Fasinating Civil War Trivia

The first civilian killed by John Brown's raiders at Harpers Ferry was a free Black man.

Jesse and Frank James and Cole and Jim Younger, notorious western outlaws, rode with William Quantrill's Confederate guerillas.

There were more Northern-born Confederate generals than Southern-born Union generals.

Named Hiram Ulysses at birth but always called Ulysses, his name became Ulysses Simpson Grant when the congressman appointing him to West Point erred with his name. Simpson was his mother's maiden name.

Almost 1/3 of US Army officers resigned to serve the Confederacy.

Of the 425 Confederate generals, 146 were graduates of West Point.

CS Gen Lewis Addison Armistead entered West Point in 1834. In 1836, he was dismissed for breaking a mess-hall plate over the head of classmate and future CS Gen Jubal Anderson Early.

CS Gen Thomas Jonathan 'Stonewall' Jackson entered West Point in 1842 with the equivalent of a fourth-grade education. He graduated in 1846, 17th in a class of 59.

CS Gen Robert E. Lee's sister, Anne, and her husband William Marshall, sided with the Union. Their son, Louis H. Marshall, served on the staff of US Gen John Pope.

Franklin Buchanan, first superintendent of the US Naval Academy, became commander of the CSS Virginia which was the South's first ironclad and the former USS Merrimac.

Former US President James K. Polk had been a law partner of CS Gen Gideon Johnson Pillow.

Alfred and Charlotte Ingraham, residents of Vicksburg MS, lost two sons and a son-in-law to the Confederate cause and by war's end were in financial ruin. Charlotte was the sister of US Gen George Gordon Meade.

Former US President John Tyler was a CS Congressman. He remained loyal to his native state of Virginia.

The youngest child and only son of former US President Zachary Taylor was CS Gen Richard Taylor. His daughter, Sarah Knox Taylor, first wife of CS President Jefferson Finis Davis, died of malaria three months after her marriage.

Born and buried at 'Monticello', CS Gen and Secretary of State George Wythe Randolph was a grandson of Thomas Jefferson.

Billings Steele left his home near Annapolis MD at the age of 16 to join CS Col John Singleton Mosby's famed rangers. Steele was a grandson of Francis Scott Key.

US Gen Philip St. George Cooke was father-in-law of CS Gen James Ewell Brown 'Jeb' Stuart and father of CS Gen John Rogers Cooke.

CS Gen George Bibb Crittenden was son of US Senator John Jordan Crittenden and brother of US Gen Thomas Leonidas Crittenden.

US Gen Ulysses S. Grant was introduced to his wife, Julia Dent, by her cousin, CS Gen James Longstreet.

US Gen John Gibbon had three brothers who fought for the Confederacy including Dr. Robert Gibbon, Surgeon in Lane's NC Brigade.

US Vice President under James Buchanan 1856-1860 was CS Gen and Secretary of War John Cabell Breckinridge.

In February 1861, the Choctaws became the first Indian tribe to declare for the Confederacy.

On May 24, 1861, Col Elmer Ephraim Ellsworth of the New York Fire Zouaves became the first to die for the Union when he took down a Confederate flag flying over the Marshall House Inn at Alexandria VA and was shot in the chest by the hotel's proprietor. Ellsworth, a friend of Abraham Lincoln, had studied law at Lincoln's office and worked on the president's campaign. An honor guard, sent by Lincoln, escorted Ellworth's body to lay in state at the White House before being returned to New York. Ellsworth became a martyr to the Union cause.

Pvt Henry Lawson Wyatt, Co A 1st NC, Edgecombe Guards, was the first Confederate soldier killed in battle in the war. Wyatt, mortally wounded at Big Bethel June 10, 1861 by Union Pvt Felix Angus, died that night at Yorktown.

CS Gen Robert Selden Garnett, killed July 13, 1861 at Corrick's Ford, was the first general to be killed in the war.

Nashville TN was the first major Confederate city to be permanently occupied by Union troops.

On July 18, 1861, with Confederate and Union troops gathering nearby, a Union shell dropped through the chimney of the home of Wilmer McLean who had retired to an estate near Manassas Junction VA. When the smoke had cleared and the first major battle of the war known as 1st Bull Run was over, McLean moved away from the war to a small quiet area of Virginia known as Appomattox Court House. On Sunday, April 9, 1865, the war ended in McLean's parlor with the meeting of Lee and Grant for the signing of the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia.

CS Col Francis Stebbins Bartow, 8th GA, killed at 1st Bull Run July 21, 1861, was the first Georgian to die in the war.

The Battle of Belmont, fought November 7, 1861, was US Gen Ulysses Simpson Grant's first battle of the war.

Killed April 6, 1862 at Shiloh, CS Gen Albert Sydney Johnston became the first commander of an army to die on the field of battle during the war. He was the only CS commander of an army to die in battle.

In combat October 29, 1862 at Island Mount MO, the 79th US Colored Troops/1st KS Colored Vols became the first Black regiment to fight in the war.

Early on the morning of December 14, 1862 at Fredericksburg, CS Sgt Richard Rowland Kirkland, 2nd SC, risked enemy fire and climbed over the wall from the Confederate position. For 1-1/2 hours, the young sergeant gave aid and water to as many Union wounded as he could. The enemy, realizing what Kirkland was doing, held fire and the 19 year old came to be known as the 'Angel of Marye's Heights'. In September of the following year, Kirkland was killed at Chickamauga.

When CS Col John Singleton Mosby and his men went 10 miles behind Union lines and captured US Gen Edwin Henry Stoughton, 2 captains, 30 enlisted men, and 59 Union horses at Fairfax Court House VA March 8, 1863, Abraham Lincoln said "I can make brigadier generals, but I can't make horses."

The largest cavalry battle fought on American soil was June 9, 1863 at Brandy Station VA with about 20,000 cavalrymen involved. Taken by surprise, the Confederates were nearly defeated but held the field. The battle was the turning point for the Union cavalry who in the past had always been soundly defeated by the Confederates.

US Gen John Fulton Reynolds, killed July 1, 1863, was the first general to die at Gettysburg.

During the Siege of Vicksburg, there were 39 regiments from Missouri - 22 Union and 17 Confederate.

US Gen William Rufus Terrill, killed October 8, 1862 at Perryville, and his brother, CS Gen James Barbour Terrill, killed May 30, 1864 at Bethesda Church, were supposedly buried by their father in a single grave over which the tombstone reads 'Here lie my two sons. Only God knows which was right'.

The White House was draped in mourning for the death CS Gen Benjamin Hardin Helm who was mortally wounded September 20, 1863 at Chickamauga and died September 21. Helm was married to Mary Todd Lincoln's half-sister, Emily.

When US Gen James Birdseye McPherson, Commander of the Army of the Tennessee, was killed July 22, 1864 at Peachtree Creek, he became the only US commander of an army to die on the field of battle during the war. Commanding the opposing Army of Tennessee was West Point classmate, CS Gen John Bell Hood whom McPherson had tutored in math.

Pvt John Huff, 5th MI Cav, fired the shot which mortally wounded CS Gen James Ewell Brown 'Jeb' Stuart May 11, 1864 at Yellow Tavern VA.

Virginia-born George Henry Thomas, a US general who became known as 'The Rock of Chickamauga', remained loyal to the Union even though his family disowned him and his property was seized by his native state. While in great need after the war, his sisters rejected Thomas' aid saying they had no brother.

By 1864, there were an average of 7,333 desertions a month from the Union army. Many desertions were the result of bounty jumpers - men who would collect bounty to enlist, then desert and do it again elsewhere. The US government spent $300 million dollars on bounties while state and local governments spent about the same.

The honor of the most generals in the Confederate army from a single family fell to the Lees of Virginia with Robert E. Lee, his two sons George Washington Custis Lee and William Henry Fitzhugh Lee, and his nephew, Fitzhugh Lee.

Mary Custis Lee, wife of CS Gen Robert E. Lee, was captured by Union soldiers at a family estate, 'White House', in Virginia. She was passed through the lines to Richmond by US Gen George Brinton McClellan.

When CS Gen George Edward Pickett became a father during the fighting before Petersburg, US Gen Ulysses Simpson Grant not only had bonfires lit in his honor, but also sent him a silver service bought with money raised from his staff.

Mortally wounded October 19, 1864 at Cedar Creek, CS Gen Stephen Dodson Ramseur was taken to Belle Grove Mansion, headquarters of US Gen Philip Sheridan. Ramseur died with Sheridan at his bedside.

In the midst of the Battle of Burgess' Mill VA October 27, 1864, cavalry commander CS Gen Wade Hampton came upon his sons - mortally wounded Frank Preston Hampton and Wade Hampton, Jr. who had been shot while coming to his brother's aid.

The last Confederate soldier to be executed by the Union was Robert Cobb Kennedy. On March 25, 1865, Kennedy was hanged for his part in the November 25, 1864 attempt to burn New York City.

The youngest recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor was Willie Johnston, drummer boy for the 3rd Vermont. He was 12 years old during the action at the Seven Days' Battles for which he received his medal.

Mary Edwards Walker, a physician, spent three years as a nurse in the Union army before being commissioned an assistant surgeon. Treating the wounded of both sides, she moved between the lines and became active as a spy. While treating a Confederate soldier, she was captured and spent four months in a Confederate prison. Having been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, the medal was revoked six days before her death February 21, 1919. It was officially reinstated in 1977.

US Gen Galusha Pennypacker was the war's youngest general. Born June 1, 1844, he was 20 years old at war's end.

CS Gen George Edward Pickett was relieved of command after the April 6, 1865 Battle at Sayler's Creek for attending a shad dinner while his unit was being attacked and defeated at Five Forks. Seeing him during the retreat to Appomattox, Gen Lee asked, "What is that man doing in my Army?"

CS President Jefferson Finis Davis commuted the sentence of every Confederate deserter condemned to death.

Almost 1/2 of Confederate soldiers were wounded, captured, killed, or died from disease.

By war's end, over 2,000,000 volunteers had joined the Union army.

The largest hospital was the Confederate Chimborazo at Richmond VA with 8,000 beds. Among other things, Chimborazo housed a brewery, a soap factory, and a bakery.

During the Civil War, gonorrhea was treated with injections of ink.

The most commonly used medication during the war was alcohol in the form of whiskey or brandy. While its value as a medication is questionable, it did relieve pain and it is doubtful most soldiers complained of its use.

Captain Heinrich (Henry) Wirz, commandant of Andersonville Prison Camp at Sumter Co GA, was the only Confederate to be executed after the war. He was tried, convicted, and hanged for the deplorable conditions and treatment of prisoners at Andersonville.

US Gen Grenville Mellen Dodge, partially responsible for the hanging of Sam Davis as a Confederate spy, contributed $10 to the building of a monument to Davis in Nashville after the war.

US General Lewis Wallace was the author of the novel Ben Hur.

Archibald Gracie III, a West Point graduate and son of CS Gen Archibald Gracie, Jr., survived the sinking of the Titanic.

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