Trivia 1-27-17 Related & Bonus!

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What is Matthew McConaughey's connection to the Civil War?

credit: @adisciu9

Bonus: In 1855 this future general served as an adjutant to another future general and both were destined to meet again in 1864 (as adversaries) during this battle.

credit: @DBF
 
Matthew David McConaughey is the son of James Donald McConaughey..... James was the son of Hugh Donald McConoughey, who was the son of James D. McConaughey. James Donald McConaughey was born 1867 in Houston, Texas, the son of J. W. and Albina (McRae) McConaughey. (Take a deep breath)

James W. McConaughey, a Virginia native, was married to Albina, a sister of Confederate Adjutant General Dandridge McRae, which probably helped him become Assistant Adjutant General under McRae, with the rank of Captain, in 1863.

So the answer appears to be: he was related by marriage to AG Dandridge McRae and is a great-great-great-grandson of M W McConaughey, a Confederate AAG. http://www.genealogywise.com/profiles/blogs/mr-mcconaugheys-marriage

I may answer the bonus in a separate post
 
Regular question :

McConaughey played the real life Confederate soldier Newton Knight in the 2016 movie "Free State of Jones"

Bonus:
This seems to be one of these questions you either know anyway or will hardly be able to answer. I read through a lot of biographies but could not come up with an answer yet. Too many generals, too many battles in '64.
I'm sure I will say "aaaaaw.... HIM" when I read the reply but I have invested too much time already. So I have to pass on this one...
 
Main question: Matthew McConaughey is the great-great-great nephew of Confederate General Dandridge McRae.

According to this website (http://www.genealogywise.com/profiles/blogs/mr-mcconaugheys-marriage) Matthew McConaughey's father was James Donald McConaughey. James Donald McConaughey was the son of Hugh Donald McConaughey. Hugh Donald McConaughey was the son of another James Donald McConaughey, who was born in 1867. The James Donald McConaughey who was born in 1867 was the son of James W. McConaughey and Albina McRae McConaughey, which makes Albina the great-great grandmother of Matthew. Albina was the sister of Confederate General Dandridge McRae, which makes the general the great-great-great uncle of Matthew.

Bonus: My searching efforts turned up the name of Pinkney Lugenbeel and the Battle of Lookout Mountain.

I'm sure this is not the right answer (he never became a general and Lookout Mountain took place in 1863), but anybody who was willing to go to war with a name like Pinkney Lugenbeel deserves a shout-out. :thumbsup:

I will say that my interpretation, based on the use of the word "this," is that the question is asking for two things, not three. It is asking for the name of the future general who was an adjutant in 1855 and the name of the battle at which the two met in 1864. It is not asking for the name of the other future general (i.e., the one who wasn't the adjutant in 1855).

I intend to score players' responses based on whether they correctly identify the 1855 adjutant and the 1864 battle. Players will not lose credit if they fail to identify the other general correctly.
 
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Matthew McConaughey's connection to the Civil War?

Answer: He plays Newt Knight, Mississippi farmer who seceded from the the Confederacy. He led a group of freed slaves and Confederate army deserters waging guerrilla warfare against the Confederate armed forces and established the Free State of Jones in Jones County, Mississippi.


Newton Knight
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Newton Knight
220px-Newton-knight.jpg

Born November 1837
Jones County, Mississippi, U.S.
Died February 16, 1922 (aged 84)
Jasper County, Mississippi, U.S.
Resting place Knight Cemetery, Jasper County, Mississippi
Nationality American
Occupation Farmer
Political party Republican[2]
Spouse(s) Serena Turner
Rachel Knight (common law)
Newton Knight (November 1837 – February 16, 1922) was an American farmer, soldier and Southern Unionist in Mississippi, best known as the leader of the Knight Company, a band of Confederate army deserters who resisted the Confederacy during the Civil War. Local legends tell of Knight and his men forming the "Free State of Jones" in the area in and around Jones County, Mississippi, at the height of the war. The nature and extent of the Knight Company's opposition to the Confederate government is disputed among historians. After the war, Knight joined the Republican Party and served in Mississippi's Reconstruction government as a deputy US Marshal.

Knight has long been a controversial figure in the region, with people divided over his motives and actions. This controversy has been fueled in part by general social opposition to Knight's alliances with slaves during the war, and his postwar marriage to a freed slave. They and allies developed a small mixed-race community in southeastern Mississippi.[3] The marriage was considered illegal, as Mississippi had banned interracial marriages before and after the war, except for a period during Reconstruction.

Films about Knight have included Tap Roots, directed by George Marshall, and Free State of Jones, directed by Gary Ross and starring Matthew McConaughey portraying Newton Knight, which was released in June 2016.
 
He is a relative of Confederate brigadier general Dandridge McRae.
Source Wikipedia

Bonus.

I am guessing the Battle of Nashville. Question is vague on if the answer is the Generals, battle or both.

Kenner Gerrard is the only Civil War General that I could document as an adjutant in 1855 and he fought against confederate troops who were under Robert E Lee.

In 1855, Garrard was transferred to the 2nd U.S. Cavalry as an adjutant to Colonel Albert Sidney Johnston and Lieutenant Colonel Robert E. Lee, both future generals in the Confederate States Army. He was stationed in a variety of posts in the Southwest frontier, including in the New Mexico Territory.

Source Wikipedia.

Tough question. 15 hours of endless web searches. Glad it is winter.

Edit - You got the right battle and Kenner Gerrard was a good try, but neither Albert Sidney Johnston nor Robert E. Lee were involved with the Battle of Nashville.

Hoosier
 
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He is a relative of Confederate brigadier general Dandridge McRae

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Bonus: Strictly a blind guess....Battle of Franklin

Edit - I would accept the Battle of Franklin, but you needed to name the future general who was an adjutant in 1855.

Hoosier
 
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My question.
Con. Brig General Dandridge McRae.
McConaughey also appears in Lincoln car commercials
"All right, All right, All right!"
Bonus:
Will say George Thomas with Braxton Bragg. Later met in Chicamagua

Edit - I can find no source indicating that Bragg ever served as Thomas' adjutant, or vice versa.

Hoosier
 
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