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Added August 30,2010
It was not until February 19, 1911 that President William Howard Taft signed a bill to erect a memorial to Abraham Lincoln - The Lincoln Memorial.
By the end of the war, one fourth of the draft age men of the south were dead
Illinois was an important supply center for the Western Campaign
More than 250,000 Illinois men served in the Union Army. Illinois was on of the few states to exceed their quota
A relative of Robert E Lee, Samuel Phillips, served in the Union Navy - both on blockade duty and on the USS Mississippi. He became a rear admiral
At the ;start of the war the largest artillery pieces shot 6 lb canon balls. This rapidly increase to 10 lb and up to200 lb from mortars
Seven brothers and brothers-in-law of Mary Todd Lincoln were confederate soldiers
West Point graduate, Brig Gen Hylan Benton Lyon, Served in the Confederate artillery, the infantry, and the cavalry.
On March19, 1862, the Monitor and the Merrimac battled to a draw at Hampton Roads. The Union has previously burned and sunk the Merrimac when the South overpowered the Norfolk shipyards. This was to keep it out of the Confederate hands. The South salvaged it and turned it into an ironclad, which they renamed the Virginia
Stonewall Jackson would not start a fight that might carry over to a Sunday if he could help it.
After the war Gen Charles W Field of Kentucky, held the position of Inspector General for the Egyptian Army, and door keeper of the US House of Representatives.
Added July 18, 2010
The Statue of Liberty was an French idea in 1865. The French wanted to give a tribute to the US after the death of Abraham Lincoln, to show their support of the United States and honor liberty. On October 28, 1886, President Grover Cleveland dedicated the statue.
The Fall Episcopal Church was attended by George Washington And George Mason. During the Civil War the Union cavalry stabled their horses in the church
The Confederate battle flag with the St Andrews Cross has 13 stars. One for each state that seceded, and one each for Missouri and Kentucky who had proConfederate governors and were considered part of the Confederacy
Philip Armour, of the food industry, and Andrew Carnegie, of the steel industry, got their start during the Civil War
Ft Sumter was named for a Revolutionary War hero, Gen Thomas Sumter.
About 4,000 canon shells were fired at Ft Sumter
Flag Officer David Farragut was the first Read Admiral in the US. He was promoted after capturing New Orleans.
Two months after the battle of the Monitor and Merrimac, the Union captured Norfolk where the Merrimac was. The Confederated blew it up to prevent the Union form taking it. Eight months after the battle the Monitor sank in a storm off North Carolina.
There was no penicillin, so many died from infection which could not be cured.
Added July 6, 2010
Uncle Sam got his nickname form the Civil War. Samuel Wilson started a meat packing business in 1789. During the war, the company supplied provisions to the Union Army. Jokingly, the soldiers referred to the meet at Uncle Sam’s meat, and themselves as Uncle Sam’s Army. Soon all of the government property was stamped with the initials US, and this was referred to as Uncle Sam. The nickname is still around today.
The official newspaper of the Vatican published editorials defending the South
When Robert E Lee led the US Marines against John Brown at Harpers Ferry, JEB Stuart was his aide.
Greater than 50,000 books have been written about the Civil War
About10,000 military clashes took place, most were light skirmishes
John J Crittenden, author of an 1861 compromise that was hoped to avert war, had a Union General son, and a Confederate General son.
In 1861 Julius Kroehl invented a submarine that was rejected by the Union and the Confederacy. He then took it to the Pearl Islands where it harvested oysters.
When Ft Sumter was shelled, there were 9 commissioned officers, 68 non-commissioned officers and privates, 8 musicians, and 43 workmen.
Quartermaster General Alexander Robert Lawton of South Carolina, became president of the American Bar Association after the war;
Added June 5, 2010
Through out the war the North marched under a flag of all of the stars that represented the Union prior to the war. In 1863 they added a star for West Virginia who became a state.
75% of the southern white families did not own slaves
One half of the slave owners had less than 5 slaves
Less than 1% of the slave owners has more than 50 slaves
10%of the blacks in the south were free and worked as laborers or tradesmen
A Few of the southern blacks were free but owned slaves
At one time there were three times the anti-slavery groups in the South than the North
2%of the population were killed, 620,000. 2% of today’s population would be 5 ½ million people.
Early battle strategies were based on those of Napoleon from 50 years prior
Often the advance troops of both sides traded news, tobacco, coffee, etc before the battle
At the start of the war the North produced, on an annual basis:
17 times more cotton and wool clothes than the South
30 times more footwear
20 times more pig iron
13 times more bar, sheet and railroad iron
24 times more locomotive engines
17 times more agricultural equipment
32 times more firearms
5 times more tonnage in ships and boats
About 500 times more general hardware
The US Patent Office was used a hospital
Lincoln and Davis both:
Served in the Blackhawk War
Suffered depression
Lost sons during and before their presidency
Served in the US Congress
Did not ask to be nominated for president
Condemned John Brown
Were political moderates
Were accused of wearing dresses
Did not regard blacks as equal to whites
Born in Kentucky
Added May 31, 2010 Memorial Day
My wife just pointed out an interesting article in a local newspaper under the byline of Donna Brazile. This article stated that the first Memorial Day celebration may have been soon after the Civil War. In Charlotte SC a group of former slaves may have dug up the mass graves of Civil War soldiers near a prison, and reburied them in single graves. Their local newspaper reported this and as many as 10,000 residents gathered for sermons, singing and a picnic near the new graves.
Added May 1 2010
Orlando M Poe was William P Sherman’s chief engineer in his march across Georgia. Poe oversaw the burning of Atlanta. After the war, he designed, and oversaw, the construction of several lighthouses on the Great Lakes.
The union Army used 825,766 horses in the war. They cost about $150 each.
There were six horse depots in the North.
The main depot was Giesboro, near Washington DC. I cost about $1,000,000 to run the depot.
The Union navy went from 42 ships before the war, to 671 by the end of the war.
The Conf built about 50 ironclads, but only 24 were completed.
Brevet promotions were generally field promotions and symbolic, allowing the person to act as the rank, but without the pay or seniority of the rank.
Almost 1400 Union men were given brevet promotions of either brigadier or major general.
Before the war began, both Northerners and Southerners attended Annapolis Naval Academy. They were forbidden to discuss politics at meal time, to avoid problems.
In the summer of 1860, the USS Constitution (Old Ironsides) was converted to a classroom for Naval Academy students.
Added March 27, 2008
Possibly the longest pontoon bridge in military history by built by the union. 2100 feet across the James River
Henry L Abbot, a U S General, commanded the artillery in the 1864 Virginia campaign. After the war he was the principal engineer of the Panama Canal, and played a huge part in the development of the locks.
Soldiers estimated that it took a man’s weight in lead balls to kill one enemy
In 1864 100 prisoners a day died at Andersonville. A total of 45,000 died. 13,000 of them from disease, exposure, or malnutrition
The commander of Andersonville, Henry Wirz, was the only one to be convicted and hanged for ware crimes
Many Union soldiers got diarrhea. They called it the “Virginia Quickstep”.
Robert Anderson was a major when he defended Ft Sumter in 1861. After that he was promoted to general and saw no major action due to poor health.
George Armstrong Custer left West Point to join the war while on probation for the accumulation of demerits. He was ranked last in his graduation class.
U S Army signal Corp was established on June 21, 1860. The first commander was Major Albert J Myer. Mayer was a co-developer of the wigwag signal system.
Added February 21, 2010
Much of the destruction of Atlanta was done by the retreating confederates to keep the Union army from taking their military supplies.
By the end of the war 1504 confederate ships were captured trying to run the blockade.
At the start of the war the union had 90 ships, 1230 officers, adn7500 sailors. At the end, 670 ships, 6700 officers and 51500 seamen
The only Russian general of the war as John Basil Turchin, who was on the union side. He graduated from Russia's Imperial Military School as Ivan Vasilovitch Turchinoff.
1700 men were awarded the brevet rank of general. This honorary rank was not awarded for distinctive service.
George Pickett, famous for Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg, sold insurance after the war.
Sgt Richard Kirkland, of the 2nd South Carolina Volunteers, carried water to the wounded of both the north and the south after the battle of Fredericksburg. Both sides gave him the name of Angel of Marye's Heights.
After the war Confederate John Mosby (Mosby's Raiders)supported Grant for President, and was appointed American counsel to Hong Kong.
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