PzLdr History Facts

[PzLdr]

See "PzLdr History Facts" Archive, p. 3

[PzLdr]

See "PzLdr History Facts" Archive. p. 3

[PzLdr]

His asininity and ego destroyed the biggest Mafia family, founded by the legendary Lucky Luciano, in New York. Concededly, he had a lot of help, starting with Vito Genovese, whose hamhandedness outed the Mafia, to Carlo Gambino who, having built the Family into the biggest and most successful crime family ever, turned it over to his brother-in- law, Paul Castellano, who envisioned himself as some sort of corporate CEO. But it was Gotti who destroyed it.

Gotti was a street thug, pure and simple. His specialties were extortion and hijacking. And if his crew had stuck to that, we might never have heard of him. But his brother Gene was involved in heroin trafficking, and under the rules established by Carlo Gambino, that meant that he, anyone associated with him in the trade, and his captain [his brother John] were to be executed. Gambino had had a 'no drug dealing' policy [admittedly enforced more in the breach]. And Castellano carried on that policy.

Unfortunately for the Gottis, Gene got caught on a wire, which was played in court - in front of Paul Castellano, which meant major problems for Gotti.

But Castellano had problems of his own. Although he seemed to consider himself a 'white collar criminal'/ legitimate businessman, Castellano was known throughout the Gambino crime family for demanding that an inordinate amount of the 'receipts' from the Family's various enterprises be "kicked up" to him. Additionally, Castellano chose to live in a mansion on Staten Island [called the 'White House' by the troops], divorcing himself from both the physical proximity and the lifestyle of his 'earners'.

Then there were the etiquette problems. When Gambino was dying, a schism had appeared between the street guys, and the white collar guys. The street guys expected one of their own, and a gangster's gangster to boot, Neil DellaCroce to succeed to head the family. they were VERY unhappy when Castellano got the nod. Anticipating this, Gambino made DellaCroce the underboss, a job he did loyally for Castellano, and well. He acted as a buffer between the boss and the troops as well. But then DellaCroce got cancer and died. And Castellano, in a MAJOR breach of Mafia protocol, did not attend his funeral. the street guys were outraged.

And then there was the mistress. Mafiosi expected the members to have a little on the side. But what they did not expect, nor countenance, was having the bimbo under the same roof as the wife [who, in Mrs. Castellano's case, the troops all admired. But Paulie did. His mistress was his housekeeper. And at one point they were were caught on tape doing the horizontal hula on a dining room table right under an FBI bug. And that bug also caught Castellano not only discussing mob business in his own house [a MAJOR no no], but also badmouthing the other mob bosses - all of which they heard on tape at the "Commission" trial.

So the stars aligned in Gotti's favor. Although he intended to whack Paulie Castellano without a Commission sanction [a MAJOR, MAJOR NO NO], Gotti was pretty sure they'd let it slide [if he succeeded] based on what they'd heard on the tapes. The Gambino family street hoods would have NO problem with one of their own taking over. And that little death sentence would go away.

Paul Castellano and his driver/bodyguard/underboss , Thomas Bilotti were shot to death outside of Spark's Steakhouse in Manhattan. Gotti watched from a car a short distance away with his new underboss Sammy "The Bull" Gravano. And from that moment on, the Gambino Family began to die.

Gotti required the Family Captains, associates and others to pay court to him in Little Italy, making it child's play for the NYPD and the Feds to gather an accurate picture [literally] of the entire Gambino Crime family. And once they found out Gotti was holding meetings in the apartment of an Italian widow above the 'Club' he called his headquarters, wiretaps and bugs followed.

Gotti flaunted his gangster persona, probably the most flamboyant gangster since Al Capone. Allegedly a plumbing parts salesman, he wore suits costing thousands of dollars, had his hair styled several times a week, dropped large wads of cash gambling, threw lavish fireworks displays in his neighborhood, and wallowed in the public adoration that seemed to follow him.

And he enjoyed thumbing his nose at prosecutors, who time and again heard the phrase, "Not Guilty" from jurors in a series of highly publicized trials. But he thumbed his nose once too often, and intemperate remarks on tape, badmouthing Gravano led Sammy the Bull to roll.

The result was Gotti's conviction on a 14 count RICO indictment, and for the crimes attendant to the RICO, murder, drug dealing, etc. And on this date in 1992, John Gotti was sentenced to life without parole in Federal prison. He died there ten years later, from throat cancer, proud he had never 'ratted'.

But Gotti had laid the groundwork for the destruction of the Gambino crime family. Due to his antics, the Feds knew who all the players were and [roughly] where they fit in the family. The Family had been decapitated. Gotti was in prison, the underboss, Sammy the bull in witness protection [he would later go to prison for drug dealing while in Witness Protection]. They never recovered. Somewhere, Lucky Luciano wept.

[PzLdr]

See "PzLdr History Facts" Archive, p.3

[PzLdr]

His name was Metacom, but we know him by the name the New England colonists gave him - King Philip. He was the younger son of Massasoit, the Wampanoag chief of Thanksgiving fame, and after the death of his older brother, who had succeeded Massasoit, he assumed the chieftainship of his tribe.

When the English landed  in Massachusetts, they found the local Wampanoags amenable, helpful and friendly. The reason for that was simple. The Wampanoags had been decimated by disease, and were in a losing conflict with the powerful Narragansett Confederacy to their west. They were looking for allies, and the colonists with their firelocks fit the bill to a tee.

But by the time Philip assumed the chieftainship, the Narragansett were no longer a threat. But the colonists were. The expanding colony began forcing the Indians into bad land deals. They demanded Indians charged with crimes involving the colony be tried under English law . They required the Wampanoags give up their firearms [they did]. But all was not well. Metacom believed that his brother had been poisoned by the English. The Wampanoag believed that members of their tribe were spying for the English. and areas the tribe had previously hunted and foraged on were now barred to them. It came to a head with the murder of a Christian Indian believed to be a British agent. three Wamapnoags were seized, tried and hanged, without a 'by your leave' to Philip. He decided on war, and opened it with an attack on the settlement of Swansea, Massachusetts. British retaliation bungled to the point where the Narragansett allied with the Wampanoag, as did other New England tribes [except the Mohicans], and the war spread throughout New England.

But the colonists eventually gained the upper hand. Philip went to New York to seek more allies, but the Mohawk [with the other nations of the Iroquois Confederacy], refused them, and drove them back east.

In 1676, Philip's secret stronghold in a swamp at Mt. hope Rhode Island was found by the colonists and their Inmdian allies. Philip was killed by a 'friendly' Indian. His body was decapitated, drawn and quartered.

Although king Philip's War was not the first Indian War in America [that distinction goes to Opechancanough, Sachem of the Powhattan Indians of Virginia, who attacked Jamestown twice, in 1622, and 1644], it was exceptionally bloody, and did much to harden colonial attitudes to Indians for future generations. And it started on this date, in 1675, with an attack on swansea. 

[PzLdr]

See"PzLdr History Facts" Archive, p.3

[PzLdr]

See "PzLdr History Facts" Archive, p.3, pp. 3-4

[apples]

Who was in charge of the prosecution? For some reason I was thinking it was former Mayor Giuliani?

[PzLdr]

Who was in charge of the prosecution? For some reason I was thinking it was former Mayor Giuliani?

Not as I recall. Guiliani was involved in the "Commission" Trial. Gotti was later, and he was tried several times before they bagged him.

[PzLdr]

It was a group of buildings in the middle of nowhere, built of Adobe mud. It was the site of an earlier retreat by U.S. Army troops under 'Kit" Carson in the face of a massive Indian force. And on this date, in 1874, it was the place where 28 men held off anywhere from around a thousand to several times that many Comanche, Kiowa, and Southern Cheyenne Indians for three days.It was called Adobe Walls.

By 1874, Adobe Walls existed for one purpose: a central rallying point, supply depot and shipping center for the Buffalo hunters flooding the Southern Plains. And it was a major point of contention, because it was where the buffalo hunters were for the tribes of the southern Plains, who relied on the bison for food, shelter, and just about everything else.

And Quanah Parker, war chief of the Quahadi Comanche had had enough. He went around the camps of various Comanche bands, and of various Comanche allies,such as the Kiowa and Cheyenne, preaching war. And the audience was receptive. So receptive that at least around 1,000 warriors from the tribes joined him for an attack on Adobe Walls.

And all the signs were propitious for a successful attack. They had the numbers. They had a Cheyenne Medicine man, who worked his medicine to the point where he proclaimed that the white man's bullets could not harm the war party. and they had surprise.

Except they didn't. Quanah's plan to infiltrate warriors on foot went up in smoke, when several Indians attacked prematurely. The Buffalo hunters were now forewarned, and that warning, combined with the two advantages they had were enough.

Adobe Walls had thick adobe walls. thick enough to seriously disrupt the firepower of Indian rifles and bows and arrows. and its occupants had the tools of their trade with them. The buffalo hunters were armed with heavy caliber "buffalo guns" [mostly .50 caliber], highly accurate over distance, firing a large, heavy bullet which caused devastating wounds to bison, let alone men.

The Indians charged the buildings off and on for two days, but except for one occasion, never really got close. And then to add insult to injury, when the Indians were gathering on a ridge just shy of a mile away on the second day, a buffalo hunter named Billy Dixon took a shot at the group - and dropped the Cheyenne medicine man. That was enough for Quanah and crew. On the third day, they rode away, many to attack settlers' homes, farms and ranches.

Losses at Adobe Walls were paltry. The hunters lost less than five men, the Indians just over ten. But the disparate numbers, plus billy Dixon's shot, made it national news, and western legend.

[apples]

Not as I recall. Guiliani was involved in the "Commission" Trial. Gotti was later, and he was tried several times before they bagged him.

I remember Gotti kept on getting off. It was huge when they finally got him.

[PzLdr]

See "PzLdr History Facts" Archive, p.11

[PzLdr]

See "PzLdr History Facts" Archive, p. 4

[PzLdr]

See "PzLdr History Facts" Archive, p. 15

[PzLdr]

Americans seem to have a habit of misnaming battlefields if the battles take place on hills. Example? Bunker hill, which was actually fought on Breed's Hill. So it follows that the spectacular charge up a hill in Cuba, a hill named Kettle hill, would be named for the follow up attack on San Juan Hill.

That the charge was necessitated at all was the result of America's declaration of war against Spain after the destruction of the battleship U.S.S. MAINE in Havana harbor, and reports in the 'yellow' press of Spanish outrages on the populace of Cuba,

The Spanish-American War, as it came to be called, was America's first two ocean war. Military operations took place in the Atlantic [principally in Cuba], and in the Pacific [principally in the Philippines]. The operations involved both the U.S. Army, and the U.S. Navy [and Marine Corps]. It involved both professional units, and at least one volunteer unit [the 'Rough Riders']. It involved a commander [in Cuba]who was too heavy to mount a horse, and probably too old to command, and several subordinates who  had last held general's commissions in the Confederate Army [Joe Wheeler and Rooney Lee]. The Army in cuba also included the doctor turned soldier, Leonard Wood, and one Theodore Roosevelt, as well as a young white Captain commanding a troop in the 9th Cavalry, a black regiment, named John Pershing.

Kettle Hill/ San Juan Hill came about because the campaign's original target was Santiago, Cuba, and they were part of the defensive system blocking access to the city.

The U.S. Army was not well prepared for war in Cuba. The troops still wore the same woolen uniforms they had since the Civil War [they lost the tunics as soon as possible]. They still carried Colt revolvers. They had upgraded to a bolt action rifle, the Krag-Jorgenson, but it was markedly inferior to the 7.57 mm Mauser being used by the Spaniards. But they did have, if not the latest in machine guns, several batteries of Gatling guns.

The original plan was to avoid the hills, but an attack on a a lower ground position centered on a village went nowhere [those damned Mausers again]. And so, the 1st Volunteer Cavalry, by now commanded by Roosevelt, and elements of the 9th Cavalry faced Kettle and San Juan Hill.

Both cavalry units, except Teddy Roosevelt, had no horses,  [they hadn't been transported] and wound up fighting on foot. The attack on Kettle Hill went in first, and supported by the Gatling Guns, and in spite of heavy Spanish resistance, succeeded, despite the troops at many times and places being reduced to crawling up the hill.

With Kettle Hill secured, Roosevelt consolidated the position, and using it as a fire support position, coordinated an attack on San Juan Hill with the 9th Cavalry. That attack also succeeded. the way to Santiago was now clear.

Teddy Roosevelt was posthumously awarded the Medal of honor for his actions - in the late 20th or early 21st century. That made him part of only two pairs of father-son Medal of honor winners, Teddy and his son, Ted [awarded for his actions on D-Day on Utah Beach, and Arthur [Civil War] and Douglas MacArthur.