Whatever You Resolve to Be Multiple Choice Quiz | Confederate Army

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Thomas Jackson's childhood was not a sweet one. The death of a sister and his father before he was five, the fact that he was disliked by his mother's second husband, her death and abuse at the hands of his uncle Isaac Brake were more than enough hardships. Thomas fled from Brake's house after one year with him and went to live with another uncle. Who?

Answer: Cummins Jackson

Cummins Jackson was the owner of Jackson's Mill, a grist mill located in Lewis County, today's West Virginia, then Virginia. Thomas helped his uncle with the farm, tending sheep, helping with the harvest and driving teams of cattle, especially oxen. Cummins Jackson was viewed by his nephew as a schoolteacher, since Thomas had little formal education and was mostly self-taught.

2. After graduating from West Point in 1846, Jackson served in the Mexican War. There he earned fame for his skills in battle and his determination. In one battle, Jackson refused to obey a "bad order" to withdraw his troops and instead he managed to persuade his superior to recall the order. Where did the incident occur?

Answer: Chapultepec

Jackson proved correct and his spirited performance in this battle was a reason for the American victory. Thomas Jackson began the war as a second lieutenant, he finished it as a brevet major. It was in Mexico where Jackson first met his later superior in the Civil War, Robert E. Lee, then a captain and chief engineer on the staff of Winfield Scott.

3. For most of the period between the Mexican War and the Civil War, Jackson served as professor of artillery and math in the Virginia Military Institute. When Virginia seceded, Governor Letcher appointed Jackson a colonel and ordered him to take command of the arsenal at Harpers Ferry. After operating against the Union-held Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, Jackson was promoted to brigadier general on June 17, 1861 and was given command of the Stonewall Brigade. What was the first battle where Jackson commanded the brigade?

Answer: Battle of Hoke's Run

The Battle of Hoke's Run, also known as Battle of Falling Waters, was fought on July 2, 1861. Jackson's opponent was Federal general Robert Patterson. Jackson managed to delay Patterson's advance and persuade him that a strong Confederate force was operating at the Shenandoah Valley, ensuring the fact that Patterson would not reinforce the main US force, led by Irvin McDowell, which was aiming against the Confederate capital of Richmond.
Casualty estimates for the battle vary. Civil War historian Francis Kennedy cites 25 Confederate and 75 Union casualties.

4. On July 21, 1861, the First Battle of Manassas (Bull Run) was fought. Thomas Jackson now became Stonewall Jackson. He earned his famous moniker by his gallant stand at Henry Hill, which turned the tide of the battle and secured the Confederate victory. Yet, before Stonewall Jackson's stand, the Confederates had withdrawn from another hill. Which one?

Answer: Matthews Hill

The Confederate brigades that tried to make a stand at Matthews Hill were Evans', Bee's and Bartow's. It was the second of these officers that gave Stonewall Jackson his moniker. Both Bee and Bartow were killed during the battle. Stonewall Jackson's stand not only stopped the Union charge, but helped rally the fugitives for a counterattack. During that counterattack, the Rebel Yell was first heard, as a result of Stonewall Jackson's order "When you charge, yell like furies!"

5. The Valley Campaign, fought in the first half of 1862, is one of the most classic campaigns in history. Stonewall Jackson and his approximately 17,000 troops managed to foil the intentions and constantly defeat more than 60,000 US soldiers. During this campaign, several other famous Confederate officers served as Stonewall Jackson's subordinates. Which of the following was NOT among them?

Answer: A.P. Hill

A.P. Hill was serving in Joseph E. Johnston's army at the Virginia Peninsula that time. Richard Stoddert Ewell commanded a division alongside Stonewall Jackson, with one of his brigadiers being Richard Taylor, commander of an all-Louisianian brigade which fought valiantly at a number of battles, from Front Royal to Port Republic. Finally, Turner Ashby commanded Stonewall Jackson's cavalry for most of the Valley Campaign, before being killed in a skirmish near Harrisonburg on June 6, 1862. Stonewall Jackson later wrote about Colonel Ashby: "As a partisan officer I never knew his superior; his daring was proverbial; his powers of endurance almost incredible; his tone of character heroic, and his sagacity almost intuitive in divining the purposes and movements of the enemy."

6. About Stonewall Jackson's performance throughout the Seven Days many things have been said. While his performance is considered by some historians to be poor, in fact he had to face many natural obstacles, fatigue on the part of the troops, enemy artillery and lack of familiarity with the terrain. Yet, he was the victim of critics who attributed to him the escape of the Federals and the fact that their army was not destroyed. Which of the following Confederate Generals was NOT a critic of Jackson?

Answer: Robert E. Lee

Many of the failures attributed to Stonewall Jackson were to be traced to other Confederate Generals. For example, at Mechanicsville A.P. Hill's impetuosity in launching an assault on the Federals was more responsible for the higher Confederate casualties rather than Jackson's nonarrival at the arranged time. For the escape of McClellan's Federals at Savage's Station, Magruder's lack of vigor was cited by Lee as responsible.

7. The Northern Virginia Campaign, in August 1862, pitted the Army of Northern Virginia under General Robert E. Lee against John Pope's Union army. To suppress Pope, whose harsh attitude against Virginia civilians earned him the moniker "the miscreant", General Lee ordered Stonewall Jackson's Left Wing (later redesignated as Second Corps) to undertake an expedition at the Union rear near Manassas Junction. Stonewall's troops fought a number of actions near Manassas Station, including one against George Taylor's Union brigade. During that skirmish, Stonewall Jackson did something unusual. What?

Answer: Ordered his artillery to pause for a moment, requesting the Federals to surrender.

Stonewall did order the artillery to pause, because he felt admiration for the valor of his opponent. Yet the Federal brigadier refused to surrender and Stonewall's cannoneers blasted the Union troops to pieces, killing and capturing 450 of them, including their brigadier. Stonewall's operations alarmed the Union commander, John Pope, who turned his attention to Stonewall, seeking how to capture him. Thus, General Lee and James Longstreet, commander of the Confederate Right Wing (later redesignated as First Corps) occupied Thoroughfare Gap, an important position which collected the two halves of the Army of Northern Virginia. On August 28, Stonewall Jackson fought the Battle of Groveton, aka Brawner's Farm, furthermore attracting Pope's attention. On the next day, Pope tried to dislodge Stonewall from his position at Stony Ridge, but failed with heavy casualties. On August 30, after another failed Federal advance, Longstreet counterattacked and shocked the Union troops. Aided by Stonewall's aggressive showing, the counterattack forced Pope to retreat, ending the Second Battle of Manassas (Bull Run) with a tremendous Confederate victory.

8. After his victory at the Northern Virginia Campaign, the Army of Northern Virginia under General Lee went into Maryland, thus initiating the Maryland Campaign, which culminated with the Battle of Sharpsburg (Antietam) on September 17, 1862. There, Stonewall Jackson's soldiers were given the task of defending the Confederate left, which includes many famous landmarks of the battle, such as the Dunker Church, the East and West Woods and the Miller Cornfield. In this task, they were helped by an officer under Longstreet, whose performance so impressed Stonewall Jackson that he insisted the young brigadier be promoted to major general. Who was the brigadier?

Answer: John Bell Hood

John Bell Hood's Texas brigade played an enormous role in helping Stonewall hold his line. When it seemed obvious that Joseph Hooker's Federals would manage to break the Confederate line, Hood's Texans left their hot breakfast, rushed forward and pushed the Federals back through the Miller Cornfield. Later, when another Federal assault, this time led by Joseph Mansfield, aimed at Dunker Church, Hood delayed their movement, giving Stonewall ample time to mass his batteries and tear the Federals into pieces.

9. The last of the major battles in 1862 in the Virginia theater of the Civil War, was the Battle of Fredericksburg. Fought between December 11 and 15, with the main action on December 13, General Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia inflicted another staggering defeat on the Federal Army of the Potomac, led by Ambrose Burnside. Stonewall Jackson and his men played a major role in that Confederate triumph. Yet, at one point of the battle, the Federals almost penetrated Stonewall's line, because of a gap in the ranks of A.P. Hill's division. Seeing that, two Confederate divisions rushed to stop them. One was led by Jubal Early, but by whom was the other led?

Answer: William Booth Taliaferro

Early and Taliaferro flanked the Federals, while Hill's division regrouped and helped drive them to where they came from. None other attack made by Burnside did even reach the Confederate defenses. The Union troops suffered very heavily in this battle, while the Confederate losses were comparatively low.

The Battle of Fredericksburg produced two great Confederate heroes, Major John Pelham, whose horse artillery pounded the Federal flank for hours and who refused to withdraw even under the worst circumstances and Thomas Reade Rootes Cobb, who defended the sunken road in the Confederate center until he bled to death.

The night after the battle, the Aurora Borealis made its presence clear in the night sky. One Confederate private remarked that the view seemed to him that Heaven had lighted fireworks to celebrate the Confederate triumph.

10. The wisdom of a man is largely revealed to the rest of the world by his sayings and quotes. Stonewall Jackson has left many memorable quotes for us to marvel at. Which of the following quotes was NOT said by Stonewall Jackson?

Answer: True patriotism sometimes requires of men to act exactly contrary, at one period, to that which it does at another, and the motive which impels them - the desire to do right - is precisely the same

The correct answer was a quote uttered by General Robert E. Lee. General Lee said that in a letter to another Confederate General, P.G.T. Beauregard, shortly after the close of the Civil War.
"I yield to no man in sympathy for the gallant men under my command; but I am obliged to sweat them tonight, so that I may save their blood tomorrow" was spoken by Stonewall Jackson on the night before the First Battle of Winchester, which was fought on May 25, 1862.
"The time for war has not yet come, but it will come, and that soon; and when it does come, my advice is to draw the sword and throw away the scabbard" was said by Stonewall in 1861 to cadets of the Virginia Military Institute
"War means fighting. The business of the soldier is to fight" is found in many biographies of Stonewall, usually in conjunction with "To move swiftly, strike vigorously, and secure all the fruits of victory is the secret of successful war."

Source: Author DeepHistory

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor bloomsby before going online.
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Whatever You Resolve to Be Trivia Quiz

Stonewall Jackson sits on the pantheon of Confederate heroes, alongside Robert E. Lee. A legend from his own time to eternity, Stonewall Jackson was a unique personality and a great general. Enjoy this quiz about Stonewall!

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