The First Foot Guards
We are a Revolutionary War
reenactment group based in Boston MA,
accurately portraying the royal household regiment that is now known as
The Grenadier Guards
{
This Date in History: June
Graeme Marsden's collection
of significant dates in American and European history,
organized by Month and by Day.
Most references are from the 18th century, and there is a preference for military occurrences, especially those of The First Foot guards.
Check out 'What happened
on this day?'
June
1 June 836
Viking raiders sacked London.
1 June 1666
An English fleet under Lord Albemarle fought an inconclusive battle with the Dutch off the Dunes of Dunkirk.
1 June 1774
The Boston Port Act went into effect. Crown forces occupied the town and closed the port.
1 June 1813
The commander of the US frigate "Chesapeake," Captain James Lawrence, said, "Don't give up the ship" during a losing battle with a British frigate.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
2 June 1642
English Civil War: Parliament issued the '19 propositions' to limit King Charles' powers.
2 June 1619
A treaty was signed between England and Holland, regulating the trade in the East between the English and Dutch East India Companies.
2 June 1627
The Duke of Buckingham sailed from Portsmouth with a fleet to aid the Huguenots in the defense of La Rochelle.
2 June 1780
The Gordon Riots began in London, and continued through 9 June.
As part of Whig reforms, Sir George Saville introduced a bill into parliament: The Catholic Relief Act, which was designed to remove the bar against Catholics entering the army. It was hoped that the act would boost the ranks at this critical time in Britain's history.
Lord George Gordon was an eccentric and extremist Protestant. Stirring up venom against Catholics, he led a crowd of 20,000 to 60,000 rioters to the gates of parliament, demanding repeal of the act. The rioters wore blue cockades, and carried blue flags on which were inscribed the words 'No Popery'. The riot continued throughout London. Houses and churches were burned (among them Saville's house), and many people were attacked or killed. Finally Lord North's government called out the army (The First Foot Guards among them) to control the extensive state of disorder. Afterwards several ringleaders were hanged. Lord George Gordon was tried, but got off scot-free.
2 June 1793
The final overthrow of Girondins began the Reign of Terror in the French Revolution.
2 June 1953
Queen Elizabeth II of Britain was crowned in Westminster Abbey, 16 months after the death of her father, King George VI.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
3 June 1162
Thomas à Becket was consecrated as Archbishop of Canterbury. He was later murdered in the cathedral, apparently by order of the King. TS Eliot's 'Murder in the Cathedral' treats of this incident.
3 June 1621
The Dutch West India Company received a charter for New Netherlands, now known as New York
3 June 1665
The English fleet defeated the Dutch at the Battle of Lowestoft.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
4 June 1039
Gruffydd ap Llewellyn, King of Gwynedd and Powys, defeated an English attack.
4 June 1210
King John embarked on an expedition to Ireland, enforcing his authority there.
4 June 1520
Henry VIII and Francis I met at the Field of the Cloth of Gold, between Guînes and Ardres; on 6 June they signed a treaty confirming the marriage contract of Mary Tudor and the Dauphin and ending French interference in Scotland.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
6 June 1457
Polish forces took Marienburg (Marlbork); the Teutonic Knights then made Königsberg their headquarters.
6 June 1636
Puritan American colonist Roger Williams, banished from Massachusetts Bay Colony, founded Providence RI, a colony with complete religious freedom.
6 June 1664
War broke out between England and Holland in the colonies and at sea.
6 June 1797
Napoleon Bonaparte founded the Ligurian Republic in Genoa, Italy.
6 June 1820
Caroline, Princess of Wales, whom George IV wished to divorce, triumphantly entered London, demanding her recognition as queen.
6 June 1844
The Young Men's Christian Association was founded in London.
6 June 1944
The "D-Day" invasion of Europe took place during World War Two as Allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy, France.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
7 June 1494
By the Treaty of Tordesillas, Spain and Portugal agreed to divide the New World between themselves: Portugal was to have all lands east of a line north and south drawn 370 leagues west of Cape Verde, Spain to have the rest.
7 June 1497
English king Henry VII defeated the Cornish rebels under Lord Audley at Blackheath, London.
7 June 1523
Gustavus Vasa was elected Gustav I of Sweden.
7 June 1535
John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, was tried for treason (he was executed on 22 June).
7 June 1672
Dutch Admiral de Ruyter was successful in action against the combined English and French fleets in Southwold Bay.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
8 June 1042
Harthacnut, (Hardicanute) King of England and Denmark, died; he was succeeded in England by his adopted heir, Edward the Confessor, and in Denmark by Magnus, King of Norway.
"Confessor' is the description of an 'almost-saint'. He was much revered, especially by King Richard II who added the Confessor's arms to his own royal arms.
8 June 1536
The English Parliament met and settled the succession on the future children of Henry VIII by Jane Seymour; the Princesses Mary and Elizabeth were declared illegitimate.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
9 June 1788
English botanist Sir Joseph Banks founded the Africa Association for arousing interest in exploration and trade. Banks had sailed with Captain Cook on one of his voyages of exploration. He founded the Kew Gardens and the London Zoo.
9 June 1953
About 100 people died when a tornado struck Worcester, Massachusetts.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
11 June 1346
Charles IV of Luxembourg was elected Holy Roman Emperor.
11 June 1509
English king Henry VIII married Catherine of Aragon, his first wife.
11 June 1727
George II (great-grandson of James I) became king of Great Britain, thus establishing the House of Hanover. George spoke no English.
I'll
be at your Board, when at leisure from cricket.
- The Earl of Sandwich's response, on being appointed a Lord Commissioner of
the Admiralty on 11 June 1745. It was this Lord Sandwich who gave his name to
the sandwich, after he requested finger food during a gambling spree.
11 June 1770
Captain James Cook, commander of the British ship "Endeavour," discovered the Great Barrier Reef off Australia… by accidentally running onto it. If there had been Australians there, they would surely have made derogatory comments!
11 June 1798
Napoleon Bonaparte captured the island of Malta.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
12 June 1088
William II suppressed a revolt in England led by Odo of Bayeux, Bishop of Rochester, who was supporting Robert Curthose.
12 June 1667
The low point in English naval history: The Dutch fleet under Admiral de Ruyter burned Sheerness, sailed up the River Medway, raided Chatham dockyard, and escaped with the royal barge, the Royal Charles. It was said that the King was dallying with his mistress at the time.
12 June 1683
The Rye House Plot, to assassinate English king Charles II and his brother James, Duke of York, was discovered.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
13 June 1849
Communist riots in Paris were easily defeated and led to repressive legislation.
13 June 1900
China's Boxer Rebellion targeting foreigners, as well as Chinese Christians, erupted into full-scale violence
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
14 June 1380
In the Peasants'
Revolt, the rebels occupying London killed Archbishop Sudbury, the chancellor,
and Robert Hales, the treasurer. "When
Adam delved and Eve span, Who then was the gentleman? "
14 June 1645
English Civil War: A major triumph for the Parliamentary forces at the Battle of Naseby.
14 June 1775
The United States Army was founded.
14 June 1801
Former American Revolutionary War General Benedict Arnold died (almost unnoticed) in London.
14 June 1841
The first Canadian parliament opened in Kingston
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
15 June 1215
King John put his seal to Magna Carta ("the Great Charter") at Runnymede, England, granting his barons more liberty.
15 June 1520
Pope Leo X excommunicated Martin Luther by the bull Exsurge.
15 June 1658
The Mogul emperor Aurangzeb imprisoned his father the Shah, after winning a battle at Samgarh.
15 June 1672
The sluices were opened in Holland to save Amsterdam from the French.
15 June 1785
In the first balloon disaster in history, French aviation pioneers Pilatre de Rosier and M. Romain died when the
hot-air balloon that was carrying them across the English Channel caught fire and crashed to the ground. Two years
earlier, Pilatre de Rosier, along with the Marquis d'Arlandes, had become the first people to make a successful flight.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
16 June 1586
Mary Queen of Scots recognized Philip II of Spain as her heir.
16 June 1743
Battle of Dettingen, the last time a British sovereign (George II) led troops
in battle.
16 June 1745
New England troops took Cape Breton Island and subsequently Louisburg, at the mouth of the St Lawrence River. Louisburg Square on Boston's Beacon Hill was named to celebrate this battle. In retaliation, France planned to send an armada to destroy Boston in 1746. Fortunately for New England, the invading fleet was destroyed by storms. Little wonder then that the French received a cool reception in Boston when they came to the aid of the Patriots in 1778.
16 June 1746
The bloody Battle of Piacenza in Italy, in which the imperial Austrian army triumphed over the allied troops of France, Spain, Genoa and Naples. On that day Montcalm was wounded five times and was finally taken prisoner. His wounds were treated and he was freed in the following year. On his return to France he was promoted to the rank of brigadier. Just a few months later he was again fighting in Italy, where he found glory and received his sixth wound in the battle of Assietta.
16 June 1755
General Robert Monckton managed to counterbalance Braddock’s defeat near Fort Duquesne by occupying Acadia, which the French command had left badly undermanned. On 16 June, Monckton took Fort Beauséjour and went on to take Fort Gaspereau three days later.
16 June 1779
Spain declared war on Britain (after France had undertaken to assist in the recovery of Gibraltar and Florida), and the siege of Gibraltar began. British forces triumphed, and The Rock is still held by the UK (much to the approval of Spanish residents). General Charles O'Hara (First Foot Guards) became Governor of Gibraltar, becoming known affectionately as "The Old Cock of the Rock'.
16
June 1815
Waterloo Campaign
Battle of Quatre Bras
In memory of the officers who died in battle:
Lieutenant Colonel William Miller, First Foot Guards
Captain Edward Grose, First Foot Guards
Captain Robert Adair, First Foot Guards
Captain Thomas Brow, First Foot Guards
Ensign James Lord Hay, First Foot Guards
Ensign the Hon. Samuel P. Barrington, First Foot Guards
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
17 June 1128
Henry I's daughter, Matilda, widow of Henry V, married Geoffrey Plantagenet of Anjou; she was recognized in England as her father's heir: this caused much trouble during the rule of King Stephen. Stephen's reign was so dysfunctional that he was the last English monarch to be so named!
17 June 1404
Owain Glendwr (Owen Glendower), having won control of Wales, assumed the title of Prince of Wales and held a parliament.
17 June 1579
Francis Drake proclaimed England's sovereignty over New Albion (California).
17 June 1645
In the English Civil War, Oliver Cromwell defeated the Royalists at the Battle of Naseby, Northamptonshire.
17 June 1775
Battle of Bunker Hill. The Siege of Boston starts on this day, through 17 March 1776 (Evacuation Day).
Bunker Hill was the single bloodiest day of combat in the entire Revolutionary War. Though the British technically won the battle, they lost so many men in the process that the Americans would from then on consider it a patriot victory.
17 June 1825
The cornerstone was laid of the current Bunker Hill monument.
17 June 1843
Ceremonies were held to mark the completion of the Bunker Hill monument.
17 June 1800
Napoleon Bonaparte defeated an Austrian army at the Battle of Marengo and reconquered Italy. His cook, finding food limited to chicken and a few other essentials, created the dish called 'Chicken Marengo'.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
18 June 1633
Charles I was crowned king of Scotland at Edinburgh.
18 June 1667
The Dutch fleet sailed up the Thames River and threatened London.
18 June 1778
American forces entered Philadelphia as the British withdrew during the Revolutionary War.
18 June 1812
After much debate in Congress between the "hawks" and the "doves," Congress declared war against Great Britain. The
action was prompted primarily by Britain's violations of U.S. rights on the high seas, and British incitement of Indian
warfare on the frontier. The war was formally ended in 1814.
18 June 1815
Former French emperor Napoleon was defeated in the Battle of Waterloo, Belgium. Napoleon had faced two armies: one led by the Duke of Wellington, who commanded a combined force of Belgian, Dutch, and British troops, and the other led by Marshal Blucher, who commanded a Prussian force. There were nearly 50,000 casualties.
Battle
of Waterloo
In memory
of the officers who died in battle:
Lieutenant Colonel Sir Francis D'Oyley, KCB, First Foot Guards
Lieutenant Colonel William Henry Milnes, First Foot Guards
Lieutenant Colonel Edward Stables, First Foot Guards
Lieutenant Colonel Charles Thomas, First Foot Guards
Captain Newton Chambers, First Foot Guards
Ensign Edward Pardoe, First Foot Guards
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
19 June 1464
An ordinance of Louis XI in France created the Poste, organizing relays of horses on the main roads for the king's business.
19 June 1586
English colonists sailed from Roanoke Island, North Carolina, after failing to establish England's first permanent settlement in America.
19 June 1754
The Anglo-French war broke out in North America when a force under George Washington skirmished with French troops near Fort Duquesne.
19 June 1769
Hyder Ali of Mysore compelled the British at Madras to sign a treaty of mutual assistance.
19 June 1862
Slavery was outlawed in US territories.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
20 June 840
Vikings sailed up the Seine in France as far as Rouen, for the first time.
20 June 1756
The Black Hole of Calcutta. A 'black hole' is the term for a military detention cell, which was used until the 1800s. On the night of 20-21 June the Nawab of Bengal, Siraj-ud-Daula, confined 146 Europeans into a small stifling cell in Fort William. In the morning only 23 people were alive. The story has been used for years to promote imperialism, and denigrate the Indians. Today, there is still a large monument in Calcutta commemorating the event. The problem is that there was only one person (an Englishman) who gave an account of the event. By all historical standards, the account is suspect, being probably an exaggeration.
On the 23 June 1757, Robert Clive scored a stunning victory over the Nawab in the mango grove at the battle of Plassey, near Calcutta. Siraj fled and was later executed.
20 June 1777
First American War 1776-1783,
Action at Westfield, North America
In memory of an officer who died in battle:
Captain the Hon. John Finch, First Foot Guards
20 June 1789
In France, the third estate took the Tennis Court oath, undertaking not to depart
until a constitution was drawn up.
20 June 1791
Louis XVI attempted to leave France, but was turned back at Varennes and taken to Paris.
20 June 1837
Princess Alexandrina Victoria became Queen Victoria of Great Britain and Ireland following the death of her uncle, King
William IV. During her reign Great Britain took over new territories becoming the most powerful empire of the 19th
century.
Hanover was automatically separated from Britain, as Salic Law forbids female succession, and the throne was taken by Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, the oldest surviving son of George III.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
21 June 1776
The siege of Charleston SC.
21 June 1788
The US constitution came into force, when ratified by the 9th state, New Hampshire.
21 June 1798
British General Gerard Lake defeated Irish rebels at Vinegar Hill and entered Wexford, ending the Irish Rebellion.
21 June 1813
The Duke of Wellington completely routed the French at Vittoria, forcing the Spanish king, Napoleon's brother Joseph, to return to France.
21 June 1827
Robert Peel reformed English criminal law, by reducing the number of capital offences, abolishing the immunity of the clergy from arrest in cases of felony, and by defining the law of offenses against property in a simplified form.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
22 June 1377
Richard II became king of England.
22 June 1679
The Duke of Monmouth subdued an insurrection of Scottish Covenanters at Bothwell Bridge.
22 June 1911
Britain's King George V was crowned at Westminster Abbey
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
23 June 1314
King Edward II (son of the great warrior king Edward I) suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of Robert the Bruce at Bannockburn, by which Scotland won its independence from England. Edward II was but a pale shadow of his great father who had fought in Scotland, Wales and Jerusalem, and had introduced significant legal reforms. Comparing Edward I to Edward II, Robert the Bruce declared, "I am more afraid of the bones of the father dead, than of the living son; and, by all the saints, it was more difficult to get a half a foot of the land from the old king than a whole kingdom from the son!"
23 Jun 1611
Mutineers from English navigator Henry Hudson's ship Discovery set him adrift in the Hudson Bay. Hudson and his crew were never seen again. Hudson is famous for attempting to find a route from Europe to Asia via the Arctic Ocean, and for exploring the location of what is today New York City.
23 Jun 1757
At the Battle of Plassey, near Calcutta, troops of the East India Company led by Robert Clive defeated the more numerous army of Siraj-ud-daula, the young Nawab of Bengal. This victory helped Britain to acquire Bengal.
Siraj-ud-daulah had became increasingly intolerant of the English and attacked the British settlement of Calcutta on 20 June 1756. The young Robert Clive regained the city in 1757, then took the French settlement of Chandarnagar, eliminating their threat in Bengal. On 23 June 1757 a decisive victory was achieved in the battle in the mango grove of Plassey. Siraj fled and was later executed.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
24 June
Midsummer's Day or St John's Day in Britain
Midsummer's Day was one of the four Quarter Days on which rents became due in Britain. (Lady Day, Midsummer's Day, Michaelmas Day, Christmas Day).
24 June 1245
Pope Innocent sent John de Plano Carpinis, a friar minor, to the court of the Great Khan, at Karakorum; this embassy led to the establishment of Christian missions in China until about 1368.
24 June 1277
English King Edward I began his first Welsh campaign following Llewelyn's refusal to do homage.
24 June 1301
Battle of Bannockburn. The Scots under Robert the Bruce routed the English led
by Edward II, resulting in Scottish independence.
24 June 1497
The first recorded sighting of North America by a European took place as explorer John Cabot spotted land, probably in present-day Canada.
24 June 1509
Henry VIII was crowned king of England in a joint coronation ceremony with his Spanish queen, Catherine of Aragon.
Their only surviving child was Mary (later to become Queen Mary, or "Bloody Mary".) By 1526 Henry had begun to separate from Catherine because he had fallen in love with one of her ladies, Anne Boleyn. Things came to a head in 1533 when Anne Boleyn became pregnant. Henry had to act, and his solution was to reject the power of the Pope in England and to have Thomas Cranmer, the Archbishop of Canterbury grant an annulment. Catherine had to renounce the title of Queen, becoming Princess Dowager of Wales: Anne Boleyn became the ill-starred second wife of King Henry VIII.
24 June 1535
Charles V led an expedition to conquer Tunis from Barbarossa, with a fleet commanded by the Italian leader, Andrea Doria. Charles restored the Bey, Mulai Hassan (deposed by the Turks in 1534) and completed the Spanish conquest of the North African coast (begun in 1494).
24 June 1559
The Elizabethan Prayer Book was first used.
24 June 1647
Margaret Brent, niece of Lord Baltimore, was ejected from the Maryland Assembly after demanding a place and vote in that governing body.
24 June 1812
Napoleon crossed the River Niemen and entered Russian territory.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
25 June 1524
The Peasants' Revolt in southern Germany began at Stühlingen on the estates of Count von Lupfen. The rebels demanded the abolition of enclosures and feudal services.
25 June 1646
English Civil War. The surrender of Oxford to the Roundheads virtually signified the end of the war.
25 June 1876
Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer and his Seventh Cavalry were wiped out by Sioux and Cheyenne Indians in the Battle of the Little Bighorn in Montana.
25 June 1906
A love triangle came to a violent end atop New York's Madison Square Garden as architect Stanford White, the building's designer, was shot to death by Harry Thaw, the jealous husband of Evelyn Nesbit. White was partner in the prestigious architectural firm of McKim, Meade and White (who designed many buildings in NYC and Boston, including Madison Square Garden and the Boston Public Library McKim Building).
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
26 June 1483
Richard, Duke of Gloucester, began to rule England as Richard III, having deposed his nephew, Edward V; the latter and his brother, Richard, Duke of York, were soon afterwards murdered in the Tower of London.
26 June 1849
The British Navigation Acts were finally repealed.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
27 June 1771
Russia completed its conquest of the Crimea.
27 June 1795
A British force landed at Quiberon to aid the revolt in Brittany.
27 June 1795
French forces recaptured St Lucia.
27 June 1801
Cairo fell to British forces.
27 June 1847
New York and Boston were linked by telegraph wires
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
28 June 1491
England's King Henry the Eighth was born at Greenwich.
28 June 1519
Charles I of Spain, Sicily and Sardinia, was elected Holy Roman Emperor as Charles V.
28 June 1645
In the English Civil War, the Royalists lost the town of Carlisle.
28 June 1776
First Battle of Charleston SC
This was a devastating defeat for the British. Despite an impressive naval force, the Americans in Fort Moultrie successfully prevented them from advancing on the city.
28 June 1778
The Battle of
Monmouth Court House NJ
After spending an idle winter in Philadelphia, the British moved eastward to
the coast to be ferried to New York. Washington ordered an attack to prevent
their advance at Monmouth, but an inept General Charles Lee bungled the attempt.
Washington took command of the army, but neither side gave ground. By the next
morning, the British had left for South Amboy.
"Molly Pitcher" (Mary Ludwig Hays) carried water to American soldiers at the battle.
28 June 1838
Britain's Queen Victoria was crowned in Westminster Abbey.
28 June 1914
Austrian Archduke Francis Ferdinand and his wife, Sofia, were assassinated in Sarajevo by a Serb nationalist -- the event which triggered World War One.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
29 June 1613
London's Globe Theatre was destroyed by fire.
29 June 1946
British authorities arrested more than 2700 Jews in Palestine in an attempt to stamp out terrorism, which included the bombing of a large hotel.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
30 June 1574
William of Orange persuaded the Estates of Holland to open the dykes to hinder the Spanish siege of Leyden.
30 June 1596
An English expedition under Lord Howard of Effingham and the Earl of Essex sacked Cadiz, ravaged the Spanish coast, and captured much booty. Philip II was thus prevented from sending an Armada against England.
30 June 1759
A lot was purchased in Newport RI on which was built the Touro Synagogue, which still stands today. It was designed by architect Peter Harrison. Interestingly enough, there is no record of him having been paid, so it is supposed that his work was a labor of love. The RI settlement was the first established Jewish congregation in America, as those whose religion was persecuted found a haven in Roger Williams' Rhode Island. The congregation was established by Sephardim in 1658.
30 June 1782
Spain completed its conquest of Florida.
30 June 1797
The naval mutiny in the Nore was suppressed. The Nore is one of the straits approaching the port of Southampton.
Home to "This
Date in History"
Click