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Monochrome

A monochrome or monochromatic image, object or palette is composed of one color (or values of one color). Images using only shades of grey are called grayscale (typically digital) or black-and-white (typically analog). In physics, monochromatic light refers to electromagnetic radiation that contains a narrow band of wavelengths, which is a distinct concept.

Application
Of an image, the term monochrome is usually taken to mean the same as black and white or, more likely, grayscale, but may also be used to refer to other combinations containing only tones of a single color, such as green-and-white or green-and-red. It may also refer to sepia displaying tones from light tan to dark brown or cyanotype ("blueprint") images, and early photographic methods such as daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, and tintypes, each of which may be used to produce a monochromatic image.

In computing, monochrome has two meanings:

 * it may mean having only one color which is either on or off (also known as a binary image),
 * allowing shades of that color.

A monochrome computer display is able to display only a single color, often green, amber, red or white, and often also shades of that color.

In film photography, monochrome is typically the use of black-and-white film. Originally, all photography was done in monochrome. Although color photography was possible even in the late 19th century, easily used color films, such as Kodachrome, were not available until the mid-1930s.

In digital photography, monochrome images use only the data for brightness captured by the sensor, or by post-processing a color image to present only the perceived brightness by combining the values of multiple channels (usually red, blue, and green). The weighting of individual channels may be selected to achieve a desired artistic effect; if only the red channel is selected by the weighting then the effect will be similar to that of using a red filter on panchromatic film. If the red channel is eliminated and the green and blue combined then the effect will be similar to that of orthochromatic film or the use of a cyan filter on panchromatic film. The selection of weighting so provides a wide variety of artistic expression in the final monochrome image.

For production of an anaglyph image the original color stereogram source may first be reduced to monochrome in order to simplify the rendering of the image. This is sometimes required in cases where a color image would render in a confusing manner given the colors and patterns present in the source image and the selection filters used (typically red and its complement, cyan).

Color scheme

A monochromatic color scheme comprises (tones, tints, and shades) of a single hue. Tints are achieved by adding white, thereby increasing lightness; Shades are achieved by adding black, thereby decreasing lightness; Tones are achieved by adding gray, thereby decreasing colorfulness.

Monochromatic color schemes provide opportunities in art and visual communications design as they allow for a greater range of contrasting tones that can be used to attract attention, create focus and support legibility.

The use of a monochromatic color provides a strong sense of visual cohesion and can help support communication objectives through the use of connotative color. The relative absence of hue contrast can be offset by variations in tone and the addition of texture.

Monochromatic in science means consisting of a single wavelength of light or other radiation (lasers, for example, usually produce monochromatic light), or having or appearing to have only one color (in comparison to polychromatic). That means according to science the true monochromatic images can be strictly created only of shades of one color fading to black.

However, monochromatic also has another meaning similar to “boring” or “colorless” which sometimes leads to creating a design composed from true monochromatic color shades (one hue fading to black), and the colors created from the one hue but faded to all wavelengths (to white). This is not monochromatic in the strictly scientific meaning of the word. In fact, monochrome in the art world can be as complicated or even more complicated than other polychromatic art.

In physics
In physics, monochromatic light is electromagnetic radiation of a single wavelength. While no source of electromagnetic radiation is purely monochromatic, in practice, it is usually used to describe very narrowband sources such as monochromated or laser light. The degree of monochromaticity can be defined by the spectral linewidth). A device which isolates a narrow band of light from a broadband source is called a monochromator.

title: Monochrome


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Siege of Port Hudson

The Siege of Port Hudson (May 22 – July 9, 1863) was the final engagement in the Union campaign to recapture the Mississippi River in the American Civil War. While Union General Ulysses Grant was besieging Vicksburg upriver, General Nathaniel Banks was ordered to capture the lower Mississippi Confederate stronghold of Port Hudson, Louisiana, to go to Grant's aid. When his assault failed, Banks settled into a 48-day siege, the longest in US military history up to that point. A second attack also failed, and it was only after the fall of Vicksburg that the Confederate commander, General Franklin Gardner, surrendered the port. The Union gained control of the river and navigation from the Gulf of Mexico through the Deep South and to the river's upper reaches.

Strategy and politics on the Mississippi

From the time the American Civil War started in April 1861, both the U.S. and Confederates made controlling the Mississippi River a major part of their strategy. The Confederacy wanted to keep using the river to transport needed supplies; the Union wanted to stop this supply route and drive a wedge that would divide Confederate states and territories. Particularly important to the South was the stretch of the Mississippi that included the mouth of the Red River. The Red was the Confederacy's primary route for moving vital supplies between east and west: salt, cattle, and horses traveled downstream from the Trans-Mississippi West; in the opposite direction flowed men and munitions from the east.

In the spring and early summer of 1862, the Union advanced their control of the Mississippi from both the north and the south. From the mouth of the river, a fleet commanded by Flag Officer David G. Farragut fought its way through Confederate fortifications in the Battle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip, resulting in the capture of New Orleans. A second Union fleet commanded by Charles H. Davis occupied Memphis, Tennessee, after defeating Confederate riverine forces in the First Battle of Memphis. To make sure it could continue to use the middle section of the river, the South fortified positions at both Vicksburg and Port Hudson.

The initial idea of fortifying the heights of Port Hudson came from the south's master of fixed defenses, General Pierre G.T. Beauregard, Commander, Army of the Mississippi. Writing to Major General Mansfield Lovell, Commander of the lower Mississippi in March 1862, Beauregard recommended, "...the fortification of Port Hudson as a measure of precaution against the fall of our defenses north of Memphis." In June 1862, Major General Earl Van Dorn wrote Jefferson Davis: "I want Baton Rouge and Port Hudson". A few days after the fall of Baton Rouge to the Union, Confederate General John C. Breckinridge with 4,000 men, carried out the wishes of General Van Dorn by occupying Port Hudson, situated between Baton Rouge and Bayou Sara, with troops under the command of General Daniel Ruggles. Soldiers of the 4th Louisiana Infantry arrived at the site on August 15, 1862.

According to historian John D. Winters, "Port Hudson, unlike Baton Rouge, was one of the strongest points on the river, and batteries placed upon the bluffs could command the entire river front." It was a position similar to that of Quebec City on the St. Lawrence River in the French and Indian War.

The political momentum behind the Union actions against Port Hudson came from the elections of November 1862. The Republican base, centered in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, had been shaken by embarrassing Democratic victories. A dramatic letter from Indiana Governor Oliver P. Morton to Lincoln claimed that "The fate of the North-West is trembling in the balance." His implication was that unless the independent trade of Union states along the Ohio River was restored by Union control of the entire Mississippi, further breakup of the Union was possible. Morton believed the states of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois were in danger of breaking away from the Northeast to join the Confederacy, which was increasingly becoming the more lucrative opportunity. In addition, the southern areas of these states had been settled by people from the South, many of whom maintained their identification with that region and its culture.

The threat of political fractures galvanized the Lincoln administration into action. Major General Nathanial Banks was diverted from a possible expedition to Texas and given Benjamin Butler's command of the Department of the Gulf. The Union commander of all armies, Henry Wager Halleck, said to Banks that President Lincoln "regards the opening of the Mississippi River as the first and most important of all our military and naval operations, and it is hoped that you will not lose a moment in accomplishing it." On December 4, 1862, Banks and his expedition put to sea for New Orleans.

In May 1863, Union land and naval forces began a campaign they hoped would give them control of the full length of the Mississippi River. One army under Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant commenced operations against the Confederacy's fortified position at Vicksburg at the northern end of the stretch of the river still in Southern hands, while another army under Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks simultaneously attacked Port Hudson at the southern end.

Foundation of a fortress

Port Hudson was sited on an 80 ft bluff on the east bank above a hairpin turn in the Mississippi River 25 mi upriver from Baton Rouge. The hills and ridges in the area of the town represented extremely rough terrain, a maze of deep, thickly forested ravines, swamps, and cane brakes creating a natural fortress. The town was a port for shipping cotton and sugar downriver from the surrounding area. Despite its importance, the city had only a few buildings and 200 people at the start of the war. The river had shifted south and the docks had been moved about .5 mi south.

In 1862, a railroad was constructed to the town of Clinton, 19 mi to the northeast. The entire length of the Port Hudson and Clinton railroad was 21 mi. It did not connect with the New Orleans, Jackson, and Great Northern railroad that connected Louisiana with other states and with Camp Moore, the main mustering point for Confederate forces in the department. Also by 1862 the railroad was run down, the track consisting of strips of iron nailed flat to rotten ties. The entire rolling stock consisted of one locomotive, one passenger car, and six box and flat cars. This train could accommodate only a few hundred troops at the most and was inadequate for hauling heavy guns and their ammunition. This lack of transport independent of the river would limit the defensibility of Port Hudson.

Initial plans for fortifications were drawn up with the assistance of Captain James Nocquet, chief engineer for General Breckinridge. Along with loaning his engineering staff, Breckinridge also authorized Ruggles to gather needed supplies and tools using the Clinton and Port Hudson railroad, and whatever labor the area could provide for construction. Three different layouts for earthworks were considered: a central fort mounting cannon supported by angled outworks, a line of lunettes arranged along a 400 yd line, and a continuous ring of redoubts, trenches, and parapets surrounding the entire position.

The first option was rejected for concentrating the positions armament into too small a target, and thus making it too vulnerable to bombardment. The third option was rejected because a siege was considered unlikely, and the task of building such extensive works too ambitious since the circumference of the ring would have been eight miles (13 km.) and required 35,000 men and 70 pieces of artillery for defense. The line of lunettes was determined to be the best plan for the defense of the Port Hudson heights, and construction started on a line of seven fronting the river.

General Breckinridge was soon ordered to take most of his troops to Kentucky, however, and on August 18 he left, leaving only 1,500 men to work on the fortifications under Ruggles's command. Ruggles did have a forty-two-pounder smoothbore cannon, which he mounted immediately, manned by former sailors of the CSS Arkansas, which had been destroyed in the Battle of Baton Rouge that year. Two thirty-two-pounders were shortly added from the abandoned wreck of the USS Sumter (1863).

Union Navy assesses the defenses

General Ruggles was ordered to turn over command of Port Hudson to Brigadier General William Nelson Rector Beall on August 29, 1862, and take some of his troops to Mississippi. This was the day that the Union Navy began to contest the guns of Port Hudson for control of the Mississippi. The improvised Union gunboat USS Anglo-American, a wooden side-wheel steamboat, passed Port Hudson moving upriver to join with Commander David Dixon Porter's fleet at Vicksburg. Although struck many times by shot from Port Hudson, it was unable to return fire due to wet cartridges and an ammunition shortage. The Anglo-American joined Porter's fleet and reported the fortifications at Port Hudson.

Porter responded to the new threat by bombarding the Rebel position with the USS Essex (1856) and the Anglo-American on September 7. The Union fleet did little damage to Port Hudson, but the Essex received significant damage. Porter reported 35 to 40 heavy guns at Port Hudson, a considerable exaggeration. During the lull in action when the Union delayed bringing more ships into the area, Beall slowly expanded the fortifications. This work was slowed because of interference from Union-controlled portions of the river and the inadequate rail and road system supporting his position. By this time, Confederate President Jefferson Davis realized that connecting the Port Hudson and Clinton railway to Jackson, Mississippi, would be invaluable in allowing reserves to be switched between Vicksburg and Port Hudson, depending upon which was most threatened. A desperate shortage of iron and transport within the Confederacy made such construction impossible. Beall asked Davis to impose martial law in the region of Port Hudson in order to commandeer more workers for construction, but Davis denied this also.

Beall endeavored to set up a hospital at Centenary College at Jackson Louisiana for invalided troops from Port Hudson and Clinton, but the space proved inadequate. Confederate bureaucracy had made it difficult for Garrison Provost Marshal John C. Miller to construct a logistical system of warehouses and transports to supply the garrison with food, medical supplies, barracks, bedding, and other material necessary for their health. The use of earthworks for fortification, which required unending labor to maintain and were unhealthful to live in, also contributed to the poor health of the garrison.

Poor supply lines, starvation, and disease were to remain the constant problems of the Port Hudson position, and overwhelm efforts to improve conditions for the soldiers of the garrison. Louisiana Private Robert D. Patrick wrote: "...never since I have been in the army have I fared so badly and in truth I have been almost starved." At the same time commercial activity between Port Hudson and areas west of the Mississippi increased, because Port Hudson became the sole remaining link with the Trans-Mississippi. This tended to tie up even more of Port Hudson's limited transport facilities.

Changes of command
Lincoln's new commander of the Gulf, Nathaniel P. Banks, arrived in New Orleans on December 14, 1862, with the 31,000 men of his expedition. The former commander, Benjamin Butler left for Lowell, Massachusetts on December 24, but his 12,000 troops remained behind. This effectively more than doubled U.S. troop strength in the Gulf area. Banks ordered them to re-occupy Baton Rouge on December 17.

The Confederate command reacted to this increased Union commitment by sending a newly promoted major general to take command of Port Hudson. Major General Franklin Gardner arrived at his post on December 27, 1862. Gardner was a career Army officer who graduated from West Point 17th in his class in 1843. The native New Yorker commanded a cavalry brigade at Shiloh and was 39 years old at the time of his arrival. Upon taking command he reorganized the defenses at Port Hudson, concentrating the fields of fire of the heavy guns and rapidly setting up more earthworks by using packed earth and sod rather than the traditional gabions or sandbags.

Lacking an adequate engineering staff, he promoted Private Henry Glinder, formerly a member of the United States Coast Survey, to first lieutenant of engineers. He also increased the efficiency of the supply and storage operations, along with building protected roads within the defense system to speed the movement of troops to threatened positions. His energy in making improvements and promoting those worthy of command made him popular with his troops, and improved garrison morale. Despite the changes, Colonel Charles M. Fauntleroy, inspector-general for the department, criticized the fortifications for containing excessive numbers of civilians, badly placed magazines, poor transport and storage of grain, and no system for paying the troops on time. As Gardner strengthened his command, and gathered reinforcements from Pemberton sent by steamboat from Vicksburg, Banks dithered in New Orleans. He had little faith in the system of organization and military government left by Butler's command and spent much time re-organizing the Union administration and establishing a more relaxed civil government to placate former Confederate backers in the city. Banks was a "political general" and felt more comfortable with political organizing and social affairs than leading armies into the field against reputedly formidable fortifications. This lack of military zeal was noted by his officers. Colonel Sidney A. Bean recorded in his diary that under Butler, "much was accomplished with small means. Now nothing is accomplished with great means." The Union leader most offended by this apparent inertia was Rear Admiral David G. Farragut of the U.S. Navy. Although Banks reluctantly agreed to move against Port Hudson, his slow progress and the increased Rebel activity on the Mississippi in the area of Port Hudson caused Farragut's patience to run out. In March 1863 Farragut prepared to confront Port Hudson without Army support.

Farragut's fleet passes Port Hudson

Farragut had gathered his attack force by March 13, 1863. This fleet consisted of four principal warships and three gunboats. The principal warships were the sloops-of-war USS Hartford (1858), USS Richmond (1860), and USS Monongahela (1862) and the steam paddle frigate USS Mississippi (1841). The gunboats were USS Albatross (1858), USS Genesee (1862), and USS Kineo (1861). Farragut commanded this fleet from his flagship, Hartford. The first six vessels were lashed together in an attack column of pairs, with Mississippi bringing up the rear by herself.

Farragut had made fairly elaborate preparations of the vessels themselves for a night attack resembling the Battle of Forts Jackson and St. Phillip, clearing the ships for action, whitewashing the gun decks to improve visibility for night action, and bringing up mortar boats for support. He also had the anchor chains of the attacking ships lashed to the sides of the attack ships as improvised armor. He did not however, make the systematic survey of defenses and sustained bombardment that supported the battle for the passage of the forts guarding New Orleans.

The Confederate fortress was ready for the attack, having noticed increased naval activity downriver, and the ranging shots of the six mortar schooners which covered the advance of the Union fleet near Prophet's Island, three miles (4.3 km) downriver from Port Hudson. At this time the Confederates had over twenty cannon covering the river arranged in eleven batteries of artillery, including nine batteries of heavy coastal artillery. Lieutenant Colonel Marshall J. Smith commanded these heavy guns, and had instructed the gun crews of his plans before the battle.

Battery Number Seven was a heated shot position, using ammunition particularly effective against wooden warships. Other preparations included preparing piles of pine wood to be ignited to illuminate the river for night action, and observation posts near the river to fire rockets to warn of the approach of enemy vessels. The first of these rockets was fired at 11:20 pm on March 14, 1863, at the approach of Farragut's fleet. Instantly an eight-inch (203-mm) smoothbore shell from Battery 9 was fired at Albatross, beginning the battle. The Union fleet advanced steadily upriver, beginning a general fire of broadsides as soon as their guns bore on the lower Confederate batteries on the Port Hudson slopes. The heavier Confederate guns, mounted over the walls of the seven lunettes on the crest of the bluffs, had difficulty aiming at the ships, which were hugging the shorelines of the bluffs in order to avoid shoals on the western shore near the curve of the river north of Port Hudson.

Coarse black powder was the artillery propellant of the period, and produced dense clouds of white smoke when fired from cannon. Combined with the smoke of the pine wood illumination fires, and the darkness of the night attack, the river valley was rapidly obscured. Blinded by the dense smoke, Hartford and Albatross ran aground on the eastern shore beneath the Rebel batteries. Despite remaining aground for ten minutes, the two lashed-together lead ships had passed the last Confederate gun position by 12:15 am and were out of range of Port Hudson by 12:45 am.

The rest of the fleet was not so lucky. Genesee and Richmond were next in the column. A trick of the wind cleared the smoke momentarily between the batteries and the ships, and Richmond was hammered by Rebel shot and shell. Just as Richmond made the turn in the river north of Port Hudson, a 6.4-inch (163 mm) solid conical shot tore through the starboard side, smashing both port and starboard boiler safety valves. This cut power to the engines and filled the ship with clouds of escaping steam. Genesee alone did not have enough power to stem the current, and both ships drifted back downriver.

Monongahela and Kineo were next in the column, and, also blinded by smoke, ran aground on the western shore. The impact separated the two ships. The stress of backing off the shore disabled Monongahelas engine, and a thirty-two-pounder (14.5 kg) round shot split Kineos rudder post, disabling her steering. Both ships drifted downriver.

Mississippi was last in line and also ran aground on the western shore. The large steam paddle frigate was an irresistible target, and was riddled with shot, shell, and hot shot. The vessel being afire in many places, with flames endangering the magazine, Captain Smith ordered her abandoned. The garrison of Port Hudson cheered loudly as the ship went up in flames and drifted loose from the shore and back downriver at about 3 am, panicking the remainder of the Union fleet downriver at the threat of her magazine exploding. At 5:05 am Mississippi disappeared in a terrific explosion, seen in New Orleans nearly 80 miles (129 km.) downriver.

Though Hartford and Albatross passed upriver to blockade the Red River, General Gardner and the Port Hudson garrison regarded the battle as a victory. They had sustained only three enlisted men killed and three officers and nineteen men wounded, compared to the seventy-eight killed or missing and thirty-five wounded on the Union fleet. The blockade of the Red River also had little effect on the strength of the Port Hudson position.

Banks's army moves against the fortress

After the naval attack, Banks retreated the 17,000 troops he had intended as a diversion to support Farragut back to Baton Rouge. The lack of an attack against Port Hudson, and a powerful rainstorm endured on the retreat lowered morale in the Union force. Other than sporadic naval bombardments against Port Hudson, Banks, under pressure from Washington to show progress, launched a campaign against Major General Taylor's Confederate forces in western Louisiana and gained control of Alexandria and a foothold on the Red River. What finally brought him to leading an attack directly against Port Hudson was the prospect of reinforcements from Grant's army arrayed against Vicksburg, and word that a significant part of the Port Hudson garrison had been sent to Pemberton in Vicksburg.

On May 11, 1863, the 3rd Louisiana Native Guards, one of Butler's black regiments, began building bridges to support the movement of Banks's forces against Port Hudson. Leading the advance was the cavalry brigade of Colonel Benjamin Henry Grierson, which had joined Banks's forces on May 2 after their famous raid through the Rebel lines. The entire advance involved a pincer movement with three army divisions advancing from the northwest from Bayou Sara meeting two divisions advancing from the south from Baton Rouge. The meeting of the two groups would surround Port Hudson.

One of Banks's lead divisions from Baton Rouge encountered Confederates on May 21 at the Battle of Plains Store. The Confederates were driven back, and by May 22, Banks's forces, which increased in strength from 30,000 to 40,000 men as the operation progressed, had completed an investment of the Port Hudson defenses. Banks hoped to overrun the entrenchments quickly, then take his army northward to assist Grant at Vicksburg.

The first infantry assault
Sieges and the assault of fortified positions are probably the most complex and demanding of military operations. The foremost authority on these matters at the time of the civil war was still the seventeenth century French engineer, the Marquis de Vauban, who designed many European fortification systems, and organized many successful sieges. The Confederate earthworks of Port Hudson, and their use of artillery lunettes show his influence.

General Gardner reinforced the picket lines shielding the Confederate grain mill and support shops of the areas near Little Sandy Creek, previously left unfortified because he had not considered a siege probable. Other Confederate troops remained outside the fortifications, consisting of 1200 troops under the command of Colonel John L. Logan. These represented all of Gardner's cavalry, the 9th Louisiana Battalion, Partisan Rangers, and two artillery pieces of Robert's battery. These troops slowed the encirclement of Banks troops, and prevented them from discovering the weaknesses in the defenses. Due to these delays, the infantry assault was scheduled for May 27, 1863, five days after the encirclement and time enough for Gardner to complete the ring of defenses around Port Hudson. He also had sufficient time to move artillery from the river side of the fort to the east side fronting the Federal forces.

Weitzel's morning attacks
Banks had set up his headquarters at Riley's plantation and planned the attacks with his staff and division commanders. Many were opposed to the idea of trying to overwhelm the fort with a simple assault, but Banks wanted to end the siege as quickly as possible in order to support Grant, and felt that the 30,000 troops available to him would easily force the surrender of the 7,500 troops under Gardner, a four to one advantage. Four different assault groups were organized, under the commands of generals Godfrey Weitzel, Cuvier Grover, Christopher C. Augur, and Thomas W. Sherman (often mistakenly identified as a relative of General William Tecumseh Sherman). Banks did not choose a specific time for his intended simultaneous assault however, ordering his commanders to "...commence at the earliest hour practicable."

The effect of this was to break up the attack, with generals Weitzel and Grover attacking on the north and northeast sides of the fort at dawn, and generals Augur and Sherman attacking on the east and southeast sides at noon. The naval bombardment began the night before the attack, the 13" (330 mm) mortars firing most of the evening, and the upper and lower fleets beginning firing for an hour after 7 am. The army land batteries also fired an hour bombardment after 5:30 am. Weitzel's two divisions began the attack at 6 am on the north, advancing through the densely forested ravines bordering the valley of Little Sandy Creek. This valley led the assault into a salient formed by a fortified ridge known as the "bull pen" where the defenders slaughtered cattle, and a lunette on a ridge nicknamed "Fort Desperate" which had been hastily improvised to protect the fort's grain mill.

At the end of this ravine between the two was a hill described as "commissary hill" with an artillery battery mounted on it. The Union troops were caught in a crossfire from these three positions, and held in place by dense vegetation and obstacles placed by rebel troops that halted their advance. The combination of rugged terrain, a crossfire from three sides, and rebel sharpshooters inflicted many casualties. The Union troops advancing west of the bull pen were made up of Fearing's brigade. These soldiers were caught between the bull pen, which had been reinforced with the 14th, 18th, and 23rd Arkansas regiments from the east side of Port Hudson, and a more western fortified ridge manned by Lieutenant Colonel M. B. Locke's Alabama troops. Once again the combination of steep sided ravines, dense vegetation, and a rebel crossfire from ridge top trenches halted the Union advance. Premature shell bursts from the supporting artillery of the 1st Maine Battery also caused Union casualties.

Seeing that his advance had been stopped, Brigadier General William Dwight ordered the 1st and 3rd Louisiana Native Guard forward into the attack. These troops were not intended to take part in the attack due to the general prejudice against African-American troops on the part of the Union high command. Dwight was determined to break through the Confederate fortifications however, and committed them to the attack at 10 am. Since they had been deployed as pioneers, working on the pontoon bridge over Big Sandy Creek near its junction with the Mississippi, these troops were in the worst possible position for an attack of all the units in Weitzel's northern assault group.

The Guard first had to advance over the pontoon bridge, along Telegraph Road with a fortified ridge to their left manned by William B. Shelby's 39th Mississippi troops supported by a light artillery battery, the Confederate heavy artillery batteries to their front, and the Mississippi river to their immediate right. Despite the heavy crossfire from rifles, field artillery, and heavy coast guns, the Louisiana Native Guards advanced with determination and courage, led by Captain Andre Cailloux, a free black citizen of New Orleans. Giving orders in English and French, Cailloux led the Guard regiments forward until killed by artillery fire. Taking heavy losses, the attackers were forced to retreat to avoid annihilation. This fearless advance did much to dissipate the belief that black troops were unreliable under fire.

In an attempt to support Weitzel's unsuccessful assault, Brigadier Grover, commanding the northeast attack on the fortress, sent two of his regiments along the road leading northeast from Commissary Hill to assault Fort Desperate. This group had no more success than Weitzel's troops, so Grover sent three more regiments to attack the stubborn 15th Arkansas troops defending the fort. These piecemeal and sporadic efforts were also futile, and the fighting ended on the northern edge of the fortress by noon.

Thomas Sherman's afternoon attacks

While the infantry attacks raged against the northern section of the fortress, Brigadier General Sherman lined up 30 cannon opposite the eastern side of the fortress and conducted a steady bombardment of the rebel works and battery positions, supported by sharpshooters aiming for Confederate artillery crews. This effort had some success, but General Banks, upon hearing no rifle fire from the Union center, visited Sherman's headquarters and threatened to relieve him of command unless he advanced his troops. Sherman then began the attack on the eastern edge of the Port Hudson works at about 2 pm.

These attacks included the troops of Augur as well as his own, and had less in the way of natural terrain obstacles to contend with, but in this area the Confederates had more time to construct fortifications, and had put more effort and firepower into them. One feature of the earthworks in this region was a dry moat and more abatis or cut down trees in front of the parapet. The Union attackers therefore carried axes, poles, planks, cotton bags and fascines to fill in the ditch. Another feature of the rebel defense was a battery containing two 24-pounder smoothbore (5.82-inch, 148 mm bore) as canister throwers.

In this case the canister was composed of broken chains, segments of railroad rails, and other scrap iron. Confederate Colonel William R. Miles, commanding the infantry in the sector, had also removed all the rifles from the hospital that had been left by the sick and wounded. He was thus able to equip each of his soldiers with three weapons, greatly increasing their firepower. When the Union infantry closed within 200 yards they were met by a hail of rifle and canister fire, and few made it within 70 yards of the Confederate lines. Union commanders Sherman and Dow were wounded in these attacks, and Lieutenant Colonel James O'Brien, commanding the pioneer group, was killed. At 5 pm the commander of the 159th New York raised a white flag to signal a truce to remove the wounded and dead from the field. This ended the fighting for the day. None of the Union attacks had even made it to the Confederate parapets. The Union suffered 293 KIA, 1,545 wounded, 157 MIA, compared to the Confederate casualties of 235.

The last infantry attack on the Port Hudson fortifications

The successful defense of their lines brought a renewed confidence to Gardner and his garrison. They felt though a combination of well planned defensive earthworks and the skillful and deliberate reinforcement of threatened areas, the superior numbers of attackers had been repulsed. Learning from his experience, Gardner organized a more methodical system of defense. This involved dividing the fortifications into a network of defense zones, with an engineering officer in charge of strengthening the defense in each area. For the most part this involved once again charting the best cross fire for artillery positions, improving firepower concentrations, and digging protective pits to house artillery when not in use, to protect them from enemy bombardment.

Spent bullets and scrap metal were sewed into shirtsleeves to make up canister casings for the artillery, and the heavy coast guns facing the river that had center pivot mounts were cleared for firing on Union positions on the eastern side of the fortress. Three of these guns were equipped for this, and one 10 in columbiad in Battery Four was so effective in this that Union troops referred to it as the "Demoralizer". Its fearful reputation spawned the myth that it was mounted on a railroad car, and could fire from any position in the fortifications. Captain L. J. Girard was placed in charge of the function of the artillery, and despite material shortages, achieved miracles in keeping the artillery functional. Rifles captured from the enemy or taken from hospitalized soldiers were stacked for use by troops in the trench lines.

Positions in front of the lines were land mined with unexploded 13-inch (330 mm) mortar shells, known as "torpedoes" at the time. Sniper positions were also prepared at high points in the trench works for sharpshooters. These methods improved the defense, but could not make up for the fact that the garrison was short of everything except gunpowder. The food shortage was a drag on morale, and resulted in a significant level of desertion to the enemy. This drain on manpower was recorded by Colonel Steedman, who wrote "Our most serious and annoying difficulty is the unreliable character of a portion of our Louisiana troops. Many have deserted to the enemy, giving him information of our real condition; yet in the same regiments we have some of our ablest officers and men." Miles' Louisiana Legion were considered the greatest offenders.

On the Union side, astonishment and chagrin were near universal in reaction to the decisive defeat of the infantry assaults. Banks was determined to continue the siege as his political as well as military career would be destroyed by a withdrawal to Baton Rouge. The resources of his entire command were called into play, and men and material poured into the Union encirclement. Nine additional regiments appeared in the lines by June 1. 89 field guns were brought into action, and naval guns from USS Richmond were added to the siege guns bearing on the fortress. These six naval guns were 9-inch (229 mm) Dahlgren smoothbores. The guns were originally intended for a battery at the Head of Passes in the Mississippi Delta. The fact that four were finally emplaced in Battery Number 10, just east of "Fort Desperate" and two in Number 24, gives some idea of the reach and progress of the Union Navy. Each of the Dahlgren guns weighed 9,020 pounds and was 9 feet long, capable of firing a 73.5 pound (33.3 kg) exploding shell.

The second assault began with sustained shelling of the Confederate works, beginning at 11:15 am on 13 June 1863, and lasting an hour. Banks then sent a message to Gardner demanding the surrender of his position. Gardner replied "My duty requires me to defend this position, and therefore I decline to surrender." Banks continued the bombardment for the night, but only gave the order for what was to be a simultaneous three-prong infantry attack at 1 am on 14 June. The attack finally began at 3:30 am, but the lack of any agreed upon plan and a heavy fog disordered the attack as it began. Grover's column struck the Confederate line at "Fort Desperate" before the others, and the same formidable terrain combined with the enhanced Confederate defense stopped the attacks outside the rebel works. Auger's demonstration at the center arrived after the main attack had failed, and the attack on the southern end of the line was made after daylight, and stood little chance as a result. The infantry attack had only resulted in even more dead and wounded soldiers: 1,792 Union casualties, against 47 Confederate. Division commander Brig. Gen. Halbert E. Paine led the main attack and fell wounded, losing a leg. After this, the actions against Port Hudson were reduced to bombardment and siege.

Shortly after the war, Capt. James F. Fitts of the 114th New York described the 14 June assault on  in The Galaxy magazine:

"...while every eye was bent anxiously forward to catch the first view of the position. It was no time for the exhibition of enthusiasm; nobody failed to understand that the assault was being furiously pressed, without an inch of advantage to us thus far. I looked at the faces of those about me, and saw that they perfectly understood it. There were some boyish faces there that were quite pale, and the bearded ones wore a look which was almost one of suffering; but one and all were silently nerving their hearts for the torment, and they kept right on… The sound of the strife rolled down from above in an increasing tumult; the bullets fell thicker into the road; the air was mingled with noises of battle. The sides of the cut began to slope toward the level of our feet; two rods more, and we were out of the covered way. There was an abrupt ascent, then a small area of rough, uneven ground, then a ditch, seven feet deep, and quite as wide, while beyond all rose a perpendicular earthwork, not less than twelve feet above the ditch, built in the form of a retreating angle. Here was the point chosen for the assault, and before it was being enacted a scene of slaughter replete with all the horrors of a close and desperate fight. There was not sufficient ground to allow a regiment to deploy to advantage; as fast as they were unmasked from the cut, the companies rushed with a shout up the ascent, across the intervening ground, and into the ditch. From the parapet of the Rebel work came a continual flash of rifles–not in volleys, but in an irregular burst which never ceased while the attack lasted. The Rebels were entirely sheltered behind their defenses; hardly a head was to be seen above the parapet. The open space before the work was strewn with soldiers in blue, dead, dying, and severely wounded; they lay among the bushes, on the hillside, and covered the bottom of that awful ditch, yawning like a grave, at the foot of the work. For a whole hour there was a continued repetition of the scene; a yell, a rush, shouts, musket shots, cries and groans. The ditch was at last filled with the living and the dead; the former striving, within six yards of the muzzles of the Rebel rifles, to climb the face of the earthwork, and continually dropping back, with bullet holes perforated clear through their bodies…Wounded men were killed while trying to crawl beyond the range of the fire, or lay helpless under it, unable to hazard the attempt…every repetition of the assault was met by the same murderous discharge, covering the ground thickly with its victims, and adding to the horrors of the scene."

- Capt. James F. Fitts of the 114th New York

Last stages of the siege, June 15 to July 9, 1863

The day after the last infantry assault, General Banks assembled some of his troops at the corps headquarters and thanked them for their previous efforts and sacrifices. He also asked for volunteers for a special attack group to be trained intensively to breach the Confederate trench line. His speech generated little enthusiasm, but a unit of 1036 men was formed and removed to a training camp in the rear to prepare for the attack. There they assembled siege ladders and organized into two battalions, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel John B. Van Petten and Lieutenant Colonel A. S. Bickmore. Colonel Henry Warner Birge of the 13th Connecticut Infantry volunteered to lead the special assault regiment.

Regular siege operations were also reorganized under the command of a new chief engineer, Captain John C. Palfrey. He concentrated the efforts of the siege on three areas of the fortifications, Fort Desperate, the Priest Cap (Confederate batteries 14 & 15), and the Citadel, the southernmost bastion of the fortifications, nicknamed by Union forces as "the Devil's Elbow". These efforts did not involve infantry rushing the trenches, but a siege technique called sapping, or constructing a series of zigzag trenches, fortified batteries, and sharpshooter positions intended to isolate and suppress individual defensive bastions. The sharpshooter or sniper positions were described at the time as trench cavaliers and were raised mounds of earth, reinforced with timbers or other materials to allow riflemen to overlook the enemy trenches and fire down into them.

The Citadel was to be reduced by a powerful siege battery constructed on a hill just to the south, Union battery number 24, intended to suppress the Confederate position by superior firepower. Union batteries were also constructed on the west bank of the Mississippi opposite Port Hudson, completely surrounding it with Union artillery batteries. Union forces also made raids on opposing trenches and batteries, to enhance their own trench lines or disable enemy batteries. Some of the 6th Michigan troops opposite the Citadel were armed with the .54 caliber (14 mm) breech-loading Merrill carbine, which gave them a rapid fire edge in trench raids. On June 26, a general bombardment from Union batteries and guns of the Union fleet began, disabling or suppressing what remained of the Confederate artillery. Along with the trenching operations, the Federals also constructed three mines underneath the opposing works, two of them directed against the Priest Cap, and one under the Citadel. After the mines were finished, chambers at the end of the mines would be loaded with powder, and exploded under the Confederate works, destroying them, and blowing gaps in the trench lines. At this point an infantry assault would be launched, hopefully overrunning the entire fortification.

The Confederates responded to the siege techniques with increased efforts of their own. The grist mill at Fort Desperate had been destroyed by shelling. It was replaced by using the locomotive from the defunct railroad to power millstones, providing a steady supply of cornmeal for the garrison. Expended rifle and artillery shells were salvaged for reuse by the defense, small arms shot being recast for making new cartridges, artillery rounds reused and distributed to Confederate artillery of the same caliber, or reused as mines and grenades. Additional trench lines, obstacles, mines, and bunkers were added to the threatened bastions, making them more difficult to bombard, infiltrate, or overrun. The Priest Cap bastion had a particularly elaborate defense system, including the use of telegraph wire staked up to a height of 18 in, in order to trip attacking infantry. Additional field artillery and infantry were added to the defense of Fort Desperate, making sapping in that area more costly.

Various raids against Union saps were also conducted. On June 26, the Confederates launched a trench raid by the 16th Arkansas Infantry against the Priest Cap sap, taking seven prisoners, and capturing weapons and supplies. Rebel trench raiders and defenders were adept at constructing and using improvised hand grenades. Raids by Logan's cavalry were also made against Union positions outside the siege lines. On June 3 an advance by Grierson's Union cavalry against Logan's position at Clinton was repulsed. The 14th New York Cavalry was hit on June 15 near Newport, two miles from Port Hudson. Other raids struck Union foraging parties returning from Jackson, Louisiana, and captured the Union General Neal Dow, who was convalescing at Heath plantation. The biggest raid set fire to the Union supply center at Springfield Landing on July 2. These raids were annoying to Banks, but could not break the siege. On July 3, a countermine was exploded near one of the Federal mines under the Priests Cap. This collapsed the mine, but surprisingly did not cause any Union casualties. The defenders could not compensate for the constant losses of personnel resulting from starvation, disease, particularly scurvy, dysentery, and malaria, sniping, shell fragments, sunstroke and desertion. The use of mule meat and rats as rations could not maintain the health of the soldiers left standing, and was a further drain on morale.

The siege created hardships and deprivations for both the North and South, but by early July the Confederates were in much worse shape. They had exhausted practically all of their food supplies and ammunition, and fighting and disease had greatly reduced the number of men able to defend the trenches. When Maj. Gen. Gardner learned that Vicksburg had surrendered on July 4, 1863, he realized that his situation was hopeless and that nothing could be gained by continuing. The terms of surrender were negotiated, and on July 9, 1863, the Confederates laid down their weapons, ending 48 days of continuous fighting. It had been the longest siege in US military history.

Captain Thornton A. Jenkins accepted the Confederate surrender, as Admiral David Farragut was in New Orleans.

Aftermath
The surrender and that of Vicksburg gave the Union complete control of the Mississippi River and its major tributaries, severing communications and trade between the eastern and western states of the Confederacy.

Both sides had suffered heavy casualties: between 4,700 and 5,200 Union men were casualties, and an additional 4,000 fell prey to disease or sunstroke; Gardner's forces suffered around 900 casualties, from battle losses and disease. Banks granted lenient terms to the Port Hudson garrison. The enlisted men were paroled to their homes, with transport for the sick and lightly wounded. Seriously sick or wounded were placed under Union medical care. 5,935 men and civilian employees of the Confederate Army were officially paroled. 405 officers were not paroled and were sent as prisoners to Memphis and New Orleans, half eventually winding up in Johnson's Island prison camp in Ohio. Since the terms of the parole were not in agreement with parole conditions acceptable to the Union and Confederate armies then current, the Confederate Army furloughed the returned troops until September 15, 1863, then returned them to duty. This outraged some leaders of the Union army, but General Halleck, in charge of US armies, admitted the paroles were in error.

The reputation of black soldiers in Union service was enhanced by the siege. The advance of the Louisiana Guard on May 27 had gained much coverage in northern newspapers. The attack was repulsed, due to its hasty implementation, but was bravely carried out in spite of the hopeless magnitude of opposing conditions. This performance was noted by the army leadership. In a letter home, Captain Robert F. Wilkinson wrote, "One thing I am glad to say, that is that the black troops at P. Hudson fought & acted superbly. The theory of negro inefficiency is, I am very thankful at last thoroughly exploded by facts. We shall shortly have a splendid army of thousands of them." General Banks also noted their performance in his official report, stating, "The severe test to which they were subjected, and the determined manner in which they encountered the enemy, leaves upon my mind no doubt of their ultimate success." These reports had an impact far from Louisiana, or the Union army. On June 11, 1863, an editorial from the influential and widely read New York Times stated, "They were comparatively raw troops, and were yet subjected to the most awful ordeal... The men, white or black, who will not flinch from that, will flinch from nothing. It is no longer possible to doubt the bravery and steadiness of the colored race, when rightly led." These observations did much to support abolitionist efforts in the northeast to recruit free blacks for the Union armed services. By the end of the war nearly 200,000 blacks had served in the Union forces.

A significant result of the siege was the blow it gave Banks's political ambitions. If Banks had overrun the position in May, he could then have taken command of Grant's siege of Vicksburg as the ranking officer and appeared a hero. This would have redeemed his military reputation, and bolstered his political hopes for a presidential candidacy. Since Vicksburg fell before Port Hudson, Grant reaped the promotions and reputation for victory in the west, and eventually attained the White House, Banks's cherished ambition. As it was, Banks had to settle for setting up cotton deals for his northeast constituency, and arrange political alliances for a new state government aligned with Union and Republican interests in mind. He was quite experienced in this kind of scheming, and in the absence of military opportunities, economic advantages beckoned. Banks's armies had gathered $3 million worth of livestock and supplies while engaged in operations in western Louisiana in the spring of 1863. This bounty impressed Banks, and it was also estimated that vast stores of cotton and many Union sympathizers were waiting on the Red River in eastern Texas. In response to these observations, Banks produced his one third holding plan, the idea of re-opening trade with Europe, and diverting one third of the proceeds for the Federal Treasury. This economic bonanza would once again revive his political prospects, and justify the beginning of the Red River Campaign, a military expedition into eastern Texas, the next step in military operations in Louisiana.

After the war, a small number of former soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor for their actions at Port Hudson, including George Mason Lovering of the 4th Massachusetts, and future Wyoming Governor, Francis E. Warren of the 49th Massachusetts.

Battlefield preservation
The American Battlefield Trust and its partners have acquired and preserved 259 acres of the Port Hudson Battlefield. (Port Hudson State Historic Site: steep riverside terraces with original artillery emplacements. Museum with displays and maps.)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Siege of Port Hudson


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Adrammelech

Adrammelech ( Adramélekh) is an ancient Semitic god mentioned briefly by name in the Book of Kings, where he is described as a god of "Sepharvaim". Sepharvaim (a word which is grammatically dual) is commonly, but not certainly, identified with the twin cities of Sippar Yahrurum and Sippar Amnanum on the banks of the Euphrates, north of Babylon. The name Adrammelech probably translates to "Magnificent king."

An unrelated person with the name of Adrammelech is described in Hebrew writings as a son and murderer of Sennacherib, king of Assyria, in and Isaiah 37:38. He was known in the Akkadian language as Arda-Mulissu, and was the rebellious son of Sennacherib.

Biblical account
reports: "The Sepharvites burned their children in the fire as sacrifices to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim" (NIV). The Sepharvites are given as a people deported by the Assyrians to Samaria. Adrammelech and the god Anammelech (about whom likewise little is known) are again seemingly alluded to in : "Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah? Have they rescued Samaria from my hand?" (NIV). has an almost identical passage.

Interpretation
According to A. R. Millard, Saul Olyan, and others, Adrammelech likely represents an original *ʾAddîr-meleḵ, "majestic king" or "the majestic one is king". Cognate ʾAddîr-milk, along with similar Milk-ʾaddîr (with the morphemes inverted) and Baʿal-ʾaddîr ("majestic master" or "majestic Baal"), is recorded in ancient Semitic sources as an epithet of Baal, or a baal.

Adrammelech is commonly understood as a companion of Anammelech, due to their association in 2 Kings 17, the similarity of their names, and the similarity of their worship through child sacrifice.

Before the identification with epigraphic ʾAddîr-milk, various attempts (since generally rejected) were made to interpret the origin of the name Adrammelech.

The reconstructed form *Adar-malik (or the variant *Adru-malku) was once almost universally accepted as the original Akkadian form of the name. For example, Eberhard Schrader wrote in 1885:

""Adrammelech means 'Adar is prince'. It […] was pronounced in Assyrian Adar-malik (Assyr.-Babylon. Keilinsch., selected proper names no. 33a p. 140). [...] Both Adar and Anu, Anuv are very frequently mentioned deities of Assyria. Adar, originally pronounced A-tar, is a word of Akkadian origin and means 'father of decision'. It resembles Nam-tar (literally 'decision, destiny, destination', likewise name of the 'plague-god').""

Peter Jensen proposed in the late nineteenth century that (ʾAḏrammeleḵ, "Adrammelech") was a manuscript error for  (*ʾĂḏaḏmeleḵ, "*Adadmelech"), due to the typographical similarity of  (r) and  (d), which Jensen thought was a variant of unrecorded  (*Ḥăḏaḏmeleḵ, "King Hadad" or "Hadad is king"), thus identifying Adrammelech with the Canaanite god Hadad. Adad is in fact recorded as a variant of Hadad; but Millard writes: "If the Sepharvites were of Aramean or Phoenician origin, it is very unlikely that the name of their god would have lost its initial h, unless the Hebrew authors of Kings copied the information from a cuneiform text in Babylonian, which would not express it."

At the turn of the century, William Muss-Arnolt suggested that ʾAḏrammeleḵ could represent his own reconstructed Akkadian *Atra-malik, comparing the form to the names Atra-ḫasis and *(A)tar-ilu, writing, "Atra-malik would probably yield ."

In the Talmud
From the Jewish Encyclopedia:

"The Talmud teaches (Sanh. 63b) that Adrammelech was an idol of the Sepharvaim in the shape of an ass. This is to be concluded from his name, which is compounded of "to carry" (compare Syriac ), and "a king." These heathens worshiped as God the same animal which carried their burdens (Sanh. l.c.; see also Rashi's explanation of this passage which interprets  "to distinguish," by "carrying"). Still another explanation of the name ascribes to the god the form of a peacock and derives the name from adar ("magnificent") and melek ("king"); Yer. 'Ab. Zarah, iii. 42d."

Demonology
Like many pagan gods, Adrammelech is considered a demon in some Judeo-Christian traditions. So he appears in Milton's Paradise Lost, where he is a fallen angel who, along with Asmodeus, is vanquished by Uriel and Raphael. According to Collin de Plancy's book on demonology, Infernal Dictionary, Adrammelech became the President of the Senate of the demons. He is also the Chancellor of Hell and supervisor of Satan's wardrobe. He is generally depicted with a human torso, a mule's head, a peacock tail, and the limbs of a mule or peacock. In the Ars Goetia, he was known as Andrealphus.

In fiction
A poet's description of Adrammelech (spelled Adramelech as in Greek) can be found in Robert Silverberg's short story "Basileus". He is described as "The enemy of God, greater in ambition, guile and mischief than Satan. A fiend more curst—a deeper hypocrite."

An attempt to summon Adrammelech (spelled Adramelech throughout) is central to the plot of Graham Masterton's 1978 horror novel "The Devils of D Day".

Adrammelech, (again spelled 'Adramelech') is depicted as a goat-headed demon and boss enemy in the Game Boy Advance video game, Castlevania: Circle of the Moon, where he must be destroyed in order to complete the game.

Adrammelech is a boss and occasional summonable monster in the Final Fantasy series, first appearing in Final Fantasy Tactics.

title: Adrammelech


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USS Congress

USS Congress may refer to:

 * USS Congress (1776), was a galley built on Lake Champlain, which served as flagship in the Battle of Valcour Island
 * USS Congress (1777), was a 28-gun frigate built under authority of an act of the Second Continental Congress dated 13 December 1775
 * USS Congress (1799), was a 38-gun sailing frigate launched in 1799 and in service periodically until she was broken up in 1834
 * USS Congress (1841), was a 52-gun frigate launched in 1841 and destroyed by the ironclad CSS Virginia in 1862
 * USS Congress (1868), was a screw sloop in commission from 1870 to 1876
 * USS Congress (ID-3698), was a patrol vessel in commission from 1918 to 1919
 * USS Congress (FFG-63), a proposed Constellation-class frigate guided missile frigate

title: USS Congress


text:
Belphegor

In Jewish demonology, Belphegor (בעל־פעור) is the Arch-devil. In qabalah, Belphegor is a demon who helps people make discoveries. He seduces people by suggesting to them ingenious inventions that will make them rich, stagnating that which could not be accredited to itself.

Auxiliary Bishop and witch-hunter Peter Binsfeld believed that Belphegor tempts by means of laziness. Also, according to Peter Binsfeld's Classification of Demons, Belphegor is the chief demon of the deadly sin known as Sloth in Christian tradition.

Literature
The novella Belfagor arcidiavolo by Italian diplomat Niccolò Machiavelli was first published in 1549, and regales how the demon comes to earth to find a mate.

Belphegor figures in Paradise Lost by John Milton, 1667.

According to the 1818 Dictionnaire Infernal by Collin de Plancy, Belphegor was Hell's ambassador to France. The same claim was repeated by Victor Hugo in Toilers of the Sea (1866).

In the grimoire Key of Solomon (translated into English by S.L. Mathers in 1889), Belphegor is listed near the end of the book as an Assyrian idol, now destroyed.

The novella by Machiavelli became the basis for the opera Belfagor by Ottorino Respighi, which premiered at La Scala in Milan in 1923.

In popular culture

 * The PZL M-15 Belphegor, a 1970s Polish utility aeroplane, was named after the demon, due to its strange looks, the noise of its jet engine, and its unsuitability for crop dusting, for which it had been specifically designed.
 * Belphegor appears as a supporting character during the “Ghostpocalypse” story-arc during the final season of the TV show Supernatural played by Alexander Calvert, the same actor for the character, Jack Kline; during his time on the show, he possesses the corpse of Jack, who was smited by Chuck, donning white sunglasses to hide Jack’s burnt out eye sockets.
 * Belphegor is a recurring demon/persona in the Megami Tensei and Persona video game series.
 * Belphegor is the youngest and seventh sibling among the seven demon brothers in the otome game Obey Me!. He is always napping and constantly sleepy and the twin brother of Beelzebub.
 * Belphegor is a blackened death metal band.
 * Belphegor is the Storm Guard of the Varia in the anime and manga series Katekyo Hitman Reborn. He is also known as 'Prince the Ripper'.
 * Belphegor is the name one of the heretical gods, more specifically that of yellow luxin and sloth, in the Lightbringer series by Brent Weeks.
 * The long-running German dime novel and audio drama series John Sinclair featured Belphégor as a recurring villain. Author Jason Dark depicted Belphégor as an archdemon mainly active in Paris and a close ally of the Grim Reaper.
 * Belphegor is a random demon/monster encounter in the Square Enix games Final Fantasy IV and Final Fantasy XVI.
 * Belphegor is a young female demon in the series As Miss Beelzebub Likes. One of the main characters, and the love interest of Azazel.
 * Belphegor is referenced in the television show Elementary season three episode three.
 * Belphegor is referenced in the short story Bulldozer by Laird Barron.
 * A Digimon named Belphemon, from the Digimon franchise is a member of the Seven Great Demon Lords and appears in the fifth season Digimon Data Squad.
 * Void Stranger contains a number of characters with abbreviated demon names, including Gor, whose full name is Belphegor.
 * Belphegor is mentioned by Bee in Helluva Boss.
 * In One Piece, Magellan, the warden of the prison Impel Down, is heavily based on Belphegor; visually, with distinctive devil horns, and thematically, as the character sits on the toilet for ten hours a day to relieve himself of diarrhea instead of doing his prison duties.
 * Belphegor is a title of a song by a visual kei band The Gallo.

title: Belphegor


text:
Secretariat of the Chinese Communist Party

The Secretariat, officially the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is a body serving the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s Politburo and Standing Committee. The secretariat is mainly responsible for carrying out routine operations of the Politburo and coordinating organizations and stakeholders to achieve tasks set out by the Politburo. It is empowered by the Politburo to make routine day-to-day decisions on issues of concern in accordance with the decisions of the Politburo, but it must consult the Politburo on substantive matters.

The secretariat was set up in January 1934. It is nominally headed by the CCP general secretary, though the position of head of the secretariat was not always the same as the top party leader. Secretaries of the secretariat (Shujichu Shuji) are considered some of the most important political positions in the CCP and contemporary China, more generally. Each secretariat secretary is generally in charge of one of the major party departments directly under the jurisdiction of the Central Committee. By protocol, its members are ranked above the vice chairmen of the National People's Congress as well as State Councilors. The General Secretary presides over the secretariat's work.

History
The Secretariat of the Central Committee was formed on 15–18 January 1934 at the 5th Plenary Session of the 6th Central Committee, which was held in Shanghai. On 20 March 1943, the Politburo, in a joint decision, decreed that the secretariat will be responsible for carrying out the work of the Politburo according to the general policy framework determined by the Politburo and that it is vested with the power to make decisions within this general framework.

A formal head of the secretariat for managing its affairs has existed several times. Ren Bishi was elected Secretary-General of the Chinese Communist Party by the 6th Poliburo in August 1941. It existed until a meeting of the 7th Politburo on 20 March 1943, which abolished the post and replaced it with the new office of Chairman of the Secretariat, with Mao Zedong being elected to the post. The 1st Plenary Session of the 7th Central Committee elected Ren Bishi as Secretary-General of the Central Committee and Li Fuchun as Deputy Secretary-General of the Central Committee on 11 June 1945. It is unclear who took over Ren Bishi's office upon his death on 27 October 1950.

On 27 April 1954, the 8th Politburo decided to establish the offices of Secretary-General of the Central Committee and Deputy Secretary-General of the Central Committee. Deng Xiaoping was elected as secretary-general and Li Fuchun, Yang Shangkun, Tan Zhenlin, Ma Mingfang, Song Renqiong, Liu Lantao, Lin Feng, Li Xuefeng and Hu Qiaomu as deputy secretary-generals. This institution was not called Secretariat, but rather the "Conference of the Secretary-General". The 8th National Congress in 1956 abolished it and formally replaced it with the Secretariat. The 1st Plenary Session of the 8th Central Committee opted to re-elect Deng Xiaoping as secretary-general with no deputy on 28 September 1956.

In May 1966, the 8th Politburo convened to criticize the mistakes of leading cadres, including that of Deng Xiaoping. He was replaced, and the office of the secretary-general was abolished, and Tao Zhu was elected as Standing Secretary. It is unclear when this office stopped functioning, and the Secretariat more generally, but the 9th National Congress in 1969 decided to abolish these institutions.

The office was re-established in 1978 when Chen Yun, a member of the 11th Politburo Standing Committee, proposed to the 11th Politburo to re-establish both the Secretariat and the offices of secretary-general and deputy secretary-general. That politburo meeting re-established elected Hu Yaobang as secretary-general and Hu Qiaomu and Yao Yilin as deputy secretary-generals, but did not re-establish the Secretariat. This occurred at the 5th Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee on 23–29 February 1980, but this plenum also decided to abolish the offices of deputy secretary-general. The position was abolished alongside the office of Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party at the 12th National Congress in 1982, and replaced with the office of General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party.

First Secretary
The First Secretary is the de facto head of the Secretariat, who is responsible for the management of directives and day-to-day work of the Secretariat assisting the General Secretary. A member of both the Politburo Standing Committee and the Secretariat, the officeholder is considered one of the most powerful figure in China's political system.

The two most recent General Secretaries, Hu Jintao and Xi Jinping, were first elevated to the position of first Secretary of the Secretariat in the same process used to determine the membership and roles of the Politburo Standing Committee.


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Johann Weyer

Johannes Wier (Ioannes Wierus or Piscinarius; 1515 – 24 February 1588) was a Dutch physician who was among the first to publish a thorough treatise against the trials and persecution of people accused of witchcraft. His most influential work is De Praestigiis Daemonum et Incantationibus ac Venificiis ('On the Illusions of the Demons and on Spells and Poisons'; 1563).

Biography
Weyer was born in Grave, a small town in the Duchy of Brabant in the Habsburg Netherlands. He attended the Latin schools in 's-Hertogenbosch and Leuven and when he was about 14 years of age, he became a live-in student of Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa, in Antwerp. Agrippa had to leave Antwerp in 1532 and he and Weyer settled in Bonn, under the protection of prince-bishop Hermann von Wied. (Agrippa completed a work on demons in 1533 and perished two years later while on a trip to France). From 1534, Weyer studied medicine in Paris and later in Orléans, but it appears unlikely that he obtained the title of Doctor through these studies. Eventually, he practiced as a physician in his native Grave. Weyer was appointed city physician of Arnhem in 1545. In this capacity, he was asked for advice on witchcraft in a 1548 court case involving a fortune teller. In spite of a subsidy from emperor Charles V, the town of Arnhem was no longer able to pay Weyer's salary. Weyer moved to Cleves in 1550, where he became court doctor to duke William the Rich, through mediation by humanist Konrad Heresbach. Weyer published his major works on witchcraft in which he applied a skeptical medical view to reported wonders and supposed examples of witchcraft. He retired from his post in 1578 and was succeeded by his son, Galenus Wier (1547-1619). After retirement he completed a medical work on a subject unrelated to witchcraft. He died on 24 February 1588 at the age of 73 in Tecklenburg, while visiting an individual who had fallen ill. He was buried in the local churchyard, which no longer exists.

Work and critical reception
Weyer's works include medical and moral works as well as his more famous critiques of magic and witchcraft:
 * De Praestigiis Daemonum et Incantationibus ac Venificiis ('On the Illusions of the Demons and on Spells and Poisons'), 1563.
 * Pseudomonarchia Daemonum ('The False Kingdom of the Demons'), an appendix to De Praestigiis Daemonum, 1577.
 * Medicarum Observationum rararum liber, 1567, translated into German as:
 * Artzney-Buch von etlichen biß anher unbekandten unnd unbeschriebenen Kranckheiten, 1580, ('A book of medical observations on rare, hitherto undescribed diseases')
 * De lamiis liber item de commentitiis jejuniis 1577, (A book on witches together with a treatise on false fasting), translated into German as:
 * De Lamiis, Das ist: Von Teuffelsgespenst Zauberern und Gifftbereytern, kurtzer doch gründtlicher Bericht... 1586
 * De ira morbo 1577, ('On the disease of anger'), translated into German as:
 * Vom Zorn, iracundiae antidotum ... : Buch. Von der gefehrlichen Kranckheit dem Zorn, und desselbigen philosophischer, und theologischer Cur oder Ertzney 1585
 * De scorbuto epitome, 1564 ('On scurvy')
 * Histoire Disputes et Discours des Illusions et Diables, des Magiciens Infame, Sorcieres et Empoisonneurs: des Ensorcelez et Demoniaques et de la Guerison D'Iceux: Item de la Punition que Meritent les Magiciens les Empoisonneurs et les Sorcieres, 1579. 1885 translation printed aux Bureaux du Progres Medical, Paris France. Two volume set.

"About 40 people at Casale in Western Lombardy smeared the bolts of the town gates with an ointment to spread the plague. Those who touched the gates where infected and many died. The heirs of the dead and diseased had actually paid people at Casale to smear the gates in order to obtain their inheritances more quickly."

Weyer criticised the Malleus Maleficarum and the witch hunting by the Christian and Civil authorities; he is said to have been the first person that used the term mentally ill or melancholy to designate those women accused of practicing witchcraft. In a time when witch trials and executions were just beginning to be common, he sought to derogate the law concerning witchcraft prosecution. He claimed that not only were examples of magic largely incredible but that the crime of witchcraft was literally impossible, so that anyone who confessed to the crime was likely to be suffering some mental disturbance (mainly melancholy, a very flexible category with many different symptoms).

Some scholars have said that Weyer intended to mock the concept of the hellish hierarchy that previous grimoires had established by writing those two books and entitling his catalogue of demons Pseudomonarchia Daemonum ('The False Kingdom of the Demons').

Nevertheless, while he defended the idea that the Devil's power was not as strong as claimed by the orthodox Christian churches in De Praestigiis Daemonum, he defended also the idea that demons did have power and could appear before people who called upon them, creating illusions; but he commonly referred to magicians and not to witches when speaking about people who could create illusions, saying they were heretics who were using the Devil's power to do it, and when speaking on witches, he used the term mentally ill.

Moreover, Weyer did not only write the catalogue of demons Pseudomonarchia Daemonum, but also gave their description and the conjurations to invoke them in the appropriate hour and in the name of God and the Trinity, not to create illusions but to oblige them to do the conjurer's will, as well as advice on how to avoid certain perils and tricks if the demon was reluctant to do what he was commanded or a liar. In addition, he wanted to abolish the prosecution of witches, and when speaking on those who invoke demons (which he called spirits) he carefully used the word exorcist.

Weyer never denied the existence of the Devil and a huge number of other demons of high and low order. His work was an inspiration for other occultists and demonologists, including an anonymous author who wrote the Lemegeton (The Lesser Key of Solomon). There were many editions of his books (written in Latin), especially Pseudomonarchia Daemonum, and several adaptations in English, including Reginald Scot's "Discoverie of Witchcraft" (1584).

Weyer's appeal for clemency for those accused of the crime of witchcraft was opposed later in the sixteenth century by the Swiss physician Thomas Erastus, the French legal theorist Jean Bodin and King James VI of Scotland.

Tributes

The church of Tecklenburg displays a plaque in memory of Weyer and in 1884 the town erected a tower in his honor, the Wierturm. The Dutch human rights organization for health workers is named the Johannes Wier Foundation after him. Alongside his tutor, Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa, he appears as a character in the video game Amnesia: The Dark Descent.

Kurt Baschwitz, a pioneer in communication studies and mass psychology, dedicated most of the content of his first Dutch monography on witchcraft and witch trials De strijd tegen den duivel - de heksenprocessen in het licht der massapsychologie (1948) to the merits of Weyer. Later he extended this work to his German magnum opus, Hexen und Hexenprozesse: Geschichte eines Massenwahns und seiner Bekaempfung which discussed methods of fighting attempts at mass delusion (1963).

Family
Johan was the son of Agnes Rhordam and Theodorus (Dirk) Wier, a merchant of hops, coal and slate, who was a schepen of Grave in the 1520s. Dirk and Agnes Wier came from Zeeland and were closely acquainted with Maximiliaan van Egmond and Françoise de Lannoy, the future in-laws of William the Silent. Johan had two known siblings, Arnold Wier and the mystic Mathijs Wier (c.1520–c.1560). In Arnhem, he married Judith Wintgens, with whom he had at least five children. After Judith's death he married Henriette Holst. Johan's oldest son, Diederik Wier, became a jurist and diplomat, who in 1566-7, while employed by Willem IV van den Bergh, was involved in the "petitions of grievances about the suppression of heresy" by the Dutch nobility to Philip II of Spain, the rejection of which led to the Eighty Years' War.

Name
Weyer signed all his correspondence with "Johannes Wier" or occasionally with "Piscinarius". His parents and children carried the name "Wier" as well, and in 1884 his memorial in Germany was still named "Wierturm" rather than "Weyerturm". Nevertheless, since the 20th century the name "Johann Weyer" has become standard in German and English-language scholarship. The use of "Weyer" may stem from Carl Binz's 1896 monograph "Doctor Johann Weyer, ein rheinischer Arzt, der erste Bekämpfer des Hexenwahns", who in 1885 had already given a lecture "Wier oder Weyer?", in which he, apparently unaware of Weyer's Zeeland origin, claimed that Weyer zur deutchen Nation zählte and Wier was merely a Niederrheinische dialect pronunciation of Weyer.

Editions

 * De praestigiis Daemonum ... Libri V. Basel: Oporinus, 1563.
 * De praestigiis Daemonum ... Libri V. Basel: Oporinus, 1564.
 * De praestigiis Daemonum ... Libri V. Basel: Oporinus, 1566.
 * Medicarum observationum rararum Liber I. Basel: Oporinus, 1567
 * De lamiis liber. Basel: Oporinus, 1577.
 * De praestigiis Daemonum ... Libri 6. Basel: Ex Officina Oporiniana, 1577.
 * De Praestigiis Daemonum, & incantationibus ac veneficiis Libri sex, postrema editione sexta aucti & recogniti. Basel: Oporinus, 1583.
 * Opera Omnia. Amsterdam: Peter Vanden Berge, 1660.

title: Johann Weyer


text:
User talk:Desertphile

Cleaned
I have removed the ancient history here. --Desertphile (talk) 00:56, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

Yilloslime
User Yilloslime has objected to my citations apparently because a few of them are to YouTube videos. I consider that behavior vandalism. --Desertphile (talk) 00:59, 5 January 2010 (UTC)
 * I have received emails from other editors who note that the user often fails to provide legitimate reasons for his/her removals and edits, but that is fairly common practice even though it's contrary to polite rules. Usually taking mildly abusive users to mediation once is enough to convince them to be polite and to explain their updates. (I had a number of individuals who would reverse everything I did simply because they worked for rival corporations or had ideological bents and objected not to the content but to any content about subjects they did not wish to see described and referenced. Mediation put a stop to that, politely and with civility such that everyone walked away happy -- except for the CoS which doesn't count.)
 * Another thing I find useful is having a reminder of the rules complete with links to them on my own talk page. And you should have an active watch on all content you update, if you don't already, so that abusive edits are noticed. Damotclese (talk) 17:12, 18 January 2011 (UTC)

Off wiki audiences
Hi, FYI I have deleted a new thread you posted because you're addressing an off wiki audience. Our talk page guidelines restrict use of article talk pages to discussion proposed edits and sources to improve the article. Chastising your non-wiki audience isn't really within that scope, so I deleted the thread. NewsAndEventsGuy (talk) 15:26, 24 May 2014 (UTC)

 * NewsAndEventsGuy brings up a good point about the phenomena we're seeing in the past 3 or 4 years where researchers who discount the contents, citations, and references of Wikipedia pages lack the ability and desire to contribute to improving and correcting Wikipedia pages, usually due to ideology. It was not always like this, researchers who objected to content were also capable editors who discussed and suggested changes to pages, yet stark bifurcation along economic, political, intelligence, and ideological lines means fewer researchers opposed to Wikipedia's contents have the skills or desire to edit.
 * By the way, I have the exact same problem that Desertphile noted and in the same arena. I work in watershed issued dealing with potable water, waste reclamation, sewage treatment and all related issues which are tied heavily to Global Warming and there is abject refusal among some researchers to accept the citations and references in the extant Wiki page while said researchers are unable to explain what is wrong with the Wikipedia page's contents. Since they refuse to assist in editing the page, their proposed corrections just don't exist.
 * I have colleagues who see drinking water resources literally drying up due to bark beetle infestations of pines in the watersheds we work within who dismiss Wikipedia as "liberal lies." It's a fascinating human behavior. Damotclese (talk) 17:08, 27 May 2014 (UTC)

Are you going to return to Wikipedia
I heard that you are still working on the ranch out in the middle of nowhere, so you probably do not have Internet. Are you ever going to return to Wikipedia or is it all just so very pointless -- ha ha! TrainsOnTime (talk) 20:27, 28 June 2016 (UTC)

Alire new mexico moved to draftspace
Thanks for your contributions to Alire new mexico. Unfortunately, I do not think it is ready for publishing at this time because it has no sources. I have converted your article to a draft which you can improve, undisturbed for a while.

Please see more information at Help:Unreviewed new page. When the article is ready for publication, please click on the "Submit your draft for review!" button at the top of the page OR move the page back. CycloneYoris talk! 22:01, 26 January 2024 (UTC)

Concern regarding Draft:Alire new mexico
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If the page has already been deleted, you can request it be undeleted so you can continue working on it.

Thank you for your submission to Wikipedia. FireflyBot (talk) 23:05, 27 June 2024 (UTC)

Nomination of Sporgery for deletion
A discussion is taking place as to whether the article Sporgery is suitable for inclusion in Wikipedia according to Wikipedia's policies and guidelines or whether it should be deleted.

The article will be discussed at Articles for deletion/Sporgery until a consensus is reached, and anyone, including you, is welcome to contribute to the discussion. The nomination will explain the policies and guidelines which are of concern. The discussion focuses on high-quality evidence and our policies and guidelines.

Users may edit the article during the discussion, including to improve the article to address concerns raised in the discussion. However, do not remove the article-for-deletion notice from the top of the article until the discussion has finished. Remsense 诉  22:06, 2 July 2024 (UTC)

title: User talk:Desertphile


text:
Talk:General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party

Head of Government?
Should the General Secretary be described as the de facto head of government in China? It's pretty uncontroversial that they are the one in charge, and the term "paramount leader" isn't one that is particularly commonly known. I don't think any other position is described as the head of government in China. — Preceding unsigned comment added by NateNate60 (talk • contribs) 18:55, 9 December 2020 (UTC)

 * no, the head of the government is the premier of the state council, the state council is the government 158.223.166.109 (talk) 19:16, 4 May 2024 (UTC)

List
The list of Chairmen already appears in Communist Party of China. Why repeat it here? This list should be limited to General secretaries. --Jiang 06:06 9 Jul 2003 (UTC)
 * I removed the list entirely, replacing it with a redirect to the Party leaders list. It is simply false to claim that the post of General Secretary was vacant from 1943 to 1982. Str1977 (talk) 09:04, 4 June 2009 (UTC)

Qu Qiubai
Qu Qiubai never assumed the position of General Secretary, according to both his last words "The Redundant Words" and the Chinese version of this page. --Pkchan 17:23, 23 December 2005 (UTC)

Term limits
As far as I know, the office of the General Secretary never had term limits although the article says "The current General Secretary is Xi Jinping, who took office on 15 November 2012 and was re-elected on 25 October 2017. Afterwards, he was given the ability to have no limit to the amount of terms as a General Secretary." Even the cited source from Daily Mail says: "China's constitution sets term limits for presidents and ministers, but there is no such rule for the party secretary." This is backed by reliable sources as well. Should the sentence be removed? The Account 1 (talk) 14:43, 21 August 2019 (UTC)
 * Yes, I think it should be removed. The Daily Mail is listed as unreliable source at WP:RSP and the sources you provided indicate that the Daily Mail got the facts wrong. --MarioGom (talk) 15:25, 21 August 2019 (UTC)
 * I removed the sentence. The Account 1 (talk) 15:39, 21 August 2019 (UTC)

Why is General Secretary capitalised?
What the title says: Why is General Secretary capitalised? Like, why is it like that in all instances? Shouldn't it only be that when it's a title in front of an actual name? --Luka1184 (talk) 23:31, 28 September 2020 (UTC)

Requested move 16 November 2020

 * The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

The result of the move request was: page not moved. (closed by non-admin page mover) — Nnadigoodluck  █ █ █  11:20, 23 November 2020 (UTC)

General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party → General Secretary of the Communist Party of China – the official translation of this party is the Communist Party of China, we should respect the official name of this party. Some people argue that there are no official translation of the name of the party, please visit the official website of the Government of the PRC, it is listed in there. Lerong Lin (talk) 06:32, 16 November 2020 (UTC)
 * Oppose In my opinion, this move request should be placed at the Chinese Communist Party main article, not here. Because any move of main article's name will affects all sub-article named after that. 36.76.234.133 (talk) 09:13, 16 November 2020 (UTC)
 * Oppose, as the previous commenter states, we should not change this title unless the name of the main article is changed, and it appears that a few months ago there was a strong consensus there (on the main article's talk page) in favor of the current name. W. P. Uzer (talk) 13:25, 16 November 2020 (UTC)
 * Oppose as above. -- Necrothesp (talk) 12:52, 18 November 2020 (UTC)

Should this article be protected?
The last time I posted a section, the picture of Xi Jinping changed to a drawing of Winnie the Pooh. (I think this could be trolling or vandalism) I suggest someone change it or at least keep this article locked until further notice. MasterWolf0928-Æthelwulf (talk) 16:51, 5 December 2022 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion
The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion: Participate in the deletion discussion at the. —Community Tech bot (talk) 10:54, 30 May 2023 (UTC)
 * Xi Jinping 2023.jpg

head
Shouldn't the general secretary be listed as the leader of the party rather than head 158.223.166.109 (talk) 17:05, 4 May 2024 (UTC)


text:
Subnational

Subnational or sub-national may refer to:

 * Administrative division, all administrative divisions are under the national level
 * Subnational legislature, a type of regional legislature, under the national level
 * Subnational state, a type of state, under the national level
 * Subnational diplomacy, a form of diplomacy, under the national level
 * Subnational flag, a flag of an entity under the national level

title: Subnational