January 27 in U.S. military history

1837: U.S. soldiers and Marines under the command of Col. Archibald Henderson — a serving Marine Corps commandant — defeat a force of Seminole Indians in the running battle of Hatchee-Lustee Creek (Florida). For his actions, Henderson will receive a brevet promotion to brigadier general, becoming the Corps’ first general officer.

Henderson is known as the “Grand old man of the Marine Corps,” serving as Commandant from 1829-1850.

1862: Frustrated with the lack of action from his Army of the Potomac, Pres. Abraham Lincoln issues the first of two war orders. The first, General War Order No. One, directs U.S. Army and Naval forces to move “against the insurgent forces [of the Southern states].” In four days, Lincoln will issue Special War Order No. One, calling for an expeditionary force to seize and hold “a point” along the railroad southwest of Manassas Junction.

1942: The submarine USS Gudgeon sinks a Japanese submarine – becoming the first American sub to send an enemy warship to the bottom during World War II. Gudgeon also becomes the first sub to patrol Japanese waters. She will go on to rack up more than a dozen kills over the course of the war, plus her crew carries out rescue missions and special operations. But in 1944, on her 12th patrol, Gudgeon mysteriously disappears with all hands.

1943: American bombers – specifically B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators – of the U.S. Eighth Air Force strike German U-boat facilities at Wilhelmshaven. The bombing raid is the first U.S. Army Air Forces mission over Germany.

1967: Fire erupts in the Apollo command module during a launch rehearsal at Cape Canaveral, killing astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee (left to right in featured image).