Forum Host- Joined
- Mar 21, 2012
I was born July 7, 1839 and called by my middle and last name only – or by my nickname "Bunny".
My Mom had died early and my father, an officer in the Corps of Topographical Engineers died in 1846 from his wounds after the Battle of Monterey. So at a young age I was an orphan and raised by my sister. As cousins of a very prominent family, we would often pay visits to that family, spending days at their stately mansion near Washington, DC. I even seriously courted one of girls of that family - we became inseparable, but her father found me too "unsettled" to become her husband – although he himself had recommended me for a commission as Second Lieutenant in the Second United States Cavalry, his own regiment at that time.
At the outbreak oft he Civil War I resigned my commission and joined the Confederate Army, but my service was troubled. I was sent to the West to serve as an aide to General Leonidas Polk, then I was transferred to the artillery under Braxton Bragg. At that time I changed my name again, because I wanted to bear a different last name from my brother Lawrence, who had stayed in the US Army, and yes, also to make people forget that I had killed a subordinate private soldier...
On July 8, 1863 while on a secret mission for the Confederacy my cousin and I were arrested behind Union lines in Franklin, Tennessee. General Rosecrans ordered an immediate court martial during the night, and at three o' clock in the morning of June 9, we were found guilty of being spies. Rosecrans rejected pleads of clemency and so we are now awaiting our death by hanging – only about six hours after the verdict.
credit: @FarawayFriend
Friday Bonus: How many Guns!?!
The news of Lee's surrender at Appomattox as well as the fall of Richmond a few days earlier, merited boisterous artillery gun salutes in Washington.
a.) How many guns in Washington were ordered to be fired celebrating the fall of Richmond?
b.) How many guns in Washington were ordered to be fired celebrating Lee's surrender?
credit: @connecticut yankee
Thanksgiving Bonus:
Who said, "If you do not go up there tonight, it will cost you ten thousand men to get up there tomorrow." AND to whom was he speaking?
credit: @hughes
My Mom had died early and my father, an officer in the Corps of Topographical Engineers died in 1846 from his wounds after the Battle of Monterey. So at a young age I was an orphan and raised by my sister. As cousins of a very prominent family, we would often pay visits to that family, spending days at their stately mansion near Washington, DC. I even seriously courted one of girls of that family - we became inseparable, but her father found me too "unsettled" to become her husband – although he himself had recommended me for a commission as Second Lieutenant in the Second United States Cavalry, his own regiment at that time.
At the outbreak oft he Civil War I resigned my commission and joined the Confederate Army, but my service was troubled. I was sent to the West to serve as an aide to General Leonidas Polk, then I was transferred to the artillery under Braxton Bragg. At that time I changed my name again, because I wanted to bear a different last name from my brother Lawrence, who had stayed in the US Army, and yes, also to make people forget that I had killed a subordinate private soldier...
On July 8, 1863 while on a secret mission for the Confederacy my cousin and I were arrested behind Union lines in Franklin, Tennessee. General Rosecrans ordered an immediate court martial during the night, and at three o' clock in the morning of June 9, we were found guilty of being spies. Rosecrans rejected pleads of clemency and so we are now awaiting our death by hanging – only about six hours after the verdict.
- What was the name I received at birth?
- Under which named was I known for most of my life?
- What was the name I chose when I served under Bragg?
credit: @FarawayFriend
Friday Bonus: How many Guns!?!
The news of Lee's surrender at Appomattox as well as the fall of Richmond a few days earlier, merited boisterous artillery gun salutes in Washington.
a.) How many guns in Washington were ordered to be fired celebrating the fall of Richmond?
b.) How many guns in Washington were ordered to be fired celebrating Lee's surrender?
credit: @connecticut yankee
Thanksgiving Bonus:
Who said, "If you do not go up there tonight, it will cost you ten thousand men to get up there tomorrow." AND to whom was he speaking?
credit: @hughes
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Bringing the