I do have a new release (Midnight Bride), but I'll regale you with that next time. You see, I'm on my way to Atlanta, GA for the Romance Writers of America's national conference. My very first time South...unless one count's DisneyWorld which I really don't. One of my scheduled outings is a visit Thursday night to the Margaret Mitchell House where some great-big-name romance authors are doing an evening reading!
So...that immediately reminded me of Gone With the Wind. Then came to mind other Civil War stuff that has fascinated me, such as the Jimmie Stewart classic movie Shenandoah. (I just read that Sam Elliott fell in love with Katharine Ross the first time he saw this movie!) Recent visits to Gettysburg and Harpers Ferry
reinforced its allure. Peeking through a flea market find (Civil War Trivia and
Fact Book by Webb Garrison) pointed out some wonderful tidbits that I thought
inquiring minds might want to know.
1. Only 28 percent of the 30,500 miles of
railroads in 1860 lay in Confederate territory.
2. The two warring capitals, Washington DC and
Richmond, VA, are only 100 miles apart.
3. Seven states had announced their secession at
the time of Abraham Lincoln’s inauguration. (Can you name them?** See below.)
4. 86 percent of the United States’
manufacturing firms were located in the North.
5. 38 percent of the Confederacy’s population
were slaves.
6. Diarrhea,
including dysentery, was the most common ailment in the camps and claimed the
lives of 44,000 Union soldiers.
7. More than 68 American Revolutions could have
been financed for the estimated cost of the Civil War.
8. During the years of the conflict, 2,778,304
men were enlisted in all the branches of the Union forces.
9. Four states were classified as “border
states”, meaning they remained in the Union but had strong ties to the South.
(Can you name them?*** See below.)
10. New
Orleans was the Confederacy’s largest city, with an 1860 census of 168,000.
11. New
York, with its 1860 population exceeding 800,000, was the North’s largest city.
12. Due to
inflation in the Confederacy, the price of a pound of tea was $10.00 by the end
of 1862.
13. On New Year’s Day 1865, 55 percent of the
Confederate fighting forces was listed as AWOL.
14. The
tallest man in the Union forces was Captain Van Buskirk of the 27th
Indiana. Six feet, ten and one-half
inches.
15. The shorted man in the Union forces was a
private in the 192nd Ohio. Three feet,
four inches.
16. There were 33 states in the Union in 1860.
17. In 1861, a Union soldier’s monthly salary was
$13.
18. As president of the United States, Abe
Lincoln’s annual salary was $25,000.
19. About 200,000 blacks eventually served in the
Union army and navy.
20. Union regiment, the First Minnesota, lost 82
percent at Gettysburg, the highest percentage of one-battle casualties.
21. By the
war’s end, 12,912 graves had been filled at infamous Andersonville Prison.
(total deaths is believed much higher.)
22. When Harper’s Ferry fell to Stonewall
Jackson, he seized 73 cannon and 13,000 small arms from the arsenal there. And
10,000 prisoners.
23. Thirty
six (36) horses were needed to pull the six guns of a standard field battery,
three pairs in tandem per gun.
24. Six Confederate generals were killed at
Gettysburg.
25. Black troops participates in 450 battles and
skirmishes.
26. The most popular handgun in the North with
about 200,000 manufactured between 1860-1872 was the Colt Army and Navy revolver.
27. The weight of a shell thrown by a 13-inch
mortar (the largest in use then) was 220 pounds.
28. Three of the 2,300 Federal chaplains,
received the Congressional Medal of Honor.
I hope you
didn’t mind a history lesson today! Which fact did you find the most
interesting?
** South
Carolina; Mississippi; Florida; Alabama; Georgia; Louisiana, and Texas.
***
Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri
