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A 6-pounder smoothbore gun of the type issued to the battery

The 1st Missouri Field Battery was a battery of field artillery that served in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. The battery was formed by Captain Westley F. Roberts in Arkansas in September 1862 and was armed with two 12-pounder James rifles and two 6-pounder smoothbore guns (example pictured). The unit fought in numerous actions in the Trans-Mississippi Theater in 1862–1864. In December 1863, it received new cannons: two 10-pounder Parrott rifles and two 12-pounder howitzers. On April 30, 1864, while part of a Confederate force pursuing a retreating Union army, several of the cannons were captured at the Battle of Jenkins' Ferry. The battery was then rearmed with four 6-pounder smoothbores. In November 1864, the unit was designated the 1st Missouri Field Battery. It was paroled on June 7, 1865, at Alexandria, Louisiana, after Confederate general and Trans-Mississippi Department commander Edmund Kirby Smith signed surrender terms for the department on June 2. (Full article...)

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In the news

Betty White

American actress and comedian Betty White (pictured) dies at the age of 99.
In Hong Kong, Stand News closes down after its staff are arrested for sedition.
The Supreme Court of Russia orders the closure of Memorial, Russia's oldest human rights group, for violations of the foreign agent law.
In cricket, Australia retains the Ashes after winning the first three Tests against England.

On this day

January 4: Colonial Martyrs Repression Day in Angola (1961)

Rose Heilbron

1698 – Most of London's Palace of Whitehall, the main residence of English monarchs since 1530, was destroyed by fire.
1885 – Sino-French War: French troops under General Oscar de Négrier defeated a larger Qing Chinese force at the Battle of Núi Bop in northern Vietnam.
1948 – Burma achieved independence from the British Empire, with Sao Shwe Thaik as its first president.
1972 – Rose Heilbron (pictured) became the first female judge to sit at the Central Criminal Court of England and Wales.
2010 – The Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest structure, officially opened in Dubai.

Moses Mendelssohn (d. 1786)
Johanna Westerdijk (b. 1883)
Tom Acker (d. 2021)

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Today's featured picture

Geastrum triplex is a species of inedible fungus found growing in the detritus and leaf litter of hardwood forests around the world. It is the largest member of the genus Geastrum, the earthstar fungi, and expanded mature specimens can reach a tip-to-tip length of up to 12 centimetres (4.7 in). This G. triplex fruiting body was photographed in the Royal National Park in New South Wales, Australia.

Photograph credit: John Harrison

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