Good morning, Whitewater.

The work week begins for Whitewater with sunny skies and a high of seventy-nine. Sunrise is 6:34 and sunset 7:06, for 12h 31m 57s of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with just 1.2% of its visible disk illuminated.

Whitewater’s Planning Commission meets at 6:30 PM today, and members of Landmarks Commission may be attending a Friends of the Mounds meeting at the Irvin Young Library, also scheduled for 6:30 PM.

On this day in 1814, American resilience inspires Francis Scott Key:

During the War of 1812, Key, accompanied by the British Prisoner Exchange Agent Colonel John Stuart Skinner, dined aboard the British ship HMS Tonnant, as the guests of three British officers: Vice Admiral Alexander Cochrane, Rear Admiral George Cockburn, and Major General Robert Ross. Skinner and Key were there to negotiate the release of prisoners, one of whom was Dr. William Beanes, a resident of Upper Marlboro, Maryland who had been arrested after jailing marauding British troops who were looting local farms. Skinner, Key, and Beanes were not allowed to return to their own sloop because they had become familiar with the strength and position of the British units and with the British intent to attack Baltimore. Thus, Key was unable to do anything but watch the bombarding of the American forces at Fort McHenry during the Battle of Baltimore on the night of September 13–14, 1814.^[4]

At dawn, Key was able to see an American flag still waving and reported this to the prisoners below deck. Back in Baltimore and inspired, Key wrote a poem about his experience, “Defence of Fort M’Henry”, which was soon published in William Pechin’s^[5] the American and Commercial Daily Advertiser on September 21, 1814. He took it to Thomas Carr, a music publisher, who adapted it to the rhythms of composer John Stafford Smith‘s “To Anacreon in Heaven“,^[4] a popular tune Key had already used as a setting for his 1805 song “When the Warrior Returns,” celebrating U.S. heroes of the First Barbary War.^[6] (Key used the “star spangled” flag imagery in the earlier song.)^[7] It has become better known as “The Star-Spangled Banner“. Though somewhat difficult to sing, it became increasingly popular, competing with “Hail, Colombia” (1796) as the de facto national anthem by the Mexican-American War and American Civil War. More than a century after its first publication, the song was adopted as the American national anthem, first by an Executive Order from President Woodrow Wilson in 1916 (which had little effect beyond requiring military bands to play what became known as the “Service Version”) and then by a Congressional resolution in 1931, signed by President Herbert Hoover.^[8]

On this day in 1888, a fire consumes a significant part of Washburn:

1888 – The Great Washburn Fire

On this date a fire broke out in back of Peter Nelson’s Hardware Store in Washburn, Wisconsin. The fire spread quickly, consuming an entire block of homes and businessses, including Meehan’s Clothing Store, two local newspapers, and Beausoliel’s Meat Market. [Source: “B” book : beer bottles, brawls, boards, brothels, bibles, battles & brownstones by Tony Woiak, p.2-3]

Puzzability begins a new weekly series entitled, Mouth Pieces:

This Week’s Game — September 14-18

Mouth Pieces

We’re listening for art sounds this week. For each day, we started with the name of a famous painting. Then, for the day’s clue, we broke it down into a series of words that, when said in order, sounds like the original title. You’ll probably need to say the words out loud to get the answers.

Example:

Him, purr, Hessians, Hun, rice

Answer:

“Impression, Sunrise” (by Claude Monet)

What to Submit:

Submit the painting’s title (as “Impression, Sunrise” in the example) for your answer.

Monday, September 14

Hum, airy, kink, ha, thick

Good morning, Whitewater.

Sunday will be lovely, with sunny skies and a high of seventy-one.  Sunrise is 6:33 and sunset 7:07, for 12h 34m 49s of daytime.  We’ve a new moon today.

The Friday FW poll asked readers how many regular-season games the Packers would win this year.  A majority of respondents (52.17%) thought that they would win 12 or 13 games, with just over a quarter expecting ten or eleven wins.

On this day in 1862, a Union soldier discovers Special Order 191, a document with Confederate battle plans:

The order was drafted on or about September 9, 1862, during the Maryland Campaign. It gave details of the movements of the Army of Northern Virginia during the early days of its invasion ofMaryland. Lee divided his army, which he planned to regroup later: according to the precise text Maj. Gen.Stonewall Jackson was to move his command to Martinsburg while McLaws’s command and Walker’s command “endeavored to capture Harpers Ferry.” Maj. Gen. James Longstreet was to move his command northward to Boonsborough. D. H. Hill‘s division was to act as rear guard on the march from Frederick.

Lee delineated the routes and roads to be taken and the timing for the investment of Harpers Ferry. Adjutant Robert H. Chilton penned copies of the letter and endorsed them in Lee’s name. Staff officers distributed the copies to various Confederate generals. Jackson in turn copied the document for one of his subordinates, Maj. Gen. D. H. Hill, who was to exercise independent command as the rear guard. Hill said the only copy he received was the one from Jackson.^[1]

About noon ^[2] on September 13, Corporal Barton W. Mitchell of the 27th Indiana Volunteers, part of the Union XII Corps, discovered an envelope with three cigars wrapped in a piece of paper lying in the grass at a campground that Hill had just vacated. Mitchell realized the significance of the document and turned it in to Sergeant John M. Bloss. They went to Captain Peter Kopp, who sent it to regimental commander Colonel Silas Colgrove, who carried it to the corps headquarters. There, an aide to Brig. Gen.Alpheus S. Williams recognized the signature of R. H. Chilton, the assistantadjutant general who had signed the order. Williams forwarded the dispatch to Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan, the commander of the Army of the Potomac. McClellan was overcome with glee at learning planned Confederate troop movements and reportedly exclaimed, “Now I know what to do!” He confided to a subordinate, “Here is a paper with which, if I cannot whip Bobby Lee, I will be willing to go home.”^[3]

As it turns out, McClellan did stop Lee’s advance, but without making the most of the encounter.  McClellan later did go home, so to speak, twice: when Lincoln relieved him of command, and when Lincoln later defeated McClellan in the 1864 presidential election.

Good morning, Whitewater.

Our Saturday will be mostly sunny with a high of sixty-five.  Sunrise will be 6:32 and sunset 7:09, for 12h 37m 41s of daytime.  We’ve a new moon today.

From Atlas Obscura comes the story of the deadly Snake Island –

On this day in 1944, little more than three months after landing at Normandy, American troops entered Germany proper, near Trier.

On this day in 1892, major fields of study receive their own school at UW-Madison:

1892 – UW-Madison Schools Open

On this date the School of Economics, Political Science and History at UW-Madison opened under the leadership of Professor Richard T. Ely. [Source: University of Wisconsin-Madison]

Good morning, Whitewater.

Week’s end in Whitewater will be partly cloudy with a high of sixty-five.  Sunrise is 6:30 and sunset 7:11, for 12h 40m 32s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with just 2.9% of its visible disk illuminated.

Today in the fourteenth anniversary of terrorist attacks in New York, Pennsylvania, and at the Pentagon.

On this day in 1814, Americans are victorious over Britain at the Battle of Plattsburgh:

The Battle of Plattsburgh, also known as the Battle of Lake Champlain, ended the final invasion of the northern states of the United States during the War of 1812. A British army under Lieutenant General Sir George Prévost and a naval squadron under Captain George Downie converged on the lakeside town of Plattsburgh, which was defended by New York and Vermont militia and detachments of regular troops of the United States Army, all under the command of Brigadier General Alexander Macomb, and ships commanded by Master Commandant Thomas Macdonough. Downie’s squadron attacked shortly after dawn on 11 September 1814, but was defeated after a hard fight in which Downie was killed. Prévost then abandoned the attack by land against Macomb’s defences and retreated to Canada, stating that even if Plattsburgh was captured, any British troops there could not be supplied without control of the lake.

When the battle took place, American and British delegates were meeting at Ghent in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, attempting to negotiate a treaty acceptable to both sides to end the war. The American victory at Plattsburgh, and the successful defense at the Battle of Baltimore which began the next day and halted British advances in the Mid-Atlantic states, denied the British negotiators leverage to demand any territorial claims against the United States on the basis of Uti possidetis, i.e. retaining territory they held at the end of hostilities.^[5]The Treaty of Ghent, in which captured or occupied territories were restored on the basis of Status quo ante bellum, was signed three months after the battle.

On this day in 1903, an auto-racing tradition begins:

On this date William Jones of Chicago won a five-lap speed contest, setting the first track record with a 72 second, 50 mph lap in the process. The Milwaukee Mile was originally a private horse track, in existence since at least 1876, and is the oldest, continuously operating auto racing facility in the world. [Source: Wisconsin State Fair History of the Milwaukee Mile]

Here’s Puzzability‘s final game in this week’s Open Admissions series:

This Week’s Game — September 7-11

Open Admissions

Here’s a mixed doubles challenge for this week’s U.S. Open. Each day, we started with a word or phrase, added the six letters in U.S. OPEN, and rearranged the remaining letters to get a new phrase. Both pieces are described in each day’s clue, with the shorter one first.

Example:

A bit open; fruits sold near the Boscs and Bartletts

Answer:

Ajar; Anjou pears

What to Submit:

Submit both pieces, with the shorter one first (as “Ajar; Anjou pears” in the example), for your answer.

Friday, September 11

Any living thing, as taught in science class; utensil used to add the right amount of baking soda

Good morning, Whitewater.

Thursday in Whitewater will bring scattered thunderstorms and a high of seventy-four. Sunrise is 6:19 and sunset 7:13, for 12h 43m 24s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 6.9% of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1919, Gen. Pershing and thousands of his soldiers, victorious against the Central Powers, receive a parade in their honor in New York:

New York lived yesterday probably the last chapter in its history of great military spectacles growing out of the war.

Devoted to honoring General John J. Pershing, Commander in Chief of the American Expeditionary Forces, and to paying tribute to the final array of veteran fighting men to parade down Fifth Avenue, it was a fitting chapter. For the city proved that, though it is ten months since Armistice Day, it has not forgotten either the hosts who fought in France or the man who led them to Victory.

It was the town’s first opportunity to greet the men of the 1st Division, and to let them know it remembered their glorious part in the American Army’s smashing drives at Toul, at Cantigny, at Soissons, at St. Mihiel, and at the Meuse and the Argonne. Likewise, it was the first appearance here of “Pershing’s Own,” that regiment of stalwart veterans picked from the first six regular army divisions in France, which paraded as Pershing’s escort in Paris and in London, as it did here. Altogether, more than 25,000 fighting men were in line.

A vast throng turned out, which stood in places many deep, all along Fifth Avenue from 107th Street to Washington Square. More than that, it was an enthusiastic crowd, as prone to applause and acclaim as any that a spectacle of the war has called forth.

Here’s the Thursday game in Puzzability’s series for the week, Open Admissions:

This Week’s Game — September 7-11

Open Admissions

Here’s a mixed doubles challenge for this week’s U.S. Open. Each day, we started with a word or phrase, added the six letters in U.S. OPEN, and rearranged the remaining letters to get a new phrase. Both pieces are described in each day’s clue, with the shorter one first.

Example:

A bit open; fruits sold near the Boscs and Bartletts

Answer:

Ajar; Anjou pears

What to Submit:

Submit both pieces, with the shorter one first (as “Ajar; Anjou pears” in the example), for your answer.

Thursday, September 10

Part of Captain Kirk’s log entries; Planters’ basic product type