Thursday, August 20, 2009

Seven Things Your Teacher Probably Didn't tell You About the Civil War

June 15th Mental Floss by Eric Johnson.

1. LINCOLN'S FIRST SOLUTION TO SLAVERY WAS A FIASCO-- he wanted to move them to Liberia in Africa.

2. HUNGRY LADIES EFFECTIVELY MUGGED JEFFERSON DAVIS-- In April 1863, women staged a protest in Richmond, Va., that became a mob and disorderly.

3. THE UNION USED HOT AIR BALLOONS AND SUBMARINES-- The Union Army Balloon Corps observed Confederate lines, and the north had a submarine called the Alligator that sank off Cape Hatteras.

4. "DIXIE" WAS ONLY A NORTHERN SONG-- Written by a northerner.

5. PAUL REVERE WAS AT GETTYSBURG-- Paul Revere's grandson, Paul Joseph Revere served as an officer and was mortally wounded July 3, 1863, at the battle.

6. MARK TWAIN FIRED ONE SHOT AND LEFT-- In his "Private History of a Campaign That Failed," he wrote of his short service in a Confederate militia unit. He soon left to head out west.

7. ARMIES WEREN'T ALL MALE-- hundreds of women served in the armies on boty sides, pulling a Mulan, assuming a male identity.

Stuff Most Folks Don't Know. --B-Runner