1726 William Prescott was an American colonel in the Revolutionary War who commanded the patriot forces in the Battle of Bunker Hill. Prescott is known for his order to his soldiers, “Do not fire until you see the whites of their eyes”, such that the rebel troops may shoot at the enemy at shorter ranges, and therefore more accurately and lethally, and so conserve their limited stocks of ammunition. It is debated whether Prescott or someone earlier coined this memorable saying.
1772 Isaac Chauncey (February 20, 1772 â January 27, 1840) was an officer in the United States Navy who served in the Quasi-War, The Barbary Wars and the War of 1812. In 1813 he was given overall command of American naval forces on Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. In the latter part of his naval career he was President of the Board of Navy Commissioners.
1809 Henry Walton Wessells was a career United States Army officer, best known for his service during the American Civil War, including his surrender of Union fortifications during the Battle of Plymouth in 1864.
1827 Edward Stuyvesant Bragg was an American politician, lawyer, soldier, and diplomat. He was an accomplished Union Army officer in the American Civil War and served four terms in the United States House of Representatives representing Wisconsin. Later, he was United States Minister to Mexico during the presidency of Grover Cleveland and consul-general to the Republic of Cuba and British Hong Kong under President Theodore Roosevelt.
1838 James B. Terrill, often identified as James Barbour Terrill was a lawyer and an officer in the Confederate States Army. He was practicing law in Warm Springs, Virginia when the American Civil War began. He joined the Confederate Army and was elected major of the 13th Virginia Infantry Regiment in May 1861. He became colonel of the regiment after the Battle of Chancellorsville on May 15, 1863. On May 30, 1864, he was killed in action at the Battle of Totopotomoy Creek or Battle of Bethesda Church, which immediately preceded the Battle of Cold Harbor during the Overland Campaign. Terrill had already been nominated to the grade of brigadier general. The Confederate Senate posthumously confirmed the appointment on May 31, 1864, to rank from June 1, 1864.
1822 Sidney Poitier; ( born February 20, 1927) is a Bahamian-American retired actor, film director, and ambassador. In 1964, Poitier won the Academy Award for Best Actor becoming the first black male actor to win that award. During World War II, in November 1943, he lied about his age and enlisted in the Army. He was assigned to a Veteran’s Administration hospital in Northport, New York, and was trained to work with psychiatric patients.
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