Hans Hekler Lauterbach


The American Civil War


Combining my two academic subjects English and history, I have recently been studying the American Civil War quite closely. flags.jpg (16K) In letzter Zeit habe ich mich - meine beiden Studienfächer Englisch und Geschichte verbindend - ziemlich intensiv mit dem Amerikanischen Bürgerkrieg befasst.


Did you know that ...


...the last Confederate general to capitulate, Brigadier General Stand Watie, leader of the Confederate Cherokees, surrendered to Federal forces on June 23, 1865.
*

..... about 190.000 black soldiers fought in the Union army which is about 9% of the total force?
*

... practically no black soldiers fought in the Confederate army?
*

... the flag of the Confederacy has 13 stars marking 13 states, although only 11 states actually seceded from the Union?
*

... on June 20th 1863 West Virginia split from Virginia and entered the Union?
*

... quite a number of Quakers, who normally refuse to take up arms, enlisted in the Union during the Civil War?
*

... the first Federal ironclad built, the USS Monitor, was equipped with several hoses that were connected to the ship's boilers and sprayed boiling hot water, which were to be manned by crewmen to repel a boarding party, but were never used?
*

... that Union soldiers in Wisconsin had to buy their military clothes? Many of the men ran a tab with the company clerk, and had their total purchases deducted from their final military pay. It was common for a soldier in the 28th Wisconsin to have charged a total of $30.00 to $50.00 worth of clothing and accessories for their three years of service.
*

... Henry Wirz, major in the Confederate army and commander of Andersonville prison was the only Southerner to be punished by hanging after the end of the Civil War?
*

... in November 1864 Confederate agents made an attempt to burn down New York City by toting 402 bottles of "Greek Fire" into Manhattan's busiest hotels and theatres? Rubbish and clothing were set afire, but they did not burn as expected, and the fires were extinguished by midnight.
*

... more than 2,000,000 Federal soldiers were twenty-one or under (of a total of some 2,700,000). More than 1,000,000 were eighteen or under. About 800,000 were seventeen or under. About 200,000 were sixteen or under. About 100,000 were fifteen or under. Three hundred were thirteen or under-most of these fifers or drummers, but regularly enrolled, and sometimes fighters. Twenty-five were ten or under.


HOME Top of Page more about the Civil War