza divides the eastern hemisphere between Spain and Portugal along a line 297.5 leagues (1,250 kilometres (780 mi)) east of the Moluccas. 1809 – The second day of the Battle of Eckmühl: The Austrian army is defeated by the First French Empire army led by Napoleon and driven over the Danube in Regensburg. 1836 – Texas Revolution: A day after the Battle of San Jacinto, forces under Texas General Sam Houston identify Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna among the captives of the battle when some of his fellow soldiers mistakenly give away his identity. 1864 – The U.S. Congress passes the Coinage Act of 1864 that permitted the inscription In God We Trust be placed on all coins minted as United States currency. 1876 – The first National League baseball game is played at the Jefferson Street Grounds in Philadelphia. 1889 – At noon, thousands rush to claim land in the Land Rush of 1889. Within hours the cities of Oklahoma City and Guthrie are formed with populations of at least 10,000. 1898 – Spanish–American War: President William McKinley calls for 125,000 volunteers to join the National Guard and fight in Cuba, while Congress more than doubles regular Army forces to 65,000. 1906 – The 1906 Intercalated Games open in Athens. 1915 – World War I: The use of poison gas in World War I escalates when chlorine gas is released as a chemical weapon in the Second Battle of Ypres. 1930 – The United Kingdom, Japan and the United States sign the London Naval Treaty regulating submarine warfare and limiting shipbuilding. 1944 – The 1st Air Commando Group using Sikorsky R-4 helicopters stage the first use of helicopters in combat with combat search and rescue operations in the China Burma India Theater. 1944 – World War II: Operation Persecution is initiated: Allied forces land in the Hollandia (currently known as Jayapura) area of New Guinea. 1944 – World War II: In Greenland, the Allied Sledge Patrol attack the German Bassgeiger weather station. 1945 – World War II: Prisoners at the Jasenovac concentration camp revolt. Five hundred twenty are killed and around eighty escape. 1945 – World War II: Sachsenhausen concentration camp is liberated by soldiers of the Red Army and Polish First Army. 1948 – Arab–Israeli War: The port city of Haifa is captured by Jewish forces. 1951 – Korean War: The Chinese People's Volunteer Army begin assaulting positions defended by the Royal Australian Regiment and the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry at the Battle of Kapyong. 1954 – Red Scare: Witnesses begin testifying and live television coverage of the Army–McCarthy hearings begins. 1969 – British yachtsman Sir Robin Knox-Johnston wins the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race and completes the first solo non-stop circumnavigation of the world. 1969 – The formation of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) is announced at a mass rally in Calcutta. 1970 – The first Earth Day is celebrated. 1974 – Pan Am Flight 812 crashes on approach to Ngurah Rai International Airport in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia, killing all 107 people on board. 1977 – Optical fiber is first used to carry live telephone traffic. 1992 – A series of gas explosions rip through the streets in Guadalajara, Mexico, killing 206. 1993 – Eighteen-year-old Stephen Lawrence is murdered in a racially motivated attack while waiting for a bus in Well Hall, Eltham. 2005 – Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi apologizes for Japan's war record. 2016 – The Paris Agreement is signed, an agreement to help fight global warming. 2020 – Four police officers are killed after being struck by a truck on the Eastern Freeway in Melbourne while speaking to a speeding driver, marking the largest loss of police lives in Victoria Police history.

[pacosemnoticias]

Existem 855 Espaços Cidadão e vão ser instalados mais 107 este ano

O secretário de Estado da Digitalização e da Modernização Administrativa, Mário Campolargo, detalhou que existem 855 Espaços Cidadão no país, tendo como objetivo um por município, e que 107 vão ser instalados este ano.

Mário Campolargo falava na comissão parlamentar de Economia, Obras Públicas, Planeamento e Habitação, no âmbito de uma audição regimental.

"Existem neste momento 855 Espaços Cidadão no país, 639 são promovidos pelos municípios, 174 pelas juntas de freguesia, 27 deles são geridos diretamente pela AMA [Agência para a Modernização Administrativa], quatro estão em consulados", detalhou o governante.7

No Plano de Recuperação e Resiliência (PRR), referiu, serão criados mais 300 Espaços Cidadão.

"A ideia é, pelo menos, ter um por cada município, 103 já estão instalados, 107 vão ser instalados este ano" e 154 "já têm protocolo assinado", faltando apenas ver como é que vão ser abertos exatamente, prosseguiu.

Aliás, na reprogramação do PRR "propomos mais 100 a este número, estou a trabalhar com os colegas da Coesão para garantirmos que possamos abrir mais Espaços Cidadão numa lógica de utilizar a capilaridade das juntas da freguesia para isso", sublinhou.

"Ao número de Espaços Cidadão que aqui identifiquei junta-se também os espaços SNS Saúde que nós no futuro tentaremos de alguma maneira criar sinergias entre estes tipos de balcão", referiu.

Atualmente, "já temos 81% do território nacional em termos de municípios coberto, temos 23 municípios que têm Espaço Cidadão em todas as freguesias e há muitos espaços que têm espaço de cidadão móvel (no atual PRR gostaríamos de ter 24 Espaços Cidadão móveis)".

[revolutionarywarhistory]

"I never forgot that I was an American": the story of the Maryland Loyalist Regiment [Part 2]

Continued from Part 1

© 2017-2023 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

Reprinted from my History Hermann WordPress blog.

Notes

[1] Report on American Manuscripts in the Royal Institution of Great Britain, 422; Stuart Salmon, "The Loyalist Regiments of the American Revolutionary War 1775-1783," Ph.D Dissertation, 2009, University of Stirling,p.94.

[2] Salmon, "The Loyalist Regiments of the American Revolutionary War 1775-1783," pp iii-vii, 55.

[3] David W. Guth, Bridging the Chesapeake: A ‘Fool Idea’ That Unified Maryland (Blomington, IN: Archway Publishing, 2017), 64.

[4] Sina Dubovoy, The Lost World of Francis Scott Key (Bloomington, IN: WestBow Press, 53; <Sabine, The American Loyalists, 410.

[5] Sabine, The American Loyalists, 633-634, 650; Report on American Manuscripts in the Royal Institution of Great Britain, 336, 423, 428.

[6] The latter link cites James Moody, Lieut. James Moody’s Narrative of his Exertions and Sufferings in the Cause of Government, since the Year 1776, Richardson and Urquhart (London, 1783), 8-9.

[7] Siebert, Wilbur H. “The Loyalists in West Florida and the Natchez District.” The Mississippi Valley Historical Review, vol. 2, no. 4, 1916, pp. 473;Guth, Bridging the Chesapeake, 64-65.

[8] René Chartrand, American Loyalist Troops 1775–84 (US: Osprey Publishing, 2008), 8, 14, 16; Siebert, "The Loyalists in West Florida and the Natchez District," 474. Seibert talks about PA Loyalists at entrance to harbor

[9] Siebert, "The Loyalists in West Florida and the Natchez District," 476.

[10] Sabine, The American Loyalists, 204; William Odber Raymond, The United Empire Loyalists, 36; Report on American Manuscripts in the Royal Institution of Great Britain, Vol. III (Hereford: Anthony Brothers Limited, 1907), 87, 107, 280; Siebert, "The Loyalists in West Florida and the Natchez District," 481.

[11] "Subsistence Due the Commissioned and Non Commissioned Officers and Private Men from 25th June 1782 to the 24th of August, all days included being 61 days," August 1782, British Military and Naval Records (RG 8, C Series) - DOCUMENTS, p. 8. Courtesy of Library and Archives Canada; "Abstract of 61 Days Pay for the Commissioned Staff and Noncommissioned Officers and Private Men from the 25th of June to the 24th of August 1782, inclusive," August 1782, British Military and Naval Records (RG 8, C Series) - DOCUMENTS, p. 9. Courtesy of Library and Archives Canada. This calculation comes from 2016 US dollars according to Measuring Worth.

[12] Lorenzo Sabine, The American Loyalists: Or, Biographical Sketches of Adherents to the British Crown in the War of the Revolution; Alphabetically Arranged; with a Preliminary Historical Essay (Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1847), 60-61; Robert S. Allen, Loyalist Literature: An Annotated Bibliographic Guide to the Writings on the Loyalists of the American Revolution (Toronto: Dundurn Press Limited, 1982), 44. Other units created at the same time included the Roman Catholic Volunteers unit and the First Pennsylvania Loyalist Battalion/Regiment.

[13] For more see Ford, Paul Leicester, ed. Orderly Book of the “Maryland Loyalists Regiment” . . . 1778. Brooklyn: Historical Printing Club, 1891. The book is also mentioned here, here (full book), and here.

[14] Siebert, "The Loyalists in West Florida and the Natchez District," 482; Guth, Bridging the Chesapeake, 65; William Odber Raymond, The United Empire Loyalists (St. Stephen, N.B.: Saint Croix Printing and Publishing Co., 1893), 38. The Provencal Archives of New Brunswick, Canada adds that "one unfortunate ship, the Martha, having on board detachments of the Maryland loyalists and of de Lancey's third battalion, was wrecked on a ledge of rocks near Yarmouth, and out of 174 souls about 100 were lost. The other vessels arrived safely after a voyage of from ten to twelve days."

[15] Sabine, The American Loyalists, 62, 634; Theodore Corbett, Revolutionary Chestertown: Loyalists and Rebels on Maryland's Eastern Shore (Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2014), 120; William Odber Raymond, The United Empire Loyalists, 43.

[16] Guth, Bridging the Chesapeake, 65; Sabine, The American Loyalists, 118.

[17] Maryland in Prose and Poetry: Recitations and Readings Pertaining to the State, pp 222-223.

[18] Other sources include: Kathleen DuVal, Independence Lost: Lives on the Edge of the American Revolution (New York: Random House, 2016, paperback), 113-114, 155, 165, 182, 204, 215; issue 68 in 1973, article in Maryland Historical Magazine by Mayer and Bachmann titled "The First Battalion of Maryland Loyalists"); Murtie Jane Clark, Loyalists in the Southern Campaign of the Revolutionary War (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 1981), 16-17; Mary K. Meyer and Virginia B. Bachman, "Genealogica Marylandia: The First Battalion of Maryland Loyalists," Maryland Historical Magazine Vol. 68, No. 2, summer 1973, 199, 209; M. Christopher New, Maryland Loyalists in the American Revolution (Centreville, Maryland: Tidewater Publishers, 1996), xi, xii, 20, 45-46, 49-51, 57-58, 63, 65, 82-83, 89-95, 100, 151, 148; Albert W. Haarmann, "The Siege of Pensacola: An Order of Battle," The Florida Historical Quarterly 44, no. 3 (1966): 193-199; Timothy James Wilson, ""Old Offenders:" Loyalists in the Lower Delmarva Peninsula, 1775-1800" (PhD diss., University of Toronto, 1998), 116, 179-180, 182-183; Richard Arthur Overfield, "Loyalists of Maryland During the American Revolution" (PhD diss., University of Maryland College Park, 1968), 207, 214-215, 234, 237-238, 243; Robert Mann, Wartime Dissent in America: A History and Anthology (New York: Palgrave Macmillian, 2010), 15-17; David H. White, "The Spaniards and William Augustus Bowles in Florida, 1799-1803," The Florida Historical Quarterly 54, no. 2 (1975): 145-155; Major Walter Dulany, Maryland Loyalists to General Carleton, New York 13 April 1783, PRO 30/55/10078; nd Major Walter Dulany, Maryland Loyalists to General Carleton, New York 13 April 1783, PRO 30/55/10078. Sadly I can't access this, this or this.

[foreverindreamlandd]

The Sergeant's Heart +9+

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Plus Size!Reader

Series Summary: Sergeant Bucky Barnes has just joined the 107th, and he’s keen on learning the ins and outs of war from the best medic in the regiment, you.

WC: 6.5k

Warnings: Canon shit happens :(

A/N: Listen just like get tissues before reading and just know I'm sorry. And I love you. But also I'm very proud of this chapter. <3

Also hey @w0nderw0man91 remember when I told you that I had two ideas for one of your requests? One was fluff and the other was angst? Guess which one this is going to be. :,)

Series Masterlist / Series Playlist

+++++++++++++

Your eyes would slowly flutter open from time to time, a nice reprieve from the constant darkness beneath your eyelids.

Images moved slowly through the thin veil of your barely open lids. Sunlight peeked through, the feel of arms cradling you registering in your brain as they held you. You were laying in the back of a jeep, you thought, racing toward some unknown destination.

The relief was short-lived as darkness found you once more.

+++++++

A harsh rocking stirred your eyes open next time as your body moved from side to side on the soft surface you laid on.

You were surrounded by metal. A window was next to you and you faintly registered trees whirring past you.

“She’s gotta wake up Steve,” an angelic voice waded through the waters of your mind. It was the loveliest sound you had ever heard.

Though lovely, it was also broken, coated with such devastating despair.

You tried to reach a hand out to the angel, to tell them it was okay, but it was impossible to move.

Another voice responded to the angel, but you couldn’t hear them. Your ears only searched for one sound, desperate for it to return.

When it did, rage replaced sadness.

“I’m going to rip Hydra to shreds. Destroy every last one of them.”

You wanted to ask what happened. Why they were so angry.

But darkness beckoned, calling you back to its warm embrace.

You prayed you would find the strength to return to the angel soon.

+++++++++++++

Finally, the darkness set you free, and you were able to open your eyes once again.

Only to close them willingly from the brightness of the harsh lighting above you.

Learning from this mistake, you slowly blinked them open, allowing a moment for them to adjust to your surroundings.

White. Lots of white. Your thumb stroked the wool blanket resting over you. Beeping sounds to your right compelled you to tilt your head to see what it was, but before your eyes could make their way to the monitors, they found a much better sight.

Chestnut hair on top of a sleeping figure leaning on the side of your bed, hand holding yours.

Bucky.

Instincts ignored any sense of logic as you leaned forward to reach for that lovely head of hair. The consequences revealed themselves instantly as pain rippled throughout your body and you hissed.

The sound jolted Bucky awake and his head shot up, displaying red-rimmed eyes surrounded by dark, unforgiving circles.

He looked at you in a daze, as if not completely believing that you were conscious. After blinking a few times and realizing that he was not, in fact, dreaming, his eyes widened and he jumped forward.

His hands cradled your face as fresh tears pooled in those beautiful blue eyes, now boring into you.

“Hi,” he whispered out.

You tried to chuckle but it quickly turned into a nasty coughing fit due to the fact that the inside of your mouth was a desert. Bucky moved back, looking to the side of your bed for the glass of water that sat on the table. He held it to your mouth as you took a few sips.

“Hi,” you croaked, voice a bit raspy from the lack of use. You took in his haggard features once more and frowned. “Are you okay?”

He sighed, chin dropping to his chest and he pinched the bridge of his nose. A small, bitter laugh escaped him.

“Y/n, baby, you’re in a hospital bed recovering from a bullet wound and you’re asking if I’m okay?”

You shrugged. “I’m a medic. It’s what I do.”

His expression looked pained. He sat on the side of the bed taking your hands in his, bringing them to his mouth as he peppered soft kisses along them.

“I’m feeling a hell of a lot better now that you’re awake. That you’re alive.”

“All thanks to my amazing assistant.”

He shook his head, jaw tightening.

Silence.

It was an uncomfortable one, a silence you weren’t used to sharing with Bucky. With him, everything felt natural. Safe. Comforting. You could spend hours next to each other without speaking a word and it would barely phase you. His presence itself was enough to keep you grounded.

Now, it felt like you were on totally different planets.

You tried to distract yourself from the discomfort by examining your wound. You pushed the wool blanket aside, then lifted your shirt to reveal a large bandage patched over your stomach. Based on the wear of the tape and the small spot of blood of the cotton, you figured it was an old enough dressing to be worth loosening open to check out the mark Hydra left behind.

Your fought back a gasp at the sight of it.

Yikes.

It was bad. Really bad. Nasty, red skin surrounded the stitched area, stuff coming out of the wound that should not be there. This was the aftermath of what you had feared would happen.

Even though things were off between you, Bucky was still, as always, able to read your thoughts perfectly.

“Infection. Bad one. Took many attempts to finally get it out of your system.”

You nodded, not surprised based on the damage it left behind. “How long was I out for? Where are we?”

He looked around the room. “London.” His thumb stroked the wire around your finger. “It took a while to get here. Almost too long. We had to stop at a few camps because all of the moving around was causing your body too much stress. Gretchen and Jane said that you owed the two of them letters and very expensive drinks when you finally woke up for all of the stress you put them under when we stopped at the 107th. They were the ones who finally got the infection under control, thank God. There were a few times-” his voice cracked, “A few times we almost lost ya. You’ve been out for two weeks.”

You let out a low whistle. “Damn.”

He had a hard time looking you in the eyes now, his gaze darting from your hands, your bandaged stomach, various parts of the room. Anywhere else but your eyes.

“I should, um, I should get the guys to let you know that you’re awake.” Bucky moved to stand up. “They’ve been going crazy with worry. And I’ll get a nurse to check on you-”

“Bucky, no.” You pulled him back to sit by your side. “Stay with me a bit. Just the two of us okay?”

You extended your hand to cup his cheek and he leaned into it. A slight crack of composure shifted in his features but he pushed it down, offering you a small smile instead.

“Alright,” he nodded, leaning forward to kiss your forehead. You sighed at the feel of it.

“I’m sorry I scared you,” you whispered and his lips tightened against your skin.

“It’s okay, sweetheart. You’re here. That’s what matters.”

You nodded, then gingerly shuffled to the side, fighting back a grimace from the pain in your stomach so as to not worry Bucky even further. Once you made room, you pulled him to lay next to you. “When was the last time you slept, Buck?”

His head nestled into the crook of your shoulder. “I’ve slept. Here and there. Mostly here.”

“Try to get some rest now, okay?”

He shook his head. “I’m fine, doll, I swear. I’ll lay here for a bit but I should really get some nurses to make sure you’re okay.”

“Bucky, look at me.”

He stilled, as if wishing he could refuse your request. Then again, when had he ever succeeded at saying no to you?

Slowly his gaze finally met yours.

You wanted to argue with him, to yell at him that he was the furthest thing from fine, that he could talk to you about it.

But that was never your relationship with Bucky. He spoke when he was ready, and he knew you’d do the same. It had just been a while since he forced himself not to. Since he chose not to find comfort in you.

So instead of fighting, instead of focusing on the sting of his guardedness, you leaned forward and kissed the man you loved, trying to give him any sort of comfort you could.

His whole body melted into your lips, hand reaching up to the back of your head to pull you closer. It was a gentle movement, but you could feel the desperation in it, the need to keep you close. The combination of joy and fear at the fact that he had thought there might not be any more moments like this to be shared with you.

You waited until he was ready to pull away, allowing him to savor this time as much as he needed to. You needed it, too, you realized, clinging to him with just as much desperation.

Once he did, you looked him in the eye once more and whispered, “I love you.”

He blinked back tears as the corners of his mouth turned upwards. “I cannot begin to describe how good it feels to hear those words from you.”

You scrunched your nose with a smile. “And I plan on saying it a million more times.”

He pursed his lips. “Doesn’t seem like enough if you ask me, how about ten million more?”

You giggled. “I’m honestly aiming to reach a hundred million. How’s that?”

A nod. “Now we’re talkin’.”

“Better get started then.” You leaned forward for another kiss. “I love you, Bucky Barnes.”

“And I love you, Y/n Y/l/n. Forever.”

++++++++++++++

Bucky managed to sleep for an hour or so before a nurse came in to change your bandage. While she worked, he finally walked out of the room to let the others know you were up.

The guys were overjoyed to see you awake. They surrounded your bed, giant grins and glistening eyes painted across each face.

“Good to have you back, kid,” Dum Dum said, patting your shoulder.

“Does it hurt?” Jonathan asked.

You shrugged. “A little. But nothing I can’t handle. Way better than when everything happened. I gotta say though, it ain’t fun being on this side of an injury. I definitely prefer being the one to patch it all up. This shit sucks.”

Dum dum howled with laughter. “Damn straight! Now you know why I plan on naming all of my kids after ya.”

They stayed for a bit, filling you in on everything you had missed the past two weeks. Bucky took the opportunity to walk to the back of the room with Steve. You tried to look over in between the conversations with the guys and get a feel of what they were chatting about, but they spoke too softly for you to hear. It looked serious though. Steve seemed to be frustrated at whatever Bucky was saying.

When it was over, Bucky nodded as Steve patted him on the shoulder and walked out of the room. He returned to his spot by your side, wrapping his arm around your shoulder.

“Everything okay?” you whispered into his ear as everyone was talking.

He nodded, kissing your temple. “Tell ya later, sweetheart.”

+++++++++

“Absolutely not.”

The guys left a few minutes ago, allowing you to finally pressure Bucky into telling you about his conversation with Steve. You did not like what you were hearing.

They tracked down Dr. Zola, Schmitt’s number two guy. He was going to be on a train traveling through the Alps in 24 hours. The plan was to ambush the train and capture him.

The information Zola would have would be….invaluable. It was exactly the move you needed to make to be able to get the intel on how to take down the final Hydra base.

But that obviously meant that such an important person would be a very well-protected, very dangerous person to take as a hostage.

Bucky crossed his arms. “Y/n, this has been the goal all along. We gotta take down Hydra and this is how we do it. We’re so close!”

“But why now? Why can’t it wait until I’m healed up enough to go out with you guys!”

He snorted. “I’m sorry, doll, but your Commando days are over. You did your part, and now your job is to get well and never let a single scratch make its way on that beautiful body ever again, ya hear?”

You groaned. “Bucky, I’m a medic. I’ve seen soldiers recover and go back into battle within weeks of being injured. I shouldn’t be an exception just becaus-”

“But you are an exception!” He snapped back and you flinched and the volume of his voice. “Do you really think I’m going to risk you getting hurt again? What if you get shot and this time you can’t fucking patch yourself up enough to survive? You think I’d be able to survive that?”

“So what? I’m supposed to just let you go off on a dangerous mission and risk your life? Don’t act like you’re the only one who knows what it feels like to almost lose the one they love.” Your voice broke. “I know that pain. I know that fear. I can’t go through it again.”

Bucky’s face softened and he walked over to your bed and sat down, facing you.

“You’re right. I’m sorry. It’s just,” he took your hand, “We’re so close. So fucking close to all of this being over. And then maybe we can go home where we’ll both be safe and we can forget about this nightmare and finally start our lives together.” His eyes met yours. “I can’t pass this up. I need to keep you safe this time. I let my guard down for a second two weeks ago and look at what happened? Someone was able to shoot you right in front of me.” He shook his head, blinking back tears.

Your heart broke at the sight of him. “Bucky, this isn’t your fault that I’m her-

“And if you’re there,” he cut you off, “I’m only going to be able to focus on you. I could put myself and the guys in danger because I’m never going to experience what happened when you almost…..I won’t do it.”

You stared at him, both sets of eyes filled with tears as you silently pleaded with one another. To stay, to go, to just let this be done with.

That last part couldn’t happen though. Not yet.

Realization of the inevitability set in and you let out a shuddering breath. Tears streamed down your face and you nodded.

“Okay.” Bucky reached forward to wipe your tears away with this thumb. “Just, please promise to come back to me, okay?”

He paused, thinking on that before he gave you a soft smile. Then, he pulled his hands away and reached for his tags, taking them off his neck.

“Here,” he said as he handed them to you, “Let this be my promise.”

You shook your head, pushing the tags away. “No way, hun. You need those. What if something happens and they need-”

“Well, I’ll make sure nothing happens, right?” He placed the tags over your head and around your neck. “I promise that I’ll be back to retrieve these, okay? I’ll come back for my tags and for my girl.”

You gazed down at them, stroking the engravings before looking back to Bucky. “I’m going to be pissed if you break this promise, you hear? I’ll hunt you down to the ends of the earth until I find you so I can return these damn tags to you myself.”

He feigned a serious expression and saluted you. “Yes, ma’am.”

You chuckled, though the joke did nothing to quell the pit in your stomach. “When do you leave?”

“Two hours.”

Your eyes closed to fight the fresh pool of tears. “So soon.”

He took your face in his hands once more and your eyes fluttered open, meeting a storm of blue.

“And I’ll be back as soon as possible, okay?”

You nodded, and he pulled you in until your lips met his. A deep, passionate, pained kiss.

He spent the next two hours laying next to you, holding you in his arms. Very little was said during that time. There was too much to say, and yet words could not do it justice. So you just clung to one another.

When Steve entered, he gave Bucky a single nod and offered you a small smile before heading back into the hallway.

Bucky turned to you, eyes soft.

“I’ll see you soon, doll.”

You leaned forward and kissed him with everything you had. Every piece of yourself, your whole heart and soul, pouring into his lips.

“I love you.”

“I love you, Y/n.”

He stood, walking to the door to your room. Right as he stepped out, he turned to look at you one last time, giving you a wink and your favorite boyish grin.

You smiled back, rolling your eyes and waving him off.

The last thing you heard was the echo of Bucky’s laugh through the hallway.

+++++++++++

Three days later, they returned.

Well.

Not everyone.

You were well enough to no longer be bedridden, so when Peggy ran to your room to tell you that their cars were pulling up, you gingerly speed-walked outside to greet them.

The first thing you noticed was a group of soldiers pushing Dr. Zola past you and inside the building.

The second thing you noticed were the faces of your friends, your brothers.

Steve was the last one your eyes found, and seeing his face was when you knew.

Pain. So much pain.

Peggy gripped her arm around you, understanding also hitting her.

Time slowed. Your body went heavy, as if sinking underwater. You put all of your strength into shaking your head from side to side, still trying to deny the obvious. The irreversible.

Steve said I’m sorry but you couldn’t hear the words. You could only register the movement of his mouth. Tears were streaming down his face.

Jonathan walked over and pulled you in for a hug, but you couldn’t take your eyes off Steve.

I’m sorry.

Your neck suddenly felt heavy and you looked down to notice the tags hanging on your chest. You studied the engraved letters.

James Buchanen Barnes.

Bucky.

++++++++++++

Grief is a funny thing.

You could go through it a number of times, lose every important person in your life.

Yet it never got easier.

You realized this when Jonny died. After losing your grandparents, and both your parents, you figured that the pain of losing a loved one would hurt less. You had already experienced it, knew how much it hurt, you should grow used to the pain.

But when Jonny died, you discovered that was not the case. The sorrow would rip through every fiber of your being and tear open every emotional wound you had spent so much time stitching up, as if it were the first time you had ever felt such devastation.

Losing Bucky was worse than any loss you had ever experienced before.

His death caused a part of you to die as well.

Because you had lost a whole life.

One filled with joy and comfort and love.

Ripped away from you in an instant.

There was nothing that could hurt more than that.

The strangest part was that it still didn’t feel real. When Jonny died, you knew it was the end, you knew he was gone. Maybe that was because it happened right in front of you, and you witnessed yourself the moment your brother’s soul left his body.

This felt just like when you last saw Bucky before he was captured by Hydra, when you knew that he was still alive. A nagging part of your brain insisted that this was the case once more.

But Steve told you what happened. The height that he fell from.

You don’t survive that. You knew this.

Steve wouldn’t have accepted it if he had even a shred of hope that his best friend could still be alive.

So now you lived in a constant state of forcing yourself to accept the fact that Bucky was dead. That he was gone. There was no saving him this time.

Steve was a wreck when he told you what happened. He sobbed as he apologized for letting Bucky fall. He blamed himself for the death of the man you both loved so much.

Of course it wasn’t his fault. You told Steve over and over that it wasn’t as you hugged each other in a desperate embrace, both trying to accept the unacceptable.

Losing Bucky was never going to be something you would accept.

Instead, you would just have to live with the pain for whatever time you had left on this earth.

And with whatever time you had, you would make sure Hydra burned to the ground.

Once and for all.

++++++++++++

ONE MONTH LATER

You took a deep breath before tapping the closed door in front of you.

“Peggy?” you called out softly. “Are you almost ready?”

Heeled shoes tapped across the room until the door opened, and red-rimmed eyes met yours with a lifeless smile.

“Not ready at all, but I don’t think I ever will be. Guess we should just get on with it then, right?”

You nodded, taking her hand in yours.

It had been two weeks since the final Hydra base had been taken down. The bombs programmed to take down the entirety of the United States now in the bottom of the ocean.

Alongside your beloved friend, Steve.

You had been by Peggy’s side in the comms room at the base as Steve said his final words, hand squeezing her shoulder as she lived through the unbearable, just as you had not long ago.

Seeing her pain brought yours back with a force, but you knew you needed to be there for her. Just as she had been there for you.

Now, it was time to officially say goodbye to the men the two of you loved.

You were currently traveling from your hotel in Washington D.C. to just across the Potomac River, where the entirety of the 107th, as well as the highest decorated officers in the United States Army, plus the Commander in Chief, gathered at Arlington National Cemetery.

You stood alongside Peggy, the Commandos, Chris, Gretchen, and Jane as various officers and government officials spoke about the legacy of Captain America.

Dum Dum spoke about Bucky as well, who was to be buried right next to his best friend after you and Peggy argued with Phillipps until you were both blue in the face when any other option was discussed.

He talked about Bucky’s leadership, how good of a man he was. Kind, funny, and charming as hell (which got a good laugh from the crowd, and you managed to chuckle through your tears).

When he was done, he looked at you with a single nod. You glanced over at Peggy who squeezed your hand before you walked to meet Dum Dum taking the mic from him.

The moment Phillipps asked if you wanted to speak at the ceremony, your immediate reaction was to say no. How could you possibly talk about Bucky without choking on tears within the first ten seconds? Why put yourself through that kind of pain?

Why? Well, because it would be for Bucky.

You could do this for him.

You stared at the ground for a second, already overwhelmed by the number of eyes on you. Then, after taking a deep breath, you looked back up, eyes glued to the ones belonging to your friends. The faces of those you knew and loved. The ones who had gone above and beyond to support you during the worst month imaginable.

Jonathan gave you a small smile, nodding his head assuringly, and you found the strength to begin.

“Hello everyone,” you cleared your throat to try and stop it from shaking. “Thank you for coming today to honor the memory of Captain Steve Rogers and Sergeant James Barnes.” His name was almost caught on the lump growing in your throat. “Though the loss of these two individuals brings such unimaginable sorrow to us all, I’m glad that we’re able to stand together today to remember the legacy they both leave behind.

“Of course, Steve was an amazing soldier and incredible leader. Being able to work alongside him and the rest of the Commandos is some of my proudest work. He was like a brother to me. I’ll miss laughing with him, or listening to his ridiculously inspiring speeches that could turn anyone into a diehard Patriot.” The crowd laughed. “He trusted us as much as we trusted him, and without that support, and his sacrifice, we would never have been able to take down Hydra.”

You closed your eyes, taking another deep breath before continuing. Your free hand reached to your chest, holding onto the dog tags that had been around your neck this past month. “I’d like to talk about Sergeant James Barnes, known as Bucky by most. He was notorious for that, always making sure you never called him by the name James. It was almost a joke to him, he’d barely wait until you had finished saying his legal name before he’d plead with you to call him Bucky. As if he needed you to instantly feel comfortable with him, that you were a comrade instead of a stranger.

“The first day I met Bucky was his first day at the camp of the 107th. He was fresh off a plane from Brooklyn, brand new to the horrors of war and ready to enter into the fight for his country. But before that, he spent whatever free time he had putting himself to work. He hadn’t been in camp more than an hour before he was following me on recovery rounds, changing bandages, cleaning a wound on a soldier’s ass,” more laughter from the crowd, even yourself, “And getting to know the men and women he was going to be leading. Even the next day, before going to the line for the first time, he was handing out rations to everyone, that charming as hell grin on his face.” You smiled through your tears at the memory.

“Bucky is- was one of the most inspiring men I had ever met. He worked tirelessly to ensure that the soldiers he led, even ones he didn’t, were taken care of. That they felt safe and supported. Most of us know how invaluable that is during war. It was so easy to look up to him because he made sure to be by your side whenever he was needed. Even during the attack at Azzano, where we were completely ambushed and no hope was in sight, he tried his best to get as many soldiers out and away to safety, including myself.” Your voice broke at the last few words. “And when Steve rescued them, Bucky was insistent that everyone be checked on by the medics before himself. He was truly one of the best. A genuine, strong, good man, who will be missed beyond comprehension.

“I could go on for hours talking about how amazing of a man Bucky Barnes was, how my life and the lives of many, many others have been changed for the better from knowing him. But I think what we need now is to all share our stories of Steve and Bucky. That’s how a legacy lives on, not from one voice, but the voice of many. So please, feel free to share your stories of Bucky with me. I would be happy to share some myself, including the time I scared the shi- um, I mean, heck out of him by convincing him that the pine needles crawling up his neck were spiders.”

The final chorus of laughter brought another smile to your face as you handed the microphone to Phillipps, who gave you a rare smile before you walked back to your group.

They all took turns wrapping their arms around you, whispering words of comfort in your ears.

Once the ceremony was over, you all started to make your way to a nearby pub to drink all of your feelings away.

You were only 20 feet away from the burial site when a soft voice beckoned for you behind your shoulder.

“Excuse me? Y/n?”

You turned to the unfamiliar voice, and as your gaze landed on two figures, you stopped in your tracks, every ounce of air knocked out of your body with a force.

Two women, one middle-aged and the other in her early 20s. Both with eyes a shade of blue you’d never thought you’d see again.

“Mrs. Barnes?”

She smiled, blue eyes brimming with tears and she stepped closer. “Please. Call me Winnifred.” She looked to the younger woman by her side. “This is Rebecca.”

You nodded, overcome with emotion that caused any words you wanted to say to die on your tongue. All you could do was give into the urge to close the gap between the three of you and pull Bucky’s mom into a tight embrace.

She let out a sob the moment your arms wrapped around you, and she hugged you back. Her arms rubbed circles around your shoulder blades.

You pulled back after a few seconds. “Sorry,” you said breathlessly. “You probably don’t even know who I am and I just decided to say to hell with your personal space.”

Her hand cupped your cheek as she looked at you fondly. “Of course I know who you are. You’re the woman who stole my son’s heart.”

Your own heart suddenly felt like it might give out at any moment. “Bucky told you about me?”

“We didn’t get too many letters from him,” Rebecca chimed in, her voice soft, “But the last three we got over the past year spoke of little else besides you. It feels like I know you already.” She blushed, a small smile creeping across her face. “You’re like the sister I never had.”

Oh God. The tears.

You pull Rebecca in for a hug before she could catch the composure of your face breaking, swaying her from side to side.

“And you’re mine, Becs.” You pulled away to catch Rebecca beaming at you and you smiled back. “Bucky told me so many things about the two of you. I feel so lucky that he got to share so many stories with me about his life growing up. He loved you both so, so much.”

Winnifred took your hand. “He loved you too, honey. That much was clear in every word he wrote. And hearing you talk about him just now, that lovely speech you gave, I know that every wonderful thing he said about you was true. I’m so glad we finally got to meet you. I just wish,” she choked back a sob, “I wish my boy could be here so I could see that glowing smile he would have had when he introduced his lovely girl to us.”

Your jaw tightened and you nodded, feeling the same exact way.

“Listen,” you started, clearing your throat, “A bunch of us are going to a pub nearby. We wanted to spend more time together and share more stories about Bucky and Steve. Please come. We’d love to tell you more about your son, and we’d love to hear more from the two of you.”

She grinned. “That sounds nice.” She looked to Rebecca who nodded back. “We’d love to.”

Taking the hands of the mother and sister of the man you loved, you led them to your next destination.

It had been a while since you laughed so hard.

Only your Commando brothers could do that for you.

Currently, Jacques and Gabe were arguing in French about the details of a story involving Bucky and a prank he pulled on Steve. You weren’t sure where they currently stood, but it involved mud and someone’s undergarments.

Winnifred and Rebecca had tears in their eyes from laughing along, not having a damn clue what was going on.

“Let’s not forget the time Bucky put rocks in Falsworth’s pack before challenging him to a race up one of the mountains in France,” Dum Dum cackled out.

Falsworth chuckled. “That bastard knew it was the only way he could beat me.”

“Didn’t you two have a rematch where you had Bucky put rocks in his bag and yours was empty and he still won?” Jonathan quipped back with a sly grin.

Falsworth scowled. “I was still tired from the first round.”

You rolled your eyes, standing up. “Alright, who needs another drink?”

Cheers erupted from the table and you giggled, heading towards the bar.

Peggy was sitting there by herself, nursing a whiskey. You sat next to her.

“How are you?”

She sighed, giving you a side smile.

“Drinking my problems away. Seems to be the usual these days.”

You lean your head on her shoulder.

“I wish I could say it gets easier. That it sucks less. But I unfortunately can’t give you that answer yet, if at all.”

You felt her shake her head, voice breaking as she spoke. “I shouldn’t even be complaining. What Steve and I had was….nothing compared to you and Bucky. You two had your whole lives planned out and I was too stubborn to tell him how I felt.”

You looked back up and met her tear-filled eyes, feeling the wetness in your own. “That doesn’t make it hurt any less. We were both robbed of our own dreams. And it fucking sucks.”

She laughed. “That it does. It really. Fucking. Sucks.”

The bartender handed you your next round of beers and you lifted your glass to hers.

“To life fucking sucking, and to losing the loves of our lives.”

She grabbed her whiskey and tapped it against yours.

“To Bucky and Steve.”

After knocking back your drinks, Peggy looked to you once more. “So, what’s next for you? The war is over, but it sounds like the Howling Commandos aren’t quite yet finished.”

You nodded. “Yeah. Dum Dum told me that they still need to take down the secret Hydra ops that are lingering across the world. I’m….I think my time as a Commando is over. I need to try to move on. I love the guys but,” you stole a glance over at them before looking back to Peggy, “There are too many memories. It hurts too much.”

“That’s fair. And besides, it’s not like you’re no longer a Howling Commando. You’ll hold that title for life if I have anything to say about it.”

You smiled. “Dum Dum said the same thing.”

Peggy paused, giving you a look that made you slightly nervous before she reached for her purse. “There’s something I’ve been meaning to give you for a while now. I just didn’t know when the right time might be.” She pulled out an envelope. “Seeing that we might be parting ways soon, I guess this is as good a time as any.” She handed it to you and you gasped.

Your name was written on the envelope.

In Bucky’s handwriting.

Your fingers traced over the ink in awe, unable to process this gift.

“We found it with Steve’s belongings. I guess he had been holding onto it for you.”

“Do you know what it says?”

She shook her head. “No idea. Steve never mentioned it. The envelope it still sealed. It’s for your eyes only, Y/n.”

You held the envelope to your chest, then looked to Peggy before pulling her in for a hug.

“Thank you.”

“I hope it brings you some sense of peace.”

“Me, too.”

+++++++++++

You waited to read the letter until you got back to your room that evening.

There was a big debate going on in your mind whether you actually wanted to read it now or wait. It contained the last words to you from Bucky, and you weren’t sure you were entirely ready for that chapter to be closed.

But you also knew that you would never be ready.

And you missed him more than words could ever describe.

You would never have closure from losing him. At least he could still do the thing he did best. Provide you comfort even when it seemed unattainable. Even when he was no longer here.

You pulled the envelope out of your pocket, stroking your fingers over your name in the handwriting of your beloved once more. You pulled it to your face, inhaling the paper as if hoping it might smell like him.

It might have been your mind willing it into existence, but you could hear a familiar laugh echoing in your head at the ridiculous gesture.

You fought the urge to roll your eyes at the laugh, and instead placed a kiss to the envelope before finally opening it.

Hello Sweetheart,

Part of me hopes that you’ll never have to read this letter. Stevie is the only other one who will know about it and it’s only supposed to go to you if something happens. If I don’t make it.

Goddamn, I really hope I make it. That’s such a scary feeling, to want to live so desperately. When I first came out here, I was so ready to die for my country. It was a sacrifice I was so willing to make. It’s hard to imagine life after a war like this. But then you entered my world, and I started dreaming about what could be. I pictured myself as your husband, the father to our children, growing old with you and harassing our kids and our kids’ kids. Fuck, I even starting naming some of them late at night while I held you in my arms. I was so happy, so excited to start that life with you. I am so happy and excited to start that life with you. But this letter means that unfortunately that life won’t happen, doll. And it breaks my heart to think about leaving you.

But at the end of the day, this is a war we’re in now, and the chances of me dyin’ are very real and could happen at any moment. There have been many times where we have narrowly escaped it. Hell, I genuinely thought I wasn’t gonna make it out of that Hydra prison. And that’s why I gotta write all this down and just tell you how much you fucking mean to me, baby.

I swear I don’t know what I did to get so lucky to even know you. The moment I first laid eyes on you I felt lighter, like you were a star shining in the cold dark night that had been surrounding us all (or whatever the hell Jacques said. A beacon or some romantic shit). I’ve never met someone as strong, capable, kind, smart, loving, and beautiful as you. I know you don’t always feel that way, and I’m so sorry I won’t be around to remind you every second of every day. Because you are. You are amazing, Y/n. If there’s one thing I could ever ask of you, it’s to hold onto that truth. Anyone who gets the chance to know you is the luckiest fucking person in the world. And if any assholes treat you differently, I’ll haunt their ass until they’re cryin’ home to their mommies.

If this war does end someday, and you make it back home, I want you to find my mom and my sister. I don’t know if any letters have reached them, but I’ve told them all about you. All about us. About the life I dreamt we would have when we got home. I’m sure they would love to meet you. You’re part of their family now. My family. Forever.

Stevie will of course take care of you, too (not that you’ll ever need it probably but hey I always gotta look out for my best girl).

Thank you for loving me. You made me the man I am today and I will always be grateful for that. I don’t know what I did to deserve it, but I thank God everyday that you let me be your man. It is the highest honor I could ever receive.

I love you so, so, so much, Y/n. God I love you. In fact, I’m gonna end this letter here and give you a kiss that makes you all weak in the knees and have this adorable dumbstruck look on your face. It’s my favorite thing to do.

Yours, forever and always. In this life and the next.

Buck

+++++++++

Epilogue </3

Hiiiiiiiiiiiii how are we doing? Good? No? Please message me if you need to talk. This was a heavy one. We're reaching the end of the story next week. Love y'all and so thankful that you've followed me on this journey.

And fun fact (if anything can be called "fun" in this chapter): the letter was the FIRST thing I wrote. And since writing it (on fucking August 12 WOWZA) I've barely made any changes to it. I'm so happy (and very sad) it made it all the way to this point.

Tags:@blackwidownat2814 @enchantedamusedslightlyconfused @theokatz @maladaptivexxdaydreaming @carrotfantasimp @otbshan @toothhurtyam @itsdawnashlie @lostinspace33 @w0nderw0man91 @galaxy-dust @justsomeficsilike @magicalsimp @bunnymother93 @sometimesicanwright @multidreamerlovers @ceo-of-daichi @eclipses-and-moondust @thecrandle

[4rtheyenews]

भारतीय सेना की मैकेनाइज्ड इन्फेंट्री रेजिमेंट में 107 पदों के लिए निकली भर्ती, कैसे करें अप्लाई जानिए

भारतीय सेना की मैकेनाइज्ड इन्फेंट्री रेजिमेंट में 107 पदों के लिए निकली भर्ती, कैसे करें अप्लाई जानिए #NationalVotersDay #NationWithLavanya #NationalTourismDay #பிரியாணிஅண்டா_பத்திரம் #tuesdaymotivations

दिल्ली। भारतीय सेना में शामिल होकर देश सेवा का सपना देख रहे उम्मीदवारों के लिए खुशखबरी है। इंडियन आर्मी ने आर्टिलरी भर्ती 2022 का नोटिफिकेशन जारी किया है। इच्छुक और योग्य उम्मीदवार इंडियन आर्मी की आधिकारिक वेबसाइट indianarmy.nic.in के माध्यम से आवेदन कर सकते हैं। ऑनलाइन आवेदन 22 जनवरी 2022 या इससे पहले तक जमा स्वीकार किए जाएंगे। इस भर्ती अभियान के माध्यम से लोअर डिवीजन क्लर्क (LDC), मॉडल वर्कर,…

[northernmariette]

Happy Birthday, Marshal Gouvion Saint-Cyr!

The following portrait is from Marcelin Marbot’s Memoirs. This was drawn just before the battle of Polotsk which was to earn Gouvion his marshal’s baton.

At the time, Gouvion had been put under Oudinot’s orders, which displeased both men. Gouvion was so independent that he could hardly tolerate being under Napoleon’s orders, let alone Oudinot’s; Oudinot was leery of being outshined by the more capable Gouvion.

They both fretted for nothing because very soon Oudinot was (fill in the blank)___________.  Yes, the right answer is “injured”. So Gouvion took command of Oudinot’s troops as well as his own. 

Marbot’s original French text can be found here:

https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6507190b/f124.item , pp. 107-109.

Saint-Cyr was one of the ablest military men in Europe! A contemporary and emulator of Moreau, Hoche, Kléber and Desaix, he had commanded with success one of the wings of the Army of the Rhine, at a time when Oudinot was barely a colonel or brigadier-general. I have never known anybody who directed his troops on a battlefield better than Saint-Cyr did.

The son of a small landowner from Toul, he had studied to become a civil engineer; but when he grew disenchanted with this occupation, he became an actor in Paris, and it was he who created the famous role of Robert, chief of brigands, at the Théâtre de la Cité, and Paris is where he was living when the Revolution of 1789 began. Saint-Cyr joined a battalion of volunteers, displayed great talent and courage, and very quickly rose to the rank of major general, distinguishing himself by many accomplishments. He was tall in stature, but bore the appearance of a professor rather than a military man, which may be attributed to a habit he had acquired from the generals of the Rhine army, of wearing neither uniform nor epaulettes, but a simple unadorned blue frock coat.

It was impossible to imagine a calmer man! Perils of the gravest sort, vexations, successes, defeats, nothing could agitate him. He was as cold as ice in all circumstances! It is easy to conceive what advantages such a disposition, combined with a penchant for study and reflection, conferred on this general officer. But Saint-Cyr also had severe flaws: jealous of his comrades, he frequently kept his troops at a standstill while other divisions were pounded nearby; Saint-Cyr then would march, and, taking advantage of the enemy's exhaustion, he would defeat it and thereby appear to have achieved victory single-handedly. Moreover, although General Saint-Cyr was one of the army leaders most skilled in commanding his troops on the battlefield, he was unquestionably the one who was the least concerned about their well-being. He never would inquire whether the soldiers had sufficient food, clothing, or shoes, and whether their weapons were in good repair. He never reviewed the troops, nor did he visit any of the hospitals, or even ask if there were any! In his estimation, his colonels had to see to all this. In a word, he wanted regiments to be brought to the battlefield ready to fight, without his having to be concerned about how to keep them in good order. This approach had been very prejudicial to Saint-Cyr, and wherever he had served, the troops, while acknowledging his military talents, had disliked him. All his comrades dreaded serving with him, and the various governments that had succeeded each other in France had made use of his services only out of necessity. The Emperor himself did the same, and he had such an aversion for Saint-Cyr that, when he appointed his marshals, he excluded him from the list of promotions, even though this general had greater accomplishments and abilities than most of those to whom Napoléon had given their baton.

[sartorialadventure]

On servant liveries

Court liveries:

“The first examples of occupational uniforms are liveries (from the French word livrer, meaning to deliver), which were uniform garments handed out to servants at European courts during the early modern period. Uniform in color, form, and decorations, liveries represented the household for which a servant was working. The coat of arms or initials of his master appeared on the liveries' buttons, trimmings, or badges. Already during earlier periods, princes, such as the Burgundian dukes, had their court members and servants dress in a single color at festive events in order to present a unified court. The livery proper began to spread during the seventeenth century, when the social status of a prince depended more and more on the splendid appearance of his court and his servants. These early liveries corresponded closely to military uniforms, which developed at the same time and which in the beginning were also called livery (in France, livrée; in Germany, liberey or montur). The colors of the military uniforms were usually identical to the liveries belonging to the household of the regiment's chief who, prior to the establishment of national armies, often owned the regiment.

^16th century liveried servants (Tudor England)

“Just like military uniforms during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, most servant liveries were cut according to contemporary fashion. Their striking colors, heightened by lining and trimmings in contrasting hues corresponded to the colors of the noble household to which the servants belonged but were not necessarily identical with its heraldic colors.

^Royal footman from the reign of Henry III of France (1574-1589)

“Like military uniforms, the liveries also functioned as signs of rank and distinction. Most important, the servant's livery presented the social rank, ambitions, and financial means of the master. For this reason the American economic theorist Thorstein Veblen regarded servant liveries as a prime example for his seminal theory of conspicuous and vicarious consumption. The livery also indicated the servant's rank within a household. For example, the dress of pages, who themselves were members of noble families, were more richly decorated and made of more costly materials than the liveries of other servants. The servant's nearness to the master also determined the preciousness of his outfit. Since footmen accompanied their master very closely during travels, their dress had to be made of particularly fine materials, even though the footmen's small salary reflected a low position at court (Mikosch, p. 295). The livery always signaled the rank of the occasion: the more official the occasion, the richer the livery had to be; therefore, most courts provided simple liveries for everyday use and costly ones for festive events.

^18th century liveried footmen, wealthy American household (Colonial Williamsburg)

“During the second half of the nineteenth century, when class distinctions became increasingly complex and nobility lost more and more of its privileges, servant clothes had to make up for the loss of status. Some late courts, like the one of the prince of Thurn and Taxis, put on a particularly rich display of servants fitted out with numerous liveries. The servants of Thurn and Taxis had to change clothes several times during the course of the day, even as late as the 1980s (Kliegel, p. 107). In order to project the image of a long aristocratic tradition, the design of the servant liveries tended to be antiquated. The tightly fitted justeaucorps, fashionable during the eighteenth century and decorated with rich gold braids, continued to be employed for formal occasions and tailcoats for less formal events or everyday use.” (source)

Victorian era liveries:

The term livery means any distinctive clothing adorned by the people, in a non-military context. Most often it would indicate that the wearer of a livery was a servant, dependent, follower or friend of the owner of the livery.

In the 19th century, these clothing were generally given to its servants and household members only by people who could afford such grandeur. Servants of such a household or an estate are known as liveried servants.

^Victorian era liveried servants of a large household

In the Victorian era, it was not just the aristocracy who employed servants since new wealth had trickled into the cities and led to a burgeoning middle class. Employing a servant was a sign of respectability in the eye of the society.

During the Victorian era, running footman was a high paid post a servant could achieve in the labor class.  Footmen were mostly hired according to his physical attributes,  a tall and strong person was preferable to be a footman than a short and a lean person.

They were traditionally given a clothing of a waistcoat, a fustian jacket, silver stockings and fur capes twice per year. They were meant to be the attendants who ran beside or behind the carriages of aristocrats.

^Liveried footmen, Victorian era

Being a part of the household servant, their job extension also included filling glass, placed and removed dishes, opening or closing doors, carrying heavy items or moving furniture for the housemaid to clean.

Though a footman might find full-time employment, his job was not as essential as a butler, cook, or maid in a large household. However, the work of a footman was not less valued. If the footman left a family within six months of receiving a new livery, he was expected to leave the livery behind when he departed.

Liveried Servants: Chauffeur

In the 19th century, only the wealthiest atrocities were able to hire chauffeurs for themselves. Chauffeurs were actually the private drivers of the vehicles. Not only a driver but a skilled mechanic as well who could deal with breakdowns and tire punctures en route which was quite common in that era.

They were a great sense of respectability towards them in the eye of the society. Chauffeurs were employed for any transportation which was the luxury vehicle in that particular year since the technology was moving at a very high speed from the mid-nineteenth century.

^Victorian era liveried chauffeur

For centuries, the horse and carriage was the first luxury vehicle which was usually decorated with an intricate design to express the symbol of high status. In the early days of automobiles, the demand for chauffeurs was at its peak as people preferred to have someone to drive it for them.

Early automobiles required quite a bit of work to get started, they had a device which required preheating an engine before it started. The chauffeur’s job would have involved priming the hot tubes at the beginning of a journey.

Liveried Servant: Waiter

There was a group of organized men which was more of a body, called waiters. Their main purpose of employment was to wait. Waiters were found to have frequent attendance at public breakfasts, dinners, balls, and routs.

^Victorian era waiters serving at an event

They usually had an engagement diary which listed the days of his appointments in which his presence was necessary. In the height of the seasons,  he could reject any upcoming event if he was already booked in prior. It was necessary to give them a notice beforehand to have them give the required service. They were generally dressed in tuxedos on a public event to give them a formal look overall. (source)

[todaysdocument]

G.P. Miller, a Black physician in Michigan, wrote to the Secretary of War on 10/30/1861, wishing to raise a regiment of free Black men to fight for the Union (“sharp shooters preferred”). The War Department declined his offer.

Series: Letters Received, 3/1861 - 3/1866

Record Group 107: Records of the Office of the Secretary of War, 1791 - 1948

Transcription:

Battle Creek Oct 30th 1861

Hon Simon Cameron

Secy of War.

Dear Sir:

Having

learned that in your instruc-

tions to Gen. Sherman you

authorized the enrollment of

colored persons I wish to so-

licit the privilege of raising

from five to ten thousand free

men to report in sixty days

to take any position that may

be assigned us (sharp shooters

preferred). We would like white

persons for superior officers.

If this proposition is not

acceptable we will if armed &

equipped by the government

fight as guerillas.

Any information or

[page 2]

instructions that may be

forwarded to me immediately

will be thankfully received

and implicitly obeyed.

A part of us are

half bred Indians and legal

voters in the state of Michigan.

We are all anxious to fight

for the maintenance of the

Union and the preservation

of the principles promulgated

by Pres Lincoln and we are

sure of success if allowed an

opportunity.

In the name of God

answer immediately.

Yours fraternally

G. P. Miller M.D.

Box 725 Battle Creek Michigan.

To the Hon Simon Cameron

Secretary of War

Washington

DC

Battle Creek Mich

October 30, 1861

G. P. Miller --

Desires Authority to

raise 5 or ten Thousand

Negroes & half bred

Indians --

M. 310. [illegible] 2.

[joachimnapoleon]

“A loyalty... that remained unshaken”

It’s the anniversary of the marriage of Michel & Aglaé Ney, so here are some excerpts on their courtship & wedding from Ney’s biographer, A. Hilliard Atteridge.

***

When Ney first met his future wife at the New Year of 1802 she was just twenty--a tall, handsome brunette, with dark eyes, a pleasing expression, and a wit and intelligence that spoke well for the education she had received at St. Germain. For Ney it was a case of love at first sight. Thanks to Josephine’s intervention he received an invitation from M. Auguié to visit the château of Grignon in February. But at first the course of true love did not run smooth. Mademoiselle Aglaé was disappointed in her admirer. She had been told of his exploits in the Army of the Rhine and of the many good qualities that had made him to be as handsome as he was brave and generous, and it was something of a shock to her, when he was presented to her, to find that he did not come up to the ideal of her day dreams. 

The general had kept to the old military fashions that seemed strange to the eyes of the lady used to the courtier-like modes of the Consulate. His round good-humoured face looked heavy and dull decorated as it was with a bunch of red whiskers on each cheek, and though the queue had gone out of fashion, it used to be worn in the hussar regiments, and Ney kept it still in memory of his first campaigns. All this gave him an awkward appearance, and this was not made the better by a certain shyness which still troubled him in a social circle. He was hopelessly deficient in “small talk” and the current forms of trifling compliment. Mademoiselle concluded that her hero was after all only a rather rough, old-fashioned, and stupid cavalry officer. Ney was disappointed in his turn by her studied coldness of manner.

But Josephine did not abandon her plan on account of a first check. She took care that Mademoiselle Aglaé should hear all manner of good things of Michel Ney, and the General’s friends discreetly prevailed on him to bring his personal appearance more up to date before he ventured to see the lady again. Ney was clean shaved in the fashion of the time. In the month of March, in an interval of one of his tours of inspection, he came again to Grignon, and this time he made some progress towards winning the lady’s good will.

By the month of May matters had advanced so far that he thought he might venture on a formal proposal, and it was made in the proper French fashion to the father of the hoped-for bride, under the patronage of Josephine, who wrote for Ney, on 30 May from Malmaison, a letter addressed to M. Auguié asking him to bestow his daughter’s hand on the General. This was sent to Ney with a covering letter in which Josephine wrote to him:--

“I send you, General, the letter you have asked of me for Citizen Auguié. May I beg that you will read it. I have not said in it all the good things that I know and think about you. I want to let this worthy family have the satisfaction of discovering for themselves all your good qualities; but I repeat to you the assurance of the interest which Bonaparte and I myself take in this marriage, and of the satisfaction he feels in thinking that he will thus secure the happiness of two people for whom he has a special good will and esteem. I share with him both these feelings.”

Such a communication as Josephine’s letter to M. Auguié could have only one result. Within the week Madame Bonaparte received a letter from him telling her that he was only too pleased to accept the proposal made on behalf of General Ney. On 27 July the marriage contract was signed at Paris. (...) The date of the marriage was fixed for 5 August. Sending his fiancée a little present of jewelry Ney made a proud apology for its small value. He could not offer her pearls and diamonds he said, because he had always held a soldier’s sword should be used to obtain glory and not wealth.

Both the civil and religious ceremonies took place on that day at Grignon, the former at the mairie of the commune, the latter in the chapel of the château, which, after years of disuse, had been restored for the occasion. The famous artist Isabel, afterwards court painter to the Emperor, designed the decorations and organized the fête which followed. The aisles and roof of the chapel were hung with garlands of green foliage. Wax lights shone from chandeliers half hidden in masses of flowers, and a military band occupied the music gallery. The bridegroom wore the full parade uniform of a general and a jeweled Egyptian sabre the gift of Bonaparte. The bride was dressed simply in white with a wreath of roses on her bridal veil. Beside them at the altar stood a grey-haired peasant and his wife, servants of the farm attached to the château, who were celebrating their golden wedding. They wore he picturesque dress of the peasants of the district. Ney had provided that of the aged shepherd, Aglaé that of his wife. Their presence at the ceremony was suggested by Ney. He said that their fifty years of happy married life would be a good omen for his wedding and they would remind him of his own humble origin. 

In the evening there was a rustic fête in the gardens of the château. The friends of the family and the farmers and peasants of the neighborhood formed the audience before an open-air stage on which Aglaé’s sisters and some of their friends performed a little play written for the occasion. Then the military band gave a concert, during which as the darkness came on, transparencies shone out among the trees bearing the names of the battles in which Ney had borne a distinguished part. Then a choir of peasant girls came forward and sang a song wishing long life and happiness to the newly wedded pair, and an aged peasant invited them to enter a rustic hut where he said they would find a wise old woman who would tell them something of their future. The gipsy predicted long years of happiness. Neither she nor anyone else could foresee the firing party in the Luxembourg garden only a few years away in the dim future. But she had no pretense to read such secrets, for the gipsy was only Aglaé’s aunt and schoolmistress, old Madame Campan, and the “peasant” who introduced Ney and his bride to her was the artist Isabel, in the rustic disguise in which he presided at the fête.

Then there was a ball in the open air. In the first quadrille two of the couples were Aglaé and the old shepherd, and Ney with the aged peasant woman for his partner. There was a pause in the series of dances to witness a display of fireworks. Then the ball went on till near midnight the party broke up. It was a day long remembered at Grignon, and a happier wedding feast than the stately court ceremonials that were the usual forms of celebrating the marriages of Bonaparte’s friends.

(Source: A. Hilliard Atteridge, The Bravest of the Brave: Michel Ney, Marshal of France, 1912, pages 107-111)

***

And a nice little summary of their relationship by Ney’s biographer Harold Kurtz:

Theirs was a marriage of reason rather than of romance or high sentiment, but in Aglaé’s strong and steady character there grew in the course of years a loyalty of the wife and mother that remained unshaken until, as an old lady, she saw her husband’s monument erected outside the Palace of the Luxembourg.

(Source: Harold Kurtz, The Trial of Marshal Ney: His Last Years and Death, 1957, pages 34-35)