Civil War Firsts Trivia Quiz

Answer: They formed the first US carrier task force

Although the carrier task force, and the aircraft carrier in particular, as we know it today essentially originated in the early part of the twentieth century, the carrier and carrier task force can be said to have originated during the nineteenth century. The USS George Washinton Parke Custis was a coal barge that had been converted to serve as a balloon carrier, and appears to be the first aircraft carrier to be designed, or redesigned, as such to serve in the US Navy. At least one recon flight was launched from the deck of this ship. The USS Stepping Stones served as a tug for the George Washington Parke Custis. Of the escorting ships of the task force, the USS Wachusett was a sloop of war, the USS Delaware was a steamer turned into an armed transport, and both the USS Tioga and USS Port Royal were gunboats.

One major difference between this task force and the modern one is that it never served as such on the open ocean.

Answer: The Medal of Honor

March 3, 1863 would see the law amended to allow Army officers to be eligible to receive the nation's highest honor. It wasn't until the First World War that Naval and Marine Corps officers would be eligible to receive the award. Dr. Mary E. Walker is the only woman to have been awarded the Medal of Honor, though it was taken away from her in 1917 along with other non-combatants who had received it.

It was restored to her in 1977, long after her death.

Answer: Gatling Gun

Often thought of as the forerunner of the modern machine-gun, the Gatling gun was initially not accepted by the Army Ordnance Department due in part to both design flaws and unsympathetic Army officers. Gatling redesigned the weapon again in 1862 in order to remove some of the initial model's flaws, but this resulted in a difficulty to maintain an alignment between the barrel and the chamber which resulted in shaving off a portion of the bullet and causing the bullet to tumble through the air.

Answer: Submarine

Although the H.L. Hunley is the most famous submarine of the war due to her becoming the first submarine recorded to launch a successful attack on an enemy warship, she might not have been the first to launch a successful attack on the enemy if not for the intervention of fate.

The USS Alligator was finished in the spring of 1862 and sent to destroy a railroad bridge on Appomattox Creek. Had Union Naval officers not been afraid that the shallow waters would make it easy for her to be captured, then she might have become the first submarine in history to launch a successful attack.

However, Hunley might still have earned the distinction as the first sub to sink an enemy warship as Alligator might not have been used in such a fashion.

Answer: "Taps"

Also known as "Butterfield's Lullaby," for its creator, and "Day is Done," "Taps" replaced the older "Tattoo" as the call for "lights out" during the war. The song is generally credited to Daniel Butterfield, who wrote it at Harrison's Landing, Va, in July of 1862.

Answer: First black US Army officer

Although the Union had been using black soldiers for some time during the war when Delany was commissioned, they had enlisted into regiments where only whites could be commissioned as officers. Both Frederick Douglass and Martin Delany had proposed to Lincoln the idea of of an all African-American unit led by African-American officers, but Lincoln turned Doglas down when he proposed the idea. Delany, however, sold the idea to Lincoln two years after Douglass's attempt. On Feb. 27, 1865, Delany was commissioned as a Major, becoming the first black line officer in the US army.

Answer: The assassination of a sitting American president

Only four American presidents have been assassinated while in office. The two most famous are probably Lincoln and John F. Kennedy. James Garfield and William McKinley were the other two. Of the four, both Lincoln and McKinley had only just started serving their second term when they were assassinated. Kennedy would have been up for re-election in 1964 and was looking to begin campaigning when he visited Dallas that fateful November day. Finally, Garfield had only just begun to serve the first year of his first term when he was assassinated.

Inaugurated March 4th, 1881, he would be shot on July 2nd by Charles Julius Guiteau and die September 19th, 1881. Though officially it was a massive heart attack that killed him, the bullet had been unable to be found, much less removed, and the wound became infected.

This infection led to a decline in his health over the eleven weeks after the fatal shooting, and he would suffer from both blood poisoning and bronchial pneumonia before the heart attack.

Answer: The first federal income tax

The Revenue Act of 1861 was the first federal income tax in the United States. Levied to finance the cost of the war, it placed a 3% tax on any income above $800 for individuals living within the country. Those living outside the country were charged 5%.

It was lifted in 1872. Today's income tax dates from Feb. 3, 1913 with the ratification of the sixteenth amendment, although it would not be until 1955 that the modern interpretation would be decided.

Answer: July 16, 1862

Prior to the war, various secretaries of the Navy had recommended that Congress authorize the rank of admiral for the US Navy as it was being used in other navies of the world. The argument was often made that senior naval officers were at a disadvantage when dealing with the senior officers of other navies due to the difficulties and embarrassments caused by their not being referred to as admiral. Two years after Congress authorized the rank of Rear Admiral it then authorized the rank of Vice Admiral. David G. Farragut was appointed as the first full admiral in July 1866.

Answer: Confederate Department of Justice

One might not stop to think of the fact that things such as the Confederate Constitution, Confederate Congress, President of the Confederacy, etc. would also fall under firsts of the Civil War.In fact, I probably wouldn't have thought of such things either.

However, the Confederate Department of Justice did not exsist until the Confederate States of America came into exsistence, and then it wasn't until an article in the Confederate Constitution authorized the creation of the department.