Battle of Tuliffiny-- Part 1: What About Its Name?

Two posts ago, I wrote about the German Light Artillery being at this battle.  I'd never heard of this battle before, so did some further research on it.

The engagement was listed as the Battle of Tulliffiny Creek in the post.  Looking it up, I found the name was spelled Tuliffiny, but with a double "l".  Then it was referred to as Battle of Tuliffiny Station and I've also seen it referred to as the Battle of Tuliffiny Creek.

This probably was due to Confederates naming engagements after towns or places and the Union naming them after water.

I will just be calling it the Battle of Tuliffiny.

--Old Secesh

Newport News (Va.) Where the Name Comes From-- Part 2

There are several versions of where the name came from.  Probably the best goes back to the earliest days of the colony in the 1600s.

An early group of colonists left Jamestown to return the England after the Starving Time during the winter of 1609-1610 aboard the ship of Captain Christopher Newport.  They encountered a supply ship coming from England off Mulberry Island.  The new royal governor was aboard, Thomas West, the 3rd Baron De La Warr (from whose title the name Delaware came from).

He ordered them to turn around.

Of course, the name might come from the English captain.

The name Newport means "Good News."  Another possibility of the Newport News name is that the olde English word "News" which means "New Town."

So, There You Have It.  --Old Seceshport

Newport News (Va.): Where the Name Came From?-- Part 1

I have been writing a lot about the defenses of Newport News during the Civil War of late.  Not just in this blog, but also in my Running the Blockade Civil War Navy blog.  It came to mind that the name Newport News was not a real common name for a city with the word "News."  Newport, of course could mean that it was a new port.

Where did it get that name?  Well, Wikipedia to the rescue.

Newport News is a city in Virginia with a population of 180,412, the 5th most populous city in the state.  It is included in the Hampton Road Metropolitan Area at the southern end of the Virginia Peninsula.  Many residents are employed at the Joint Base Langley-Eustis.

The area was referred to as Newportes Newes as early as 1621.

However, the way it got its name is not known for sure.

Next, the best explanation.

--Old Secesh

Best Name Ever for a Civil War Soldier: E. Pluribus Lincicum

From Civil War Talk.

A reader said he had found the name of an E. Pluribus Lincicum (Lincecum) of Co. E 11th Mississippi.

Unfortunately, he had a very short service in the Confederate Army.  He died of typhoid at Harpers ferry June 7, 1861.

What were his parents thinking.  Perhaps just very patriotic for a man destined to die while fighting against the United States.

--Old SeceshPluribus

General Beauregard

An item of interest from the 2008 Civil War Calendar.

PIERRE GUSTAVE TOUTANT DE BEAUREGARD-- Now there's quite a name. I sure would have hated to have signed the whole name all the time. No wonder we see it more often as P.G.T..

The calendar says he was born in Louisiana and was the first prominent Confederate general because of his defenses at Charleston, SC, Fort Sumter, and command at the First Battle of Bull Run a few months later.

Of interest, I was in the Wilmington cemetery looking for the graves of blockage-runner John Newland Maffitt and Gen. W.H.C. Whiting, when I came across a grave of Pierre Gustave Beauregard Walker. I though, hey, that's the name of a general. Upon further investigation, I saw he was born a few days after Fort Sumter. I guess his parents were quite impressed with the general.

I highly recommend this calendar. All sorts of interesting tidbits.

How Many of You Named a Child After a Civil War Personage? --Old B-Runner