Trivia 4-29-16 What, Who, Why & Friday Bonus

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answer is- "The loss of this brigade amounts to one-half the casualties in the division. The acts of traitors at Harper's Ferry had not tainted their patriotism."

Alexander Hays, in a report written after Gettysburg about the brigade he trained and made believe in themselves after their capture at Harper’s Ferry, 1862. Unfairly termed The Harper’s Ferry Cowards, the 39th, 111th, 125th and 126th New York Regiments, 3rd Brigade, 3rd Division under Colonel Willard redeemed themselves Day 2. Stopping Barksdale’s Mississippians at the cost of fearful losses including Willard, their action inspired Hay’s eloquence.

bonus: - Ordnance Sergeant

Edit - These are the last questions for the month of April. The main question is a five-parter, so I have to determine whether players answered every one of those parts correctly. This really complicates my job.

I don't want to rush the process, since the results of this question will probably determine who the winners are for the month, so obviously it will be very important to score this question as fairly as I can. I will try to complete the scoring tomorrow.

Edit written at 10:30 on Tuesday night.

Hoosier

Edit - The following is a summary of my decisions as to how the main question should be scored. Blessedly, the bonus question was nowhere near so complicated.

The first part of the question asked players to finish the statement which began with “The history of this brigade’s operations is written in blood…”

I will consider any answer correct as long as it includes the final sentence, “The acts of traitors at Harpers Ferry had not tainted their patriotism.” Many players included additional portions of the quote, but the last sentence is the one I’m looking for.

The second part of the question asked who wrote the statement. The correct answer is Gen. Alexander Hays. No other answer will be accepted.

The third part of the question asked “when?”

My own interpretation was that this was asking players to say when the statement was written. A precise answer would be July 8, 1863, the day when Hays actually wrote his report. However, the question did not specify that players would have to cite month, day, and year, and the official answer is simply “after Gettysburg,” so I think I have to accept any answer that refers to July 4, 1863 or later, and I also have to accept the answer of “July 1863.” It has also been pointed out that the question could have been interpreted to be asking for the date when the action took place, rather than the date when the report was written, so I have to accept July 2 as a correct answer, as well.

The fourth part of the question asked “about whom?”

A couple of players pointed out that in the actual report in the Official Records, the statement begins with “The history of this brigadiers operations is written in blood.” This could be interpreted to mean that Hays, a brigadier general, was writing about himself and the statement was an attempt at self-aggrandizement. However, most sources seem to have assumed that what appears in the Official Records represents a slip of the pen and that Hays actually meant to say “brigade’s” instead of “brigadier’s.” Fortunately, all of our players seem to have answered on that basis.

The official answer is that it was written about the 39th, 111th, 125th, and 126th New York regiments, which comprised the 3rd Brigade, 3rd Division, which was initially commanded by Col Willard. The full report seems to focus more on the 125th and 126th regiments, though it also mentions the 39th and 111th. I’ll accept any answer that names the 3rd Brigade, Willard’s Brigade, or any of the individual regiments.

The fifth part of the question asked “why was it so important?”

Players offered different answers to this part of the question and I have no criteria for judging which of them should be considered the most important. I’ll accept any answer, as long as the player made an attempt to give a reason why it was important.

Folks, we love having people submit questions, but it seems to me that there has been a trend toward more and more complicated questions with more and more multiple parts. It’s getting to be a bit much. Please continue to submit questions, but please try to limit the questions to no more than three parts per question.

Edit posted at 4:30 Wednesday, May 4.

Hoosier
 
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