Infinite Wisdom

"We speak glibly of ‘sea power’ and forget that its true value lies in its influence on the operations of armies."

La Triviata

• Although Americans and Britons usually claim that the “League of Armed Neutrality” cobbled together by Russia, Denmark, Sweden and other powers in 1780 was an expression of support for the American Revolution, it was primarily aimed at curbing British interference in neutral shipping, by providing convoys for merchant vessels.
• An examination of skeletons from several ancient cemeteries suggests that the average Greek warrior during the Fifth Century BC was about 5’5” tall.
• Perhaps the greatest sea dog of the seventeenth century, the Dutch admiral Michiel de Ruyter was so highly respected that, following his death from wounds incurred fighting the French in the Battle of Agosta (April 22, 1676) off eastern Sicily, King Louis XIV ordered that the ship bearing his body home was to be greeted by cannon salutes as it passed French ports, and ever since his name has almost always been borne by an active ship of the Royal Netherlands Navy.
• A World War II pillbox built to cover a possible German invasion beach at Studland in Dorsetshire, England, was found so useful in postwar years for folks interested in gawking at the nudists who began to frequent the area, that it was eventually demolished, to the great annoyance of both historic preservationists and randy teenage boys.
• Although he proved an effective commander, when he succeeded to the imperium, a few weeks shy of his 40^th birthday, the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius (r. 161-180), had never seen active military service and had never  even been out of Italy.
• In the spring of 1756, Capt. Noah Grant (great grandfather of Ulysses S. Grant) of Roger’s Rangers was awarded 30 Spanish dollars (probably the equivalent of £10,000 today) for “extraordinary services and good conduct in ranging and scouting” during British and Colonial operations around Crown Point, New York over the previous winter.
• Following the end of the Franco-Prussian War in 1871, the Swiss, who had been neutral, proposed that Germany reward them with certain “border adjustments” in Alsace, which Otto von Bismarck dismissed by commenting on the impropriety of a neutral state seeking territorial expansion.
• In sixteenth century, the primitive cannon that could be mounted on ships were so weak Spanish sailors that joked their optimal range was “quemaropa – clothes burning”.

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