Tuesday, 20 September, 1966, The Frances Hubbard Diaries

Tuesday, 20 September, 1966, The Frances Hubbard Diaries Cloudy, some rain, strong east wind in am, 40's 50's, clearing, mostly sunny in pm.Heavy rain at night.  I canned tomatoes in am and went to Home Bureau with Madelyn at Viola's in pm.  Letter from Mary Ann and Gerald.
Comment:  Rather extensive weather report, getting a  little brisk on the Hill.....and just to show that brutality, barbarity and viciousness is not restricted to our times and non-western cultures, on this day in 1777....

Redcoats kill sleeping Americans in Paoli Massacre...stabbing or setting fire to those that tried to surrender: 

.On the evening of September 20, 1777, near Paoli, Pennsylvania, General Charles Grey and nearly 5,000 British soldiers launch a surprise attack on a small regiment of Patriot troops commanded by General Anthony Wayne in what becomes known as the Paoli Massacre. Not wanting to lose the element of surprise, Grey ordered his troops to empty their muskets and to use only bayonets or swords to attack the sleeping Americans under the cover of darkness.
With the help of a Loyalist spy who provided a secret password and led them to the camp, General Grey and the British launched the successful attack on the unsuspecting men of the Pennsylvania regiment, stabbing them to death as they slept. It was also alleged that the British soldiers took no prisoners during the attack, stabbing or setting fire to those who tried to surrender. Before it was over, nearly 200 Americans were killed or wounded. The Paoli Massacre became a rallying cry for the Americans against British atrocities for the rest of the Revolutionary War.