CIVIL WAR Tidbits of Facts

Did You Know………………..

…..Robert E. Lee was not the first General to command the Army of Northern Virginia. Shortly after the outbreak of the war, during the First Battle of Manassas, and during the early part of McClellan’s Peninsula Campaign, Lee was a “desk general.” He was given the command when General Joseph E. Johnston was wounded at Seven Pines.

.....Cold Harbor was not a harbor. It wasn’t even on the water. It was an inn for travel-weary people to spend the night.

…..the Union Army had a general by the name of Jefferson Davis.

…..Both President Abraham Lincoln and Confederate President Jefferson Davis were born in Kentucky, which remained a neutral, or border, state throughout the war.

…..Mary Todd Lincoln, wife of President Lincoln, had relatives that fought and died for the Confederate effort.

…..President Lincoln was not the keynote speaker at the dedication of the national cemetery at Gettysburg. That privilege went to the great orator, Edward Everett, who spoke for two hours prior to President Lincoln’s dedication of the cemetery. The “Gettysburg Address” took a little over two minutes to deliver.

…..The name of General Ulysses S. Grant’s horse was Cincinnati.

…..At the outbreak of the war, Robert E. Lee was offered command of the entire Union Army but declined General Winfield Scott’s offer. After much thought and agony, Lee believed he could not raise a sword against his native Virginia and thus resigned his commission.

…..Both General Ulysses S. Grant and General William T. Sherman were born in Ohio.

…..Some battles have two names. The South often referred to them by the nearby town or city, while the North would use a stream or creek for the name; Manassas/Bull Run; Sharpsburg/Antietam. Other battles with two names are Fair Oaks/Seven Pines; Fort Drewry/Fort Darling.

…..Wilmer McLean experienced the first battle of the war in his yard at Manassas and moved to Appomattox Court House in the rural area of Central Virginia to get away from the war. He then experienced the end of the war in his parlor as Grant and Lee signed surrender papers.

…..Robert E. Lee’s father was a famous Revolutionary War hero,” Light Horse” Harry Lee.

…..General William T. Sherman’s father was so impressed with the Indian Chief, Tecumseh, that he named his son after the Chief.

…..Abner Doubleday, of baseball notoriety, fired the first shot in defense of Fort Sumter.

…..In addition to Ulysses S. Grant, other future presidents that served in the Civil War are Andrew Johnson, Rutherford B. Hayes, Chester A. Arthur, William McKinley, Benjamin Harrison, and James Garfield.

…..Montgomery, Alabama was the first Capitol of the Confederacy. The Capitol was moved to Richmond shortly after Virginia seceded from the Union.

…..Arlington Cemetery was originally part of the property of the Arlington House. Robert E. and Mary Anna Lee and their family lived at Arlington House prior to the war. It was a mansion overlooking the Potomac River and Washington, D.C. When Lee left his home for the Civil War, he never returned. Union soldiers occupied this house within two weeks of Lee’s departure. The property was eventually taken by the Federal government due to lack of payment of taxes in person. It became a Union cemetery in 1864.

…..Confederate Calvary General JEB Stuart’s given name was James Ewell Brown Stuart. This is why he is referred to as J.E.B. Stuart.

…..Mary Anna Custis Lee, the wife of General Robert E. Lee, was a step-great granddaughter of George Washington.

…..Ulysses S. Grant, Robert E. Lee, and George B. McClellan all fought together in the Mexican-American War.

…..George Armstrong Custer was the youngest General in the Civil War and the history of the United States Military, attaining that position at the age of 23.

…..The amputated arm of General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson is actually buried in a cemetery.

…..Western Virginia broke off from the state of Virginia when the state seceded from the Union. The western populace supported the Union and eventually formed their own state.

…..The number of dead from the Civil War exceeded 620,000. Some estimates put that number at 850,000.

…..The United States Military Academy – West Point – graduated two classes in 1861. Because of the need for officers at the outbreak of the Civil War, the Academy graduated the Class of ’61 in early May, 1861 and the Class of ’62 in late June of 1861.

…..Both Presidents – Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis – each lost two sons. One each before the War and one each during the War. Both men grieved for one day for the son lost during the War and then went back to the business of the War.

…..Through the course of the War, immigration to this country continued, mostly to the Northern States. There were more foreign-born Catholics in blue uniforms than Virginians in gray uniforms.

…..While raiding merchant ships in the Pacific bound for the United States, the crew of the CSS Shenandoah did not hear of their country’s defeat until August, 1865 – four months after the surrender. The crew surrendered the vessel in Liverpool, England, on November 6, 1865.

…..General Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson died of pneumonia ten days after being shot by his own men. He died at the Chandler Plantation in Guinea Station approximately 25 miles from Chancellorsville, where he was wounded.

…..Chancellorsville was not a town or city, but a house located several west of Fredericksburg.