You might not think of the musical instrument industry as “cutthroat.” But in 19th century Paris a new invention caused a uproar involving nefarious plots, incendiary devices, and attempted murder. You may not recognize the name Adolphe Sax, but you almost certainly recognize his most famous invention.
In August of 1918, as the armies of Europe neared exhaustion, American troops of the 28th “Keystone” division were thrown into a nearly forgotten battle that fully represented the horrors of the War to End All Wars.
Of the vaunted ironclad warships of the US Civil War perhaps the mightiest and most terrifying was the confederate ram Tennessee. On August 5, 1864, she would be put to the test in the largest naval engagement of the war, an engagement that defined the divided loyalties of the War of the Rebellion.