I Say, those Confederates are Obscure Quiz

Answer: Edwin Gray Lee

Edwin Gray Lee was born on May 27, 1836. He studied law in the College of William and Mary until 1853. In 1856, he married Susan Pendleton, daughter of William N. Pendleton, who would also become a Confederate general. When the Civil War started, Edwin Gray Lee supported the Confederate cause and enlisted in the military.

He served as an aide to Stonewall Jackson from the 1st to the 2nd Battle of Manassas (Bull Run). Due to health issues, on November 18, 1863, he was placed on the staff of General Robert Ransom.

In 1864, he was given a promotion to Brigadier and accompanied General Rosser in the Valley. In December, 1864 he was given a mission by the Confederate Secret Service which required him and his spouse to sail to Canada. The end of the war found him in Montreal.

He died on August 24, 1870.

Answer: Albert G. Blanchard

Albert Gallatin Blanchard was born on September 6, 1810. He graduated from West Point in 1829, 26th in his class. One of his classmates was Robert E. Lee. His first wife, who died young, bore him a son and a daughter. His daughter, Susan Blanchard later became an author. Blanchard remarried in the 1840s a woman from Louisiana, where they moved. Blanchard selected Louisiana as his adoptive state.

When the war broke, he accepted an offer to command the 1st Louisiana Infantry. On September 21, 1861 he was promoted to Brigadier General.

His command was held in the rear at Seven Pines. After that battle, command of Blanchard's brigade was given to Ambrose Wright, due to the former's age. For the remainder of the war, he served in various administrative posts.

He died on June 21, 1891.

Answer: Robert H. Hatton

Robert Hopkins Hatton was born on November 2, 1826. His native state was Ohio, but his family moved to Tennessee during Hatton's early childhood. Hatton studied law in the Cumberland University and expressed an interest for politics, joining the Whigs and being elected in the State Legislature in 1855. Two years later, he ran in the gubernatorial elections but was unsuccessful.

Initially, Hatton's sentiments were pro-Union but, after the Fort Sumter episode and Abraham Lincoln's call for volunteers to suppress the rebellion, Hatton actively supported Tennessee's secession from the Union.

He enlisted in the Army and was appointed commander of the 7th Tennessee Infantry. Hatton served well in his post and was promoted to Brigadier General on May 23, 1862.

He died eight days later, while leading his Tennesseans in the Battle of Seven Pines.

Answer: Richard Griffith

Richard Griffith was born on January 11, 1814. He graduated from the Ohio State University and, subsequently, moved to Vicksburg, Mississippi. In the Mexican War, he enlisted in the 1st Mississippi Rifles, the regiment led by Jefferson Davis and thus the two became friends.

When that war ended, Griffith held a command in the Mississippi State Militia, rising to the rank of Brigadier General. He was also active in Mississippi politics, holding the post of State Treasurer. Upon the outbreak of the Civil War, Griffith was given command of the 12th Mississippi Infantry. On November 2, 1861 he received a promotion to Brigadier, commanding one of the brigades of General Magruder's division.

He saw action during the Seven Days and was fatally wounded during the Battle of Savage Station, on June 29, 1862.

Answer: Albert Pike

Albert Pike was born on December 29, 1809. His native state was Massachusetts. Although he passed the entrance exams at Harvard University, he could not pay the tuition fees and thus declined to attend Harvard. In 1831, Pike set out for the west. Two years later, he settled in Arkansas.

He started writing articles in a local newspaper under an alias, but later he became a member of the editorial staff and acquired part of the paper by marrying the editor's daughter. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1837.

He was a noted supporter of the Whigs and wrote a guidebook for attorneys. When the Mexican War started, Pike fought in many battles, especially Buena Vista. After the dissolution of the Whigs, he joined the Know-Nothings, but only briefly.

When the war erupted, he actively supported secession and the Confederacy. He was appointed as a delegate to the Native Americans and was quite successful. In late 1861, Pike was appointed brigadier general. He and his Indians served with distinction in the Battle of Elkhorn Tavern (Pea Ridge). Pike died on April 2, 1891.

Answer: Henry Watkins Allen

Henry Watkins Allen was born on April 29, 1820. Although Louisiana was his adoptive state, he was born in Virginia, educated in Missouri and practiced law in Mississippi. In 1853 he was elected to the Louisiana State Legislature. In 1859, he toured Europe.

When the war began, he enlisted in the Confederate Army and was promoted to colonel. He fought at Shiloh and Baton Rouge, being wounded in both. After recuperating from his injuries, he was appointed brigadier general in August 1863, but his military career ended when he was elected as governor. Allen's term expired when the Confederacy collapsed. Allen had been declared an outlaw by the Reconstruction government. To avoid capture and the death penalty, he went to Mexico where he remained until his death, on April 22, 1866.

A parish in modern-day Louisiana is named after him.

Answer: Walter Taylor

Walter Herron Taylor was born on June 13, 1838. He attended the Virginia Military Institute and graduated from it in 1857. When the war broke out, Taylor joined the Confederate Army. As an aide-de-camp to General Lee, he was responsible for writing dispatches, transmitting orders to division and corps commanders, conduct reconnaissance and performed other similar tasks.

He also decided what visitors would be able to see General Lee. After the war, Taylor went to his hometown of Norfolk, Virginia where he practised law. Yet, his goal was to settle all the controversies related to the Army of Northern Virginia.

He wrote two books, "Four Years with General Lee" and "Robert E. Lee, His Campaign in Virginia, 1861-1865". He died on March 1, 1916.

Answer: Robert L. Dabney

Robert Lewis Dabney was born on March 5, 1820. He graduated from the Union Theological seminary in 1846. He served as teacher of ecclesiastical history in Union Theological Seminary. When the Civil War broke out, Dabney at first was the chaplain of the 18th Virginia Infantry, but later Stonewall Jackson appointed him as his chief of staff and Dabney served him nobly throughout his career.

After the war, Dabney spoke widely of his experiences with Jackson and expressed strong loyalty to the Confederacy.

He also wrote a biography of Jackson. In 1883, he was appointed teacher of moral and mental philosophy of the University of Texas. He also wrote several religion-themed books. His theological writings are still an influence of the Presbyterian Church of America and the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. Dabney died on January 3, 1898.

Answer: James Johnston Pettigrew

James Johnston Pettigrew was born on July 4, 1828. When he was 15 years old, he was admitted in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He led his class at mathematics, classical languages, fencing and boxing. He became a member of the Philanthropic Society. Subsequently, he studied law in Baltimore and worked with his father's first cousin, James L. Petigrew at Charleston, South Carolina.

He also showed an interest in politics and was elected in the State Legislature of South Carolina in 1856.

When the war broke, Pettigrew enlisted in the Confederate Army and was commissioned colonel of the 12th North Carolina Infantry. At the Battle of Seven Pines, he was wounded severely and was presumed dead. He was captured by the Federals but was later exchanged.

After Chancellorsville and the reorganization of the Army of Northern Virginia, he was placed in Henry Heth's division of A. P. Hill's 3rd Corps. On the First Day of the Battle of Gettysburg, July 1, 1863, Pettigrew's brigade drove the Unionists from McPherson's Ridge. On July 3, he took part in Pickett's Charge, where he was severely wounded. Later, during General Lee's retreat to Virginia, Pettigrew was again wounded at a combat near Falling Waters.

His wound was mortal and he died on July 17, 1863.

Answer: John Pelham

John Pelham was born on September 7, 1838. An Alabamian by birth, from his early age he had developed as an accomplished horse rider. In 1856, he was accepted to the US Military Academy at West Point. In 1861, when the outbreak of the war was near and his graduation day was approaching, Pelham wrote to CSA President Jefferson Davis, asking him whether or not he should stay at West Point. Subsequently, the youthful Alabamian resigned and enlisted in the Confederate Army.

His sense of discipline made him known to J. E. B. Stuart, who transformed Pelham's battery into horse artillery. Pelham provided exceptional services to the Confederacy at Second Manassas (Bull Run) and Sharpsburg (Antietam).

At Fredericksburg, his stand halted the progress of the advancing Union column, enabling General Jackson repel all attacks with relatively minor cost.

At the Battle of Kellysville, on March 17, 1863 Pelham accompanied Stuart once more. During that battle, a shell fragment pierced his head, mortally wounding him.

His death caused much mourning in the South. General Lee suggested Pelham be promoted to lieutenant colonel in a sense of honor.