"General"ly Speaking: Quotes From the Civil War Quiz

Answer: Robert E Lee

Robert E. Lee was born into the Virginia aristocracy. His father was a cavalry leader during the American Revolutionary War. Lee graduated from West Point and went on to be labeled a hero in the Mexican-American War. When the Civil War began, he was offered a post to command the Union forces, but he felt duty bound to his state of Virginia and resigned from the United States Army.

He rose quickly through the ranks of the Confederate Army in the Eastern theater and was a general-in-chief by the end of the war.

He was there at Appomattox to surrender to General Grant in 1865. He went on to become the president of Washington College and died in 1870 of a stroke.

Answer: William Sherman

Sherman was born in Ohio and raised by family friends after his parents' deaths. He graduated from West Point in 1840 and unlike many of his peers, was not sent to the Mexican-American War but instead did administrative duties in California. When the Civil War began Sherman joined as a colonel.

He feuded with the press and often had emotional problems, but his field work allowed him to be promoted to commander of the Western theater. In 1864 he used "total warfare" techniques in his march to the sea through Georgia from Atlanta to Savannah.

After the war, he lived many years in New York where he enjoyed the theater and fine arts until he died of pneumonia in 1891.

Answer: George McClellan

McClellan was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and entered college at age 13 to study law. He soon switched his goal to military service and graduated from West Point in 1846. He served in the Mexican-American War where he helped to engineer roads and bridges.

In 1857 he left the military to work with the Illinois Central Railroad. When the American Civil War started he was a major general for a group of Ohio volunteers. He soon was recruited into the Regular Army where he moved up the ranks to major general and then commander of the Army of the Potomac.

He was loved by his troops but was criticized by his superiors for his extreme cautiousness. McClellan was relieved of his duties in 1862 and after the war ran unsuccessfully for president of the country.

He wrote a defense of his tenure but died in 1885 before it was published.

Answer: James Longstreet

Born in South Carolina and raised in Georgia, Longstreet attended West Point and graduated from there in 1842. He then served in the Mexican-American War and was cited for bravery before moving on to command a fort in Texas. Although he was skeptical about secession, he felt his duty lay with serving the southern states.

He was promoted to major general after the First Battle of Bull Run and went on to become one of General Lee's trusted generals in the Army of Northern Virginia. Longstreet took part in the Battle of Gettysburg and reluctantly oversaw "Pickett's Charge" which resulted in a staggering amount of casualties for that division.

After the war, he lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and later was the United States ambassador to Turkey.

He died in 1904 at age 82.

Answer: Ulysses S Grant

Grant was born in Ohio and went on to graduate from West Point in 1843 where he was known as an excellent horseman and was even called a "horse whisperer". He served in the Mexican-American War where he took part in several dangerous missions that utilized his riding skills. Grant retired from the army in 1854 amid allegations of heavy drinking.

He suffered financially for years before he joined the Union forces in 1861. He performed extremely well in his roles in the Western theater of the war and eventually rose all the way to commander of all United States armies.

He accepted Confederate General Lee's surrender at Appomattox. A hero to many in the North, he was elected president of the United States and served from 1869-1877. During his terms he dealt with reconstruction and reconciliation matters along with several scandals in his administration.

After leaving the office, he found himself bankrupt but wrote his memoirs that were published in 1885, the year he died of throat cancer.

Answer: Albert Sidney Johnston

Johnston was born in Kentucky but lived most of his life in Texas, which he considered home. He graduated from West Point in 1826 and served in the Black Hawk War as well as the Mexican-American War where he was a colonel in 1st Texas Rifle Volunteers.

He then was in the United States cavalry during several skirmishes in the American West. When the American Civil War began, he stayed loyal to Texas' decision to secede and quickly rose through the ranks in the Confederacy in the Western Theater in 1861 and 1862.

He was a full general when he was killed at the Battle of Shiloh when he ignored a wound in his leg and bled to death. He was buried in New Orleans but in 1867 he was re-interred in his beloved state of Texas.

Answer: Joshua Chamberlain

Chamberlain was born in Maine in 1828 and attended Bowdoin College. He began his career as a professor of language and rhetoric shortly thereafter. The outbreak of the American Civil War caused him to resign from his teaching position and support the Union.

He studied as "many military works as he could get his hands on". He was a Lt. Colonel at the Battle of Gettysburg and was holding the far left flank on Little Round Top when his division came face to face with the Confederates. Exhausted and out of ammunition, his 20th Maine did a bayonet charge and secured the line.

He received a Medal of Honor and by the end of the war he was a brigadier general. He later served four terms of governor for Maine. An author and lecturer, he died in 1914.

Answer: Thomas Jackson

Jackson was born in the area that is now West Virginia and was raised by relatives after he was orphaned. He graduated from West Point in 1846 and was known for his hard work and determination, which would forever characterize him. He served in the Mexican-American War before accepting a teaching position at the Virginia Military Institute as a professor of natural philosophy and artillery tactics.

When the American Civil War began, he joined the Confederacy and was instrumental in many engagements.

He earned his nickname at the First Battle of Bull Run as he and his men stood "as a stone wall". He was one of General Lee's most trusted advisers and Lee felt it was tremendous blow to the South when Jackson was shot by his own troops in 1863 and died from the resulting pneumonia.

Answer: James Ewell Brown (JEB) Stuart

Stuart was born in Virginia and tried to enlist in the United States Army but was turned away for being too young. He waited and graduated from West Point where he was known for his cavalry tactics. He served several leadership positions in the United States Army on the western frontier where he fought Native American raiding parties. During this time he also received a patent for a saber hook.

When Virginia seceded from the Union, Stuart joined the Confederacy. He performed many daring feats and one time, during the Peninsula Campaign, he rode around the entire Union army.

He was a major general by 1862 and continued to perform reconnaissance missions and delaying tactics for Lee. He was shot at the Battle of Yellow Tavern in 1864 and died from the wound the next day at age 31.

Answer: George A Custer

Custer was born in Ohio and got a teaching certificate before applying to West Point. He was a poor student and almost got expelled before he graduated in 1861. The Civil War had just started and Custer joined the cavalry unit. He was known for his flamboyant ways and for somehow escaping injuries. By 1863, he had been made a brigadier general and was called "Boy General" due to his youth.

He fought in several battles of the Civil War including a daring mounted charge at Gettysburg. After the war, he turned his eyes toward the Western frontier and was commander of the 7th Cavalry Regiment.

In Montana, his legendary bravery came to an end when he and all of his men were surrounded and killed at Little Bighorn by a group of Lakota, Apache, and Cheyenne warriors.