On 22 December 1944, the German Army was near their zenith in the
Battle of the Bulge and had surrounded the town of Bastogne, a key road
hub of the area. The USA 101st Airborne had control of the town, but
had no support. The German Army sent 2 officers and 2 NCOs to deliver
the ulimatum to surrender, but were met with the reply of 101st acting
commander General Anthony McAuliffe of "NUTS!"
A source of great pride in the 101st forever more, McAuliffe's response
has gone down in history as possibly the 2nd best defiance of a
surrender request. Molon Labe being the undisputed best.

Here's a pic of one of the tracks I was on yesterday. Just before I
took this picture, several pheasants spooked right in front of me. I'm
not sure who was more scared. When the heart rate settled, I saw the
light was perfect for a good pic;



Here's a beautiful Hampshire sunset on that green lane I mentioned
yesterday. (Yes, I know my low fuel light is on, I got back to
civilisation and a petrol station soon thereafter)

By Spring of 1835 trouble between the Florida indigenous population
was brewing up again. The U.S. government was trying to force the
Seminoles to leave Florida for the Indian Territory of present day
Oklahoma. The enticement to move was flimsy (a blanket per man and a
pittance paid to the tribe), so the Seminoles ignored the Treaty of
Payne's Landing which spelled out the conditions of removal. The
Seminoles found their voice in a firebrand, Osceola, who had fought
with the Creeks against Andrew Jackson. What followed was the Second
Seminole / Florida War.

Before Gettysburg came the preparation of the route north.

Once again, England is brought low by snow (or a few inches of rain, or wind, or leaves on the line, geesh)

Here in North Hampshire, we received the better part of an inch. I
wonder how places that get snow more frequently deal with these
problems? Judicious use of salt? England can't even buy that stuff without creating a market shamble of it.