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Meuse–Argonne offensive

The Meuse–Argonne offensive (also known as the Meuse River–Argonne Forest offensive, the Battles of the Meuse–Argonne, and the Meuse–Argonne campaign) was a major part of the final Allied offensive of World War I that stretched along the entire Western Front. It was fought from September 26, 1918, until the Armistice of November 11, 1918, a total of 47 days. The Meuse–Argonne offensive was the largest in United States military history, involving 1.2 million French, Siamese, and American soldiers. It is also the deadliest campaign in the history of the United States Army, resulting in over 350,000 casualties, including 28,000 German lives, 26,277 American lives and an unknown number of French lives. American losses were worsened by the inexperience of many of the troops, the tactics used during the early phases of the operation and the widespread onset of the global influenza outbreak called the "Spanish flu."

The offensive was the principal engagement of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) in World War I. It was one of a series of Allied attacks, known as the Hundred Days Offensive, which brought the war to an end. It was the largest and bloodiest operation of World War I for the AEF even though, given the scale of other battles on the Western Front, its size was limited and the operation itself secondary, being far from the main offensive axis.

Overview
The logistical prelude to the Meuse attack was planned by American then-Colonel George C. Marshall who managed to move American units to the front after the Battle of Saint-Mihiel (Saint-Mihiel is a town on the river Meuse, the most important water obstacle on the Western Front). The Allied breakthroughs (north, center, and east) across the length of the front line in September and October 1918 – including the Battle of the Argonne Forest – are now lumped together as part of what is generally remembered as the Grand Offensive (also known as the Hundred Days Offensive) by the Allies on the Western Front. The Meuse–Argonne offensive also involved troops from France, while the rest of the Allies, including France, Britain and its dominion and imperial armies (mainly Canada, Australia, and New Zealand), and Belgium contributed to major battles in more northwestern sectors of the Western Front, including the Hindenburg line.

After Operation Michael, the 1918 German offensive, began well but ended with the disaster of Reims in front of the French and at Amiens to British forces, The French and British armies systematically pushed back a German army whose efficiency was decreasing rapidly. British, French, and Belgian advances in the northwestern sectors of the front, along with the French–American advances around the Argonne Forest, are credited for leading directly to the Armistice of November 11, 1918. On September 26, the Americans began their strike north toward Sedan. The next day, British and Belgian divisions drove toward Ghent, Belgium. British and French armies attacked across northern France on September 28. The scale of the overall offensive, bolstered by the fresh and eager but largely untried and inexperienced U.S. troops, signaled renewed vigor among the Allies and sharply dimmed German hopes for victory.

The Meuse–Argonne battle was the largest frontline commitment of troops by the U.S. Army in World War I, and also its deadliest. Command was coordinated, with some U.S. troops (e.g. the Buffalo Soldiers of the 92nd Division and the 93rd Division) attached and serving under French command (e.g. XVII Corps during the second phase).

Opposing forces
The American forces initially consisted of 15 divisions of the U.S. First Army commanded by General John J. Pershing until October 16 and then by Lieutenant General Hunter Liggett. The logistics were planned and directed by then Colonel George C. Marshall. The French forces next to them consisted of 31 divisions, including the Fourth Army (under Henri Gouraud) and the Fifth Army (under Henri Mathias Berthelot). The U.S. divisions of the AEF were oversized (12 battalions per division versus the French-British-German nine battalions per division), being up to twice the size of other Allies' battle-depleted divisions upon arrival, but the French and other Allied divisions had been partly replenished prior to the Grand Offensive, so both the U.S. and French contributions in troops were considerable. All of the heavy equipment (tanks, artillery, and aircraft) was provided by the Allies (mainly by the French Army). For the Meuse–Argonne front alone, this represented 2,780 artillery pieces, 380 tanks, and 840 planes.

Concerning armored support, the 35th Division was completed by the 1st Tank Brigade (under George S. Patton) with 127 American-crewed Renault FT light tank and 28 French-crewed Schneider medium tanks. The 3rd US Tank brigade with 250 French-crewed tank was also involved supporting the V Corps. The 37th and 79th Division were augmented with a French tank regiment (Renault FT light tank) and 2 groups of medium tank (St-Chamond). The 91st Division was augmented with an equivalent force (1 light tank regiment and 2 groups medium tank).

As the battle progressed, both the Americans and the French brought in reinforcements. Eventually, 22 American divisions participated in the battle at one time or another, representing two full field armies. Other French forces involved included the 2nd Colonial Corps, under Henri Claudel, which had also fought alongside the AEF at the Battle of Saint-Mihiel earlier in September 1918.

The opposing forces were wholly German. During this period of the war, German divisions procured only 50 percent or less of their initial strength. The 117th Division, which opposed the U.S. 79th Division during the offensive's first phase, had only 3,300 men in its ranks. Morale varied among German units. For example, divisions that served on the Eastern front had high morale, while conversely divisions that had been on the Western front had poor morale. Resistance grew to approximately 200,000–450,000 German troops from the Fifth Army of Group Gallwitz commanded by General Georg von der Marwitz. The Americans estimated that they opposed parts of 44 German divisions overall, though many fewer at any one time.

Objectives

 * Pierce the Hindenburg Line: The primary objective of the Allied forces, particularly the AEF under the command of General John J. Pershing, was to breach the heavily fortified Hindenburg Line and advance beyond it. The Hindenburg Line was a series of heavily fortified defensive positions, including trenches, barbed wire entanglements, machine-gun nests, and artillery emplacements, designed to halt any Allied offensive.
 * Advance into German Territory: By breaking through the Hindenburg Line, the Allies aimed to penetrate deep into German-held territory, disrupt enemy communication and supply lines, and weaken the German Army's ability to resist further Allied advances. This would also put pressure on Germany's ability to sustain the war effort, potentially hastening the end of the conflict.
 * Force Germany to Surrender: The ultimate objective of the Battle of the Argonne Forest, as part of the broader Allied offensive on the Western Front, was to bring about the collapse of the German Army and compel Germany to seek an armistice and end the war. The success of the offensive was critical for achieving this goal and bringing about a decisive victory for the Allies.

First phase (September 26 – October 4, 1918)
The Allies decided to prepare for the assault on September 26 at 02:30 by launching one of the most expensive and stunning artillery barrages. This barrage was done with 2711 artillery guns and helped to destroy obstacles like barbed wire to help the Allies push up more effectively when the assault began. One of these artillery groups was led by Capt. Harry S. Truman, a future US president. "During the three hours preceding H hour, the Allies expended more ammunition than both sides managed to fire throughout the four years of the American Civil War. The cost was later calculated to have been $180 million, or $1 million per minute (about $3.5 billion in 2022 dollars)." The American attack began at 05:30 on September 26 with mixed results. The V and III Corps met most of their objectives, but the 79th Division failed to capture Montfaucon, the 28th "Keystone" Division's attack virtually ground to a halt due to formidable German resistance, and the 91st "Wild West" Division was compelled to evacuate the village of Épinonville though it advanced 8 km. The inexperienced 37th "Buckeye" Division failed to capture Montfaucon d'Argonne.

The subsequent day, September 27 most of the 1st Army failed to make any gains. The 79th Division finally captured Montfaucon and the 35th "Santa Fe" Division captured the village of Baulny, Hill 218, and Charpentry, placing the division forward of adjacent units. On September 29, six extra German divisions were deployed to oppose the American attack, with the 5th Guards and 52nd Division counterattacking the 35th Division, which had run out of food and ammunition during the attack. The Germans initially made significant gains, but were barely repulsed by the 35th Division's 110th Engineers, 128th Machine Gun Battalion, and Harry Truman's Battery D, 129th Field Artillery. In the words of Pershing, "We were no longer engaged in a maneuver for the pinching out of a salient, but were necessarily committed, generally speaking, to a direct frontal attack against strong, hostile positions fully manned by a determined enemy."

The German counterattack had shattered so much of the 35th Division—a poorly led division, most of whose key leaders had been replaced shortly before the attack, made up of National Guard units from Missouri and Kansas—that it had to be relieved early, though remnants of the division subsequently reentered the battle. Part of the adjacent French attack met temporary confusion when one of its generals died. Nevertheless, it was able to advance 15 km, penetrating deeply into the German lines, especially around Somme-Py (the Battle of Somme-Py (Bataille de Somme-Py)) and northwest of Reims (the Battle of Saint-Thierry (Bataille de Saint-Thierry)). The initial progress of the French forces was thus faster than the 3 to 8 km gained by the adjacent American units, though the French units were fighting in a more open terrain, which can be an easier terrain from which to attack.

With the US struggling to make the progress they wanted, as well as struggling to pull their logistics together, Pershing ordered a halt to the attack on October 1st. This allowed Pershing to regroup all the men and reinforce the line. This move to halt the attack was not popular among the Allied Generals and almost lost Pershing his job. Despite the lack of faith in Pershing he was allowed to continue leading the offensive, and The Offensive started up again on October 4th.

Second phase (October 4–28, 1918)
The second phase began on October 4, when the first assault divisions (the 91st, 79th, 37th and 35th) were replaced by the 32nd, 3rd and 1st Divisions. The 1st Division created a gap in the lines when it advanced 2.5 km against the 37th, 52nd, and 5th Guards Divisions. It was during this phase that the Lost Battalion affair occurred. The battalion was rescued by an attack by the 28th and 82nd Divisions (the 82nd attacking soon after taking up its positions in the gap between the 28th and 1st Divisions) on October 7.On October 12 Pershing had to reorganize the AEF and First Army due to the many struggles that were occurring in the second phase including disasters like the lost battalion which reflected badly on Pershing's leadership. Pershing started by dividing the First Army into two smaller armies. The First Army would be led by Hunter Ligget, and the newly formed Second Army would be led by Robert Bullard. Pershing, now free to focus on just the AEF, cleaned out all of the AEF’s senior officers. This was done as Pershing felt the AEF leaders lacked the aggression that was needed in the offensive. The Americans launched a series of costly frontal assaults that finally broke through the main German defenses (the Krimhilde Stellung of the Hindenburg Line) between October 14–17 (the Battle of Montfaucon (Bataille de Montfaucon)). During the Battle of Montfaucon Missouri and Kansas National Guard soldiers were the first U.S. troops who tried to break through the stronghold of the Hindenburg Line at Côte de Châtillon but they were repulsed due to poor leadership. Next, the elite U.S. 1st Infantry Division tried and failed after suffering catastrophic casualties. The Rainbow Division (42nd Division) under Brigadier General Douglas MacArthur was finally able to take Côte de Châtillon after exposing a gap in the German defenses that was discovered by MacArthur's soldiers. This victory at Côte de Châtillon was considered the decisive turning point of the whole Meuse–Argonne offensive. By the end of October, U.S. troops had advanced ten miles and cleared the Argonne Forest. On their left the French had advanced twenty miles, reaching the Aisne River. It was during the opening of this operation, on October 8, that Corporal (later Sergeant) Alvin York made his famous capture of 132 German prisoners near Cornay. On October 23, notable injuries were sustained to Major Frank Cavanaugh as a result of enemy shellfire. From October 27 to November 1 Liggett allowed the Army to reorganize. This was due to the huge number of casualties that the First Army had taken, with over 9000 men lost and over 100,000 men injured since the start of the operation. The First Army needed time to not only train the fresh troops coming in, but also needed time for First Army engineers to build roads and light rails. Liggett wanted to ensure that he had manpower and resources, since the advantage they held over the Germans was the ability to reinforce and outnumber.

Third phase (October 28 – November 11, 1918)
By October 31, the Americans had advanced 15 km and had cleared the Argonne Forest. On their left the French had advanced 30 km, reaching the River Aisne. The American forces reorganized into two armies. The First, led by General Liggett, moved to the Carignan-Sedan-Mezieres Railroad. The Second Army, led by Lieutenant General Robert L. Bullard, was directed to move eastward toward Metz. The two U.S. armies faced portions of 31 German divisions during this phase. The American troops captured German defenses at Buzancy, allowing French troops to cross the River Aisne, whence they rushed forward, capturing Le Chesne (the Battle of Chesne (Bataille du Chesne)). In the final days, the French forces conquered the immediate objective, Sedan and its critical railroad hub (the Advance to the Meuse (Poussée vers la Meuse)), on November 6 and American forces captured surrounding hills. On November 11, news of the German armistice put a sudden end to the fighting.

Government

 * Battlefield Experience: The Meuse–Argonne Offensive at American Battle Monuments Commission
 * The Meuse–Argonne Offensive at U.S. National Archives and Records Administration
 * The Meuse–Argonne Offensive Interactive at American Battle Monuments Commission
 * This Day in History, September 26, 1918: The Meuse-Argonne Campaign Begins at American Battle Monuments Commission

General information

 * Battles of the Meuse–Argonne at Encyclopædia Britannica Online
 * Meuse–Argonne offensive at meuse-argonne.com
 * Meuse–Argonne offensive at meuse-argonne.com

title: Meuse–Argonne offensive


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The Rockford Files

The Rockford Files is an American detective drama television series starring James Garner that aired on the NBC network from September 13, 1974, to January 10, 1980. Garner portrays Los Angeles private investigator Jim Rockford, with Noah Beery Jr. in the supporting role of his father, Joseph "Rocky" Rockford, a retired truck driver. The show was created by Roy Huggins and Stephen J. Cannell. Huggins had created the American western TV show Maverick (1957–1962), which Garner also starred, and he wanted to create a similar show in a modern-day detective setting. In 2002, The Rockford Files was ranked No. 39 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.

Premise

Producers Roy Huggins and Stephen J. Cannell devised the Rockford character as a departure from typical television detectives, essentially Bret Maverick as a modern detective.

In the series storyline, James Scott "Jim" Rockford had served time in California's San Quentin Prison in the 1960s due to a wrongful conviction. After five years, he was pardoned (not paroled, a distinction frequently mentioned in plot points). His jobs as a private investigator barely allow him to maintain his weathered mobile home (which doubles as his office) in a parking lot on a beach in Malibu, California.

In early episodes of the first season, Rockford's trailer is located in a parking lot alongside the highway at 22878 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu, and near the ocean; for the rest of the series, the trailer is at Paradise Cove (address 29 Cove Road), adjacent to a pier and a restaurant ("The Sand Castle", now known as the "Paradise Cove Beach Cafe").

In the television movies from 1994 to 1999, Rockford is still living and working at the same Paradise Cove location, but in a much newer trailer that has been extensively enlarged and remodeled.

In contrast to sharp-dressed, pugnacious television private eyes of the time, Rockford wears casual, off-the-rack clothing and tries to avoid physical altercations. He can hold his own in a one-on-one fistfight, but is frequently overpowered when ambushed or outnumbered, often from behind. But he almost always winds up figuring out what's going on, catching the bad guys/gals, and usually exacting revenge by the end of the episode, with some notable exceptions. He is experienced, observant, tenacious, quick-thinking, and has a faculty for impersonation and accents (usually Southern, drawing on Garner's Oklahoma background).

He rarely carries his Colt Detective Special revolver, for which he has no permit and usually stores in a cookie jar; and prefers to talk his way out of trouble. He works on cold cases, missing persons investigations, and low-budget insurance scams, repeatedly stating that he does not handle "open cases" to avoid trouble with the police. (This self-imposed rule was relaxed in later seasons, after "trouble with the police" became a frequent plot device.)

Rockford has been a private investigator since 1968 (according to his Yellow Pages ad, glimpsed in a few episodes), and his oft-quoted fee, when he can collect it, is $200 per day plus expenses ($200 at the series' beginning in September 1974 was the inflation-adjusted equivalent of $0 in ). By the time of the 1990s reunion movies, Rockford's fee was $450 a day, plus expenses. Rockford is very insistent on his fee, but in a running gag, circumstances often conspire to prevent Rockford from collecting the full amount he's owed after a case.

Cast
Listed in the opening credits:
 * James Garner as Jim Rockford
 * Noah Beery Jr. as Joseph "Rocky" Rockford, Jim's father, a retired truck driver. (The role was played by actor Robert Donley in the 1974 pilot episode.)
 * Joe Santos as Sergeant Dennis Becker, Jim's friend in the Los Angeles Police Department; he was promoted to lieutenant in season five.

Frequently recurring cast:
 * Stuart Margolin as Evelyn Angelo "Angel" Martin, Jim's former prison friend. Angel is an untrustworthy, pathologically lying con artist whose schemes constantly get Jim in trouble, yet Jim remains his friend.
 * Gretchen Corbett as Elizabeth "Beth" Davenport, Jim's lawyer and sometime girlfriend (seasons 1–4).
 * James Luisi as Lieutenant Douglas J. "Doug" Chapman (seasons three–six), Becker's superior officer (until Becker's promotion). He and Rockford despise each other, although in later episodes Chapman grudgingly acknowledges Rockford's street smarts.
 * Tom Atkins as Lieutenant Alex/Thomas Diehl, Becker's superior officer (seasons one-two and four) who also has an antagonistic relationship with Rockford.

Seen in multiple episodes:
 * Pat Finley as Peggy Becker, Sergeant Becker's wife (6 episodes).
 * Isaac Hayes as Gandolph "Gandy" Fitch, a brutal, violent acquaintance of Rockford from his prison days. He almost always calls Jim "Rockfish". Jim helps prove Fitch did not commit the crime for which he was imprisoned. The two become friendly. In later episodes Fitch tags along with an unscrupulous investigator Marcus Hayes (Louis Gossett Jr.) trying to cash in on one of Rockford's cases; and needs Jim's help dealing with mobsters connected to the ex-husband of his new girlfriend (played by Dionne Warwick). Jim remains on good terms with Fitch, towards whom he seems to display an almost naive blind spot despite Fitch's refusal to ever take Jim's "no" for an answer, and his lack of compunction about using violence, including occasionally on a recalcitrant Jim himself (three episodes).
 * Bo Hopkins as John "Coop" Cooper, Jim's disbarred attorney friend in season five (four episodes).
 * Tom Selleck as Lance White, a successful and glamorous private investigator with an uncynical approach to the business. Liked and admired by everyone, Jim is a bit jealous of Lance and considers him naive, lucky and likely to cause others to get hurt (2 episodes). According to Stephen J. Cannell's meticulous Archive of American Television interview, Lance White was based on "Waco Williams", a similarly-polished character in Maverick appearing in the episode "The Saga of Waco Williams". Williams was portrayed in Maverick by Wayde Preston, who in 1958 resembled Tom Selleck two decades later. Tom Selleck played another private investigator, Thomas Magnum, in Magnum, P.I. in the 1980s.
 * Dennis Dugan as Richie Brockelman, a young, idealistic and seemingly naive private investigator who seeks Jim's help from time to time. Bereft of Jim's cynicism and physical toughness, Richie is nevertheless a sharp operator who used his outwardly trusting 'gee whiz' persona to mask his dogged cleverness. This character was initially introduced in the short-lived Richie Brockelman, Private Eye (two two-part episodes).
 * Kathryn Harrold as Dr. Megan Dougherty, a blind psychiatrist who hires Jim. Their relationship eventually blossoms into a romance. Jim is upset in a later episode to learn that she has become engaged to another man (two episodes).
 * Simon Oakland as Vern St. Cloud, a blustery, arrogant, and often untrustworthy fellow private investigator. St. Cloud and Rockford grudgingly accept each other's assistance from time to time, trading insults along the way (Oakland appeared in a sixth-season episode playing an unrelated character, three episodes).
 * Louis Gossett Jr. as Marcus Aurelius "Gabby" Hayes, an impeccably dressed, chauffeur-driven, boastful P.I. who is nearly always on a hustle, usually to Rockford's misfortune. Gossett appeared first in Foul on the First Play wearing a full wig with sideburns, appearing the following season in Just Another Polish Wedding without it (two episodes).
 * Rita Moreno as Rita Capkovic, a call girl and occasional police informant who is targeted by a millionaire businessman because of her friendship with an elderly widow. In later episodes she gets accused of the murder of a client; and when she tries to leave her profession and hides out with Rockford it enrages her sadistic former pimp. It is never made explicit if Jim and Rita are ever romantically involved, beyond their close friendship (three episodes).
 * James Whitmore Jr. as Fred Beamer, an auto mechanic who aspires to be a private investigator, and involves himself in Jim's affairs. In his first appearance, Beamer assumed Jim's identity, living in his trailer, making numerous purchases on credit for detection equipment of questionable efficacy, driving (and heavily damaging) his Firebird, and taking on clients, plunging Jim into trouble. (Whitmore later directed the TV movie The Rockford Files: I Still Love L.A.) (two episodes).
 * Al Stevenson as L.J., a friend of Rocky's, who often performs odd jobs for Rocky and Jim (in one episode, Jim discovers him alone at Rocky's house repairing a shower faucet). L.J. is closer to Jim's age than Rocky's, and it is likely they met during the latter's career as a trucker (four episodes).
 * Luis Delgado as Officer Todd Billings, seen frequently at the precinct or at crime scenes. Delgado played a number of other bit roles in early Rockford seasons before settling into the recurring minor role of Billings starting in season 3. Delgado was the brother-in-law of series co-creator Roy Huggins, and James Garner's long-time stand-in.
 * Bucklind Beery as Officer Al Mazursky, another recurring bit-part officer very occasionally seen at the precinct during seasons two-five. Bucklind Beery is the son of Noah Beery Jr.
 * Hunter von Leer (credited as Hunter Von Leer) as Skip Spence, a libidinous, money-seeking lifeguard stationed on the beach near Jim's trailer. Jim finds Skip distasteful, but Skip occasionally provides information helpful to him. In one episode Skip gives information to gangsters searching for Jim (two episodes).
 * Jack Garner (James Garner's real-life brother) was seen in numerous bit parts including a policeman, a gas station attendant, and a stranger in a bathroom. He then assumed the role of the fence-sitting, ineffectual Captain McEnroe (Becker's superior officer) in season six.
 * Sharon Spelman as Doris Parker, a wealthy widow who hired Rockford to investigate the suspicious death of her husband in "Profit and Loss" episodes 1 and 2 and as public defender Karen Hathaway in "The Deuce".

Supporting characters
Dennis Becker: Rockford's pursuit of cases often leads to difficulties with his friend in the LAPD, Sgt. Dennis Becker (Joe Santos), a homicide detective struggling to advance in the department under a series of overbearing lieutenants. The two most notable are Alex/Thomas Diehl (Tom Atkins) during the first, second and fourth seasons and Doug Chapman (James Luisi) in the third to sixth seasons. Those higher-ups invariably dislike Rockford (and private investigators generally) because of their perception that either he is meddling in open cases or is trying to make the LAPD look incompetent in its handling of closed cases. Further, Rockford often calls Becker asking for favors, such as running license plates through the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) computer system, often annoying the already overworked cop. By the fifth season, Becker is promoted to lieutenant; it was stated in the episode where Becker is promoted that Becker's association with Rockford, considered by LAPD brass to be a shifty ex-con, had hampered Becker's chances for promotion. Chapman was irritated when Becker became his "equal". In season 6 episode The Big Cheese, the third-to-last of the series, Rockford gets a degree of revenge when Chapman inadvertently makes incriminating statements about his tax evasion before an undercover IRS agent who is with Rockford. Becker appears in 89 of the 123 episodes.

Joseph "Rocky" Rockford: Rockford's father, Joseph "Rocky" Rockford, is an ex-Seabee, semi-retired, semi-truck driver who nags his son to find stable (and less dangerous) employment, often urging him to follow in his footsteps as a truck driver (especially in early seasons), and often wishing Jim would get married. The relationship of father and son was an integral part of the show. Rocky appears in 101 episodes, and usually becomes involved (like it or not) in his son's cases. Occasionally, he hires Jim himself. Jim Rockford's mother is never shown or named, and is very seldom referred to; it's implied, but never stated directly, that she died some years ago.

Rocky was portrayed by Noah Beery Jr. except in the 1974 pilot film, where he was portrayed by Robert Donley. Although much of the character's backstory is the same, in the pilot Rocky is portrayed as more of a small-time grifter and operator — at one point, working with a partner, Rocky unsuccessfully tries to run a minor scam on Jim, his own son. This element of Rocky's character would largely be dropped as the series started. Beery's version of Rocky was generally honest and reliable, though not above working an unreported job 'under the table' to supplement his pension income, or eating the most expensive food in Jim's fridge if he dropped by while Jim was out. Beth Davenport: Rockford has a close relationship with his attorney, the idealistic, tenacious Elizabeth "Beth" Davenport (Gretchen Corbett). In second-season episode "A Portrait of Elizabeth", it is explained that Beth and Rockford had dated for a time (prior to the beginning of the series), but she soon became aware of his emotional unavailability and lack of interest in a long-term relationship, and realized that they would be better off as friends (although the two do seem to still casually date on occasion during early seasons).

Angel Martin: Rockford's scheming former San Quentin cellmate, Evelyn "Angel" Martin was something of a comic relief character played by Stuart Margolin. Jim employs Angel as an operative from time to time, often to gather street-level information, or to help him access the files of the newspaper where Angel works as a low-level filing clerk. Keeping this job is a condition of Angel's parole; even so, it is doubtful that the ever-shifty Angel would be capable of doing so, except that his brother-in-law owns the paper. Jim also uses Angel on a few occasions to play a supporting role in con games that he sets up to sting especially difficult adversaries.

Angel is himself forever running some sort of (usually very bottom-of-the-barrel) con game, and is consistently ready to sell anyone out at a moment's notice for his own benefit — and often does. In doing so, Angel almost always gets Rockford in trouble, usually by involving him in hare-brained scams ... often without Jim's knowledge, and never with his consent. As often as not, Angel's antics result in his, Jim's and/or others' arrests, and/or being placed on somebody's hit list. In spite of this, Jim considers Angel as one of his best, if most exasperating, pals. Towards the very end of the series, there is a noticeable cooling in Jim's attitude toward Angel in their often fractious relationship; however, the rift seems to have been repaired by the time of the reunion movies.

Others: After Corbett was dropped from the show following the fourth season (allegedly due to contract disputes between Universal, which owned her contract, and Cherokee Productions, Garner's company), John Cooper (Bo Hopkins), a disbarred attorney, was added as a new adviser for the frequent legal problems in which Rockford would become entangled. A new romantic interest, Dr. Megan Dougherty (Kathryn Harrold), a blind but highly independent psychiatrist, appears in two episodes in seasons five and six ("Black Mirror" and "Love Is the Word", respectively) and the 1996 television movie The Rockford Files: Punishment and Crime.

Writers
The show's pilot was written by Cannell, who also wrote 36 episodes and was the show's co-creator. Juanita Bartlett, one of the show's producers and Garner's partner at Cherokee Productions, wrote 34 episodes. She also wrote for Scarecrow and Mrs. King, The Greatest American Hero, and In the Heat of the Night. David Chase wrote 16 episodes; he later went on to Northern Exposure and The Sopranos. The show's co-creator, Roy Huggins, also wrote for the show during the first season, always using pen name John Thomas James. However, Huggins' contributions to the show ended midway through the first season, after he submitted a script rewrite direct to set as the episode was shooting, without getting approval from any other writer or producer. Garner, trying to work with the material on set, felt the rewrite was unsatisfactory, and could not figure out why it had been approved for shooting. When he discovered that neither Cannell nor any of the other production staff members knew anything about the rewrite, Garner issued a directive that Cannell, not Huggins, had final say on all script material. Though Huggins was credited as a producer for the entire run of the series, this effectively ended his creative involvement with the show, as he submitted no further material to The Rockford Files and did not involve himself in the day-to-day running of the series.

Directors
Frequent directors included William Wiard (23 episodes), Lawrence Doheny (10 episodes), and Ivan Dixon (previously a regular on Hogan's Heroes) (nine episodes). Veteran actor James Coburn directed an episode. Coburn had co-starred with Garner in the classic movies The Great Escape (1963) and The Americanization of Emily (1964). Other actors who directed episodes include Jackie Cooper (three episodes), as well as Richard Crenna and Dana Elcar (one episode each). Co-creator Stephen J. Cannell directed several episodes; executive producer Meta Rosenberg directed six episodes; series regular Stuart Margolin helmed two; and James Garner directed one episode in the second season, "The Girl in The Bay City Boys' Club". It was Garner's only directing credit in his entire fifty-plus-year film career; in his autobiography, The Garner Files, Garner states he only took on the assignment because the scheduled director was unexpectedly unavailable at the last minute.

Pontiac Firebird Esprit
Familiar to viewers was Jim Rockford's gold Pontiac Firebird Esprit car. One oft-recurring element of the show was the famous "Jim Rockford turn-around" (also known as a J-turn or a "moonshiner's turn" - commonly employed as an evasive driving technique taught to Secret Service). Garner explained the move in his 2011 autobiography The Garner Files: "When you are going straight in reverse about 35 miles an hour, you come off the gas pedal, go hard left, and pull on the emergency brake. That locks the wheels and throws the front end around. Then you release everything, hit the gas, and off you go in the opposite direction." Garner stated in a Season One DVD interview that he performed this stunt for the duration of the series. The car's license plate was 853 OKG, although the plate in some early episodes displayed the number 835 OKG. Garner writes in his autobiography that he believes that the letters OKG stood for "Oklahoma Garner" but that he does not know the origin of the number 853.

Starting with the 1974 model year, Rockford would get a new model-year Pontiac Firebird each year throughout the series. The Firebirds used had an identical "copper mist" color with the Esprit's exterior and interior. Although the Firebirds were badged as Esprits, they were actually the higher performance "Formula" model without the twin scoop hood. Garner needed Rockford's car to look like the lower tiered "Esprit" model, a car Rockford could afford, but have the performance necessary for the chase sequences in the show. To achieve this, the show featured Pontiac Firebird Formulas re-badged and re-hooded to look like the "Esprit" model. The "Formula" model was developed to provide the performance of the top-level "Trans Am" in a less ostentatious form. Formulas didn't have the Shaker hood scoop, side vents, graphics or lettering used on the Trans Am, but they had the same higher horsepower engines and drive trains, larger front and rear anti-sway bars, stiffer springs and shocks, and a twin scoop hood. (Sharp-eyed car connoisseurs can spot the twin exhausts and rear anti-sway bar on the cars used on the show, options that were not part of the "Esprit" package, as well as spot the different model year cars used in various chase scenes that differed from those in an actual episode, especially in later seasons.) Although the series ran until early 1980, no Firebird was used past the 1978 model year as Garner reportedly was displeased with the restyled front end of the 1979 and later Firebird models and as such did not wish them featured on the show (although an answering machine message in one episode in the final season indicated his car was a 1979 Firebird).

In the first TV movie, I Still Love L.A. in 1994, the Firebird is shown, in ramshackle disrepair, parked next to Rockford's trailer. He mentions he plans to have it "fixed up," but drives other cars throughout the films.

GMC Sierra Classic pickup
Joseph "Rocky" Rockford drove a GMC Sierra Classic pickup truck throughout the series. In the course of the storylines Jim often borrowed Rocky's truck when his own Firebird was being repaired from its frequent major damage sustained during cases, or was too "hot" (i.e., the LAPD, which knew Jim well, was seeking to bring him in).

Rocky's truck had a 400-cubic-inch engine, Turbo 400 automatic transmission, and a four-wheel drive factory setup. The custom exterior paint was silver with maroon panels and orange pinstriping. Additionally, the truck sported various after-market accessories added by noted California customizer and off-road racer Vic Hickey, including the winch, brush guard, hubcap covers, sidestep bed plates, auxiliary gas tanks, custom steering wheel, rear roll bar, Cibié headlamps mounted on the front bumper/rear roll bar, and Pace CB radio. In several Season 5-6 episodes, Rocky drives a candy-apple red 1980 GMC C-10 Short Box pickup when his original vehicle is said to be in the shop for repair of damage from one of Jim's earlier adventures.

Other cars
Beth Davenport drove a yellow 1973 Porsche 914 in Season 1, before switching to an orange 1975 model in Season 2 (though in episode 202, "The Farnsworth Stratagem" she drove a 1972 Audi 100 C1 ) and using it through the first half of Season 3, last appearance in episode 311, "The Trouble With Warren". In Season 3, she switched to a Mercedes-Benz 450SL. Police cars used during the series were usually the 1972-1973 AMC Matador, in real-life use by the LAPD during the 1970s. From the third season, the 1974 second-series, "coffin nose" Matador was also used, which was also the last AMC model used by California law enforcement agencies.

Theme song
The show's theme song, titled "The Rockford Files", was written by noted theme music composers Mike Post and Pete Carpenter. It appears at the opening and ending of each episode with different arrangements. Throughout the show's tenure, the theme song went through numerous evolutions with later versions containing a distinct electric guitar-based bridge section played by session guitarist Dan Ferguson. The theme for #1.7 "This Case Is Closed II", also has the guitar section from later seasons, added when the episode was split into two parts for syndication.

The theme song was released as a single and spent two weeks at No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100, in August 1975. The B-side track (or "flip-side"), titled "Dixie Lullabye", was also composed by Post and Carpenter. The single remained on the chart for 16 weeks and won a 1975 Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement. In Canada, the song reached No. 8, and was No. 84 in the year-end chart.

For more than forty years, the British football team Tranmere Rovers have used the Rockford theme as walk-out music for most games. Occasionally it has been dropped, and then restored by popular demand.

Answering machine introductions
Each episode began with the image of Rockford's answering machine, and the opening title sequence was accompanied by a message on a Dictaphone remote Ansafone 660. As the camera focuses on the telephone, whose number is 555-2368, it rings twice and then Rockford's recorded voice is heard providing the following greeting:

"This is Jim Rockford. At the tone, leave your name and message. I'll get back to you. [Beep]"

The messages were usually unrelated to the current episode, but were often related to previous events in earlier episodes. They were a humorous device that invited the viewer to return to the quirky, down-on-his-luck world of Jim Rockford. The messages usually had to do with creditors, deadbeat clients, or were just oddball vignettes. Though a distinctive and clever entry device, the messages became difficult for the writers to create. Suggestions from staff and crew were welcome and often used.

In total, 122 different messages were created through the run of the original six seasons. The eight CBS TV movies (also referred to as season 8) feature a unique message. However episodes syndicated as James Rockford, Private Investigator use the same message; it was taken from episode 5-07, "A Three-Day Affair with a Thirty-Day Escrow".

Each message is a standalone gag that often provides a small amount of biographical detail about Rockford, the people he knows and the activities that occur in his life as a private investigator. Only extremely rarely (such as in episode No. 2-09, "Chicken Little is a Little Chicken", during which Rockford house- and cat-sits for an absent Beth) is the content of the answering machine message in any way connected to the plot or situations of the episode itself.

End
The show went into hiatus late in 1979 when Garner was told by his doctors to recuperate from numerous knee injuries and back trouble, as well as an ulcer. He sustained the former conditions largely because of the daily grind of an extremely physically demanding show, performing most of his own stunts for realism, especially those involving fist fights or car chases. Because of the toll on his body, Garner was ordered by his doctor to immediately take time off some months later, and NBC abruptly cancelled the program in mid-season. It was alleged that Rockford had become very expensive to produce, mainly due to the location filming and use of high-end actors as guest stars. According to sources, NBC and Universal claimed the show was generating a deficit of several million dollars, a staggering amount for a nighttime show at the time, although Garner and his production team Cherokee Productions claimed the show turned a profit. Garner told a story to Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show that the studio once paid a carpenter $700 to build a shipping crate for a shoot-out on a boat dock, though there were shipping crates on the dock. The script often called for Garner to damage his car, so the car could be sold, repaired, and repurchased for each episode.

Aftermath
Later in the 1980s, Garner became engaged in a legal dispute with Universal that lasted more than a decade, regarding the profits from Rockford Files. The dispute caused significant ill will between Garner and the studio. The dispute was settled out of court in Garner's favor, but the conflict meant that the Rockford character would not re-emerge until 1994. Universal began syndicating the show in 1979 and aggressively marketed it to local stations well into the early and mid-1980s. This accounts for its near-ubiquity on afternoon and late-night schedules in those days. From those showings, Rockford developed a following with younger viewers, with the momentum continuing throughout the 1990s and 2000s on cable. (The Ben Folds Five song "Battle of Who Could Care Less", in which The Rockford Files is mentioned, is one example of the show's newfound youth following; furthermore, the Rockford Files theme song is played at the end of the band's concerts.)

By 1989, the show had grossed US$125,000,000 1989 from network and syndicated runs.

In 2006, the show was broadcast for a few months on the national Chicago Superstation WGN. In 2007, the Retro Television Network began broadcasting the program nationwide, as did the digital cable channel Sleuth and Chicago TV station WWME-CA. ION Television has rights to the show and it is slated for future broadcast. In the fall of 2009, the show reappeared in Canada on Deja View.

In the UK, the series was first broadcast on BBC1 on Tuesday, 18 March 1975 at 20:10, with the original run concluding on 7 September 1980. A rerun began on BBC1 on 8 September 1981, again starting on Tuesdays at 19:40. It lasted until 30 May 1984, in September 1984 it switched to BBC2. Since then, it has been repeatedly rerun on BBC1 and BBC2, and also ITV and also on Granada +Plus, which later became ITV3, although none of these channels repeated the later seasons.

In West Germany, the series first aired on 11 March 1976 on ARD, concluding on 9 September 1980. Some episodes were omitted, due to concerns over politics and violence. The episodes did not air in order, with Season 1 and some of Season 2 episodes airing from 11 March 1976 to 17 February 1977 on alternating Thursdays at 21:00, Seasons 2-5 episodes from 9 May 1978 to 11 September 1979 on alternating Tuesdays at 21:45, and Season 6 episodes from 27 May to 9 September 1980, again on alternating Tuesdays at 21:45. It was then rerun on Das Erste (ARD) from 25 June 1989 to 24 July 1991 on Sunday nights. On 21 March 1995, it began airing on RTL. The TV movies, with the exception of "Friends and Foul Play" aired between 2 February 1996 and 3 August 2000.

In Italy, the show began airing on Italia 1 on 19 April 1982, and aired until 1987.

In Australia, the series runs Monday - Friday on cable and satellite channel Fox Classics and on 7Mate. The series aired in the United States on the MeTV digital subchannel network until September 2, 2016. The series was available on Netflix until January 1, 2017, with the first three seasons then available on Hulu. From 2016 to 2020, the series was available on IMDb TV. In late 2020, it began streaming on Peacock. In 2022, it began streaming on Tubi. The series previously aired on Cozi TV. As of January 3, 2022, the series is airing on Get as part of its nightly lineup.

Episodes
The series pilot aired on NBC March 27, 1974, as a 90-minute made-for-television movie. In the pilot, Lindsay Wagner also starred and later made a return appearance. The pilot was titled Backlash of the Hunter for syndication.

TV movies
After several long-running contractual disputes between Garner and Universal were resolved, eight Rockford Files reunion TV movies were made from 1994 to 1999, airing on the CBS network (whereas the original series aired on NBC) and reuniting most of the cast from the original show. Beery died on November 1, 1994, so the first of these films, which aired later that month, stated, "This picture is dedicated to the memory of Noah Beery, Jr. We love you and miss you, Pidge." ("Pidge" was Beery's nickname.)

The movies picked up nearly 15 years later from where the show ended. In the initial movies, Rocky is referenced as alive, but is off-screen; he dies (within the series continuity) sometime before the third movie.

Garner, Santos, and Margolin appear in every movie. Other Rockford regulars who appear in multiple movies include Luisi, Atkins, Corbett, and Jack Garner (as Capt. McEnroe). Recurring players from the series who are brought back for a single return appearance include Rita Moreno (as Rita Kapkovic); Kathryn Harrold (as Megan Daugherty); and Pat Finley (as Peggy Becker).

Also added to the cast (i.e., appearing only in the movies and in small, recurring roles) were Gerry Gibson as 'Critch' Critchland, the owner of the Sandcastle restaurant across from Jim's trailer; and Shirley Anthony as Sally, a friendly, cheerful grandmotherly type who frequented the precinct to (falsely) confess to crimes, and to knit sweaters while she waited. Anthony had previously been a frequent extra and occasional bit part player on The Rockford Files from 1976 to 1979.

Spinoffs

 * The series Richie Brockelman, Private Eye was a spin-off of The Rockford Files. The character of Richie Brockelman, played by Dennis Dugan, was originally created for a 1976 TV movie intended as a series pilot produced by Cannell, but NBC did not pickup the series nor air the pilot movie. However, Cannell introduced the Brockelman character in the 1978 Rockford Files episode "The House on Willis Avenue", which was broadcast the week before Richie Brockelman, Private Eye began its five-week trial run in The Rockford Files time slot. The series was not renewed behind that limited run, but the Brockelman character returned in the 1979 Rockford Files episode "Never Send a Boy King To Do a Man's Job".
 * Universal made a back door pilot featuring the characters Gandolph "Gandy" Fitch and Marcus "Gabby" Hayes (played by Isaac Hayes and Louis Gossett Jr., respectively) in the episode titled "Just Another Polish Wedding". The intention was to spin this out into a series called Gabby & Gandy, but the series never came to fruition.
 * A second back door pilot was made for a series that would have featured Greg Antonacci and Gene Davis as Eugene Conigliaro and Mickey Long, two humorously incompetent characters who were introduced in the episode "The Jersey Bounce". The series pilot involved them trying to ingratiate their way into the New Jersey mob and aired as "Just a Coupla Guys", the next-to-last episode of The Rockford Files. David Chase, who wrote both episodes, would later create The Sopranos, which centered on the New Jersey mob. Greg Antonacci, who had played Conigliaro, played a role as an underboss of a rival family to the Sopranos.

Production
The show was created by Roy Huggins and Stephen J. Cannell. Huggins had created, written for and produced Garner's breakthrough series Maverick in 1957 and envisioned The Rockford Files as presenting a similar character as a modern private investigator rather than a gambler in the American Old West. Huggins teamed with Cannell, who had written for Jack Webb's Mark VII Productions such as Adam-12 and Chase (1973–1974, NBC), to create The Rockford Files. The show was credited as "A Public Arts/Roy Huggins Production" along with Cherokee Productions in association with Universal Television. Cherokee was owned by Garner, with partners Meta Rosenberg and Juanita Bartlett, who doubled as story editor during most of The Rockford Files run.

DVD
Universal Studios has released all six seasons of The Rockford Files on DVD in Region 1. On November 3, 2009, they released The Rockford Files- Movie Collection, Volume 1, featuring the first four post-series telefilms. On May 26, 2015, they released The Movie Collection, Volume 2, five-and-a-half years after the release of volume 1. They also released a 34-disc complete series collection on the same day.

On April 18, 2016, it was announced that Mill Creek Entertainment had acquired the rights to the series; they subsequently re-released the first two seasons on DVD in Region 1 on July 5, 2016. On June 13, 2017, Mill Creek re-released The Rockford Files: The Complete Series on DVD and also released the complete series on Blu-ray for the first time ever. This series is on NBCUniversal's Peacock streaming service.

Universal Playback has released the first 5 seasons on DVD in Region 2. The pilot for The Rockford Files is in the season 2 set.

Blu-ray
On June 27, 2017, Mill Creek Entertainment released The Rockford Files: The Complete Series on Blu-ray in Region A for the very first time.

Remakes
In 2009, NBC, Universal Media Studios and Steve Carell's Carousel Television produced a revival of the show. David Shore, creator of House, was hired to head the series. In February 2010, it was announced that Dermot Mulroney was cast as Jim Rockford, Alan Tudyk cast as Det. Dennis Becker, Melissa Sagemiller was cast as Beth Davenport, and Beau Bridges was cast as Rocky. A pilot, directed by Michael W. Watkins, was filmed but never broadcast. Early audiences indicated that the pilot was not directed well. On May 13, 2010, the Rockford Files remake was scrapped by NBC.

A feature adaptation was in production by Universal Pictures as of 2012, with Vince Vaughn associated with the project as producer and star. After the death of actor James Garner in 2014, the film adaptation was postponed, but Vaughn in 2012 was hoping to get the film project made.

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

title: The Rockford Files


text:
Polish cavalry

The Polish cavalry (jazda, kawaleria, konnica) can trace its origins back to the days of medieval cavalry knights. Poland is mostly a country of flatlands and fields and mounted forces operate well in this environment. The knights and heavy cavalry gradually evolved into many different types of specialised mounted military formations, some of which heavily influenced western warfare and military science. This article details the evolution of Polish cavalry tactics, traditions and arms from the times of mounted knights and heavy winged hussars, through the times of light uhlans to mounted infantry equipped with ranged and mêlée weapons.

Early medieval times
The first Polish cavalry was created by the Duke of Polans - Mieszko I, who united the West Slav tribes in the area of modern Poland. It's noted in the manuscript of Abraham ben Jacob who traveled in 961–62 in Central Europe. He wrote that the drużyna of Mieszko I had 3000 men, who were paid by the duke. The Prince's druzhina also received a share of military loot.

Battle of Grunwald
Until the 14th century, the Polish armed forces were composed mostly of mounted soldiers. By the start of the 15th century, the core of the Polish armies was formed by mounted knights called to arms by the kings. The basic tactical unit of the army was a banner (chorągiew), that is, a group of approximately 50 men financed by a noble clan, a notable person or a land owner. The banner fought separately and included all the necessary detachments, including its own kitchen, tabors and servants.

One of the finest examples of usage of the early Polish cavalry was the Battle of Grunwald of 1410. During the battle, the Polish armoured cavalry was used to break through the Teutonic lines. In addition, the Polish forces were helped by Lithuanian light cavalry of Eastern origins and by Tartar skirmishers, who used mostly hit-and-run tactics. During the battle, after initial clashes of the light cavalry, the Teutonic Order split its forces, which were then defeated by an armoured cavalry charge.

16th and 17th centuries
In the 16th century the introduction of gunpowder and firearms made the medieval armoured cavalry obsolete. The standing army of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was gradually converted to other, more modern forms of cavalry. Under eastern influence, the armament of the cavalrymen was lightened and their speed and mobility increased, which added to the successes of the Polish cavalry in numerous wars against the Tsardom of Russia, Ottomans and the Tartars.

1503 saw the formation of a first hussar unit in Poland. Being far more manoeuvrable than the heavily armoured lancers previously employed, the hussars proved vital to the Polish victories at Orsza (1514) and Obertyn (1531). By the reign of King Stefan Batory, the hussars had replaced medieval-style lancers in the Polish army, and they now formed the bulk of the Polish cavalry.

Over the course of the 16th century hussars had become heavier in character: they had abandoned wooden shields and adopted plate metal body armour. With the Battle of Lubieszów in 1577 the 'Golden Age' of the husaria began. Until the Battle of Vienna in 1683, the Polish hussars fought countless actions against a variety of enemies, and rarely lost a battle. In the battles of Byczyna (1588), Kokenhausen (1601), Kluszyn (1610), Gniew (1626), Chocim (1673) and Lwów (1675), the Polish hussars proved to be the decisive factor often against overwhelming odds. One of the most notable examples of such victories of the Lithuanian Grand Duchy hussars was the Battle of Kircholm of 1605, in which 3,000 hussars under Jan Karol Chodkiewicz managed to defeat 11,000 soldiers of Charles IX of Sweden - with negligible losses.

As one of the very few units in the Polish national standing army (most of other units were formed as mobilizers), the hussars were well-trained and well-equipped. Until the 18th century they were considered the elite of the Polish national armed forces. Because of the extreme cost, lackluster pay, fame and prestige that surrounded the hussars, almost all of them were members of the upper level nobility (szlachta). Although by the 18th century their importance was diminished by the collapse of the Polish military system and not by the introduction of modern infantry firearms and quick-firing artillery, the Polish hussars' tactics and armament remained almost unchanged until they were absorbed into the National Cavalry regiments in the 1770s.

At first hussars performed most services but as they grew heavier the need arose for a medium or lighter cavalry. The 16th century saw creation of lighter cavalry known as 'Kozacy' (singular 'Kozak' hence 'towarzysz kozacki') until 1648 and then known as 'Pancerni' from the 1650s on until the 1770s, 'Kozacy Pancerni' can be translated as 'Armoured cossacks') in the Kingdom of Poland or 'Petyhorcy' in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (the actual subject of the illustration) - whose offensive armament included a shorter 'demi-lance' ('dzida') or 'rohatyna', bow and arrows, war-ax, sabre in the 16th century and a pistol or two, a carbine in the 17th and 18th centuries. The lighter yet cavalry was created during the Muscovite Wars of the early 17th century, the most famous unit or type was known as Lisowczyk, after their commander Aleksander Lisowski, that fought in the 30 Years War as well. Along with these mentioned Polish or Lithuanian horsemen there were banners/companies of lighter cavalry drawn from Lithuanian Tatars (serving in their own banners under their precarious legal status), Romanian ("Wallachian"), Cheremis, Circassians (similar to Kozak/Pancerni) and Hungarians. The early 18th century saw the creation of yet another cavalry formation that influenced most European armies of the time: the uhlans. Initially light cavalry companies formed by Polish Tatars (the very word ulan came from Lithuanian Tartar surname that might have come from an honorific name for a young, skilled warrior known as oglan) for one of the magantes, Sapieha, the uhlans joined the forces of Augustus der Starke, the king of Poland-Lithuania-Saxony, and in early 1740s 18th century the first uhlan 'pulks' (regiments) - known as uhlans - were formed for his son, king Augustus III. The uhlans were light cavalry armed with lances, sabres and pistols, which gave them enough power and at the same time adding to their versatility and manoeuvrability. In addition, the Polish uhlans, or ułani as they were called in their native tongue, introduced a new uniform style composed of a colourful jacket with a coloured panel in the front, dark trousers with colourful stripes on the sides and a high, pointed cap called czapka (often rendered chapska in English).

19th century: the Napoleonic Era

With the advent of the 19th century Poland was partitioned by her neighbours. However, the Polish army was not disbanded and instead most of it was simply drafted into the armies of the occupying countries. Thanks to that, the Polish cavalry traditions were retained. After the creation of Duchy of Warsaw, many Poles volunteered for the Polish cavalry units fighting in the Napoleonic Wars alongside the French army.

The new formation of uhlans proved to be not only fast and effective, but also very influential: during the Napoleonic Wars the uhlans of the Duchy of Warsaw were among the most effective cavalry units and by the end of that period most of European states copied both their tactics and their uniforms. Together with the French, the Polish cavalry took part in many of the most notable battles of the Napoleonic period, including the battles of Smolensk, Fuengirola, Raszyn, and many others. Also, the Polish cavalrymen were the first unit of the Napoleon's Grande Armée to enter Moscow Kremlin during the Napoleon's invasion of Russia. Finally, the Polish cavalry detachments were also present in Haiti, where they helped the French administration to quell a slave revolt. However, perhaps the most notable success of the Polish cavalry in that period (and certainly the best known) is the Battle of Somosierra, a part of the Peninsular War.

During his advance on Madrid, Napoleon was blocked on 30 November 1808 by 9,000 Spaniards under General San Juan in the valley of Somosierra in the Sierra de Guadarrama. Because of the rough and uneven terrain, the Spanish forces could not easily be outflanked. Their positions were well-fortified and guarded with artillery. Impatient to proceed towards Madrid, Napoleon ordered his Polish light cavalry escort of some 87 troops, led by Jan Kozietulski, to charge the Spaniards. Despite losing two thirds of their numbers, the Poles succeeded in forcing the defenders to abandon their position.

The Polish-Soviet War
In November 1918 Poland was re-established following World War I, there were already several Polish cavalry units existing. Some of them were created as parts of either Austro-Hungarian or German Armies while others were created in Russia and as part of the French-based Blue Army. Because of that, each cavalry unit in the reborn Polish Army used different uniforms, different equipment and different strategy. However, all of the units shared the same traditions and, despite all the differences, were able to cooperate on the battlefield.

In late January 1919, the reorganisation of the Polish Army began. All previously-existent cavalry squadrons were pressed into 14 newly formed cavalry regiments, which in turn were joined into six cavalry brigades after 7 March 1919. Later a seventh brigade was added and some of the brigades were joined into two semi-independent cavalry divisions.

The newly recreated Polish Cavalry units were of modern type and were trained in both cavalry tactics and in trench warfare. After the Polish-Soviet War broke out, these were one of the very few combat-ready troops in Polish service. The lack of advanced military equipment on both sides of the front made the cavalry a decisive weapon in breaking the enemy lines and encircling the Russian units. In addition, smaller cavalry detachments (usually squadron-sized) were attached to every infantry brigade and served as reconnaissance and support units. Also, the lack of sophisticated equipment made the traditional role of the cavalry once again important. The Polish cavalry units were equipped with sabres, lances and all types of armament that were typically used by the cavalry in previous centuries.

During the war, the Polish cavalry brigades and divisions took part in most of the notable battles, including the pivotal Battle of Warsaw, in which they played a crucial role in surrounding the withdrawing Red Army, and in the Battle of the Niemen, in which the cavalry was vital in breaking the enemy lines near Grodno. However, the most important cavalry battle took place on 31 August 1920 near the village of Komarowo near Zamość. The battle was a complete disaster for the Soviet 1st Cavalry Army which sustained heavy casualties and barely avoided being totally surrounded. After that battle, the 1st Cavalry Army's morale had collapsed and the army, which was one of the most feared of the Soviet troops, was no longer considered an effective fighting force. Because of the numbers of forces involved, the Battle of Komarów is considered the greatest cavalry battle of the 20th century. Along with the battles then taking place in south Russia, this was one of the last battles fought mostly by cavalry units, in which traditional cavalry tactics were used and sabers and lances played a vital role. Because of that, it is sometimes referred to (by Poles) as "the greatest cavalry battle after 1813" and the last cavalry battle.

World War II
During the German invasion of Poland in 1939, cavalry formed 10% of the Polish Army. Cavalry units were organised in 11 cavalry brigades, each composed of 3 to 4 cavalry regiments with organic artillery, armoured unit and infantry battalion. Two additional brigades had recently been converted to motorized and armoured units, but they retained their cavalry traditions. In addition, every infantry division had an organic cavalry detachment used for reconnaissance.

In contrast with its traditional role in armed conflicts of the past (even in the Polish-Soviet War), the cavalry was no longer seen as a unit capable of breaking through enemy lines. Instead, it was used as a mobile reserve of the Polish armies and was using mostly infantry tactics: the soldiers dismounted before the battle and fought as a standard infantry. Despite media reports of the time, particularly in respect of the Battle of Krojanty, no cavalry charges were made by the Polish Cavalry against German tanks. The Polish cavalry, however, was successful against the German tanks in the Battle of Mokra. The Polish cavalry did not discard the lance as a weapon until 1934 or 1937 and continued to use it for training purposes up to the outbreak of World War II.

Although the cavalrymen retained their Szabla wz. 1934 sabres, after 1934 or 1937 the lance ceased to be issued as a combat weapon and was retained for training purposes only. Instead, the cavalry units were equipped with modern armament, including 75 mm guns, tankettes, 37mm AT guns, 40mm AA guns, anti-tank rifles and other pieces of modern weaponry.

During the campaign, the brigades were distributed among the Polish armies and served as mobile reserves. In this role, the Polish cavalry proved itself a successful measure in filling the gaps in the front and covering the withdrawal of friendly units. Polish cavalry units took part in most of the battles of 1939 and on several occasions proved to be the elite of the Polish Army.

After the September Campaign, the Polish Army on the Western Front continued its pre-war tradition of Uhlan regiments giving their names to armoured units, while Polish units on the Eastern Front used cavalry as mobile infantry until the end of the war.

After the German invasion of the Soviet Union, several Polish units, including cavalry forces, were formed by the Soviets. One of these units carried out the last Polish cavalry charge at the Battle of Schoenfeld, where a surprise cavalry assault succeeded in overrunning the German defensive positions.

After World War II
Combat cavalry units existed in the Polish Army until 27 January 1947, when the 1st Warsaw Cavalry Division was disbanded. The last Polish cavalry unit, the Representative Squadron of the President of Poland, was disbanded in July 1948. However, after several years of gathering funds, a group of enthusiasts formed in 2000 the Representative Squadron of Cavalry of the Polish Army. The unit is under the auspices of the army, which thus returned to its cavalry tradition. The squadron is present at most official anniversary celebrations in Warsaw, as well as other towns of Poland. In other places people are forming reenactment groups that continues, often with help of army, the traditions of local cavalry units. An example of such a society is the Volunteer Representative Squadron of City of Poznań which is a tribute to the 15th Poznań Uhlans Regiment. These remained until the Eastern Bloc collapsed, as the Soviet Union collapsed too. Afterwards, The Polish military was freely able to expand, or follow whatever perimeters it wanted.

The combat traditions of Polish cavalry are continued by the armoured (Kawaleria Pancerna) and aeromobile (Kawaleria Powietrzna) units of Polish Land Forces.

Cavalry charges and propaganda
Apart from countless battles and skirmishes in which the Polish cavalry units fought dismounted, there were 16 confirmed cavalry charges during the 1939 war. Contrary to common belief, most of them were successful.

The first and perhaps best known cavalry charge happened on 1 September 1939, during the Battle of Krojanty. During this action, elements of the 18th Pomeranian Uhlan Regiment met a large group of German infantry resting in the woods near the village of Krojanty. Colonel Mastalerz decided to take the enemy by surprise and immediately ordered a cavalry charge, a tactic the Polish cavalry rarely used as their main weapon. The charge was successful and the German infantry unit was dispersed.

The same day, German war correspondents were brought to the battlefield together with two journalists from Italy. They were shown the battlefield, the corpses of Polish cavalrymen and their horses, alongside German tanks that had arrived at the field of battle only after the engagement. One of the Italian correspondents sent home an article, in which he described the bravery and heroism of Polish soldiers, who charged German tanks with their sabres and lances. Other possible source of the myth is a quote from Heinz Guderian's memoirs, in which he asserted that the Pomeranian Brigade had charged on German tanks with swords and lances. Although such a charge did not happen and there were no tanks used during the combat, the myth was disseminated by German propaganda during the war with a staged Polish cavalry charge shown in their 1941 reel called "Geschwader Lützow".

Even such prominent German writers as Günter Grass, later accused of anti-Polonism by Jan Józef Lipski among others, were falling victims to this Nazi deception. Grass wrote the following passage, somewhat metaphorically, in his famous novel The Tin Drum:

 * "O insane cavalry!—picking blueberries on horseback. With wimpled lances, red and white. Squadrons of melancholy and tradition. Picture-book charges. Over the fields of Lodz and Kuno. Modlin, freeing the fortress. Galloping so brilliantly. Always awaiting the setting sun. Only then does the cavalry attack, when both foreground and background are splendid, for battle is so picturesque, and Death the artist's model, one leg engaged and one leg free, then plunging, nibbling blueberries, rose- hips tumble and burst, release the itch that spurs the cavalry to charge. Uhlans, itching again, wheel their horses about where shocks of straw are standing—this too a striking image—and gather round a man called Don Quixote in Spain, but this one's name is Pan Kichot, a pureblood Pole of sad and noble mien, who's taught his uhlans how to kiss a lady's hand on horseback, so now they always kiss the hand of Death as if he were a lady, but gather first with sunset at their backs—for atmosphere and mood are their reserves—the German tanks before them, stallions from the stud farms of Krupp von Bohlen and Halbach, nobler steeds there never were. But that half-Spanish, half-Polish knight so in love with death—brilliant Pan Kichot, too brilliant—lowers his red-white wimpled lance, bids you all to kiss the lady's hand, cries out so that the evening glows, red-white storks clatter on the rooftops, cherries spit out their pits, and he cries to the cavalry, "Ye noble Poles on horseback, those are not tanks of steel, they are windmills or sheep. I bid you all to kiss the lady's hand!"

On 1 September 2009 Sir Simon Jenkins, writing for The Guardian newspaper's website, characterised the notion of pitting Polish cavalry against tanks as "the most romantic and idiotic act of suicide of modern war." On 21 September 2009, The Guardian was forced to publish an admission that his article "repeated a myth of the second world war, fostered by Nazi propagandists, when it said that Polish lancers turned their horses to face Hitler's panzers. There is no evidence that this occurred."

Other cavalry charges of 1939 were as follows:

 * 1) September 1 - Battle of Mokra - 19th Volhynian Uhlan Regiment took by surprise the elements of German 4th Panzer Division, which retreated in panic. During the charge, lances were used. In fact, the cavalry charge in the traditional sense was neither planned, nor executed. The mounted infantry rode over behind the attacking German armor in behind the tankettes with the tank men throwing smoke grenades to cover the approach. Indeed, the mounted infantry did repel the German support infantry and forced part of the German armored regiment to continue to advance while deprived of the infantry support.
 * 2) September 1 - Battle of Lasy Królewskie - 11th Legions Uhlan Regiment on a reconnaissance mission encountered a similar unit of German cavalry. Lieut. Kossakowski ordered a cavalry charge, but the enemy did not accept battle and after a short clash withdrew towards their positions.
 * 3) September 2 - Battle of Borowa Góra - 1st squadron of the 19th Volhynian Uhlan Regiment encountered a squadron of German cavalry in the village of Borowa. A charge was ordered, but the Germans withdrew.
 * 4) September 11 - Osuchowo - 1st squadron of the 20th Uhlan Regiment of King Jan III Sobieski charged through the German infantry lines to avoid encirclement, and broke through. There were negligible losses on both sides.
 * 5) September 11–12 - Kałuszyn - 4th squadron of the 11th Legions Uhlan Regiment charged overnight at the German positions in the town of Kałuszyn. Although the charge was a mistake (the Polish infantry commander issued a wrong order which was understood as a charge order while the cavalry was meant to simply move forward), it was a success. After heavy casualties on both sides, the town was retaken in the early morning.
 * 6) September 13 - Mińsk Mazowiecki - 1st squadron of the 2nd Grochow Uhlan Regiment charged German infantry positions, but was repelled by German MG and artillery fire.
 * 7) September 13 - Maliszewo - 1st squadron of the 27th Uhlan Regiment was engaged in heavy fighting near the village of Maliszewo. After the Germans were beaten and started to retreat towards the village, the Poles charged and took the village along with a large number of German prisoners.
 * 8) September 15 - Brochów - elements of the 17th Greater Poland Uhlan Regiment charged towards the German positions to frighten the enemy infantry. Shortly before reaching the range of enemy weapons, they dismounted and continued their assault on foot; the attack was successful.
 * 9) September 16 - Dembowskie - a platoon from the 4th squadron of the 17th Greater Poland Uhlan Regiment charged towards a small German outpost located around a foresters' hut. The small number of Germans withdrew.
 * 10) September 19 - Battle of Wólka Węglowa - Most of the 14th Jazlowiec Uhlan Regiment (without its MGs and AT platoon) was ordered to probe the German lines near the town of Wólka Węglowa. After elements of 9th Lesser Poland Uhlan Regiment arrived, the group was ordered to charge through the German lines to open the way towards Warsaw and Modlin for the rest of Polish forces who were withdrawing from the Battle of Bzura. The Poles charged through a German artillery barrage and took the German infantry by surprise. Polish losses were high (205 killed and wounded), the German losses remain unknown, but the Polish unit broke through and was the first to reach Warsaw after the Battle of Bzura.
 * 11) September 19 - Łomianki - recce squad of 6th Mounted Artillery Detachment charged through the German lines in the town of Lomianki and paved the way for the rest of the unit to Warsaw.
 * 12) September 21 - Battle of Kamionka Strumiłowa - 3rd squadron of the 1st Mounted Detachment (improvised) charged through German infantry who were preparing to assault the Polish positions. The preparations were paralysed and the Germans withdrew.
 * 13) September 23 - Krasnobród - 1st squadron of the 25th Greater Poland Uhlan Regiment charged towards the town of Krasnobród. After heavy casualties, they reached the hilltop on which the town was located. A unit of German organic cavalry from the German 8th Infantry Division countercharged from the hill, but was repelled and the Poles captured the town and took the HQ of the division, together with its commander and about 100 German soldiers. 40 Polish combatants previously taken prisoner by the Germans were also freed.
 * 14) September 24 - Husynne - reserve squadron of the 14th Jazlowiec Uhlan Regiment (some 500 sabres), reinforced with an improvised cavalry unit of police and some remnants of divisional organic cavalry, was ordered to break through the Soviet infantry surrounding the Polish positions in the village of Husynne. The charge was led by the mounted police, and the Soviet forces withdrew in panic. However, the attack was soon halted by a strong Soviet tank unit. Casualties were similar on both sides.
 * 15) September 26 - Morańce - 27th Uhlan Regiment twice charged an entrenched German infantry battalion in the village of Morańce. Both charges were repelled with heavy casualties (the Poles lost 20 KIA and about 50 wounded, German losses are unknown). After the second charge the Germans sent out a soldier with a white flag and, after a short discussion with the Polish commander of the Nowogródek Cavalry Brigade, the Germans withdrew.

Present time
In Poland there are now several Volunteer Representative Squadrons. The Polish Army also has a "Representative Cavalry Squadron of the Polish Army" (Reprezentacyjny Szwadron Kawalerii Wojska Polskiego).

title: Polish cavalry


text:
Lynching of Sam Hose

Sam Hose (born Samuel Thomas Wilkes; c. 1875 – April 23, 1899) was an African American man who was tortured and murdered by a white lynch mob in Coweta County, Georgia, after being accused of rape.

Personal life
Sam Hose was born Tom Wilkes in south Georgia near Marshallville (Macon County), circa 1875. He grew up on a Macon County farm owned by the Jones family; the family had owned his mother. Hose was described by those who knew him as friendly and intelligent and, unusual for a black man in the 19th century South, he learned how to read and write. Having to look after his aging mother and an intellectually disabled brother, he abandoned his plans for higher education and worked as a manual laborer. Newspaper accounts in 1899 said that Wilkes left Marshallville and used the alias Sam Hose because he had been accused of assaulting an elderly black woman.

Accusation
Wilkes moved to Coweta County, where he assumed the alias Sam Hose. On April 12, 1899, he was accused of murdering his employer, Alfred Cranford, after a heated argument. Hose had requested time off to visit his ailing mother. According to Hose, Alfred Cranford threatened to kill him and pointed a revolver at him. Hose was working at the time with an ax in his hands. Hose alleged that, due to the threat, he defended himself and threw the ax, killing Cranford. Hose fled the scene, and the search for him began shortly thereafter. Five cash rewards were offered for his capture, including from then-Governor Allen Candler, The Atlanta Constitution, Coweta County, the town of Palmetto, and Jacob Hass of Atlanta. Over the next few days, the furor was caused by rumors suggesting that Wilkes sexually assaulted Cranford's wife, Mattie Cranford, and assaulted his infant child. Newspapers portrayed Hose as "a monster in human form" who gleefully raped Mrs. Cranford and their infant child in front of the dying Mr. Cranford and, for good measure, claimed without evidence that Hose was suffering from advanced syphilis. Mrs. Cranford forever maintained that she had been raped by Hose, and her youngest son, Clifford Alfred “Tan” Cranford, was left blind in his left eye as a result of the injuries he received that day. On April 23, 1899, Hose was apprehended in Marshallville and returned by train to Coweta County.

Following events
A mob kidnapped Hose from the train at gunpoint in Newnan, Georgia. Hose was marched to the Newnan jail, where a dispute arose between Hose's captors and the sheriff. The captors agreed to surrender Hose to the sheriff if they were paid their reward money. As the town jailer led Hose to a cell, the mob grew alarmed, held a pistol to the jailer's head, and took Hose away. Former Governor William Yates Atkinson and Judge Alvan Freeman pleaded with the crowd to release Hose to the custody of the authorities.

Ignoring their pleas, the crowd moved northward toward the Cranford home. The lynch mob grew, reaching an estimated 500 individuals, though some accounts purport around 2000. Once news of the capture reached Atlanta, large crowds boarded trains to Newnan. Mistakenly believing that these trains were loaded with troops, the mob stopped just north of Newnan, deciding they could wait no longer.

Lynching
Hose was brought to a patch of land known as the old Troutman field. Newspapers reported that members of the mob used knives to sever Hose's ears, fingers and genitals while others plunged knives repeatedly into his body, to cheers from the mob. Men and boys gathered kindling from the nearby woods to create a pyre. The skin from Hose's face was removed, and he was doused with kerosene. He was then chained to a pine tree. Several matches were thrown onto the pyre by members of the mob, lighting it on fire and burning Hose alive. The heat from the fire caused Hose's veins to rupture while his eyes nearly burst from their sockets. One journalist present noted the crowd watched "with unfeigned satisfaction" at contortions of Hose's body. As the flames consumed his body, Hose screamed out, "Oh my God! Oh Jesus!" From the time of Hose's first injuries to his death, almost 30 minutes passed. One woman thanked God for the actions of the mob. Some members of the mob cut off pieces of his dead body as souvenirs. Pieces of Hose's bones were sold for 25 cents, while his heart and liver were cut out to be sold.

None of the lynch mob wore masks and did not seek to hide their identities, giving their names to journalists who were present. On the tree where Hose had died, a sign was attached reading "We Must Protect Our Southern Women" One white Southern woman objected, a Mrs. P.H. Mell of Atlanta, who proudly noted in her letter to the editor of the Atlanta Constitution that she was a member of the Daughters of the Confederacy, and spoke of her horror about what was done to Hose, urging white women to protest the "unparalleled brutality" committed in the name of protecting them. Another woman, future United States Senator Rebecca Felton, wrote a letter protesting against Mell's letter, saying that any "true-hearted husband or father" would have done the same to the "beast" Hose, arguing that Hose needed to be killed in the same way that a mad dog needed to be put down, except "the dog is more worthy of sympathy."

According to Philip Dray's At the Hands of Persons Unknown: The Lynching of Black America, the noted civil rights leader and scholar W. E. B. Du Bois, who lived in Atlanta at the time, was on his way to a scheduled meeting with Atlanta Constitution editor Joel Chandler Harris to discuss the lynching when he was informed that Hose's knuckles were for sale in a grocery store on the road on which he was walking. He turned around and did not meet with Harris after learning this. Until then, Du Bois believed that lynching was an aberrant phenomenon and that he could use reason and a sense of fairness to appeal to the majority of the white community. The spectacular nature of Hose's lynching and the sale of body parts convinced him otherwise.

The governor of Georgia, Allen D. Candler, issued a statement calling the murder of Alfred Cranford "the most diabolical in the annals of crime" and blamed the entire black community of Georgia. Candler complained the younger generation of blacks had not been so "lucky" to have experienced slavery while the older generation of blacks had failed to pass on the right values. Without presenting any proof, Candler argued that the entire black community was responsible for Hose's actions and accused black citizens of hiding and sheltering him during the manhunt. Candler ended his statement by saying that it was "deplorable" that the blacks had protested the lynching of Hose.

Four days later, on April 27, a black man named Mitchell Daniel was lynched by whites in Leesburg, Georgia, because he had complained about Sam Hose's lynching.

Post-lynching investigation
The actions of the lynch mob were condemned throughout most of the United States and Europe. A group of prominent citizens in Chicago, led by journalist and activist Ida B. Wells-Barnett, hired detective Louis P. Le Vin to investigate the Hose lynching. Le Vin's entire report was published in Chapter IV of Ida B. Wells-Barnett's article, Lynch Law in Georgia.

Le Vin stated that he spent over one week in his investigation. He concluded that Hose acted in self-defense, and whites added the rape allegation to incite a lynching. Le Vin stated that his conclusions were gathered from interviews with "persons he met in Griffin, Newman [sic], Atlanta and the vicinity." He does not provide the name of any individual who provided information, probably because they fear reprisals for speaking out publicly. He stated that he could not speak to Mattie Cranford because she "was still suffering from the awful shock." Le Vin's report stated, "that Wilkes killed Cranford there is no doubt, but under what circumstances can never be proven." Le Vin concluded his report with the statement, "I made my way home thoroughly convinced that a Negro's life is a very cheap thing in Georgia." In Lynch Law in Georgia, he stated:

"The real purpose of these savage demonstrations is to teach the Negro that in the South, he has no rights that the law will enforce. Samuel Hose was burned to teach the Negroes that no matter what a white man does to them, they must not resist."

Historian Leon Litwack states, in Trouble In Mind: Black Southerners in the Age of Jim Crow, that during an investigation by a white detective, separate from the investigation organized by Wells-Barnett, Cranford's wife Mattie revealed that Hose had never entered the house, and had acted in self-defense against her husband.

The memory of the lynching
In February 2007, Richard Rusk who had founded the Moore's Ford Memorial Committee to commemorate the Moore's Ford lynchings was contacted by a group called Come to the Table in Newnan, Georgia, that wanted to commemorate Hose's lynching. Rusk had led an effort to commemorate the Moore's Ford lynchings by applying for a Georgia historical marker to be placed at the site of the lynching. The Georgia Historical Society erected a historical marker in 1999, the first historical marker in Georgia—and one of the first in the country—to document a lynching. Come to the Table were hoping Rusk could help them do the same at the site of Hose's lynching. To raise public interest, Rusk spoke to a journalist, Winston Skinner, from the Newnan Times-Herald. Rusk later stated the article: "I expected they would run it inside the paper on the fifth or sixth page. Instead, it was a front-page article. When I expressed my surprise, they told me anything to do with Sam Hose was a front-page story".

Rusk suggested a memorial service to honor Hose: "We hope something good will come after so many years by paying our respects to Sam Hose." The article in the Newnan Times-Herald on February 6, 2007, started a firestorm of controversy in Newnan, attracting a flood of highly negative letters to the editor calling Hose a murderer and rapist who was justly lynched by the white community of Newnan. Rusk felt Skinner was responsible for the backlash, noting that he had omitted from the article the part in the interview which he stated that Hose was probably innocent and instead presented it as a fact that Hose was guilty of the crimes of which he was accused. In his article, Skinner wrote: "On 12th of April 1899, Hose hit his employer in the head with an ax, killing him. He then raped the landowner's wife and injured their infant child". Rusk felt that there were mitigating circumstances for Hose killing Cranford and that Hose was innocent of the charges of rape. In response, Skinner replied to Rusk that in Newnan, it was accepted that Hose was a murderer and rapist, and it was disrespectful to the Cranford family to present the story any other way.

Many white residents of Newnan wrote letters objecting to the memorial service, with one letter writer calling Rusk's proposed service "shameful." One letter writer wrote: "I am amazed there are plans to have a memorial service to show respect and honor Sam Hose, the man who raped and murdered his way across our country many years ago...The group proposing to hold this memorial service should be truly ashamed". One white woman wrote: "A man who is an ax murderer and a rapist, and whose crimes were described as some of the most violent, needs to be lynched. I don't care about race, sex, orientation, etc., etc. In fact, maybe if the judicial system actually punished crimes committed, there might be one person who thinks twice about crimes instead of looking forward to a cushy life in prison with three squares, cable TV, exercise equipment, libraries and steaks. Why doesn't this group not seek to honor someone who was just a good, decent person instead of someone who obviously got what he deserved?" Another letter writer wrote that while Hose did not receive fair treatment stated: "Lack of fair legal system treatment...is in no way an obligation to 'pay our respects to Sam Hose.' If we start paying respect to murderers and rapists, then we need to do the same for the late Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, and John Wayne Gacey". Judge John Herbert Cranford, a descendant of Alfred Cranford, issued a public statement condemning the lynching, but also expressed much anger at Rusk for not paying enough attention to his family's suffering. One letter writer took a contrary position to the majority, saying the Moore's Ford Memorial Committee should be "commended" for its work, and concluded: "To ignore the past or sweep it under the rug is what keeps people from getting together in harmony and amity...The bottom line is that addressing an old wrong is the right thing to do".

Rusk in a letter to the editor of the Newnan Times-Herald argued for a public discussion rather than a memorial service for Hose, writing: "One of the more unfortunate aspects of lynching in Georgia and elsewhere is that many of those killed were innocent of any crime. Hose may indeed be one of the exceptions. On several issues, many of us can agree. No man deserved to die like Sam Hose, whether innocent or guilty. Number two—little lasting good will be achieved if any effort to revisit this horrific event in Newnan is cooked up primarily by 'outsiders'...Do wounds like Hose's killing really heal by leaving them alone? Or if unaddressed, do they just fester away?" Rusk drove to Newnan himself to meet with members of Come to the Table, where he argued that most of the white people in Newnan knew only a very biased version about the lynching of Hose and believed that the effort to honor him was a way to defame their town's reputation." On April 23, 2007, Rusk spoke at a meeting at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Newnan about the lynching.  In his speech Rusk stated the Hose lynching was different from the Moore's Ford lynching as Hose had no descendants to champion his memory while the Cranford family were still well respected and known in Newnan, making it more difficult to honor Hose as a victim of injustice. The historian Edwin Arnold from Coweta County noted that even today, there is no marker at the place where Hose was killed to commemorate the event.

title: Lynching of Sam Hose