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How Did They Die? Trivia Quiz

Civil War officers and soldiers died in many different ways during the conflict: many died brutal deaths, several died tragic deaths and some from strange causes. Here is my quiz on the subject.

A multiple-choice quiz by wwwocls. Estimated time: 6 mins.

Author
wwwocls

Time
6 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
345,892

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Tough

Avg Score
5 / 10

Plays
847

Awards
Top 35% Quiz

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. Union Major General John Sedgwick had an interesting death. He was killed on May 9, 1864 in the early days of the Battle of Spotsylvania. How was he killed? Hint

Shot by a Confederate sniper

Shot by friendly fire

Blown apart by a cannonball

Fell off and was crushed by his own horse

NEXT>

Question 2 of 10

2. Only a little over a month after General Sedgwick's death, Episcopal bishop/Confederate Lieutenant General Leonidas K Polk was killed during the Confederate attempt to block Sherman's march to Atlanta. His death was particulary gruesome. How did the bishop join his God on June 14, 1864? Hint

Both legs blown off, died of blood loss and shock

Torn almost in two by artillery fire

Head shot to pieces by multiple gunshots

Stabbed by four bayonets, died slowly of blood loss

NEXT>

Question 3 of 10

3. Probably the most important death of the war was the loss of Confederate General Stonewall Jackson at the Battle of Chancellorsville. Jackson died on May 10, 1863. How? Hint

Shot through the heart by friendly fire

Pneumonia

Killed hand to hand by a Union Colonel

Shot in the leg, he died of gangrene

NEXT>

Question 4 of 10

4. Confederate Major General Earl Van Dorn had one of those strange "got to hear it to believe it" deaths. He died three days before Stonewall Jackson on May 7, 1863. How? Hint

Killed by a chamber pot thrown out a window

Shot to death by a jealous husband

Run over by a stampede of wild deer

Drowned in his own wash basin

NEXT>

Question 5 of 10

5. Confederate guerilla leader and all around psychopath "Bloody" Bill Anderson was killed on October 26, 1864 at Albany, Missouri. How did the vicious fighter, author of and participant in) several slaughters, meet his end? Hint

Beheaded by an Apache Indian

Crushed under a fallen rock

Killed by Jesse James, one of his men

Killed in an ambush by Union soldiers

NEXT>

Question 6 of 10

6. Three year old Edward Woods died on July 5, 1863, while combing the battlefield at Gettysburg for souvenirs, thus making him the youngest person killed in the battle and its aftermath. How did he die? Hint

Shot by Union stragglers

Shot by his own brother

Shot by Confederate stragglers

Accidentally impaled by a stray bayonet

NEXT>

Question 7 of 10

7. Confederate Brigadier General Felix Zolicoffer had a rather embarrassing death. What was it? Hint

Shot after tripping over his own fallen pants

Died after repeated bouts of veneral disease

Shot by accident by the 10 year old son of a Confederate General

Shot by Union troops due to his nearsightedness

NEXT>

Question 8 of 10

8. Willie Lincoln, the 11 year old son of President Abraham Lincoln, died tragically on February 20, 1862. What was the most likely cause of his death? Hint

Malaria

Pneumonia

Smallpox

Typhoid Fever

NEXT>

Question 9 of 10

9. Cavalry officer John Buford, one of the heroes at Gettysburg where he crucially held the high ground on the first day of the battle, died on December 16, 1863. How did he die? Hint

Unknown, possibly typhoid fever

Trampled under a Union horse

Shot in the back of the head by a Confederate soldier

Poisoned

NEXT>

Question 10 of 10

10. The tragedy that put a capper on the war was the assassination of Abraham Lincoln at Ford's theater in April of 1865 by John Wilkes Booth. How did Booth die? Hint

Shot by a Union soldier

Drowned in heavy marshes

Burned alive in a barn

Committed suicide.

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Union Major General John Sedgwick had an interesting death. He was killed on May 9, 1864 in the early days of the Battle of Spotsylvania. How was he killed?

Answer: Shot by a Confederate sniper

What was intersting about Sedgwick's death was what he said before he was killed by a Confederate sniper. Sedgwick was directing the placement of Union artillery and became disgusted when his staff took cover out of fear of Confederate gun fire. "I'm ashamed of you, dodging that way," he said to them. "They couldn't hit an elephant at this distance..." An moment later, he was shot in the head and killed instantly. Tragic but comedic at the same time.

Source: Wikipedia

Answer: Torn almost in two by artillery fire

Like General Sedgwick, Polk was at the lines reconnoitering the situation with Confederate Generals Hardee and Johnston when William Tecumseh Sherman himself spotted the generals and ordered his artillery to fire into the grouping. They did and General Polk was ripped almost in two by a shell that passed through his chest and both arms.

Source: Wikipedia

3. Probably the most important death of the war was the loss of Confederate General Stonewall Jackson at the Battle of Chancellorsville. Jackson died on May 10, 1863. How?

Answer: Pneumonia

Jackson was shot twice in the left arm by friendly fire while scouting for a night attack after his incredible flanking maneuver on May 2, 1863 against the Army of the Potomac. The arm was amputated but Jackson took a turn for the worse and died of pneumonia on May 10, 1863.

Source: Wikipedia

4. Confederate Major General Earl Van Dorn had one of those strange "got to hear it to believe it" deaths. He died three days before Stonewall Jackson on May 7, 1863. How?

Answer: Shot to death by a jealous husband

Dr. James Bodie Peters, convinced that General Van Dorn had carried on an affair with his wife, sneaked into Van Dorn's office and blasted him in the back of the head while Van Dorn was writing a letter. Peters was never brought to trial on the grounds that Van Doren had "violated the sanctity of his home."

Source: Wikipedia

Answer: Killed in an ambush by Union soldiers

The master of ambushes, "Bloody" Bill was ambushed himself by Union troops under Colonel Samuel P Cox. Bravely (or stupidly), Andersen led his mounted forces straight into Cox's men, located in the surrounding timber. "Bloody" Bill was shot twice in the side of the head and killed. Human scalps from his previous massacres were found on his horse's bridle.

Note: After the war, Jesse and Frank James and their crew tried to avenge Anderson's death by killing Samuel P Cox in a bank robbery in Gallatin, Missouri. They shot an innocent cashier instead.

Source: Wikipedia

Answer: Shot by his own brother

Edward and his slightly older brother found a rifle on the battlefield and, as little boys tend to do, started to handle it. The gun went off and little Edward was shot dead.

Source: Civil War Curiosities by Webb Garrison

7. Confederate Brigadier General Felix Zolicoffer had a rather embarrassing death. What was it?

Answer: Shot by Union troops due to his nearsightedness

During the Battle of Mill Springs in January of 1862, General Zollicoffer, easily conspicuous in a white raincoat, rode towards a group of Union soldiers from Kentucky which he mistook for Confederate soldiers firing on their own men. Thanks to his poor vision, General Zollicoffer was shot into history.

Source: Wikipedia

8. Willie Lincoln, the 11 year old son of President Abraham Lincoln, died tragically on February 20, 1862. What was the most likely cause of his death?

Answer: Typhoid Fever

It's believed that Willie died from typhoid fever as a result of drinking contaminated water. His brother, Tad, was also affected but survived. Willie's death devastated the entire Lincoln family.

9. Cavalry officer John Buford, one of the heroes at Gettysburg where he crucially held the high ground on the first day of the battle, died on December 16, 1863. How did he die?

Answer: Unknown, possibly typhoid fever

John Buford died of an illness, possibly typhoid fever, at 2 PM on the afternoon of December 16. Buford's friend, General George Stoneman, requested that Buford be promoted to Major General. Knowing him to be on his deathbed and very appreciative of his service, Abraham Lincoln agreed and Buford was promoted. Upon hearing of his promotion, Buford said, "It is too late. Now I wish I could live."

Source: Wikipedia

10. The tragedy that put a capper on the war was the assassination of Abraham Lincoln at Ford's theater in April of 1865 by John Wilkes Booth. How did Booth die?

Answer: Shot by a Union soldier

After a manhunt that lasted almost two weeks, Booth and an accomplice were tracked down at a farmhouse near Port Royal, Virginia. Trapped in a burning tobacco barn (set on fire by the soldiers to flush him out), Booth was shot in the neck by Boston Corbett. Paralyzed from the neck down, Booth died three hours later. Shortly before he died, as per his request, a Union soldier tending him raised his hands in the air. Booth, looking at them, uttered his last words: "Useless, useless."

Source: Wikipedia

Source: Author wwwocls

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor bloomsby before going online.
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