War Between the States trivia thread

[rongohio]

I have been to the preserved section of that battlefield but dont remember much about it and dont remember reading a book that covers the details. It is very near the Murfreesboro exit off I-24 south of Nashville.

I do remember a small walled in cemetery along a railroad track. The area is very rocky. I think part of the battlefield was being encroached on by a Walmart or similar construction.

I visited there too, many years ago. The part I remember most vividly was "the Slaughter Pen", where Sheridan battled Hardee and Polk in desperate fighting that kept the Union center from collapsing while the rest of the Union line retreated to a new position. The NPS placed broken-down cannons on that area of the battlefield, I guess to signify the haste of their retreat when the Union center finally broke.

 

[Resica]

What was President Lincoln's favorite tune?

 

[Milkman]

What was President Lincoln's favorite tune?

Dixie











.












.

OK, maybe not

 

[westcobbdog]

I have been to the preserved section of that battlefield but dont remember much about it and dont remember reading a book that covers the details. It is very near the Murfreesboro exit off I-24 south of Nashville.

I do remember a small walled in cemetery along a railroad track. The area is very rocky. I think part of the battlefield was being encroached on by a Walmart or similar construction.

Besides Virginia I can't think of another place where 3 devastating battles were fought and lost by the South so close together. Murfreesboro / Stones River then later Franklin and Nashville which were just horrible slaughters. All three areas are really close together.

 

[Resica]

Dixie










.












.

OK, maybe not

That's what I hear sir, Dixie!!!!

 

[westcobbdog]

I was in the trenches at the dead angle at Pidgeon Hill / Kennesaw Mountain. It was said you could aim your musket in the general direction and kill a man in blue. I got off 120 shots.

 

[rongohio]

I was in the trenches at the dead angle at Pidgeon Hill / Kennesaw Mountain. It was said you could aim your musket in the general direction and kill a man in blue. I got off 120 shots.

Sam Watkins?

 

[Milkman]

I was in the trenches at the dead angle at Pidgeon Hill / Kennesaw Mountain. It was said you could aim your musket in the general direction and kill a man in blue. I got off 120 shots.

I recently read that book "Company Aytch" Sam Watkins wrote it about his adventures during the war. He wrote it about 20 years after the war. I remember that several times during the book he does point out that he wasn't trying to write history. Only tell his memories of the war. I read several things in that book that made me tend to think he may have "stretched" some facts.

 

[JustUs4All]

Old Sam stretched a few, but it is a great work from the viewpoint of the common soldier. Right up front he did a great job of describing those who were all bluster and no fight. He did a good job of describing the pier pressure that took a lot of the young Southerns off to the War and kept them in line facing musket volleys and canister.

 

[Milkman]

Old Sam stretched a few, but it is a great work from the viewpoint of the common soldier. Right up front he did a great job of describing those who were all bluster and no fight. He did a good job of describing the pier pressure that took a lot of the young Southerns off to the War and kept them in line facing musket volleys and canister.

Agreed,. One such stretch may have been when he got wounded at Franklin (or Nashville) and he walked right up to Gen Hood and got his wounded leave signed.
It may have been that relaxed since so many officers were killed in those battles. Just doesn't seem reasonable to me.

 

[Milkman]

Not a question but an interesting article.

It appears there are still 2 confederate pensions being paid today.

http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/wa...-government-still-pays-two-civil-war-pensions

 

[Resica]

That is interesting. I see 2 of President Tyler's grandchildren are alive and well too, amazing. Just saw 1 interviewed.

 

[rongohio]

I recently read that book "Company Aytch" Sam Watkins wrote it about his adventures during the war. He wrote it about 20 years after the war. I remember that several times during the book he does point out that he wasn't trying to write history. Only tell his memories of the war. I read several things in that book that made me tend to think he may have "stretched" some facts.

Yeah, he probably did stretch a few, but it's still one of my favorite Civil War reads. He definitely gives you the private's perspective, and he's a great storyteller with an excellent sense of humor too. His writing style kinda reminds me of Mark Twain. At time he actually had me laughing out loud, like this passage:

On Monday morning I too captured me a mule. He was not a fast mule,
and I soon found out that he thought he knew as much as I did. He was
wise in his own conceit. He had a propensity to take every hog path he
came to. All the bombasting that I could give him would not make him
accelerate his speed. If blood makes speed, I do not suppose he had a
drop of any kind in him. If I wanted him to go on one side of the road
he was sure to be possessed of an equal desire to go on the other side.
Finally I and my mule fell out. I got a big hickory and would frail
him over the head, and he would only shake his head and flop his ears,
and seem to say, "Well, now, you think you are smart, don't you?"
He was a resolute mule, slow to anger, and would have made an excellent
merchant to refuse bad pay, or I will pay your credit, for his whole
composition seemed to be made up the one word--no. I frequently thought
it would be pleasant to split the difference with that mule, and I would
gladly have done so if I could have gotten one-half of his no. Me and
mule worried along until we came to a creek. Mule did not desire to
cross, while I was trying to persuade him with a big stick, a rock in his
ear, and a twister on his nose. The caisson of a battery was about to
cross. The driver said, "I'll take your mule over for you." So he got a
large two-inch rope, tied one end around the mule's neck and the other to
the caisson, and ordered the driver to whip up. The mule was loath to
take to the water. He was no Baptist, and did not believe in immersion,
and had his views about crossing streams, but the rope began to tighten,
the mule to squeal out his protestations against such villainous
proceedings. The rope, however, was stronger than the mule's "no,"
and he was finally prevailed upon by the strength of the rope to cross
the creek. On my taking the rope off he shook himself and seemed to say,
"You think that you are mighty smart folks, but you are a leetle too
smart." I gave it up that that mule's "no" was a little stronger than my
determination. He seemed to be in deep meditation. I got on him again,
when all of a sudden he lifted his head, pricked up his ears, began to
champ his bit, gave a little squeal, got a little faster, and finally
into a gallop and then a run. He seemed all at once to have remembered
or to have forgotten something, and was now making up for lost time.
With all my pulling and seesawing and strength I could not stop him until
he brought up with me at Corinth, Mississippi.

 

[westcobbdog]

Yeah, he probably did stretch a few, but it's still one of my favorite Civil War reads. He definitely gives you the private's perspective, and he's a great storyteller with an excellent sense of humor too. His writing style kinda reminds me of Mark Twain. At time he actually had me laughing out loud, like this passage:

good passage Ron and yes your are right, Sam Watkins was the reb I was looking for.

 

[rongohio]

On July 1, 1863 a man who is famous for something completely unrelated to war or politics took temporary command of the Union I Corps. Who was he, and what event led to his taking command?

 

[JustUs4All]

Doubleday replaced Reynolds when he was killed on day 1 at Gettysburg.

 

[rongohio]

Doubleday replaced Reynolds when he was killed on day 1 at Gettysburg.

Yes sir, he sure did. He's also known for being the inventor of baseball (although apparently that's in dispute) and for firing the first Union shot at Fort Sumter.

P.S. - Whether he invented baseball or not, Happy Spring Training!

 

[Resica]

Go Phillies!!!

 

[westcobbdog]

lucky enough to have made it to the baseball HOF at Cooperstown twice, I believe Doubleday invented the game. Very cool sitting at old Doubleday Field watching any game.

 

[JustUs4All]

Doubleday inventing baseball makes a great story, true or not.