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History & Celebrations Today – September 26

Celebrations Today – September 26

Holidays and observances

Celebrations Today – USA: September 26

National Situational Awareness Day
National Compliance Officer Day
National Dumpling Day
National Johnny Appleseed Day
National Shamu the Whale Day
National Pancake Day
National Woman Road Warrior Day – Fourth Tuesday in September
National Voter Registration Day – Fourth Tuesday in September
National European Day of Languages
National Lumberjack Day
National Better Breakfast Day

Today in US History: September 26

The Winter of Discontent

Independence Hall
Independence Hall,
c1905.
Touring Turn-of-the-Century America: Photographs from the Detroit Publishing Company, 1880-1920

On September 26, 1777, British troops marched into Philadelphia and occupied the city forcing the Continental Congress, meeting in the Pennsylvania State House (later renamed Independence Hall), to flee to the interior of Pennsylvania. General Washington and his army had battled the British south of Philadelphia at Brandywine Creek on September 11. That evening, Washington sent a letter to the Continental Congress reporting the outcome:

Sir: I am sorry to inform you that in this day’s engagement, we have been obliged to leave the enemy masters of the field. Unfortunately the intelligence received of the enemy’s advancing up the Brandywine, and crossing at a Ford about six miles above us, was uncertain and contradictory, notwithstanding all my pains to get the best…our loss of men is not, I am persuaded, very considerable, I believe much less than the enemy’s…. Notwithstanding the misfortune of the day, I am happy to find the troops in good spirits; and I hope another time we shall compensate for the losses now sustained.
The Marquis La Fayette was wounded in the leg, and Genl. Woodford in the hand. Divers other Officers were wounded, and some Slain, but the number of either cannot now be ascertained…
G. Washington.
P. S. It has not been in my power to send you earlier intelligence; the present being the first leisure moment I have had since the action.Letter, George Washington to Continental Congress, September 11, 1777.
George Washington Papers at the Library of Congress, 1741-1799

Washington
George Washington at the Battle of Princeton,
Charles Willson Peale, artist,
created/published [1913].
Touring Turn-of-the-Century America: Photographs from the Detroit Publishing Company, 1880-1920

Map of Seat of War, North America
A New and Accurate Map of the Present Seat of War in North America…,
London, 1777.
Military Battles and Campaigns, Map Collections

Washington’s attempts to hold the British outside of Philadelphia failed. While the British occupied the city, Washington and his army took up winter quarters at Valley Forge. Supplies and morale were low as the troops braved the snow and near starvation. The soldiers of the War for Independence endured bleak times at Valley Forge.

In a studio recording of a speech initially delivered at a Valley Forge commemorative ceremony, Speaker of the House Champ Clark paid tribute to the suffering of the brave men there:

Here in the winter of discontent, our fortunes sank to the lowest point. But from this place, Washington went forth conquering, and to conquer, and to become the foremost man of all the world.”At Valley Forge,”
speech by Speaker of the House Champ Clark, circa 1918-20.
American Leaders Speak: Recordings from World War I and the 1920 Election

In the spring of 1778, the British hastily left Philadelphia for New York City concerned that the new alliance between the French and Americans would result in a French blockade of the Delaware River. Washington pursued, marching his men to the Jersey coast where the war continued.

Learn more about Continental Congress and the Revolutionary War:

Johnny Appleseed

Johnny Appleseed
[Johnny Appleseed],
William Gropper, lithographer,
1941.
Prints & Photograph Online Catalog

Apples for sale at roadside stand near Berlin, Connecticut.
Apples for Sale at Roadside Stand,
near Berlin, Connecticut,
Russell Lee, photographer, October 1939.
America from the Great Depression to World War II: Photographs from the FSA and OWI, ca, 1935-1945

Jonathan Chapman, born in Leominster, Massachusetts, on September 26, 1775, came to be known as “Johnny Appleseed.” Chapman earned his nickname because he planted nurseries and individual apple trees across 100,000 square miles of midwestern wilderness and prairie—resulting in settlers’ planting their own orchards.

The first record of Chapman’s presence in the Midwest dates to 1801 when he was known to be on the Ohio River transporting bushels of apple seeds from western Pennsylvania for his nurseries. Chapman’s first apple-tree nursery was along the Allegheny Valley in northwestern Pennsylvania; he then ventured into central and northwestern Ohio and to eastern Indiana. Chapman scouted routes that he thought pioneers would settle and planted his seedlings ahead of the new settlements.

Chapman lived in Mansfield, Ohio, for about twenty years. Years before the Homestead Act he acquired about 1,000 acres of farmland in Mansfield through a local homestead arrangement. Chapman used the land to develop apple-tree nurseries. His reputation as a conservationist, a brave frontiersman, and as an eccentric (in dress and well as mannerisms) grew, as did stories of his kindness to animals and his heroic exploits.

Chapman was an ambulant man. Each year he traveled hundreds of miles on foot—wearing clothing made from sack cloth and carrying a cooking pot that he is said to have worn like a cap. His travels took him through Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, Illinois, and Indiana.

As a member of the New Church, or, Church of the New Jerusalem, (Swedenborgian), he left sections of Swedenborgian tracts at cabins that he visited and preached “God has made all things for good.”

Bird's eye view of the city of Fort Wayne, Indiana
Bird’s Eye View of the City of Fort Wayne, Indiana,
A. Ruger, panoramic map artist, 1868.
Map Collections

In about 1830, Chapman also acquired land in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where he planted a nursery that produced thousands of seedling apple trees that he sold, traded, and planted elsewhere. Chapman passed away at the age of seventy. Every September, when apples are ripe, Fort Wayne hosts an annual festival to commemorate the life of Johnny Appleseed.

Legend and folklore has transformed Johnny Appleseed into a folk hero—the patron saint of horticulture.

Today in History – September 26-External Links

Today’s Weather in History
Today in Earthquake History
This Day in Naval History
Today’s Document from the National Archives
Today’s Events, Births & Deaths –Wikipedia
Today in History by AP
On this Day -1950 to 2005 – Today’s Story–BBC
On This Day: The New York Times
This Day in History –History.com
Today in Canadian History – Canada Channel
History of Britain that took place On This Day
Russia in History –Russiapedia