Small Talk-Trivia

Small Talk — June 2017

By Stephen Davis · Originally published June 2017 · pp. 33–44

In our last quiz (May issue) we erred and strayed like lost sheep. We asked how many Southern state capitals were occupied by Union forces during the war. Our answer was seven: Nashville, Baton Rouge, Jackson, Little Rock, Milledgeville, Columbia and Richmond. Dr. John Coski, Historian for the American Civil War Museum in Richmond, Dr. Michael Shaffer of Kennesaw, Ga., regular contributor of “The Source” column in CWN, and other readers alertly added two more: Montgomery and Raleigh. They’re right: Wilson’s raiders occupied the Alabama capital on April 12; Kilpatrick’s cavalry, the van of Sherman’s army, rode into Raleigh on April 13. Sheepishly we responded that we considered the war to have ended with Lee’s surrender on April 9. But when it comes to Civil War trivia, there’s always room for debate. Keep those emails coming to me at

[email protected] and to [email protected]. Here’s this month’s batch. Answers will be found on page 44:

Maj. Robert Anderson commanded the U.S. garrison at Fort Sumter in early 1861. What state was he from? “I want you to make me a map of the Valley” was Stonewall Jackson’s order to this Confederate topographical engineer. Name him. The U.S. presidential election of 1860, held on November 6, was essentially a four-candidate race with each prospect winning electoral votes. Who came in third in the electoral vote count? Hailed sometimes as “the most lopsided Confederate victory of the war” (Noe, 2001), this battle in Kentucky was fought August 30, 1862. Which one are we talking about?

Who was the only civilian killed in the battle of Gettysburg? 6. On the morning of Sept. 20, 1863 at Chickamauga, General Rosecrans ordered this Union commander to move his infantry division to the left. This created a gap in the Federal line just as Confederates prepared to attack that very point. Name this general. 7. “Hell’s Half Acre” was an area of what Civil War battle? 8. The 1st and 2nd United States Sharpshooters are better known by which popular name? 9. After the battle of Kernstown, Virginia, in March 1862, Stonewall Jackson charged one of his brigade commanders with neglect of duty. Who was this Confederate officer, later killed at Gettysburg? 10. To combat guerrilla violence, in August1863 (four days after the Lawrence Massacre), this Federal officer—who happened to be a brother-in-law of William T. Sherman—ordered all civilians of four western Missouri counties to leave their homes. Name him.

ANSWERS: 1. Kentucky 2. Lt. Jedediah Hotchkiss 3. John Bell, Constitutional Union Party (from Tennessee): 39 e.v. (after Lincoln’s 180 and Breckinridge’s 72). Stephen Douglas of Illinois, the Northern Democrat, won only 12. 4. Richmond, Kentucky 5. Jennie Wade, age 20, shot dead in her home on the morning of July 3 6. Brig. Gen. Thomas J. Wood 7. Stones River/Murfreesboro, assaulted by Confederates Dec. 31, 1862 8. Berdan’s Sharpshooters, after Col. Hiram G. Berdan 9. Brig. Gen. Richard B. Garnett 10. Brig. Gen. Thomas Ewing Jr.