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America Accidentally Attacked the Soviet Union and Other Lesser Known History Moments

Khalid Elhassan February 27, 2020 34 min

Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star - Aircraft — American F-80s in action during the Korean War. Squdron

1. A Tragic End at Antietam

Charles Edwin King’s grave. Civil War RX

In September of 1862, the 49th Pennsylvania participated in the Maryland Campaign, which culminated in the Battle of Antietam on the 17^th. Charlie King’s regiment was deployed near Miller’s Field and the East Woods during the course of that battle, when it came under Confederate artillery fire.

The 49th Pennsylvania’s casualties were relatively light, but Charlie was one of the regiment’s unlucky few: he was struck down and grievously injured by an exploding shell. Taken to a field hospital, Charles Edwin King died three days later of his wounds. He holds the unfortunate distinction of being the youngest military combat fatality of the Civil War.

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Where Did We Find This Stuff? Some Sources and Further Reading

Ancient Origins – The Sicarii: The Jewish Daggermen With a Thirst For Roman Blood

Black Then – Alexander H. Johnson: Civil War Drummer Boy of the 54^th Massachusetts Regiment

Bonds, Russell S. – Stealing the General: The Great Locomotive Chase and the First Medal of Honor (2007)

British Battles – Battle of Kabul and the Retreat to Gandamak

Encyclopedia Britannica – Andrey Andreyevich Vlasov

Encyclopedia Britannica – Dozsa Rebellion

Encyclopedia Britannica – Sicarii: Jewish Sect

Find a Grave – Charles Edwin “Charlie” King (1849 – 1862)

Herodotus – The Histories, Book 4

History Net – Cuxhaven Raid: Britain’s Bold Strike From the Sea

History Net – Goldilocks Fighter: What Made the F6F Hellcat “Just Right”?

Legion Magazine, August 21^st, 2014 – The Cuxhaven Raid: A Recollection of the Early Days of Britain’s Fighting Force of the Air

Macrory, Patrick – Retreat From Kabul: The Catastrophic British Defeat in Afghanistan, 1842 (2007)

New York Times, March 5^th, 2013 – Colonel Shaw’s Drummer Boy

O’Neil, Charles – Wild Train: The Story of the Andrews Raiders (1956)

University World News, March 11^th, 2016 – Calls For Prosecution Over Ph.D. Thesis on Soviet Traitor

Washington Post, March 4^th, 1990 – My Brief War With Russia

Wikipedia – Andrey Vlasov

Wikipedia – Grumman F6F Hellcat

Wikipedia – Scythian Campaign of Darius I

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.