Dec. 29 in US Military History

1778: British troops capture Savannah, Ga.

1812: The USS Constitution defeats the British frigate HMS Java in a three-hour battle off the coast of Brazil.

1862: Plans to capture Vicksburg, Tenn., the last remaining Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi River, are thwarted when Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman’s frontal assault fails against entrenched Confederate forces in the Battle of Chickasaw Bluffs.

1890: 7th Cavalry troops surround a Sioux encampment at Wounded Knee Creek (present-day South Dakota), attempting to disarm the Indians under Chief Big Foot. The soldiers attack when a shot is fired (it is not known who fired) and massacre over 150 Sioux, including many women and children. The Massacre at Wounded Knee is the last major engagement in the Plains Wars.

1943: The submarine USS Silversides (SS-236) sinks three Japanese cargo ships and damages a fourth off the Palau Islands.