April 15, 1945 - Sunday - 80 years ago today

Status - John Skinner - USS St. Croix

The St. Croix remained in New Caledonia, readying to transport troops to the Philippines in May. 

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The invasion of Okinawa began on April 1st.  Many Navy ships are sunk or damaged by kamikaze aircraft.  On the 7th, Navy planes sink Japanese battleship Yamato.  US Navy attacks (air and submarine) sink many Japanese transports and small vessels.  Despite the capture of Manila, fighting would continue in the Philippines until July.  The St. Croix would bring troops to the Philippines several times during 1945.

The western European allies had moved into central Germany, capturing several cities including Muenster and Essen.  The Buchenwald concentration camp was liberated on the 11th, and Bergen-Belsen on the 12th.  Two Soviet armies began a race to Berlin.  Hitler had moved to the Fuhrerbunker on the 1st.

Death of President Roosevelt

 On the 12th, President Roosevelt, whose health had been fading for some time, died at the resort in Warm Springs, GA.  Vice-President Truman assumed the Presidency.  Truman would have to make many momentous decisions about the finish of the war and the post-war world.  Truman had not yet been, but soon would be, briefed on the atomic bomb program.

More Information:

• Official Navy Chronology, pp. 653-664.
• The Liberation of the Philippines, Samuel Eliot Morison, pp. 228-302. 
  
• Victory in the Pacific, Samuel Eliot Morison, pp. 169-236.
• USS_Saint_Croix
• Events of April, 1945
  

 

NEXT POST: MAY 1ST

April 15, 1865 - Saturday - 160 years ago today

 Status - 40th Indiana - 4th Army Corps - 2nd Division - 2nd Brigade

The 4th Army Corps is in East Tennessee, and will remain there until mid-April.

On the 2nd, General Lee passes the word that Richmond must be abandoned.  Confederate President Davis leaves the city that evening.  Lee moves west and Richmond is surrendered to Union forces on the 3rd.  Battles with high casualties continue to be fought as the armies move west.  President Lincoln tours Richmond on the 4th, and on the 8th returns to Washington, D. C.

On the 9th, Lee meets Grant in a private home near Appomattox, VA, and accepts terms for the surrender of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia.  All Confederate arms are surrendered, but the southern soldiers are allowed to keep their side arms for their journey home.  Lee leaves the army on the 10th.

Assassination of President Lincoln

On the 14th, after a full day of government business, President Lincoln and the First Lady attend a play titled Our American Cousin.  Actor John Wilkes Booth enters the Lincolns' box and shoots Lincoln behind the ear and leaps down to the stage.  Booth races out of the city on horseback, triggering a manhunt that will last several days.  Lincoln dies early on the 15th.

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John Baer - Home, Tippecanoe County, IN

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More Information:

• The Civil War Day by Day, John S. Bowman, Ed. pp. 206-211. 
• The Civil War, A Narrative, Vol 1II, Red River to Appomattox, Shelby Foote, pp. 875-988.
  
• Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant, p. 702-753.
• Memoirs of General William T. Sherman, pp. 818-836.
• Events: 1865   
  

NEXT POST: MAY 1ST

April 1, 1945 - Sunday - 80 years ago today

Status - John Skinner - USS St. Croix

The St. Croix remained in the Solomons area ferrying passengers and equipment between Guadalcanal the Florida Islands until the 18th, and then left for New Caledonia, reaching Noumea on the 26th.  There St. Croix boarded army troops for transportation to the Philippines.

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The island of Iwo Jima was secured by US forces on the 26th.  The invasion of Okinawa began on April 1st.  Many of the Haskell class transports like St. Croix were used at Iwo Jima and Okinawa.  Planning was already underway for Operation Downfall, the invasion of Japan; slated for November 1945, it would certainly have included St. Croix and all of her sister ships that were available.  So John and his shipmates would already be preparing for this final invasion.

Despite the capture of Manila, fighting would continue in the Philippines until July.  The St. Croix would bring troops to the Philippines several times during 1945.

The western European allies were crossing the Rhine River at many places along its length.  Soviet forces were advancing throughout what is now central Poland.  Gdansk (Danzig), the focus of the start of the war in 1939, fell to Soviet forces.

More Information:

• Official Navy Chronology, pp. 641-653.
• The Liberation of the Philippines, Samuel Eliot Morison, pp. 228-302. 
  
• Victory in the Pacific, Samuel Eliot Morison, pp. 64-169.
• USS_Saint_Croix
• Events of March, 1945 
• Events of April, 1945
  

 

NEXT POST: APRIL 15TH

April 1, 1865 - Saturday - 160 years ago today

 Status - 40th Indiana - 4th Army Corps - 2nd Division - 2nd Brigade

The 4th Army Corps is in East Tennessee, and will remain there until mid-April.

In North Carolina, Sherman has reached Goldsboro, NC, where he combines with another Union army under Schofield.  His army now vastly outnumbers the remainder of the Confederate army under Joseph Johnston.  This Union army wins a battle against the Confederates near Bentonville, NC.

Further north in Virginia, General Sheridan has moved his troops from the Shenandoah valley toward General Lee's right flank.  Sheridan presses forward and wins the Battle of Five Forks.  Combined with the defeat of a Confederate advance to break the Union supply lines on the Confederate left, the defeats are leading General Lee to consider moving west and ceding Richmond and Petersburg to the Union.  He is consulting with Confederate President Davis on when and how this will be done.

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John Baer - Home, Tippecanoe County, IN

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More Information:

• The Civil War Day by Day, John S. Bowman, Ed. pp. 203-206. 
• The Civil War, A Narrative, Vol 1II, Red River to Appomattox, Shelby Foote, pp. 817-875.
  
• Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant, p. 683-702.
• Memoirs of General William T. Sherman, pp. 783-818.
• Events: 1865   
  

NEXT POST: APRIL 15TH