Six More Questions on Fort Fisher-- Part 2

Answers below.

6.  The fall of Fort Fisher closed of what Confederate port?

7.  Who was the Confederate general in charge of the whole area who did not attempt to save the fort?

8.  Fort Fisher was built to protect Wilmington and help what kind of ship get into the harbor?

9.  What was the name of the famed Confederate naval officer  who commanded the CSS Albemarle, CSS Florida and also blockade runners?  

10.  Fort Fisher is often called the Malakoff Tower of the South."  In what war was the Malakoff Tower?

11.  Frank Crawford question.  (This means it is really hard.)  Fort Fisher was surrendered buy a Confederate major who had also surrendered Fort Johnston across the Cape Fear River to the Confederate earlier in the war.  What was his name?

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ANSWERS

6.  Wilmington, North Carolina

7.  Braxton Bragg

8.  Blockade Runners

9.  John Newland Maffitt

10.  Crimean War

11.  Major James Reilly

I got them all correct, but, of course, I'm a Fort Fisher nut.

--Old B-Runner

McHenry County CWRT Discussion Group: Quiz on Fort Fisher

The McHenry County Civil War Round Table discussion group met December 17, 2022 at Panera Bread in Crystal Lake, Illinois, with "The Beginning of the End: December 1864-January 1865" as the topic.

I made up a list of questions to get us started.  Since the two Battles of Fort Fisher took place in those two months, I made up some questions about you-know-what to get us started.

Answers are below:

FORT FISHER

1.  What was the length of the land face and sea face of Fort Fisher?

2.  Who were the fort's two commanders during the two attacks?

3.  Who commanded the Union Army and Union Navy during the First Battle of Fort Fisher?

4.  What was Benjamin Butler's secret plan to destroy the fort?

5.  Who commanded the Union Army during the Second Battle of Fort Fisher?

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ANSWERS

1.  Half mile land face, one mile sea face.  (It formed the upside down letter "L".)

2.  Col. William Lamb was the fort's commander, and assisted by General W.H.C. Whiting.

3.  Benjamin Butler commanded the Army and David Dixon Porter commanded the Navy.

4.  Loaded a ship with gunpowder and blew it up.

5.  Alfred Terry

How'd You Do?  --Old Secesh

Match Each General With the Site of His Death or Mortal Wounding-- Part 2: Robert E. Rhodes

These extra hard questions (I only got two matched and some of these men I'd never heard of before) were submitted to America's Civil War by Stewart  Douglas, a reader of them magazine in the United Kingdom.

Five More of which I only got Zollicoffer right and that was kind of an educated guess.

1.  Joseph Mansfield

2.  Lloyd Tilgham

3.  Robert E. Rhodes

4.  Daniel Chaplin

5.  Felix Zollicoffer

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A.  Obequon

B.  Antietam

C.  Mill Springs

D.  Deep Bottom

E.  Champion Hill

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ANSWERS

1.  B

2.  E

3.  A

4.  D

5.  C

Bring Back America's Civil War and Civil War Times.  --Old Secesh

Match Each General with the Site of His Death or Mortal Wound-- Part 1

From the July 2021 America's Civil War.  (I sure miss this magazine).

1.  J.E.B. Stuart

2.  George Duncan Wells

3.  Philip Kearny

4.  Samuel Zook

5.  Edward Don Tracy

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a.  Cedar Creek

b.  Chantilly

c.  Port Gibson

d.  Gettysburg

e.  Yellow Tavern

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Answers

1 e

2 d

3 b

4 d 

5 j

I only got Stuart right and had never heard of Wells, Zook or Tracy.  Shows what I don't know.

--Old Secesh Don't Know Much.

Civil War Technology-- Part 2

Continuing with the opening questions for the McHenry County (Illinois) Civil War Round Table discussion group's October meeting.

Answer the question and tell what technology it refers to.

6.  Who was the Union Secretary of the Treasury?   What did he do in regards to raising money for the war effort?

7.  Who was the Union man responsible for bringing observation to new heights?  And what did he push?

8.  Who's system was used  by the pass messages on the battlefield other than the telegraph??

9.  What were limelights?

10.  What were they also known as?

Answers below.

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6.  Salmon P. Chase.  Instituted the Federal Income Tax.  This continued until 1872, when it was rules unconstitutional.

7.  Professor ThaddeusS.C. Lowe.  Balloons.

8.  Albert James Myer.  These messages were passed by flags during the day and by turpentine torches at night.

9.  Bright incandescent lights which had been used in theaters before the war.

10.  Calcium or drummond lights.

--Old Secesh

McHenry County Civil War Round Table Discussion Group: The Perryville Campaign

Opening Questions continued.

6.  What were the reasons for Bragg's invasion of Kentucky?

7.  Bragg started from what Tennessee city?

8.  Who's July Raid through Kentucky served as a factor in Confederate plans that led to the Battle of Perryville?

FRANK QUESTION  (These are generally impossible to answer, but in honor of our good buddy Frank who is out of state these days.)

One of the main Union commanders at the Battle of Perryville was born in Zanesville, Ohio, and a member of the West Point class that included 20 future Civil War generals.  What was his name?   (Also, what class from the USMA had all those generals and how many members were in it?)

Answers below.

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6.  Gain support of Confederate symphatizers.  Draw Union Gen. Carlos Buell back across the Ohio River.

7.  Chattanooga

8.  John Hunt Morgan

FRANK QUESTION:  Charles Champion Gilbert.  Class of 1846.  59 members.

--Old Secesh

MCCWRT Discussion Group of 10/23/21:The Kentucky Campaign Aug-Oct 1862 & the Battle of Perryville

The McHenry County Civil War Round Table (MCCWRT) held its October 2021 discussion group meeting at Panera Bread Co.in Crystal Lake, Illinois.

As usual, we opened with a quiz.  As always, these quizzes pertain to the day's subject.

1.  The Battle of Perryville is also known as the _______ __ _________ ____.

2.  On what date was it fought?

3.  This was a campaign and battle fought over what strategic state?

4.  What famous Northern woman came from the Lexington, Kentucky, area?

5.  Strangely or not strangely enough, many of this woman's relatives were what during the war?

ANSWERS BELOW

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1.  Battle of Champlin Hill

2.  October 8, 1862

3.  Kentucky

4.  Mary Todd Lincoln

5.  They were Confederate officers

--Old Secesh

McHenry County Civil War Round Table Answers

These are the answers to yesterday's quiz regarding the MCCWRT's discussion group's questions:

1.  Capital of Georgia was Milledgeville

2.  Last major battle in Carolinas was the Battle of Bentonville.

3.  Sherman's first objective in N.C. was Fayetteville (and especially its arsenal).

4.  Sherman enabled Johnston to attack him at Bentonville because he had divided his army into two columns.

5.  After Savannah was captured Grant wanted Sherman to come directly to Virginia to crush Lee.

6.  How many Illinois regiments were with Sherman in the Carolinas?  41

--Old Secsh

MCCWRT Discussion Group Meeting, 2/26/22: Sherman's March to the Sea and the Carolinas

The McHenry County Civil War Round Table )MCCWRT) discussion group met at the Crystal Lake, Illinois, Panera Bread on US-14 (Northwest Highway) from 10 a.m. to 11:30 on Saturday, Feb. 25, and was both in person and via Zoom.  One of the folks was watching and talking from Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.

Yer Quiz:

1.  What was the capital of Georgia during the march?

2.  What was the last major battle fought in North Carolina?

3.  What was Sherman's first objective in North Carolina?

4.  What move did Sherman make that enabled Johnston to attack him at that last major battle in North Carolina?

5.  After Sherman reached Savannah, what did Grant want Sherman to do?

6.  Frank Question:  How many Illinois regiments were with Sherman in his March Through the Carolinas?

Answers in the next post.

--Old Secesh

McHenry Co. Civil War RT, April Discussion Group 'April-May 1865'-- Part 1: A Hybrid Meeting

The discussion group of the McHenry County Civil War Round Table met April 24, 2021, at Stucky's Bar & Grill in Johnsburg, Illinois with out topic being "Events of April-May 1865."

This was a hybrid meeting in that we had five members present and three via Zoom.

As usual, we started out with the Questions.

Here are the questions.  See how good you are at the Civil War.

1.  What battle on April 1, 1865, virtually assured that Lee would have to give up his Petersburg defenses?

2.  On April 2, two major events took place in Alabama.  What were they?

3.  On what date did Joseph Johnston surrender his army?

4.  Name the steamship that caught fire on the Mississippi River on April 27, 1865.

There Are More Questions.

--Old Secesh

The Civil War Began in His Front Yard and Ended in His Parlor (Or So They Say)

One man during the war tried to get away from the war for his family's safety, but he wasn't successful.  They say it began in his front yard and ended in his parlor.

Who was that man.

Find the answer in my March 26, 2021 Cooter's History Thing blog.

Get to it by going to the MY Blogs section to the right of this and scrolling down to Cooter's History Thing blog.

--Old Secesh

MCCWRT Discussion Group Meeting Aug. 22 ,2020-- Part 1: How Much Do You Know About Benjamin Butler?

 This past Saturday, August 22, 2020, the McHenry County Civil War Round Table met outside at the Panera Bread Co. in Algonquin, Illinois, to discuss one of the more interesting characters to come out of the Civil War, Major General  Benjamin Butler.  Mr. "beast" Butler if you will.

As often, we kicked the session off with a quiz on the man.

1.  What was his middle name?

2.  He hailed from what state?

3.  What was is political party?

4.  What was his first military action.

5.  What was his first military battle.

6.  Then, he commanded an army at what North Carolina inlet?

7.  While commanding at Fortress Monroe, he declines to send fugitive slaves back to their owners, declaring them to be what?

8.  Then he commanded at what major Southern city?  (Where he got his reputation and hatred.)

Answers in next post.

--Old Secesh

Here's Your Quiz on the Battle of Fredericksburg-- Part 1

This past Saturday, the McHenry County Civil War Round Table discussion group met at Panera Bread in Crystal Lake to talk about the Battle of Fredericksburg and to start off the meeting, I gave them a quiz.

1.  What were the dates of the battle?

2.  What river played a major role in the battle?

3.  How many Grand Divisions did Union General Burnside have and who commanded them?

4.  Who said, "My God, General Reynolds, did they think my division could whip Lee's whole Army?"



ANSWERS BELOW

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1.  Dates will vary, but anything between December 11 to15.

2.  Rappahannock River

3.  Burnside had three Grand Divisions, commanded by William B. Franklin, Edwin V. Sumner and Joseph Hooker.

4.  Major General George G. Meade.

There Are Four More Questions.  --Old Secesh

Answers to the Battle of Shiloh Quiz

I wrote down by quiz questions for the McHenry County Civil War Round Table discussion group in my last two posts.  Here are the answers:

1.  USS Lexington and USS Tyler

2.  Army of the Tennessee, Army of the Ohio were the Union ones.  The Confederate one was the Army of Mississippi.

Side Question:  Union Armies named after Rivers and would be the Army of the Tennessee.  Confederate named after regions, so their would be the Army of Tennessee.

3.  Southwest

4.  Strike Grant before Buell's troops arrived.

5.  Hornet's Nest

6   Corinth, Mississippi

7.  W. H. L. Wallace and Lew Wallace

Frank Question   William Hervey Lamar Wallace.

Second Frank Question.  Lew Wallace commanded the 11th Indiana and W.H.L. Wallace the 11th Illinois.

Did Ya' Pass?  Yaw'l.  --Old Secesh

MCCWRT Battle of Shiloh Quiz

Continuing with the quiz.

Side Question, there was a Confederate Army and a Union Army both with the name Tennessee.  How could you tell them apart (and don't say uniforms).  Hint:  The name.

3.  In what intermediate direction would Shiloh be in the state of Tennessee?  (Hint:  Not E,S,W, or N)

4.  What was the objective of Confederate General Johnston?  (to strike Grant before what?)

5.   What was the name given to the sunken road where the very fierce fighting took place?

6.  Where was Johnston's base of operations?

7.  Who were the two Union division commanders named Wallace?

FRANK QUESTION:  (THAT MEANS REALLY HARD):  One of the Wallace's had two middle names,  what were they?  (Hint:  The letters were H.L.)

WAIT, ONE MORE FRANK QUESTION:  Besides the same last name, both Wallaces had commanded the 11th regiment of their respective states.  What were the two states?

Good Luck.  Answers in the Next Post.  --Old Secesh

MCCWRT April Discussion, Battle of Shiloh-- Part 1: A War and a Snowstorm

The McHenry County Civil War Round Table (MCCWRT) discussion group met Saturday, April 27 at Panera Bread in Crystal Lake, Illinois in the midst of all sorts of dire snow warnings.  As such, attendance was down to just four.  I went, but as Captain Jack Sparrow would say, "Kept a weather eye out."  As long as the snow didn't start sticking to the pavement, I was staying.

I brought along the huge book "American Heritage Civil War" to give to the eleven-year-old boy who has been at our last two meetings.  I had a smaller child's edition growing up.  But the thing I liked the most were the battle maps which had small soldiers charging and moving in formations.  I spent hours pouring over those maps.  And, the book was written by none other than Bruce Catton, who really knew his way around words.

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I had a little quiz for attendees concerning the Battle of Shiloh.

1.  Name the two U.S. Navy ships that helped turn the tide at the Battle of Shiloh?

2.  Name the two Union armies involved in the battle as well as the Confederate one.

Answers in the next post.

The Snow and the Blood and the Beer.  --Old SeceshSnow

Answers to Frank's Questions from Yesterday-- Part 2

1.  Adelbert Ames--  Last Union general to die.  (Also Benjamin Butler's son-in-law.)

2.  Edward Kerrigan--  Of the 16th Illinois Cavalry.  Supervised the hangings of the six Raiders at Andersonville.

3.  Sgt. Harry Reese--  Of the 48th Pennsylvania.  Volunteered to enter tunnel to what became the Crater at Petersburg to see why it hadn't ignited.

4.  C. C.. Banks--  Of the U.S. Christian Commission.  Informed Lincoln's son Robert that his father had been shot.

5.  Elizabeth Queseberry--  Involved in John Wilkes Booth's escape into Virginia.

6.  Martin Reuben Merritt Wallace-- 4th Illinois Cavalry.  Brother of General Wallace.  Drowned at Cairo, Illinois, in 1862, while embarking for the attack on Fort Henry.

Hard enough there, Frank.

OK, Frank, here's one for you:  Who was James Reilly, Sgt. U.S. Army, Major C.S. Army and what was he noted for?

--Old Secesh

MCCWRT Discussion Group, Jan. 26, 2019: Hood's 1864 Tennessee Campaign / Frank's Six-- Part 1

So far this has been the 15th Illinois' month, starting from the first day.  But back to the discussion group meeting now.

One other off-topic thing we discussed (there is a whole lot of  off-topic discussion in the group for some reason) was that Frank Crawford sent in another six trivia questions; evidently not satisfied with the difficulty of his last trivia questions from December.  This time on specific people.  Well, at least I knew the first one, but that was from his Fort Fisher involvement.  But Frank had him in for something else.

FRANK'S SIX

1.  Who was Adelbert Ames?

2.  Who was Edward Kerrigan?

3.  Who was Sergeant Harry Reese?

4.  Who was C.C. Banks?

5.  Who was Elizabeth Quesenberry?

6.  Who was Martin Reuben Merritt Wallace?

Do You Know?  Answers Tomorrow.   --Old Secesh?

MCCWRT Trivia, Things I Learned-- Part 1: What Was Different About the Confederate States Naval Academy?

These were just some of the things I learned from the December 22, 2018, McHenry County Civil War Round Table Trivia discussion group meeting.

**  Frank C. ought not be allowed to e-mail in his questions.

**  We'll have to do it again next year.  Lots of discussions ensued.  We were even more on target than usual.

**  The Confederate Navy wore white uniforms during the summer months.

**  The Confederate Navy's Academy was unique in that all learning was done on a ship (the CSS Patrick Henry) and at times the ship was engaged with the enemy.

**  Four Union generals ran unsuccessfully for president over the years.  We all knew, of curse, McClelland.  But also Hancock, Fremont and Butler.

--Old SeGuess

Here's a Trivia Question for You: It's A Family Affair

Since the McHenry County Civil War Round Table is having a trivia contest today at Panera Bread in Crystal Lake, Illinois, here is one of my questions for you:

Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright commanded the USRC Harriet Lane and was killed in action January 1, 1863, when the ship was captured.  He had two sons who served in the military.  I was thinking that his name sounded very familiar from another war, so I had to look it up.

One of his sons, Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright III was killed battling pirates off Mexico as an ensign in the Navy in 1870.  Another son, Robert Powell Page Wainwright, was in the Army and served in the Indian Wars and the Spanish-American War, eventually reaching the rank of major.

His son, Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright, rose to the rank of general.  With what World War II event is he associated?

Answer below.

A Very Military Family.  --Old Secesh



General Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright surrendered the Philippines after General MacArthur was ordered away.