10 APRIL
1769 Jean Lannes, 1st Duke of Montebello, Prince of Siewierz (10 April 1769 â 31 May 1809), was a French military commander and a Marshal of the Empire who served during both the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was one of Napoleon’s most daring and talented generals, and is regarded by many as one of history’s greatest military commanders. Napoleon once commented on Lannes: “I found him a pygmy and left him a giant”. A personal friend of the emperor, he was allowed to address him with the familiar tu, as opposed to the formal vous.
1794 Matthew Calbraith Perry (April 10, 1794 â March 4, 1858) was a commodore of the United States Navy who commanded ships in several wars, including the War of 1812 and the MexicanâAmerican War (1846â1848). He played a leading role in the opening of Japan to the West with the Convention of Kanagawa in 1854. Perry was interested in the education of naval officers and assisted in the development of an apprentice system that helped establish the curriculum at the United States Naval Academy. With the advent of the steam engine, he became a leading advocate of modernizing the U.S. Navy and came to be considered “The Father of the Steam Navy” in the United States.
1827 Lewis Wallace (April 10, 1827 â February 15, 1905) was an American lawyer, Union general in the American Civil War, governor of the New Mexico Territory, politician, diplomat, and author from Indiana. Among his novels and biographies, Wallace is best known for his historical adventure story, Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1880), a bestselling novel that has been called “the most influential Christian book of the nineteenth century.” Wallace’s military career included service in the MexicanâAmerican War and the American Civil War. He was appointed Indiana’s adjutant general and commanded the 11th Indiana Infantry Regiment. Wallace, who attained the rank of major general, participated in the Battle of Fort Donelson, the Battle of Shiloh, and the Battle of Monocacy. He also served on the military commission for the trials of the Lincoln assassination conspirators, and presided over the trial of Henry Wirz, the Confederate commandant of the Andersonville prison camp. Wallace resigned from the U.S. Army in November 1865 and briefly served as a major general in the Mexican army, before returning to the United States. Wallace was appointed governor of the New Mexico Territory (1878â1881) and served as U.S. minister to the Ottoman Empire (1881â1885). Wallace retired to his home in Crawfordsville, Indiana, where he continued to write until his death in 1905.
1891 Timothy John Fitzgerald McCoy (April 10, 1891 â January 29, 1978), also known as Col. T.J. McCoy, was an American actor, military officer, and expert on American Indian life and customs. McCoy was a soldier in the United States Army during World War I (although he did not serve in combat nor overseas)[1] and again in World War II in Europe, rising to the rank of colonel with the Army Air Corps and Army Air Forces. He also served the state of Wyoming as its adjutant general between the wars with the brevet rank of brigadier general. At 28, he was one of the youngest brigadier generals in the history of the U.S. Army.
1929 Max von Sydow Apr 10, 1929 – Mar 08, 2020 (age 90) Von Sydow served for two years in the Swedish military with the Army Quartermaster Corps, where he adopted the name “Max” from the star performer of a flea circus he saw. After completing his service von Sydow studied at the Royal Dramatic Theatre (Dramaten) in Stockholm, where he trained between 1948 and 1951.
1974 Eric Robert Greitens ( born April 10, 1974) is an American politician, author, and former Navy SEAL who was the 56th governor of Missouri from January 2017 until his resignation in June 2018. He was the first Jewish governor of Missouri. Greitens matriculated at the United States Navy’s Officer Candidate School in Pensacola, Florida, in January 2001, graduating in May of that year as an ensign in the United States Navy Reserve. He then began Basic Underwater Demolitions/SEAL (BUD/S) training in Coronado, California, graduating with Class 237 in February 2002. Greitens rose to be a lieutenant commander in the United States Navy Reserve. During his active duty career, he was deployed four times, to Iraq, Afghanistan, the Horn of Africa, and Southeast Asia. He was the commander of a joint special operations task unit, a Mark V Special Operations Craft detachment, and an al-Qaeda targeting cell. He was awarded the Bronze Star, Purple Heart, and the Combat Action Ribbon. In 2011 the Association of the U.S. Navy named Greitens its Naval Reserve Junior Officer of the Year.
MILITARY HISTORY SOCIETY OF ROCHESTER
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