There are some days, when the weight of history presses on them so heavily that they stretch reality and distort the fabric of space and time. They stand out, among the other 365, because of events that happened, milestones planted on the roads of history, firmly and sometimes, brutally. It is the story of such a day, October 16th. Today.
1781
5:00 PM
"My Lord"
"Yes Sergeant McRowane"
"The Attack failed, The French Battery is still pounding us with their infernal shells. We couldn't over power those ungrateful allies of America"
"Thank You, You are dismissed"
Cornwallis shrugged to himself. It was expected, he thought, with the relief forces from New York held up and with a dwindling supply of Arms, Ammunition and Food, and he would be surprised if he would be able to hold Yorktown longer. There was only one way, he had to get part of his force north across the York River, to Banister Tarleton's position on Gloucester Point. They would be needed there to strengthen the defenses.
"Corporal!" He called out to the sentry outside his quarters.
"Yes, My Lord"
"Tell the Generals of 2nd & 3rd Light Infantry and 32 Cavalry that I want to meet them right now!"
"Yes, My Lord"
Maybe they would be able to hold on at Gloucester Point till Clinton's Forces arrived from New York.
2200 HRS
"Your Lordship, We have news from the forces that were moved to Gloucester Point. They met a torrential downpour and could not proceed. They are awaiting further orders and..."
"I know, Sergeant, You may leave"
Cornwallis felt weary and he knew that it had nothing to do with fatigue of no sleep for 3 days or the tiredness of his body. The weariness was a result of the crushing of his spirit and he knew that it was about to become worse. It always did, after surrender. And he had no
options left.
(The Siege of Yorktown or Battle of Yorktown in 1781 was a decisive victory by a combined assault of American forces led by General George Washington and French forces led by General Comte de Rochambeau over a British Army commanded by General Lord Cornwallis. It proved to be the last major land battle of the American Revolutionary War, as the surrender of Cornwallis’s army (the second major surrender of the war) prompted the British government to eventually negotiate an end to the conflict)
1793
On the morning of 16 October a guard arrived to cut her hair and bind her hands behind her back. She was forced into a common, slow-moving cart and paraded through the streets of Paris for over an hour before reaching the Place de la Révolution where the guillotine stood.
She stepped lightly down from the cart and stared up at the guillotine.
The priest who had accompanied her whispered, "This is the moment, Madame, to arm yourself with courage."
She turned to look at him and smiled, "Courage? The moment when my troubles are going to end is not the moment when my courage is going to fail me."
She climbed up the stairs to the Guillotine and inadvertently stepped on the executioner's foot, "Monsieur, I ask your pardon. I did not do it on purpose,"
(At 12:15 on Wednesday 16 October 1793, Marie Antoinette was executed. Her head was exhibited to a cheering crowd. Her body was then taken and dumped in an unmarked mass grave in the Rue d'Anjou)
1934
"Comrade Commander, we await your orders"
"I am no commander, comrade. Defeated, retreating armies do not need a Commander or a General", Mao replied.
The young captain thought it wise not to reply. He was perplexed by this show of weakness on Mao Zedong's part. Was he not the Scourge of the Kuomintang? The one man whose name invoked both terror and respect in not only the enemy's mind but it was said, even in the annals of the Red Army.
Mao was oblivious to his reaction. His heart dwelt on the herculean task ahead. He had to take his army a thousand miles away to save them from the eventual massacre from the forces of Chiang Kai-Shek. Staying in Jiangxi was not safe and not was surrender. Retreat was the only option.
But the shame! How could he save himself from that? How could he answer his forefather's on the day of reckoning that he engineered the shameful retreat. Where is the silver lining for this dark cloud!
The Communists, under the eventual command of Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai, escaped in a circling retreat to the west and north, which reportedly traversed some 12,500 kilometers over 370 days. The route passed through some of the most difficult terrain of western China by traveling west, then north, to Shaanxi. Only one tenth of the forces would eventually make it.
(While costly, the Long March gave the Communist Party of China (CPC) the isolation it needed, allowing its army to recuperate and rebuild in the north of China. It also was vital in helping the CPC to gain a positive reputation among the peasants due to the determination and dedication of the surviving participants of the Long March)
1981
Harish was born
(Though not in the same magnitude as the events before, this birth and the subsequent life till date proved that there is yet hope for the mankind if someone like me can survive purely based on Luck, Humor Sense and Total Goofiness!)
1781
5:00 PM
"My Lord"
"Yes Sergeant McRowane"
"The Attack failed, The French Battery is still pounding us with their infernal shells. We couldn't over power those ungrateful allies of America"
"Thank You, You are dismissed"
Cornwallis shrugged to himself. It was expected, he thought, with the relief forces from New York held up and with a dwindling supply of Arms, Ammunition and Food, and he would be surprised if he would be able to hold Yorktown longer. There was only one way, he had to get part of his force north across the York River, to Banister Tarleton's position on Gloucester Point. They would be needed there to strengthen the defenses.
"Corporal!" He called out to the sentry outside his quarters.
"Yes, My Lord"
"Tell the Generals of 2nd & 3rd Light Infantry and 32 Cavalry that I want to meet them right now!"
"Yes, My Lord"
Maybe they would be able to hold on at Gloucester Point till Clinton's Forces arrived from New York.
2200 HRS
"Your Lordship, We have news from the forces that were moved to Gloucester Point. They met a torrential downpour and could not proceed. They are awaiting further orders and..."
"I know, Sergeant, You may leave"
Cornwallis felt weary and he knew that it had nothing to do with fatigue of no sleep for 3 days or the tiredness of his body. The weariness was a result of the crushing of his spirit and he knew that it was about to become worse. It always did, after surrender. And he had no
options left.
(The Siege of Yorktown or Battle of Yorktown in 1781 was a decisive victory by a combined assault of American forces led by General George Washington and French forces led by General Comte de Rochambeau over a British Army commanded by General Lord Cornwallis. It proved to be the last major land battle of the American Revolutionary War, as the surrender of Cornwallis’s army (the second major surrender of the war) prompted the British government to eventually negotiate an end to the conflict)
1793
On the morning of 16 October a guard arrived to cut her hair and bind her hands behind her back. She was forced into a common, slow-moving cart and paraded through the streets of Paris for over an hour before reaching the Place de la Révolution where the guillotine stood.
She stepped lightly down from the cart and stared up at the guillotine.
The priest who had accompanied her whispered, "This is the moment, Madame, to arm yourself with courage."
She turned to look at him and smiled, "Courage? The moment when my troubles are going to end is not the moment when my courage is going to fail me."
She climbed up the stairs to the Guillotine and inadvertently stepped on the executioner's foot, "Monsieur, I ask your pardon. I did not do it on purpose,"
(At 12:15 on Wednesday 16 October 1793, Marie Antoinette was executed. Her head was exhibited to a cheering crowd. Her body was then taken and dumped in an unmarked mass grave in the Rue d'Anjou)
1934
"Comrade Commander, we await your orders"
"I am no commander, comrade. Defeated, retreating armies do not need a Commander or a General", Mao replied.
The young captain thought it wise not to reply. He was perplexed by this show of weakness on Mao Zedong's part. Was he not the Scourge of the Kuomintang? The one man whose name invoked both terror and respect in not only the enemy's mind but it was said, even in the annals of the Red Army.
Mao was oblivious to his reaction. His heart dwelt on the herculean task ahead. He had to take his army a thousand miles away to save them from the eventual massacre from the forces of Chiang Kai-Shek. Staying in Jiangxi was not safe and not was surrender. Retreat was the only option.
But the shame! How could he save himself from that? How could he answer his forefather's on the day of reckoning that he engineered the shameful retreat. Where is the silver lining for this dark cloud!
The Communists, under the eventual command of Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai, escaped in a circling retreat to the west and north, which reportedly traversed some 12,500 kilometers over 370 days. The route passed through some of the most difficult terrain of western China by traveling west, then north, to Shaanxi. Only one tenth of the forces would eventually make it.
(While costly, the Long March gave the Communist Party of China (CPC) the isolation it needed, allowing its army to recuperate and rebuild in the north of China. It also was vital in helping the CPC to gain a positive reputation among the peasants due to the determination and dedication of the surviving participants of the Long March)
1981
Harish was born
(Though not in the same magnitude as the events before, this birth and the subsequent life till date proved that there is yet hope for the mankind if someone like me can survive purely based on Luck, Humor Sense and Total Goofiness!)
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