Tuesday Ten: Civil War Trivia

I thought I’d go for a total change of pace this time around and post a Tuesday Ten about my second favorite subject… the Civil War. I know this is usually Susan’s territory, but my husband just brought home the greatest book the other day, and I’ve had my nose stuck in it every chance I get. It has lots of short, interesting facts about things to do with the Civil War—the kind of facts that writers like us just love because you never know what will spark an idea for a story.

Anyway, here I thought I’d share some of the more interesting ones I’ve come across for our Tuesday Ten.

• The two warring capitals, Washington D.C. and Richmond Virginia, were less than 100 miles apart.
• Jesse Grant, father of General Ulysses S. Grant at one time worked for Owen Brown—father of the notorious abolitionist John Brown.
• While not an excellent student –he was 21 in his class of 39 at West Point- Grant was one of the academy’s most skilled riders ever.
• Union General Winfield Scott served under every president from Jefferson to Lincoln and was on active duty as a general from 1808 – 1861. Longer than any other person in American history.
• Southerners called the Reconstruction period in the south “Yankee Rule.”
• The surrender terms at Appomattox in 1865 permitted that every Confederate cavalry soldier take his horse home with him. This provision was requested by Lee (and accepted by Grant). Both men realized that once the former soldiers returned to civilian life they wouldn’t be able to work their farms without a horse.
• According to some analysts, the most significant single federal operation of the war was the blockade of Southern ports.
• Among the many names for the Civil War: The War Between the States; Mr. Lincoln’s War; The War Against Northern Aggression; The Second American Revolution; The Lost Cause; The War of the Rebellion; the Brothers’ War; the Late Unpleasantness; The Uncivil War, the War of the Southrons; the Great Rebellion; the War for Southern Independence; the Second War for Independence (hey, I could have done my whole Tuesday Ten on just those!)
• General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson was featured on the highest denomination bill issued by the Richmond government. He was the only general to be pictured on its currency.
• During the war James Butler Hickcock, a.k.a. “Wild Bill” was a Union spy in Missouri.

Source: Civil War: Untold Tales of the Blue and Gray by Westside Publishing.