Nicknames.

[major bill]

One of my ancestors, with my last name, was called "The Black-Bearded Cossack".

So who had the best nickname and can you identify them by their nickname?

1. Can you name my ancestor?

2, Who was The "Black Knight of the Confederacy"? I have too wonder why he was The Black Knight.

Does anyone have other nicknames so we can identify the person?

 

[major bill]

Who was known as the "putty head"? What exactly is a putty head?

 

[Kurt G]

I'm guessing your ancestor was Major General Eugene Asa Carr.

 

[major bill]

I'm guessing your ancestor was Major General Eugene Asa Carr.

Yes but really just my ancestors brothers son so not a direct ancestor.

 

[JOHN42768]

To compound this political schizophrenia a copperhead congressman from Ohio, George Hunt Pendleton, was named McClellan's running mate, to balance the ticket, and the convention adjourned. As the delegates filed out, one of them was overheard mumbling that "the nominee for president is a nobody and the candidate for vice president a putty head."[17] Whatever they were, they were the Democratic Party's ticket.
source: essentialcivilwarcurriculum.com/re-electing-lincoln-the-election-of-1864

 

[luinrina]

Who was The "Black Knight of the Confederacy"? I have too wonder why he was The Black Knight.

Turner Ashby, Stonewall's cavalry chief. So named because of his jet black hair and dark eyes. He also rode a pure black and a pure white horse.

I also found an art description here where it says: "Raised in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, an area noted for its superb horses and accomplished riders, he became at an early age an expert rider and trainer of horses. Ashby was well known for winning many riding tournaments in Virginia. In these contests he often used the title, Knight of the Black Prince." Maybe combined with his dark appearance, his nickname is a deviation from the title he used in contests.

 

[major bill]

Turner Ashby, Stonewall's cavalry chief. So named because of his jet black hair and dark eyes. He also rode a pure black and a pure white horse.

I also found an art description here where it says: "Raised in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, an area noted for its superb horses and accomplished riders, he became at an early age an expert rider and trainer of horses. Ashby was well known for winning many riding tournaments in Virginia. In these contests he often used the title, Knight of the Black Prince." Maybe combined with his dark appearance, his nickname is a deviation from the title he used in contests.

You got him.

 

[Lubliner]

I had heard that Mosby actually requested the use of the name "GrayGhost" from General Robert E. Lee. True or false?
Lubliner.

 

[Stone in the wall]

I had heard that Mosby actually requested the use of the name "GrayGhost" from General Robert E. Lee. True or false?
Lubliner.

I don't know, but I had always thought the name "Gray Ghost" came from the Union side. As he would suddenly appear in the night and then vanish with captured pickets or a larger prize.

 

[Cavalier]

One of my favorite civil war characters, General Israel B. Richardson, was nicknamed "Greasy Dick".

 

[James N.]

Turner Ashby, Stonewall's cavalry chief. So named because of his jet black hair and dark eyes. He also rode a pure black and a pure white horse.

I also found an art description here where it says: "Raised in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, an area noted for its superb horses and accomplished riders, he became at an early age an expert rider and trainer of horses. Ashby was well known for winning many riding tournaments in Virginia. In these contests he often used the title, Knight of the Black Prince." Maybe combined with his dark appearance, his nickname is a deviation from the title he used in contests.

Turner Ashby as portrayed by his fellow Virginian and enemy Union Col. David Hunter Strother, looking every inch the image of The Black Knight.