Small Talk-Trivia

Small Talk — July 2017

By Stephen Davis · Originally published July 2017 · pp. 19–29

We’re always glad that our “trivia” column elicits thoughtful corrections. One such is mailed to us by Ora Eads of Nashville, who refers to our first quiz of this past April. In question 3 we stated “other than the Lincoln conspirators, only one man was executed by the U.S. after the war for his wartime activities.” Our answer was Henry Wirz, Andersonville commandant, who was hanged in Washington on Nov. 10, 1865. But Ora reminds us that Confederate guerrillas in Missouri were charged during the war and subsequently hanged. One such was the notorious Champ Ferguson, whose neck was stretched Oct. 20, 1865. Another was Lt. Charles Brownlee, charged in 1863 as a bushwhacker and spy. When he surrendered after the war, “expecting to be granted the same generous terms as other ex-Confederates,” as Mr. Eads writes us, he was apprehended and hanged on May 10, 1865. And more on our blunder, in our May column, when we implied that the war ended with Lee’s surrender at Appomattox. Diane M. Smith, Site Manager of Bennett Place State Historic Site in Durham, reminds us that Joe Johnston surrendered there on April 26, not to mention Dick Taylor’s capitulation in Alabama May 4; Kirby Smith May 26, etc. “We continually have to educate our visitors on the intricacies of the end of the War,” Diane adds, “and inform them that Appomattox was simply the beginning of the end and NOT the final end.” Well done, readers! Keep me honest with those emails and letters! Answers are on page 29. And now, for some Gettysburgrelated questions: 1.

The bronze monument honoring North Carolina soldiers at Gettysburg, dedicated in 1929, was sculpted by an artist known for another famous chiseled American memorial. Who was he? A Confederate division commander ordered Brig. Gen. James Johnston Pettigrew on June 30 to march to Gettysburg and “search the town for army supplies (especially shoes).” Name him. From Abraham Lincoln to Jimmy Carter, presidents of the United States have visited Gettysburg battlefield. One bought a farm there, at which he lived after his time in the White House. Which president? Thirty years after the battle, this Union officer was awarded the Medal of Honor for “daring heroism and great tenacity in holding his position on the Little Round Top against repeated assaults.” Who? A lot of historians have tackled Gettysburg on one of its three days, but this author published notable books on The First Day (2001), The Second Day (1987), and even Culp’s Hill and Cemetery Hill (1993). Which writer are we talking about? Walking through Soldiers National Cemetery, one sees tablets bearing lines from a poem written to honor American soldiers of the Mexican War. What are the names of the poem and of its author? 7. In Michael Shaara’s The Killer Angels, Longstreet relates to Fremantle that he had been chatting around a fire when someone remarked, “Well, maybe you are come from an ape, and maybe I am come from an ape, but General Lee, he didn’t come from no ape.” The Southerners were discussing a book, On the Origin of Species, which had been published just two years before the war. Who wrote it? 8. On the second day, the Irish brigade prepared to go into the fight when a priest stepped up on a boulder and offered a prayer of absolution. The soldiers knelt, hats off and heads bowed, as the chaplain reminded them that the “Catholic church refuses Christian burial to the soldier who turns his back upon the foe or deserts his flag.” What was the name of the priest? 9. “The 18 guns have been driven off. For God’s sake come quick, or we cannot support you. Ammunition nearly out.” This note was sent to General Pickett just before the Confederates launched their charge on the third day. Who wrote it? 10. Before President Lincoln was invited to deliver “a few appropriate remarks” at the dedication of the soldiers’ cemetery at Gettysburg, a Massachusetts politician known as a good speaker was asked to give the main address. Name him. Steve Davis is the Civil War News Book Review Editor. He can be contacted by email at [email protected]

ANSWERS: 1. Gutzon Borglum, who also sculpted the United States presidents on Mount Rushmore. 2. Maj. Gen. Henry Heth. 3. Dwight D. Eisenhower, president 1953-61. 4. Col. Joshua Chamberlain, 20th Maine (later brigadier general). 5. Harry W. Pfanz (1921-2015). 6. “Bivouac of the Dead,” by Theodore O’Hara (1820-1867). 7. Charles Robert Darwin (1809-1882). 8. Father William Corby, 88th New York. 9. Col. Edward Porter Alexander, artillery officer in Longstreet’s corps. 10. Edward Everett (1794-1865).