Trivia 1-18-19 Parody & Bonus

Status
Not open for further replies.
Main question: 1. Bragg was assigned to go after Joe Johnston. 2. He was headed to Atlanta to find him. 3. Atlanta was a presumed target because of its status as a railroad center.

Bonus: Lincoln was at Jersey City, NJ and was saved by Edwin Booth, brother of John Wilkes Booth.

(More specifically, the incident took place on a train platform, but I plan to give credit for answers that name Jersey City without mentioning the train platform.)
 
Last edited:
So, I think the poem is about Bragg's work as an adviser to Davis in 1864.
1. He was sent to check up on Joseph Johnston, and Bragg's report ultimately led to Hood being put in command.
2. Atlanta, Georgia
3. Atlanta was a very important supply center for the Confederacy, making it a desirable target for the Union forces and a valuable piece of real estate for the Confederates to hold.
Source 1
Source 2

Bonus
Robert Lincoln was saved by none other than Booth's brother Edwin in Jersey City, NJ. Robert had quite a few eerie incidents in his life, including his presence at or near other presidential assassinations.
Source
 
  1. Who was General Bragg assigned to go after? - General Johnston
  2. Where in Georgia was Bragg headed to find him? - Atlanta
  3. What business made that location a “presumed” target of interest for the Union to attack and the Confederates to defend? - not finding any reference directly to a perceived target. Everything I read was Sherman, Johnston and Davis were all fixated on Atlanta, which industry was primarily the railroad. At the time, Johnston was guarding Dalton, but from everything I can find - the focus was entirely on Atlanta, and Dalton just happened to be on the right side of the Chattahochee
Source
Source
Source

Where was he and who saved his life? - Jersey City /Edwin Booth

Source
 
What lyrical lines! I caught myself singing them. Well done, @DBF

1. THE WHO: After Bragg's loss at Chattanooga, his army retreated to Dalton, GA to regroup, and Bragg was made military advisor to CSA President Davis, who assigned him to report on General Joe Johnston's "plans" and performance against Union General W. Sherman in Georgia. Bragg play a role in having Johnston replaced by Hood.
Editorial sidebar note: Bragg will have much to answer for on Judgement Day. As Advisor to Davis, he proceeded to "overhaul" the conscript process, and prisoner of war system, before having Johnston sacked.

2. THE WHERE: The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain near Atlanta was Joe Johnston's last gasp, before Davis replaced him by Hood. Was the precise location where Bragg interrogated Johnston noted in some log book?

3. THE WHAT BUSINESS: Atlanta, a key railroad hub, was the target of the Union.

BONUS:
Robert Todd Lincoln hopped off a train during a stop at Jersey City, a few months before his father's assassination, only to find himself on an extremely crowded platform. To be polite, Robert stepped back to wait his turn to walk across the platform, his back pressed to one of the train's cars.
This situation probably seemed harmless enough until the train started moving, which whipped Robert Lincoln around and dropped him into the space between the platform and train, an incredibly dangerous place to be. Robert Lincoln probably would have been dead meat if a stranger hadn't yanked him out of the hole by his collar. That stranger? None other than Edwin Booth, one of the most celebrated actors of the 19th century and brother of eventual Lincoln assassin John Wilkes Booth. Lincoln immediately recognized the famous thespian, sort of like if George Clooney pulled you from a burning car today, and thanked him effusively.

Oddly, Robert was nearby when three presidents were assassinated: Lincoln, Garfield, and McKinley.
 
Regular Q (Chattanooga Goodbye) - great poem/parody @DBF.
1. Joseph Johnston - Davis sent Bragg to Georgia on July 9, 1864 charged with investigating the tactical situation, but also evaluating the replacement of Johnston in command.
2. Atlanta - vicinity of Atlanta; specifically somewhere between Kennesaw Mtn [June 27, 1864] and Peachtree Creek [July 17, 1864] The two armies clashed again at the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, but the Confederate senior leadership in Richmond was unhappy with Johnston's perceived reluctance to fight the Union army, even though he had little chance of winning. Thus, on July 17, 1864, as he was preparing for the Battle of Peachtree Creek, Johnston was relieved of his command and replaced by Lt. Gen. John Bell Hood.
3. Atlanta was an important rail hub and industrial center with Confederate munitions factories, foundries and warehouses that kept the Confederate army supplied with food, weapons and other goods.
 
I overlooked and neglected to answer the BONUS:
Where was he: on a train platform in Jersey City, New Jersey
Who saved his life: Edwin Thomas Booth (13 November 1833 – 7 June 1893) Robert Todd Lincoln fell into the space between the car and train platform and was rescued by Edwin Booth, the brother of John Wilkes Booth.
 
Answer
He would go after his Louisiana friend, General William Sherman and would be assigned to go to Augusta, GA in fear of Sherman marching to the Augusta Arsenal (he didn’t). “Their friendship began in Louisiana, as their occupations developed and the northerner would share many meals with his southern friend. All this would come to an end in 1861 when succession arrived and the northerner went home to join the Union Army. The parting was painful and the southerner would declare; ‘A similar duty of my part may throw us into an apparent hostile attitude, but it is too terrible to contemplate, and I will not discuss it.’ After the war the victor would invite the vanquished to his daughter’s wedding in 1874.”


Sources
1. http://www.historynet.com/shermans-march-to-the-sea
2. http://www.historynet.com/wars-biggest-blunder.htm
3. Braxton Bragg - wikipedia
4. Braxton Bragg (The Most Hated Man of the Confederacy) by Earl J Hess
pages 12, 255-25

bonus Answer: He stood on a train platform in Jersey City, New Jersey. A throng of passengers began to press the young man backwards, and he fell into the open space between the platform and a moving train. Suddenly, a hand reached out and pulled the president’s son to safety by the coat collar. Robert Todd Lincoln immediately recognized his rescuer: famous actor Edwin Booth, brother of John Wilkes.

Source: https://www.history.com/news/10-things-you-may-not-know-about-abraham-Lincoln

Edit - After returning to Richmond following the defeat at Chattanooga, Bragg was actually sent to Georgia on two separate occasions in 1864. The first was in July, when he went to investigate Johnston's defense of Atlanta, which was important as a rail center, manufacturing center, and source of supplies. The second was in November, when he was sent to Augusta to bolster the defenses of its important arsenal and gunpowder works against the possibility of an attack by Sherman.

While the second trip is the one the questioner had in mind (and the article about "The War's Biggest Blunder" is certainly food for thought), I am going to accept answers based on either of those two trips.

hoosier
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top