Gettysburg Trivia

1. What was the most peculiar thing about the disposition of troops on the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg?

From Quiz Beginning of the Ebb: High Tide at Gettysburg

Answer: The Confederates (South) attacked from the north.

The Confederates (CSA) attacked north to south nearly all day on the first day. Union (USA) forces, while driven back, began to occupy the strategically significant high ground south of the town, and it was the struggle for that high ground that drove the rest of the battle. Maneuver was used for tactical advantages, not avoidance. Both sides had, and effectively used, artillery. Generals were on hand in abundance, with USA Major General John Reynolds the first general to perish in combat. Less than an hour later CSA Brigadier General James Archer was the first general captured.

From Quiz The Confederate First Corps at Gettysburg

Answer: LG James Longstreet

LG James Longstreet graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1842, where he ranked 60th in a class of 62. Gen Robert E Lee was in command of the whole Confederate Army, known as the "Army of Northern Virginia, at the Battle of Gettysburg. LG Richard S Ewell commanded the Confederate Second Corps at the Battle of Gettysburg. LG Ambrose P Hill was in command of the Confederate Third Corps during the Battle of Gettysburg.

From Quiz Gettysburg: Second Day

Answer: The Peach Orchard

The Third Corps, about 11,000 strong, was moved against orders to ground that Dan Sickles thought higher than the ground that he had been assigned.

From Quiz Generals at Gettysburg

Answer: George Meade

Meade arrived on the battlefield at Gettysburg late on the first day of the battle, 1 July 1863. He chose to hold the high ground south of town and fight a defensive battle. Despite a major win at Gettysburg, Meade was criticized for not aggressively pursuing Lee's troops as they retreated back into Virginia.

From Quiz Confederate Officers at Gettysburg

Answer: Col. Robert Chilton

Col. Robert Chilton served as Lee's Chief of Staff during much of the Civil War, including the Battle of Gettysburg. He also served as Inspector General at Gettysburg. Taylor, Marshall, and Venable all served as aides to Lee during the battle.

From Quiz Gettysburg: "All in the Family"

Answer: their brother, John Chamberlain, who was a minister

While at Gettysburg, Joshua and Thomas Chamberlain enjoyed a short visit with their brother, John Chamberlain. John Chamberlain was a member of the U.S. Sanitary Commission and was also serving as a chaplain in the Army of the Potomac.

From Quiz The Battle of Gettysburg

Answer: July 1- 3, 1863

The Battle of Gettysburg (July 1 - July 3, 1863), fought in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, as part of the Gettysburg Campaign, was the battle with the highest number of casualties in the American Civil War and is frequently cited as the war's turning point.

From Quiz Commanders at Gettysburg - Part 2

Answer: Brig. Gen. Henry Hunt

After the War he was granted a commission as a colonel in the regular army.

From Quiz Commanders at Gettysburg- Part 1

Answer: General John Buford

General Buford had two brigades and held the rebels off until the 1st corps arrived, commanded by Gen. Reynolds. He would die of pneumonia a few months later.

From Quiz Union Corps at Gettysburg

Answer: 12th corps

The symbol of the 12th corps was a star, and they had the oldest general in command of a brigade, Gen. George Greene.

From Quiz Union Regiments at Gettysburg

Answer: 39th New York

The 39th New York helped repulse Pickett's Charge on July 3rd. Many of their officers could not speak English.

From Quiz How Well Do You Know Gettysburg?

Answer: Charles Mudge

Mudge's 2nd Massachusetts was ordered, along with its brother regiment the 27th Indiana, to charge against a fortified position in Spangler's Meadow during the hot fight on the morning of the July 3rd. The charge, which killed Mudge along with exacting about 40% casualties on the 2nd Massachussetts alone, is viewed as action that should never have been made, for no gains were made from it except the need for more space in the already growing populations of Civil War cemeteries.

From Quiz Gettysburg Corps Insignia

Answer: red iron cross

The 1st Division of the 5th Corps contained Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain's famous 20th Maine Regiment, which defended the left end of the Union line of July 2, 1863.

From Quiz 3rd Arkansas at Gettysburg

Answer: Van Manning

Manning was 24 and clearly was not to be aggravated; during the Gettysburg campaign he violently dunked the heads of several inebriated members of the 3rd into a creek until they had sobered up. The 3rd was part of the brigade of Brigadier-General Jerome Robertson, who had the unusual nickname of "Aunt Polly".

From Quiz Gettysburg - Day One

Answer: Cutler's Brigade- Wadsworth Division

Reaching the battlefield at approximately 10:30AM this brigade relieved Devin's cavalry brigade of Buford's division.

From Quiz Prelude to Gettysburg

Answer: Brig.-General Albert G. Jenkins

Jenkins scouting of the defenses around Harrisburg marked the furthest north any of Lee's soldiers would get.

From Quiz Tough Gettysburg Trivia

Answer: 1st United States Sharpshooters

Colonel Hiram Berdan commanded this specially trained unit as they were sent forward to reconnoiter the woods to see how far south does the confederate right flank extend along Seminary Ridge.

From Quiz The Battle of Gettysburg

Answer: 26th Emergency Regiment

The 26th Emergency Regiment was formed a few weeks before the battle of Gettysburg. They met the Confederates at Marsh Creek. In a matter of minutes the 26th Emergency Regiment became a disorganized mob, most were captured on the spot, but others scrambled for their lives and got away.

From Quiz Pickett's Charge

Answer: 3 days

The battle took 3 days. There was an estimated 51,000 total casualties.

From Quiz Gettysburg continues!

Answer: Burial site of North Carolina Soldiers

Nearly 500 of General Iverson's North Carolinian soldiers were decimated by a Union volley on Oak Ridge July 1st, 1863. Most of the fallen soldiers were shot and left lying in the line they were marching in, and were buried in a long trench called "Iverson's Pits".

From Quiz Gettysburg

Answer: Virginia

Pickett's men were mainly Virginians.

From Quiz Gettysburg: Battle and Aftermath

Answer: Whiskey

Richard Garnett and many others from the South didn't like northern water as it 'tasted funny'. The General decided to add whiskey to his water to cover the unfamilar taste derived from the wells at Gettysburg.

From Quiz Gettysburg : 3rd July 1863

Answer: Abraham Lincoln

Pickett studied law with his uncle in Illinois. He met Lincoln in the 1840's. Lincoln in turn took a liking to the young Pickett and gave some advice for the young West Point Cadet on his departure to the academy.

From Quiz The Battle At Gettysburg

Answer: A. P. Hill

Heth's Division was the first to reach the field. Ewell's corps showed up 2nd, and Longstreet's was last. Jackson died at Chancellorsville, earlier in the year.

From Quiz Gettysburg

Answer: July 1, 1863

The Battle of Gettysburg was a three-day battle that opened with the Confederate assault down the Chambersburg Pike and across Willoughby Run on July 1, 1863.

From Quiz Beginning of the Ebb: High Tide at Gettysburg

Answer: War of 1812

Burns was born in 1793, and at age 18, joined the U.S. Army and fought in the War of 1812, seeing action at Lundy's Lane and other battles. Remarkably, in his 50s, Burns also joined the Army for the Mexican-American War. Twice rejected for duty in the Civil War due to his age, Burns wasted no time when the war came to his town. Swiftly volunteering, he saw action with a Pennsylvania brigade, and when that unit retreated lent himself to the famous Iron Brigade, until wounded. Burns lived until 1872, his gravesite in Gettysburg accorded the rare privilege of 24 hour display of the US flag.

From Quiz The Confederate First Corps at Gettysburg

Answer: Berdan's 2nd United States Sharpshooters

Berdan's 2nd United States Sharpshooters fired on Oats' men as they advanced, and not wanting to let the Union men get in his rear, Oates ordered his men to follow them up over Big Round Top. Union Cavalry covered and fought over the ground crossed by Oats' Alabamians, but not until the next day. Cows were running loose in the area. Men in Union 4th Maine killed and cooked one while on Devil's Den, and Union Gen Henry Hunt was almost run down by the cows trying to return to his horse after inspecting artillery on Devil's Den. Union Gen John Sedgwick's 6th Corps would be positioned in behind Big and Little Round Top, but at the time of the movement of Oats' men. Many of the 6th Corps were still arriving at Gettysburg from a 33 mile forced march when the fighting on Little Round Top started.

From Quiz Gettysburg: Second Day

Answer: Maj. Gen. David Birney

Gen. Birney's division was spread too thinly to hold the line. It was practically destroyed fighting in some of the most brutal areas of the Civil War.

From Quiz Generals at Gettysburg

Answer: Paul Jones Semmes

After being wounded on 2 July 1863 Semmes was carried back to Virginia. Among the doctors who tried to save his life was Dr Robert Todd, Mary Todd Lincoln's brother. Semmes died on 10 July 1863.

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Last Updated Dec 21 2024 5:50 AM

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